TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Haha I beat both Forbin and Bernard on the Scoop!
US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
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Bernard
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ACC Chief: Stealth ‘Incredibly Important’ For Next USAF Fighter
Feb 12, 2015 | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
F-22: USAF
ORLANDO, Florida – Air Combat Command chief Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle says stealth will be "incredibly important" for the F-X aircraft that the U.S. Air Force is pursuing as an eventual replacement.
The Air Force is intending to follow a methodical path of risk reduction, Carlisle said. He suggested this harkened back to earlier days in developing aircraft decades ago. With the and F-22, new technologies were required during development, driving up cost and delaying introduction into service.
Carlisle said the Air Force intends to include as much prototyping, technology demonstration and systems engineering work as possible leading up to a program of record. He spoke with reporters at a Feb. 12 roundtable at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium here.
The service is returning to what Carlisle describes as its roots as it plots a path ahead to a sixth-generation strike capability. He and other Air Force leaders emphasize that the 6th-generation system is not just an aircraft. They describe a sweeping review of a system of systems to include a comprehensive look at communications, capabilities from space, standoff and stand in options under the umbrella of Air Superiority 2030.
The Air Force does "not want to jump straight to the idea of a sixth-generation fighter," said Lt. Gen. James Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements.
As the Air Force pursues F-X, the Navy is examining its needs for an /F replacement in the F/A-XX. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert has said that the F/A-XX needn’t be so focused on survivability as to sacrifice speed and payload.
Feb 12, 2015 | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
F-22: USAF
ORLANDO, Florida – Air Combat Command chief Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle says stealth will be "incredibly important" for the F-X aircraft that the U.S. Air Force is pursuing as an eventual replacement.
The Air Force is intending to follow a methodical path of risk reduction, Carlisle said. He suggested this harkened back to earlier days in developing aircraft decades ago. With the and F-22, new technologies were required during development, driving up cost and delaying introduction into service.
Carlisle said the Air Force intends to include as much prototyping, technology demonstration and systems engineering work as possible leading up to a program of record. He spoke with reporters at a Feb. 12 roundtable at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium here.
The service is returning to what Carlisle describes as its roots as it plots a path ahead to a sixth-generation strike capability. He and other Air Force leaders emphasize that the 6th-generation system is not just an aircraft. They describe a sweeping review of a system of systems to include a comprehensive look at communications, capabilities from space, standoff and stand in options under the umbrella of Air Superiority 2030.
The Air Force does "not want to jump straight to the idea of a sixth-generation fighter," said Lt. Gen. James Holmes, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements.
As the Air Force pursues F-X, the Navy is examining its needs for an /F replacement in the F/A-XX. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert has said that the F/A-XX needn’t be so focused on survivability as to sacrifice speed and payload.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Marines Changing small arms
additionally Improved M16's for the Marines
Glock pistols approved for special operations Marines
By James K. Sanborn, Staff writer1:51 p.m. EST February 17, 2015
COMMENTEMAILMORE
In a Marine Corps first, the service recently added a Glock pistol to its list of authorized individual weapons, optics and modular attachments.
However, the 9mm semi-automatic Glock 19 pistol is officially approved for use only by personnel assigned to Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, according to a force-wide message issued in mid-February. In fact, the pistol will carry a non-Marine inventory number because it is a U.S. Special Operations Command asset, according to the message.
It is not immediately clear if MARSOC has used the pistols unofficially before now, but they are popular throughout the special operations community. More broadly, they are standard issue for armies on several continents, a staple among international and domestic law enforcement, including the FBI and many local police departments. Glocks are ubiquitous among civilian gun enthusiasts. And they are even seen in the hands of some al-Qaida fighters.
Iraqi police recruits learn to fire 9mm Glock 19s under the instruction of Marines and Iraqi army personnel in Al Anbar province during April 2007. Members of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command are now authorized to use the popular pistol. (Photo: Lance Cpl. Charles Howard, U.S. Department of Defense)
Glock's dominance of the modern semi-automatic pistol market is owed to their relative low cost and reputation for AK47-like reliability. That is a particular advantage for those who operate in austere conditions where sand, mud, dirt, water or snow make pistols prone to malfunction. Additionally, their polymer frame is corrosion resistant, which meets the needs of a maritime force working around salt water. Finally, the Austrian pistol's worldwide popularity among good and bad guys alike makes it easy to find accessories and spare parts when needed.
It is unclear why the pistols were only now approved for MARSOC. Marine Corps officials could not immediately address questions from Marine Corps Times.
Marine operators have at times used 9mm Beretta M9 or M9A1 pistols, but more often the service's .45-caliber M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol which is based on the iconic M1911 platform.
Army special forces have often used Glock pistols while training foreign police and military personnel. Iraq, for example, purchased more than 100,000 G19s for issue to their security forces. It was considered best practice for U.S. instructors to use the same firearm as their students.
MARSOC has not yet determined which holster it will use with the G19.
"Standard holsters for this item are pending source selection," the force-wide message states. "Command approved holsters are authorized for this item until source selection is complete."
The service's current standard issue holster for use with Beretta M9s, the SERPA Level 2 Tactical Holster by Blackhawk, is available on the civilian market for the G19 as well.
A Gen4 9mm Glock G19. (Photo: Rob Curtis/Staff, Gannett Government Media)
Also unclear is whether all G19s are authorized, or only certain generations. With four generations of Glock pistols, Gen3 Glocks incorporated a short rail system for attaching light and laser accessories. Gen4 Glocks also added a rougher texture to the frame for better grip in moist conditions; a modular back strap system to easily customize grip size for individual shooters; a larger and reversible magazine catch making the pistol friendlier for left-handed shooters; and an updated recoil spring assembly to reduce felt recoil.
additionally Improved M16's for the Marines
Equation
Lieutenant General
I'm telling ya Glock is the future for many US Armed Forces personnel.
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
The Tale Of The Unclaimed T-X Aggressor
Feb 13, 2015 | Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
Aggressor: Richard Seaman
ORLANDO — In the midst of a major budget crunch at the , the U.S. Air Force is ill-equipped to explain just how a request for $220.5 million for a "red air" aggressor aircraft got into the fiscal 2016 budget plan sent to Congress Feb. 2.
An aggressor, or a "red aircraft" is an aircraft used as a stand-in for an enemy to hone a fighter pilot’s skills and tactics.
Gens. Robin Rand, Air Education and Training Command chief, and Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, Air Combat Command chief, should know about the red air request. The former oversees pilot training. The latter oversees the Air Warfare Center at Nellis AFB, Nevada, where existing and aggressors are used to train pilots in advanced tactics. Yet neither could say what the funding will do or why it is requested.
The Air Force’s funding request for research and development for the T-X trainer includes $575 million from fiscal 2016-2020 to develop the T-38C replacement. Another $220.5 million is also included in the budget justification documents outlining a plan to procure a modification kit to morph the T-X into a suitable aggressor. The total estimated cost at completion to purchase the T-X is estimated at $1.04 billion, the documents say.
Aggressor pilots study and emulate enemy fighter tactics. New aircraft are needed to tax the technology and skills of future and pilots, says Col. Adrian Spain, commandant of the Air Force Weapons School at Nellis. During live-fly training, the aggressor aircraft must emulate adversary platforms well enough to "fool" the Air Force’s aircraft into "thinking" they are an actual enemy system, he said.
"The potential near-peer threat has improved pretty substantially over the last decade, [and] we want to be able to replicate that threat here so we can train against a threat that is realistic and relevant," Spain tells Aviation Week. "With an older, fourth-gen system, you can probably trick it into thinking [an aggressor] is something else. But in an F-35 and an F-22, the sensors are advanced enough that they’ll know the difference. So we need to have capability on the range to fly against."
Yet the plan outlined in the budget appears to have been added in error.
"T-X is to replace the T-38," Rand said during a Feb. 12 press roundtable at the annual Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium here. He characterized reporting on the program as "misreporting" and was adamant that "decisions will be made at another time if [T-X] will have other roles. At this time, there have been no decisions to use the T-X in any other capacity." Rand appeared concerned that adding requirements for an aggressor role could dilute a focus on the primary requirements for a trainer. "That could take us off track of what the airplane was originally intended," he said.
He referred questions on the source of the funding to Carlisle, who also said he did not know how the funding was inserted into the budget. "I’m not part of that. I don’t create the budget documents," Carlisle said when pressed about the issue. He acknowledged that as an advanced fighter trainer, T-X "by definition has some of those inherent capabilities" needed for a red air aggressor. "I envision that is a huge potential and possibility, [but] it is not part [of the] original plan" for the program. But, "if someone was going to ask me do I think that is going to happen, it probably will," he added, noting that more work is needed to define requirements for an aggressor. "What it will take to get it to be a potential adversary airplane ... i don’t know that yet."
The budget documents, however, call for a so-called stores aircraft interface kit that would include adding a radar, data link and hard points for weapons and a jamming pod. This interface is included in the program element, or account, for T-X.
The funding is called for in fiscal 2018, so it is not an urgent issue in the recent budget plan. But it is unusual for the service to have such a substantial amount of funding earmarked in a major program that it cannot explain.
Equation
Lieutenant General
Well DARPA has more of the traditional R & D engineers, meanwhile Google has programmers and code writers.