Marines Order Stand-Downs After Crash Deaths: What’s Wrong?

Marines Order Stand-Downs After Crash Deaths: What’s Wrong?
Marines Order Stand-Downs After Crash Deaths: What’s Wrong?

With 19 Marines killed in two aircraft crashes since July 10th, Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller has ordered all aviation units to stand down for safety reviews. This summer’s crashes come after months of rising accident rates, with a total of 22 deaths and 18 “Class A Mishaps” – incidents involving loss of life or…

F-35Bs Land In UK Today; Hover & Refueling Demos At RIAT, Farnborough

F-35Bs Land In UK Today; Hover & Refueling Demos At RIAT, Farnborough
F-35Bs Land In UK Today; Hover & Refueling Demos At RIAT, Farnborough

The first three F-35Bs to leave the United States land in the United Kingdom today, having left the US this morning. The Air Force’s two F-35As leave tomorrow. Perhaps the highlight of this year’s Farnborough Air Show and Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) will come when the B models, used by the US Marines and Royal…

Marines Aim For Jammers On ‘Every Airplane’

Marines Aim For Jammers On ‘Every Airplane’
Marines Aim For Jammers On ‘Every Airplane’

WASHINGTON: With the rise of high-tech threats from Russia and China, the Marine Corps plans a major increase in its forces devoted to jamming, hacking, and deceiving enemies. That includes: putting new sensors and jammers in everything from ground units to drones to V-22 Osprey tiltrotors and KC-130 transports, despite a tight budget; adding 1,000 to…

SP-MAGTF Commander Details ISIL Strikes; Notes 1st Marines ‘Could Clear’ Iraq

SP-MAGTF Commander Details ISIL Strikes; Notes 1st Marines ‘Could Clear’ Iraq
SP-MAGTF Commander Details ISIL Strikes; Notes 1st Marines ‘Could Clear’ Iraq

BALLSTON, Va: Since early November, three Marine Corps MV-22B Ospreys and 26 marines have been on alert at Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait, on 30-minute alert to fly in and rescue a U.S. or coalition pilot downed while bombing or shooting at the Islamic State in Iraq or Syria. On 29 occasions between Nov. 1 and…

Navy 2016 Budget Funds V-22 COD Buy, Carrier Refuel

Navy 2016 Budget Funds V-22 COD Buy, Carrier Refuel
Navy 2016 Budget Funds V-22 COD Buy, Carrier Refuel

  PENTAGON: The Navy 2016 budget yields to Congress’s strong opposition to the service’s previous efforts to cut the active fleet to save money. It funds nuclear refueling and overhaul of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington –that it had tried to retire — and modifies its plan to put 11 cruisers and an amphibious ship…

Navy Budget Share Grows, Boosted By Pacific Strategy Shift

PENTAGON: The Navy would get the largest budget share among the three military services in the 2014 budget submitted Wednesday, but would still see a drop in total funding from what Congress provided for this year in the final version of the continuing resolution. The $155.8 billion requested for the Navy Department in the president’s…

Modular ‘Trucks’ Will Rule The Waves: CNO

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD: Trucks, not sports cars – that’s the Chief of Naval Operations’ vision for an affordable and upgradeable future fleet. And that’s good news for an array of programs, from the controversial Littoral Combat Ship, to the LPD-17 amphibious ship, to a Marine Corps initiative called Harvest Hawk that straps missiles to a…