House panel wants $5.3B more for weapons
The extra funds they want include money to:
- Keep Block 30 Global Hawks in service
- Keep C-27J in service
- Install back-up oxygen system on F-22
- Continue C-130 avionics modernization
- 10 extra new UH-60 Black Hawks
- 3 extra new UH-72 Lakotas
- Additional PAC-3 Patriot missiles and launchers
- Keep the M1 tank production line open
- Upgrade M2 Bradleys
- Modernize National Guard Humvees
- 11 extra new F/A-18 Super Hornets
- 1 extra new V-22 Osprey
- 7 extra new Navy/Marine helicopters
- 1 extra new DDG 51 destroyer
- Keep 3 CGs from early retirement and upgrade them for BMD
- 5 extra C-130Js
- 12 extra new MQ-9 Reapers
- $1 billion extra for additional equipment reset
It also cuts over $528 million from F-35 procurement because of unjustified cost growth and delays.
Pentagon Puts Restrictions on USAF’s F-22 Fleet
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to stop flying the F-22 in regions, such as Alaska, where it would be difficult for pilots to land the plane if they experience signs of oxygen deficiency.
We don’t know many of the details, but this sure seems to be taking a long time to resolve.
USAF Re-Opens Light Attack Contest
We can’t even get a contract for 20 single-seat turboprops done in a timely manner.
Military class suspended for its view on Islam
It taught that Islam is more of an ideology than a religion and often prone to violence. Shut down because it was counter to American “appreciation for religious freedom and cultural awareness.”
Attackers in Afghan police uniforms kill 5
Suicide attackers wearing police uniforms killed five people when they were caught trying to sneak through a checkpoint Thursday in eastern Afghanistan.
Attacker in Afghan uniform kills NATO soldier
20 attacks by Afghan-uniformed men have killed killed 13 NATO troops so far this year.
There Is No “Kinder, Gentler” Taliban
They blow up civilians on purpose because they said God told them to.
Theft
Cops pull guy over for speeding, search his car, and confiscate $22,000 in cash because driver “couldn’t prove it was legitimate.”
V Corps cases colors — perhaps for last time — in Germany
V Corps, once the guardian of the Fulda Gap, will be inactivated after a deployment to Afghanistan.
The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas
By Jonah Goldberg. I wish the Kindle edition was not $15, though.
Shotgun 4-Round Burst
Video of full auto SRM shotgun.
Obama threatens to veto DOJ budget because it blocks Fast and Furious gun control law
It’s almost like Obama is trying to use his DOJ’s intentional gun running to exert additional gun control on US citizens.
ObamaCare’s Muslim Exemption
Muslims may claim a religious exemption that is denied Christians and Jews.
U.S. Marines Extend Afghan Deployment of Cargo UAV
K-MAX operational evaluation extended until the end of September. Good.
DoD Officials Urge U.S. to Join Sea Treaty
Pro-LOST. Apparently because the UN has solved so many problems.
Navy ferry to be named after Guam
Meanwhile, aircraft carriers will be named after politicians from whichever party is in power at the time.
Ship named for living Korean War hero and Navy pilot
DDG 116 will be the USS Thomas Hudner. Meanwhile, aircraft carriers will be named after politicians from whichever party is in power at the time.
Boeing Complete 1st Flight of QF-16
Will replace QF-4 aerial targets.
Do Barbers Really Need a License?
Cosmetologists in many states face substantially heavier training requirements than do emergency medical technicians.
More Linkzookery below!
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Australian Army Pvt. Luke Challman fires at 300-meter targets while U.S. Army Sgt. Marcus Fontenot, with the 2nd Brigade , 25th Infantry Division, records Challman’s scores at the 2012 Australian Army Skills at the Arms Meeting (AASAM) in Puckapunyal, Australia, May 7, 2012. AASAM is an international marksmanship competition consisting of 16 different countries. This year is the fifth iteration of AASAM and the third consecutive year that United States forces have been invited to participate. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth, U.S. Air Force/Released)
U.S. Marines serving as the assault element of the Maritime Raid Force with the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit engage targets during a Special Operations Training Group live-fire qualification at Imperial Valley, Calif., May 8, 2012. (DoD photo by Cpl. John Robbart III, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
Women in combat: Army to open 14K jobs, 6 MOSs
Not “front line combat” positions, but closer to the action. The plan is to hold them to the exact same standards as men.
Egypt military reiterates promise to leave power by end of June
We’ll see.
Another Domino Falls in Dem War on Blue
Providence, RI, planning huge cuts for city pensioners. It’s almost like the system isn’t working as advertised.
Wisconsin Recall Amnesia: Why aren’t Democrats running against Scott Walker’s union reforms?
It’s almost like the doomsday the Dems predicted aren’t coming to pass.
CNO: Stressed fleet can’t sustain op tempo
At least they’re cutting the size of the fleet. That ought to help things.
The Navy’s new sub comes in a year early. How?
USS Mississippi (SSN 782) delivered 363 days ahead of schedule.
Indian airforce loses half its planes
India’s Russian MiG fighter jets have been branded ‘flying coffins’ after the government revealed more than half of its 872-strong fleet had crashed since the mid-1960s.
Australia Delays F-35 Order by 2 Years
Another setback for the JSF.
Dam has hosted Soviets, Brits and U.S. Marines
Kajaki Dam has seen it all. It will doubtlessly see more.
Harriers almost came back for Libya
Seems like that would have been a lot of work.
Wind Farms Warming Texas
Warming the surface underneath them at night?
Third Employee Fired After Another Edited George Zimmerman 911 Tape Surfaces
Lilia Luciano, a Miami-based correspondent, “is no longer working for the network,” TVNewser reports.
Darrell Issa Threatens to Find Eric Holder in Contempt Over ‘Fast and Furious’
It’s almost like they’re trying to hide something.
Repeat: The Cleveland 5, the geniuses who tried to blow up a bridge for the 99%, are all Occupiers
ABC News didn’t mention the Occupy movement at all. The USA Today says that they’re anarchists who just wanted to “use the cover of the Occupy Wall Street movement.”
Why didn’t we hear about how the nutjobs crapping in peoples’ front yards during the Tea Party rallies were “just using the Tea Party for cover”? Oh, that’s right. That was during Occupy protests.
Well, none of the reported rapes during Tea Party rallies were blown off as criminals using the rallies to launch attacks of opportunity. Oh, that’s right. That was during the Occupy protests, too.
And I don’t think I heard about how the people tearing up Seattle on May Day during Tea Party rallies were not affiliated with the Tea Party but just using the rallies as cover. Oh, that’s right. Occupy protests again.
Says a commenter on the Daily Caller:
The problem that the Occupy movement has is that 95% of its members make the other 5% look bad.
Meanwhile, seen on Uncle:
So yesterday, OWS tore up a couple of cities, sent fake anthrax to banks, and tried to blow up a bridge… I for one can’t wait for the media expose about racists in the Tea Party.
All via Instapundit.
I know that there are those in the Occupy movement and many among their sympathizers that are not anarchist sons of bitches intent on destroying America. My suggestion for them is to get the hell as far from the Occupiers as they can. They have lost control of their movement.
The thugs and criminals and would-be tyrants have taken over a semi-socialist movement. Like usual.
U.S. Marines aboard a U.S. Navy hovercraft assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5 depart the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8) while under way in the Persian Gulf May 1, 2012. The units were deployed as part of the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group, a U.S. Central Command theater reserve force to support maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Claudia Palacios, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
The Air Force doesn’t have specific details on numbers and locations of pilots who have refused to fly the F-22, said Maj. Brandon Lingle, an Air Force spokesman. “We are generally aware of a small number of pilots who have expressed reservations about flying the F-22, and each of those cases will be handled individually through established processes,” he said.
There are Air Force rules that say a fear of flying, “whether expressed in general terms or limited to a particular aircraft, is a professional dereliction that carries significant consequences,” Lingle said.
Ouch.
