US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Wednesday at 9:25 PM
Oct 24, 2018
and
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Pence Announces Creation of US Space Command

12/18/2018
now inside
Failure To Launch? Pentagon's Space Force Plan Could Hamstring The New Service's Leadership
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:
image

The basic command chain structure the Pentagon describes in its draft Space Force legislative proposal.
two-letter acronym comes to mind
 

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Apr 18, 2017
... and
USAF's Next Budget Request Will Include New F-15X Advanced Eagle Fighter Jets: Report

December 21, 2018
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Jura will love the math on this $1.2 BILLION for 12 that means they are roughly $100mill a pop. 12 units by the way doesn't equal a squadron. Which is 18-24 units. That means expect someone to try and line item more in.
Thursday at 1:04 PM


but now I see


inside:

so I quickly checked google to find out:
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle/First flight
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July 27, 1972
(I happen to know the first flight of F-16 was in 1974)
YF15's first flight was in 1974
However the F15E is the basis of modern F15 builds. Basically Strike Eagle is a bit like the Super Hornet in that it was a new aircraft design that carried the designation of the old one. it's like the late model Flankers they look like the old SU27 but that's skin deep. Structural, Avionics and engine changes were made to increase power and update the package. This proved successful and after the USAF got it's units it became a hit on the export market. As Boeing continued with Strike eagle derivatives they eventually saw the rise of JSF. So they tried to cut it off at the pass with a farther evolution of F15 the F15 SE or Silent Eagle concept but that never left demo.
instead they created based on some of it the F15 Advanced Eagle which adds fly by wire, JHMC, modern flight controls, additional hard points and a upgraded radar. These got picked up by the Saudis and Qatar.
At the same time F15 Advanced was emerging Boeing was also pumping the F15 2040C this was a massive overhaul of the F15C blending in features of the F15SE. Now this theoretical form would work because the F15E prototype was built from a F15B so they in theory could rebuild the F15C into newer forms. But it seems that F15C 2040 was dropped.

This leads us again to F15 Advanced Eagle. In this case the F15 QA or Qatar Advanced would be the basis of an F15X these new airframes would replace there aging elder siblings the F15C/D the USAF has about 230 of these birds in Service along with another 213 F15E.

F15X... it was said to have been a pitch based on the idea that a fourth gen would be nondisruptive of F35 procurement and cost effective.
Although this would be miles beyond F15C the cost point here of 12 for 1.2billion dollars should indicate that this is not a nondisruptive product. At about 100 million a bird vs currently priced F35. F35 is cheaper.
Mind you the price has actually dropped a bit vs the Qatar order of 12 Billion for 36 units in 2017. If you are one of those who simply divides that would be $333 million a plane. Which is on par with the cost estimate of the GAO of a F22 because of the stupidity of 187 birds.
If that 1.2billion is consistent and the USAF is pushed to try and procure total replacement by my figuring is about 24 billion. Which on the face of it is cheaper (about half) than a raptor restart but those F15X but those F15X are wasted against a peer level airdefence system.
Even the claim that these would be suitable against counter terror ops is pretty silly. The most effective weapon against that has been drones with missiles and bombs. If you are buying aircraft to fight terrorists you use the existing manned as nessisarily and buy General Atomics Avenger drones.
New F22 would be more useful than new F15 because if we start getting into a peer or near peer battles. F15X is going to ve missiled out of the sky before they face any adversary in air to air. Despite never having lost a air to air battle F15 has lost plenty of Ground to air battles. And at 1.2billion dollars that's easily 12 F35A the USAF aren't getting.
 
so,
With Mattis leaving the Pentagon, is Dunford next to go?
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With Thursday’s announcement that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis
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over disagreement with the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, among other splits, all eyes turned to the military’s
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to see if he would be following suit.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford was traveling overseas on his annual visit to troops over the holidays when the news broke of Mattis' resignation.

In his resignation
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to President Donald Trump, Mattis wrote, “because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position," after citing the personal importance, after 40 years of military service, of strategic alliances.

Dunford has also repeatedly stressed the importance of
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to best protect U.S. interests as competitors Russia and China rise, and he has emphasized his broad support for the coalition of Kurdish forces who have been crucial in the U.S. campaign against the Islamic State in Syria.

Dunford’s term officially ends in October 2019. His successor, Army Gen. Mark Milley, has already been
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However, Milley, the Army chief of staff, still must be confirmed by Congress, which led to the question of whether Dunford may depart before his successor is installed and before a new vice chairman is named.

Current Vice Chairman Air Force Gen. Paul Selva’s term expires in July.

Should Dunford leave early, or be pushed out before his term ends, he would be replaced by the vice chairman in an acting chairman capacity, per
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.

Should both spots be vacant, whether due to a lack of a confirmed successor or because both men were pushed out early, Trump would be able to pick an acting chairman from among the remaining members of the Joint Chiefs.

Theoretically, Trump could pick Milley in that way and elevate him into the acting chairman position more quickly.

However, doing so might cause problems for Milley’s confirmation on the Hill. Members of the Senate have expressed reservations in the past when someone is named the acting for a job that they are also nominated for.

Milley’s selection, the rejection of Mattis' advice on Syria, the cancellation of South Korea military exercises, the deployment of troops to the southern U.S. border and the creation of a space force, among others, were factors in Mattis' departure.

It’s also known that Milley was not Dunford’s first pick for his successor, a former U.S. official said.

With Mattis, “the Milley thing was really tough," the official said. “[Mattis] has lost on so much. Whether or not he was completely out [of favor with Trump], his voice wasn’t being respected.”

The withdrawal of troops from Syria was just the final straw, and Mattis' resignation may be an example to other top military leaders, the official said.

“These military officers, they object ... but they never, ever resign. Why is that? If [the threat in Syria] is that serious that we would put troops in harms' way, what is [Gen.] Dunford going to do?”

Another DoD official suggested that because Mattis is on his way out, Dunford may be getting advised behind the scenes to stay as long as possible to, in a favorite Mattis phrase, ensure the way ahead is “steady as she goes.”

Air Force Col. Pat Ryder, Dunford’s spokesman, said “all indications are that Gen. Dunford will serve out his full term. But I’d refer you to the White House for any other questions.”
 
now
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I am pleased to announce that our very talented Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick Shanahan, will assume the title of Acting Secretary of Defense starting January 1, 2019. Patrick has a long list of accomplishments while serving as Deputy, & previously Boeing. He will be great!
 

anzha

Senior Member
Registered Member
LOL! good you're 'fiscally responsible'
Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas to you TE

Shanahan is an ex Boeing exec.

Interesting that now he's becoming SecDef that Boeing is getting F-15X orders.

Anyone remember the Boeing tanker scandal 10-15 years ago?

Things that make you go hmm.
 
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