It's Never a Good Thing . . .

[selenite0]

. . . to have your project mentioned on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. (pay site)

PENTAGON JUGGLES weapons programs amid budget squeeze.

Senior Defense officials pored over options this week as Deputy Secretary England pushes to trim the huge Joint Strike Fighter jet program. Air Force officials are resisting.

Not that I can I claim it's what's most needed in the current war, but I'd hate to be hit by the layoff.

Comments

[dekarch.livejournal.com]

JSF. . . Just In Case a "Real War"[tm] should break out. . .

Although, as grunt I'm obligated to point out that the JSF project ALONE is spending more money per year than the entire R&D budget for the entire US Army.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

No argument. It scares me when I see emails from the troops talking about the WWII era weapons being the most useful ones.

[dekarch.livejournal.com]

???

Other than the M-2 HB .50 caliber machine gun, there are no WWII era weapons in service.

[phanatic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you've gotta admit, it's really useful.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I was referring to this piece on a marine's opinion of his equipment. (http://nervous-rodent.blogspot.com/2005/11/marine-reports-from-iraq.html) He was talking up the M-2, the .45 pistol, and M-14 rifle (which, you're right, isn't from WWII--I plead Air Force).

[phanatic.livejournal.com]

This thing's been pretty thoroughly debunked all over the place. The M243 SAW? Huh?

[dekarch.livejournal.com]

As phanatic noted, the thing has been debunked thoroughly. Every single weapon mentioned has incorrect information somewhere.

6lb body armor? Try 26lb.

M243? No such thing, it's the M-249 and it is a wonderful weapon which I carried downrange for about six months. Love it to death.

M14 is not being issued in bulk, nor modified with kevlar stocks.

Shotguns--wrong model, and they are for breaching, not room clearing. Clearing rooms with shotguns leads to dead noncombatants.

Barretts are used for EOD, primarily.

M-240 is nothing more than an FN MAG. They are issued in several versions, from helicoptor door guns to coax and loader MGs on tanks, to standard GPMG bipod and shoulder stock configurations in infantry platoons.

Marines wouldn't have an experience with M-4s, they never adopted them.

M-16A4s do NOT have a jamming problem if you clean your damn weapons. I also didn't have any problem dropping insurgents. Or dogs, for that matter.

And no one is conducting "random autopsies" on insurgents.

[phanatic.livejournal.com]

Clearing rooms with shotguns leads to dead noncombatants.

Why? 00 buck out of improved cylinder choke gives you a spread of about 1" per yard of travel. So even at 18 feet, you're still at a 6" spread. I wouldn't expect that to kill anyone you're not deliberately aiming at, unless you're not deliberately aiming at all, in which case anything you fire could lead to dead noncombatants.

[phanatic.livejournal.com]

I dig how the M-243 is drum-fed, too. For some nonce of a reporter, I could see confusing the 200-round boxes with a drum, but someone familiar enough with the weapon to pass accurate judgement on it is sure as hell not going to do that.

[dekarch.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I missed a lot of bloopers in the article.

Besides, who uses boxes anymore? 100-rd cloth 'assault pouches' are the usual nowdays.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll refile that one to the bit bucket. Thanks for the info.

[phanatic.livejournal.com]

Reasons why I'm glad I work on CH-47s, #37 in a series.

[ndrosen.livejournal.com]

I don't claim any special wisdom on whether the JSF is the best use of our tax dollars, under the circumstances (and just what will the circumstances be in ten years?), but I don't want you to lose your job. Good luck!