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STUTTGART, Germany — Special agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command are investigating the theft of guns and other military equipment from a base arms room in Stuttgart, military officials said.

“Several semi-automatic pistols, one small-caliber automatic rifle and a shotgun were among the items taken,” said Chris Grey, a CID spokesman.

The Army did not identify all the items stolen or the unit targeted, citing the active investigation. A possible breach of the base fence is also part of the ongoing probe.

“We are looking at all possibilities as the investigation continues, but at this point in the investigation it does not appear that an outside entity stole the firearms and equipment or breached the fence line, but we have not completely ruled it out,” Grey said.

via www.stripes.com

Oh, boy, I'd *hate* to be a part of the Panzer Kaserne community right now, and especially the unit armorer who was responsible.

Unit armorers do very little in the way of arms maintenance. Their role is almost exclusively limited to accountability and physical security of the weapons.

And you know he or she is in for some very uncomfortable interviews.

WASHINGTON — The Air Force on Tuesday declared its first squadron of F-35As ready for battle, fifteen years after Lockheed Martin won the contract to make the plane.

The milestone means that the service can now send its first operational F-35 formation — the 34th Fighter Squadron located at Hill Air Force Base, Utah — into combat operations anywhere in the world. The service, which plans to buy 1,763 F-35As, is the single-largest customer of the joint strike fighter program, which also includes the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy and a host of governments worldwide.

The Air Force, which follows the Marine Corps in approving F-35s for operations, had a five-month window between Aug. 1 and Dec. 31 to proclaim initial operational capability. After notifying Congress, Air Combat Command head Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle signed off on the declaration on August 2.

via www.defensenews.com

It will be interesting to see how long until the 34th FS actually deploys somewhere.

Also, while the squadron has reached Initial Operational Capability, there's a long way to go before Full Operational Capability.

While the jets are cleared to use some of the weapons intended, there remain a goodly number of other weapons that haven't gone through the lengthy certification process.

And it takes a while to dial in just what levels of spare parts a squadron realistically needs during operations or deployment. That is something that can only be gleaned from experience.

And finally, while the 34th FS has operationally cleared software, there are already planned improvements and block releases of better software programmed for the near future.

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration has authorized the B61-12 warhead life-extension program to enter the production-engineering phase.

The decision marks the final development phase prior to actual production. The NNSA says the first production unit of the weapon is planned for fiscal year 2020.

“Reaching this next phase of the B61-12 LEP is a major achievement for NNSA and the exceptionally talented scientists and engineers whose work underpins this vital national security mission,” NNSA head retired Lt. Gen. Frank  Klotz said in a statement. “Currently, the B61 contains the oldest components in the US arsenal. This LEP will add at least an additional 20 years to the life of the system.”

via www.defensenews.com

It's about time.

By the way, the real news is buried deeper in the article.

The Air Force just started a new program known as GBSD, or Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. That is, the replacement for the almost 50 year old LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM.

The Air Force also began a Long Range Stand Off program to replace the 1970s era AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile.

In the generation since the end of the Cold War, our strategic forces have suffered from benign neglect, and it is good to see that as tensions are rising again worldwide, they are finally receiving some attention.

Since 1987, the US Navy Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, have flown a variety of F/A-18A, B, C and D model Boeing (originally, McDonnell Douglas) Hornet fighters.  That’s 30 years, meaning the Blues have flown the Hornet longer than any other type of aircraft in their history.  Heck, almost half their history is in Hornets.

But the “legacy” Hornet fleet is very, very tired, and increasingly difficult to maintain.

And so, Boeing has received a contract to modify a handful of F/A-18E and F Super Hornets to equip the team.

Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is being awarded $12,053,076 for cost-plus-fixed-fee, delivery order 0002 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-16-G-0001) for non-recurring design and development engineering for an engineering change proposal for the "Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels) Super Hornet Conversion." Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (82.8 percent); and El Segundo, California (17.2 percent), and is expected to be completed September 2017. Fiscal 2016 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $12,053,076 are being obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

The most obvious modification to the jets for Blue Angels duty will be the installation of the smoke system. Changes to the fuel pumps will allow extended inverted flight, and the gun and most other weapon systems components will be removed.  Finally, a special spring system will be installed to the control column for a more precise “feel” during the maneuvers.

The Super Hornet looks a lot like the legacy Hornet, but is actually almost 25% bigger, and isn’t quite as sprightly a performer.

At a time when the fleet is struggling to keep enough jets up for training and operations, you would be forgiven for thinking that putting Super Hornets in blue would be a bad idea. But there are already in the fleet a number of jets that are not combat coded, and which it would be prohibitively expensive to bring up to standard. That is the pool of jets the Blue Angels will draw upon.

I’m more used to seeing Intruders and Aardvarks running the low level visual route known as VR-1355.

No crash and burn this time, but a couple of really interesting camera angles.

URR here.  I maintain that junior Marines are the funniest people on the planet, bar none.  They see the humor in their leaders, in each other, in their situation, in civilians, in everything.  And their talent for imitation and sense of the absurd is positively unmatched.

Behold:

Here's to ya, Marines.  

H/T  USMC Vets