CV32

I'm a bit surprised there was nothing about the deployment of BPC Dixmude.

PM Says Bangladesh To Buy 1st Submarines (DefenseNews)

Did anyone notice how the target - even with the nice, largish reflector mounted on it - nearly dipped below the horizon and out of line of sight during the engagement?

I like the low smoke but still have some concerns about the utility of the Griffin in the marine environment.

Russian Navy to Get Dugon Landing Ships This Year (RIA Novosti)

Yeah, I was hoping the OP would add more. Until then, we offer what we can and that's all we can do.

Mighty Zumwalt is coming together (DefenseNews' Intercepts blog) More pics.

Lots of pics here. Mistral class BPC Dixmude apparently left Toulon yesterday morning with elements of the French Army's 92e RI and is enroute to Mali.

F-35 JSF Testers Report Progress, Problems (Aviation Week)

Dangerous shoals (The Economist)

Getting to Yes With Iran: The Challenges of Coercive Diplomacy (Foreign Affairs, January/February 2013)

A couple more articles from The Diplomat ... Japan’s Navy: Sailing Towards the Future Tensions Mount Between Japan and China

The Pentagons Frankensteins (National Review Online)

Precautionary Suspension of [F-35B] Flight Operations

MH-60S underpowered for MCM towing operations (Jane's)

Early Lessons From France’s Mali Action Emerge (DefenseNews)

German, Dutch Patriot Missiles Arrive in Turkey (DefenseNews)

Two things - at a minimum - need to happen before folks will ever see a tangible reduction in crimes of this nature. 1. Accept that you cannot stop it from happening. Ever. There will always be - at some level - motive and opportunity for a madman to kill others. 2. Start tackling the root causes of crime instead of trying to apply 'band aid', 'feel good' solutions that ultimately do nothing.

Multiple Spaces Flooded on Stranded U.S. Minesweeper (DefenseNews)

He could be shot or tasered (though I wouldn't recommend bringing a taser to a gunfight) at any point in the scenario, and waiting for a mag change is a good way for a lot of innocent folks to get killed. I'm glad you mention the possibility of a real response, though, because most everyone on the left side of this debate seems to believe that victims should have no option for self-defense whatsoever. I don't think pointing out the differences between an AR-15 and the Garand will get you very far. The difference between 8 rounds and 30 rounds certainly wasn't what led to the development of the M-16 over the Garand. Both are semi-automatic, and I know some older guys who can get their Garand humming pretty well at a pace comparable to any AR-15 That big ole 0.30 cal bullet is still very much desirable in a firefight. Many soldiers have wished it were still available over .223. Yeah, that's a fairly typical argument put forward by folks who don't engage in the shooting sports or who aren't strong defenders of the Second Amendment. I happen to enjoy not having to switch out magazines while target shooting. My time is faster, and I don't have to change my grip so my accuracy tends to be better. When I'm hunting predators or small game, magazine capacity can be the difference between success and going home empty handed. During the height of the Cold War, why did we "need" more nukes than the Soviet Union? I think its because we refused to give up any advantage whatsoever to our potential adversary. Why do we even now still strive for better and more arms and equipment than those who would seek to harm us? Ya know, since we're on the topic, there's no need for alcohol or tobacco either. But despite the fact that these things kill many, many times more the number of people than guns, we legitimatize their sale and use and even collect taxes from the enterprise. I rather doubt you will find many gun control advocates lining up to surrender their booze or smokes if they partake in such things.

Not just interesting, but factual, something that is lost in the emotional, knee jerk reaction to offer up any solution to a problem that is much deeper than a simple inanimate object, even if that solution does nothing at all to actually solve the problem. Most folks have no idea how long it takes to switch out a magazine. With practice, just a couple of seconds or less: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StPrXCHoXvU So what does the madman do when faced with magazine limits? Just carry more magazines/ammo. NYC's previous move of reducing mag limits to 10 rounds, and now down to 7 rounds, are empty gestures.

Pentagon grounds F-35B (Reuters) F-35B Flights Suspended Following Fueldraulic Failure (DefenseNews) F-35B grounded after fueldraulic line failure (Flight Global)

The truth about assault weapons

Lockheed addresses Pentagon F-35 DOT&E report (Flight Global)

This typically happens, iirc, when the range/distance of the intended mission is more than tanking will allow for. I'm guessing that you put multiple tankers into the group to try and account for the long distance. First off, keep in mind that fuel or endurance in HCE is calculated as an expression of "range", rather than, say, kilograms of fuel. What your tankers are doing, in effect, is adding range to the recipient aircraft rather a certain amount of fuel. A single tanker will therefore split its available "range" (i.e. fuel) among the recipient aircraft in the group (they need to be of homogeneous type or else you get further weirdness). In other words, a single tanker attached (in a group) to six recipient aircraft will split its available fuel into six equal shares. So, in terms of gameplay, my usual practice is to attach a single tanker to a group of recipients. Smaller groups will ensure a greater share of the available resources. If its a really long distance, I will put another tanker out there on a rendezvous point (or send it along unattached with the remainder of the group) and then attach that second tanker to the group for a second leg of the mission. I hope this helps, or at least, helps move along the discussion toward a resolution of the issue.