Spooooky!

Visions of a Terrifying Future

• No Cold War with China – Instead, great power competition, which has never ended better than a cold war.
• Buying two Fords at once? – Twice the carrier, twice the budget overrun!
• The Naval Strike Missile might be entering service ahead of schedule – How is it terrifying? Picture them flying around the South China Sea! (Okay, yes, it’s a bit of a stretch.)
• Prepare for war, Xi Jinping tells military region that monitors South China Sea, Taiwan – No commentary needed here.

Crumbling, Decaying Armed Forces Etc.

• More F-35s grounded
• The US merchant marine is in sorry, sorry shape
• Air Force secretary details plans to increase fighter readiness – I’ll believe it when I see it.
• USAF wants more airlift capacity, but the C-17 is out of production – Hmm. Troublesome.
• Should the Air Force rebuild Tyndall? – Important to note: Tyndall has easy access to the Joint Gulf Training Complex, where a good deal of high-altitude supersonic combat training is done. Personally, though, I’m fine if they just move it all to Nevada.

Horror-Movie “Don’t Do That You Idiots!” Moves

• Voters poised to hand total control of NY legislature to the Democrats – Follow @upstatefederlst on Twitter if you want a depressing look at New York state politics.
• The USAF faces some tough procurement decisions – … because all of its procurement programs lately have been so horribly run and so delayed that they’re all starting to stack up.
• Speaking of, the Air Force has a $1300 coffee mug – Also, the handle breaks when you drop it, and you can’t buy replacement handles. Granted, they’re fancy mugs with internal heating elements and a plug to connect to aircraft power, but still. To their credit, airmen at Travis AFB pointed out that this was a ridiculous price, and the Air Force is looking into fixing it.
• Should the Navy buy AIP diesel boats?

Monstrous Concepts and Miscellaneous Violence

• An Apache with a jet exhaust and a pusher prop – Somehow, still a better idea than a combat tiltrotor.
• Big Kuz’s drydock sinks – Also, Big Kuz’s drydock knocks a giant hole into her side.
• A tour of Big Kuz
• During NATO exercises in Iceland, US troops drank all the beer in Reykjavik – Bravo Zulu, soldiers!