Threat Axis Log

Its a Friday in the dog days of summer – so sit back and view this YouTube ad for Lockheed Martin’s Jet Month sale.

The Washington Post started a multi-part series of articles today about the growth of “Top Secret America” since the 9/11 attacks.

Some are worried that their little fiefdoms will be exposed – and a memo supposedly went out warning Contractor’s to confirm nothing once the article came out.

Apparently there was concern about the map that is part of the web site – and besides the fact that you can’t go closer than city (and in some places that is still enough to pin point a location) – but you have to realize that any airport that has TSA and/or Custom Border Protection – will be marked on a map (and counted in the statistics).

You can argue the merits of this article either way;
- the public has a right to know how it money is being spent/wasted in this bureaucracy
- this article provides insight to our enemies that there are gaps that could be exploited
- the fact the current administration hasn’t curtailed the growth shows that they feel the need for this continued level of security (but don’t have a better way of doing it)

One way or another – it will be worth it to keep an eye on this series to see what plays out (and if any thing gets fixed after it all is brought to light).

USS Florida (SSGN 728) arrives for a routine port visit to the island of Crete.

Originally uploaded by Official U.S. Navy Gallery

In a move that almost sounds like it is out of an Action Adventure thriller, the US Navy quietly deployed 3 Ohio-class SSGN’s in and around the Pacific early last week, and had the boats all surface on the same day (Monday, June 28th) – where they would be noticed;

• U.S.S. Ohio in the Philippines’ Subic Bay
• U.S.S. Michigan in Pusan, South Korea
• U.S.S. Florida at Diego Garcia

Why is just 3 submarines such a big deal? Because of their payload. Each Ohio SSGN carries almost 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles, capable of hitting a target over 1,000 miles away with a conventional warhead. So over 400 missiles just showed up within range of North Korea (whining about being caught sinking a S Korean warship) and China (who was on the verge of testing their new Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile over the 4th of July weekend – 2nd article down) without any warning.

And it was done quietly. So as not to inflame the situation.

I would have loved to be a fly on the wall in either Beijing or Pyongyang when this was noticed.

Read the whole story at Time.

IDFAF F15-I Ra’am in interception mode.

Originally uploaded by NGPhoto.biz

It is always fun to see what stories are published on a slow summer Friday – that fly completely under the radar.

Take for example this story published by The Times on Saturday – that claims the Israeli’s have Saudi permission to overfly Saudi airspace on the way to attack Iran.

The fact that the story appears no where else – makes you wonder if it was just an early ‘test leak’ to gauge public opinion, or else just put pressure on the Iranian government to comply w/ UN Arms control directives.

Mig-17_Fresco-7725

Originally uploaded by rob-the-org

As fewer and fewer World War 2 era airplanes are still flying – it is good to see that some ‘newer’ planes are being restored and flown on a regular basis (more than just at airshows).

This Mig is owned by a pilot in the Tucson (AZ) area and was leaving an area airport (where the Collings Foundation was visiting w/ their B-17, B-24 and P-51) under full afterburner.

(to see the other pictures of its departure – click here)

HERE is a Gallery of pictures of different Russian military hardware decoys.

I like the claim on the 7th slide that says the decoys appear to be real even to thermal or IR sensors.

Leap-Frogs-6432

Originally uploaded by rob-the-org

While the Thunderbirds and the Blue Angels are two of the best known Military demonstration teams, there are others teams that travel the country and show off their skills as well.

During this past weekend – the US Navy Leap Frogs parachute demonstration team jumped into selected Major League Baseball Spring Training games in the Phoenix Metro area.

The Leap Frogs are made up of SEAL’s and other Naval Special Warfare operators, and this is just another assignment/normal tour of duty.

Click here to view selected pictures from their demonstration at the Cleveland Indians game in Goodyear, AZ.

Douglas AIR-2 Genie

Originally uploaded by rob-the-org

a. Douglas AIR-2 Genie (its an unguided rocket, not a missile)
b. Air to Air, designed to shoot down incoming bomber formations
c. 1.5 kiloton nuclear warhead (how else were you expecting one rocket to take out multiple bombers)

The blue body denotes an inert/training body.

Last year I blogged about going to an US Air Force air show. This year – as Air Show season is about to start – I was able to spend a day watching the US Air Force demo teams practice not only their routines, but also for the Heritage Flights.

Early each Spring – the US Air Force demo teams gather at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, AZ to plan out how the flights will be flown, then rehearsal their routines and to actually practice the Heritage Flight formations. Heritage Flights are where front line Air Force fighters (F-15, F-16, F-22 and A-10′s) will fly formation with historic aircraft (P-51 Mustangs, P-40 Warhawk, A-1 Skyraider, F-4 Phantom).

The advantage to being at this event – is you get to see more than just one Heritage Flight formation.  I saw a P-51 Mustang, flying with two F-4 Phantom’s, and a F-16 Viper.  And then later on – it was a P-51, a F-4, a F-16 and a F-22 Raptor.

All of the pictures are available through the link to the Slideshow below.