A U.S. Marine Corps AH-1W made an emergency landing in the Los Angeles River on May 11.anding in Los Angeles River
The helicopter returned back to Camp Pendleton in the evening after technicians discovered that a gauge was malfunctioning.

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 211 crashed at 1:30 p.m. (GMT), today, shortly after launching from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) operating in the Arabian Gulf.

The two personnel aboard the strike fighter ejected from the aircraft, survived the crash and were quickly recovered by search and rescue personnel from the ship. The recovered Naval Aviators are being evaluated by medical personnel aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt. Initial reports indicate both are conscious and alert, and without serious injury.

The crash was not a result of hostile activity.

Strike Fighter Squadron 211 is based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, and is assigned to Carrier Air Wing 1. USS Theodore Roosevelt, with its embarked carrier air wing, is currently in the U.S. 5th Fleet supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, conducting strike operations against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

The Navy is investigating the cause of the crash.

got video link?

The U.S. military is considering using aircraft and Navy ships to directly contest Chinese territorial claims to a chain of rapidly expanding artificial islands, U.S. officials said, in a move that would raise the stakes in a regional showdown over who controls disputed waters in the South China Sea.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has asked his staff to look at options that include flying Navy surveillance aircraft over the islands and sending U.S. naval ships to within 12 nautical miles of reefs that have been built up and claimed by the Chinese in an area known as the Spratly Islands.

Such moves, if approved by the White House, would be designed to send a message to Beijing that the U.S. won’t accede to Chinese territorial claims to the man-made islands in what the U.S. considers to be international waters and airspace.

The Pentagon’s calculation may be that the military planning, and any possible deployments, would increase pressure on the Chinese to make concessions over the artificial islands. But Beijing also could double down, expanding construction in defiance of the U.S. and potentially taking steps to further Chinese claims in the area.

The U.S. has said it doesn’t recognize the man-made islands as sovereign Chinese territory. Nonetheless, military officials said, the Navy has so far not sent military aircraft or ships within 12 nautical miles of the reclaimed reefs to avoid escalating tensions.

If the U.S. challenges China’s claims using ships or naval vessels and Beijing stands its ground, the result could escalate tensions in the region, with increasing pressure on both sides to flex military muscle in the disputed waters.

According to U.S. estimates, China has expanded the artificial islands in the Spratly chain to as much as 2,000 acres of land, up from 500 acres last year. Last month, satellite imagery from defense intelligence provider IHS Jane’s showed China has begun building an airstrip on one of the islands, which appears to be large enough to accommodate fighter jets and surveillance aircraft.

The U.S. has used its military to challenge other Chinese claims Washington considers unfounded. In November 2013, the U.S. flew a pair of B-52 bombers over disputed islands in the East China Sea to contest an air identification zone that Beijing had declared in the area.

Officials said there was now growing momentum within the Pentagon and the White House for taking concrete steps in order to send Beijing a signal that the recent buildup in the Spratlys went too far and needed to stop.

Chinese officials dismiss complaints about the island-building, saying Beijing is entitled to undertake construction projects within its own sovereign territory. They say the facilities will be used for military and civilian purposes.

ENLARGE

“China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters,” said embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan, using the Chinese name for the Spratlys. “The relevant construction, which is reasonable, justified and lawful, is well within China’s sovereignty. It does not impact or target any country, and is thus beyond reproach.”

Mr. Zhu said that Beijing hopes that “relevant parties,” a reference to the U.S. military and its regional allies, will “refrain from playing up tensions or doing anything detrimental to security and mutual trust.”

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and its efforts to enforce control of the area in recent years have caused growing concern in the U.S. and in Asia, where several nations have competing claims, including the Philippines, a U.S. ally.

“The Philippines believes that the U.S., as well as all responsible members of the international community, do have an interest and say in what is happening in the South China Sea,” said Charles Jose, spokesman for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, early Wednesday, citing freedom of navigation and unimpeded flow of commerce among other factors.

U.S. military aircraft have repeatedly approached the 12-nautical-mile zone declared by China around the built up reefs. But to avoid an escalation, the planes haven’t penetrated the zone. A senior military official said the flights “have kept a distance from the islands and remained near the 12-mile mark.”

U.S. planes have flown close to the islands where the building has been taking place, prompting Chinese military officers to radio the approaching U.S. aircraft to notify the pilots that they are nearing Chinese sovereign territory. In response, U.S. pilots have told the Chinese that they are flying through international airspace.

The USS Fort Worth, a combat ship, has been operating in recent days in waters near the Spratlys. “We’re just not going within the 12 miles—yet,” a senior U.S. official said.

The military proposals haven’t been formally presented to the White House, which would have to sign off on any change in the U.S. posture. The White House declined to comment on the deliberations.

Officials said the issue is a complicated one because at least some of the areas where the Chinese have been doing construction are, in eyes of the U.S. government, legitimate islands, which would be entitled to a 12-nautical-mile zone.

The proposal under consideration would be to send Navy ships and aircraft to within 12 nautical miles of only those built-up sites that the U.S. doesn’t legally consider to be islands, officials say.

Neh.. japan wont come. That will violate their self defence policy

Us need at least a few day to deploys his troops. Leaving sk to hold for that fews days.

TOKYO — North Korea’s equivalent of a defense minister has been executed by anti-aircraft gun for insubordination and treason — including for sleeping during a meeting where Kim Jong Un was speaking, South Korea’s intelligence agency said Wednesday.

The report, if true, would starkly illustrate the brutal extent to which the young North Korean leader is going to consolidate power.

General Hyon Yong Chol, held a variety of senior positions in North Korea’s military, most recently as chief of North Korea's People’s Armed Forces, the number two military position in the country. He was executed by firing squad at a Pyongyang military school in front of hundreds of people at the end of last month, officials from the National Intelligence Service told local reporters at a briefing in Seoul.

An NIS spokesman confirmed to The Post that it believed Hyon had been executed.

The NIS delivered a similar report to lawmakers in a closed-door parliamentary session earlier Wednesday, according to the South’s Yonhap News Agency. Hyon was seen dozing off during a military event and did not carry out Kim’s instructions, Han Ki-beom, the deputy director of the NIS, told the committee. YTN, Yonhap’s television arm, broadcast photos of Hyon, sitting at a meeting two seats away from Kim, with his eyes closed.

“He was definitely purged and reliable intelligence says he was executed publicly in front of hundreds of military officers,” Kim Gwang-lim, a South Korean lawmaker who was in the NIS briefing, told reporters afterwards, according to a transcript.

“According to intelligence, Hyon was shot to death at Kangkun military school in Pyongyang,” another lawmaker, Lee Cheol-woo, added, saying that the execution showed that Kim operated a “reign of terror”.

The NIS report could not be independently verified. NIS’s claims turn out to be wrong as often as they are right. The agency had previously told lawmakers that it expected Kim to travel to Moscow for Russia’s Victory Day celebrations last weekend, shortly before the Kremlin announced he would not.

But Michael Madden, who runs the blog North Korea Leadership Watch, said that Wednesday's report rang true and was the latest in a slew of personnel changes — some fatal — in North Korea.

“Hyon was a critical guy,” Madden said. “I don’t think there is a stability issue, but I think there are some internal dynamics going on."

Hyon was frequently mentioned in the official North Korean press, with a Korean Central News Agency report stating that he attended a party for the anniversary of the birth of the founder of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, in Moscow on April 15.

The last mention of him was in an April 29 report of a performance in Pyongyang. The NIS said he was executed on about April 30.

RMAF loves to play with US Airforce/navy

have seen many pics of the 2 forces flying together

bila China??

RMAF loves to play with US Airforce/navy

have seen many pics of the 2 forces flying together

bila China??

The nearshore seas to shore area is where the action is expected militarily in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific in the future, and the U.S. Marine Corps is trying to get a handle on a growing regional interest in amphibious operations — a task at which it excels.

To that end, Marine Corps Forces Pacific is hosting 23 foreign nations at the inaugural U.S. Pacific Command Amphibious Leaders Symposium May 17 to 21 in Hawaii. Senior military leaders of allied and partner nations are expected to attend.

Growing Indo-Asia-Pacific economics and rising tensions have placed the littorals, where a majority of shipping and commerce operates, at the center of the bullseye for the U.S. military pivot to the Pacific.

“We have thousands and thousands of miles of coastline, thousands and thousands of islands, interposing water between it, and everybody who wants to use that water as maneuver space,” said Brig. Gen. C. J. Mahoney, deputy commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific at Camp H.M. Smith.

Interest in amphibious operations is about as wide ranging, with some nations wanting small or larger-scale amphibious capabilities for everything from fish poaching to sovereignty issues.

Col. Nathan Nastase, director of plans and policies for Marine Corps Forces Pacific, said it’s the first time so many nations have been brought together in the Pacific to discuss amphibious operations.

“I think there’s a lot of interest,” Nastase said Tuesday. “Certainly not everybody has the same aspirations or capabilities that we have or desire. But what we’re trying to figure out by bringing these folks together is — what is it that you think you need for your particular situation? How can that potentially compliment us or your neighbors or a group of like-minded nations to help each other out in times of crisis, times of humanitarian disaster?”

Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Columbia, France, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, United Kingdom and Vietnam will be sending representatives, the Marines said.

India, Brazil and East Timor were invited but not able to attend.

China, which is at the center of a number of territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, was not invited due to U.S. policy restrictions, the Marine Corps said.

PLA has language barrier, US no

PLA has language barrier, US no

On 6 September 2007, the Israeli Air Force attacked and destroyed the North Korean built nuclear reactor in the Dier ez-Zor region of Syria during "Operation Orchard." Seven F-15 Israeli fighter jets dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on the reactor just after midnight. To avoid Syrian radar, the Israelis used an ELINT (ELectronic INTelligence) system similar to the U.S. Suter airborne network attack system. The Syrian air defenses saw nothing abnormal on their radar screens.

Operation Opera used a flaw in the Iraqi radar coverage to manipulate space and time (as seen by the Iraqi air defenses). In Operation Orchard, Israeli ELINT systems took control of Syrian air defense radar systems and manipulated space and time (as seen by the Syrian air defenses). Additionally, both missions compressed time for the Iraqis and the Syrians (they had no time to react), and expanded time for the Israelis (allowing them time to complete their mission unmolested). These examples show the future of 6GW. Maybe the definition of space-time manipulation will help you understand the principles better.

6GW makes me think of a quote from Sun Tzus The Art of War: "All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."