A couple of interesting news-worthy (to you guys) videos just hit, both F-16 related.
First up, Boeing just announced that it has wrapped up its 10-year program taking old Gen Dyn F-16A/Bs and converting them into QF-16 remote-controlled target drones. The last of 127 Boeing-modded QF-16s recently made its final delivery to the U.S. Air Force and is expected to fly until at least 2030.
The video includes some cool unmanned cockpit clips.
Meanwhile, in Argentina…
The Royal Danish Air Force has uploaded a superb 360-degree view from the cockpit of the new (to) Argentina F-16s during the recent flyover of Buenos Aires.
Six of the ultimately 24 refirb’d circa-1980s Danish-operated F-16A/B MLU Block 10/15s have arrived in Argentina earlier this month, with the U.S. providing backing with training, maintenance, and long-term support. The latter is also probably insurance against their possible use against the
At a time when the USN’s big deck ‘phib force is perhaps at its smallest size in terms of number of hulls in the water since 1940, the Medium Landing Ship has officially been announced by the SECNAV.
As many as 35 are wanted by the Marines, although you can be sure that will likely be trimmed to 23-24 (the Marines have only two missile-slinging Marine Littoral Regiments stood up, rather than the three planned, the whole reason for the LSM to exist).
The winner is Damen’s Landing Ship Transport (LST) 100 design, with the “100” being its length in meters. A small ship, measuring 321 feet with a 1,400 dwt (4,000 tons full load) displacement, it is capable of 15 knots while carrying a 1,020 m² RoRo deck, featuring a helicopter pad and space for small boats. Crew size is just 18 men– which means 40 overseen by an O-5 in Big Navy parlance.
They can essentially land a vehicle-based company-sized force, which sets up the interesting scenario of, say, an LSM, LCS, and an older DDG, operating as a sort of “pocket MEU” for non-combat operations other than all-out war (evacs, humanitarian support, exercises, constabulary, etc) — freeing up regular MEUs for more muscular use.
“The U.S. Navy has selected the LST 100 design for the Medium Landing Ship (LSM) program, enabling rapid fielding of this urgently needed capability to our Navy and U.S. Marine Corps team. By leveraging a mature, non-developmental design and strategic engineering, we are shortening acquisition timelines and ensuring our forces have the littoral mobility they need when they need it.”
As Damen is a proven designer and its successive series of 110, 87, and 154-foot patrol boats, built by Bollinger in Louisiana, have been the background of the USCG since the 1980s, with more than 180 delivered. That puts Bollinger immediately in the hunt, and, as the LSM is a simple design, you can bet some commercial firms and also-runs will also try to get in on the build.
It is (almost) always more efficient and effective to buy an existing product off the shelf than to develop one to fit your exact needs. NAVSEA has found that out painfully with the LCS program and the Zumwalt-class Megadestroyers.
Even when buying an existing design, such as done ostensibly with the now-abandoned Constellation-class frigates, NAVSEA has learned that it cannot totally change every compartment of the design, add dozens of new ones, and start construction before this total redesign is even finished.
Off the shelf means little to no changes. Hopefully, NAVSEA has seen the light.
A return to LST normal?
USCG-manned USS LST 66 headed for a hot beach at Balikpapan. Commissioned on 12 April 1943, LST-66 was on her 12 series of landings after hitting the beach with Marines and soldiers at Cape Gloucester, Saidor, Hollandia, Toem-Wakde-Sarmi, Biak, Noemfoor, Cape Sansapor, Morotai, Leyte, Lingayen, and Mindanao, earning eight battle stars. NARA 26-G-4741
Going back to the days of the Overlord, Detachment, and Iceberg landings of 1944-45, the Navy relied on LSTs to get to the beach with an early generation of LSDs/APDs just offshore running small boats to and from troop-laden transports.
This formula continued well into the Carter era, even giving a nod to vertical envelopment as early as Operation Swift Winds in South Vietnam in 1965, using amphibious assault ships like the USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) to rapidly insert Marines via helicopter. Meanwhile, starting in 1962 with the 14,000-ton USS Raleigh (LPD-1), assault transport docks began to appear, with the ability to carry both landing craft and helicopters.
In 1968, the Navy had 7 Iwo Jima-class 18,000-ton helicopter carriers built or on the schedule, 16 Raleigh and Cleveland class LPDs, 33 LSDs of the Anchorage, Cabildo, and Ashland class as well as the 27 Newport and Suffolk class LSTs plus 99 (!) older LST-1156 (Terribone Parish), LST-511 (Caddo Parish), and LST-1 (Blanco) series gators. This was also bolstered by 20 Attack Transports (APAs) and 23 Attack Cargo Ships (AKAs).
No matter how you slice it, that was well over 200 amphibious warfare ships.
The prospect of owning the beachhead was still very real at the time, with the Navy having lists of shallow draft DERs, DEs, PGs, and even 11 LSMRs– 1,100-ton landing ships that had been fitted to fire 240 5-inch rocket salvos at a time.
Then came the building of the big deck 40,000+ ton LHAs and LHDs, starting with USS Tarawa in 1976, and increasingly larger LPDs and LSDs, able to push the landing ships further over-the-horizon and out to sea– safely away from things like Silkworm missiles, fast attack craft hiding in the shallows, and 155mm howitzers on the beach.
Artist’s conception of a very preliminary design of the LHA, released by DoD, 15 February 1967. USN 1120262
This meant the end of the APAs and AKAs, as the bigger LHA/LHDs, LPDs, and LSDs could carry more men and cargo, and the outright termination of the LST, with still-useful Newport class vessels divested at the end of the Cold War (and quickly snapped up by Allied countries, with four of them still active in their 50s). Also gone were the “small boy” escorts that could get in close to the beach with 5-inch guns, as clearly they would not be needed.
By 2003, the Navy was down to just five LHAs, seven LHDs, 12 LSDs, and 12 LPDs (a 13th as a flagship), the mystical 36-ship package allowing 12 amphibious ready groups, each with a big deck LHA/LHD, an LPD, and an LSD, capable of toting around a reinforced Marine battalion with its integrated aviation and support elements (the MEU).
Current figures today are 9 LHD/LHAs, 10 LSDs, and 13 LPDs: 32 hulls, just one more than the Congress-mandated minimum of 31 ships. But that is subjective as the worn-out LSDs are retiring, and incoming LPD numbers are not sufficient to replace them on a hull-for-hull basis.
Worse, there is no, um, expendable, landing ship to put the Marine Littoral Regiment on the beach, which is the stated need for the LSM (we can’t call them full-fledged LSTs now, can we?).
We all know that the LSM will be pressed into other service outside of schlepping MLRs around the Chinese littoral, especially when viewed on their 20-30 year lifespan. Hopefully, it will not come at the expense of the big hull gators, or we will be right back to 1944-45 again, but at a time when the littoral has never been more dangerous, or when we have less control of it.
Australia this week said goodbye to the last of 14 aluminum-hulled Armidale-class patrol boats, with the last three active members (HMAS Bathurst, Albany, and Childers) sailing into Darwin’s HMAS Coonawarra for the last time.
HMA Ships Bathurst, Albany, and Childers sail into Darwin harbour for the final time.
HMA Ships Bathurst, Albany, and Childers sail into Darwin harbour for the final time.
They began entering service in 2005, but due to almost constant deployments via 21 rotating crews, and taskings that took them as far as Timor, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Christmas Island, as well as on joint counter-terrorism patrols in the Sulu Sea with the Philippine Navy, they are ready for retirement.
Decent ships at some 186 feet in length, they had a 300-ton displacement and a reliable MTU diesel powerplant, which gave them long legs and a 42-day endurance. Armed with a 25mm Mk38 in a Typhoon remote mount and two .50 cals, they carried a 21-member crew– small for a 186-foot PC– as well as two 24-foot RIBs.
However, aluminum is not known for extended durability in high sea states often encountered in the region, and besides hull cracking, they are just worn out.
HMAS Childers prepares to come alongside HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin. Photo: Petty Officer Leo Baumgartner
HMAS Coonawarra has joined former Armidale Class Patrol Boats crew members to welcome the last of the ACPBs, HMA Ships Albany, Bathurst, and Childers, as the ships conducted a final group entry into HMAS Coonawarra
They were also the stars (and set) of Seasons 2-5 of the excellent Ozzie maritime LE drama, Sea Patrol, which aired from 2008 to 2011 and is widely available to watch for free online.
They are being replaced by a half-dozen larger (262 foot/1,600-ton) Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels, which have the same armament but an aviation deck and better seakeeping abilities.
Navy’s second Offshore Patrol Vessel NUSHIP Eyre arrives at Fleet Base West to begin her transition to the operational release phase. *** Local Caption *** NUSHIP Eyre berthed alongside Fleet Base West for the first time on Friday, 3 October 2025. Her arrival marks the beginning of the transitions to Operational release – a proud moment for the crew, who have proven themselves responsive and adaptive throughout the dynamic lead-up to this milestone.
These are augmented by a dozen 189-foot/400-ton Cape and Evolved Cape class PBs, built by Austal.
Via the USAMU, Fort Benning- December 2025- Attention all U.S. Army Soldiers! Registration is now open for the 2026 U.S. Army Small Arms Championships at Fort Benning, Georgia, March 8-14.
The US Army Small Arms Championship (All Army) is an advanced combat live-fire training event. Training and skill exercises apply to all military small arms firing disciplines.
This event is only open to Active Army, Army Reserves, U.S. Army or Air National Guard, Military Academy, College ROTC Cadets, and OCS Candidates. Civilians and military personnel from other services are prohibited from participating in any event.
All competitors must register as individuals for this event. Please ensure that you fill out all of the information on the registration form.
USAMU will not be providing weapons or equipment to competitors. This is the responsibility of the unit sending the Soldier to the event. The Match Program can be found in the upper-right corner. We have made changes to the match program. Please ensure that you download the match program.
How about these images of a Royal Danish Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules of Flyvestation Aalborg-based Eskadrille 721 (“Zap”) conducting a resupply mission at the Joint Artisk Kommando Station Nord outpost in Greenland, home to the famed Sirius Dog Sled Patrol (Slædepatruljen Sirius). It is dark there from 15 October to 28 February, and in November the mean daily high temperature is -20°F.
The 6,200-foot landing strip at Station Nord was built in the 1950s in a joint Danish-U.S. effort, and the base has been wholly Danish since 1975. It is kept open for approximately 300 days a year and is maintained with two large snow blowers and two snow plows.
Station Nord is approximately 2,360 air miles from Copenhagen but only 574 miles from the geographic North Pole.
Station Nord when the sun is up.
By comparison, the furthest northern U.S. airstrip, Arctic Village Airport, Alaska, is about 1,200 miles from the Pole, and the “most northern airport in the world,” Longyearbyen in the Norwegian Svalbard chain, is 800 miles. The U.S. maintains Pituffik Space Base (formerly Thule Air Base), Greenland, which is located approximately 950 miles from the North Pole. Only Canadian Forces Station Alert on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, which is about 490 miles south of the Pole, is closer to the roof of the world.
Denmark has been a C-130 user since 1973 and has used them operationally in Bosnia and Afghanistan, replacing its trio of older C-130H birds with four long-fuselage C-130Js by 2007, the first Scandinavian country to bring the Super Hercules into service.
Last week in Munich, the German Bundeswehr introduced the new Kampfpanzer Leopard 2 A8 main battle tank to the public. The service, which has ordered 123 of the model thus far, stresses that, rather than upgrading older tanks, the Leopard A8 is a completely new design – and thus the first newly built MBT for the German Army since 1992.
Im Werk von KNDS wird der neue Leopard 2 A8 vorgestellt.
Of note, the display model included a Rafael EuroTrophy Active Protection System (APS) factory-installed. While 1,900 MBTs and AFVs around the world have Trophy, this is the first factory-fresh Leopard with the system. It also has a fully digital fire-control suite and an all-round situational awareness system with sensor-fusion capability on top of a host of improvements to the benchline Leopard 2A7HU production model.
Panzer Leopard rollt in München vom Band. Mit dabei: der Inspekteur des Heeres Ulrich de Maizière und Verteidigungsminister Kai-Uwe von Hassel.
The Germans have taken a keen interest in how second/third-hand Leopard 2A4/2A4V/2/2A6s have performed (and have been zapped) during real-life combat in Ukraine over the past few years to improve 2A8.
The first production models fielded will be with the PzBrig 45, also known as the Lithuania Brigade (Litauenbrigade), Germany’s first armored unit based abroad permanently since 1945.
Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann’s sizzle reel:
Future 2A8 operators besides Germany include the Netherlands (46 on order), Norway (54), Czechia (77), Lithuania (44), Italy (132), and Sweden (44), while Austria, Slovakia, and Croatia are all negotiating a purchase, making the new big cat a de facto NATO standard.
1965 Similarity
The rollout comes a little over 60 years since the original Leopard hit the scene, also in a similar event in Munich.
The Bundestag in 1964 allocated 1.5 billion DM for the purchase of 1,500 units of the new model. Subsequently, on 9 September 1965, a test drive was held at Krauss-Maffei in Munich, the main manufacturer, by Defense Minister Kai-Uwe von Hassel (CDU).
Inspector of the Army, Ulrich de Maizière, and the Minister of Defense, Kai-Uwe von Hassel, the first Leopard tank rolled off the assembly line in Munich, Sept 23 1965 (Panzer Leopard rollt in München vom Band. Mit dabei: der Inspekteur des Heeres Ulrich de Maizière und Verteidigungsminister Kai-Uwe von Hassel.)
The official handover of the first Leopard production model to the 4th Company of Panzerlehrbataillon 93 occurred soon after.
By 1976, the Bundeswehr’s total inventory already comprised almost 2,500 Leopard 1s.
Over 10,000 Leopard tanks have been made across the Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 lines, with the Leopard 1 having 6,485 total units built and the Leopard 2 having over 3,600 battle tanks produced since 1979.
And, since you have come this far and may be curious, this is what the U.S. is up to these days with the Abrams– or isn’t.
The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) conducts flight operations while the ship transits the Tsushima Strait, Sept. 18, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James Finney)
In case you missed it, Gen. Eric Smith, the 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, recently came out and publicly reiterated that the Corps has to maintain three deployed Marine Expeditionary Units aboard Navy afloat Amphibious Ready Groups— the classic ARG/MEU combo — for sustained deterrence and global response.
Which is refreshing.
The Corps’ North Star must remain a steady 3.0 ARG/MEU presence: three continuous, three-amphibious warship formations forward deployed—one from the East Coast, one from the West, and one patrolling from Okinawa, Japan. (If you ask our combatant commanders what they need, the answer isn’t a total of three ARG/MEUs; it’s closer to five or six.) 3.0 is the minimum required to provide our nation and the Joint Force with a capability that can serve as both a warfighting formation and a cross-service integrator. It’s what keeps pressure on our adversaries, supports the maritime fight, and gives combatant commanders and national decision makers scalable options they can employ without delay to buy time, create decision-space, and if required to do so, be first to fight.
Seven standing MEUs routinely deploy.
They include the CONUS-based 11th, 13th, and 15th MEUs on the West Coast (of I Marine Expeditionary Force/1st Marine Division based at Camps Pendleton/29 Palms).
And the 22d, 24th, and 26th MEUs on the East Coast (of the II MEF/2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune).
The 31st MEU is forward assigned and located in Okinawa, part of the III MEF/3rd MarDiv.
The problem is that, while the Marines may have seven MEUs and three divisions on paper, they only have 19 active duty infantry battalions, grouped in five full-strength (3 bn) and two understrength (2 bn) regiments, to flesh them out. Each of the regiments has its own HHC and logistics battalion.
Pendleton/29 Palms has 11 infantry battalions: the three battalion-strong 1st, 5th, and 7th Marine Regiments, as well as 2nd Bn/4th Marines, and 3/4th. Lejeune has eight infantry battalions: the full three-battalion 2nd and 6th Marine Regiments, along with 1/8th and 2/8th. The reason why Pendleton has three more battalions than Lejeune is that they forward deploy three battalions rotationally to III MEF/3rd MarDiv to Okinawa/Darwin, Australia (one of which forms the 31st MEU).
III MEF/3rd MarDiv also includes the Corps’ two 1,800-man MLRs: 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment (formerly the historic 3rd Marine Regiment, from 1914 through 2022) and the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment (formerly the 12th Marine Regiment, from 1927-45 & 1952-2023). These missile-armed Westpac Marines will be the so-called “Stand in Force” designed to give the Chinese navy heartburn from remote forward locations.
U.S. Marines and Sailors with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, pose for a unit photo before a ceremony on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Nov. 26, 2024. At the ceremony, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division officially received the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System from Marine Corps Systems Command, becoming the first U.S. Marine Corps unit to field the system. The NMESIS provides 3d MLR with enhanced sea denial capabilities and maritime lethality. (U.S. Marine Corps photo illustration by Sgt. Jacqueline C. Parsons) (This image was created using photo merging techniques.)
Plus, each of the three active MarDivs has a dedicated HQ, Recon, LAV, Landing Support, Supply, Transportation Support, Medical, and Dental battalions, as well as fires, amtrac, and engineer units.
So, with three deployed MEUs, basic 1:3 workup logic (one deployed, three recovering/rebuilding/working up) would make it obvious that the Marines need at least 12 infantry battalions to support them. The five “extra” battalions leave a slim elasticity for fly-out operations and reinforcement. Gratefully, the 4th Marine Regiment, which was scheduled to be reorganized into the 4th MLR in 2027, will stay infantry, “preserving its core mission while preparing to respond to potential crisis and conflict.”
The October Force Design update from the Commandant noted, “We determined through the Campaign of Learning that two MLRs and one reinforced Marine Infantry Regiment in III MEF is the optimal force composition to meet III MEF’s missions and objectives.”
Bottom line meant that turning the 4th Marines into 4th MLR would have made the 31st MEU untenable.
So it’s a good sign that Force Design 2030 is holding at two rather than three MLRs, as it at least preserves the ability to put 3 MEUs in play around the world while having a modicum of reserve infantry battalions on hand.
Now, as far as the ARG part of the equation, each MEU is built around three ships (LHA/LHD and two LSD/LPDs), which means that, on a 36-month 1:2 workup/availability basis, the Navy would need to have a theoretical 9 LHD/LHAs and 27 LSD/LPDs (36 hulls) to keep the necessary 3.0 MEUs at sea. Actual figures are 9 LHD/LHAs, 10 LSDs, and 13 LPDs: 32 hulls, just one more than the Congress-mandated minimum of 31 ships.
The Navy has an up with Forward Deployed Naval Forces Japan (FDNF-J), which has three ‘phibs in Sasebo: USS San Diego (LPD 22), New Orleans (LPD 18), and Rushmore (LSD 47), that deploy with 31st MEU, typically underway for 2-3 months, in port for 2-3 months, and then out to sea for again for another 2-3 months, etc. But that still leaves them on the hook for the East and West Coast ARGs, and (6 working LHA/LHDs and 18 LPD/LSDs), however, with those hulls having something like a 50 percent availability for ships in “satisfactory” material condition, that’s a problem.
Worse, the LSDs are retiring, and incoming LPD numbers are not sufficient to replace them on a hull-for-hull basis.
Sure, the Navy is working on bumping up those numbers, but it is still an issue, and one that will get worse before it gets better.
Further, as any potential maintenance issue with the FDNF-J’s phibs could leave the 31st MEU hanging, Commandant Smith is asking the Navy to stage fivegators from Sasebo to ensure three are ready to deploy at the drop of a hat or already underway. Yes, that would give 31st MEU some insurance, but it would have to come at the price of those other two deployed MEU/ARG combos.
Plus, while the Marines have two MLRs standing up, the Navy still doesn’t have the sealift to carry them to short, so there’s that.
She is the 73rd of her class, the next to last Flight IIA Burke, and one of nine so-called “Technology Insertion” vessels, which have some of the Flight III sensors and mods, such as the new AN/SPQ-9B search and fire control radar instead of the older AN/SPS-67, which was first fielded in 1983.
She also notably is still carrying a CIWS aft rather than a 21-cell RAM launcher, and her forward of the bridge CIWS spot is empty, which means she may be picking up a laser there, be it ODIN, which is on four ships already, or the HELIOS system.
The ship is the first named after retired Marine Col. Harvey Curtiss “Barney” Barnum Jr, a Medal of Honor recipient recognized for his extraordinary heroism and valor during the Vietnam War.
Bath has seven future Burkes under construction: Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127)— the last Flight IIA– and six Flight IIIs: Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), William Charette (DDG 130), Quentin Walsh (DDG 132), John E. Kilmer (DDG 134), Richard G. Lugar (DDG 136), and J. William Middendorf (DDG 138).
The future Offshore Patrol Cutter ARGUS, in launch position, 2023. Photo Eastern Shipbuilding Group
After being chosen to supply as many as 25 new 360-foot Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutters to the USCG in 2016, Panama City’s Eastern Shipbuilding Group has been consistently playing the whomp-whomp tuba.
After nearly a decade, not a single ship is within striking distance of entering service.
Yes, the yard was all but flattened by Hurricane Michael in 2018, but that was seven years ago and of the four cutters they were working on in the first flight (Hull# 302A: WMSM-915: USCGC Argus, Hull# 305A: WMSM-916: USCGC Chase, Hull# 307A: WMSM-917: USCGC Ingham, and Hull# 309A: WMSM-918: USCGC Rush) only Argus has hit the water and has slowly been fitting out for the past 25 months but is still long from finished, while work on the last two were ordered stopped by DHS back in June as so little progress had been made.
Now, as reported by GCaptain, ESG has announced the suspension of work on the U.S. Coast Guard’s first two Offshore Patrol Cutters (Argus and Chase), citing unsustainable financial pressures and workforce reductions as the company struggles with what CEO Joey D’Isernia described as “significant financial strain caused by the program’s structure and conditions.”
As for the OPC program, the USCG has shifted it to Austal in nearby Mobile, which has just wrapped up its semi-successful (at least they were delivered) Independence-class LCS program.
The Coast Guard should bounce back.
It’s not the first time that they had a disastrous start to a large cutter program; just look back to the 270-foot Bear (Famous) class cutters of the 1980s, in which the original contract winner didn’t even own a shipyard, and the yard eventually selected, the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, soon entered Chapter 11. Yacht builder Robert E. Derecktor went on to finish the class, and the Bears have been soldiering on admirably ever since.
The brand-spanking-new Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Pierre (LCS 38) was brought to life in a ceremony held in Panama City over the weekend in shorts and flip-flop weather, “Under the Bright Florida Sky.”
This came while the landlocked namesake city of Pierre, South Dakota, was basking at a high temperature of 45 degrees.
We’ve posted numerous images of Pierreover the past year during her fitting out at Austal in Mobile, where she was the last of 19 Indies built. Fincantieri is still building the last LCS, the 16th Freedom-class variant, USS Cleveland (LCS-31).
The fact that Pierre was commissioned at PC is telling, as the Indies are seemingly tasked as fast minesweepers, and NSWC Panama City is the Navy Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Laboratory dedicated to mine warfare. In fact, it was established in 1945 as the U.S. Navy Mine Countermeasures Station.
Three Indies– the USS Canberra (LCS 30), Santa Barbara (LCS 32), and Tulsa (LCS 16)— are currently forward-deployed to Bahrain with new MCM mission modules, replacing the legacy Avenger-class ships that have served in Task Force 55 for over 30 years
The current Pierre is the second warship to carry the name, after a 173-foot patrol boat, PC-1141, which served from 1943-58. Hopefully, the new one bests the previous namesake’s 15-year record of service.
