![\"USS](\"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/6848687801_25c135c2ba_z.jpg\" "\\"Image")
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Sea State<\/b><\/p>\n
The US Navy\u2019s <\/span>John C. Stennis<\/span><\/i> Strike Group has been dispatched to the South China Sea this week.<\/span> According to<\/span><\/a> the Navy\u2019s 7th Fleet, the group transited the Luzon Strait on 1 March and has been carrying out routine operations in the eastern half of the South China Sea. The strike group<\/span> consists of<\/span><\/a> Nimitz<\/span>–<\/span><\/i>class carrier USS <\/span>John C. Stennis<\/span><\/i>, two Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers, two cruisers, and a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser. Captain Greg Huffman, commanding officer of the carrier,<\/span> said<\/span><\/a> a number of PLA-N vessels had been shadowing the group, including ships that he hadn\u2019t seen during his previous deployment to the region in 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n The UK\u2019s Royal Navy is sending RFA <\/span>Mounts Bay,<\/span><\/i> equipped with a team of Royal Commandoes, to the Aegean Sea to<\/span> assist a NATO mission<\/span><\/a> tackling human trafficking and illegal migration. The vessel, currently waiting for diplomatic clearance in Crete, will undertake surveillance and reconnaissance tasks to assist<\/span> NATO Standing Maritime Group 2<\/span><\/a> in providing information to Greece, Turkey and Frontex\u2014the EU\u2019s border agency.<\/span><\/p>\n Graduates from Norway\u2019s Royal Naval School in Stavanger have performed an impressive flash mob of Mark Ronson\u2019s \u2018Uptown Funk\u2019 at their passing out ceremony last week. Don\u2019t believe me just watch\u2026the video<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Flight Path<\/b><\/p>\n Debate continues over the fate of the USAF’s A-10, with many simply unable to accept its proposed retirement in 2022. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been robustly questioning the decision, last week<\/span> declaring<\/span><\/a> that the US Air Force has \u2018nothing to replace it with\u2019 and that claims it can be replaced by F-15s and F-16s are \u2018disingenuous\u2019. At <\/span>Defense One<\/span><\/i>, Major Benjamin Fernandes of the US Army has<\/span> published his views<\/span><\/a> on why retiring the A-10 makes no sense.<\/span><\/p>\n The drama over the dogfighting ability of the F-35 began last year when <\/span>War is Boring<\/span><\/i> leaked a review<\/span><\/a> of the jet by an unnamed test pilot, which criticised it as \u2018sluggish\u2019 and \u2018substantially inferior\u2019 to vintage F-15E fighter-bombers. Last week, a<\/span> blog<\/span><\/a> published by Norwegian test pilot \u2018Dolby\u2019,<\/span> available in English on <\/span>The Aviationist<\/span><\/i><\/a>, has stirred up the debate once again by contradicting the criticisms made last year by defending the dogfighting capability of the F-35. Dolby concludes that, in his experience, the low speed high angle of attack capability of the F-35 makes it easier for the pilot to maintain the offensive role and effectively employ weapons than in an F-16. We\u2019ll be grabbing our popcorn and hoping for some more public reviews as the Joint Strike Fighter approaches operation.<\/span><\/p>\n Rapid Fire<\/b><\/p>\n The largest ever military drills on the Korean Peninsula<\/span><\/a> began this month, with the joint US and North Korea exercises serving as a counterpoint to Pyongyang\u2019s recent antagonism. Involving 15,000 US soldiers, double the number from preceding years, the parallel exercises <\/span>Key Resolve<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Foal Eagle<\/span><\/i> began on 7 March and will conclude 30 April. In lieu of this, the<\/span> South Korean government has increased its recruitment efforts<\/span><\/a>, even calling upon ex-servicemen to strengthen its military.<\/span><\/p>\n For some ocular delight,<\/span> Business Insider Australia<\/span><\/i> has complied a series of incredible photos taken by the Australian Army<\/span><\/a>. Sourced from official photos released on the<\/span> Australian Department of Defence website<\/span><\/a>, the images range from displays of the fearsome firing capacity of the M1A1 Abrams to snaps of Australian troops operating in Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\n And now for something completely different<\/span><\/a>: last week Indian Army officials demanded that their<\/span> new recruits strip down to their underwear prior to undertaking a mandatory entrance exam<\/span><\/a>. The unusual request was in response to some of the extreme measures that new recruits have taken in order to cheat on their tests, with some even concealing headphones and microphones in their clothes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sea State The US Navy\u2019s John C. Stennis Strike Group has been dispatched to the South China Sea this week. According to the Navy\u2019s 7th Fleet, the group transited the Luzon Strait on 1 March …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":468,"featured_media":25186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[488,271,1522,331,471],"class_list":["post-25183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-australian-army","tag-f-35","tag-fonops","tag-korea","tag-south-china-sea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n