Last Night and... a Death Ray!

From the Usual USAF Source...

Driven by Strategy: President Obama hammered Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney during Monday night's Presidential debate for championing a budget plan that includes "$2 trillion on military spending that our military is not asking for." The nation cannot afford such wasteful spending at a time of fiscal austerity, he said. At the same time, Obama said his defense budget is "driven by strategy" and maintains a strong military while positioning the nation "so we can start rebuilding America." But Romney said that approach is not sound. "Our Air Force is older and smaller than at any time since it was founded in 1947," for example, he said during the Oct. 22 foreign policy debate in Boca Raton, Fla. Accordingly, "we've got to strengthen our military long-term," he said, adding, "I will not cut our military budget." Romney said his budget plan would "cut about 5 percent of the discretionary budget, excluding military," and lead to "a balanced budget within eight to 10 years." Both he and Obama came out against budget sequestration. "I will not cut our military budget by a trillion dollars," asserted Romney. Sequestration "will not happen," stated Obama. (Debate transcript)

A Critical Opportunity for American Leadership: The Obama Administration has failed to act decisively in the past year in support of Syrian opposition forces seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, said GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the final debate with President Obama before next month's Presidential election. "We should have taken a leading role, not militarily, but a leading role organizationally, governmentally to bring together the [opposition] parties" and promote the establishment of "a responsible government" in Assad's place, asserted Romney during the Oct. 22 foreign policy debate in Boca Raton, Fla. "We are playing the leadership role," countered Obama. "We're doing exactly what we should be doing to try to promote a moderate Syrian leadership and an effective transition so that we get Assad out." Obama cautioned that "for us to get more entangled militarily in Syria is a serious step, and we have to do so making absolutely certain that we know who we are helping; that we're not putting arms in the hands of folks who eventually could turn them against us or allies in the region." (Debate transcript)

I find it interesting the Air Force Association is neutral when it comes to politics and the above statements are illustrations of their apolitical stance.  AFA does a good job of highlighting issues of interest to the Air Force and its supporters.  Of the two issues above I find the candidates' positions on the military budget, and particularly sequestration, most interesting.

Me?  I'm definitely NOT apolitical yet I think last night's "debate" was a draw.  Neither man drew any blood... although Obama came close with his "less horses and bayonets, too" retort to Romney's statement about our navy bein' smaller than at any time since 1917... and neither man committed any serious mistakes.  Charlie Rose's gaggle o' Talking Heads gave the debate to Obama "on points" yet all agreed Romney performed well and didn't lose any ground.

Also from the Usual USAF Source...

Works Like a CHAMP: The non-explosive missile known as CHAMP completed a flight test over the Utah desert, successfully knocking out electronic targets with its high-powered-microwave-emitting payload while causing no collateral damage, announced contractor Boeing. "Today we turned science fiction into science fact," said Keith Coleman, Boeing's CHAMP program manager, in the company's Oct. 22 release. He added, "In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy's electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive." Boeing and the Air Force Research Lab's directed energy directorate conducted the test on Oct. 16 at the Utah Test and Training Range, according to the company. CHAMP "successfully knocked out" the targets—personal computers and electrical systems—in a two-story building on the test range during the one-hour test, according to a separate company release. Boeing is developing CHAMP, which stands for Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project, under an Office of the Secretary of Defense-sponsored project. (See also Getting to the Point.)

While CHAMP ain't exactly a death-ray it's pretty danged close. I always wanted one of those when I was a kid...

―:☺:―

In other news... you'll note I'm outta bed at an hour sufficient to make my target departure time for Lubbock.  I'm not all that happy about bein' up in the middle of the gotdamned night, tho.