Current Events

From National Defense Magazine, March 2005 issue http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/iss...ewd_Tactics.htm Shrewd Tactics Underpin Navy Strategy to Defeat Diesel Submarines In preparation for future wars, U.S. ship commanders will be trained to employ unconventional tactics against enemies equipped with diesel submarines. Navy planners anticipate that adversaries will try to deny U.S. forces access to key strategic coastal areas by deploying quiet diesel-electric submarines. These hard-to-detect boats would make it difficult for U.S. ships to move around freely without exposing themselves to an enemy torpedo shot. For that reason, the U.S. Navy is adop…

I'm not sure if this belongs in "Military History" or another part of the forums, but this seemed like the best place for it... What do you think are the five most likely wars (regional or global) that we could see in the next five to ten years? Syria and Turkey? India and China? The US and Iran? Indonesia and Australia? Who will fight these wars and what will cause these nations to come to blows?

Report of the Global Commission on Drugs [excerpt]

From Defense Aerospace HMS Astute (Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Nov. 4, 2010) Various media report that nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute, which [ran] aground off the Isle of Skye last week was damaged in a collision with a tug which tried to free it. We can confirm HMS Astute was in a minor collision with one of the tugs that assisted in refloating her, following an incident in which she became grounded off the Isle of Skye on 22 October 2010. Damage was assessed at the time and she was deemed fit to proceed under her own power to Faslane. She remains alongside at Faslane whilst investigations into the incident continue. From Defense Aer…

Could I suggest that we add Alert 5 to the Intel feed?

Enjoy! FWFS, Greg Emerson, DM1(SW), USN-Retired Renton, WA, USA Summary follows ... 01 January CHINA Aircraft carrier ex-VARYAG completed the third phase of sea trials and returned to Dalian. 03 January Southern Partnership Station 2012: HSV-2 SWIFT continues mission in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. 04 January ALGERIA Norwegian STX OSV Brattvaag is fitting out three TYPE UT 515 CD salvage tugs / rescue ships (similar to French ABEILLE BOURBON) … hulls built at STX Tulcea (Romania) … destined for the Algerian navy. First named EL MOUNDJID (HullNr 701), about to be delivered. INDONESIA The Indonesian Navy has ordered a total of 2…

For those of you who have fond (or perhaps, not so fond) memories of the RGM-109B TASM antiship variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile, I have news: From Defense Aerospace Raytheon Develops Anti-Surface Warfare Capability for Tomahawk Block IV Missile (Source: Raytheon Company; issued May 4, 2009) TUCSON, Ariz. --- Raytheon Company has developed a technology plan to enhance moving target capabilities for the combat-proven Tomahawk Block IV missile. The technology will enable naval forces to effectively engage moving maritime surface targets and conduct anti-surface warfare missions. "This capability will allow the warfighter to attack a new tactical targe…

From Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [excerpt]

From Naval Open Source Intelligence Here's some rather nice video of a rescent certification test by my friends at BEA Systems. It shows their new laser-guided rocket taking on an APC and hardened structure. Enjoy!

From Naval Open Source Intelligence SAAB does a great job of marketing their wares. Check out the new promo for the RBS-15. Enjoy!

From the December 2009 issue of Air Force Magazine A Specter Haunts the Carrier, by Rebecca Grant (PDF)

Interesting subject matter, for sure ... Lethal autonomous systems: The ethics of programming robots for war

Wow, February seems to be the lucky month for the Harpoon community. 2 new sites to support our hobby. Such an embarrassment of riches. WarfareHQ.com is the latest site to host a dedicated Harpoon discussion section and File Archive. Players and designers can also post their scenarios, databases, After-Action Reports, and any other manner of files to the File Archives. All versions of computer Harpoon and even the paper rules may be discussed. On a personal note, the number of different sites is not meant as competition with one another but is only meant to give us another place to discuss Harpoon and Harpoon-related topics. I will be joining and supporting…

Naval battles in the high Arctic may have to wait ... Arctic ice refuses to melt

BBC News story, with video Well, I have to say, it looks like you'd imagine a Russian stealth fighter to be. Like a stretched F-35.

Enjoy ... 02 January AUSTRALIA Two more suspected asylum seeker boats carrying a total of 54 people have been intercepted by Australian navy patrol boats off Australia’s north-western coast. 03 January CHINA Rumours that a total of 24 JIANGKAI-II class frigates may be built eventually. IRAN +++ The Iranian Navy wrapped up ten-day exercise “Velayat 90” with naval +++ parades displaying different types of warships, submarines, hovercraft, helicopter and aircraft Iranian Army chief: wargames “proved that Iran is powerful enough to exercise full control over the strategic Strait of Hormuz” … the US Navy has moved aircraft carrier JOHN C STENNIS out of th…

Find it here. This article relates pretty well to what was discussed last night on HG chat.

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

An excellent 'detailed analysis' of the Soviet/Russian S-300P SAM system by Sean O'Connor can be found at his (also excellent) IMINT & Analysis Blog site here: http://geimint.blogspot.com/

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt] CV32: Glad to hear it.