Current Events

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You asked for it, you got it. Here today's naval summary. FWFS, Greg Emerson, DM1(SW), USN-Retired - - - - - 02 January BRAZIL British BAe Systems signed a contract for transfer of three 90-m Ocean Patrol Vessels originally ordered by the Trinidad & Tobago coast guard - and cancelled by it shortly prior delivery – to the Brazilian navy … contract value given as Euro 140 million. The first two ships will be delivered in 2012 and the third will follow in early 2013. Contract said to also provide for further vessels of the same class to be constructed in Brazil. IRAN During the final day of exercise „Velayat 90“ the Iranian navy has test-fired anti-s…

Opinion: Submarine Tech Outpacing ASW (Aviation Week)

New Wrinkles in Maritime Warfare (The Diplomat)

Something to consider, in light of a seemingly 'more troubled than usual' world. No, Great Power War Isn't Obsolete (The Diplomat)

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US Overseas Military Presence: What are the Strategic Choices? From http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG1211.html [excerpt of abstract]

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From Code One

For news on procurement of weapons. First one: http://alert5.com/2012/10/10/iraq-inks-4-3-billion-arms-deal-with-russia-buying-30-mi-28ne-and-pantsir-s1/

Gentlemen, Please find the above article here. It is a very interesting read for better understanding some of the problems encountered with attempts at suppressing enemy air defenses in the relative recent past.

U.S. To Test 700-Ton Explosive By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE DefenseNews The U.S. military plans to detonate a 700 ton explosive charge in a test called “Divine Strake” that will send a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas, a senior defense official said March 30. ”I don’t want to sound glib here but it is the first time in Nevada that you’ll see a mushroom cloud over Las Vegas since we stopped testing nuclear weapons,” said James Tegnelia, head of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Tegnelia said the test was part of a U.S. effort to develop weapons capable of destroying deeply-buried bunkers housing nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. ”We have several very la…

Found this while trying to find out more about the SA-10b. Scroll to the bottom for an outstanding graphic. Find it here at the Australian Airpower website.

U.N. Drone Investigator: If Facts Lead to U.S. War Crimes, So Be It (Wired, Danger Room blog)

SOSUS- The "Secret Weapon" of Undersea Surveillance By Edward C. Whitman Born of a three-way marriage of early Cold War strategic necessity, World War II progress in underwater acoustics, and an extraordinary engineering effort, the Navy’s pioneering Sound Surveillance System – SOSUS – became a key, long-range early-warning asset for protecting the United States against the threat of Soviet ballistic missile submarines and in providing vital cueing information for tactical, deep-ocean, anti-submarine warfare. And although subsequent events – most notably the end of the Cold War – robbed SOSUS of much of its mission, its history remains an object lesson in how inspire…

Promise and Reality: Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-To-Air Combat (pdf, a research paper by Lt Col Patrick Higby, USAF, submitted to Air War College in March 2005)

Here Comes Adversary Stealth (Air Force Magazine, December 2012)

The Road to Stealth UAS (Aviation Week) Note the unveiling of the RQ-180.

The Need for SEAD Part I: The Nature of SEAD (War on the Rocks)

Strategic Stability in the Second Nuclear Age (pdf, Council on Foreign Relations)