Current Events in the Americas

From Flight Global DATE: 19/05/10 SOURCE: Flight International Boeing B-52 set to receive major radar upgrade By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force is moving forward with a major new upgrade for the half-century-old Boeing B-52H fleet, focused on replacing the bomber's radar, which is roughly 30 years old. The Northrop Grumman APQ-166 strategic radar is nearing the end of its useful life and will be replaced on 76 B-52Hs, the USAF says in a request for information issued to industry. The new system will perform all of the mission functions now performed by the APQ-166 mechanically scanned array, but provide "new and enhanced capabilities", the air force sa…

Lockheed's AMDR

JLENS loose and lose, how not?: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2015/10/28/the-army-lost-control-of-a-giant-unmanned-surveillance-blimp/

Admiral: Diesel Subs OK for Others, Not U.S. Military.com Christopher J. Castelli | April 25, 2006 Diesel submarines have near-shore and stealth capabilities that may make them suitable for other countries but they do not meet U.S. requirements to project and sustain forces far beyond coastal waters, according to the Navy's submarine director, Rear Adm. William Hilarides. The Navy has long opposed acquiring diesel subs, arguing nuclear-powered subs are superior. The subject came up again when Hilarides briefed reporters about submarines at the Washington Navy Yard April 17. “If we were defending our coast from high-end ships, then a diesel submarine might m…

Come aboard USS Gerald R Ford (CVN 78), the newest aircraft carrier (DefenseNews, Intercepts blog) Lots of pics.

CV32: Read this article and tell me what program comes to mind. From Aviation Week [excerpt]

From Defense Aerospace AARGM Enters Production (Source: US Naval Air Systems Command; issued October 30, 2008) NAVAIR’s newest advanced weapon for destruction of enemy air defenses, AGM-88E, was recently approved to go into low rate production, and the NAWCWD Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) Technical Project Office (TPO) played a major role in achieving that milestone. On Sept. 30, NAVAIR’s Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Weapons Program Office (PMA-242) received Navy approval for its AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) to enter low rate initial production (LRIP). “The work and knowledge at China Lake was vital to the success of reaching …

From Aviation Week Support For More F-22 Soars in Congress Jan 20, 2009 By Amy Butler Even before President-elect Barack Obama to takes office Jan. 20, U.S. lawmakers are making a push in letters addressed to him to secure the future of the stealthy F-22 production line in Marietta, Ga. Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to Obama Jan. 16 requesting funding for production for the twin-engine fighter. Citing a flyaway cost reduction of 35 percent, the senators also say the end of the fighter’s production could further drain the U.S. economy in the midst of a recession. A decision is needed by early March to avoid gaps in the pro…

From National Defense September 2007 Navy still Years Away From Deploying Attack Drones Aboard Aircraft Carriers By Grace Jean Given the Navy’s checkered history of flying drones aboard ships, it’s not surprising that its first pursuit of an unmanned aircraft geared for carrier operations has progressed cautiously and even with a hint of trepidation. While the sea service remains tight-lipped about how such an autonomous system might be employed in the future, analysts say it has the potential to alter naval warfare and are calling for an accelerated demonstration of its capabilities. “The sooner you can demonstrate this and convince the carrier aviation com…

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Shore duty for the SM-3 Posted by Amy Butler at 7/16/2008 8:47 AM CDT The Missile Defense Agency is considering a land-based variant of the Standard Missile-3, says Ed Miyashiro, deputy general manager of Raytheon's Missile Systems sector in Tucson, Ariz. Driving the need is Israel, which wants the ability to engage ballistic missiles in the exoatmosphere farther away from its own territory. Iran fired multiple medium- and long-range ballistic missiles July 9 during a military exercise. The long-range Shahab could reach Israeli territory. SM-3 prime contractor Raytheon is examining a range of options -- including a moveable,…

Navy ship to be sunk during target practice exercise Last Updated: Thursday, November 16, 2006 | 11:16 AM PT CBC News A Canadian warship that has been tied up at the dock at CFB Esquimalt since 2001 will be towed out to sea off the west coast of Vancouver Island next year and used for target practice. HMCS Huron was commissioned in 1972 and saw service in the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War. If it gets environmental approval, the navy will tow the decommissioned destroyer to a firing range 100 kilometres out in the Pacific Ocean next May. There the Canadian and U.S. navies will open fire and send the 34-year-old ship to the bottom, Cmdr. Stan Bates sa…

Reports: Brazil Picks Sweden's Gripen Fighter Jet (DefenseNews)

As if the F-35B program wasn't in enough trouble already ... Major F-35B Component Cracks in Fatigue Test

here Can someone enlighten me as to why shooting down a ballistic missile in its "final seconds of flight" versus further away is a good thing? I can see as a last defense against missiles which have gotten through the longer range defenses, but any type of "weapons of mass effects - WME" warhead such as chemical or biological agents would still be dispersed over a wide area by the destruction of the missile.

From Navy Times Navy awards Northrop $2.4B contract for LHA 6s The Associated Press Posted : Saturday Jun 2, 2007 16:07:28 EDT PASCAGOULA, Miss. — The U.S. Navy has awarded a $2.4 billion contract to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems to design and build the first replacement amphibious assault ship. The work will be done at Northrop’s shipyards in Pascagoula and New Orleans. The contract, announced Friday, will fund construction of the first, next-generation “bid-deck” amphibious ship, dubbed LHA 6. The Navy said Northrop is expected to deliver the ship by 2012. The ship will have such enhanced capabilities as an enlarged hangar deck, expanded mainte…

In the wake of the Ft. Hood tragedy, I keep hearing about the need for diversity in the military. As a resident of San Diego, I've heard "diversity" used to justify everything from campus riots to illegal immigration, and I'm rapidly growing tired of the term. It's been close to 40 years since my Recruit Training experience, but it seems to me that diversity was one of the things the training attempted to eliminate, or at least minimize. Wasn't one of the points of shaving our heads, sticking us in uniforms, and generally treating us all like dogs to force us to forget our differences and bond as a unit? Isn't that what we want in a fighting unit? Or has political…

From DefenseNews Posted 08/29/07 19:54 First LCS Mission Package Ready For Delivery By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS A significant milestone in the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program is set to take place in mid-September with delivery of the first mission module package. Although the module — configured for mine warfare — still lacks a ship to go aboard, Navy officials noted the various systems that make up the module are useable even without the LCS. “We do not necessarily need an LCS to deploy these systems,” Jim Thomsen, Program Executive Officer for Mine and Littoral Warfare at Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), said Aug. 29 at a press briefing at the …

From Aviation Week Split-Buy USAF Tanker Concept Gaining Favor Jan 29, 2009 By Amy Butler As the Pentagon attempts to craft a way forward to replace the KC-135 aerial refueling fleet, the option of a split buy of two models is back and gaining attention on Capitol Hill, according to officials close to the tanker program. The idea is sure to be a topic of discussion as the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa. ), travels this week to Alabama, where Northrop Grumman and EADS were proposing to assemble their tanker design. Murtha is expected to visit Boeing’s Washington state facility in the coming weeks as well. …

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Drool ... From Flight International DATE: 28/04/08 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com Raytheon lifts veil on ramjet-powered HARM By Stephen Trimble Raytheon today unveiled a new concept for revolutionizing the accuracy, range, speed and perhaps even the mission of the quarter-century-old AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missile (HARM). The concept replaces the AGM-88’s dual-thrust rocket motor with a dramatically more powerful ramjet engine. Guidance is also upgraded with satellite-based navigation, fiber-optic gyroscopes and new software. The new weapon could boost Raytheon’s competitive fortunes against a US Navy-sponsored upgrade: the Alliant Techsystems…