Current Events in the Americas

From Flight Global DATE: 03/03/09 SOURCE: Flight International US Air Force cancels SAM-jamming EB-52 for second time By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force's decision to terminate the EB-52 stand-off jammer concept for a second time deals a new blow to the US electronic warfare community. Maj Scott Fisher, an electronic warfare modernisation requirements officer for Air Combat Command, confirms that funding for the revived EB-52 core component jammer (CCJ) effort has been removed this year from long-term spending plans. The idea of equipping a subset of the Boeing B-52 bomber fleet with high-power, wing-tip jamming pods has been pursued for almost a de…

Looks like the JSF has taken some measure of revenge against one of its greatest critics ... Danger Room: Aviation Week grounds top critic of gajillion dollar jet DEW Line: Aviation Week suspends Bill Sweetman from F-35 story

Make the Zumwalt a Fighting Command Ship (Proceedings, May 2020) I like this idea.

From Aviation Week Bill Redirects ARH Funds Toward UH-60s Mar 23, 2007 The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) approved legislation March 22 that would transfer supplemental fiscal 2007 funds requested for two Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters (ARH) to replace two UH-60 Black Hawks lost in combat. The roughly $122 billion bill also would fully fund seven other requested UH-60s, according to a summary of the legislation provided by SAC staff. The Senate is expected to take up the bill March 26, SAC Chairman Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) said after a markup hearing. Bell Helicopter Textron's prototype ARH-70A crashed on a golf course in Mansfield, Texas, on Feb. 2…

From DefenseNews Explosion May Put U.S. Mini-Sub Program in Danger By christopher p. cavas Published: 9 Dec 11:43 EST (16:43 GMT) The long-stalled future of the U.S. special warfare community's troubled mini-submarine is even cloudier after a serious explosion and fire struck the craft last month, ironically on the cusp of a new mission and a new way ahead for the program. The Advanced SEAL Delivery Vehicle 1 (ASDS-1) was having its lithium-ion batteries charged Nov. 9 when an explosion started a battery fire that burned for about six hours. No one was aboard the 60-ton craft, which was on shore at its base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Federal firefighters s…

U.S. Close To Testing Massive “Bunker-Busting” Missile By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, PARIS DefenseNews The United States is close to testing a new missile aimed at destroying deep bunkers where suspected weapons of mass destruction are stored, the British weekly New Scientist says. Four prototypes of the new “bunker-buster” will be tested later this year by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control of Dallas, Texas, which are working with U.S. Navy scientists on behalf of the Pentagon’s Threat Reduction Agency, it says. Traditional bunker bombs are streamlined bombs whose sheer weight enables them to force through soil, rock or concrete before they detonate. …

From Jane's Defence Weekly Nagging software problem plagues Super Hornet radar Stephen Trimble JDW Americas Bureau Chief Washington DC The advanced radar developed for the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has completed a key testing period with a nagging software problem still unresolved but showing improvement, according to the US Navy. The Raytheon APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar - the first dual-mode sensor in service on a US military fighter - completed its operational test and evaluation phase on 6 December 2006. The APG-79 continues to suffer from software glitches but programme officials believe that projected growth curves will p…

From Aviation Week Global Opposition Movement Challenges JSF Mar 4, 2009 By Bill Sweetman The first major military aircraft project of the Internet-era, the Joint Strike Fighter, faces a new opposition: a global, networked movement comprising independent and think-tank analysts, retired air force leaders and industry professionals and politicians concerned with the JSF’s financial and operational risks. All of them have immediate access to worldwide news, official reports and program briefings to an extent that was inconceivable when the F-22 was at the same stage of development a decade ago. There are a few main themes that run through many JSF critiques—so…

US Army Weapon Systems Handbook 2011 (PDF): download here

About time ... From CBC News [excerpt]

MH-60S underpowered for MCM towing operations (Jane's)

From Navy Times Swedish sub heads to sea, readies for mock battle against 3rd Fleet By Gidget Fuentes Times staff writer POINT LOMA, Calif. — With their fill of margaritas, burritos and some American-style barbecue hamburgers, a Swedish navy crew took their attack submarine Gotland into the Pacific Ocean and prepared to wage mock battle and combat operations with U.S. 3rd Fleet. On July 11, Gotland slipped from the submarine piers at the Point Loma Naval Base and glided from San Diego Bay into the Pacific’s tepid, deep waters for a three-week training cycle at sea. For a crew more accustomed to the frigid waters of the Baltic and sub-Arctic region, this …

From Navy News, obtained at Military.com August 27, 2008 Navy News|by Mass Comm. Spc. 3rd Class Coleman Thompson VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Command of patrol coastal ships USS Tempest (PC 2) and USS Monsoon (PC 4) was returned to the U.S. Navy from the U.S. Coast Guard during a ceremony held at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek Aug. 22. Tempest has been on loan to the Coast Guard since December 2005, and Monsoon was on loan since October 2004. Both ships were transferred back to naval control during a ceremony that exemplified the interoperability of the two services. "The Navy and the Coast Guard have a great working relationship," said Cmdr. Stephen Coughl…

From Offiziere [excerpt] The 'before' and 'after' pics:

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

The Pentagons Frankensteins (National Review Online)

Looks like quality control problems are not limited to the PRC. See also. RedNova Problems on New Ship a Bad Sign, Analyst Warns Jul. 14--WASHINGTON -- The "poor construction and craftsmanship" Navy inspectors say they found last month aboard a new amphibious ship could be an ominous sign for the service and the U.S. shipbuilding industry as they embark on a host of other ship programs, a veteran naval analyst warned Wednesday. Scott C. Truver, a vice president of Anteon Corp., an information technology company based in Fairfax, said a newly disclosed Navy report on the San Antonio, a $1.2 billion helicopter and troop carrier scheduled to join the fleet this fall…

Navy Lacks Plan to Defend Against `Carrier-Destroying' Missile YahooNews Tony Capaccio Fri Mar 23, 12:18 AM ET March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Navy, after nearly six years of warnings from Pentagon testers, still lacks a plan for defending aircraft carriers against a supersonic Russian-built missile, according to current and former officials and Defense Department documents. The missile, known in the West as the ``Sizzler,'' has been deployed by China and may be purchased by Iran. Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England has given the Navy until April 29 to explain how it will counter the missile, according to a Pentagon budget document. The Defense …

From Aviation Week Pacific Will Drive Future Navy Investment Sep 4, 2008 Bettina H. Chavanne Pacific-realm activity, Iranian behavior, resurgent major powers like China and the prevalence of low-intensity conflict (LIC) will drive U.S. Navy investments in the region, according to Marshall Billingslea, deputy under secretary of the Navy. Maritime power is uniquely suited to safeguard the interests of the United States, Billingslea told a multinational crowd Sept. 3 at ComDef 2008 in Washington. In the Pacific, the United States claims to be upgrading its carrier presence in alliance with Japan and actively pursuing new relationships with countries like India …

Lots of chatter around the Web about this latest issue with LCS, and more particularly, USS Independence ... From Defense Aerospace [excerpt] and [excerpt]