Current Events in the Americas

From Air Force Times Reaper ready to deploy next month By Tom Vanden Brook - USA Today Posted : Tuesday Aug 28, 2007 6:23:41 EDT CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — The Air Force next month will deploy a new generation of pilotless airplane with the bombing power of an F-16 to help stop the stubborn Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The Reaper is an upgraded version of the Predator, which has become one of the military’s most sought-after planes since it first appeared in Afghanistan in 2001. The Reaper can fly three times as fast as a Predator and carry eight times more weaponry, such as Hellfire missiles, the Air Force said. The Reaper’s greater range and s…

Navy Has Finalized Specifications for New Ohio-Replacement Boomer (USNI News)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

From Flight International EXPORT READY? Once an endangered species, the US Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor stealth fighter is soaring on the success of its first operational deployments. A three-year contract for 60 aircraft is about to be signed, and the USAF is gearing up to seek funds to continue buying 20 Raptors a year for the foreseeable future. Now the USA must decide if it is ready to release the Raptor - winner of this year's Collier Trophy - for export. "The F-22 is healthier than at any other time. The plane is performing well and the programme is stable," says US defence analyst Loren Thompson. "There is some disagreement within th…

From DefenseNews, 15 February 2011 US-Argentine tensions simmer with verbal jabs

From Defense Aerospace CNO: 'LCS Will be the Workhorse of the Navy' (Source: US Navy; issued Jan. 16, 2008) MARINETTE, Wis. --- Marinette Marine Corporation, which is building the Navy's first littoral combat ship, USS Freedom (LCS 1), was the final stop, Jan. 14, for Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead on his eight-day tour of private and public shipyards throughout the U.S. Roughead received a progress report on the ship, designed to provide the U.S. Navy with greater flexibility and capability in operating in the littoral or "green water" coastal areas. "The Navy has a gap we need to fill in the littoral and that is what LCS is going…

US Navy weighs halving LCS order (DefenseNews)

More scenario fodder for the new battlesets! Get cracking! From Ares Iranian Shock Troops in Venezuela? Posted by John M. Doyle at 7/29/2010 12:27 PM CDT It was a little surprising near the end of the (July 27) Senate confirmation hearing for Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to be the new head of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) when Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) brought up Venezuela. LeMieux said he was very concerned about the connection between Iran and Venezuela including secret flights between the two countries and the presence of “Iranian shock troops in Venezuela.” LeMieux, who was appointed last year to serve out the remaining term of Mel Martine…

U.S. sub may have toured Canadian Arctic zone 'We don't have any idea what's going on up there': expert Chris Wattie, National Post Published: Monday, December 19, 2005 A U.S. nuclear submarine cruised through the Arctic Ocean last month -- probably passing through Canadian territorial waters -- but the federal government is refusing to say whether it gave permission for the voyage. However, experts say it is highly unlikely Canada was even notified of the USS Charlotte's northern tour, which included a Nov. 10 stop at the North Pole, because it has no way of tracking what goes on beneath the Arctic ice. And that could threaten Canada's claim to hundr…

From Navy Times Carrier America sunk By Matt Hilburn Times staff writer The carrier America now lies beneath the surface of the Atlantic, scuttled by the Navy. Pat Dolan, a spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC, confirmed the “controlled” sinking took place at approximately 11:30 a.m. on May 14. The decommissioned ship, out of service since 1996, was the target of a series of tests designed to try out new defense and damage control systems for the CVN-21 carrier program. It was the largest ship deliberately sunk by the Navy. In fact, the America was the largest warship ever sunk by any means, in war or peace. Tom Tramantano,…

From Air Force Times Nighthawk takes final bow at Dubai By Wendell Minnick - Staff writer Posted : Thursday Nov 15, 2007 7:31:11 EST The Air Force’s F-117A Nighthawk Stealth Fighter made its last air show appearance in Dubai this week. Two Nighthawks were on static display and one took part in the daily flight demonstrations. Pilots and maintenance crews made themselves available to answer questions. “After 25 years in operation, it is the last air show appearance in the world,” said one maintenance crewman. The F-117, which completed combat missions over Iraq, Kosovo and Panama, is now facing the end of its mission life after 26 years of operation. The …

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

I had the chance to try an HCDB scenario with these vessels. It was quite cool to see them simulated. Being nearly invisible was a huge advantage.

DOD Inspector General's report: Assessment of the USAF Aircraft Accident Investigation Board (AIB) Report on the F-22A Mishap of November 16, 2010

At Sea Aboard the Zumwalt (DefenseNews)

Dangerous waters: Ignoring operational art at sea could doom U.S. maritime strategy BY MILAN VEGO armedforcesjournal The new U.S. maritime strategy to be unveiled this fall is expected to fill the lack of a clear and well-articulated vision of the role of U.S. maritime forces in defense and protection of the national interests at sea and of those of its allies and other friendly nations. However, the lack of sound theory and doctrine for the employment of maritime forces at the operational level of war might pose some serious limitations and ultimately doom the execution of the new U.S. maritime strategy. This situation might not be acute in the case of the empl…

From Flight International DATE: 04/08/08 SOURCE: Flight International US Navy discloses three-year, 36-aircraft buy for P-8A By Stephen Trimble The US Navy clarified today that it will order 36 Boeing P-8A Poseidons during the first three years of production, perhaps further opening the door to accelerating the in-service date by one year. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) disclosed the purchasing plans for the first three low-rate initial production (LRIP) lots from 2010 to 2012 on the Federal Business Opportunities web site. NAVAIR expects to order 10 aircraft in fiscal 2010, followed by 12 in FY2011 and 14 in FY2012. Advance procurement funds…

From http://www.janes.com...x?ID=1065971775 [excerpt]

USAF talks up new, improved C-130 gunship (Defense Aerospace)

From Navy Times Michigan returns to duty Conversion breathes new life into old sub By Melanthia Mitchell - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jun 13, 2007 7:20:26 EDT SEATTLE — The USS Michigan was welcomed back to duty Tuesday during a ceremony at Naval Base Kitsap that celebrated its conversion to a guided-missile submarine. The afternoon fanfare marked the end of a $1 billion, nearly three-year modification process at neighboring Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on the Kitsap Peninsula west of Seattle. The Bangor-based Michigan was transformed from a Trident missile sub, equipped to carry nuclear missiles, to one capable of using conventional Tomahawk …