Current Events in the Americas

Not been seen since operation two weeks ago Very interesting... as in the old Chinese curse...

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

Briefing slides for E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (PDF)

Britain a "crude colonial power in decline" says Argentine President Tension brewing in the South Atlantic?

From DefenseNews [excerpt] And so it begins, or continues. Expect more of the same if buy the F-35 and have to struggle to support that single component of the force at the expense of other programs and capabilities.

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt] CV32: Rumors and reports that Global Hawk, well, sucked, have been floating for around some time now. Unfortunate, really.

From Jane's [excerpt]

Will succeed ADM Mullen on 30 September

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Good choice, I'd say.

Aircraft Procurement Plan, FY 2012-2041 (PDF, 25 pp)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

All future military contracts should be set at a fixed price on negotiation. Any budget overruns fall squarely on the head of the contracted company. It'll never happen, but it seems sensible.

AvWeek gave great coverage of the hearings today in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on the F-35 JSF program. Some links of interest arising from the hearing: Joint Statement of Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter, USAF acquisition chief David Van Buren and F-35 JPO head Vice Adm David Venlet (PDF) Statement of Pentagon Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) director Christine Fox (PDF) Statement of Pentagon Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) director Michael Gilmore (PDF) Statement of Lockheed Martin VP/GM Tom Burbage (PDF) (he apparently did not take any questions) Statement of Michael Sullivan of the GAO …

From 4GWAR blog [excerpt]

From DefenseNews [excerpt] CV32: For the folks who decry the Hornet as a 'dog' in the turning and burning department, this is not going to come as happy news.

F-35 Selected Acquisition Report (SAR), 31 December 2010

From Flight Global's DEW Line blog [excerpt]

Lots of great pics of modern aircraft and a few warbirds too, at this Ares link.

From Flight Global [excerpt] CV32: We have an election looming here in Canada in less than a week, and the planned purchase of 65x F-35A is one of the more controversial issues dogging the campaign. And while I am Conservative to my very bone marrow, I will say that the Conservatives are wrong on this issue in that: (1) the requirement was written for the F-35, rather than a requirement being written and then candidates sought to meet it; (2) that the only 'competition' was undertaken in the USA, between LM and Boeing over who would build JSF, and had nothing to do with what platform would replace the CF-18; (3) the F-35 is not the only aircraft that mi…