Current Events in the Americas

More Royal Navy frigates for Chile MercoPress The strong international price of copper for the second year running has bolstered Chile’s coffers and a percentage of that additional income is earmarked for military equipment purchases including several Royal Navy frigates, German Leopard tanks and refurbished F-16 fighters. Excess income from copper sales abroad represented last year an additional two billion US dollars for the Chilean government and for the military who are legally entitled to a percentage, almost 700 million US dollars in these last two years, although part of it has already been spent in cancelling debts. President Ricardo Lagos and the comm…

From DefenseNews [That little ship some people love to hate is attracting attention again ... ] Posted 10/26/06 13:57 Lockheed’s LCS Draws International Interest By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS, LE BOURGET, France A steady stream of uniformed and civilian visitors from many countries stopped by the Lockheed Martin desk during Euronaval, the biannual European naval show here that showcases the latest in naval concepts and hardware. And while the American company touted its Aegis combat system and approaches to open architecture, the majority of visitors wanted to know about the flashiest thing on the Lockheed stand — the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). “There have bee…

From Defense Aerospace Op-Ed: Crusading Navy Secretary Cancels 300-Ship Fleet (Source: The Lexington Institute; issued Nov. 6, 2007) By Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. With all the breaking news last week -- martial law in Pakistan, Hillary besieged by pygmies -- you may have missed the big announcement coming out of the U.S. Navy. Hard-charging Navy Secretary Donald Winter has brought his crusade for fundamental reform in the shipbuilding industry to its first major milestone, effectively canceling plans for a 300-ship fleet. That's the likely long-term consequence of his decision to terminate a contract with General Dynamics for a new warship called the Litto…

From Defense Aerospace Keel Laid for First Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (Source: US Navy; issued June 3, 2005) MARINETTE, Wis. --- The keel was laid and authenticated for the Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) June 2 at Marinette Marine here. The 378-foot LCS will be the first U.S. ship to carry this class designation. "LCS Represents the cutting edge of a new Navy, the likes of which we have never seen before," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark during his remarks at the ceremony. "It is a great personal privilege to confirm this keel on such a brave and bold future for our Navy." The future USS Freedom (LCS 1) acknowledge…

From DefenseNews DDG 1001 Named for MoH Recipient Monsoor By christopher p. cavas and philip ewing Published: 29 Oct 18:06 EDT (22:06 GMT) One of the Navy's largest new surface warships will bear the name of a Navy SEAL who received the nation's highest award for valor. "DDG 1001, the second ship in our newest class of destroyers, will be named after Michael Monsoor," Navy Secretary Donald Winter said remarks prepared for an address to be given Oct. 29 in New York. "Michael Monsoor's name will now be linked with one of our nation's most visible examples of military power - a U.S. Navy warship," Winter said in the address prepared for a Navy SEAL Warrior …

From Marine Corps Times Tarawa to decommission Thursday By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Dec 2, 2008 16:37:20 EST SAN DIEGO — After 32 years, Tarawa is going to bid farewell to its sailors. Navy officials on Thursday will retire the amphibious assault ship, which in June returned to its pier at San Diego Naval Base after wrapping up its final operational deployment to the Persian Gulf and Northern Arabian Sea. One of Tarawa’s former skippers, Rear Adm. Garry Hall, will speak during the formal decommissioning ceremony that afternoon. Hall commanded the ship during a 2000 deployment that included assisting with efforts to recover victims o…

article Navy to Base First Four Littoral Combat Ships in San Diego (Source: US Department of Defense; issued April 27, 2006) The Navy announced today that the first four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will be homeported at Naval Station San Diego, Calif. Key in the success of implementing these new concepts is the ability to collocate these ships to achieve readiness alignment and economy of scale. This collocation is especially important for the first ships in the class as waterfront facilities, infrastructure, training and maintenance efficiencies are developed. San Diego was chosen as the initial homeport because of the Navy’s increased emphasis …

From Army Times Report: JCAs cut from Army budget By Sam LaGrone - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Apr 29, 2009 11:51:28 EDT The Joint Cargo Aircraft is no longer joint. Army funding for the C-27 Spartan — the small tactical airlifter intended for both the Army and the Air Force — has been stripped from the budget, a defense official familiar with the decision said Monday. The Air Force will retain its 38 planes under the revised plan, but the Army, which wanted 40 C-27s to replace its aging C-23 Sherpas, will receive none. The 40 Army planes were to be assigned to the Army National Guard, many to districts at risk of losing their Guard missions due …

Dust off your South Atlantic battleset! Argentina and China agree fighter aircraft working group (Jane's)

From Flight International DATE: 09/01/09 SOURCE: Flight International USAF starts public search for Air Force One replacement By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force yesterday took the first public step in the search for a replacement of the Boeing VC-25 Air Force One, the presidential aircraft fleet. The USAF posted a request for information for market sources that can provide three widebody aircraft to replace two, 19-year-old VC-25s, which are converted Boeing 747-200s. An analysis of alternatives performed in 2007, which identified the Airbus A380 as a candidate, found that it would be more cost-effective to buy new aircraft rather than modernize the…

From Navy Times Navy requests more Littoral Combat Ships By David Sharp - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Apr 2, 2008 18:33:47 EDT PORTLAND, Maine — The Navy is moving forward with construction of a new type of smaller, speedy warships, putting the project back on track after the cancellation of two ships last year, officials said Wednesday. The Navy’s formal request for proposals issued on Tuesday to General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works and Lockheed Martin calls for construction of three Littoral Combat Ships to be carried out over the next several years. The Navy envisions a competition in which the winning bidder is awarded contracts for two of t…

Destroyer hits target in missile defense test By Kris Osborn - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Jun 27, 2007 15:20:18 EDT For the first time, an Aegis radar-equipped Navy destroyer test-fired an interceptor missile, hitting a target 250 miles off the coast of Hawaii on June 22, Missile Defense Agency officials said. The Standard Missile (SM-3) fired from the destroyer Decatur rammed its target during the midcourse phase of its flight, roughly 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean, according to MDA and Lockheed Martin officials. Previous Aegis BMD tests have been aboard cruisers. During the test, the Aegis combat system used data radioed from a Terminal Hig…

LCS delays could send UAVs to other ships By John T. Bennett - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 12, 2008 21:29:41 EST If the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships are delayed, the service may debut the Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned rotorcraft “on another air-capable ship,” said William Balderson, the service’s program executive officer for air programs. That “would allow us to not delay the Fire Scout even if LCS slips” and would also allow the service to begin integrating the vertical-takeoff UAV onto a working ship, driving down “integration risk” when it moves to the littoral ships, he said. That plan, however, is still “pre-decisional,” as PEO av…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

APG-83 SABR AESA radar very probably for USMC F/A-18C/D: https://www.naval-technology.com/news/northrop-installs-production-apg-83-radar-usmcs-f-18c-hornet/

The Case for Strategic Discipline During the Next Presidency (War on the Rocks) The lack of banter here - let alone debate - following the US election has been somewhat surprising to me. How about it? In the context of Harpoon relevant scenarios, do you think the world is a scarier place? Less scary?

Expert: Navy Should Revise Outer Air Battle Concept (USNI News) I think I agree with him. As Harpoon will show you, if you're having to use your SM-2/-3/-6 to defend the battle group, you're already backpedaling. And you can't carry enough of them (or afford them).

From DefenseNews Posted 01/11/07 21:45 LCS hits ‘considerable cost overruns’ By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), advertised by the U.S. Navy as a $220 million bargain, is going to come in at considerably more than that, according to a senior Navy official. “It appears that we’re having considerable cost overruns on it,” Delores Etter, the Navy’s top acquisition official, told reporters Jan. 11. “We’ve been doing our cost-performance review on the Lockheed Martin ship,” Etter said, noting that as the first of a class, “you’ve got some surprises you didn’t expect. But we’re trying to understand the exact cost increases and we’re working with …

Navy decommissions last coastal minehunters By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer Posted : Sunday Dec 16, 2007 9:00:05 EST The Navy bid adieu to its last four Osprey-class coastal minehunter ships Dec. 1, leaving the service to rely on 14 Avenger-class minehunters and the nascent Littoral Combat Ship program to fill the niche mission of surveying shallow coastal waters for mines. The decommissioning ceremony was held at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas. The ships — Black Hawk, Cormorant, Kingfisher and Shrike — were capable of clearing harbors and other coastal waters of various types of underwater mines. The ships were commissioned between 1996 and 1999. T…