Current Events in the Americas

News from CNN, 18 February 2005 Experts: New submarine can tap fiber-optic cables The USS Jimmy Carter, set to join the nation's submarine fleet Saturday, will have some special capabilities, intelligence experts say: It will be able to tap undersea cables and eavesdrop on the communications passing through them. ... More here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/18/submarine...s.ap/index.html

From Navy Times January 04, 2006 Reagan begins first operational deployment By Gidget Fuentes Times staff writer CORONADO, Calif. — As scores of relatives and friends looked on, huddled in the morning chill, the nuclear carrier Ronald Reagan pulled from the pier Wednesday and began its first operational deployment. The carrier, named for the 39th president, actor and former California governor, carried 5,000 Navy officers and sailors as it left San Diego Bay to begin its first operational cruise and lead an 6,500-member strike group to the Western Pacific and certain combat duty in the Persian Gulf. The 1,092-foot-long carrier — whose innovations includ…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

How I suspected and reflected in these two historical scenarios, the US destroyers were operating for years alone and vulnerable, as confirmed in this USNI new report, but the procedure will be changed, and in near term we should count with three destroyers surface action groups: http://news.usni.org/2016/01/13/a-year-into-distributed-lethality-navy-nears-fielding-improved-weapons-deploying-surface-action-group http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2016-01/we-are-headed-right-direction Historical scenario featuring USS Ross (DDG 71) operating alone: http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?/files/file/904-new-battle-of-sinop-23-december-2015-alternate-history-s…

From Aviation Week ARES Blog F-22 intercepting Tu-95 Bear near the Aleutians in November 2007 F-22 dropping external fuel tanks (pylons and all)

Interesting article on future B-21 Raider probable high altitude capabilities: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/14919/the-b-21s-three-decade-old-shape-hints-at-new-high-altitude-capabilities

2018 Nuclear Posture Review (pdf)

No More U.S. Battleships? "For the first time since the 1890s, the U.S. Navy soon could be without a battleship," Defense News says. The Senate, in its version of the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill, authorizes the Navy to dispose of the battleship Wisconsin and transfer it to the state of Virginia. And a provision in the House version of the defense bill would transfer the battleship Iowa to the Port of Stockton, Calif. Only two battleships remain in Navy custody: the Wisconsin, berthed at Nauticus maritime center in downtown Norfolk, Va., and the Iowa, moored in a mothball fleet at Suisun Bay, Calif. Per an agreement dating from the 1990s between the…

Let's hope that they haven't forgotten those hard-won lessons. USAF Re-activating Aggressor Squadron Source: US Air Force Jan. 6, 2006 eDefense The US Air Force (USAF) will reactivate the 65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis AFB, NV, on Jan. 12. In a letter to airmen, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, USAF chief of staff, cited the history of the unit as “legendary” and said the aggressors will “directly contribute to the combat capability of our airmen.” “The 65th and other aggressor units will provide realistic adversary training in air, space, and information operations that make us even better,” General Moseley said. “Their training will keep us in…

A great read, lots of different things here. http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/how-to-win-in-a-dogfight-stories-from-a-pilot-who-flew-1682723379

From Navy Times ‘We still have a little fight left’ Carrier leaves Norfolk for the last time, heads to Boston By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 27, 2007 12:18:24 EST Aboard the USS John F. Kennedy —The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy didn’t look like a ship about to be decommissioned as it left Norfolk, Va., on Sunday. And that’s just the way the crew wanted it. Pulling away from the pier and heading out of Hampton Roads into open water, one “Big John” crew member was happy to have quieted the rumor mill. “We heard the waterfront rumors, and many here expected us to limp in, leaking fluids and looking like a garbage scow,” sai…

KC-46A Tanker Gets New Name: Pegasus (DefenseNews)

CF-18 Modernization BG-05.003 - February 18, 2005 A total of 80 CF-18 Hornetaircraft are undergoing a thorough mid-life upgrade to ensure that the Canadian Forces have a modern and interoperable fighter fleet until 2017. Various modernization projects are combined in two distinct phases of the overall aircraft modernization program. Of the 138 CF-18s procured between 1982 and 1988, 121 aircraft remain: 15 were lost to accidents, one aircraft was rendered unflyable as part of testing procedures, and one aircraft (number 901) has been inducted into the Canada Aviation Museum. A total of 92 aircraft will be kept operational until the Phase I modernization of a total…

From Aviation Week Boeing Plans Sixth Generation Fighter With Block 3 Super Hornet Jan 30, 2008 David A. Fulghum/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Boeing is touting an even newer version of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet that, paired with an advanced sixth-generation fighter in the works at the company, would give customers what Boeing deems a better package of capabilities than Lockheed Martin's combination of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The idea is that customers could buy 4.5 generation Super Hornets (perhaps 4.75 generation with the planned extra forward stealth and extra range of Block 3 aircraft) and then switch to a new, sixth genera…

From Air Force Times Last F-16A retires from service Staff report Posted : Wednesday Jun 20, 2007 16:02:25 EDT The last operational U.S. F-16A Fighting Falcon completed its final mission June 15 when it flew from Tucson Air National Guard Base, Ariz., and touched down at the so-called bone yard — the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. The plane belonged to the 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson, which has converted to the C and D models. “We constantly transition to newer, more advanced aircraft because that’s what pilots will fly when they graduate from our program,” said wing commander Brig. Gen. Rick Moisio. …

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

Painting A Rosy Picture Of A Costly Fighter Jet By Leslie Wayne LE BOURGET, France, June 21 — With jets screaming overhead, macho often mixes with Mach 1 here at the Paris air show. But the Lockheed Martin Corporation chose a softer approach to show the might of its next-generation radar-evading, supersonic fighter jet. It commissioned nine international artists to portray the multibillion-dollar combat plane in a variety of imaginary scenes — sailing over the Canadian Northwest, hovering over a British naval carrier and gliding above Sydney Harbor in Australia. The unveiling of the paintings here was a case of making virtue out of necessity. Lockheed’s Joint Strik…

THAAD, Aegis cooperate in anti-missile test By Kris Osborn - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Aug 13, 2008 7:26:27 EDT Traveling thousands of meters per second, a 20-foot Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missile destroyed an advanced, separating warhead dummy target just beneath the 60-mile envelope of the Earth’s atmosphere off the cost of Hawaii during a June test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai. The test intercept marked the first time the THAAD and Aegis radar systems worked together in a tactical scenario against a separating warhead, Missile Defense Agency officials said. “A separating warhead is not like a Scud wh…

From Flight Global DATE: 05/03/10 SOURCE: Flight International USAF considers options to preserve F-22 production tooling By Stephen Trimble Five months after the US Congress approved the cancellation of the Lockheed Martin F-22, the air force is still deciding whether to preserve or scrap the production tooling. The options under discussion include preserving at least the core of Lockheed's ability to build F-22 components and systems, although restarting production is not the USAF leadership's intent, says acquisition chief Lt Gen Mark Shackelford. Rather, USAF officials are considering the cost of preserving tooling to sustain the F-22, which could i…

Great article with interesting links: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18318/shock-trials-or-no-the-navys-newest-supercarrier-is-still-an-unreliable-debacle