Current Events in the Americas

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

5 disciplined in Arleigh Burke grounding By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jul 9, 2007 5:53:51 EDT NORFOLK, Va. — Cmdr. E.J. McClure, former captain of the destroyer Arleigh Burke, was administratively disciplined July 3 along with her executive officer and two other officers in a nonjudicial hearing convened in response to the ship running aground May 15. “Appropriate administrative actions” were taken against the four Arleigh Burke officers, said Lt. Cmdr. Herb Josey, public affairs officer for Naval Surface Force Atlantic. He did not disclose the nature of the actions due to privacy considerations. The commodore of Destroyer Squadron 2, C…

From DefenseNews [excerpt] CV32: The 'black sheep' of the USAF family being sacrificed?

From USNI Proceedings: http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2012-09-0/leap-ahead-21st-century-navy

A floating junkyard’ Environmental risks keep mothball fleets at anchor By Marcus Wohlsen - The Associated Press Posted : Friday Jul 6, 2007 7:31:47 EDT BENICIA, Calif. — From afar, the ghostly warships recall a fierce phalanx ready for battle. A closer look, though, shows the rust and rot of ships unfit for duty or even dismantling, a quandary that is costing U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars and could cause environmental misery that will cost millions more. This is the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, a collection of once-valiant troop transports, tankers and other vessels dating back to World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Before they can be scrapped and sold, …

One of These Mean Little Ships Could Be the Navys New Frigate (War is Boring blog)

From USNI Proceedings, September 2012 issue http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2012-09-0/new-kind-carrier-air-wing

A Reagan Doctrine for the Twenty-First Century (Free Beacon) I miss Ronnie.

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog: A Real Win For Rafale Posted by Robert Wall at 9/8/2009 1:57 AM CDT There will be some that say Brazil only is buying the 36 Dassault Rafale strike fighters because of France’s agreement to help develop and maybe buy ten KC-390 airlifters, or transfer extensive nuclear submarine technology, or whatever other reasons, but reality is that, for once, the French sales team orchestrated the campaign rather flawlessly. It is, without doubt, a huge win for Rafale. Not only is Brazil the first export customer for Rafale, it is a sizeable order and it came in a real competition. Libya and the United Arab Emirates – other countries that …

A South American Arms Race? Friday, Dec. 21, 2007 By ANDREW DOWNIE/SAO PAULO Time First it was Venezuela, spending $4 billion on Russian fighter planes, Kalashnikovs and perhaps even submarines. Then it was Brazil, in August announcing a 53% increase in its military budget for 2008, the biggest such increase in more than a decade. The competition is still in the early stages but when two of Latin America's nouveau riche oil powers start splashing out on weapons, alarm bells ring over an arms race. Related Articles Indeed, Chavez's spending spree has given Brazil's long-dormant arms industry a bit of a political kick-start. Says Brazilian Senator Jose Sarney, a …

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.

A US Navy With Only 8 Carriers? (DefenseNews)

From Defense Aerospace AARGM Enters Production (Source: US Naval Air Systems Command; issued October 30, 2008) NAVAIR’s newest advanced weapon for destruction of enemy air defenses, AGM-88E, was recently approved to go into low rate production, and the NAWCWD Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) Technical Project Office (TPO) played a major role in achieving that milestone. On Sept. 30, NAVAIR’s Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Weapons Program Office (PMA-242) received Navy approval for its AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) to enter low rate initial production (LRIP). “The work and knowledge at China Lake was vital to the success of reaching …

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

Aegis Ashore Scores in First Intercept Test (USNI News)

The big day is here ... but I guess, more important, is what happens next ... From Aviation Week Aerospace, Defense See Tight Electoral Races Nov 4, 2008 John M. Doyle There's more at stake in the Nov. 4 U.S. elections than control of the White House, with a number of top congressional leaders fighting to keep their seats while Democrats seek a veto-proof majority in the Senate and even wider control in the House of Representatives. Some previously safe seats, such as that of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), have lately come into play. Chambliss, a member of the Armed Services Committee who has been a champion of Lockheed Martin's F-22 stealth fighter - man…

Apparently fighters with AESA radars can disable cruise missiles electronics upto 180 Km/55 nm range: https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20221229.aspx

From Defence Talk AESA Radar Enters Full-Rate Production US Navy | Jul 4, 2007 The U.S. Navy’s next-generation aircraft radar system was approved for full-rate production June 25. Following extensive review by the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition), PMA-265 was granted authorization to enter into Full Rate Production for 437 next-generation APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars. “Super Hornet Block II and EA-18G aircraft equipped with AESA’s revolutionary war fighting capability makes Naval Aviation more relevant than ever in our history to the joint combatant commander. Our Super Hor…

To be deployed in October 2013 in USS Ponce, operational from 2014. Other candidate to employ it: LCS, now it's clear why ... Laser range: 1 or 2 nm , perhaps up to 10 nm in years to come .... After the range data, I think we don't need more comments ... http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/R41526.pdf

AH-1Z/UH-1Y Complete Developmental Testing Here (Source: US Navy via Bell Helicopter; issued March 1, 2006) NAVAIR PATUXENT RIVER, MD --- The H-1 Upgrades Program, which is replacing aging Marine Corps UH-1N and AH-1W aircraft with upgraded and 84-percent identical UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft, completed developmental testing Feb. 17. Currently, the program is preparing to enter Operational Evaluation as well as to start a third Low-Rate Initial Production lot. Two of the five developmental test aircraft have already been transferred to the operational test squadron and are being used to train the Marines who will conduct the operational evaluation…