Current Events in the Americas

From Navy Times Navy accepts first LCS, anti-sub module Staff report Posted : Thursday Sep 18, 2008 16:06:57 EDT The Navy took delivery Thursday of its first littoral combat ship, the Freedom, one of two late-week milestones in the Littoral Combat Ship program, along with the scheduled rollout Friday of the anti-submarine mission module in San Diego. “This is a truly exciting day for the Navy. Today marks a critical milestone in fulfilling the need and realizing the vision we began just a few years ago,” said LCS program manager Capt. James Murdoch in an announcement Thursday. “Despite our challenges, the Navy and industry have continued to press on to build…

From Aviation Week Boeing Unveils New Stealthy F-15 Mar 17, 2009 Amy Butler/St. Louis, Mo. Boeing unveiled the prototype of a new variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle aimed at the Asian and Middle East markets that will incorporate stealthy coatings and structure here on Mar. 17. Company officials hope the new aircraft will garner up to 190 orders, extending the F-15 line beyond the current backlog of 38 aircraft for South Korea and Singapore. Since the company lost the Joint Strike Fighter contest to Lockheed Martin, the future of its St. Louis manufacturing facility has been uncertain. Continued F-15 sales, as well as additional orders for F/A-18E/Fs and EA-18…

HMCS Chicoutimi ready for sea trials in Island waters after three years of repairs (Times Colonist)

From Defense Aerospace Northrop Grumman Celebrates Ceremonial Steel Cut and Facilities Grand Opening for CVN 21 Aircraft Carrier Program (Source: Northrop Grumman Corp.; issued Aug. 11, 2005) NEWPORT NEWS, Va. --- Northrop Grumman Corporation has reached its first construction milestone in the life of the new-generation aircraft carrier, CVN 21. The company cut one of the first pieces of steel, a 15-ton plate for a side shell unit of CVN 78, the first ship of the CVN 21 program. Design work on the CVN 21 is underway at Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector, with the full construction contract anticipated in 2007. Advance construction began in 2005 to allow…

From Defense Aerospace Issue Brief: The Slow Death of American Air Power (Source: The Lexington Institute; issued Jan. 16, 2007) By Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. Now that America has an Islamo-centric security posture, any danger that doesn't fit within the counter-fundamentalist framework tends to be ignored. That's sort of ironic, since the biggest military threats to democracy in the last century came from atheists. Five years into the "global war on terror," the evidence suggests that Islamic radicals are real good at blowing each other up, but not so good at projecting power abroad. As long as western nations maintain halfway decent domestic security arr…

Ship’s visit shows how British sailors live By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Thursday Apr 19, 2007 16:59:08 EDT NORFOLK, Va. — The important stuff first: British sailors are issued three cans or “tins” of beer after work every day. The snack machines dispense Cadbury chocolate bars. A normal lunch is curry and rice. And when a British ship comes into port, the crew’s rugby team goes ashore to scrounge up a game with the locals. This week and into next, the English amphibious assault ship Ocean is to be in Norfolk for the city’s Azalea Festival, and its crew has been hosting a variety of visitors during its stay. At 667 feet long and 22,500 tons, O…

From Defense Aerospace Iranian Influence, Terrorist Links, Threaten Latin American Security (Source: US Department of Defense; issued March 17, 2009) WASHINGTON --- Iran is increasing its presence in Latin America, and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization it sponsors, is making inroads in drug trafficking in Colombia, the commander of U.S. Southern Command told Congress today. Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee he shares concerns expressed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates about Iranian activity in Central and South America. Iran has opened six embassies in the region during the past five years and is promoting Islamic acti…

The test and practical use is based in the active radar seeker capability of SM-6: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/here-another-big-reason-why-americas-mighty-missile-defenses-19795

Navy awaits laser minesweeping By William Matthews - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 2, 2007 21:16:54 EDT Sweeping along at 60 knots, a Navy helicopter equipped with a blue-green laser will soon be able to detect mines in water deeper than 40 feet. Using data collected during the sweep, the helicopter will return to the area and use a second, more focused laser to zero in on the mines, then destroy them with specially designed 30-millimeter supercavitating bullets. The new Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) and its companion Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS) promise to dramatically speed up mine detection and clearing of floating an…

I've been doing a little thinking about the LCS, both in terms of the politics and the possibilities for scenario design. My limited understanding of the controversy surrounding the LCS is that a) people are annoyed that the ship has cost so much to develop and build and people are disappointed that some of the promises associated with the design (all those modules, etc.) have not been delivered. I don't know how justified these complaints are, but it sounds like there have been a lot of problems with the development of the LCS, and these are certainly legitimate reasons for people to be upset. Question...from what I can tell, there are currently contracts to bu…

From Defense Aerospace Coast Guard Plunges Into Deepwater (Source: Project On Government Oversight; issued April 18, 2007) This just in -- Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal is reporting: Under mounting pressure from Congress, the Coast Guard has decided to remove Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) and Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) from overseeing the service's troubled modernization program, and assume the role itself, according to people familiar with the matter. The Coast Guard is expected to announce the restructuring of its 25-year, $24-billion Deepwater program on Tuesday, a day before the next in a series of Capitol Hill hearings into the delays program to …

From EIN Presswire [excerpt] For gemerson:

From Reuters, printed in today's San Diego Union Tribune: LA ORCHILA, Venezuela - Venezuela test-fired missiles in the Caribbean Sea yesterday in a display of military strength at a time of tense realations between Washington and leftist President Hugo Chavez. Five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets swooped over the military base on the island of La Orchila, dropping a half-ton bomb and firing a KH-59 missile at a seaborne target. A patrol boat fired an Otomat surface-to-surface missile at the same target. Buddha

(Source: Ares and BBC) So, attempt number three at this has gone to Boeing...

25,000-ton cruiser under consideration Analysis of alternatives sees nuclear BMD vessel By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jul 23, 2007 19:01:31 EDT Under pressure from the Navy to develop a new cruiser based on the DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class hull form, and from Congress to incorporate nuclear power, a group of analysts working on the next big surface combatant may recommend two different ships to form the CG(X) program. One ship would be a 14,000-ton derivative of the DDG 1000, an “escort cruiser,” to protect aircraft carrier strike groups. The vessel would keep the tumblehome hull of the DDG 1000 and its gas turbine power plant. The oth…

MSNBC blog Basically, the US hasn't passed its FY 2011 budget yet and has been operating on "continuing resolutions" since 1 October. The current resolution ends on 4 March. This is having a military impact, as the latest issue of AIR International points out; some procurement stuff can't be started.

Here's something interesting, from the Latin America desk: http://navaltoday.com/2012/01/03/brazilian...-of-three-opvs/ FWFS, Greg Emerson, DM1(SW), USN-Retired Renton, WA, USA [CV32: Moved to the 'Current Events in the Americas' subforum]

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

From http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/09/12/nrc-dump-boost-phase-ballistic-missile-defense.html [excerpt] The report can be found at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13189

Argentina planned to blow up warship in Gibraltar during the Falklands War By Graham Keeley in Barcelona Published: 04 April 2007 TheIndependent It was a spy story with a plot out of James Bond. During the Falklands War, Argentina planned to blow up a British warship in Gibraltar. The main protagonist was a former left-wing guerrilla turned spy who specialised in mine attacks on warships. A Spanish film-maker, Jesus Mora, has made a documentary about Operation Algeciras. For many years, no one in authority would admit the plot existed but Mora got the former Spanish prime minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo and the chief of the Argentine navy at the time, Admira…