Current Events in the Americas

The Power Of The Navy By H.D.S. Greenway NEWPORT, R.I. -- 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt made an extraordinary gesture to illustrate American global reach and power. He had 16 battleships painted white and sent them on a round-the-world voyage. "The Great White Fleet," as it came to be known, was painted white to show America's peaceful intentions, but the message was clear. America was a force to be reckoned with. The ships sailed for 14 months and visited 20 ports on six continents. Enthusiastic crowds greeted the ships everywhere. The battle fleet was mostly obsolete and no match for British and German "dreadnoughts " then coming off the wa…

Cost of LCS rises again Staff writer - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Feb 6, 2008 8:05:37 EST The price to buy each of the Navy’s first two Littoral Combat Ships has crashed through the $500 million barrier, and the final tab to deliver the ships is well over $600 million apiece, according to service budget documents released Feb. 4. Soaring cost growth has severely disrupted the program, which once envisioned the purchase of a series of relatively inexpensive, $220 million warships that would take about two years to build. Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics (GD) are building ships to very different designs in a competition to be decided in 2009. In Ja…

Comments on future carrier operations with drone tankers: https://www.themaven.net/warriormaven/sea/navy-to-pick-first-ever-carrier-launched-drone-later-this-year-v3X6RkePYkuPMMd6lUvKOg

From Air Force Times Air Force scraps nuclear stealth missiles The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Mar 7, 2007 21:22:27 EST WASHINGTON — The Air Force said Wednesday it will retire the most modern cruise missile in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, a “stealth” weapon developed in the 1980s with the ability to evade detection by Soviet radars. Known as the Advanced Cruise Missile, the weapon is carried by the B-52 bomber and was designed to attack heavily defended sites. It is the most capable among a variety of air-launched nuclear weapons built during the Cold War that remain in the U.S. inventory even as the Pentagon is reducing its overall nuclear arms stockp…

From DefenseNews.com http://www.defensenews.com Boeing Rolls Out First KC-767 Tanker By TOM KINGTON, ROME Boeing on Feb. 24 rolled out its first 767 tanker transport aircraft at its Wichita, Kan., plant for its first client, the Italian Air Force. Italy has ordered four of the KC-767A aircraft and expects to take delivery of the first in 2006, once flight tests and certification are completed, Boeing said in a statement. Boeing is producing the aircraft at its Everett, Wash., plant before cargo doors and refueling equipment are added in Wichita. The other three Italian tankers will be converted to tanker transport format by Officine Aeronavali, a unit of F…

General Dynamics' Work On Marine Corps Vehicle Under Fire In Congress General Dynamics Corp. demonstrated poor performance the last 12 years in developing a new U.S. Marine Corps amphibious warfare vehicle that's now almost five years behind schedule, a top lawmaker said Tuesday. The transport has repeatedly failed tests designed to show it can perform without breakdowns. The cost per vehicle has risen to $13.3 million from $5.31 million, calculated in mid-1990s dollars. In 2007 dollars, the cost is estimated at $21 million apiece. Still, the Marine Corps has paid Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics its fixed fee of $43 million, almost 80 percent…

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…

USAF KC-135s to Serve as Comms Relays Source: US Air Force Jan. 20, 2006 eDefense A KC-135 Stratotanker at Fairchild AFB, WA, was fitted with upgraded communications equipment recently that will revolutionize the battlespace and the way the US and its allies fight wars, according to US Air Force (USAF) officials. After 18 months on the drawing board, equipment developed under the Roll-On Beyond Line-of-Sight Enhancement (ROBE) Spiral 2 program has been fitted to the first KC-135 and will undergo testing at Eglin Air Force Base, FL. This system will allow allied forces in the battle zones near-real-time communications with any headquarters across the globe. T…

F-35 Navy Version Undergoes Successful Design Review, Readies for Production FORT WORTH, Texas --- The U.S. Navy's F-35C Lightning II carrier variant has completed its Air System Critical Design Review (CDR), a significant development milestone that verifies the design maturity of the aircraft and its associated systems. The review was conducted June 18-22 at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, and involved officials from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the Joint Strike Fighter Program Office, the F-35 international-participant nations and the F-35 contractor team. Completion of the CDR is a prerequisite for the F-35C to move into Low Rate Initial Production. …

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

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…

New mission for Corps relies on amphibs New deployment strategy stresses Navy-Marine link By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Friday Feb 8, 2008 18:24:45 EST The Marines want to get back to their expeditionary roots — and they’ll be taking amphib sailors with them. According to a recently approved operational concept, the Marine Corps plans to keep nine infantry battalions forward-deployed at all times, with the remaining 18 battalions in training. For the Marines, it means new advisory missions on top of existing requirements. And for sailors, it will mean a steady reliance on the amphibious fleet. In recent years, with Marines committed to lon…

From Navy Times July 07, 2006 Carrier Reagan returns from maiden deployment By Gidget Fuentes Times staff writer CORONADO, Calif. — With a swarm of colorful posters and festive balloons all around him, Aviation Electronics Technician 1st Class (AW/SW) Ruel Concepcion took in a deep breath and glanced at his ship. “It looks like it’s been through a lot,” said Concepcion, 43, of San Francisco. “I can’t believe it, a six-month deployment. Her first one. This is memorable.” The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, all 1,092 feet of military might, had nudged to its berth at North Island Naval Air Station on Thursday to complete its maiden operational deployment.…

From Air Force Times July 07, 2006 JSF named ‘Lightning II’ By Laura M. Colarusso Times staff writer With a nod to Air Force history, the service’s chief of staff has dubbed the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter “Lightning II.” Gen. T. Michael Moseley announced the decision Friday at the Lockheed Martin facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where the stealthy multi-role fighter is made. He based the decision on input received from airmen as well as the other services and coalition partners involved in the JSF program, said Maj. Glen Roberts, a spokesman for the general. The P-38 Lightning, the JSF’s namesake, was designed in the late 1930s and was used during World W…

From DefenseNews Posted 09/10/07 21:39 Third Time Could Be the Charm for LPD Program By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS PASCAGOULA, Miss. — With the U.S. Navy still smarting from the unsatisfactory delivery of two amphibious ships, Northrop Grumman has put a special emphasis on making sure the third ship avoids the pitfalls of its predecessors. If early returns are any indication, the shipbuilder and the Navy might be third time lucky. The USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19) carried out its initial builder’s trials in mid-August in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship returned Aug. 16 to Northrop’s Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula flying two brooms — a traditional “clean sweep” symbol represe…

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

Here's to hoping that they get built, without too much controversy or budgetary nightmare. Too much to ask? Joint Support Ships To Be Named HMCS Queenston and HMCS Chateauguay (Ottawa Citizen, Defence Watch blog)

Canada Expands Frigate Upgrade Plans (DefenseNews)

Of interest for everyone of us (see photo): https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-07/be-predictably-unpredictable

From Defense Aerospace Seabasing to Transform Marine Deployments, Commandant Says (Source: US Department of Defense; issued June 9, 2005) WASHINGTON --- The "seabasing" capability being developed for the Marine Corps will enable the service to deploy 15,000 troops anywhere in the world in as little as 10 to 12 days, according to the commandant of the Marine Corps. "And when you are able to respond that fast, it is going to change the calculus of the battlefield," Gen. Michael W. Hagee explained during an interview with the Pentagon Channel. The concept, expected to be in full swing within the next 10 to 15 years, involves pre-positioning ships with cr…