Current Events in the Americas

From Aviation Week Support For More F-22 Soars in Congress Jan 20, 2009 By Amy Butler Even before President-elect Barack Obama to takes office Jan. 20, U.S. lawmakers are making a push in letters addressed to him to secure the future of the stealthy F-22 production line in Marietta, Ga. Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to Obama Jan. 16 requesting funding for production for the twin-engine fighter. Citing a flyaway cost reduction of 35 percent, the senators also say the end of the fighter’s production could further drain the U.S. economy in the midst of a recession. A decision is needed by early March to avoid gaps in the pro…

Extra Red Flag week allows for more missions Find the Air Force Times article here. By Erik Holmes - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jan 19, 2009 5:49:29 EST In the most significant change in its more than 30-year history, the Red Flag aerial combat exercise held at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., will expand from two to three weeks for the exercise that begins in late February and will include a greater emphasis on close-air support missions. The changes will allow Red Flag to more closely represent how a modern war likely would unfold, said Lt. Col. Paul Johnson, deputy commander of Nellis’ 414th Combat Training Squadron, which runs Red Flag. “Red Flag ha…

From Aviation Week LCS-1 On Course, Lockheed And Navy Say Jan 15, 2009 By Michael Fabey The U.S. Navy’s first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1), USS Freedom, has been performing up to specifications in sea trails, according to prime contractor Lockheed Martin, and the Navy says the program is back on course following its restructuring. “We were out on Lake Michigan for 10 days in all kinds of water,” said Joe North, Lockheed vice president and LCS program manager. “The more she rises [off the surface at speed], the more stable she is. But there was nothing that surprised us. We had been doing this on paper for so many years.” Commissioned in November, the shi…

Pre-Commissioned ??? 10 January 2009 (nice photos): http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=109216 Also: http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=109171 But I only see an usual octuple Mk 29 (ssb) mount in the first place photos and not VLS, and I guess the "24 missiles ESSM" is the total, with reloads, in each mount. And the launching of ESSM from Mk 29 mount from CVN 74: http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=40222 I've replaced an Mk 29 mount with ESSM in my personal database in the entry 2367 Theodore Roosevelt And the doubts about her "pre-commission": http://www.smartbrief.com/news/aia/storyDe...33-B731892E1489 htt…

From Code One, Third Quarter 2008 Vikings Ashore The very last at-sea deployment for the S-3 Viking ended on 29 May as crews from Sea Control Squadron 22 (VS-22), known as the Checkmates, returned home to NAS Jacksonville, Florida. VS-22 crews completed more than 300 flight hours during their two-month deployment on board the USS George Washington (CVN-73) as the ship sailed around South America en route to its new home port of Yokosuka, Japan. The VS-22 flyoff as the Washington neared San Diego marked the last planned S-3 catapult shot. The Checkmates and Sea Control Wing Atlantic Fleet are both scheduled to disestablish in January 2009, closing out the Viking'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…

New analysis of the F-35 JSF from Carlo Kopp and the APA gang ... Assessing JSF Defence Penetration Capabilities

Latest Hueys, Cobras make huge strides Find Marine Corps Times article here. Helos offer more power, technology upgrades By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer Posted : Sunday Jan 4, 2009 8:37:58 EST CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — At a distance, the new UH-1Y helicopters look similar to those born during the Vietnam era, but the four-blade Huey, which Marines call the “Yankee” model, is a different bird entirely. It has greater range, speed and lift than the old UN-1N — with less vibration. It carries 2,700 pounds of fuel, nearly double the capacity of the “November” model, and its integrated avionics, navigation and communications system give the aircrew access to …

From Navy Times Carrier numbers, budget issues await Obama By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jan 5, 2009 6:32:07 EST Affordability remains high on the list of requirement and acquisition challenges in the coming year, the Navy’s top weapon buyer said last month. And according to one congressional source, 2009 could also see a lively debate on whether the Navy truly needs 11 carriers. Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, offered several keys to his service’s goal of affordability during a Surface Navy Association luncheon Dec. 11 in Washington. Design and program stability is ke…

From Defense Aerospace P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft Homebasing Announced (Source: US Department of Defense; issued Jan. 02, 2009) The Department of the Navy announced today its decision to provide facilities and functions to base five fleet squadrons of the P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Aircraft (MMA) with a fleet replacement squadron (FRS) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla., four fleet squadrons at NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., and three fleet squadrons at Marine Corps Base Hawaii Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, with periodic squadron detachment operations at NAS North Island. This decision implements the preferred homebasing alternative 5 identified in t…

From ARES Sarko Closes Deal for SSNs, Helicopters Posted by Robert Wall at 12/24/2008 5:12 AM CST Brazil has now officially signed up to buy 50 EC725 medium-lift helicopters, making it the largest customer for the Eurocopter rotorcraft. At the same time, France and Brazil agreed on a deal in which Brazil will buy four DCNS Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines - and will co-produce, with France, its first nuclear attack submarine (SSN). The deal was signed in the presence of French president Nicolas Sarkozy - described by some rivals as France's best arms salesman - who was visiting his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil should no…

From Flight International DATE: 23/12/08 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com US Navy mulls slashing F-35C orders next year By Stephen Trimble The US Navy has disclosed it may cut as many as three out of four carrier variant aircraft from next year's batch of orders for Lockheed Martin F-35s. Any cuts would reduce the overall number of F-35s ordered in the fourth lot of low rate initial production (LRIP-4) from 32 to as low as 29. The US Air Force and the US Marine Corps still intend to buy 13 F-35As and 15 F-35Bs, respectively, according to an acquisition notice posted yesterday. But the first batch of F-35Cs purchased during the LRIP phase could vary from …

Find Navy Times article here Navy orders 8 new Virginia-class subs By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Dec 23, 2008 7:03:14 EST As expected, the Navy announced on Monday a $14 billion contract to buy eight new Virginia-class submarines. The fixed-price incentive, multiyear procurement contract was awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat, lead shipyard for the Virginia-class submarines. Electric Boat’s facilities at Quonset Point, R.I., and Groton, Conn., share equally in building the submarines with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s Newport News shipyard in Virginia. In making the announcement, Rear Adm. William Hilarides, program execut…

From DefenseNews Commissioning Party to be on Unfinished Carrier By christopher p. cavas Published: 18 Dec 17:33 EST (22:33 GMT) Ready or not, U.S. Presidents Bush 41 and 43 will gather in Norfolk, Va., early in the new year to commission 41's namesake aircraft carrier, even though the ship won't be quite ready for delivery. Construction delays mean the future USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) won't be able to carry out sea trials and be accepted by the Navy before the Jan. 10 commissioning - the normal sequence of events for a new ship, the Navy and shipbuilder Northrop Grumman said Dec. 18 in separate statements. Legal custody of a new ship is transferred…

From ARES Out In The Open Posted by Guy Norris at 12/17/2008 4:29 AM CST The X-47B unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrator - the US Navy's first tail-less, stealthy unmanned aircraft, was unveiled at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, Calif., site on Dec.16. The first air vehicle, AV-1, is scheduled to make its first flight on Nov.11 next year, while a second demonstrator AV-2 is being assembled, and will be completed around December 2009. Both will be used to demonstrate the viability of carrier operations with an unmanned combat aircraft, with the first X-47B carrier landing expected in November 2011. The X-47B wing span is an impressive 62.1 ft, c…

From Defense Aerospace Lockheed Martin Delivers First C-5M Super Galaxy (Source: Lockheed Martin; issued December 9, 2008) MARIETTA, Ga. --- Lockheed Martin today delivered the first fully modernized C-5M Super Galaxy to the U.S. Air Force at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga. The aircraft is the first of three developmental test C-5M aircraft to be delivered, with the other two to be delivered to Dover AFB, Del., in February 2009. All three aircraft successfully completed developmental testing in August 2008. Current Air Force plans call for Lockheed Martin to deliver 52 modernized C-5Ms. "The C-5 fleet is now beginning to realize its fu…

From DefenseNews Explosion May Put U.S. Mini-Sub Program in Danger By christopher p. cavas Published: 9 Dec 11:43 EST (16:43 GMT) The long-stalled future of the U.S. special warfare community's troubled mini-submarine is even cloudier after a serious explosion and fire struck the craft last month, ironically on the cusp of a new mission and a new way ahead for the program. The Advanced SEAL Delivery Vehicle 1 (ASDS-1) was having its lithium-ion batteries charged Nov. 9 when an explosion started a battery fire that burned for about six hours. No one was aboard the 60-ton craft, which was on shore at its base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Federal firefighters s…

The December 2008 issue of Air Forces Monthly has a supplement called "US Fighters: A Briefing on the USA's Fighter Capabilities", which in turn contains a current inventory of US armed forces' fighter aircraft types. I thought I'd share those numbers here: OA/A-10A Thunderbolt II Delivered: 714 (from October 1975) Current: 236 Losses: 103 Converted: 120 Withdrawn: 79 Stored: 176 A-10C Thunderbolt II Delivered: 120 (reached IOC in September 2007) Current: 120 Losses: 0 Withdrawn: 0 Stored: 0 On order: 220 F-15A Eagle Delivered: 365 (from January 1976) Current: 46 Losses: 46 Withdrawn: 96 Sold: 24 Stored: 153 F-15B Eagle Delivered: 59 (fr…

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…

From Defence Talk Southern Partnership Station Begins Aboard Swift US Navy | Dec 1, 2008 MORGAN CITY: Military Sealift Command-chartered high speed vessel HSV-2 Swift (HSV 2) along with various embarked Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units departed Louisiana Nov. 25 for a five-month deployment in support of Southern Partnership Station (SPS). Southern Partnership Station is an annual deployment of various specialty platforms to the U.S. Southern Command area of focus in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission's primary goal is information sharing with navies, coast guards and civilian services throughout the region. "Southern Partnership Station pr…