Current Events in the Americas

Report: Sailors killed while tethered to sub Rough seas also threatened to sink ship By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Apr 10, 2007 10:56:16 EDT Two sailors from the attack submarine Minneapolis-St. Paul were killed Dec. 29 off Plymouth, England, after being washed overboard in rough seas that soon threatened to sink the ship, according an investigative report released Monday under a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Navy Times. Senior Chief Electronics Technician (SS) Thomas K. Higgins, 45, chief of the boat, died in the accident, along with Sonar Technician 2nd Class (SS) Michael J. Holtz. A third sailor, Sonar Technician 1st C…

From Navy Times [excerpt]

Ships flagged for lack thereof Navy custom not observed by some By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Sunday Jul 8, 2007 10:23:48 EDT NORFOLK, Va. — Eight ships of the 2nd Fleet caused a few internal fireworks July 4. A message from 2nd Fleet command to units of 2nd Fleet reminded all that “on President’s Day and on Independence Day every ship of the Navy in commission, not underway, shall full-dress ship.” It then tersely noted that the cruisers Cape St. George and Vella Gulf, destroyers Arleigh Burke, The Sullivans, Porter, James E. Williams, Forrest Sherman, and the dock landing ship Shreveport — all of which were in port for the holiday — were not…

From Jane's [excerpt]

Speculations in Mer et Marine about if the Super Etendard, after his retirement in late 2016, could be transferred to Argentine (I doubt it very much, because budgetary and political questions): http://www.meretmarine.com/fr/content/une-seconde-vie-en-argentine-pour-les-sem-de-laeronautique-navale

From Aviation Week U.S. Navy Plans EPX Intel-Gathering Aircraft Feb 22, 2008 By David A. Fulghum The U.S. Navy is asking three companies each to design an aircraft that can conduct simultaneous intelligence-gathering missions that were considered impractical, perhaps impossible, even a couple of years ago. In particular, the Navy wants a single, EPX aircraft that can use a powerful radar and at the same time operate an array of sensitive receivers that can collect faint electronic emissions or communications from hundreds of miles away. The multisource information would be fused to locate and identify objects of interest as fleeting and elusive as the low-po…

It seems my Major Kong needs a new ride. From Danger Room [excerpt]

Defense Today February 1, 2006 Pg. 1 Designing Small Destroyer Would Cost Years, Billions Of Loss By Dave Ahearn Designing a new, much smaller destroyer would cost the Navy at least part of its $7.5 billion investment in developing the cutting-edge DD(X) destroyer that now is poised for construction, and also would mean five years or so in designing and developing what would be a far lesser warship, a key admiral said in an interview. Rear Adm. Mark Buzby, deputy director for surface warfare, said the resultant ship wouldn't provide the Navy with many capabilities it requires to counter the current and clearly foreseeable threat environment. Further…

A pilot friend of mine has a new job, but it means he will have to move from this island to a much smaller one in the Caribbean. Poor fella ... From Defense Industry Daily Canadian Firm Wins $100M Maritime Reconnaissance Contract from Dutch Posted 24-Jul-2006 07:18 In the fall of 2003, the Dutch government announced the retirement and sale of its P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft fleet, including 2 aircraft stationed at Curacao that flew missions for the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Orions were sold to Germany (8) and Portugal (5), but their services needed to be replaced. Australia's contracted public-private Coastwatch approach offers a solid mod…

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

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 Flight Global DATE: 22/09/09 SOURCE: Flight International RAF Typhoons arrive for Falkland Islands mission By Craig Hoyle Four Eurofighter Typhoons from the UK Royal Air Force have arrived at Mount Pleasant airport in the Falkland Islands, where the type will soon replace the service's Panavia Tornado F3 to deliver air defence services. The Typhoons left RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on 12 September accompanied by a spare aircraft, and were flown to the South Atlantic with support from in-flight refuelling aircraft. The fighters have been drawn from the RAF's 3 Sqn, but left the UK without unit markings. Pictured shortly before its departure fro…

From Jane's Navy International Northrop Grumman wins US 'Tango Bravo' contract By Richard Scott Northrop Grumman Newport News has been awarded a USD12.7 million contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Navy, to develop and test a new weapon handling and launch system, as part of the 'Tango Bravo' submarine technology exploration initiative. The new weapon handling and launch concept is predicated on eliminating the submarine's torpedo room from inside the ship's pressure hull and moving the launchers outside the hull. This change would eliminate complex machinery and free up valuable space inside the hull. The Northrop Grumm…

Navy furious over LPD 17 By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Jul 10, 2007 11:15:46 EDT Northrop Grumman has received a scathing rebuke from the secretary of the Navy for its performance on the LPD 17 amphibious ship program. The company was criticized for poor construction standards and an inability to meet cost and schedule targets — factors that are causing the Navy concerns about future ship construction at Northrop’s shipyards along the Gulf of Mexico. “I am deeply concerned about Northrop Grumman Ship Systems’ (NGSS) ability to recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, particularly in regard to construction of LPD 17 Class vessel…

From DefenseNews Posted 03/15/07 23:12 Navy to LCS Shipbuilders: Control Costs or Else By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter announced March 15 he was lifting a stop-work order on a new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), but he made it clear that once new cost figures are set to finish the ships, he expects shipbuilders to end the excessive cost growth that has threatened the LCS program. “We’ve determined we need to take a number of steps,” Winter told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. The chief elements are: • Renegotiating the construction contract for LCS 3, the second ship under construction by a Lockheed Martin team. The stop-work…

From DefenseNews Posted 07/10/07 20:58 Brazil To Invest $500 Million in Nuclear-Powered Sub By REUTERS, BRASILIA Brazil will invest $500 million to revive a long-stalled navy project to build a nuclear-propelled submarine, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said July 10. “We are going to apply the necessary resources to conclude this project,” Lula said at a nuclear research facility in Sao Paulo state. The project requires 1 billion reais ($500 million) invested over eight years, he said. A nuclear-powered submarine could patrol the vast waters off Brazil’s coastline more effectively, Navy Commander Adm. Julio Soares de Moura has said. Brazil has five conve…

From Air Force Times Test of massive bunker-busting bomb a success Staff report Posted : Thursday Mar 15, 2007 17:26:47 EDT The Defense Threat Reduction Agency successfully conducted the first explosive test of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator conventional weapon Wednesday at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., according to a press release from the agency. The 30,000-pound penetrating bomb — which would be the largest in the Air Force’s inventory — is designed to defeat hard and deeply-buried targets such as bunker and tunnel facilities. The test consisted of a conventional weapon placed within a test tunnel, not dropped from the air. “This demonstration…

From Defense Aerospace Navy Terminates Littoral Combat Ship 3 (Source: US Department of Defense; issued April 12, 2007) Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced today that the Department of the Navy is terminating construction of the third Littoral Combat Ship (LCS 3) for convenience under the Termination clause of the contract because the Navy and Lockheed Martin could not reach agreement on the terms of a modified contract. The Navy issued a stop-work order on construction on LCS 3 in January following a series of cost overruns on LCS 1 and projection of cost increases on LCS 3, which are being built by Lockheed Martin under a cost-plus contract. …

From Army Times Report: JCAs cut from Army budget By Sam LaGrone - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Apr 29, 2009 11:51:28 EDT The Joint Cargo Aircraft is no longer joint. Army funding for the C-27 Spartan — the small tactical airlifter intended for both the Army and the Air Force — has been stripped from the budget, a defense official familiar with the decision said Monday. The Air Force will retain its 38 planes under the revised plan, but the Army, which wanted 40 C-27s to replace its aging C-23 Sherpas, will receive none. The 40 Army planes were to be assigned to the Army National Guard, many to districts at risk of losing their Guard missions due …

Thought this was a story from the Onion when I first heard it ... http://www.globalnews.ca/arrow%2Bcould%2Bfly%2Bagain/6442711404/story.html