Current Events in the Americas

From Defense Aerospace Setting the Record Straight on F-35 (Source: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company; issued September 19, 2008) FORT WORTH, Texas --- U.S. Air Force analyses show the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is at least 400 percent more effective in air-to-air combat capability than the best fighters currently available in the international market. The Air Force's standard air-to-air engagement analysis model, also used by allied air forces to assess air-combat performance, pitted the 5th generation F-35 against all advanced 4th generation fighters in a variety of simulated scenarios. The results were clear: the F-35 outperformed the most highly …

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 Air Force Times Joint missile program called back on track By Erik Holmes - Staff writer Posted : Thursday Sep 18, 2008 8:09:09 EDT The future of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, seemed in doubt last year due to severe cost overruns and four failed flight tests in a span of a few days. But the Air Force and Lockheed Martin say the program is back on target, with a batch of the stealthy cruise missiles delivered in July and a contract for an additional 111 awarded in June. And the reliability issues have been solved, according to Air Force and Lockheed officials. The development team flew 16 flight tests in four days in February, …

From Navy Times Analyst: DDGs without CIWS vulnerable By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Sep 16, 2008 5:55:34 EDT For all the modifications and improvements that have come with each new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the 20 most recent ships have arrived from the shipyard missing something — the distinctive white domes of the Phalanx Close In Weapons System. The first 34 Burkes carry two of the 20mm, six-barrel Gatling guns, known as CIWS, which can find and shoot down air targets that slip through the outer defenses of a ship or task group. But since 2002, destroyers have come from the builders without the guns, as plans called for a new mi…

From Aviation Week Pentagon Scraps USAF Tanker Competition Sep 10, 2008 By Jefferson Morris The U.S. Department of Defense announced this morning that it is terminating the U.S. Air Force refueling tanker competition, and has notified Congress and the competing industry teams of the move. Halting the current competition can be viewed as a win for Boeing, which complained that the quick pace of the recompete didn't give it enough time to substantively change its proposal. The deferment would allow the company to rebuild its proposal strategy around a larger aircraft like the 777. According to a DOD statement, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in consultatio…

A great set of photos from Red Flag 08-04: http://prometheus.med.utah.edu/~bwjones/C1...5317/index.html

From Flight International DATE: 08/09/08 SOURCE: Flight International Boeing nears first light test for Airborne Laser By Stephen Trimble Boeing is nearing the first light of the 1MW-class energy beam on board a parked YAL-1 Airborne Laser (ABL). The key milestone for the missile defence programme was originally scheduled for late August. Powering-on the laser on board the aircraft is one of the last major critical steps before the first airborne shootdown test of a ballistic missile target, scheduled during August 2009. As of 29 August, Boeing was in the process of activating each of the subsystems for the six-module laser, says the company's ABL pr…

From ARES Blog JSF News You Might Have Missed Posted by Bill Sweetman at 9/8/2008 8:15 AM CDT The Joint Strike Fighter program is so vast that a week can hardly go by without some JSF-related news. Air Force Magazine secured an interview with ousted Air Force secretary Michael Wynne, including this comment about the JSF: He argues that it is too early to halt F-22 production and rely on the F-35 as the sole fifth-generation fighter in production, mainly because "I’m afraid the F-35 will fail a test." [CV32: Emphasis mine.] If that line doesn't appear in every third Gripen PowerPoint for the next several months - if the USAF doesn't want to bet its fu…

From Aviation Week Pacific Will Drive Future Navy Investment Sep 4, 2008 Bettina H. Chavanne Pacific-realm activity, Iranian behavior, resurgent major powers like China and the prevalence of low-intensity conflict (LIC) will drive U.S. Navy investments in the region, according to Marshall Billingslea, deputy under secretary of the Navy. Maritime power is uniquely suited to safeguard the interests of the United States, Billingslea told a multinational crowd Sept. 3 at ComDef 2008 in Washington. In the Pacific, the United States claims to be upgrading its carrier presence in alliance with Japan and actively pursuing new relationships with countries like India …

From Navy News, obtained at Military.com August 27, 2008 Navy News|by Mass Comm. Spc. 3rd Class Coleman Thompson VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Command of patrol coastal ships USS Tempest (PC 2) and USS Monsoon (PC 4) was returned to the U.S. Navy from the U.S. Coast Guard during a ceremony held at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek Aug. 22. Tempest has been on loan to the Coast Guard since December 2005, and Monsoon was on loan since October 2004. Both ships were transferred back to naval control during a ceremony that exemplified the interoperability of the two services. "The Navy and the Coast Guard have a great working relationship," said Cmdr. Stephen Coughl…

From Flight International DATE:26/08/08 SOURCE:Flight International Northrop declines to rule out platform switch for new KC-X bid By Stephen Trimble As Boeing reportedly considers alternate platforms or withdrawal from the US Air Force's KC-X tanker competition, the Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team may also consider upgrading its tanker offer. The US Department of Defense plans to release a final request for proposals during the last week of August, in defiance of Boeing's public requests for an extension period. Boeing's chosen 767-200ERX platform is likely to be too small to compete against the KC-30B version of the A330-200 if fuel offload c…

From Navy Times San Antonio shipping out After delays and nearly $1 billion in cost overruns, amphib’s maiden voyage nears By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Aug 25, 2008 11:22:04 EDT NORFOLK, Va. — The banner on the brow of the amphibious transport dock San Antonio reads, “Never Retreat. Never Surrender.” And for a while there, it also looked as if the ship would never deploy. But after years of design problems and delays, the San Antonio finally is ready to head overseas. The ship, the first of the LPD 17 class, is scheduled to depart Norfolk this week as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, Navy officials say. “She is ready f…

From Globe and Mail Navy's support ship replacement program scuttled The Canadian Press August 22, 2008 at 11:53 PM EDT OTTAWA — The Conservative government has quietly scuttled the navy's $2.9-billion project to replace its aging supply ships, saying bids from the shipbuilding industry were “significantly” higher than the money set aside for the program. It has also cancelled a tender call for the purchase of 12 mid-shore patrol ships for the Coast Guard. The decisions were announced in a statement issued at 8:30 Friday night by Public Works Minister Christian Paradis. “These vessels are a key priority of the Government of Canada,” Mr. Paradis said …

From Aviation Week India's Advanced Su-30MKIs Come to USA Aug 21, 2008 By David A. Fulghum American, French and South Korean aircrews are getting a close look at one of the world's fabled aircraft - the Indian air force's Su-30MKI strike fighter. An Indian air force group of 50 pilots and weapon systems officers - flying eight Su-30MKIs, two Il-78 tankers and an Il-76 transport - are just finishing a month-long deployment to the United States with a training cycle at the latest, annual Red Flag aerial combat excercises based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. They were part of a contingent of 246 IAF personnel selected from 20 (fighter) Squadron, Poona;…

From Flight International DATE: 18/08/08 SOURCE: Flight International USAF delays communications link for F-22, other fighters By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force has announced a new delay for a programme that would allow several combat aircraft, including the reclusive Lockheed Martin F-22, to communicate with each other in battle. A competition for the first phase of the Objective Gateway programme was scheduled to begin in mid-August, but now the first step in the acquisition process - releasing the request for proposals - is on indefinite hold, according to USAF acquisition documents issued on 11 August. "Additional information on the programme s…

Pics of the F-22 Raptor and F-15 Eagle taken at the recent Skyfest 2008 air show at Fairchild AFB, near Spokane, WA. Check out the weapons bay shots.

THAAD, Aegis cooperate in anti-missile test By Kris Osborn - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Aug 13, 2008 7:26:27 EDT Traveling thousands of meters per second, a 20-foot Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missile destroyed an advanced, separating warhead dummy target just beneath the 60-mile envelope of the Earth’s atmosphere off the cost of Hawaii during a June test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai. The test intercept marked the first time the THAAD and Aegis radar systems worked together in a tactical scenario against a separating warhead, Missile Defense Agency officials said. “A separating warhead is not like a Scud wh…

Following up from the recent report regarding the Zumwalt (DDG-1000) program's curtailment at two hulls ... From Navy Times New DDG-51s could get tweaks, upgrades By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Monday Aug 4, 2008 6:39:19 EDT Even though the Navy will resume building Arleigh Burke-class destroyers because the ships are cheaper and the costs are predictable, the eight new Burkes could get new refinements that set them apart from earlier siblings, according to a congressional report. According to written testimony submitted Thursday to the House Seapower Subcommittee by Navy shipbuilding expert Ron O’Rourke, the Navy has several options to improve …

From Flight International DATE: 04/08/08 SOURCE: Flight International US Navy discloses three-year, 36-aircraft buy for P-8A By Stephen Trimble The US Navy clarified today that it will order 36 Boeing P-8A Poseidons during the first three years of production, perhaps further opening the door to accelerating the in-service date by one year. The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) disclosed the purchasing plans for the first three low-rate initial production (LRIP) lots from 2010 to 2012 on the Federal Business Opportunities web site. NAVAIR expects to order 10 aircraft in fiscal 2010, followed by 12 in FY2011 and 14 in FY2012. Advance procurement funds…

Seems JASSM is back from the brink and is proving itself ... maybe? From ARES Blog Sue Payton's "Kick Ass Missile" Posted by Amy Butler at 8/1/2008 10:49 AM CDT Take a look at the slick new video made by Lockheed Martin and showing its new cruise missile's recent successes. Company officials say the video has not been doctored in any way, and the images were captured from test video. After dipping to an all-time low reliability last year of 58% and experiencing a major cost overrun, the Air Force now reports the fixes to the stealthy cruise missile have boosted reliability to 88%. Good thing, since the weapon costs nearly $1 million per copy. Sue Paty…