Current Events in the Americas

From Aviation Week GD Keeps EFV, But Program Redrawn Jun 8, 2007 Michael Bruno/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps will allow General Dynamics to keep the troubled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program, but the Corps will dramatically scale back its future orders and restructure the contract to address award fees among other concerns, officials told reporters June 7 at the Pentagon. The program now will seek only 573 EFVs, almost halved from 1,013 units previously, and officials have built in a delay of four to five years in the schedule. Milestone C approval is slated for mid-2011, instead of last January, and full…

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…

From Air Force Times Ecuador: U.S. must leave Manta next year By Gonzalo Solano - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 9:42:50 EDT QUITO, Ecuador — The U.S. military must stop using its only outpost in South America for anti-drug flights when Washington’s 10-year lease on the base in Ecuador expires in 2009, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Leftist President Rafael Correa has repeatedly said that Ecuador would not renew the agreement to use the Manta air base, but Tuesday’s Foreign Ministry statement said the South American nation has now formally notified the U.S. Embassy of the decision. Some 300 U.S. troops are stationed at the Pacif…

From Aviation Week Fire On Takeoff Downed B-2 Feb 26, 2008 David A. Fulghum/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report One of the pilots of the B-2 stealth bomber that crashed Feb. 23 reported a fire at takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, which was followed quickly by loss of control of the bomber, according to a senior Air Combat Command (ACC) official. The stealth bomber rolled uncontrollably to the right and fell between the taxiway and the ramp at 10:45 a.m. Guam time just after passing the control tower. It was attempting a takeoff toward the seaward end of the runway. The two pilots ejected with one being hospitalized. A dark plume of smoke arose fro…

Yahoo News link Sadly, I don't think they'll find any survivors. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those on board.

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Shore duty for the SM-3 Posted by Amy Butler at 7/16/2008 8:47 AM CDT The Missile Defense Agency is considering a land-based variant of the Standard Missile-3, says Ed Miyashiro, deputy general manager of Raytheon's Missile Systems sector in Tucson, Ariz. Driving the need is Israel, which wants the ability to engage ballistic missiles in the exoatmosphere farther away from its own territory. Iran fired multiple medium- and long-range ballistic missiles July 9 during a military exercise. The long-range Shahab could reach Israeli territory. SM-3 prime contractor Raytheon is examining a range of options -- including a moveable,…

From Flight International DATE: 08/07/08 SOURCE: Flight International EA-18G “Growler”: New platform and capabilities set to un-level the SEAD playing field By John Croft If the battlefield were an American football field, the US Navy's venerable but well-worn Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler might be thought of as an offensive lineman clearing the path for a running back carrying the ball. In this case, the Prowler's goal would be the suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) from a stand-off position using on-board electronic jammers to disrupt radar and communications, clearing the way for the navy, marines or air force strike forces to do their jobs. Th…

From Armed Forces Journal, July 2008 Think small Adding small combatant ships would beef up the Navy’s capabilities BY MILAN VEGO The Navy has a relatively large number of surface combatants capable of conducting a wide range of missions in a high-intensity conflict. However, the Navy lacks adequate capabilities to operate effectively in the littorals, in particular in enclosed and semi-enclosed seas (popularly called “narrow seas”). A force of the new Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), when they enter service in the next decade, will not significantly increase the Navy’s capabilities in conducting littoral warfare. This bad situation can be changed by building or…

From Flight International DATE: 14/07/08 SOURCE: Flight International A giant leap: F-35 readies for production ramp-up By Stephen Trimble Production activity for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is entering the start of an intense phase that will dominate the programme's energies for the next 18 months. Since November 2006, getting the first weight-optimised and short take-off vertical landing prototype aircraft in the air on time was the programme's primary focus, even as the first AA-1 conventional aircraft began flight tests in December 2006. The path to realising the STOVL milestone was obstructed by the discovery earlier this year …

LCS surface warfare mission package debuts By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jul 14, 2008 9:21:58 EDT NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER DAHLGREN, VA. — To the annoyance of waterfowl bobbing on the Potomac River, Navy gunners test-fired the 30mm modular gun Friday that will be carried as part of the surface warfare package aboard the Navy’s new multipurpose littoral combat ships. As dignitaries watched nearby — and contractors and reporters looked at video displayed in a distant building — the gun, set up on shore, loosed 30 rounds, at three rounds per second, toward the river. Navy officials are confident that if the technicians had been shooting …

From Defense Aerospace Lockheed Martin HAAWC Demonstrates Compatibility with Multiple Launch Platforms in Wind Tunnel Tests (Source: Lockheed Martin; issued July 9, 2008) ORLANDO, FL --- Lockheed Martin’s enhanced High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Capability (HAAWC) system recently completed a series of successful high speed wind tunnel tests at a commercial facility in Buffalo, NY. The HAAWC employs a modified Lockheed Martin LongShot Wing Adapter Kit on the MK-54 to allow the launch of torpedoes from high altitudes and long standoff ranges. This technology enables P-3C and P-8A aircrews to launch from outside the range of enemy air defenses. The …

From Flight International DATE: 11/07/08 SOURCE: Flight International Indian Su-30 fighters depart for Red Flag exercise By Radhakrishna Rao An Indian air force contingent with eight Sukhoi Su-30MKI combat aircraft, two Ilyushin Il-78 air-to-air refuellers and one Il-76 transport has left India to participate in the 9-23 August multinational exercise Red Flag '08 at the US Air Force's Nellis AFB in Nevada. It will be the first time that the Russian-made Su-30MKI will participate in multinational manoeuvres involving US and other NATO fighters. India expects to spend around Rp1 billion ($23 million) on its participation in the air combat exercise. Sou…

From Flight International DATE: 26/06/08 SOURCE: Flight International USAF formally revives B-52 jammer with five-year study By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force has revived a plan to transform a portion of the Boeing B-52 bomber fleet into long-range, radar-jamming platforms, formally launching a five-year study phase on 23 June. The revival comes nearly three years after the USAF was forced to cancel the B-52 stand-off jammer system (SOJS) programme after cost estimates ballooned sevenfold to $7 billion. The delay has shifted the operational debut of the new jammer fleet at least four years to 2018. The new programme seeks to hold overall costs to a…

New amphib to be named America By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jun 30, 2008 11:57:54 EDT Navy Secretary Donald Winter announced Friday that the new amphibious assault ship known as LHA 6 would be named America, granting the wish of veterans of the aircraft carrier America, who have lobbied for another ship to take the name after theirs was sunk as a target in 2005. Winter made the announcement in Jacksonville, Fla., at a reunion of the America Carrier Veterans Association. The new America is planned as a 45,000-ton, gas-turbine big-deck gator that has been dubbed “a Marine Corps aircraft carrier.” It has an axial flight deck like a Wasp-cla…

From Aviation Week GAO Sustains Boeing Tanker Protest Jun 18, 2008 By Michael Bruno Congressional auditors today handed Boeing some salvation and sided with the U.S. behemoth's protest against a U.S. Air Force award over an aerial refueling tanker to an international team led by Northrop Grumman and EADS. The Government Accountability Office, in citing several problems with the USAF's decision-making process, called for the embattled armed service to re-open talks with the competing industry teams and then make a new source selection. "Our review of the record led us to conclude that the Air Force had made a number of significant errors that could have a…

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog DARPA/ONR Launch Long-range Anti-ship Missile Demonstrator Posted by Graham Warwick at 6/17/2008 9:05 AM CDT After years of neglect, the US is looking to get back into the anti-ship missile business. DARPA and the Office of Naval Research have kicked off a joint effort "to rapidly demonstrate a ship-launched standoff anti-ship strike weapon". The Long Range Anti-Ship Missile Demonstration program aims to flight test a prototype within three years of contract award. The problem is the US doesn't have a long-range anti-ship missile - and the countries it considers potential enemies do. Boeing's Harpoon is subsonic and can fly abou…

From Air Force Times Tanker decision made By Kent Miller, Gayle S. Putrich and Pierre Tran - Staff writers Posted : Friday Feb 29, 2008 19:35:04 EST After months of deliberations — and more than one delay — the Air Force has finally decided who will build the service’s new refueling tankers. Northrop Grumman and European partner EADS beat out presumptive favorite Boeing for the Air Force’s $35-40 billion, 179-plane tanker deal, Air Force officials said. The bigger size of the plane was the crucial factor, they said. It represents the first of three deals that could eventually be worth as much as $100 billion over 30 years to replace almost 600 tankers. Comp…

From Military.com http://www.military.com/news/article/navy-...ml?ESRC=navy.nl Buddha