Current Events in the Americas

CV32: cough ... South Atlantic battleset ... cough From BBC [excerpt]

Brazil To Get Its First Nuclear Subs (DefenseNews)

LCS: Navy Pushes Back Against Criticisms (Breaking Defense)

US Navy on track for high-altitude P-8A weapon (Flight Global)

From Defense Aerospace Small Diameter Bomb Makes Combat Debut (Source: US Air Force; issued Oct. 5, 2006) SOUTHWEST ASIA --- The Guided Bomb Unit-39/B small diameter bomb was flown into combat for the first time Oct. 5 by members of the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. The unit, deployed to the Southwest Asia area of operations, launched a two-ship formation of F-15E Strike Eagles at 1:30 a.m. EDT carrying the new air-to-ground bomb on a mission to provide close-air support for ground troops operating in Iraq. "Today, we added an extraordinary capability to our warfighter's arsenal," said Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, the Combined Forces Air Component …

From Navy Times Air Force: Hornet couldn’t kill Raptor By Seamus O’Connor - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Aug 7, 2007 11:37:16 EDT The F-22 Raptor is the world’s most advanced fighter, but is it invincible? Internet rumors have swirled for months over whether any F-22s had been taken down in simulated combat exercises. Discussion forums are rife with Navy pilots touting a controversial photo appearing to show an F/A-18F Super Hornet gunning down a Raptor. The F-22’s debut combat exercise was at Northern Edge in June 2006. According to Air Force data, the dozen F-22s in attendance racked up an unprecedented kill record of 144-0 the first week alone and su…

Part 1: Preparing for a First Deployment (Defense Media Network)

Brazil inches closer towards naval ambitions (Jane's)

From Defense Aerospace Air Force Strategic Plan Released (Source: US Air Force; issued Oct. 5, 2006) WASHINGTON --- The Air Force Strategic Plan 2006 - 2008 has been released and now is available online, announced Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley in a joint letter. The plan articulates the Air Force mission. "The Air Force Strategic Plan embodies how we will defend the nation against current and emerging threats," the letter said. "It demonstrates scalable choices, not limited by distance or time. Our strategic choices -- what we choose to prioritize, our actions in support of our prioriti…

From Flight Global [excerpt] CV32: We have an election looming here in Canada in less than a week, and the planned purchase of 65x F-35A is one of the more controversial issues dogging the campaign. And while I am Conservative to my very bone marrow, I will say that the Conservatives are wrong on this issue in that: (1) the requirement was written for the F-35, rather than a requirement being written and then candidates sought to meet it; (2) that the only 'competition' was undertaken in the USA, between LM and Boeing over who would build JSF, and had nothing to do with what platform would replace the CF-18; (3) the F-35 is not the only aircraft that mi…

To Save the Submarines, Eliminate ICBMs and Bombers (Defense One)

This story oughta be good for some more rants and opinions. From Navy Times Bath begins work on final Burke destroyer The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2007 11:31:39 EDT BATH, Maine — Bath Iron Works has quietly begun construction on what’ll be the last of the Arleigh Burke destroyers that went into service in the early 1990s. Shipbuilders began cutting steel last month at BIW’s Brunswick facility for DDG-112, the 62nd and final ship of the Arleigh Burke class. The Navy has yet to name the ship, which will take 4½ years to build. Vice Adm. John Morgan, the first commanding officer of the original USS Arleigh Burke, came to BIW for the …

Lots of great pics of modern aircraft and a few warbirds too, at this Ares link.

From DefenseNews U.S. Delays Missile Launch over Canadian Safety Concerns By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, OTTAWA The United States has agreed to delay a missile launch planned for next week after Canada voiced concerns that rocket debris could fall on offshore oil platforms, Defense Minister Bill Graham said April 7. The U.S. Defense Department’s decision was taken after Newfoundland Prime Minister Danny Williams ordered the evacuation of hundreds of oil workers in his Atlantic coast province ahead of the launch, planned for April 11. Canada “strongly urged” the United States to postpone the launch due to concerns that debris from the Titan IV rocket, which was …

Miami Herald March 30, 2006 U.S. Defends Its Naval Exercise Amid talk by President Hugo Chávez of a planned attack, the U.S. ambassador to Venezuela said a naval exercise in the Caribbean was no cause for concern. By Associated Press CARACAS (AP) -- The U.S. ambassador to Venezuela downplayed the planned deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for naval exercises in the Caribbean amid claims by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez that his nation must prepare for a possible U.S. invasion. The Doral-based U.S. Southern Command this week announced that the USS George Washington -- along with a destroyer, cruiser, frigate and a 60-plane air wing -- would cond…

From Aviation Week Next decade's AF bomber to be subsonic, manned Michael Fabey/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report The U.S. Air Force's long-range strike aircraft set to be deployed by 2018 will be subsonic and manned, said Brig. Gen. Mark Matthews, director of plans and programs, headquarters, Air Combat Command, Langley Air Force Base, Va. But it would be wrong to characterize the aircraft as being entirely devoid of current technology, Matthews said May 1 during a panel discussion "Return of the Bomber: The Future of Long Range Strike," presented by the Eaker Institute, the research arm of the Air Force Association (AFA). "There is new technology ass…

From Flight Global USAF sets 2013 entry for extended-range JASSM By John Croft The US Air Force says it will be ready to deploy the extended-range version of its Lockheed Martin-built AGM-158 joint air-to-surface stand-off missile (JASSM) in the second half of 2013. Using larger fuel tanks and a more efficient Williams International F107-WR-105 turbofan engine, rather than the Teledyne CAE J402-CA-100 turbojet, the JASSM ER (AGM-158B) will have a range of more than 926km (500nm), up from 370km for the original missile. The AGM-158 entered service in 1999 and has not been used in combat to date. Lockheed in April rolled out the 1,000th JASSM round from its…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

Initially Upbeat USAF Budget Request Turns Dour Long Term (Aviation Week) U.S. Navy Budget Takes $10.7 Billion Sequestration Hit (Aviation Week) DoD 2014 Request is $52B Over Spending Caps (DefenseNews) The Army Has It Worst 2.0: Readiness Shortchanged $13.7 Billion (AOL Defense)

New Warship’s Big Guns Have No Bullets (DefenseNews)