Current Events in the Americas

The test and practical use is based in the active radar seeker capability of SM-6: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/here-another-big-reason-why-americas-mighty-missile-defenses-19795

From Jane's [excerpt]

U.S. Navy Deploys Standard Missile-3 Block IB for First Time (Seapower)

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

15 May 2013

US Navy's SM-6 and over-the-horizon fire control score intercepts at sea (Jane's)

Find it here. MEU BLT Preps for Nighttime Boat Raids Marine Corps News | Lcpl. Bryan A. Peterson | September 25, 2006 Kin Blue, Okinawa, Japan - More than 100 Marines and sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit's battalion landing team rehearsed boat landing raids Sept. 11 at Kin Blue. The daytime rehearsals helped prepare the A Company Marines and sailors of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, for a difficult nighttime operation at Camp Schwab later that day, according to 1st Sgt. Tracy Offutt, the company first sergeant. "We need to be able to sustain our capabilities in over-the-horizon small boat amphibious operations," Offutt said. "Practicing d…

Soldiers want OK to carry concealed weapons on base (Army Times)

From Jane's DARPA looks to go deep with ASW sensor network By Richard Scott 20 January 2010 The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has disclosed plans for a deep ocean sensor network that could provide a long-range anti-submarine surveillance capability sufficient to protect 'blue water' Carrier Strike Group operations. This new initiative, which envisions a distributed system of sensors and sources on or near the ocean floor, harks back to the SOSUS (Sound Surveillance System) deep-water long-range detection capability deployed by the US Navy during the Cold War. It also signals a revival in interest in blue-water anti-submarine warfare (A…

From Navy Times Sonar gets green light for ASW training By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jan 16, 2008 12:06:18 EST WASHINGTON — President Bush exempted the Navy from an environmental law so it can continue using sonar in its anti-submarine warfare training off the California coast — a practice critics say is harmful to whales and other marine mammals. The White House announced Wednesday that Bush had signed the exemption Tuesday while traveling in the Middle East. The Navy training exercises, including the use of sonar, “are in the paramount interest of the United States” and its national security, Bush said in a memorandum. …

South American future for HMS Norfolk EDP 20 July 2005 20:04 HMS Norfolk, the county's adopted warship, has been sold to the Chilean Navy as part of a three-ship package deal worth just under £200m. It means the sixth ship to bear the county name has followed its predecessor for a new life south of the equator. The Type 23 frigate, which ended its Royal Navy service at the end of March, will head to the southern hemisphere with sister ships HMS Grafton and HMS Marlborough over the next three years. Training and spare parts are also included in the $350m (£192m) deal. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “That represents extremely good value for …

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…

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Space Radar Chopped Posted by Bill Sweetman at 4/2/2008 8:32 AM CDT News that the Space Radar program had been cancelled was not surprising. It had already been reported that the project was being reconsidered, after many restructuring attempts, and the fact that the budget and schedule suddenly went black in the FY2009 budget didn't inspire confidence. SR was eight years away from first launch, and as the GAO noted in its latest review of major programs, the technologies were far from mature. To a great extent it was a victim of requirements overload, with the intelligence community wanting high resolution (equals large antenna…

From Air Force Times The Pentagon’s top budget official told the Air Force this week to hold off spending $497 million in fiscal 2009 to begin shutting down the F-22 production line and spend it instead on repairing F-15s, two-thirds of which are grounded. USA Today reported that Pentagon Comptroller Tina Jonas informed Air Force leaders of the change in a memo this week. An Air Force official, speaking on background, confirmed Friday that the service has been directed by the Pentagon to reprogram the funds, but the official did not immediately have further details. More than 400 F-15s remain grounded after the Nov. 2 crash of an F-15C, but the Air Force h…

From Aviation Week Split-Buy USAF Tanker Concept Gaining Favor Jan 29, 2009 By Amy Butler As the Pentagon attempts to craft a way forward to replace the KC-135 aerial refueling fleet, the option of a split buy of two models is back and gaining attention on Capitol Hill, according to officials close to the tanker program. The idea is sure to be a topic of discussion as the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa. ), travels this week to Alabama, where Northrop Grumman and EADS were proposing to assemble their tanker design. Murtha is expected to visit Boeing’s Washington state facility in the coming weeks as well. …

From a NavWarGames post : If you live close enough, I'm sure all the Pooners would love some ceremony pictures More info on the Virginia class SSN (aka NSSN-Centurion) : http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/nssn.htm http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/990100-nssn.htm Image courtesy of Wikipedia :

From Navy Times December 14, 2006 Attack sub Rickover to be inactivated today By William H. McMichael Staff writer Crew members of the Los Angeles-class submarine Hyman G. Rickover prepare to tie up Oct. 11 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., after the boat’s final deployment. Rickover will be inactivated today. — MCSN Kelvin Edwards / Navy NORFOLK NAVAL STATION, Va. — The 22-year-old attack submarine Hyman G. Rickover will be inactivated Thursday during a ceremony at its home port of Norfolk Naval Station, the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force announced. The ship’s sponsor and widow of the late Adm. Rickover, retired Cmdr. Eleonore Rickover, will attend the 1 …

State of Defense (Defense One)

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

Excerpt from: Stealth fighters Two years after a fire at sea crippled HMCS Chicoutimi, killing a sailor and triggering a parliamentary probe, the navy is embracing a new plan to prove the worth of its second-hand submarine fleet David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Saturday, November 18, 2006 ABOARD HMCS WINDSOR - It's early morning and a team of Canadian army commandos are swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, making their way towards a submarine periscope just barely visible in the water. Inside the sub, its captain, Lt.-Cmdr. Christopher Ellis is trying to manoeuvre the 70-metre long vessel as close as he can to the men. About a metre of HMCS Winds…