Current Events in the Americas

Great article with interesting links: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18318/shock-trials-or-no-the-navys-newest-supercarrier-is-still-an-unreliable-debacle

Argentina threatens companies over Falklands oil drilling (CNN)

From Defense Aerospace Langley Celebrates Raptor's Initial Operational Capability (Source: US Air Force; issued Jan. 13, 2006) LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. --- The 1st Fighter Wing held a ceremony here today to celebrate the F-22A Raptor's initial operational capability. The event comes after the 27th Fighter Squadron was officially declared IOC on Dec. 15 by Gen. Ronald E. Keys, commander of Air Combat Command. The IOC declaration proves the F-22A is mission ready. The base now has 19 Raptors. The 27th FS -- the Air Force's oldest fighter squadron -- is now the first operational unit to fly the service's newest fighter aircraft. "This next…

From ARES Deficit Reduction Plans: the President and the Raptor Posted by Michael Bruno at 2/23/2009 9:59 AM CST Bloomberg is reporting that President Barack Obama's budget cuts rely heavily on reductions in military spending, and several other news organization said the same over the weekend. Maybe you've heard already, but if not then it's worth noting that Obama this week will be talking about cutting the "exploding" U.S. deficit in half by the end of his in 2013 (his word). According to administration officials, who previewed info to many reporters on back-ground conditions last week, the plan will rely in part on the drawdown in combat forces in Iraq and…

Honolulu Star-Bulletin February 8, 2006 Navy's Top Admiral Endorses Strategic Shift To The Pacific By Gregg K. Kakesako The Navy's top admiral said yesterday that the majority of the Navy's 12 carriers will be based in the Pacific, reflecting the shifting security demands on the military and his plans to expand the fleet to 313 warships. Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the chief of naval operations, said at a Pentagon news conference that he endorsed the Pentagon's recently unveiled strategic analysis, which calls for six carriers and 60 percent of its submarine fleet to be stationed in the Pacific. He did not comment on a nearly 3-year-old proposal to base …

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…

DefenseNews.com December 12, 2005 USAF To Drop 'A' From F/A-22 Raptor By Gopal Ratnam and Michael Fabey Three years after the U.S. Air Force added an “A” to highlight the F/A-22 Raptor’s ability to drop bombs, the service is dropping the extra letter from the stealthy jet’s designator. The plane, which is expected to officially enter service in the coming weeks, will henceforth be called the F-22A — with the trailing letter indicating a first variant, not an extra role. Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, who is said to have been unhappy with the F/A-22 moniker, announced the renaming in a Dec. 12 speech to a U.S. Air National Guard senio…

Bloomberg.com January 17, 2006 U.S. May Arm Subs With Conventional Warheads For Quicker Strike By Tony Capaccio The Pentagon wants to spend up to $500 million through 2011 to replace nuclear warheads with conventional warheads on some submarine-launched ballistic missiles, according to budget documents. The purpose is to allow quicker preemptive attacks on deeply buried enemy command centers or stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. U.S. submarines carry ballistic missiles that fly at supersonic speeds, faster than those launched from land- based silos or airplanes. ``This weapon would give the U.S. global, conventional preemption -- a first-stri…

From Navy Times Feds seize F-14s from museums, TV firm By Daisy Nguyen - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Mar 7, 2007 6:37:31 EST LOS ANGELES — Federal agents on Tuesday seized four retired F-14 fighter jets that authorities said were improperly transferred from the Navy to two air museums and the company that produced the TV show “JAG.” The Tomcats were not properly demilitarized before being transferred to private parties, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which worked with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in a 17-month investigation. Under the …

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

Navy Lacks Plan to Defend Against `Carrier-Destroying' Missile YahooNews Tony Capaccio Fri Mar 23, 12:18 AM ET March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Navy, after nearly six years of warnings from Pentagon testers, still lacks a plan for defending aircraft carriers against a supersonic Russian-built missile, according to current and former officials and Defense Department documents. The missile, known in the West as the ``Sizzler,'' has been deployed by China and may be purchased by Iran. Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England has given the Navy until April 29 to explain how it will counter the missile, according to a Pentagon budget document. The Defense …

Interesting site with a lot of details: http://jproc.ca/rrp/rrp3/cp140_electronics.html

From DefenseNews [excerpt] Link to the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) report here (PDF)

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 …

Canada Revisiting Ballistic Missile Defense (DefenseNews)

Just like the Air Force, the Army and the CIA, the Navy soon could be deploying its own armed drones. To that end, the Navy will request funds in fiscal year 2010 to begin outfitting its new surveillance drone with kinetic weapons. The drone, which is scheduled to enter service next year, is the vertical-takeoff and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle, or VTUAV, which is also known as Fire Scout. The aircraft is a modified Schweizer 333 helicopter that the Navy wants to fly off the decks of its littoral combat ships. During the next several months, the Naval Air Systems Command will be examining various weapons that are considered viable candidates for t…

U.S. Navy: Time to Bring Back the S-3 Viking? (The Diplomat) The S-3 was (is) an extremely versatile asset. I find it hard to disagree with the sentiment of this article.

Report on USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald collisions (Dept of the Navy, pdf)

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

Navy’s EA-6B Prowler Takes Last Active Duty Flight Before Sunset Ceremony (USNI News)