Current Events in the Americas

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/03/defense_dunham_destroyer_032007/ From Marine Corps Times Destroyer to be named for Medal of Honor Marine By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Mar 21, 2007 8:33:43 EDT The name of a Marine who gave his life to save his comrades in Iraq will grace a new destroyer, the Navy announced Tuesday. Cpl. Jason Dunham received the Medal of Honor on Jan. 11 for his actions April 14, 2004, when he grappled with an insurgent after his unit was ambushed in Karabilah, Iraq. Dunham threw himself on a live grenade to shield fellow Marines and, although he survived the initial explosion, died of his injur…

From Defense Aerospace Op-Ed: Fate of Surface Navy Rides on Littoral Combat Ship (Source: The Lexington Institute; issued March 20, 2007) By Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. When the cold war ended, the U.S. Navy faced a crisis of relevance. For the first time in living memory, no Red Navy or Imperial Fleet challenged America's control of the high seas. Having spent the entire 20th Century preparing for such an enemy, the Navy was poorly postured for conducting combat operations closer to shore. Fearing that the Marine Corps would become the tail wagging the Navy Department bulldog, senior admirals began formulating plans for making their warships more useful in fight…

From Air Force Times Test of massive bunker-busting bomb a success Staff report Posted : Thursday Mar 15, 2007 17:26:47 EDT The Defense Threat Reduction Agency successfully conducted the first explosive test of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator conventional weapon Wednesday at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., according to a press release from the agency. The 30,000-pound penetrating bomb — which would be the largest in the Air Force’s inventory — is designed to defeat hard and deeply-buried targets such as bunker and tunnel facilities. The test consisted of a conventional weapon placed within a test tunnel, not dropped from the air. “This demonstration…

From DefenseNews Posted 03/15/07 23:12 Navy to LCS Shipbuilders: Control Costs or Else By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS U.S. Navy Secretary Donald Winter announced March 15 he was lifting a stop-work order on a new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), but he made it clear that once new cost figures are set to finish the ships, he expects shipbuilders to end the excessive cost growth that has threatened the LCS program. “We’ve determined we need to take a number of steps,” Winter told reporters during a Pentagon news conference. The chief elements are: • Renegotiating the construction contract for LCS 3, the second ship under construction by a Lockheed Martin team. The stop-work…

From Jane's Navy International Northrop Grumman wins US 'Tango Bravo' contract By Richard Scott Northrop Grumman Newport News has been awarded a USD12.7 million contract by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Navy, to develop and test a new weapon handling and launch system, as part of the 'Tango Bravo' submarine technology exploration initiative. The new weapon handling and launch concept is predicated on eliminating the submarine's torpedo room from inside the ship's pressure hull and moving the launchers outside the hull. This change would eliminate complex machinery and free up valuable space inside the hull. The Northrop Grumm…

From Air Force Times [The beginning of the end for the "Wobbly Goblin" ... ] October 25, 2006 F-117 pilot school closes Staff report The F-117 Nighthawk pilot school has closed its canopy. The last class of F-117 pilots graduated from the school on Oct. 13, according to 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. The closure of the formal training unit was the latest sign that the F-117 is being phased out at Holloman and will eventually be replaced by the F-22A Raptor. The school was overseen by the 7th Fighter Squadron, which will be deactivated in December. Once the 7th closes, a sister unit, the 8th Fighter Squadron, will handle many of remain…

USAF To Retire Newest Nuke Missile By GAYLE S. PUTRICH DefenseNews Beginning next year, the U.S. Air Force will retire the most modern missile in its nuclear arsenal as part of a 2002 disarmament treaty with Russia. The decision is expected to eliminate about 400 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMs) deployed with the B-52 fleet at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and Barksdale Air Force Base, La. An Air Force spokesperson said the service does not yet know how much it will save by eliminating the missiles, nor is there an estimate of personnel reductions. “In the long term, there will be cost and manpower savings, and the Air Force will use any potential savings t…

From AviationWeek Navy Details New Super Hornet Capabilities By David A. Fulghum With Douglas Barrie in London. The U.S. Navy's "Advanced Super Hornet" will tie together an electronic attack system with a powerful new radar that would allow the aircraft to find, deceive and, perhaps, disable sophisticated, radar-guided air-to-air, surface-to-air and cruise missiles. Moreover, it could do so at ranges greater than that of new U.S. air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. Silence about these key features of the Super Hornet's advanced radar and integrated sensor package is being broken by U.S. Navy and aerospace industry officials just as the President's budget f…

From Navy Times USS New Orleans commissioned in namesake city By Stacey Plaisance - The Associated Press Posted : Sunday Mar 11, 2007 11:44:30 EDT NEW ORLEANS — With the blaring of cannons, the Navy commissioned the amphibious transport dock New Orleans before thousands of onlookers March 10, marking the first time since at least World War II a Navy ship has been built and christened in its namesake city. “May God bless and guide this warship and all who sail on her,” the secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter, said before hundreds of sailors — in crisp, white uniforms — ran onto the ship to set the traditional first watch and to salute those in the celebra…

From ACC Public Affairs Raptors wield 'unfair' advantage at Red Flag by By Tech. Sgt. Russell Wicke Air Combat Command Public Affairs 2/21/2007 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (ACCNS) -- "Undercover" is an understatement for the F-22A Raptor. A point clearly illustrated by pilots of the 94th Fighter Squadron, who delivered an aerial sucker punch to the seasoned Red Force opponents during the F-22A's debut at Red Flag here Feb. 3 -16. Among the Blue Force participants were foreign pilots from the Royal Air Force of England and Royal Australian Air Force, flying the GR-4 and F-111C respectively. In addition, the F-22s flew with the B-2 Spirit and F-117 Ni…

From Air Force Times Air Force scraps nuclear stealth missiles The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Mar 7, 2007 21:22:27 EST WASHINGTON — The Air Force said Wednesday it will retire the most modern cruise missile in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, a “stealth” weapon developed in the 1980s with the ability to evade detection by Soviet radars. Known as the Advanced Cruise Missile, the weapon is carried by the B-52 bomber and was designed to attack heavily defended sites. It is the most capable among a variety of air-launched nuclear weapons built during the Cold War that remain in the U.S. inventory even as the Pentagon is reducing its overall nuclear arms stockp…

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 …

Sub Snoops for the Future DefenseTech This month’s issue of the Navy League’s Seapower Magazine has a special report on an autonomous web of underwater robots that the Navy hopes will be operational by 2015. The Office of Naval Research-led project will imbue “underwater vehicles with the ability to sense and independently adapt to everything from ocean currents to hostile enemy subs.” ONR chief Rear Admiral William Landay said, “If we can sense that, get the vehicles to understand that, get the vehicles to adapt to that, then they are in the position where they really are starting to dominate the battlespace.” This net has been labeled “PLUSNet” and, the art…

From Navy Times LCS manager fired By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jan 29, 2007 22:30:00 EST The manager of the U.S. Navy’s new Littoral Combat Ship program has been relieved of his duties in the aftermath of higher-than-expected cost increases on the ships. Capt. Donald Babcock, the Navy’s LCS program manager, was relieved of his duties Jan. 29 by his boss, Rear Adm. Charles Hamilton – who also is being reassigned. Hamilton relieved Babcock due to “loss of confidence in his ability to command,” according to a Navy source, who added that Babcock would be reassigned to “administrative duties.” Hamilton himself will be reassigned …

From Defense Industry Daily F-22 Squadron Shot Down by the International Date Line Posted 01-Mar-2007 05:35 Aircraft software can be serious business. DID's F-22A Raptor FOCUS Article mentioned recent flight software problems that delayed the aircraft's first foreign deployment from Hickam AFB in Hawaii to Kadena AFB, Japan. What we didn't mention at the time is how serious the problem was, and how dependent on computers modern aircraft - including military aircraft - have become. What follows are relevant excerpts from a CNN transcript on February 24, 2007 that covered a number of unrelated issues. We've cut that out, and left only the F-22 related section..…

From Navy Times ‘We still have a little fight left’ Carrier leaves Norfolk for the last time, heads to Boston By Mark D. Faram - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 27, 2007 12:18:24 EST Aboard the USS John F. Kennedy —The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy didn’t look like a ship about to be decommissioned as it left Norfolk, Va., on Sunday. And that’s just the way the crew wanted it. Pulling away from the pier and heading out of Hampton Roads into open water, one “Big John” crew member was happy to have quieted the rumor mill. “We heard the waterfront rumors, and many here expected us to limp in, leaking fluids and looking like a garbage scow,” sai…

From Defense Aerospace Tanker Recapitalization Proposal Released (Source: US Air Force; issued Jan. 30, 2007) WASHINGTON --- Air Force leaders officially released a request for proposal for a replacement tanker aircraft Jan. 30. The RFP is the official invitation to manufacturers to begin making offers to build a replacement for the Air Force's aging "Eisenhower-era" fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, said Sue Payton, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. "This is a major milestone in fair, open and transparent dialogue that we have been involved in since the request for information was sent out in April of 2006," she said. "We are con…

From Defense Aerospace Joint Common Missile: Why Argue With Success? (Source: The Lexington Institute; issued Feb. 21, 2007) By Loren B. Thompson, Ph.D. Here's a fantasy. Imagine three military services agreed on the need for a versatile air-to-ground missile that could precisely destroy a wide range of elusive targets -- everything from camouflaged armored vehicles to terrorist speedboats. Imagine they found a low-cost design that could do those things day or night, good weather or bad, even when enemies were trying to jam the missile. Imagine the services selected a company that developed the missile on time and on cost, meeting all of its performance object…

From Marine Corps Times Ospreys start to fly, but most still grounded By Trista Talton - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Feb 14, 2007 6:24:46 EST Roughly two to three weeks will pass before all of the Defense Department’s V-22 Ospreys will be back in the air after the fleet was grounded last week, a program spokesman said Tuesday. The tilt-rotors were grounded Feb. 6 after a fault caused by a computer chip in the aircraft’s flight control computers was discovered during pre-flight testing at the Bell Boeing facility in Amarillo, Texas. The Osprey has three flight control computers, which back each other up in case one malfunctions. The chip in question i…

From Air Force Times Service may buy more Raptors By Gayle S. Putrich - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Feb 13, 2007 6:31:11 EST MARIETTA, Ga. — As Lockheed Martin officials handed over the ceremonial keys to the Air Force Pacific Command’s first F-22 Raptor, the service’s No. 2 official said the Air Force is looking at funding plans for buying more than the planned 183 stealth fighters. The 2007 budget contains multi-year funding for the last 60 planned Raptors, including construction funds for 2007 and advance procurement money through 2009. The president’s 2008 budget proposal includes $281.9 million for the F-22 program. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff G…