Current Events in the Americas

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

Corps looks to add armor to AAVs By Kris Osborn - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 6:18:23 EDT The Marine Corps is considering adding armor upgrades across the entire fleet of Assault Amphibious Vehicles, service officials said Tuesday. Plans for greater armor protection and survivability on the AAV are being evaluated, in part, due to delays with the Corps’ next-generation Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. “We have been putting together possible upgrade packets,†said Brian Prosser, Program Manager, Assault Amphibious Vehicle Systems, Marine Corps Systems Command. Now in its system development and demonstration phase, the EFV fielding date w…

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 DefenseNews DDG 1001 Named for MoH Recipient Monsoor By christopher p. cavas and philip ewing Published: 29 Oct 18:06 EDT (22:06 GMT) One of the Navy's largest new surface warships will bear the name of a Navy SEAL who received the nation's highest award for valor. "DDG 1001, the second ship in our newest class of destroyers, will be named after Michael Monsoor," Navy Secretary Donald Winter said remarks prepared for an address to be given Oct. 29 in New York. "Michael Monsoor's name will now be linked with one of our nation's most visible examples of military power - a U.S. Navy warship," Winter said in the address prepared for a Navy SEAL Warrior …

Liberals to buy 18 Boeing Super Hornet fighter jets to fill 'capability gap' (CBC)

Find document here Continued employment of EA-6b or further development and investment in EA-18G? EA-6B should be able to meet USN SEAD requirements through 2017 and USMC through 2025 provided sufficient ICAP III electronic suites.

From Air Force Times Design flaw puts F-22s in shop for repairs The Associated Press Posted : Monday Oct 22, 2007 8:15:34 EDT SALT LAKE CITY — The Air Force is speeding up its timeline for bringing the F-22 Raptor to Hill Air Force Base for repairs after a design flaw that military officials have known about for years has reappeared. The problem with the Air Force’s newest fighter jet is that the composition of some mechanical access panels makes the Raptor susceptible to corrosion. Military officials changed the design to fix the problem, but it is back and about two-thirds of the military’s fleet of the planes is suffering from corrosion. “So the world…

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 …

An interesting and undoubtedly controversial article ... Reforming America's Overhyped Airpower (POGO)

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 …

From On Space [excerpt] CV32: I still remember the first Shuttle launch. Sitting in the library of my school with the rest of my Grade 4 class as we all watched on a tiny (by today's standards) color TV.

From Defense Aerospace AARGM Enters Production (Source: US Naval Air Systems Command; issued October 30, 2008) NAVAIR’s newest advanced weapon for destruction of enemy air defenses, AGM-88E, was recently approved to go into low rate production, and the NAWCWD Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) Technical Project Office (TPO) played a major role in achieving that milestone. On Sept. 30, NAVAIR’s Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Weapons Program Office (PMA-242) received Navy approval for its AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) to enter low rate initial production (LRIP). “The work and knowledge at China Lake was vital to the success of reaching …

Extra Red Flag week allows for more missions Find the Air Force Times article here. By Erik Holmes - Staff writer Posted : Monday Jan 19, 2009 5:49:29 EST In the most significant change in its more than 30-year history, the Red Flag aerial combat exercise held at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., will expand from two to three weeks for the exercise that begins in late February and will include a greater emphasis on close-air support missions. The changes will allow Red Flag to more closely represent how a modern war likely would unfold, said Lt. Col. Paul Johnson, deputy commander of Nellis’ 414th Combat Training Squadron, which runs Red Flag. “Red Flag ha…

A US Navy With Only 8 Carriers? (DefenseNews)

From Aviation Week Support For More F-22 Soars in Congress Jan 20, 2009 By Amy Butler Even before President-elect Barack Obama to takes office Jan. 20, U.S. lawmakers are making a push in letters addressed to him to secure the future of the stealthy F-22 production line in Marietta, Ga. Sens. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) sent a letter to Obama Jan. 16 requesting funding for production for the twin-engine fighter. Citing a flyaway cost reduction of 35 percent, the senators also say the end of the fighter’s production could further drain the U.S. economy in the midst of a recession. A decision is needed by early March to avoid gaps in the pro…

From AOL Defense [excerpt]

AIM-120D still troubled as Nammo comes aboard (Jane's)

From Navy Times Navy: Forrestal to be scrapped or sunk By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Friday Jun 26, 2009 12:08:05 EDT The famous aircraft carrier Forrestal will be cut up for scrap or sunk as an artificial reef, the Navy has determined. “Right now, the two disposal options being considered are partial dismantling and recycling or full dismantling and recycling,” said Katie Roberts, a spokeswoman at Naval Sea System Command. A partial dismantling would result in the hulk of the ship sunk as an artificial reef, as the carrier Oriskany was in 2006. Forrestal, named for former Navy Secretary James Forrestal, was the site of a horrific fire Jul…

Reading secret USAF bomber, ISR plans (Aviation Week)

From National Defense September 2007 Navy still Years Away From Deploying Attack Drones Aboard Aircraft Carriers By Grace Jean Given the Navy’s checkered history of flying drones aboard ships, it’s not surprising that its first pursuit of an unmanned aircraft geared for carrier operations has progressed cautiously and even with a hint of trepidation. While the sea service remains tight-lipped about how such an autonomous system might be employed in the future, analysts say it has the potential to alter naval warfare and are calling for an accelerated demonstration of its capabilities. “The sooner you can demonstrate this and convince the carrier aviation com…