Current Events in the Americas

From NavyTimes The first of two new prototype railguns is now firing bullets, moving the Navy’s long-held dream of fielding an electromagnetic weapon a step closer to reality.

From Aviation Now Hunter Suggests NATO Take Over JFK Flattop By Michael Bruno 05/15/2006 10:25:52 AM The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee is suggesting NATO take over the USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier, which the U.S. Navy and the Bush administration want to retire early for budget reasons. The move would keep the flattop active to some degree while providing an incentive for NATO allies to further fund and develop their own defense capabilities, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) told Capitol Hill reporters May 11. "We want the administration to talk to NATO about the John F. Kennedy being a NATO ship," Hunter said. "Typically the United …

From Air Force Times Tanker contract award delayed to Feb. 29 By Gayle S. Putrich - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 7:20:58 EDT The Air Force is pushing back the award date of the $30 billion, 179-plane tanker contract until Feb. 29, according to industry and congressional sources. The service originally expected to award the contract for its top procurement priority before the end of this calendar year. Air Force officials did not provide comment by Oct. 23. Two competitors are vying for the contract: EADS and Northrop Grumman, offering an A330 variant called the KC-30, and Boeing with its modified 767 tanker. The Air Force has said it plan…

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

From Air and Space Power Journal, November-December 2012 issue (pdf)

From Aviation Week Flight-Test Program Accelerates for U.S. Navy''s E-2D Apr 20, 2008 By David A. Fulghum Within three years, the U.S. Navy's fleet will have fielded the technology for precisely locating small, flying targets. The target set embraces some of the Navy's latest nightmares, including the next-generation of stealthy - sometimes supersonic - cruise missiles. Moreover, with the introduction of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) software, the hybrid APY-9 electronically scanned array (ESA) radar on board the new E-2D Advanced Hawkeye will be able to pick those elusive flying targets out of a background of rough terrain and urban sprawl, a far di…

From Aviation Week's ARES Blog Shore duty for the SM-3 Posted by Amy Butler at 7/16/2008 8:47 AM CDT The Missile Defense Agency is considering a land-based variant of the Standard Missile-3, says Ed Miyashiro, deputy general manager of Raytheon's Missile Systems sector in Tucson, Ariz. Driving the need is Israel, which wants the ability to engage ballistic missiles in the exoatmosphere farther away from its own territory. Iran fired multiple medium- and long-range ballistic missiles July 9 during a military exercise. The long-range Shahab could reach Israeli territory. SM-3 prime contractor Raytheon is examining a range of options -- including a moveable,…

Excerpt from abstract here: Link to full report (pdf)

The U.S. Navy Does Not Need an Air-Defense Frigate (Real Clear Defense) What say you?

Navy ship to be sunk during target practice exercise Last Updated: Thursday, November 16, 2006 | 11:16 AM PT CBC News A Canadian warship that has been tied up at the dock at CFB Esquimalt since 2001 will be towed out to sea off the west coast of Vancouver Island next year and used for target practice. HMCS Huron was commissioned in 1972 and saw service in the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War. If it gets environmental approval, the navy will tow the decommissioned destroyer to a firing range 100 kilometres out in the Pacific Ocean next May. There the Canadian and U.S. navies will open fire and send the 34-year-old ship to the bottom, Cmdr. Stan Bates sa…

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…

Here's a link to the newly issued strategic plan for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): DARPA Strategic Plan 2007

The big day is here ... but I guess, more important, is what happens next ... From Aviation Week Aerospace, Defense See Tight Electoral Races Nov 4, 2008 John M. Doyle There's more at stake in the Nov. 4 U.S. elections than control of the White House, with a number of top congressional leaders fighting to keep their seats while Democrats seek a veto-proof majority in the Senate and even wider control in the House of Representatives. Some previously safe seats, such as that of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), have lately come into play. Chambliss, a member of the Armed Services Committee who has been a champion of Lockheed Martin's F-22 stealth fighter - man…

Expert: Navy Should Revise Outer Air Battle Concept (USNI News) I think I agree with him. As Harpoon will show you, if you're having to use your SM-2/-3/-6 to defend the battle group, you're already backpedaling. And you can't carry enough of them (or afford them).

Essay: Changing the Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Paradigm (USNI News) Essentially an argument for a rebirth of the TASM (in a Block IV Mod).

Frigate pretends to be the enemy Fredericton tries to sneak up on other navy ships in exercise By Rachel Boomer The Daily News ABOARD HMCS FREDERICTON - Her motto is "Stalker of the Seas" - and this week, that's exactly what HMCS Fredericton is doing. Sometime between midnight and 7 a.m. today, the Fredericton will sneak up on comrades from the Canadian task group, including HMCS Halifax, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Preserver. By disguising her lights and speed to make her look like a container ship or a fishing vessel, Fredericton may just get close enough to - theoretically - do some damage. This, of course, is exactly what an enemy might do, given th…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

New York Times December 5, 2005 Navy To Expand Fleet With New Enemies In Mind By David S. Cloud WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 - The Navy wants to increase its fleet to 313 ships by 2020, reversing years of decline in naval shipbuilding and adding dozens of warships designed to defeat emerging adversaries, senior Defense Department officials say. The plan by Adm. Michael G. Mullen, who took over as chief of naval operations last summer, envisions a major shipbuilding program that would increase the 281-ship fleet by 32 vessels and cost more than $13 billion a year, $3 billion more than the current shipbuilding budget, the officials said Friday. While increasing …

Here is the link to an interesting article that I read. It may not be new news to some of you, but I did. Find it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15757360/ Air Force details secret MiG program U.S. pilots were given chance to practice dogfighting against Soviet jets The Associated Press Updated: 6:43 a.m. ET Nov 17, 2006 DAYTON, Ohio - A once-secret program that enabled thousands of U.S. military pilots to practice dogfighting against Soviet-designed MiG fighter jets was detailed Thursday by the Air Force as part of the first public acknowledgment of the program's existence. The classified air combat training program ran from 1977 to 1988 at the…

From Navy Times Newest amphib set for commissioning Saturday By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer Posted : Thursday Jan 22, 2009 15:47:35 EST LONG BEACH, Calif. — Escorted by tugboats and heavy security, the Navy’s newest amphibious transport dock, the Green Bay, glided into a berth here Tuesday afternoon, a few days ahead of its official commissioning into the Navy’s fleet. The 684-foot, 25,000-ton ship, with its distinctive silhouette framed by a pair of covered masts, will be formally commissioned Saturday morning. The fourth ship in the LPD 17 San Antonio class, Green Bay will be the first one commissioned on the West Coast. The Navy is holding the cerem…