Current Events in the Americas

The Air Force Can Never Deliver Enough Close Air Support for the Army (War on the Rocks)

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

New Warship’s Big Guns Have No Bullets (DefenseNews)

An image of the enlarged Virginia-class Block V SSN on page 32 of the report, with a characteristic "hump" in the elongated section abaft the sail, probably with the new 4xVPM (Virginia Payload Module, each capable of 7 cruise missile-size weapons, for a grand total of forty (12 previously fore the sail+28 in the 4xVPM) weapons in VLS): https://news.usni.org/2016/11/03/document-report-congress-virginia-class-submarine-program-5-2

Navy’s First Operational MQ-4C Triton Squadron Stands Up This Week (USNI News)

Hard-kill anti-torpedo defensive system apparently full deployed in USS George H Bush (and apparently the sensors and warning elements lacking the hard-kill elements in other five carriers, not very clear the article on this point): http://www.scout.com/military/warrior/story/1711759-us-carriers-deploy-new-torpedo-defense-system

GAO: Air Force Needs More Information Before Divesting A-10 (DefenseNews) Link to GAO report (pdf)

New Acoustic Quieting to be Tested on Submarine South Dakota (Seapower) In other news, the cable ship USNS Zeus is in port here today.

Navy Ohio Replacement Sub Class to Be Named for D.C. (USNI News) The Columbia class.

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2016/05/06/New-US-Navy-testing-of-Norwegian-missile/6411462559383/

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.

New generation join US/Spanish phased array radar for frigates in development: http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/173894/lockheed,-indra-demo-next_gen-radar-for-future-spanish-frigates.html

Winning The Salvo Competition: Rebalancing America's Air And Missile Defenses (CBSA)

For some time thinking on this issue, but no new advaced communications system breakthrough. At last is only a simple radio link with a submarine surface-piercing mast antenna, increasing the submarine exposure and vulnerability (very probably employed submerged in the VLF/LF receiving-only function): https://news.usni.org/2016/05/16/aerovironment-to-supply-blackwing-mini-uavs-for-navy-attack-guided-missile-submarines OE-538/BRC: http://www.sippican.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/474e4a92db6e2ad9c7446b939a122dc4/sheet/oe_538.pdf More generic concepts here: http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/docs/voices.htm

At Sea Aboard the Zumwalt (DefenseNews)

Some 30 will be carried by a single F-16, with propeller and electric batteries: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/03/08/inside-the-secretive-pentagon-office-planning-skyborg-fighters-and-drone-swarms/ http://warisboring.com/articles/imagine-f-16s-deploying-swarms-of-tiny-drones/

Navy Sinks Former Frigate USS Reuben James in Test of New Supersonic Anti-Surface Missile (USNI News)

Red Alert: The Growing Threat to US Aircraft Carriers (CNAS, 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

How I suspected and reflected in these two historical scenarios, the US destroyers were operating for years alone and vulnerable, as confirmed in this USNI new report, but the procedure will be changed, and in near term we should count with three destroyers surface action groups: http://news.usni.org/2016/01/13/a-year-into-distributed-lethality-navy-nears-fielding-improved-weapons-deploying-surface-action-group http://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2016-01/we-are-headed-right-direction Historical scenario featuring USS Ross (DDG 71) operating alone: http://harpgamer.com/harpforum/index.php?/files/file/904-new-battle-of-sinop-23-december-2015-alternate-history-s…