Current Events in the Americas

From Flight International DATE: 30/11/07 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com USAF: F-15s risk catastrophic design weakness By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force Boeing F15A-D Eagle fleet is grounded after preliminary findings of a crash investigation show signs of a design weakness. Air Combat Command (ACC) ordered the stand-down until the airframes can be inspected. An inspection checklist is being prepared by the Warner-Robins Air Logistics Center, an ACC spokesman says. An ongoing investigation of a 2 November crash is focusing on potential failure of the F-15’s upper longerons near the canopy seal. Recent inspections found cracks in this same area on two o…

From Defence Aerospace Quadrennial Defense Review Focuses on Future (Source: US Air Force; issued April 25, 2005) WASHINGTON -- The four capabilities the Air Force brings to the joint warfighting environment will be the focus of the service's contribution to the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review. Officials in the office of the secretary of defense produce the Quadrennial Defense Review every four years with input from the services. The report details to Congress the anticipated needs of the Defense Department out to about the year 2020. "The QDR is important to all of the services, … because it looks at what capabilities we have today verses what capabi…

From DefenseNews Pentagon Cancels Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter By GINA CAVALLARO Published: 16 Oct 19:39 EDT (23:39 GMT) The Defense Department late today scrapped the $6.2 billion program to replace the aging OH-58D Kiowa Warrior with the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, citing cost overruns. The Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter was to replace the Kiowa Warrior, pictured. (M. Scott Mahaskey / Staff) The Army announced in July that the contract with Bell-Textron was then more than 40 percent over cost, triggering a program reviewunder legislation know as the Nunn-McCurdy statute. John Young, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and lo…

From National Defense

From Aviation Week's Ares Blog What Did The Air Force Really Want? Posted by Bill Sweetman at 4/10/2009 10:41 AM CDT Dr Rebecca Grant probably isn't going to get offered a job in the Gates team. In a strongly worded brief [CV32: Also appended below], the respected air power analyst argues that the USAF did have a cogent, established need for another 60 F-22s - but never had a chance to present it before Gates slammed a gag order on all senior officers involved in the budget process. "Gates kept Bush-Rumsfeld holdovers in crucial program analysis posts and formed a small team to cut the budget in secret, a technique he mastered as CIA director. Next, in F…

SECNAV Names Navy’s Future Class of Guided-Missile Frigates (Seapower)

From Navy Times New CNO pick could come any time, sources say By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Jul 17, 2007 7:30:21 EDT The Navy’s search for a new chief of naval operations is underway, with an announcement of a nominee expected to come as early as this week, sources tell Navy Times. In June, President Bush nominated the current CNO, Adm. Mike Mullen, to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. If approved by the Senate, Mullen will take over for Marine Gen. Peter Pace, who is slated to retire at the end of his term Oct. 1. A date has yet to be set for Mullen’s Senate confirmation hearing. The leading candidate for CNO remains…

From Aviation Week GAO Sustains Boeing Tanker Protest Jun 18, 2008 By Michael Bruno Congressional auditors today handed Boeing some salvation and sided with the U.S. behemoth's protest against a U.S. Air Force award over an aerial refueling tanker to an international team led by Northrop Grumman and EADS. The Government Accountability Office, in citing several problems with the USAF's decision-making process, called for the embattled armed service to re-open talks with the competing industry teams and then make a new source selection. "Our review of the record led us to conclude that the Air Force had made a number of significant errors that could have a…

From Navy Times San Antonio shipping out After delays and nearly $1 billion in cost overruns, amphib’s maiden voyage nears By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Aug 25, 2008 11:22:04 EDT NORFOLK, Va. — The banner on the brow of the amphibious transport dock San Antonio reads, “Never Retreat. Never Surrender.” And for a while there, it also looked as if the ship would never deploy. But after years of design problems and delays, the San Antonio finally is ready to head overseas. The ship, the first of the LPD 17 class, is scheduled to depart Norfolk this week as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, Navy officials say. “She is ready f…

USS Russell DDG-59

This story oughta be good for some more rants and opinions. From Navy Times Bath begins work on final Burke destroyer The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Oct 3, 2007 11:31:39 EDT BATH, Maine — Bath Iron Works has quietly begun construction on what’ll be the last of the Arleigh Burke destroyers that went into service in the early 1990s. Shipbuilders began cutting steel last month at BIW’s Brunswick facility for DDG-112, the 62nd and final ship of the Arleigh Burke class. The Navy has yet to name the ship, which will take 4½ years to build. Vice Adm. John Morgan, the first commanding officer of the original USS Arleigh Burke, came to BIW for the …

From Aviation Week Boeing Unveils New Stealthy F-15 Mar 17, 2009 Amy Butler/St. Louis, Mo. Boeing unveiled the prototype of a new variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle aimed at the Asian and Middle East markets that will incorporate stealthy coatings and structure here on Mar. 17. Company officials hope the new aircraft will garner up to 190 orders, extending the F-15 line beyond the current backlog of 38 aircraft for South Korea and Singapore. Since the company lost the Joint Strike Fighter contest to Lockheed Martin, the future of its St. Louis manufacturing facility has been uncertain. Continued F-15 sales, as well as additional orders for F/A-18E/Fs and EA-18…

Navy to name aircraft carrier after Ford From: The Associated Press http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_...pe/ford_carrier WASHINGTON - The Navy will name its next aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in honor of the president who was buried Wednesday in his home town of Grand Rapids, Mich., officials said. The Navy had not planned to make the announcement yet, but Donald H. Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary who served in the Ford administration, divulged the news during his eulogy at the funeral. "How fitting it would be that the name Gerald R. Ford will patrol the high seas for decades to come in defense of the nation he loved so much," he sai…

A great set of photos from Red Flag 08-04: http://prometheus.med.utah.edu/~bwjones/C1...5317/index.html

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

From Defense Aerospace F-22A Crash Claims Life of Edwards Pilot (Source: US Air Force; issued March 25, 2009) EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --- An Air Force F-22A crash March 25 near here claimed the life of an Air Force veteran and Lockheed Martin test pilot. David Cooley, 49, of Palmdale, Calif., died when the F-22A he was piloting crashed northeast of the base here. Mr. Cooley worked as a test pilot with Lockheed Martin, and was employed at the 411th Flight Test Squadron, 412th Test Wing, on Edwards. Mr. Cooley joined Lockheed Martin in 2003 and was a 21-year veteran of the Air Force. He worked at the F-22 Combined Test Force, where a team of Lockheed…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

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 Week Pentagon Eyes New Tanker RFP By August Jul 9, 2008 By Michael Bruno Boeing and a Northrop Grumman-EADS team will be able to re-bid wholly new proposals for the U.S. Air Force KC-X refueling tanker program, and the Pentagon's acquisition chief expects to choose a winner by the end of the year, officials said today. The defense secretary, Air Force secretary and Defense Department acquisition chief John Young told Pentagon reporters that the move is an attempt to provide a valid acquisition decision as quickly as possible while speeding toward delivery of the new aerial refuelers. Nevertheless, Young said the program's cost and initial opera…

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]