Current Events in the Americas

From DefenseNews U.S. Navy Orders New Destroyers By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS Construction of the first two DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class advanced destroyers is set to begin after the U.S. Navy awarded its two primary shipbuilders $2.8 billion in contracts Feb. 14. General Dynamics will build the Zumwalt — DDG 1000 — at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, while Northrop Grumman will build the yet-to-be-named DDG 1001 at its Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. The Zumwalt is set to be delivered by Bath in June 2013, while Northrop’s DDG 1001 is to follow in July 2014. Northrop and General Dynamics are cooperating in completing the final, detailed design of the destroyers. Nor…

From Aviation Week U.S. Navy Plans EPX Intel-Gathering Aircraft Feb 22, 2008 By David A. Fulghum The U.S. Navy is asking three companies each to design an aircraft that can conduct simultaneous intelligence-gathering missions that were considered impractical, perhaps impossible, even a couple of years ago. In particular, the Navy wants a single, EPX aircraft that can use a powerful radar and at the same time operate an array of sensitive receivers that can collect faint electronic emissions or communications from hundreds of miles away. The multisource information would be fused to locate and identify objects of interest as fleeting and elusive as the low-po…

US Navy removes first 155mm AGS from USS Zumwalt at Ingalls Shipbuilding (Naval News) A shame, but perhaps an affinity for the concept of naval gun fire support is just nostalgia?

A short but concise article in Mer et Marine (in French) about the US Navy, by Bernard Prézelin, editor of Combat Fleets of the World: http://www.meretmarine.com/fr/content/focus-lus-navy-toute-puissante-pour-de-nombreuses-annees-encore

US Navy Sizes Up Future Does the Navy have the right strategy and resources to meet future threats? by Ted McKenna Aug. 19, 2005 eDefense The US Navy still wants to fight the Battle of Midway, some critics say. Does it have the money to field a fleet that can, though, as well as fight the "global war on terror"? A growing percentage of the world's population lives in littoral areas, near the water, often in poverty and amid ethnic strife. The Navy must prepare to fight conflicts in such areas and wants to be fast and flexible in deploying forces, vehicles, and other assets on shore. As senior officers in the service point out, the Navy must prepare i…

From Defense Aerospace Submarine Force Announces Operational Stand Down (Source: US Navy; issued Jan. 11, 2007) NORFOLK, Va. --- The U.S. Submarine Force announced Jan. 11, that it will conduct an Operational Stand Down in the wake of recent submarine incidents. In a message to the submarine force, Vice Adm. Chuck Munns, U.S. Submarine Force commander, directed the immediate “stand down” to focus energy and intellect on the basics of submarine operations. Submarines provide continued excellence in the accomplishment of national and theater tasking, but recent problems in routine operations need attention. “It is clear that a common thread through rece…

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 …

Hagel: Navy to Lay Up 11 Cruisers, Carrier Cut Decision Delayed until 2016 Budget (USNI News)

From DefenseNews U.S. Navy To Stand Up New 4th Fleet By mark d. faram Published: 24 Apr 13:33 EDT (09:33 GMT) The U.S. Navy will create a 4th Fleet headquartered at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., and will tap a two-star SEAL officer to lead it, according to a Pentagon announcement April 24. Rear Adm. Joseph Kernan, head of Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, Calif., has been chosen to command the new fleet. Kernan will take control of both 4th Fleet and the current Naval Forces Southern Command, the Navy component of U.S. Southern Command. The command will oversee maritime operations in Central and South American waters, and is similar to the comman…

I had the chance to try an HCDB scenario with these vessels. It was quite cool to see them simulated. Being nearly invisible was a huge advantage.

From Aerospace Daily & Defense Report U.S. Navy To Upgrade Harpoon Missile 10/19/2005 09:01:48 AM By Marc Selinger The U.S. Navy plans to begin an upgrade program for the Harpoon missile in fiscal 2007 to increase its accuracy and allow operators to retarget it after it is launched, a government official said Oct. 18. "We're expecting it to be funded" in the Navy's upcoming FY '07 budget request, said Keith Sanders, deputy program executive officer for strike weapons at Naval Air Systems Command. The FY '07 request is due to be sent to Capitol Hill in early calendar 2006. The enhanced missile, known as Harpoon Block III, would receive Global Position…

From Aerospace Daily & Defense Report U.S. Navy's Super Hornet Program Proposes Buying More Jets By Marc Selinger 11/17/2005 08:13:45 PM The U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet program is proposing to buy up to two dozen more fighters than currently planned, according to a program official. While the Navy now is slated to buy 550 Boeing-built Super Hornets, Capt. James Wallace, the service's F/A-18 international programs manager, said the program believes the Navy could use another 20 to 24 of the high-demand aircraft, or enough to equip two squadrons. Wallace, who spoke Nov. 17 at the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement's fighter jet confere…

US Navy weighs halving LCS order (DefenseNews)

From DefenseNews Posted 03/28/07 18:15 Lawmakers Offer Ships That U.S. Navy Is Reluctant To Accept By WILLIAM MATTHEWS Some in the U.S. House of Representatives want to buy the Navy 12 new ships next year, not just the seven the service requested in the 2008 budget proposal. But when asked by appropriators in the Senate “what number is prudent,” the Navy’s top officer suggested maybe eight. After complaining for years that its fleet is shrinking and that its shipbuilding budget isn’t big enough, the Navy finds itself in the awkward position of having to turn down an opportunity to dramatically increase shipbuilding. One problem is that U.S. shipyards would be…

A three part series from Time magazine's Battleland blog If more money buys a smaller fleet what will less money buy? More than the Navy's numbers could be sinking Is the fleet steaming forward or backward?

From DefenseNews U.S. Navy Drafting 'Naval Operational Concept' By christopher p. cavas Published: 21 Oct 19:34 EDT (23:34 GMT) Deploying U.S. naval forces must be more flexible, able to split up and re-form in different combinations as situations require. The fleet still needs 11 aircraft carriers to meet its missions but more amphibious ships are required to support new missions. The number of formal and informal maritime partnerships will continue to grow. Even when mine-hunting Littoral Combat Ships come into service, a gap will remain in the Navy's ability to combat the undersea threat. Ballistic missile defense is increasingly seen as a basic naval capabil…

US Navys Triton UAV: 3,300 Miles Cross-Country Unmanned (DefenseNews, Intercepts blog)

From DefenseNews DoD: U.S. Needs Stealthy Airlifter By JOHN T. BENNETT Published: 8 March 2010 By the 2020s, U.S. special-forces troops will need a stealthy new airlifter to sneak past ever-improving radar and missile systems into "denied areas," says the Pentagon's top civilian special operations official. "At some point, serious consideration will need to be given to the development and fielding of a more survivable, long-range SOF [special operations forces] air mobility platform that exploits advances in signature reduction and electronic attack," Michael Vickers, assistant U.S. defense secretary for special operations, low-intensity conflict and interde…

US nuclear forces, 2014 (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

George Friedman at Stratfor is writing a four part commentary on the US Presidential campaign in the context of US foreign policy. It might make for interesting reading for some of you, and I thought I'd post the links here as each part of the series becomes available. Part 1: The New President and the Global Landscape Part 2: Obama's Foreign Policy Stance Part 3: McCain's Foreign Policy Stance