Current Events in the Americas

More bad news on JSF, as far as the GAO is concerned ... JSF: Additional Costs and Delays Risk Not Meeting Warfighter Requirements on Time

A pretty good article on a subject that probably not a lot of people are aware of. The Bermuda Triangle of Space: The High-Energy South Atlantic Anomaly Threatens Satellites (DefenseNews)

Will The F-14 Fly Again? Maverick Act Passes U.S. Senate 😃🫣

From Navy Times May 09, 2005 Official report: Leadership, navigation errors led to San Francisco accident By William H. McMichael Times Staff Writer Failures of command leadership and the sub’s navigation team were the sole cause of the attack submarine San Francisco’s Jan. 8 collision with an undersea mountain, the Navy has concluded in its official investigative report. The sub struck the sea mount while traveling full speed near the Pacific Ocean’s Caroline Islands at a depth of 525 feet, killing one sailor, injuring dozens of others and crushing the sub’s bow, causing more than $88 million in damage and leaving the 24-year-old sub’s future in doubt. …

From Navy Times May 17, 2006 Oriskany is sunk By Larry Wheeler Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal Oriskany has sunk. The last tip of the vessel’s hurricane bow disappeared into the Gulf at approximately 11 a.m. Local officials in Pensacola are hopeful the Oriskany settled on the sea floor in an upright position. But no one would know for sure until Navy divers check the vessel later Wednesday. Navy engineers predicted the Oriskany would sink evenly in a process that would take up to five hours. Instead, the old aircraft carrier went down in approximately 35 minutes, sinking sharply by the fantail. “I thought it went down as planned, but it is hard to …

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

From Defence Aerospace Navy's First Littoral Combat Ship Honors Freedom (Source: US Department of Defense; issued May 9, 2005) Secretary of the Navy Gordon England has selected the name Freedom for the Navy’s first new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The future USS Freedom acknowledges the enduring foundation of our nation and honors American communities from coast to coast which bear the name Freedom. States having towns named Freedom range from New York to California, and include Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Wyoming. “These new, fast and capable ships will increase the effectiveness of our naval forces and provide…

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

Yahoo News link Sadly, I don't think they'll find any survivors. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those on board.

RADM Horton Relieved Other punishments (Both links Information Dissemination).

From How the North-South divide plays out in three key swing states (Lexington Institute's Early Warning blog) [excerpt] Harpoon is no stranger to North vs South scenarios, however unpleasant such a prospect might be ...

From Flight International DATE:24/08/07 SOURCE:Flight International Lockheed tackles JSF power deficit By Stephen Trimble A shortage of electrical power on board the carrier variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has forced Lockheed Martin to launch a redesign of two key subsystems, even as flight tests are set to resume within the next few weeks. Lockheed engineers discovered in laboratory tests in late 2006 that the F-35C will need 33% more power than its on-board generator can provide. The aircraft's flight-control surfaces are powered by electro-hydrostatic actuators and the electrical system has to meet the condition when all the controls demand p…

From Northrop Grumman news release U.S. Navy Awards $1.16 Billion BAMS UAS Contract to Northrop Grumman LOS ANGELES - April 22, 2008 - The U.S. Navy has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) an 89-month, $1.16 billion contract for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) of the service's new Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS) program. The BAMS UAS will provide the U.S. Navy with a persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) system to protect the fleet and provide a capability to detect, track, classify, and identify maritime and littoral targets. "We are honored that the Navy selected ou…

Time to change America's atomic arsenal (The Diplomat)

From DefenseNews' Intercepts blog [excerpt]

Long Chain of Failures Left Sailors Unprepared to Fight USS Bonhomme Richard Fire, Investigation Finds (USNI News) BHR Command Investigation (434 pp, PDF) Major Fires Review (60 pp, PDF)

CV32: The failure of this entire program is a rather sad state of affairs. Fraud, if borne out, will only add to the misery. From gCaptain [excerpt]

http://www.defense-aerospace.com AMARILLO, Texas --- Bell Boeing delivered the first Block B version of the V-22 Osprey today to the U.S. Marine Corps in ceremonies at Bell's manufacturing facility here. The Block B aircraft has software upgrades, reliability and maintainability improvements over existing V-22 aircraft. It was accepted by Col. Bill Taylor, PMA 275 Program Manager, Naval Air Systems Command, who has responsibility for the management of the V-22 Program for the Government, and LtGen Jim Amos, Commanding General, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. The aircraft will enter service with Marine Corps squadron VMM 263 at Marine Corps Air Station new River,…

From Air Force Magazine Daily Report [excerpt]

Lots of pics. Boeing's new tricked out Advanced Super Hornet (DefenseNews, Intercepts blog)