Current Events in the Americas

US to boost BMD (DefenseNews) U.S. To Bolster Missile Defenses To Counter N.Korea Threat: Source (Aviation Week)

USAF begins fielding JASSM-ER (Jane's)

From DefenseNews Posted 12/01/06 10:39 Russia Delivers First Sukhoi Fighters to Venezuela By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, MOSCOW The first two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets destined for Venezuela under a deal slammed by Washington have been dispatched from Russia, officials said Nov. 30. “Two Su-30MK2 have been sent on board an An-124 transport plane to the Venezuelan Air Force” from Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a city in far eastern Russia where the planes are made, said an official from Russia’s arms export agency. Two other fighter jets destined for Venezuela according to a deal that has riled the United States will be delivered by the end of the year, the official told RIA-No…

From Defense Aerospace Government of Canada Awards Tactical Airlift Contract (Source: Public Works and Government Services Canada; issued Jan. 16, 2008) GATINEAU --- The Honourable Michael M Fortier, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, along with the Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay, Minister of National Defence, today announced that the government has awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Corporation for the acquisition of the Canadian Forces new tactical lift aircraft. "Canada has long been in dire need of renewed tactical airlift capabilities," said Minister Fortier. "The government is now delivering on commitments it has made to ensur…

From Defense Aerospace Nation's First Littoral Combat Ship Under Way (Source: Lockheed Martin; issued July 28, 2008) MARINETTE, Wis. --- History was made today when the nation's first Littoral Combat Ship, Freedom (LCS 1), put to sea for the first time, marking the beginning of Builder's Sea Trials for the first-in-class coastal surface combatant. The agile 378-foot Freedom, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News)-led industry team, is conducting Builder's Sea Trials in Lake Michigan. The trials -- which are a coordinated effort between the U.S. Navy and the Lockheed Martin team -- will include operational testing of the vessel's propulsion…

F/A-18F CFT & Weapons Pod mockup in St Louis (Flight Global, DEW Line blog) Boeing poised to begin flight-testing Advanced Super Hornet features (Jane's)

Newport News Daily Press December 13, 2005 Pg. 1 Changing Course Navy's plans for fighting terror call for smaller ships By David Lerman WASHINGTON -- Newport News and other shipyards that build big ships, such as aircraft carriers and subs, could be hurt. A new Navy shipbuilding plan envisions a future fleet with one fewer aircraft carrier and six fewer attack submarines than exist today, posing a threat to jobs at Northrop Grumman Newport News in the next decade. The draft plan, which was obtained by the Daily Press but won't be released until February, calls for a total combat force of 313 ships, a significant increase from today's fleet of a…

From http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/09/21/4281857/us-army-navy-demonstrate-jlens.html [excerpt] Hat tip to Brains.

Constellation-class Frigate Program Cancelled, U.S. Navy Looking for Faster Procurement of Alternatives (Naval News)

Bloomberg.com December 14, 2005 Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor Ready for Combat, Air Force Says By Tony Capaccio Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22A Raptor stealth fighter, the most expensive fighter plane ever built, is ready for wartime operations, the Air Force's top combat commander said today. “If we go to war tomorrow, the Raptor will be with us,” Air Combat Command General Ronald Keys wrote of a plane that's weathered congressional and public debate on its relevance post-Cold War. The Air Force says it needs at least 381 Raptors but the Pentagon plans to buy only about 180 though 2010. Lockheed already has delivered 56. Boeing Co. is the top subcontractor.…

From New York Times April 25, 2008 Lesson on How Not to Build a Navy Ship By PHILIP TAUBMAN With the crack of a Champagne bottle against its bow, the newly minted Navy warship, bedecked with bunting, slid sideways into the Menominee River in Wisconsin with a titanic splash. Moments before the launching on Sept. 23, 2006, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chief of naval operations, told the festive crowd of shipbuilders, politicians and Navy brass assembled at the Marinette Marine shipyard, “Just a little more than three years ago, she was just an idea; now Freedom stands before us.” Not quite. The ship — the first of a new class of versatile, high-speed combat vesse…

From DefenseNews [excerpt]

U.S. Navy: Time to Bring Back the S-3 Viking? (The Diplomat) The S-3 was (is) an extremely versatile asset. I find it hard to disagree with the sentiment of this article.

San Diego Union-Tribune December 15, 2005 Marines Focus On Replacing Amphibious Troop Carrier Technical glitches have led to delays By Otto Kreisher, Copley News Service WOODBRIDGE, VA. – With the MV-22 Osprey apparently past its long struggle to become operational, the Marine Corps' top priority has become a replacement for its 30-year-old amphibious troop carriers. The proposed replacement, the expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV), is a technological marvel that is motorboat fast in the water and can keep up with the jet-powered M1 tank on land. It also gives Marine infantrymen better protection and tremendous fire support from a high-tech weapon s…

From Defense Aerospace First AARGM Developmental Live Firing Successfully Demonstrates Precision Long Range Time Critical Strike Capability (Source: ATK Alliant Techsystems; issued June 7, 2007) MINNEAPOLIS --- Alliant Techsystems, the U.S. Navy team of PMA-242, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division -- China Lake, and the Italian Air Force recently conducted the first Developmental Test (DT) firing of an Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) from an F/A-18 aircraft on the China Lake test ranges on 25 May 2007. The test firing confirmed the effective integration of AARGM with the F/A-18 aircraft and the continued progress of fielding a long-…

See Ethics & International Affairs It is Philip Coyle, after all, so we shouldn't be surprised by his conclusions, but ouchie!

USS Freedom Cuts Short Initial Singapore Underway (Aviation Week)

Navy Axes Griffin Missile In Favor of Longbow Hellfire for LCS (USNI News)

Drool ... From Flight International DATE: 28/04/08 SOURCE: Flightglobal.com Raytheon lifts veil on ramjet-powered HARM By Stephen Trimble Raytheon today unveiled a new concept for revolutionizing the accuracy, range, speed and perhaps even the mission of the quarter-century-old AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missile (HARM). The concept replaces the AGM-88’s dual-thrust rocket motor with a dramatically more powerful ramjet engine. Guidance is also upgraded with satellite-based navigation, fiber-optic gyroscopes and new software. The new weapon could boost Raytheon’s competitive fortunes against a US Navy-sponsored upgrade: the Alliant Techsystems…

From Air Force Times Ecuador: U.S. must leave Manta next year By Gonzalo Solano - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 9:42:50 EDT QUITO, Ecuador — The U.S. military must stop using its only outpost in South America for anti-drug flights when Washington’s 10-year lease on the base in Ecuador expires in 2009, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. Leftist President Rafael Correa has repeatedly said that Ecuador would not renew the agreement to use the Manta air base, but Tuesday’s Foreign Ministry statement said the South American nation has now formally notified the U.S. Embassy of the decision. Some 300 U.S. troops are stationed at the Pacif…