Current Events in the Americas

At Sea Aboard the Zumwalt (DefenseNews)

Excerpt from abstract here: Link to full report (pdf)

While started of as a means of getting Nuke powered subs to Aus, AUKUS has been mentioned as broadening its range of co operation. https://www.defenseadvancement.com/news/ai-enabled-autonomous-uas-swarms-showcased-in-aukus-trials/

Australian warships in NY to mark alliance at sea THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 5:54 PM EDT, July 19, 2009 Read AP Article here. NEW YORK - The United States and Australia are celebrating a friendship at sea that has lasted more than 100 years. On Sunday, two Australian warships arrived in New York to commemorate the relationship between the two nations -- naval allies in every major conflict since World War I. The HMAS Sydney and HMAS Ballarat docked at Pier 88 on Manhattan's West Side, where encounters of a very personal kind also were celebrated. "We met on a tour of Europe last month, and we hit it off big time!" said American college student Masha …

From Jane's Defence Weekly DoD group seeks to give autonomy to armed drones By Stephen Trimble JDW Americas Bureau Chief Washington, DC A proposal, unveiled publicly in September but never before publicised, would give "armed autonomous systems" the authority to shoot to destroy hostile weapon systems but not suspected combatants. Accordingly, any people killed or injured in the attack would be considered the collateral damage of a successful strike on a legitimate target. "If you stop and think about what this is, it really is a new paradigm for conducting warfare," John S Canning, a chief engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center and one of the authors …

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt]

From Aviation Week Fire On Takeoff Downed B-2 Feb 26, 2008 David A. Fulghum/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report One of the pilots of the B-2 stealth bomber that crashed Feb. 23 reported a fire at takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, which was followed quickly by loss of control of the bomber, according to a senior Air Combat Command (ACC) official. The stealth bomber rolled uncontrollably to the right and fell between the taxiway and the ramp at 10:45 a.m. Guam time just after passing the control tower. It was attempting a takeoff toward the seaward end of the runway. The two pilots ejected with one being hospitalized. A dark plume of smoke arose fro…

From Flight International Northrop Grumman outlines B-2 bomber enhancements as USAF reveals plan to also boost strike fleet with new aircraft design By Graham Warwick USAF to also boost strike fleet with new aircraft design High-energy laser weapons are a potential future upgrade for the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit bomber, which is expected to remain in service beyond 2050. Improved passive and active stealth techniques are also expected to be needed beyond 2020 to keep the type viable as a penetrating bomber, the company says. A US Air Force advanced concepts simulation exercise in November evaluated use of a solid-state laser system for positive combat ide…

Inside a B-2 in attack mission: http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a25070/to-libya-and-back-inside-obamas-last-strike-against-isis/?src=nl&mag=pop&list=nl_pnl_news&date=020917

Interesting article on future B-21 Raider probable high altitude capabilities: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/14919/the-b-21s-three-decade-old-shape-hints-at-new-high-altitude-capabilities

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.

From Flight International DATE: 26/06/08 SOURCE: Flight International USAF formally revives B-52 jammer with five-year study By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force has revived a plan to transform a portion of the Boeing B-52 bomber fleet into long-range, radar-jamming platforms, formally launching a five-year study phase on 23 June. The revival comes nearly three years after the USAF was forced to cancel the B-52 stand-off jammer system (SOJS) programme after cost estimates ballooned sevenfold to $7 billion. The delay has shifted the operational debut of the new jammer fleet at least four years to 2018. The new programme seeks to hold overall costs to a…

From Flight Global DATE: 19/05/10 SOURCE: Flight International Boeing B-52 set to receive major radar upgrade By Stephen Trimble The US Air Force is moving forward with a major new upgrade for the half-century-old Boeing B-52H fleet, focused on replacing the bomber's radar, which is roughly 30 years old. The Northrop Grumman APQ-166 strategic radar is nearing the end of its useful life and will be replaced on 76 B-52Hs, the USAF says in a request for information issued to industry. The new system will perform all of the mission functions now performed by the APQ-166 mechanically scanned array, but provide "new and enhanced capabilities", the air force sa…

It seems my Major Kong needs a new ride. From Danger Room [excerpt]

In the news, but they're not novelty news: http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/NGC-In...5468/#more-5468 But in retrospective, the case is worst. I remember to read some time ago the same thing in Norman Polmar & K.J. Moore "Cold War Submarines" about the very bad welding in Los Angeles and Ohio classes, giving for the Ohio class SSBN a test depth of 300 meters and for Los Angeles/Providence/San Juan SSN a test depth of only 290 meters (in consecuence, both classes only capable of intermediate depth in the PC game scale), compared with the gived test depth in the same book for the previous Thresher/Permit and Sturgeon classes of 400 meters (both classes capable …

here Can someone enlighten me as to why shooting down a ballistic missile in its "final seconds of flight" versus further away is a good thing? I can see as a last defense against missiles which have gotten through the longer range defenses, but any type of "weapons of mass effects - WME" warhead such as chemical or biological agents would still be dispersed over a wide area by the destruction of the missile.

Seagoing Radar Rig Placed atop XBR Platform By GLENN W. GOODMAN Jr. April 14, 2005 From DefenceNews. A 2,000-ton phased-array X-Band Radar (XBR) designed for ballistic missile defense was placed atop the Sea-Based XBR platform, a nine-story converted oil-drilling rig, at a shipyard in Corpus Christi, Texas, on April 3. The oceangoing, football-field-sized platform was set to relocate to the Gulf of Mexico for verification testing. This summer, it begins a five-to-seven-month voyage around Cape Horn to its primary base at Adak in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. The Sea-Based XBR will gather data in Missile Defense Agency Ballistic Missile Defense System tests across …

From Air Force Times Barksdale bombers expand B-52 capabilities Recreation of historic 1938 mission points to future By John Andrew Prime - The Shreveport Times Posted : Sunday Aug 26, 2007 13:57:20 EDT Three Barksdale Air Force Base B-52s used a modern twist to a historic mission almost 70 years old to add a dramatic new capability to the bomber’s long list of tricks. Flying almost 10 hours and putting about 3,500 miles under their wings Friday, the trio of veteran bombers pinpointed a specific ship several hundred miles east of Bermuda then spent two hours gathering images and information about it. In May 1938, three B-17 bombers from what was then th…

Bataan preps for Osprey shipboard deployment By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer Posted : Thursday Feb 26, 2009 12:24:47 EST ABOARD THE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP BATAAN — At sea, amid icy winds several miles off the coast of North Carolina, David Kouskouris is among the first sailors to lay hands on the Corps’ MV-22 Osprey. “We, as deck handlers, have to understand how this aircraft moves around the deck,” said Kouskouris, a senior chief aviation boatswain’s mate (aircraft handling) (AW/SW) and the flight deck chief for the Bataan. “Before, we only had computer-generated models. Now, we’re taking into account things like human error and wind conditions,” he e…

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,…