Current Events in the Americas

BEST OF ANTI-MISSILES AXED DefenseTech.org Edited by Noah Shachtman The most successful part of the star-crossed missile defense system has been the one based at sea. So, naturally, the Pentagon has decided to cut the program's budget, Defense Daily reports. Launched from cruisers off the Hawaiian coast, the Standard Missile-3 interceptors have managed to hit their targets in five out of six recent tests. Land-based anti-missiles, on the other hand, couldn't even make it into the air during two recent exercises over the winter. But never mind all that. The sea-based interceptors have been slated for a $95 million cut. That could keep a key signal processor …

Of interest for everyone of us (see photo): https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-07/be-predictably-unpredictable

From Navy Times Big E preps for final combat deployment By Philip Ewing - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday Sep 21, 2010 10:56:09 EDT ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER ENTERPRISE — Sept. 24 marks 50 years since this ship’s launch and champagne christening ...

Great article with interesting links: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18318/shock-trials-or-no-the-navys-newest-supercarrier-is-still-an-unreliable-debacle

Biggest pieces of ZUMWALT (DDG 1000) come together in the night (DefenseNews' Intercepts blog) Lots of pics.

Bittersweet 50th anniversary for Canada's Sea King helicopters (CBC News)

Improved AIM-9X Achieves IOC (Seapower)

From Aviation Week [excerpt]

From DefenseNews Boeing Pitches 777 Tanker; Labels New USAF Bid 7A7 By karen walker Published: 15 Jun 2009 19:05 PARIS - Boeing is preparing to offer either the 777 or the 767 airframes when it rebids the U.S. tanker contest, the company said June 15. Speaking at the Paris Air Show, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) president and CEO Jim Albaugh said he expected to see a request for proposals (RFP) this summer for the new U.S. Air Force tanker competition. "I expect it will not have nearly as many requirements as the last one," he said. Boeing lost out on the last hotly competed tanker contest to a joint bid by Northrop Grumman and EADS that wa…

From http://defense.aol.com/2012/09/18/boeing-plows-through-kc-46-reserves-funding-sequestration-would/ [excerpt]

From DefenseNews.com http://www.defensenews.com Boeing Rolls Out First KC-767 Tanker By TOM KINGTON, ROME Boeing on Feb. 24 rolled out its first 767 tanker transport aircraft at its Wichita, Kan., plant for its first client, the Italian Air Force. Italy has ordered four of the KC-767A aircraft and expects to take delivery of the first in 2006, once flight tests and certification are completed, Boeing said in a statement. Boeing is producing the aircraft at its Everett, Wash., plant before cargo doors and refueling equipment are added in Wichita. The other three Italian tankers will be converted to tanker transport format by Officine Aeronavali, a unit of F…

Boeing Tests Redesigned Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile (Naval News) Like the sim, the missile just won't go away. ☺️

From Aviation Week Boeing Plans Sixth Generation Fighter With Block 3 Super Hornet Jan 30, 2008 David A. Fulghum/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Boeing is touting an even newer version of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet that, paired with an advanced sixth-generation fighter in the works at the company, would give customers what Boeing deems a better package of capabilities than Lockheed Martin's combination of the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The idea is that customers could buy 4.5 generation Super Hornets (perhaps 4.75 generation with the planned extra forward stealth and extra range of Block 3 aircraft) and then switch to a new, sixth genera…

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…

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

From Flight International DATE: 01/10/07 SOURCE: Flight International Bomb test flameout nearly crashes F-22 By Stephen Trimble A key new weapon for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor has started a new series of tests despite a recent in-flight crash scare. The Boeing GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) began separation tests on the F-22 in early September after more than a year of sometimes difficult work to integrate the weapon in the weapons bay and carry out airborne captive carry tests, Maj Jack Fischer, a USAF test pilot, told the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' annual convention. Flight tests so far have produced a few in-flight problems, inclu…

From ARES Sarko Closes Deal for SSNs, Helicopters Posted by Robert Wall at 12/24/2008 5:12 AM CST Brazil has now officially signed up to buy 50 EC725 medium-lift helicopters, making it the largest customer for the Eurocopter rotorcraft. At the same time, France and Brazil agreed on a deal in which Brazil will buy four DCNS Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines - and will co-produce, with France, its first nuclear attack submarine (SSN). The deal was signed in the presence of French president Nicolas Sarkozy - described by some rivals as France's best arms salesman - who was visiting his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazil should no…

From Flight Global [excerpt]

Brazil inches closer towards naval ambitions (Jane's)

Brazil To Get Its First Nuclear Subs (DefenseNews)