Current Events in the Americas

From Time V-22 Osprey: A Flying Shame Wednesday, Sep. 26, 2007 By MARK THOMPSON It's hard to imagine an American weapons program so fraught with problems that Dick Cheney would try repeatedly to cancel it — hard, that is, until you get to know the Osprey. As Defense Secretary under George H.W. Bush, Cheney tried four times to kill the Marine Corps's ungainly tilt-rotor aircraft. Four times he failed. Cheney found the arguments for the combat troop carrier unpersuasive and its problems irredeemable. "Given the risk we face from a military standpoint, given the areas where we think the priorities ought to be, the V‑22 is not at the top of the list," he told a Sena…

From Defence Talk Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group to Surge Deploy US Navy | Jan 25, 2007 SAN DIEGO: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Carrier Strike Group (CSG), with more than 5,000 sailors, will surge deploy Jan. 27, while USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) undergoes scheduled maintenance in Yokosuka, Japan. The Ronald Reagan CSG is deploying under the Navy's Fleet Response Plan (FRP) and will operate in the western Pacific in support of U.S. commitments in the region. FRP provides the U.S. with the ability to respond to any global commitment with flexible and sustainable forces and the ability to rapidly respond to a range of situations on short notice. The Ronald Rea…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_uss_new_york Built with steel salvaged from the WTC wreckage. Buddha

Navy debates STOVL JSF future Marines, U.K. worry about F-35 variant By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 10:49:54 EDT Despite public support by Pentagon and Navy leaders for the short-take-off/vertical-landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, debates about the planned acquisition and operation of the F-35B continue behind the scenes — worrying Marine Corps officials and potential foreign customers who are counting on the versatile aircraft. Navy officials have set no public deadline to settle JSF procurement plans, but a current Navy briefing document provides a rare window on the debate. It argues that the STOVL version s…

From Defense Aerospace [excerpt] CV32: Rumors and reports that Global Hawk, well, sucked, have been floating for around some time now. Unfortunate, really.

From Jane's Briefing: Russia deepens relationship with Brazil By Guy Anderson 17 May 2010 Russia and Brazil are reported to be discussing the sale of an unspecified number of air defence systems to the Latin American state: a deal that says much about Moscow's current strategy in international defence markets and the potential for Western firms to find themselves competing head to head with Russia to a greater degree than in previous years. Russian state information service RIA Novosti reported on 14 May that the sale of systems – potentially Tor platforms although this has yet to be agreed – was under discussion, together with a series of other accords rela…

Brazil To Get Its First Nuclear Subs (DefenseNews)

Part 1: Preparing for a First Deployment (Defense Media Network)

Brazil inches closer towards naval ambitions (Jane's)

US Navy Launches UAV from a Submarine (USNI News)

This is a sad situation: http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Endangered-w...90610ussolympia I certainly hope she can be saved.

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

Navy Deploys a Frigate for the Last Time (DOD Buzz)

From Defence Talk Phoenix Missile Hypersonic Testbed NASA | Jan 30, 2007 Researchers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif., are investigating the use of surplus demilitarized Navy AIM-54 Phoenix air-launched missiles as possible hypersonic test platforms or testbeds. Hypersonic flight is defined as aerodynamic flight at speeds of Mach 5 or greater, and use of surplus Phoenix missiles is one of the methods being considered to obtain critical flight data in the hypersonic regime. These missions, to be conducted over restricted military test ranges, would i…

From Navy Times Next-gen carrier launch system could be shelved By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 6, 2009 15:46:34 EDT A decision point is looming for the Navy’s biggest shipbuilding project: whether to launch carrier aircraft using cutting-edge — but untried, over-budget and behind-schedule — electromagnetic technology, or return to heavy, bulky, maintenance-intensive steam catapult systems that offer proven reliability. Acting Navy Secretary B.J. Penn and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead are to be briefed in mid-April by service officials on the status of the electromagnetic aircraft launch system, which is to be instal…

From Defense Aerospace Tanker Recapitalization Proposal Released (Source: US Air Force; issued Jan. 30, 2007) WASHINGTON --- Air Force leaders officially released a request for proposal for a replacement tanker aircraft Jan. 30. The RFP is the official invitation to manufacturers to begin making offers to build a replacement for the Air Force's aging "Eisenhower-era" fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, said Sue Payton, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. "This is a major milestone in fair, open and transparent dialogue that we have been involved in since the request for information was sent out in April of 2006," she said. "We are con…

From Navy Times Navy official confident about LCS By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday May 8, 2007 20:53:03 EDT The Navy’s top acquisition official was upbeat and positive May 7 about the troubled Littoral Combat Ship program, telling a Washington audience, “We’re back on track.” Earlier this year, severe cost overruns and manufacturer problems led the service to cancel plans to buy two more LCS ships in 2007 to pay for cost growth on the first ships. The construction contract for one of two LCSs being built by Lockheed Martin was cancelled, and in a touch of ignominy, a fire damaged the first ship late last month while it was under constr…

Forces to get rid of navy's supply ships Esquimalt-based vessels unable to refuel at sea for 2 years; Patrol planes also ditched in cost-cutting David Pugliese, CanWest News Service Published: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 Victoria Times The Canadian Forces plans to get rid of its two refuelling and supply ships, one of which is based at CFB Esquimalt, a move that will leave the navy unable to refuel vessels at sea for at least two years until replacements are built. The recommendation is part of a military plan to pare down its ships, surveillance aircraft and helicopters to help pay for new equipment in the future. The cuts include six Aurora maritime patro…

Hope that someone gets some photos of those Tu-22s. I can never get enough of those beautiful planes.

From Defense Aerospace New Maritime Strategy Released (Source: US Department of Defense; issued Oct. 17, 2007) The Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard have released “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower,” a unified maritime strategy that explains the comprehensive role of the sea services in an era marked by increased globalization and change. This is the first time a unified maritime strategy has been signed by all three of the sea services. The strategy integrates seapower with other elements of national power in addition to that of friends, partners and allies. It states that protecting the homeland and winning the nation’s wars is matched by…