Raw Intel

As we briefly reviewed last summer, Turkey's bullying action from the Aegean to Cyprus to Libya was having the effect of pushing surrounding nations closer together - and getting the attention of larger powers on the other side of the Mediterranean as well. After a series of provocations by Turkey, it was only natural that the nations of the Eastern Mediterranean would either have to fold or stand up. They've taken the later option; Egypt, Cyprus and Greece have demanded respect for the sovereignty and sovereign rights of states in their maritime areas in the eastern Mediterranean. The demand came in a joint statement from the three countries’ foreign ministers du…

The legal system works at the speed of smell, but we are getting closer to what may be one of the most important civil rights cases to come in front of the Supreme Court in the last half century. There are new readers coming to CDRSalamander every day, so once again let me set the foundation. The cornerstones are rather simple but essential for our wondrously polyglot experimental republic to survive; persons deserve to be judged as individuals; individuals deserve equal opportunity; people deserve to be judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin; no favor should be given to nor ill-favor placed on any person based on something they can do nothi…

Both the Freedom and Independence Class LCS have been - if we are to be polite - suboptimal in both utility and performance. We've documented that for the better part of 17-years and that record is all available at the LCS tag, so no need to rehash the whole sordid thing again. Well ... maybe just a little bit. Of course we should have adopted Plan Salamander as outlined over 11-yrs ago, but we have what we have. Smart people with hard jobs given enough Sailor sweat and seabags of cash have managed to get the Independence Class to contribute to the presence mission in WESTPAC, but as outlined in Megan Eckstein's latest at Defense News, Freedom remains the more troublesome…

There is no such thing as a "normal watch," especially on Nov. 22, 1975 onboard the USS BELKNAP (CG-26); We were on plane guard. They put us on a plane guard because their TACAN was down. We had been making this same maneuver to port eight or nine times a day – from the start of the turn to completion was 3600 yards. This time we made a turn to starboard. I’ve read the investigation report, so even though I was down in the fire room, I’ve since come to know what happened up on the bridge. With the lights of the carrier looking the same, there was confusion, and miscommunication, and we made a right-hand turn this time, and the arc was half of what it had been for the last…

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Americas During a virtual Navy League event, Rear Adm. Gregory Harris, who heads the Air Warfare Division, said the service is unlikely to adopt the small aircraft carrier concept. “I believe the L Class ships operating with the F-35B fit that bill,” Harris was quoted as saying. L-class ships include the Wasp- and America-class amphibious assault ships (LHDs and LHAs). The Navy is preparing to launch a formal review — called an analysis of alternatives — that will look at options for a light aircraft carrier and the type of ship that replaced the Ford Class. The USS Gabrielle Giffords successfully launched the Naval Strike Missile earlier this month, the Navy announced o…

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2022; what is it actually for? Before we address that question, we should remind everyone of the most well known quote from NATO’s first Secretary General, Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay; The Soviet Union is dead three decades on, and besides a spot of bother inside the Iron Curtain when it existed and a bit in the Balkans, Georgia, and yes Ukraine … Europe has been at peace from major wars for a very long time. This is a good thing we should want to keep going. To do that, you need to demonstrate strength and resolve, and it can’t always be from the USA. We are just one election, domestic squabble, or national disaster away f…

Americas Aechelon Technology won a $7.8 million order, which provides for the production, delivery and integration of four P8 Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS) next generation databases on to four AAS Weapons Tactic Trainers. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date will be in October 2022. The US Air Force has ordered 15 Silent Arrow Precision Guided Bundle (SA-PGB) for testing. They will be shipped to Pendleton UAS Test Range for flight testing in 2022. The SA-PGB is based on the Silver Arrow’s GD-2000 cargo delivery unmanned air system (UAS). It has been scaled down to deliver a 350-pound payload after being dropped from an aircraft, that could range…

HMS Nelson. One of the more curious, no, the most curious Battleship classes (2) ever built. The first thing that comes to mind is "Shipmate, where is your stern?" If it looks like a ship built by committee, well that is because it is. A product of The Washington Treaty, "compromises" were made. Though it was the only RN ship with 16" guns, the ship herself was a tad slow, and once the war was done - like the rest of the RN Battleships - off to the breakers she went. Best pictures here. Other sites here and here. Orig. posted 16JUN06. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http:/…

I remain firm in my stance that Ike Eisenhower is one of the most impressive leaders this nation every produced and deserves to be in any Top-5 lists of great Americans. Perfect? No. Great? Yes. "To be well read..." - how often have you heard this phrase used? It is usually used as a way to make sure a curious mind does not - through conscious acts of commission or omission - put itself in a echo chamber. It has a secondary benefit; you find jewels you may not have found otherwise. Classic case last night when I found myself digging around for news the new German government and a whole host of problematic decisions. There happened to be an intersection with yesterday's n…

Americas General Atomics won a $65.5 million order, which provides for the procurement, transportation, and installation of Ground Control Stations (GCSs), materials, support equipment, as well as associated training, engineering, non-recurring engineering, and integrated logistics support. Additionally, this order procures 18 mission kits, spares, ground support equipment, and communications gear for site setup in support of the operational capability of the Marine Air Ground Task Force Unmanned Aircraft System Expeditionary Medium Altitude Long Endurance MQ-9A Block 5 Reaper air vehicles and GCSs for the Navy. Work will take place in California. Expected completion will…

Today we're going to build off of last week's DivThu that was focused on the CNO, Admiral Giday, USN. We are going to tie in the connection between Critical Race Theory, Antiracism, and Marxism - topics everyone is talking around for reasons best explained by them if you can get them to actually answer a question. If you missed last week, click here and read it, watch the videos, then come back, We'll leave last week at the House, and go to the CNO in the Senate in this remarkable exchange with Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR). The CNO did not answer the question. He just repeated talking points from last week. He brings up unrelated topics ... as if Kendi's work has anythi…

Americas Northrop Grumman Systems won a $10.7 million modification to procure two additional Surface-to-Surface Missile Modules (SSMM) for integration into the Littoral Combat Ship framework. The SSMM fires a Longbow Hellfire missile that will be added to the surface warfare mission module aboard the Littoral Combat Ship. In July 2019 the US Navy successfully completed structural testing of the Longbow Hellfire missile for the Littoral Combat Ship Surface-to-Surface Missile Module. LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship, with three types of mission packages including surface warfare, mine countermeasures, and anti-submarine warfare. The Program Executive Office Littoral Co…

Any nation facing the Russians and are facing great odds usually look at two modern wars - the Polish-Soviet War of 1918-1921 and the Winter War of 1939 when plucky Finland held their own against the Soviet Union. Are there things Ukraine can learn from the Winter War? Over at USNIBlog, I think there is ... but it isn't tactical. Come on by and give it a read. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=B3j6hXig1P8:GX0Q93banng:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=B3j6hXig1P8:GX0Q93banng:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/…

Americas Two F-15EXs that were delivered to the US Air Force have carried out the first operational test mission at Nellis Air Force Base. The evaluation involved F-15Cs and F-15Es as well. Running from October 18-25, the pilots were also evaluating the Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System while there. German company Rheinmetall will export a Lynx Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) Test Chassis to the United States of America from its factory in Redbank Queensland. The Lynx vehicle export order will be delivered to Rheinmetall in the United States supporting the business’s worldwide activities currently underway in the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle competi…

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $19 million contract modification, that adds scope to provide delivery and installation of a multispectral database and delivery of crypto ignition keys in support of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in support of the Air Force and the government of the Republic of Korea. Work will take place in Wisconsin and. Texas. Estimated completion will be in September 2023. The US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $15.9 million contract modification, which exercises an option to procure seven retrofit advanced radar processor systems for the E-2D aircraft. The E-2D Hawkeye features a state-of-the-art radar with a two-generation leap in capability …

Americas Sikorsky Aircraft won a $21.2 million contract modification, which increases scope and provides aircraft maintenance in support of the CH-53K data transfer unit and defensive electronic countermeasure system replacement phase three flight test. The CH-53K will replace the CH-53E, and its job with the Marines will include moving heavy equipment and supplies from ship-to-shore in support of amphibious assault and subsequent operations ashore, as well as lifting troops. Work will take place in Maryland, Florida and Virginia. Estimated completion is in June 2022. Lockheed Martin won a $584.8, which adds scope to provide system integration engineering for the develop…

Plucky Sweden, a nation 32 times smaller than the USA, produces some exceptional weapons - mostly on her own. Looks like they are going to leverage Visby ... and I'm a bit jealous. I'm seething over at USNIBlog. Come on by, pull up an Ikea chair, and push some meatballs and herring around the plate with me. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=vn7n4BE7_bc:ecrD24J42j0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=vn7n4BE7_bc:ecrD24J42j0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=vn7n4BE7_bc:ecrD24J42j0:V_sGLi…

I've decided to change the topic of this week's DivThu. If you're here for the farcical Navy's "Task Force One Navy", well, come back next week. This is worse and more important. For how many years of doing DivThu, through all the name calling, attempts to doxx or cancel me and my sources, have we been told - in spite of the experiences of many here - that in no case will our Navy set up quota systems ... and then in hushed tones perhaps whisper, "Well, they'd never be stupid enough to make it official. We have goals and desires." OK, here is it, red in tooth in claw. At least it is out in the open - and perhaps has been for quite a while. Is to exclude someone by ra…

Americas Raytheon won a $10.8 million delivery order for deploy and retrieve systems in support of the AN/AQS-20 mine-hunting program. The AN/AQS-20C sonar mine-hunting system is the U.S. Navy’s latest mine-hunting technology, which is integrated into the littoral combat ship mine countermeasures mission package. Work will take place in Washington and Those Island. Estimated completion will be by December 2023. DARPA has announced its new X-plane concept, a low-cost long-range seaplane that can fly up to 10,000ft. However, the aircraft will utilize the “wing-in-ground effect” to extend its range so that it can serve as a strategic or tactical transport. Middle East &amp…