HG S2 (Intel Bot)

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $38 million contract modification, which increases the contract ceiling to procure an additional 173 Tech Refresh Mission Computers (TRMC) and an additional 173 TRMC trays in support of the Army’s domestic production UH-60V aircraft. The UH-60V is an upgraded version of the current UH-60L aircraft. Instead of the UH-60L’s legacy cockpit, the newer version features a fully open, digital and integrated avionics suite. The changes increase the life and mission capabilities of the UH-60 platform. Work will take place in Utah and California. Expected completion date is December 2023. The US Navy has disclosed its plan to deactivate five expeditionary electronic attack squadrons and send 25 EA-18Gs to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Montham Air Force Base from 2024. These five squadrons, VAQ-131, 132, 134, 135, and 138, do not deploy on board aircraft carriers and are sent out to oversea bases to provide electronic attack capabilities to the joint force. Middle East & Africa Mali has taken delivery of two Mi-24P attack helicopters from Russia on April 18. The rotorcraft arrived at Modibo Keita international airport. According to the news report, the 59N6-TE mobile radar was delivered as well. Flight tracking data showed that the cargo was flown to Africa via Turkey. Avoiding Greek and Italian air space to enter Tunisia. Europe Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper has reported that Germany will be buying 60 CH-47F helicopters for $5.4 billion. Boeing beat Sikorsky to the contract due to pricing, according to the report. Germany will only be able to acquire 40 CH-53Ks for the same budget. Another advantage for Boeing is that the helicopter is being used by members of NATO. The US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Ukraine. The sale includes various rounds of non-standard ammunition for an estimated cost of $165 million. The Government of Ukraine has requested to buy various rounds of non-standard ammunition to include, but not limited to, the following: 152mm rounds for 2A36 Giatsint; 152mm rounds for D-20 cannons; VOG-17 for automatic grenade launcher AGS-17; 120mm mortar rounds (non-NATO); 122mm rounds for 2Sl Gvozdika; BM-21 GRAD Rockets; 300mm rounds/rockets for MLRS “Smerch;” VOG-25 grenades for under barrel grenade launcher GP-25; 82mm mortar rounds; 125mm HE ammunition for T-72; 152mm rounds for 2A65 Msta; transportation; and other related elements of logistical and program support. The total estimated program cost is $165 million. On their trip to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyj,, US Secretary of State Antony Binken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised Ukraine $322m in US military aid. Asia-Pacific Multinational defense manufacturer Thales has completed the development of 1,000 Hawkei protected mobility vehicles – light (PMV-L) for the Australian armed forces. The project is part of a $980-million contract signed between Australia and Thales in 2015 for the purchase of 1,100 Hawkei vehicles and 1,058 trailers delivered by 2022. Today’s Video WATCH: Essential for Pakistan Navy. Turkey’s New UCAV AKINCI Engages Sea Target For The 1st Time. View the full article

Our American system of government, by design, has a lot of healthy churn. So far this century we’ve seen a Democrat Clinton hand power to a Republican Bush who handed power to a Democrat Obama who handed power to a Republican Trump who handed power to a Democrat Biden. There is enough churn to make hyper-partisans of all types frustrated, but for the mass in the middle and everyone else, really, this is a good thing. Like a body of water, national politics needs vigorous competition and change. It keeps things healthy. For those in the national security arena, domestic politics can be a distraction. Programs, requirements, and threats do not work in election cycles. For those in uniform, domestic partisan politics is something to be avoided in the open. This is a feature, not a bug. However, national defense is, to a nation, a different policy area than others. Any student of history will tell you that the most serious of all areas of government is national defense. If you get it wrong, you put your nation and your people at existential crisis and risk of poverty, servitude, and in extreme cases, elimination wholesale. Even for those sad souls who don’t know their history, they can just look to the latest news out of Ukraine for the latest example of a pattern as old as our species. For the USA, with our pleasantly healthy churn between the two parties, the nation needs serious natsec people in both parties. On occasion you will hear people reminiscence about the “bi-partisan consensus” (BPC) on defense that existed at some point in the past … if you ask them they will vaguely wave at the 1980s or perhaps 1950s, but really – no. It never existed. Trust me about the 1980s, I was there. Conflicting views, concepts, and priorities were there, and rather heated. I will give the BPC false memory this, the real national security professionals on Team Donkey and Team Elephant were closer together then than they seem now. As we now are in an age where the center is thinning and in domestic politics as the center-mass of each party seems to be running to the fringes, many serious people are wondering how this separation will manifest itself in the natsec arena. Apart from your friendly local liberal of old, today’s “progressive” is of a different stripe. More leftist than liberal, and all that comes with it. It is fair for those on the right to wonder, as the progressive wing grows stronger in (D) circles, are they still within arm’s reach of their counterparts on the most critical issues? In case you didn’t know, friend of the blog and occasional guest poster here Bryan McGrath has his own substack (which you need to subscribe to), and on this topic I’d like to point you to his latest post, “Can Progressives Run the Pentagon?” You need to read the whole thing, but let me grab a few pull quotes for your consideration. He starts with a point that needs to be in your mind in everything you see coming out of the present DOD; … progressives in positions of authority in the Department of Defense must wrestle with ideological dilemmas that do not occur to conservatives, and that to the extent their ideological priors influence policy, those influences are unlikely to be additive. … In essence, the Pentagon—populated with progressives in key policy jobs—is being asked (told) to keep a lid on spending so that money can be applied to other domestic political priorities. And I assert that this is fine with most of them. These other domestic political priorities are not random or unanticipated; they represent the jot and tittle of the modern progressive agenda. Inequality, climate change and the environment, the welfare state, and urban transportation and housing are center of mass policy ends of the progressive cause, far more so than Pentagon spending. Progressive national security types certainly want sufficient resources for national defense, but they REALLY want a domestic agenda that looks to the defense budget for resourcing. People are policy … and political appointees, regardless of what their personal views and opinions may be, serve at the pleasure of the President. They, rightfully, owe him their advice and opinion, but at the end of the day must align themselves 100% with his policy goals. That is their job. That is an honorable position and as long as what you are doing is legal, ethical, and does not dishonor you – it is what you do, or you resign. It isn’t business, it’s politics – even in the natsec arena. That is OK, but you need to acknowledge it and its consequences; The current Deputy Secretary of Defense is … Kathleen (Kath) Hicks…(who) spent a good bit of time and energy thinking and writing about how to cut the defense budget before she came into office. … The closer one looks at the details of military spending, the clearer it becomes that although radical defense cuts would require dangerous shifts in strategy, there are savings to be had. Getting them, however, would require making politically tough choices, embracing innovative thinking, and asking the armed forces to do less than they have in the past. The end result would be a less militarized yet more globally competitive United States. It is difficult to conceive under what circumstance a modern American conservative national security thinker would advocate for a “…less militarized yet more globally competitive United States…”, but I supposed they may exist. Looking at it from the outside, I think Bryan gets it about right. At some level of abstraction, progressive national security types are a lot like conservative education policy types. The work is incredibly important to the country, but within your own tribe, other priorities exist. When a nation spends $750B on defense even under a progressive administration, it is hard to feel bad for the left of center defense community, and I’m sure the policy analysts at Health and Human Services aren’t crying any crocodile tears for the poor Schedule C personal assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Partnerships with whom they worked on the Hill. But it is important to realize that both come from the same set of policy preferences, one that sees unfairness and inequity as something to be addressed by government and policy, and that sees “investment” in education, the environment, infrastructure, and diversity as governing priorities, with national defense as as a necessary government function requiring reshaping and reform in order to harvest savings to be applied to the other priorities. I’ve only taken a sample, take some time to read the whole thing to start your week off right. 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=YqOlHaOSFYQ:9x-vRA5OlHU:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YqOlHaOSFYQ:9x-vRA5OlHU:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YqOlHaOSFYQ:9x-vRA5OlHU:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YqOlHaOSFYQ:9x-vRA5OlHU:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Let's check in on the pre-war scorecard from our friends over at DefenseNews. The interesting part will be to revisit this in a year's time. BZ to the nations carrying their fair share of the load and more importantly, living up to the promises they made to their friends; Greece, USA, Poland, United Kingdom, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, & Lithuania. We should also find a way to reward those nations with a "*" next to their name. 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=FfmRkcarb34:pWuXFbz5Zw0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=FfmRkcarb34:pWuXFbz5Zw0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=FfmRkcarb34:pWuXFbz5Zw0:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=FfmRkcarb34:pWuXFbz5Zw0:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas Northrop Grumman won a $24.7 million contract modification, which exercises options to provide in service and technical support in support of E-2C/D aircraft common and unique requirements for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. Work will take place in Florida, Japan, Ohio and various locations within the continental US. Expected completion will be in April 2023. HMLA-367 was deactivated at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii on April 22. All 27 AH-1Z and UH-1Y helicopters will be relocated to California and the squadron will be reactivated by end of the year at MCAS Camp Pendleton. Middle East & Africa According to Jane’s, the Iranian military displayed a previously unseen air-defense system and at least two new types of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) during its Army Day parade in Tehran on April 19. The towed air-defense system had a launcher for three surface-to-air missiles and a phased-array radar mounted on a rotating platform. The launcher tilts backwards so the radar can fold forward to search and track targets when deployed. Europe The Italian Air Force is getting ready to deploy 4 F-35As to Keflavik Air Base, Iceland from Amendola Air Base next month. The two-month deployment will commence in May and more than 130 personnel will be heading to Iceland. The US Air Force will be deploying its MQ-9 unmanned air vehicle to Greece’s Larissa Air Base in the coming weeks, news reports from Greece say. MQ-9s have previously been deployed to Larissa, which is home to the 110th Combat Wing of the Hellenic Air Force. However, this time, the faculties that the Americans are to utilize have been upgraded under the US-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA). $33.5 million was spent improving the base. Asia-Pacific Taiwan is in the process of standing up between 20 to 25 squadrons in its navy to operate three types of anti-ship missiles. Media reports in Taiwan say these units will be equipped with Hsiung Feng II, Hsiung Feng III, extended-range Hsiung Feng III, and Harpoon missiles in the future. To support these units, new facilities such as ammunition depots, a driver training center, a maintenance center, and garages, will be built over the next few years. Today’s Video WATCH: 10 Most Advanced Military Drones in the World View the full article

Since the March 1996 humiliation in the waters around Taiwan handed to the People’s Republic of China by the US Navy’s world-dominating Carrier Battle Groups – as they were then known – China and her armed forces started a long-term, disciplined effort to ensure that a point in the not so distant future, their part of The Pacific west of Wake would no longer be considered and American lake. With a little over a quarter century passed, has China successfully closed the gap? Come join us for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern for a deep dive in to the subject with our guests Gerry Doyle and Blake Herzinger as we discuss their recent book, Carrier Killer: China's Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles and Theater of Operations in the early 21st Century (Asia@War). Join us live if you can, but it not, you can get the show later by subscribing to the podcast. If you use iTunes, you can add Midrats to your podcast list simply by clicking the iTunes button at the main showpage - or you can just click here. You can find us on almost all your most popular podcast aggregators as well. 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=C3ECMakiE_Y:l8QE_dIWW8s:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=C3ECMakiE_Y:l8QE_dIWW8s:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=C3ECMakiE_Y:l8QE_dIWW8s:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=C3ECMakiE_Y:l8QE_dIWW8s:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

What ever happened to Colonel Yuli Mamchor, Ukrainian Air Force? I've thought of him a few times since the war started and all my google fu tells me is that he dropped off after a short sting in politics. If you find anything, let us know in comments ... but until then, let's look back at a FbF from 2014. What does a leader do? When are you willing to put yourself and your troops on the line to make a point? How do you, unarmed, give the presence of leadership among your armed opponents? I give you a leader who simply, is. In another word; stud. I may quibble a bit about their historical regimental flag, but that would be a quibble. The point I was making about presence? This pic captures it.There is no question who is in control here and who is looked at as the leader. Even among the Russians, the respect is there. I also want to give a nod to the officer or NCO from Russia here. Another great example of leadership. Whoever he is, BZ to him as well. He has "it."There is a lot to chew on about this event - and for all leaders to ponder from both the Russian and Ukrainian point of view. If you have not already, if you have an "interesting" career, odds are you will find yourself here. May we all have the character to comport ourselves as Col. Mamchor.UPDATE: Interesting: UPDATE II - Electric Boogaloo: Good interview with Col. Mamchur by TheTelegraphUK: 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=TUwgIIU_uwI:JaYN1jyswOQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=TUwgIIU_uwI:JaYN1jyswOQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=TUwgIIU_uwI:JaYN1jyswOQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=TUwgIIU_uwI:JaYN1jyswOQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

We cannot do anything about the continental powerhouses in NATO who can also make a bid difference helping the Ukrainians defend their soil. Specifically Germany and France, who mostly insist on token assistance or sitting on the sidelines relatively speaking as Russia gets ready for a mid-20th Century like summer offensive east of the Carpathians, but we can do what we can do. Though our industrial capacity is not ready to support a long, global conflict - we do have quite a deep warehouse of items that are slightly used, but good for a few more years. As we have already come off the sidelines in the Russo-Ukrainian War when it comes to supplying lethal aid, we might as well not hold back at this point. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced an additional $800 million in military aid to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion, and he warned that Congress will need to approve additional assistance. The new military package includes much needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden had previously approved. He also announced that all Russian-affiliated ships would be barred from U.S. ports. Biden said that $13.6 billion approved last month by Congress for military and humanitarian assistance was “almost exhausted.” “Next week, I’m going to have to be sending to Congress a supplemental budget request to keep weapons and ammunition deployed without interruption,” Biden said. Congress has signaled it is receptive to further requests and has been expecting there would be a need for further help for the Ukrainians. Today's announcement has set down a clear marker to the rest of the nations who call themselves "The West." We should all note who is standing where. The new tranche of military assistance is expected to include 72 155mm howitzers, 144,000 artillery rounds, 72 vehicles used to tow to the howitzers onto the battlefield, and over 121 Phoenix Ghost tactical drones, as well as field equipment and spare parts. The 72 howitzers are in addition to the 18 announced last week the U.S. was transferring to Ukraine. A senior U.S. defense official said training of Ukrainian personnel on American 155mm howitzers has begun in a European country outside Ukraine. Other nations are slowly coming off the sidelines too. The longer the Ukrainians hold out - and the more we continue to support them - the more of our traditional allies will help too. Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country will send heavy artillery to Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Netherlands will send more heavy weapons, including armored vehicles.What 155mm towed artillery are we sending their way? Don't know. We presently use the M777, but we have a few hundred M198 they replaced in storage. Either will be fine, but we'll see. Everyone should really go to the map room here, preferably grabbing one that shows terrain features. Southeastern Ukraine is wide open country. As the ground firms up, it is ideal for armor and artillery. This is well targeted aid for the fight to come; This commitment, together with the 18 155mm howitzers announced on April 13, provides enough artillery systems to equip five battalions. The United States has now committed more than $4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, including approximately $3.4 billion since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked invasion on February 24.Our allies have a lot of towed 155mm in storage. We've supplied enough 155mm for five battalions, I am sure the rest of NATO can pony up for another five. I also know that there is A LOT of 155mm rounds in bunkers all over the continent from Spain to Germany; from Italy to Norway. If they won't spare the tubes, then they can at least clean out the back of the magazine. Summer is almost here. It takes awhile to transport, train, and man battalions of artillery. Faster my friends; faster. We are already in it, might as well help the Ukrainians win it. Now, if someone would kindly jump in to comments and let us know what the hell a "Phoenix Ghost" is ... that would be great. 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=kSZsKZE72mw:btB-B-4l2aE:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=kSZsKZE72mw:btB-B-4l2aE:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=kSZsKZE72mw:btB-B-4l2aE:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=kSZsKZE72mw:btB-B-4l2aE:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas An AC-130J Ghostrider assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing recently underwent Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF) testing at Edwards Air Force Base for its new radio frequency countermeasures system. Back in 2017, the US Air Force selected BAE Systems to provide new radio frequency countermeasures equipment for the AC/MC-130J fleet. Raytheon won a $482.7 million deal for DDG 1000 Class Combat System activation, sustainment and modernization support for Mission Systems and Total Ship Computing Environment infrastructure (TSCEi) hardware/equipment, in addition to non-recurring engineering services supporting combat system installation, integration, development, testing, correction, maintenance, and modernization of Zumwalt Class Mission Systems and Mission System equipment. Work will take place in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, New Hampshire, Mississippi and Indiana. Estimated completion will be by April 2023. Middle East & Africa Palestinian militants fired volleys of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel responded with air strikes on April 21 in the biggest escalation since an 11 day war last year. According to police, a rocket from Gaza on Wednesday evening fell harmlessly in a garden in the southern Israeli city of Sderot. Israel struck back in central Gaza after midnight, witnesses and security sources said, prompting further launches of at least four rockets by militants in the besieged territory. Europe Hungary’s National Armament Director, Dr. Gáspár Maróth, announced that his country will buy 12 L-39NG aircraft. Four of those jets will be used for reconnaissance mission while the rest of the eight will be used to train pilots before they move on to the Gripen. The Russian military said Wednesday it successfully performed the first test of a new intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon President Vladimir Putin said would make the West “think twice” before harboring any aggressive intentions against Russia. The test launch of the Sarmat missile comes amid soaring tensions between Moscow and the West over the Russian military action in Ukraine and underlines the Kremlin’s emphasis on the country’s nuclear forces. Asia-Pacific India has test-fired the anti-ship variant of its BrahMos cruise missile, striking and creating a massive hole in an abandoned Indian Navy ship. Demonstrating its integrated Network-Centric strike capabilities, the cruise missile was fired without a warhead from the guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi. Today’s Video WATCH: AC-130J Ghostrider View the full article

Americas Breeze-Eastern won a $8 million deal for the overhaul and upgrade of the Winch, Aircraft Mounted for the UH-60 Medical Evacuation Aircraft. HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter is a medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) version of the UH-60M Black Hawk multi-mission helicopter. Built by Sikorsky Aircraft for the US Army, the helicopter is designed to evacuate wounded troops from the battlefield. Lockheed Martin Space won a $396.7 million contract modification for Trident II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. The Trident II D5 is the latest generation of the US Navy’s submarine-launched fleet ballistic missiles, following the highly successful Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident I C4 programs. First deployed in 1990, the Trident II D5 missile is currently aboard OHIO-class and British VANGUARD-class submarines.Work will take place in Utah, Colorado, Florida, California, Arkansas, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, Main, Maryland, New York and various other locations. Estimated completion date is September 30, 2026. Middle East & Africa Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. will participate at the IT²EC Exhibition in London conducting a first-ever live demonstration of its sophisticated ABS System – a Live Virtual Constructive (LVC) solution which is also being unveiled for the first time at a global exhibition. In addition, Rafael will present its advanced air defense training and simulation tools, most notably the Air Defense Optimizer (ADO). Both the ABS System and the ADO have a long-standing operational legacy. Europe The first shipments of the latest round of US military assistance to Ukraine, which includes heavier weapons systems, started arriving in the region over the weekend, according to the Pentagon. The recently approved $800 million in security assistance includes Howitzer artillery systems, 40,000 artillery rounds, armored personnel vehicles and other weapons. Ukraine’s allies have pledged to send more weapons to help it defend against a renewed Russian offensive. The US and others vowed to send artillery, anti-tank and air defence aid to Kyiv during a 90-minute video call April 19. Ukraine says it needs the weapons to help defend itself as Russia launched a new campaign in the country’s east. Asia-Pacific The State Department has decided to approve a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Australia of Defense Articles Related to Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio Systems and related equipment for $42 million. Australia has requested to buy 106 Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) terminals; 15 MIDS JTRS, six terminals; and seven Multifunctional Information Distribution System MIDS-Low Volume Terminal (MIDS-LVT). Today’s Video WATCH: Blackhawk HH-60 MEDEVAC startup and departure. View the full article

American navalists must endure the hardships of a long march in the winter of their discontent. In this struggle we will see who is dedicated, who is strong, who will be best to bring the fight when the season changes and time is right to advance sea power to its proper place. The self-promoting amongst us will fade away. The weak shall perish. The dishonorable will change sides. The ideologically unsound will confuse themselves and others. This will be a filtering, a purifying, an ultimately strengthening trail of The Terrible 20s. We are only partially through this march, but we are already seeing a healthful pruning of our ranks. The first tranche of the careerists, the lickspittles, the confused, and the just plain congenitally wrong are already sloughing off the navalist host like so much dead skin. The exposed flesh does hurt, but will heal and be stronger by the intellectual debridement it endures. Like most of you I have been waiting for the required but long awaited 30-yr shipbuilding plan. Of course, we all know that it is only accurate for a few POM cycles, but it is a great tool to point out issues and problems, and to message. If you are looking at what we will have to fight west of Wake, you can ignore any of the dreaming past 2030 in the report. How it is written and phrased outside the tables can tell you much about the fight in the naval arena in the promotion of the natural comparative advantage – and requirement – of the Unites States; that as a maritime and aerospace power. And so we have OPNAV’s “Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels for Fiscal Year 2023.” I printed it out, two pages per sheet of paper with pen and highlighter ready to go – as I do – and almost as excited as a kid at Festivus, but alas … I behold an almost unintelligible act of self-sabotage. Even the most gifted navalists, if they squint and rotate OPNAV's N9’s cube 45-degrees along all three axis, can only guess at what the intellectual difference between Alt 1 & 2 are. Heck, give three of us together and we’ll give you five different answers. I’ve beta-tested this today with some of the best. We’re all … well … disappointed would be a nice thing to say. They do help to know partly with these graphs, where Alt 3 "give me more money" is the gold line, and the upper and lower limits of Alt 1 and 2 is represented by the blue band. Again, it is all after 2030-35, but still, it is just, "For Deposit Only" as we don't know the argument between Alt 1 and 2. We have OUR ideas what the intellectual basis of the difference is, but I want to know what N9's is. Remember what I said about a few POM cycles? You know the "Davidson Window." Just look at 2030-35 - the timeframe that is most accurate. Now, how interested are you in seeing what the PLAN's numbers are in WESTPAC by 2030? Do you want to see what they desire to have displacing water in 2055? Do you think N9 does? Congress? What a lost opportunity this is at such a critical juncture where “sea blindness” is close to tipping in to “sea disinterest.” At a time when we need something to help push the argument forward – the very top of the Navy shrugged. If that is the state of things amongst the most interested, then of what use is such a document to 99.784% of other natsec people who are trying to read it? How are our advocates in Congress, the press, and civil society going to get any use out of this to pursue the goal of building a navy that this nation needs? Instead of making a good argument and providing a framework to argue our position from strength, it reads like something written by Qing Dynasty palace eunuchs for other palace eunuchs. In the summary – at the very end – N9 kind of let the cat out of the bag. Difficult choices must be made to ensure that the Navy best meets Joint Force operational requirements. Of course. I’m not going to pull up a bunch of the graphs and charts, just maybe one or two, you can see them yourself, I am just going to pull out a few quotes for consideration because they tell the full story better. This plan highlights the Navy’s work ... to build a modernized naval force that makes needed contributions to advance the Joint Force’s ability to campaign effectively, deter aggression, and, if required, win decisively in combat. ... For the ranges in the FY22 shipbuilding plan, the FNFS Future Fleet Architectures (FFAs) were adjusted for final analytic insights based on combat effectiveness, industrial base production feasibility, and no real budget growth. If that isn't a weak tea pre-emptive surrender and masochistic desire to be a secondary power to the People's Republic of China in the Pacific, I don't know what is. Well, there is a positive point to be found; it validates our criticism here at the Front Porch the last 18 years; The DoN, working with industry partners, will deliberately reduce execution risk through improved cost estimation, prototyping, and landbased testing systems to de-risk critical technologies and ensure that new programs deliver on expected capabilities. Just search for "program risk" here at CDRSalamander - this is not new. It is nice that in 2022 we're talking about it. We should take the "W." We should also take the "W" on frigates; Increased numbers of smaller multi-mission combatants, such as Constellation Class Frigates (FFG 62), enable more efficient distribution of missions across the surface fleet, freeing up the more capable DDGs for critical high-end missions. They could really just save the ink and say, "Salamander and the Front Porch were right about the Age of Transformationalism and we were wrong," but alas, we'll just have to pat each other on the back in the shadows. This next line is simply gobsmacking. New submarine tenders will be constructed to support the Navy’s new SSNs and SSBNs.Considering how old the ones we have are, this is good, but why do a 1-for-1 replacement? Recent experience has shown the vulnerability of static support facilities in an age of exceptionally accurate conventional ballistic and hypersonic conventional weapons with global reach. We need to plan for attrition at war. We need more mobile repair facilities. We need destroyer tenders along with submarine tenders and more tugs, repair ships etc. There is also a bit of wishcasting; Unmanned platforms show significant potential One thing demonstrated clearly the last few decades is that unmanned platforms overperform in unexpected areas, and underperform in others. Until you start operating them in an extended, unscripted operational environment with standard issue operators, you really don't know fully what they are. We need to continue to build a little, test a little, operate a lot, learn a lot - and be humble. Just because we say something in 2022 does not mean it will manifest in 2035 - especially when it plays just too conveniently towards fixing your problems. Just look at the 2006 shipbuilding plan. We will get some things right, some things wrong ... but in all cases, go in being humble and take your results with humility. No one, not even 'ole Sal, can see the future clearly. Neither can you. The Potomac Flotilla unquestionably can't. One thing we can know with certainty is that negotiating with ourselves and pre-emptive surrender is no way to maintain our place as the world's premier maritime power. Two decades of happy talk and self-delusion have eroded almost all the credibility our senior leadership has in Congress, press, and the American public. We have no expectations that anything will be done on time and on budget. We do not have an Executive Branch that is supporting a larger Navy. One month we will have the CNO say we need a 500 ship Navy, and then the next he will let his staff put their name - without protest, a document such as this. Maybe there is an intention here to do a passive-aggressive 3D chess to make a point, but I'm sorry, it fails. I'm not sure what this does but signal that the Navy is supine and resigned. To expect others to fight for you when you won't even fight for yourself is not indicative of an organization who wants to win - or for that matter - should be allowed to. The cost to procure a larger Navy represented by the third profile in Table A1-5, is shown in the third graphic of Figure A2-1, and assumes industry produces future ships on time and within budget. The high range represents an additional $75B real growth beyond the FYDP in FY2022 constant dollars. The increased procurement level, informed by industrial base capacity and on-time and on-budget performance, achieves 326 manned battle force ships in the mid-2030s, and ultimately achieves 363 manned battle force ships in FY2045. The previous analytic work depicted in Table 1 will be updated with follow-on force structure assessment based on, and thus reflective of, the warfighting requirements of the 2022 NDS. The cost to sustain a larger Navy is in addition to that required for procurement and is phased within the appropriate accounts (i.e., manpower, support, training, infrastructure) to match ship deliveries. Appendix 3 illustrates the projected cost of owning and operating (operations and sustainment) the fleet at the ranges that represent no real budget growth. This appendix does not include the funding associated with Appendix 5, which discusses the growing logistics requirement and sealift recapitalization. How is one supposed to fight for something when you are handed a weapon without handle and no readily recognizable lethal edge? How are we supposed to build new relationships and nurture established relationships in Congress when we do such things? The Terrible 20s was not supposed to be characterized by internal malaise and self-loathing, but here we are. Read the whole report here if you wish. 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=-uEMHUTEAwc:eaw0vr12E4Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=-uEMHUTEAwc:eaw0vr12E4Y:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=-uEMHUTEAwc:eaw0vr12E4Y:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=-uEMHUTEAwc:eaw0vr12E4Y:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas DRS Laurel Technologies won an $11.4 million deal for Ship Self Defense System (SSDS) Technical Insertion 2016 (TI-16) hardware production and engineering services. Work will take place in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Expected completion date is in April 2023. This contract was competitively procured via the System for Award Management website, with four offers received. Tech Ord, a division of AMTEC Corp., won a $35 million contract for the BBU-35A/B impulse cartridge. This contract provides an impulse cartridge comprised of a cylindrical aluminum case containing a firing electrode, bridge-wire, and propellant. Work will take place in Clear Lake, South Dakota and Grand Junction, Colorado. Expected completion date is April 30, 2028. MilSup LLC won a $10.5 million contract modification for the RC/OC/WC-135 and E-4B Aircrew Training and Courseware Development Contract. This modification exercises Option Year One. Work will take place in Nebraska. Expected completion date is in April 30, 2023. Middle East & Africa The Israeli Air Force has attacked Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Tuesday morning, following a rocket launch by the terrorist group last night, which was intercepted by the Iron Dome. The rocket launch is perceived as another attempt to fan the flames in the area, following several days of unrest in the Temple Mount (Al Aqsa). While Monday was a relatively calm day as far as riots and disturbances – the political / diplomatic front was on fire. Europe The president of the European Commission has urged member states to supply Ukraine with weapons systems “quickly” and suggested that a next round of EU sanctions could target Russia’s powerful Sberbank and include an embargo on Russian oil. “It applies to all member states: those who can should deliver quickly, because only that way Ukraine can survive in its acute defensive battle against Russia,” Ursula von der Leyen told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper. Several European nations appear to be vacillating over the export of heavy weapons such as tanks or fighter jets, amid concerns that such a move could formally escalate the war in Ukraine into a direct conflict between Russia and Nato member states. Von der Leyen urged European leaders not to delay decisions over category differences. “I don’t distinguish between heavy and light weapons,” she said. “Ukraine has to get whatever it needs to defend itself and what it can handle.” Asia-Pacific North Korea has test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon designed to boost its nuclear fighting capability, a day before its chief rivals the United States and South Korea begin annual drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. The 13th weapons test this year came amid concerns that North Korea may soon conduct an even larger provocation. During the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to attend the 8th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting in March in Colombo, India and Sri Lanka signed several agreements including a defense-related pact to expand maritime security. As such, a joint Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) will be set up to strengthen Sri Lanka’s capacities in its search and rescue region with a $6 million grant funded by the Indian government. Today’s Video WATCH: Inside The Military’s $223 Million ‘Doomsday Plane’ View the full article

If you want to get past the press releases, spin, and general garbage takes about who is doing what to help Ukraine, the Kiel Institute should be one of your first stops. Their Ukraine Support Tracker is heavy on facts and light on what you don't need. If like me you like to see the dataset, they've posted it in the raw or a smoother form. They are doing this right. I especially like how they break out aid as a percentage of GDP, the Salamander Approved™ way that smaller nations show they are giving a fair-share effort. Dig in to the data. Talk is talk; action is action; money speaks. Remember. 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=dskPEtdWe38:kyMOzGPk2w8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=dskPEtdWe38:kyMOzGPk2w8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=dskPEtdWe38:kyMOzGPk2w8:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=dskPEtdWe38:kyMOzGPk2w8:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Reviewed by CAPT Richard Dick, USN (RET) Dr. Justus Doenecke has studied intensely the events and personalities involved in the eventual American intervention in World Wars I and II, authoring six books on these topics. The author’s depth of research and knowledge of secondary sources covering the early 20th century in the U.S. greatly strengthens this book, More Precious Than Peace. In particular, he builds on his Nothing Less Than War, a history of the events leading up to America’s declaration of war in April 1917. More Precious Than Peace examines the American experience in World War I but from a fairly restricted point of view. The author reviews American ground involvement at the operational and strategic levels and makes several pointed observations, such as the reluctance of American commanders to review, learn from, and incorporate the expensive operational and tactical lessons that the British and French had accumulated over the preceding three years. However, he does not narrate in detail the experiences of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. For that, the reader would be well advised to consult Edward C. Coffman’s War to End All Wars or one of several recently published battle histories, such as Matthew Davenport’s First Over There or Edward Lengel’s To Conquer Hell. Similarly, Doenecke reviews the role of the U.S. Navy and the clashes of personality at the higher levels of the Navy (particularly between Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels, Chief of Naval Operations William S. Benson, and Vice Admiral William S. Sims, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe), but spends little time on naval operations. Paul Halpern’s Naval History of World War I looks more at the details of the war at sea. In the same vein, Doenecke has little coverage of air operations and seems a bit confused on some minor technical details in aviation (e.g., the deficiencies of the Airco DH-4 day bomber). James J. Hudson’s Hostile Skies covers operational and tactical American aviation well. What makes More Precious Than Peace so valuable is the author’s detailed knowledge of, and insights into the personalities and institutions at the highest levels of the U.S. government and armed services, and his understanding of U.S. public opinion during the war. Doenecke explores in depth the battle over conscription and the evolution of President Wilson’s thinking on war aims, relationships between the U.S., the Allies, and the Central Powers, and the shape of the postwar world. He looks closely at the background and activities of the Committee on Public Information and related public and private organizations involved in monitoring and shaping the views of the American people on the war and on the government. Unlike many histories of the period, he closely examines the American intervention in Russia and weaves it into his history of the war itself. Dr. Justus D. Doenecke is Professor Emeritus of History at the New College of Florida and has written extensively on the history of the United States in the late 19th century and 20th century. As noted above, over half of his books have dealt with America’s intervention in the two world wars. His Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939-1941 won the 2000 Herbert Hoover Book Award for best book on any topic of American history within the years 1914–64. Captain Dick is a retired submariner and also served for over 29 years in the defense intelligence community. More Precious Than Peace. By Justus D. Doenecke (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2022). The post More Precious Than Peace first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. Developing the Naval Mind is an important, thoughtful volume written by two Naval Academy history professors is designed for officers of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps but also serves Sailors and Marines of all ranks as a compendium on developing professionalism and skills needed to rise through the ranks. Likewise, it can also serve the officers and enlisted men of our other sea services, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine, but also is valuable to officers and enlisted men of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, as well as the U.S. Space Force. Moreover, it can serve as a significant source for the members of other nations’ land, sea, and air services. The information and examples provided are likewise compelling resources for others, whether the readers are academics, shop foremen/women, businesspersons, salespersons, students, or anyone striving to advance his/her careers in their chosen profession and work. The “Introduction” (pp. 1-5) to this important volume in the Naval Institute Press’ Professional Reading for the Sea, provides an overview of the contents and indicates the importance of education and the naval profession, with the need to keep pace with social and technological changes. The authors state that “the nature of war is constant by the character of war is ever changing” requiring a need for strategic and ethnical reasoning. They write that “Developing the mind and creation of officers, Sailors, and Marines with wide interest and ability to do more than simply comply with established procedures and checklists,” and remind the reader that naval learning is a career-long process. The process goes well beyond the classroom and practicums and belongs in wardrooms of the fleet. The authors’ approach stems from the conviction that “discussion is a tremendously powerful tool for forming, developing, and clarifying one’s own ideas”’ Read, think, learn, and discuss is their formula and the precis of the book. The authors are highly qualified educators and are both Permanent Military Professors at the U.S. Naval Academy. Commander Benjamin “BJ” Armstrong, USN, is a former search and rescue/special warfare helicopter pilot and is the author or editor of four books and several dozen articles on naval history and strategy, and the recipient of the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement and the Lyman Book Award from the North American Society of Oceanic History. He currently serves as an associate professor and associate chair of the History Department at the United States Naval Academy. Captain John Freymann is a permanent military professor at the U.S. Naval Academy serving as an Assistant Professor in the History Department. After spending the first half of his career as a Surface Warfare Officer, he earned his doctorate in the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago before becoming a naval educator. Throughout the history of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, leading officers and strategists have advocated for formal colleges and schools for naval officers but have also made the case that true naval professionalism requires a career-long dedication to learning and to self-improvement. This was the impetus behind the very founding of the U.S. Naval Institute by officers who believed that the Navy’s lack of support for their education meant they needed to create their own organization for self-study and cooperative learning. Naval luminaries including admirals William Sims, Ernest King, and James Stavridis continued to campaign for self-study and the personal pursuit of professional knowledge during the twentieth century, distributing lists of suggested books for officers to read and promoting their ideas widely through speeches and published works. While recommending that officers read broadly in pursuit of individual knowledge is an important part of creating a truly educated and professional Fleet and Fleet Marine Force, it is also important for leaders in the sea services to offer mentorship and create opportunities for discourse that encourages group learning. Developing the Naval Mind serves as a how-to manual and syllabus for leaders to create and lead wardroom, ready room, and work center discussion groups across the fleet to create a more educated and professionally engaged Navy and Marine Corps. This noteworthy volume is divided into two parts. Part I, The Seminar (seven chapters), is composed of brief essays that discuss skills and tools that will help leaders create their own professional seminars in their units either afloat or ashore. They focus on the wars to design one’s own reading list and locate resources to encourage further individual and group learning and encourage the reader to write their own professional articles. Part II, The Readings (twelve chapters), focus on the larger goals presented in the chapters in Part I, and are insightful articles that are, in the main, essays on leadership and professionalism, and others on subjects that include naval strategies, operations, and tactics. Each also includes five discussion questions which serve as starting points and have been selected from U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings that were published over the past 150 years. These selections span the period from the Age of Sail into the nuclear era and can develop the readers’ critical thinking and reading skills. The Part I chapters are summarized briefly. 1. “Relax, There is No Naval Academy” pp. 9-15. This essay focuses on the importance of libraries, archives, and other research facilities. The Nimitz Library at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland developed on the basis of Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft who created the Naval School at Annapolis in 1845 and the initial library of 200+ volumes. This essays considers its earliest collections and other contributions, the creation of The Papers and Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute (today’s U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings), the founding of the U.S. Naval War College, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and the journal Naval Review. The essay points to the key concept that personal study and group learning and debate are the key elements of naval professionalism since 1845. They remind us that officers are teachers but also professors of practice. 2. “Reading a Professional Article: Joining the Conversation” pp. 16-24. This chapter provides how to advice on the reading of professional writings in three ways: 1) Prepare with a “smart skim” of the contents and main arguments. 2) Closely read the text with an open mind and actively think about the narrative (challenging texts can be rewarding, and connect the reading with other materials that you have read. 3) The debrief. After reading the entire essay, consider the topic, the writers’ thesis, evidence, and logic. The authors provide tips and techniques: find space (comfortable and minimally distractive) and find time (annotate or mark-up –preferably in pencil your own books not another persons’ or a library’s, and look up things you may not know). 3. “Being in Dialogue: Facilitating a Seminar Discussion” pp. 25-31. For discussion, plan ahead and contemplate what is necessary (hard decisions, giving orders, and actions). Examples may have historical roots or be drawn from fiction (Capt. Jack Aubrey in HMS Surprise). Key concepts in growing a discussion: no speeches, be open to “wild” ideas, interrupt to question, embrace apparent chaos, pay attention and listen, be ready to disagree, facilitate the discussion don’t lead it, become an intellectual wingman, and be ready to laugh. 4. “Guiding a Conversation: Facilitating a Seminar Discussion” pp. 32-40. Learning is not a one-way transmission, nor is it the Socratic method, and be responsible for your own continuing education. There are two Rules of Engagement (ROE): 1Preparation: do the reading, think of and write down a set of questions to discuss, ahead of time pose a question and ask for responses, refine the question and ask for discussion questions, and share a problematic or confusing question. 2) Execution: guide the conversation, remember that the discussion leader is also a careful listener, don’t feel obligated to stick to a script, and politely and consistently the enforce ROE. 5. “Cheer Up! Designing Your Own Seminar” pp. 41-47. A syllabus is fundamental to the preparation for a course of study, not only for the students but also for the teachers themselves. Four topics are reviewed: 1) Designing a syllabus: formal or informal and length. 2) Resources and Readings: selecting materials, journal issues and articles, edited volumes, and films (the authors could add DVD and Online resources). 3) Preparing in Advance: plans for leading discussions (the leader spend more time in preparation). 4) A Voyage of Discovery: Teaching is often the best way to understand the material. 6. “Read, Think, Speak … and Write” pp. 48-54. Reading is the critical part of a naval mind. The authors provide relevant recent examples of articles written by CNO Richardson (2016) and Admiral Stavridis (2009). One must Read, Think, Speak, and Write to understand the state of the field, to research, to think critically, and communicate. An Appendix, “Notes on Publishing a Professional Article” pp. 225-231,” provides more detailed instructions. 7. “Conclusion: Cast Off All Lines” pp. 55-57. Armstrong and Freymann conclude with a quotation borrowed from General Patton: “Don’t delay!” Start small, have a suitable venue (space), and actively engage other minds in reading and dialogue. Part II, “The Readings” (12 chapters), derived from the Proceedings are listed below. Each chapter in the book lists its author(s), publication date, and discussion questions. 8. “The Strength of Nelson,” Alfred Thayer Mahan, pp. 61-76. 9. “Military Conversation,” William S. Sims, pp. 77-92. 10. “Why a Sailor Thinks as a Sailor,” J. C. Wylie, pp. 93-104. 11. “National Policy and the Transoceanic Navy,” Samuel Huntington, pp. 105-122. 12. “Professionalism”: A Wardroom Debate,” James T. Strong, pp. 123-131’ 13. “Missions of the U.S. Navy,” Stansfield Turner, pp.132-144. 14. “Get Off My Back, Sir!” Robert P Mumford Jr., pp. 145-155. 15. “Moral Leadership,” James Stockdale, pp. 156-163, and “The Damn Exec,” Stuart D. Landersman, pp.164-169. 16. “The Business of the Marine Corps,” Gary W. Anderson, pp. 170-176, and “The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three Block War,” Charles C. Crulak, pp. 177-186. 17. “Missile Chess: A Parable, Wayne Hughes, pp. 187-194, and “Operation Praying Mantis: The Surface View,” J. B. Perkins, pp. 195-202. 18 “Navies and the New World Order,” Geoffrey Till, pp. 201-210, and “Future Warfare: The Rise of Hybrid Wars,” James Mattis and Frank Hoffman, pp. 211-215. 19. “How We Lost the Great Pacific War, Dale C. Riedage, pp. 216-223. Readers of this book will also enjoy The Sailor’s Book Shelf: Fifty Books to Know the Sea (Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.); Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021). Naval History Book Reviews, February 15, 2022. Your reviewer can attest to the efficacy of this book, as I have recently retired after 24 years of teaching in academe (and six in administration), 23 years in Federal government service, and 26 years as associate editor of a scientific bulletin. I have written more than two thousand reports, 140 peer-reviewed book chapters and articles, more than 850 book and film reviews, and given more than 450 oral presentations at professional meetings. Dr. Kolb is a U.S. Naval Institute Golden Life Member. Developing the Naval Mind. By Benjamin F. Armstrong and John Freymann (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021). The post Developing the Naval Mind first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Sunday evening, the first pics came out of the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Slava Class cruiser Moskva. As we know this Monday AM ... this is her. No photoshop or spoof. If you need to brush up on your RECCE: Good news here is that as you can see in the green rectangle above, the life rafts have been deployed. As there were almost 500 Sailors assigned to her, that may be a secondary indication, along with the good weather, that those not killed on impact or in the following fire and secondaries were most likely able to get off the ship and as such, loss of life less. More to follow on that I hope. I'm sorry, I don't care what nation's flag they fly under; once defeated they are simply Sailors in need of rescue. If you don't get that, we should all pray for you. When you consider how dark that smoke is, the fire must be intense. The large SS-N-12 Sandbox missiles stacked like so many sticks of dynamite had to be on the mind of the ship's leadership. If one of those things cooks off, they must go like so many firecrackers on a string. We also don't know the extent of her internal damage ... but it appears when this picture was taken she was probably already abandoned. The reported weapon used to attack the Moskva were the Ukrainian built Neptune ASCM, which is itself evolved from the Soviet Era SS-N-25 Switchblade (Kh-35), AKA "Harpoonski." To use round numbers, a high subsonic ASCM will cover the ground at about 9nm a minute. If you are 50nm from the beach, that means you have about five and a half minutes once the missile goes feet wet to engage ... but really, if you don't have I&W of a launch and from what direction ... on a standard issue day with a standard issue watch after weeks and weeks at sea ... even assuming your radars and electronic gear aren't CASREP's or down for maintenance ... when will you detect that? 20nm or 10nm from the ship? Maybe 5nm? That gives you, what, a minute +/- to detect to engage? Are your watch sections ready? Are your close in weapons systems ready? Who has to give permission to fire? How fast are they from being able to give that order? That math is just hard ... especially for a crew on station 24/7 for weeks on end. The math is even harder with supersonics. Look at the pics above, I appears, ironically, she was struck on her port side where her close defense AK-630 are located. That is about where you'd expect the seeker head from a "Harpoonski" to want to attack. Just about the center of the ship's profile. One day, perhaps, we may get an unvarnished report of the damage control efforts, along with the story of the Ukrainian coastal defense battery's performance in location, tracking, and ultimate attack on Moskva. Will we get that? Unknown ... but there are a lot of lessons here. A lot. Second photo credit to Andy Hall. 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=ooq01qW9frc:aHx-A61VHys:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=ooq01qW9frc:aHx-A61VHys:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=ooq01qW9frc:aHx-A61VHys:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=ooq01qW9frc:aHx-A61VHys:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas Huntington Ingalls won a 41.7 million contract modification to exercise options for accomplishment of follow yard services for the DDG 51 Class destroyer program. The DDG 51 class guided missile destroyers are warships that provide multi-mission offensive and defensive capabilities. Destroyers can operate independently or as part of Carrier Strike Groups, Surface Action Groups, and Expeditionary Strike Groups. Work under the modification will take place in Mississippi, Washington DC and Maine. Estimated completion will be by April 2023. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won a $23 million deal, which provides initial product support maintenance of the F-35 Lightning II chase aircraft necessary to support F-35 aircraft acceptance and delivery at the final assembly and check out facility, to include all pre and post-flight activities, the removal and replacement of failed components, and return the aircraft to a clean and compliant condition suitable for first-time delivery of the operational F-35 aircraft to the Air Force, Navy, non-US Department of Defense participants, and Foreign Military Sales customers. Work will take place in Texas. Expected completion date is in December 2022. Middle East & Africa According to Jane’s, Israeli company UVision’s Hero Loitering Munition (LM) will be integrated on board a variety of Rheinmetall platforms such as the Boxer CRV, the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle (under contract with the Hungarian MoD), and the Mission Master unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). Speaking at their inaugural Loitering Munition (LM) Symposium in Bristol on last month, Rheinmetall UK and UVision representatives have disclosed details of the future of their strategic co-operation agreement, which was signed in October 2021. Europe Atlas Elektronik UKhas been awarded a $41million contract to provide autonomous mine-hunting systems for the British Royal Navy. The contract was awarded by the Mine Hunting Capability team of the UK Ministry of Defense’s procurement arm, Defense Equipment and Support. Asia-Pacific The launch of China’s first CATOBAR (“Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery”) aircraft carrier has been delayed due to labor shortages at the shipyard in Shanghai, SCMP reports. China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) had to deploy its employees to the city to help fight the COVID19 pandemic in the city. The company said it help build three temporary hospitals on Changxing island last month. Organizing a launch ceremony is also difficult as there are worries of the mass spreading of the virus at a large event. Taiwan will lengthen the runway of Taiping Island Airport on Taiping Island in the South China Sea from 1150 meters to 1500 meters. This will allow Taiwan to deploy fighters to the island if necessary. Taiwan has been extending the pier on the southwest side of the island and the sand that was dredged out will be used to reclaim land for the runway extension on the west side of the runway. Today’s Video WATCH: hType 003 Aircraft Carrier – China’s New Super Carrier Review View the full article

Americas Toyon Research won a $11.7 million contract modification, which procures the following AN/ALQ-231(V) Intrepid Tiger (IT II) Family of Systems production hardware: 24 (V) 4 maintenance stands; 18 (V) 4 radio frequency (RF) coupler sets (aft); 18 (V) 4 RF coupler sets (forward); seven IT II V3 direction finding array RF coupler sets; and seven IT II V3 RF couplers. Additionally, this contract provides engineering support to include life cycle and incidental engineering support as well as analyses, development, integration, test, documentation, repair/maintenance, and engineering test support for the Electronic Warfare Center and Electronic Attack communications jamming airborne (fixed wing, rotary wing, and unmanned air systems), ground based systems, and laboratories. Work will take place in California, Arizona. Expected completion date is in March 2027. Sikorsky won a $40.4 million modification, which increases maintenance of the CH-53K low rate initial production configuration aircraft. The Sikorsky CH-53K Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter is being developed by Sikorsky Aircraft to replace the CH-53E helicopter of the US Marine Corps (USMC). Work will take place in California, Connecticut and various locations within the continental US. Estimated completion is in December 2026. Middle East & Africa Rafael and the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s Directorate of Defense Research and Development have successfully completed a series of ground-breaking tests with a high-power laser interception system against steep-track threats. The demonstrator successfully intercepted UAVs, mortars, rockets, and anti-tank missiles in various scenarios. Rafael’s Iron Beam provides Israel with a capability unlike one seen elsewhere in the world by successfully developing a high-power laser technology at an operational standard with operational interception capabilities. Europe The Romanian Ministry of Defense has decided to suspend all flight operations of its MiG-21 fighters after a series of fatal accidents. Last month, a MiG-21 crashed killing its pilot. An IAR 330 that was scrambled to search for the fighter also crashed, killing seven on board. Romania says it will now speed up the process to acquire 32 F-16s that are offered for sale by Norway. The country will also rely on its current F-16s to protect its airspace. AeroVironment won a $19.7 million deal for RQ-20 Puma AE systems, reconnaissance surveillance and target acquisition kits, initial spares package, contractor logistics support and new equipment training for the country of Ukraine. Work will take place in Simi Valley, California. The US Army Contracting Command will be overseeing the implementation of the contract and AeroVironment has to complete deliveries by May 30. Asia-Pacific Japan scrambled its second-highest number of fighters on record in FY 2021, the Defense Ministry disclosed on April 15. The highest on record was in 2016 with 1168 scrambles. Last fiscal year was 1004 scrambles. 772 of these scrambles were against Chinese aircraft, 266 were against Russian aircraft. Today’s Video WATCH: ‘Iron Beam’ laser defense system succeeds in first test View the full article

Service selection. Warfare speciality. Rating/MOS. When you sign your name on the bottom line, except for certain circumstances, you really don't know where the "needs of the service" will take you. You fill out your wish list and hope for the best. We all know someone who wasn't all that excited about what their service had in store for them. I had a peer who came from a family of fighter pilots. He didn't pass the pilot physical for eye reasons, so wound up on the naval flight officer pipeline. This was when we still had A-6 and F-14, and that is where he thought he would save face. Where did the Navy decided he was needed? E-2. He cried. He then didn't tell anyone for awhile. Have no idea how his career worked out, but it didn't start very happy. No one should ever feel that way. You run your odds, but in the end, you go where you are needed. You may think you're destined to be a terror ... but your Navy may need you to run the air picture. Somewhere just a couple of years ago, a young Ukrainian Naval officer had dreams of heading to sea. He always felt the draw of the sea, and though much of his nation's navy was lost when he was barely a teenager, he didn't care. He put together his wish list. He wanted to go to sea, but he'd be OK flying too. Then service selection came. Coastal defense. There would be no going to sea. Yes, they'd have new kit, but why wear blue combat uniforms on land? He'll never command a ship. Heck, like chemical officers in the army, he probably will be lucky to make O5. Well, he'll serve and do his best. Then war came. His navy never had a chance to fight, mostly scuttled at the pier. His colleges and fellow Sailors fighting were with marines or moving to Odessa ... but ... not him and his Sailors. Their orders were simple; hide and wait. What little shoreline was still Ukrainian was under blockade. The Russian Black Sea Fleet and its flagship haunted the shoreline, shelled coastal villages - pretty much did what they wanted, where they wanted, when they wanted; and yet their orders remained the same; hide and wait. In the two years before the war, our young Ukrainian naval officer ashore studied his rather unique warfare area and its history. If it were going to be his, well, he'd master it. He knew the story of Colonel Eriksen and his Norwegians guarding Oslo. He knew that unlike a lot of the equipment his countrymen were fighting Russians with, he had new equipment. He knew what he could do. He knew his Sailors and their equipment were ready. They kept their maintenance schedule. They trained. They ran through scenarios. They practiced until they were perfect, and then they practiced perfection. They can hide and wait. Let the Russians get overconfident. They will be ready. Then, the call came. Like they had done uncountable times before, they moved in to their firing position. They went through the checklist. They had their target's range, course, and speed. Weapon selected. Master arm to arm. Intent to launch. ...and there they are; The flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva, sunk on Thursday after large explosions shook the ship following what the Ukrainians claim was a missile attack on Wednesday. ... The loss of a flagship during war can be devasting to a navy’s pride as well as national morale. This is further complicated by the fact that the ship was named for Russia’s capital. This threat so vexed Adolf Hitler during World War II that he ordered the renaming of the heavy cruiser KMS Deutschland to Lützow in early 1940, recognizing that the loss of a warship named for the nation itself would be a devastating propaganda victory. This cautionary move was validated when, only three months later, a sister ship of the newly renamed Lützow, the KMS Blücher, was sunk by gunfire and torpedoes from Norwegian coastal defense batteries on April 9, 1940. Blücher was the flagship of the German operation. Lützow was also damaged and forced to withdraw in the same battle. The loss of these German ships in the battle delayed Germany’s Norway conquest timetable, allowing the Norwegian royal family to escape and lead a government in exile. Blücher’s displacement was 18,500-tons, about half again as large as Moskva. Some 42 years after the sinking of Blücher, a nuclear-powered Royal Navy attack submarine hit the Argentinian cruiser ARA General Belgrano with two torpedoes May 2, 1982, during the Falklands War. The General Belgrano, formerly, the USS Phoenix, a U.S. Navy light cruiser, sank with the loss of 323 of the ship’s 1,100 crew members. General Belgrano displaced 12,242-tons when loaded for battle, slightly smaller than Moskva. From a practical perspective, the loss of the Moskva is significant, not only because it served as the Russian flagship, coordinating the Black Sea fleet, but also because the ship’s significant anti-air and anti-missile capabilities provided an air defense umbrella for the smaller ships around it. Consequently, the Russian amphibious threat to Odessa has virtually been eliminated, allowing Ukraine to redeploy forces assigned to the defense of that key port city to the battle to retake Kherson, about 90 miles to the east along the Black Sea coast. Every service matters. Every warfare speciality matters. Line or staff - they all matter. Be the best of where you are - and when history calls, you will be there to make it. For their security, we may never know who was on the launch crew - and for that matter - I spent a lot of time looking for the name of the command(s) in the Ukrainian Navy where their coastal defense missiles are assigned. Can't find them. They have to have a patch. They're navy, that I do know. However - like many of the small, unsexy but important things in a navy ... they seem to have been forgotten. Huh. Maybe they will get their own stamp sometime. They deserve it. Fullbore. Indeed. 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=cf9XXt2npzk:Kpyc-mZfie4:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=cf9XXt2npzk:Kpyc-mZfie4:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=cf9XXt2npzk:Kpyc-mZfie4:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=cf9XXt2npzk:Kpyc-mZfie4:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas The US Air Force (USAF) has told Congress it could use additional dollars for more F-35 Lightning II fighters, hypersonic weapons testing, and munitions if the funds are available in fiscal year (FY) 2023, according to the service’s unfunded priority list. The service said it could use an additional $921 million to buy seven more Lockheed Martin F-35A conventional variant fighters to add to its official request for 33 fighters. Balfour Beatty Construction LLC won a $697.8 million deal or design and construction of East Campus Building #4 and a 1,186,000 square-foot parking structure at Fort Meade. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Fort Meade, Maryland, with an estimated completion date of April 13, 2026. Middle East & Africa Turkey has equipped its Anka unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to detect naval mines. Turkey is concern over mines that have been found recently in the Black Sea. These mines were deployed after Russia attacked Ukraine. So far three naval mines have been found and defused by the Turkish military. The US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Nigeria of AH-1Z Attack Helicopter Related FMS Acquisitions and related equipment for an estimated cost of $997 million. The Government of Nigeria has requested to buy twelve AH-1Z Attack Helicopters; twenty-eight (28) T-700 GE 401C engines (24 installed, 4 spares); and two thousand (2,000) Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guidance sections. Also included is Night Vision Cueing Display (NVCD); commercial variant GPS with Standard Positioning Service (SPS); communication equipment; electronic warfare systems; AN/AVS-9 Aviator’s Night Vision Imaging System; M197 20mm machine gun; Target Sight System (TSS); support equipment; spare engine containers; spare and repair parts; tools and test equipment; technical data and publications; personnel training and training equipment; Mission Planning system; US Government and contractor engineering; technical, and logistics support services; US Government and contractor assistance and oversight of facilities construction to include the provisioning of plans, drawings and specifications; $25M of case funds will be allocated for institutional and technical assistance to the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) to continue Air Ground Integration (AGI) program, which includes developing targeting processes that are legally compliant with International Humanitarian Law and the Laws of Armed Conflict; and other related elements of logistics and program support. Europe Visiting Italian defense minister Lorenzo Guerini told his Japanese counterpart Nobuo Kishi that Italy is interested in the development of Japan’s next generation F-X fighter program. Both sides have signed an accord on the transfer of defense equipment and technology back in 2017. Asia-Pacific Defense News has obtained a spreadsheet detailing the backlogged equipment, which includes Taiwan’s $8 billion purchase of 66 F-16 fighter jets as well as $620 million to replace expiring components of its Patriot missile system. Pandemic-related acquisition issues have sparked a backlog in the US delivering $14.2 billion worth of military equipment to Taiwan that the island has purchased since 2019. Today’s Video WATCH: F-X Japanese 6th Generation Fighter Jet View the full article

As we watch another war wage in Europe fueled to a large degree by ethnic hatred and division, we find again people who are trying to promote the same cancerous mindset in our wonderfully diverse nation and Navy. One of the primary ways to inflame sectarian tensions is to encourage separation while at the same time instituting a series of preferences and punishments - unequal treatment - based on what group you are defined as. In the zero sum game that is promotion and desirable billets that impacts income and career prospects - that's just accelerant. The Diversity Bullies' diktat makes you disconnect your critical thinking skills. The fear that the commissariat has injected it to the bureaucracy guarantees that few will challenge statements the commissars ask that you make in public - regardless of how discredited or detached from reality they and their socio-political theories are. I still stand by a simple standard - the benchmark from which all things in this area are measured. An American standard; How far we have strayed ... but ok - it just means we need to keep trying. This isn't a popular position in many areas of our society. It sure isn't popular in the senior ranks of our Navy. Few make it very far challenging today's diversity industry push to divide the people and set one group against another - so you can pretty much guarantee that leaders either are reading exactly what their UIC's diversity commissar gave them, or they are a true believer. If you are going to swallow whole the diktat from the socio-political zampolits on your staff promoting division and sectarianism, then that's on you. Recently, I don't think we've seen a senior Navy leader step in it so openly and so deeply as the Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. John Nowell Jr., USN last summer. It is about time for someone to step up, I guess. Behold, Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, USN at Naval Surface Force Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium April 7-8 in Norfolk, Va; Commander of Naval Surface Forces Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener said ... thinks that focusing on diversity and inclusion can help the force gain further advantage over potential adversaries in multiple ways. “Our adversaries think differently than we do,” Kitchener told Navy Times April 7 after speaking at the first-ever Surface Force Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium in Norfolk, Virginia. “We have a lot of people in our country with a very diverse thought process, and that is a real strength when you’re teaching people tactics. “When people can say, okay, what do you think the opponent is going to do? … Your opponent is not necessarily thinking like you, and what I found is that, if you can have people on our team that can think out of the box, perhaps different than the conventional Western way to think, it really is a game changer.” How many Thursdays have we seen this mindset? You can see it a mile away. Let's take out the playbook. So we all know that the Navy does not track "diversity of thought." It sure does not promote diversity in educational and socio-economic background in its senior leadership. No, the Navy only defines "diversity" with regards to race, ethnicity, sex, etc ... you've seen the metrics. You've filled out the reports. You've seen the affinity groups. It is all in the open. So, the implication here is, in essence, that a person's opinion is genetically coded and you can predict a person's way of thinking by their race and ethnicity. To say that is red in tooth and claw ethnic determinism. Is that a Navy you want to be part of? A nation? No, not me either. There are, of course, more inflammatory ways to describe a mindset that states that how and what a person thinks is somehow genetically coded - but I am not going to assume the worst of the good VADM. That being said, he has absorbed a world view that has the most brain-stem simplistic view of the people around him and is responsible for untold hundreds of millions of people slaughtered through the ages. Looking first at a person's value on the basis of their perceived race, creed, color, or national origin is the cornerstone to disorder, sectarianism, division, and ultimately group violence. You can tell that he has not intellectually pondered well what he's saying or is very well read on the topic. There is this discredited talking point that he rolls out there like it is a fact; More broadly, he added, “it’s a proven fact that the more diverse you are, you’re going to be a better and more high-performing organization. But I just see it simply from the warfare perspective, where being able to have a team that can think with that kind of agility against an opponent that probably doesn’t have that agility is a huge advantage.” Proven? Really? What did Sarah Kaplan say in FastCompany? Pamela Newkirk points out in her new book, Diversity, Inc.: The Failed Promise of a Billion-Dollar Business, that the main beneficiary of the business case for diversity so far has what we might call the Inclusion Industrial Complex—consulting firms and Diversity & Inclusion professionals who can profit from putting diversity management programs in place. HURTING THOSE WE ARE MAKING THE CASE FOR The other reason the business case doesn’t work is that it hurts those the case is designed to help. Women or racial minorities, who are the supposed beneficiaries of the “business case for diversity,” may experience negative consequences. The latest experiments have found that exposure to an organization’s business case for diversity decreased a sense of belonging to that organization for women and for members of the LGBTQ community, which was then associated with lower desire to join and lower performance on the job. The business case language has a way of making people feel “othered” and devalued. Even more insidiously, the presence of diversity policies tends to make the majority groups feel like the organization is doing its part, which then legitimizes the status quo. While creating roles such as Chief Inclusion Officers or Directors of Diversity and Inclusion can drive action by giving a point person a mandate to make change, it also risks disengaging everyone else in the organization because they figure someone else has “diversity” covered. How about Katherine Klein over at the Wharton School? Do companies with women on the board perform better than companies whose boards are all-male? Many popular press articles and fund managers make this claim, citing studies by consulting firms, information providers and financial institutions, such as McKinsey, Thomson Reuters and Credit Suisse. ... But research conducted by consulting firms and financial institutions is not as rigorous as peer-reviewed academic research. Here, I dig into the findings of rigorous, peer-reviewed studies of the relationship between board gender diversity and company performance. Spoiler alert: Rigorous, peer-reviewed studies suggest that companies do not perform better when they have women on the board. Nor do they perform worse. Depending on which meta-analysis you read, board gender diversity either has a very weak relationship with board performance or no relationship at all. Sarah Todd does a good job summarizing this intellectual FOD as well; “I’m a big believer in responsible diversity, and I’m a minority myself—I would love [the McKinsey] studies to be true,” says Alex Edmans, a professor of finance at London Business School who was not affiliated with either the McKinsey papers or the new study. “But it’s important to make sure anything we say is based on rigorous research.” ... When Hand and Green followed the McKinsey model, measuring firms’ financial performance between 2015 and 2019, they found “statistically insignificant relations” between the racial and ethnic diversity of a given executive team and that company’s financial success. This applied both to EBIT margins and to a number of other measures of financial performance, including industry-adjusted sales growth, gross margin, return on assets, and return on equity. McKinsey declined to comment on the study’s findings. When a study’s findings are too good to be true The authors emphasize that this isn’t definitive proof that there is no connection between racial and ethnic diversity and profits—more research is needed on that front. They also note several other important caveats, including that S&P 500 companies are not a random sample of public US firms, and that their method of identifying race and ethnicity among executives (using faces and names) is likely to overestimate the number of white executives. But they criticize McKinsey’s methodology, including its metric for measuring diversity among executives. They conclude that “caution is warranted in relying on McKinsey’s findings to support the view that US publicly traded firms can deliver improved financial performance if they increase the racial/ethnic diversity of their executives.” Among the additional research that Green and Hand call for is a way to better examine whether there is any causal relationship between a firm’s diversity and its financial performance. McKinsey, by its own admission, is only looking at correlation. Green and Hand are working on a longitudinal study that will look at causation by gathering historical data on the racial and ethnic makeup of firms’ leadership teams in different years, then looking at the companies’ financial performance before, during, and after those years. ... From an academic researcher’s perspective, he says, it’s unclear why McKinsey looks only at companies in the top and bottom quartile on diversity, as opposed to the top third or bottom third or not splitting them up at all. Also unclear is why the McKinsey studies focus on whether the most- and least-diverse companies beat the industry average of profitability. “The most standard way to do it is to say what’s the average profitability of diverse versus the average profitability of non-diverse” companies, he says. In general, when reviewing a study, as Edmans explains in his 2017 TEDx talk “What to trust in a post-truth world,” it’s always worth asking whether the authors would have published it had they found the opposite result. “It’s really easy to get away with sloppy research if it confirms what we’d like to be true because we’ll accept it uncritically,” he says. I think we can make a good guess about why McKinsey would do this. It is the same reason the Navy's branch of the diversity industry continues to feed such divisive, sectarian, and just plain incorrect socio-political talking points to our senior leaders. Kitchener was joined by Rear Adm. Brendan McLane, the commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic. McLane was once Commander, Navy Recruiting Command. Trust me, he knows exactly what metrics are tracked and what decisions are made about them. Let's take this little pull quote from the same event apart. Words mean things. “Retaining the very best people that we have and promoting them, that I think is an individual inside-the-lifeline task that each captain has to take on,” McLane said. “And that’s the reason we’re having this conference. The title of this conference again is, "Naval Surface Force Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Symposium" - this isn't "tips on breaking out your best junior officers" so one must ask McLane to define, in detail, by what he means by "very best" in the context of this conference. “If we can create an environment on every ship that’s inclusive — which is something I think our millennial sailors expect — and then everybody is treated equally, That 'If" there SURFLANT, let's pull that thread. Are you implying we don't have that on every ship? Really? For those ships you are under your C2 diagram, which do not - by name? Why not? What action have you done to correct that? Maybe it's me - but that sounds like news...but wait; and then we actually go above and beyond that and actually have equity so everybody’s getting everything that they need to succeed, I think the diversity part is going to take care of itself. OK, so "everyone is treated equally" is not good enough? So we have to go to "equity?' Let's pause for a moment here. Regulars on the front porch know this, but we have new readers every day, time to define our words closely. I'll let the social justice warriors over at RISE define that for us; Key Takeaways: - Equity and equality are different. - Equality means everyone is treated the same exact way, regardless of differences. - Equity means everyone is provided with what they need to succeed. That is it. You can see exactly where he's getting his talking points from. Unless you missed the nuance - base upon your self-classified category under "equity" you may be given more or less of a thing of value - billets, rankings, time to qualify, etc - than someone who self-classifies as a different, less favored category. He would like to see a Navy give and take away opportunity based on something as meaningless as race, creed, color, etc. Quick, name one military or nation that has prospered under a racial or ethnic spoils system? Does that create unity or division? Does that create good order and discipline, or disorder and conflict? The Austo-Hungarian Empire? The Soviet Union? Yugoslavia? Rwanda? “The talent part is going to take care of itself, but I think that’s just part and parcel of good leadership — of taking care of your sailors.” Taking care of some of your Sailors more than others, it appears. I wonder if he's made that connection - or he considers a racial and ethnic spoils system is good for all Sailors? So, there you go. There's your snapshot. I've avoided this topic for awhile - and I didn't even cover the USAA sponsored sectarian festival over at USNA ... but you can play around at that link on your own time. This is enough I think. Both Kitchener and McLane are great and accomplished professionals. Smart men doing the best they can in hard jobs of importance. As such, they have a lot on their plate. I'm not sure they should get a pass here. Nothing is more fundamental to a gloriously polyglot republic like ours than unity and - especially considering out history - an ongoing drive to be one people, not have our own government underwrite and encourage sectarian division. However, if people really believe otherwise, they should take action in the open - personally. A final note here that should be clear to everyone. Both Admirals here are men of European extraction. One went to a small liberal arts college in Maine and the other at the US Naval Academy. You know the old saw ... if you really wanted "equity" then lead from the front. Billets at this level are a zero sum game. If you want equity on selection boards, and if you really believe that diversity makes a "better and more high-performing organization" and that you love our Navy, then by all means lead from the front. Step aside and give your billet to someone that improves the metrics on slide. That will make VADM Nowell feel better about his pictures. Make the future you want Admirals...but don't do it with people under 30. Be the change you want - don't make yourself feel better on the backs of young men and women born after the turn of the century - young enough to be your children. 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=5SwJqTyQ6vA:hceBWhHg_d0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=5SwJqTyQ6vA:hceBWhHg_d0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=5SwJqTyQ6vA:hceBWhHg_d0:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=5SwJqTyQ6vA:hceBWhHg_d0:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $13 million contract modification under the previously awarded Aegis Weapon Systems contract HQ085121C0002. This in scope modification increases the ceiling on Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) 0012. This CLIN and contract modification will be incrementally funded at time of award. Work will take place in New Jersey. Estimated completion is October 31, 2022. Boeing won a $10.8 million modification, which exercises options to procure 359 Primary Bleed Air Pressure Regulator (PBAR) valves in support of the Environmental Control System PBAR and Shut Off Valve Improvement modifications to the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Work will take place in Connecticut, California and Missouri. Estimated completion date is in June 2024. Middle East & Africa Israeli company BIRD Aerosystems announced it was chosen by the Israeli Ministry of Defense (MOD) through MAFAT – the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Research and Development, to demonstrate a prototype of a new defense system that will protect ground troops and high-value assets against various kinds of threats and missiles, including anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM). American International Contractors, Inc. has secured a $26 million contract to build an F-16 maintenance hangar for the Egyptian Air Force at Marsa Matrouh Air Base. With a space of 6,608 square meters, the hangar can service four F-16s at the same time. Europe The Royal Navy has pushed two different drone designs ‘to their limits’ in order to see how much utility they might have for front-line operations. The Malloy Aeronautics T-600 quadcopter and Windracers Autonomous Systems’ Ultra drone “proved their abilities to carry heavy payloads of 100kg over long distance and more than 250kg over a shorter distance”. Asia-Pacific China has delivered anti-aircraft missile systems to Serbia as part of a deal, which the European nation signed with China that also included drones. Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters Monday the delivery was part of the two countries’ annual cooperation plan, does not target any third parties and “has nothing to do with the current situation.” Today’s Video WATCH: Ballistic Missile Defense System AEGIS How it Works View the full article

The Navy Museum will serve as the backdrop for an afternoon seminar followed by a reception as the NHF commemorates the 40th anniversary of the largest naval combat confrontation in the post-World War II era. With the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano (ex-USS Phoenix) torpedoed on 2 May 1982, and the HMS Sheffield crippled two days later, this is an appropriate time to mark the occasion with presentations capturing various aspects of the fight for sea control around this South Atlantic island group. Featuring Director of Naval History Rear Adm. Sam Cox; Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, and former DoD officials Norman Polmar and Dov Zakheim. Sabastian Bruns with the Political Science Department of the U.S. Naval Academy will moderate the event. If you are interested in attending and do not have a DoD ID, please contact Harold Bryant no later than Monday, 18 April. Email Harold Bryant at hbryant@navyhistory.org. The post 40th Anniversary — Naval War in the South Atlantic (The Fight for the Falklands/Malvinas) first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

From a historical and military planning point of view, it is hard to understate the sea change this represents not just for NATO but for the nations’ involved. Finland will launch an immediate debate on joining NATO, Finnish officials said on Wednesday, as the country reconsiders its longtime stance outside the Western military alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that a decision would be made in coming weeks. “There are different perspectives to apply (for) NATO membership or not to apply and we have to analyze these very carefully,” she said at a news conference in Stockholm, according to Reuters. “But I think our process will be quite fast.” Marin spoke alongside Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, who said Sweden was also re-examining its position outside NATO, after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine offensive plunged Europe into its most serious security crisis since World War II. Serving at in many NATO HQ’s in a separate “Partnership for Peace” wing of a building or such, the military from Finland and Sweden have had personnel assigned to NATO for years. We served together in Afghanistan and elsewhere for a long time. It would be hard to be more turnkey NATO member states than Finland and Sweden, but the political and societal inertia in both nations kept their neutrality in place. Even before the Russo-Ukrainian War, there was a drift – especially in Finland – towards NATO membership, but old habits and memories are difficult to overcome unless there is a big push. Finland has only been an independent nation for a little more than a century, and her neutrality was part of her negotiated survival after WWII. Sweden has maintained a strict neutrality from her squabbling European neighbors since the end of the Napoleonic Wars. This is not a small move for NATO or the nations involved. You can add this to your list of reasons we are living through one of those pivot points in history. Big pivot or small – well – we need to wait for more cards to come out of the deck to answer that question. Clearly, this brings more security to Finland and Sweden to keep the bear at bay, but what doesn’t bring to NATO? It consolidates NATO’s northern flank. In the event of conflict, it will simply make things move quicker and faster for NATO to make it more difficult for the Russians to move west of Bear Island at sea, and Karelia on land. That being said, Finland only has a population of 5.5 million with a per capita income of $51,650. They are just a tad under spending 2% GDP on defense, but will probably be just over it this year. Sweden has a population of 10.3 million with a per capita income of $56,270. In 2020 she spends 1.3% of GDP on defense, up from 2019’s 0.9%. She is expected to reach 2% by 2028, but with the events of this year, I bet on that moving up. So as a benchmark, The Netherlands has a population of 17.4 million and a per capita income of $59,700 and spends 1.4% of GDP on defense and rising. So, in essence NATO gets ~another Netherlands. More important that that is – as always – geography. NATO’s northern flank is now more secure – even though we now have a much longer border with Russia. Finland and Sweden will be less subject to bullying. Central and Western Europe – with the exception of those quirky mountain folk in the center, some fussy Balkan bits etc – is more united with most of North America against Russia. Remember, win or lose, at the end of this Russia will still be Russia. The Steppes will still be The Steppes. You should all know that history. A militarily united Europe, spot-welded to Anglospheric North America, is a recipe for security and peace for all. If not that, a recipe for a better chance to defeat an enemy on the march. Take the “W.” 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=STC3_t8Em7Y:SH3DwpxwTEQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=STC3_t8Em7Y:SH3DwpxwTEQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=STC3_t8Em7Y:SH3DwpxwTEQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=STC3_t8Em7Y:SH3DwpxwTEQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Reviewed by CAPT Chuck Good, USN (Ret) Broad in scope and rich in detail, Hitler’s Navy is a comprehensive overview of the ships, organization, and sailors of the Kriegsmarine. As befits Osprey’s core competency in producing monographs of famous ships and classes, the work is lavishly illustrated and full of technical detail. For those seeking focused accounts of famous campaigns or battles, such as the River Plate, Denmark Strait or the Norwegian Campaign, this is not the work. These engagements have been the focus of many previous works, and the author chooses to give them a minimalist summary in his first chapter. But Hitler’s Navy makes up for the lack of fighting narrative in its ambitious breadth. Not only does Williamson cover “the usual suspects” – Bismarck, Tirpitz, the “pocket battleships” and the U-Boats – he gives a full accounting of the lesser-known but often harder-fought light vessels. Significant coverage is given to the light and coastal forces – S-Boats, minesweepers/layers, Torpedoboote, Sperrbrechers, and human torpedoes – as well as to the Auxiliary Cruisers (“Raiders”) and their global network of replenishment ships. His coverage of the U-Boat arm – the Navy-within-the-Navy which came to dominate the Kriegsmarine as the larger ships were checked by Allied seapower – is a brisk but comprehensive look at the progression from small coastal types to the seagoing boats of the Battle of the Atlantic, and finally to the highly advanced “Elektroboote” of the war’s waning days. Regardless of size or category, each ship type and class is shown in evolving fashion to reflect the changes in warfare from 1939 to 1945 as radar and AA capability become increasingly vital. As well, Hitler’s Navy takes time to paint a picture of service in the Kriegsmarine for the average officer and rating. Training, schools, technical specialty groupings, rank, pay, and uniform are touched on. It is in this section, however, that Williamson treads on dangerous ground. His frank admiration for the Kriegsmarine shows through clearly. While it is both true and important to understand that the Kriegsmarine was the most traditional and least “Nazi-fied” of the various WWII German branches of service, and despite many fine examples of chivalrous conduct in the war’s early years, one should perhaps not so openly admire the foe, particularly when the title of the book is Hitler’s Navy. Unfortunately, Williamson’s sweeping scope is also compromised by slipshod editing. One gets the feeling that there were many more pages of material provided than fit within 250 pages, leaving it to editors to determine best fit. Accordingly, parts of the narrative are choppy; for example, in examining the famous Scharnhorst, we are treated to details of her 1939 post-commissioning improvements before skipping directly to the finding of her wreck in 2000 with nary a mention of further changes to her configuration between the war’s beginning and her loss at the North Cape. Further, there are several incorrect or reversed illustrations and captions throughout the book which add a bit of momentary confusion until the reader sorts them out. More surprisingly, there are a few technical inconsistencies, which are not in keeping with Osprey’s typical attention to detail. In one case, the otherwise superb overview of the Kriegsmarine’s five modern light cruisers shows tabular data that the secondary batteries of all five were twelve 10.5 cm types, but the narrative mostly refers to them as six 8.8 cm, which matches other references. Williamson himself knows the correct caliber and number of these weapons, as well as planned upgrades, as he is the author of another Osprey book specifically focused on the Kriegsmarine’s light cruisers. These factual differences more serve to highlight a compromised editing process than any lack of knowledge on the author’s part. These niggling issues prevent a very good reference from becoming a great work, but the book is nevertheless both solid and worthwhile for any avid naval historian who wants “one stop shopping” for a view of the Kriegsmarine from its origins in the interwar years to the wreckage and rare few museum ships which mark its passage. A revision which corrects errors and fleshes out the narrative just a bit more would be most welcome. Hitler’s Navy: The Kriegsmarine in World War II. By Gordon Williamson (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2022) The post Hitler’s Navy: The Kriegsmarine in World War II first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by ISCM (AW) David Mattingly, USN Ret. A mix of airframes; fighters, light attack planes, and helicopters all made up the carrier air wings on Yankee Station during the Vietnam War. Most notably, the RF-8 Crusader piloted by Navy and Marine Corps aviators flew over enemy territory as the “eyes of the fleet.” Kenneth Jack, a Navy photographers mate assigned to Navy Light Photographic Squadron 62 (VFP-62), has gathered the story of the RF-8, its pilots, and maintainers from unofficial and official sources including reels of archived reconnaissance film shot over North Vietnam by RF-8 photo pilots. The RF-8 Crusader was developed from the F-8 Crusader which entered the fleet in the mid-1950s and was the state-of-the-art fleet fighter until replaced by the F-4 Phantom II. Jack explains early in the book that “…the photographic reconnaissance squadrons were unique in a carrier air wing. They did not bring death and destruction to the enemy. At least not directly.” Photo reconnaissance aircraft acted as the collection platform to obtain clear imagery for the photo interpreters assigned to the squadron and the carrier intelligence center (CVIC). To become a photo pilot, the aviator needed the skills of a pilot to fly the F-8 plus the additional skill of flying the RF-8 over enemy territory straight and level to document the targets both pre and post bombing to judge the effectiveness of the bombing mission and to develop targets of opportunity for the airwing. Before the Tonkin Gulf Incident in 1964 and Congress’s approval of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, the Navy’s carrier air wings did not overfly North Vietnam except for RF-8s with their fighter escorts. It would be a reconnaissance mission flown by VFP-63 that located the first Soviet-built SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile site near Hanoi. This would have a tremendous impact on US tactics for flying missions in North Vietnam. Instead of flying at 10,000 feet to avoid ground-to-air artillery once SA-2s were identified, pilots began flying at 150-200 feet altitude and 600 knots (1.2 knots). Navy LT Roger Crim, flying from the USS Midway VFP-63 Det L explained, “I always thought that the reason enemy gunners got so close to me was a landline. Someone saw us and called ahead. My tactic was to be hidden from view, not coming around a hill into view of the gunners, until quite close in.” However, tactics alone would not keep the RF-8s safe from guns and missiles. RF-8s were being hit, resulting in the loss of both pilots and aircraft. Jack quotes LCDR Scott Ruby, who flew off both USS Ranger and USS Midway, and said, “VFP-63 was losing …due to the stupidity of the ‘Rules of Engagement’ on how we should be used.” Ruby held the distinction of being the only pilot that did not get hit. Jack uses historical essays by the Navy’s History and Heritage Command to explain the command structure of the Navy’s air wings flying over Vietnam. In the discussion, Dr. Mark Jacobsen stated that “target lists issued by CINCPAC and JCS did not include those targets for which targeting materials had been produced by [tactical commanders].” This would mean that the RF-8s were used for bomb damage assessment (BDA) of Navy missions. BDA was based on a comparison of pre and post photographs to determine the effectiveness of the bombing and whether a target needed to be restruck. Throughout the book, pages are spaced within the pages that tell stories in memoriam of the RF-8 and its pilots. Besides the pilots that were killed in action, five VFP-63 pilots were shot down and held as prisoners of war in Hanoi. Jack includes a detailed story of LCDR Gordon Paige’s shootdown and capture. Paige’s story realistically places the reader amid the mission, recreates the feelings of an aviator flying a dangerous mission over North Vietnam, and recounts the tragedy of being shot down and captured. Paige would eventually be released after the 1973 Paris Peace Accords. In addition to the Navy and Marine Corps aviators, VFP-63 also hosted a USAF exchange pilot, Capt. Jim “Mugs” Morgan. Morgan flew the US Air Forces RF-4C and had one combat tour before joining the VFP-63 Det on the USS Midway. As the Vietnam War came to an end, so did the active-duty RF-8 squadrons. The RF-8s would continue to be flown in the Naval Air Reserve and some foreign militaries. Jack has created a very detailed account that will be of interest to military and aviation historians. He has ensured that memories of the men lost in Vietnam will continue to be told. Eyes of the Fleet Over Vietnam is highly recommended and deserves to be on every “brown shoes” bookshelf. Master Chief Mattingly retired with over 30 years of service in the Navy. He also served as a Senior Intelligence Officer and Senior Research Analyst in the US Intelligence Community. Eyes of the Fleet Over Vietnam: RF-8 Crusader Combat Photo-Reconnaissance Missions. By Kenneth V. Jack (Havertown, PA: Casemate, 2021). The post Eyes of the Fleet over Vietnam: RF-8 Crusader Combat Photo Reconnaissance Missions first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article