HG S2 (Intel Bot)

Americas Rolls Royce won a $96.3 million vehicle requirements contract modification. The modification incorporates an additional five-month option period to maintain continuity of services for the C-130 engine repairs. The contract modification incorporates an additional five-month option period to maintain continuity of services for the C-130 engine repairs. The C-130 operates throughout the US Air Force, serving with Air Mobility Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Combat Command, US Air Forces in Europe, Pacific Air Forces, Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve Command, fulfilling a wide range of operational missions in both peace and war situations. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity. Work will take place in Indiana. Expected completion date will take place in June 30, 2022. Boeing won a $21 million contract modification by the US Navy, which increases the contract ceiling to provide post-production engineering and logistics support for the T- 45 aircraft. The T-45A/C Goshawk is the US Navy’s two-seat advanced jet trainer. The aircraft is jointly manufactured by Boeing and BAE Systems. Work will take place ein Missouri, the UK and Georgia. Estimated completion will be in January 2025. Middle East & Africa American International Contractors won a $64 million deal to dredge the harbor at King Abdulaziz Naval Base. Work will take place in Saudi Arabia. Estimated completion date is June 26, 2023. The US Army Corps of Engineers, Middle East District, is the contracting activity. Europe France and Greece signed the roadmap for the ‘strategic partnership’ deal forging deeper military relationship between the two countries to defend shared interests in the Mediterranean. As part of the commitments made to the EU and NATO, this partnership agreement aims to strengthen and structure long-term military defense relations between our two countries. Boeing and the UK Ministry of Defense inked a $348 million contract for the provision of long-term training, support and sustainment for the British Army’s new fleet of 50 Apache AH-64E helicopters. The announcement was made by Minster for Defense Procurement, Jeremy Quin MP, as he visited Wattisham Flying Station to see the Apache AH-64E. Asia-Pacific BrahMos Aerospace test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with increased indigenous content and improved performance from Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha on Thursday morning. The launch was conducted by Brahmos Aerospace in close coordination with the teams of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). In this text-book flight, the missile followed the predicted trajectory meeting all mission objectives, the Indian defense ministry said in a statement. Today’s Video Watch: Brahmos Missile’s New Version Has Been Successfully Tested View the full article

The war is only 10 months old and two months after the defeat at the Battle of Savo Island. The night action of 10-11 OCT, sometimes know as the Second Battle of Savo Island - but usually as The Battle of Cape Esperance, is an excellent example of the critical importance of training, flexibility, initiative, and aggression - combined with a measure of luck. Luck is always essential, as even the most simple plans become complicated once the battle begins. First background. DIVISION 6 of the Imperial Japanese Navy was pretty pleased with itself following its engagement with the Americans off Savo the night of August 8-9, and perhaps with reason. The Japanese felt that they had won a victory, greater than their usual "victories," and although the loss of the KAKO outside the harbor of Kavieng following the battle had cut into their forces by a quarter, they felt themselves to be the backbone of Japan in the Solomons. But the Americans still clung tenaciously to their ground in the Guadalcanal and Florida islands despite air raids and night bombardments from the "Tokyo Express. " And although their position was precarious, it wasn't enough so for the Jap. If the Japanese headquarters on Rabaul was busy with plans for marshaling their strength for a knockdown battle for the Solomons, so were the Americans at Espiritu Santo. Something had to be done to stop the Japanese from reinforcing their troops, and from storming Marine positions from the sea, and obviously one way to do it was to reinforce our own land forces at Guadalcanal. For this, a large convoy with Army reinforcements for Guadalcanal was soon to depart from Noumea, in French New Caledonia, halfway between Fiji and Australia. By October 1 1 it would be about 250 miles west of Espiritu Santo, protected by two task forces: one built around the carrier HORNET, the other around the new battleship WASHINGTON. In Espiritu was a newly organized task force. Its ships had engaged only in target practice together but they were good ships. It would do well, as protection for the left flank of the Army convoy approaching Guadalcanal, to station this task force off the southern shore of that island to intercept any enemy units moving in from the west. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3418/3840692023_8a6af9d020.jpg Remember, this is still the "go to war with the Navy you have" part of the war, as the entire Solomon Islands Campaign was. The post Midway march to Tokyo was on, but this was only the beginning of the beginning. Let's look at the lineup. USN: TF 64 Rear-Admiral Norman C. Scott USS SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38)USS BOISE (CL-47)USS SALT LAKE CITY (CA-25 )USS HELENA (CL-50)USS FARENHOLT (DD-491)USS DUNCAN (DD-485)USS LAFFEY (DD-459)USS BUCHANAN (DD-484)USS MCCALLA (DD-488)IJN: Bombardment Group Rear-Admiral Goto CA AobaCA KinugasaCA FurutakaDD FubukiDD HatsuyukiAnd so, off they went.Departing New Caledonia on October 8, ships carrying the US 164th Infantry moved north towards Guadalcanal. To screen this convoy, Vice Admiral Robert Ghormley assigned Task Force 64 ... to operate near the island. ... Initially taking station off Rennell Island, Hall moved north on the 11th after receiving reports that Japanese ships had been sited in The Slot.MicroWorks calls this "Stumbling into Victory." That is one way to look at it. Me? I call it a lesson on the need for trusting your Commanding Officers with short, direct orders. As an editorial note for brevity, there are two IJN groups NW of Guadalcanal, Goto's Bombardment Group and RADM Jojima's landing force with 4,500 troops. As he moved north, Hall, aware that the Americans had faired badly in previous night battles with the Japanese, crafted a simple battle plan. Ordering his ships to form a column with destroyers at the head and rear, he instructed them to illuminate any targets with their searchlights so that the cruisers could fire accurately. Hall also informed his captains that they were open fire when the enemy was sited rather than waiting for orders.http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3500/3841535246_9793bbc4fe.jpg Approaching Cape Hunter on the northwest corner of Guadalcanal, Hall, flying his flag from San Francisco, ordered his cruisers to launch their float planes at 10:00 PM. An hour later, San Francisco's float plane sighted Jojima's force off of Guadalcanal. Expecting more Japanese ships to be sighted, Hall maintained his course northeast, passing to the west of Savo Island. Reversing course at 11:30, some confusion led to the three lead destroyers (Farenholt, Duncan, and Laffey) being out of position. About this time, Goto's ships began appearing on the American radars. Initially believing these contacts to be the out of position destroyers, Hall took no action. As Farenholt and Laffey accelerated to reassume their proper positions, Duncan moved to attack the approaching Japanese ships.But ahhhh, one man's brevity code is another's order. A mere 5000 yards distant Goto's ships were moving directly into the center of the American line, which Goto, deeply feeling that no American was present, considered to be Joshima's reinforcement group. It was up to Helena to teach him otherwise. Captain Hoover was certain he had the enemy before him and queried Scott to open fire. Scott replied, "Roger", which he intended as a confirmation of receipt, but if unqualified it meant open fire as well, and Hoover interpreted it as such. He switched on his searchlights, aiming them on Hatsuyuki, the left-wing destroyer, and opened fire with his fifteen 155mm guns at 2346. That action caught Scott off-guard, but he did not prevent the rest of his line from opening fire on the enemy. Duncan, now only a few hundred yards from Kinugasa, joined in, but was quickly disabled.Another account describes this classic thus; At 11:45, Goto's ships were visible to the American lookouts and Helena radioed asking permission to open fire using the general procedure request, "Interrogatory Roger" (meaning "are we clear to act"). Hall responded in the affirmative, and his surprise the entire American line opened fire. Aboard his flagship, Aoba, Goto was taken by complete surprise.Let's talk about VADM Goto for a second. In a battle that lasted only 30 minutes, the first few were an all-American show. Why? Well, confusion and an inability to realize that your plan was no longer going to happen and that all you were told was wrong. The enemy always gets a vote. Gotō's force was taken almost completely by surprise. At 23:43 Aoba's lookouts sighted Scott's force, but Gotō assumed that they were Jojima's ships. Two minutes later, Aoba's lookouts identified the ships as American, but Gotō remained skeptical and directed his ships to flash identification signals. As Aoba's crew executed Gotō's order, the first American salvo smashed into Aoba's superstructure. Aoba was quickly hit by up to 40 shells from Helena, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Farenholt, and Laffey. The shell hits heavily damaged Aoba's communications systems and demolished two of her main gun turrets as well as her main gun director. Several large-caliber projectiles passed through Aoba's flag bridge without exploding, but the force of their passage killed many men and mortally wounded Gotō.CAPT Kijuma, VADM Goto's Chief of Staff stated, "At first we thought the fire was from our own supply ships. It was a surprise attack. All ships but the KINUGASA immediately reversed course to the right. Due to the shellfire and the congestion, the KINUGASA turned left. As a result of this turn the KINUGASA only received minor damage from three hits. The AOBA was hit about forty times and was badly damaged. The FURUTAKA and FUBUKI were sunk. The FUBUKI sank before it completed the turn, although it only received four hits. Due to the smoke from the AOBA, the MURAKUMO was not hit. The KINUGASA did most of the fighting for our force. "Soon after the action started Admiral Goto was mortally wounded. While he was dying, I told him that he could die with easy mind because we had sunk two of your heavy cruisers. "Following this action we retired to the northwest. The MURAKUMO turned back and rescued about four hundred survivors. When your forces reappeared it departed the area trying to make you chase it within range of our aircraft."Chaos, on both sides. Over the next few minutes, Aoba was hit more than 40 times by Helena, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Farenholt, and Laffey. Burning, with many of its guns out of action and Goto dead, Aoba turned to disengage. At 11:47, concerned that he was firing on his own ships, Hall ordered a ceasefire and asked his destroyers to confirm their positions. This done, the American ships resumed firing at 11:51 and pummeled the cruiser Furutaka. Burning from a hit to its torpedo tubes, Furutaka lost power after taking a torpedo from Buchanan. While the cruiser was burning, the Americans shifted their fire to the destroyer Fubuki sinking it.Two minutes of firing - four minutes of "where and the h311 is everyone" and then firing again. That 4 minutes must have seemed like an hour. As the battle raged, the cruiser Kinugasa and destoryer Hatsuyuki turned away and missed the brunt of the American attack. Pursuing the fleeing Japanese ships, Boise was nearly hit by torpedoes from Kinugasa at 12:06 AM. Turning on their search lights to illuminate the Japanese cruiser, Boise and Salt Lake City immediately took fire, with the former taking a hit to its magazine. At 12:20, with the Japanese retreating and his ships disorganized, Hall broke off the action. Later that night, Furutaka sank as result of battle damage, and Duncan was lost to raging fires. Learning of the bombardment force's crisis, Jojima detached four destroyers to its aid after disembarking his troops. The next day, two of these, Murakumo and Shirayuki, were sunk by aircraft from Henderson Field.The end result of the battle was a complete smacking. Losses: USN: 1 destroyer sunk,1 cruiser,1 destroyer heavily damaged,163 killedIJN: 1 cruiser,3 destroyers sunk,1 cruiser heavily damaged,341–454 killed,111 capturedThis was unquestionably a great tactical victory for the USN, but an operational failure as Jojima was still able to get his troops ashore. It also did not supply the right lessons to take forward as we continued not to appreciate the true night fighting capabilities of the IJN and the exceptional danger posed by the Long Lance torpedo. This battle was the happy middle between two sobering hammers - The Battle of Savo Island for one, and two months later Tassafaronga. In the end, I think this best catches the results, A junior officer on Helena later wrote, "Cape Esperance was a three-sided battle in which chance was the major winner."A great take-away would be this quote that could be heard after any sea battle for the last 2,500 years, I bet. In the words of one petty officer who was overheard talking with another on the way back to Espiritu Santo, "I'll never complain of another drill, and I'll deck the man who does."BTW, that quote and a few others come from Battle Report: Pacific War: Middle Phase by CDR Walter Purdon, USN and CAPT Eric Karig, USN which you can get here. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3499/3841535336_94d4a5320d.jpg This will be crossposted at USNIBlog as part of the SJS led Solomon Islands Campaign thread. First posted in AUG09. 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=_cL0BvekwUk:SLCmW5o-TUc:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=_cL0BvekwUk:SLCmW5o-TUc:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=_cL0BvekwUk:SLCmW5o-TUc:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=_cL0BvekwUk:SLCmW5o-TUc:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

USAF Gets Upgraded 105mm For The AC-130 Gunship | Arrow-3 Successfully Flight Tested | Saab To Deliver New Camouflage System To French DGA Americas Rockwell Collins won a $32.4 million deal for the manufacture of ballistic signal transmission devices and canopy severance assemblies in support of the egress system of the V22 aircraft. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft. The aircraft operates as a helicopter when taking off and landing vertically. The nacelles rotate 90° forward once airborne, converting the aircraft into a turboprop aircraft. Work will take place in Iowa. Fiscal 2022 procurement of aircraft (Navy) funds; FMS Japan funds; fiscal 2020 procurement of aircraft (Air Force) funds; and fiscal 2021 procurement of aircraft (Air Force) funds will be used to fund requirements. An upgraded 105mm for the AC-130 gunship has been designed, developed and delivered by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) to the US Air Force. The previous 105mm gun uses components from the M102 Howitzer and M137A1 recoil mechanism, which are no longer supported by the US Army. Middle East & Africa Israel and the US have completed a successful flight test of the Arrow-3 ballistic missile interceptor, the Israeli Ministry of Defense. At a test site in central Israel, the ballistic missile interceptor detected and destroyed a target in outer space, the ministry said in a statement. The Arrow 3 weapon system is designed to shoot down ballistic missiles while the incoming projectile is still outside the earth’s atmosphere. Europe Saab has signed a framework contract for the supply of its Barrakuda camouflage with the French defense procurement agency (DGA). The contract includes the delivery of new camouflage systems as well as a system adaptation phase in cooperation with the DGA. The contract is for eight years and provides for annual deliveries. The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) welcomed the first six of a total of 18 Rafale aircraft at the Tanagra Air Base in the presence of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation. The newly inducted aircraft are said to be entering the Hellenic Air Force’s 332 Squadron. These aircrafts are a part of the 18 aircraft deal signed last year between Greece and France. Asia-Pacific Indian state-run firm Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has signed contracts to export its Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv aircraft to Mauritius. The ALH Mk III is a multi-role, multi-mission versatile helicopter in 5.5 tonne category. It has proven its mettle in various utility role including numerous lifesaving missions during natural calamities in India and abroad. HAL also ensures technical assistance and product support to the customer to ensure healthy serviceability of the helicopter. Today’s Video Watch: Israel Tests Anti-Ballistic Missile System Capable of Downing Satellites! View the full article

Reviewed by Ellen A. Ahlness, PhD All Present and Accounted For is a comprehensive, well-researched, and well-narrated case study in U.S. Coast Guard History. Throughout his narration of this disastrous grounding, Craig ensures the historical rendering is never sterile; instead, it maintains an eye to the human experience of a complicated event in U.S. Military history. The book is divided into two parts, together comprising a total of twelve chapters. It also features an introduction, epilogue, final comments, and appendices. The inclusion of extensive supplemental information—including poetry, first-person accounts, images, informational visuals, and ship specifications of the USCGC Jarvis—maintains a fine balance between narrative storytelling and informational history. Craig is well situated to tell this story; he is a retired captain in the U.S. Coast Guard with nearly 40 years of service under his belt. Moreover, he has extensive experience responding to active and natural disasters, including the Hurricane Katrina and Ike responses, as well as the 2010 Haiti earthquake recovery planning. His academic, teaching, and speaking engagements further lend assurances to readers, even before the first page, that he is a writer well-versed in engaging audiences. Driven by a long-standing desire to tell the story of the Jarvis, Craig conducted interviews with as many crew members as could be found. Demonstrating an incredibly valuable dedication to accuracy, he provides some of these comments and recollections verbatim in Appendix D. The appendices also give information on all the commanding officers of the Jarvis over time, linking the story of the 1972 crisis to the broader history of the Coast Guard. Whether a reader values historical rootedness or narrative storytelling, All Present and Accounted For does not disappoint. The introduction begins by setting the stage with an overview of society and culture in America and the U.S. Coast Guard in the 1970s. What makes this particularly valuable is that it includes in-depth details of what everyday life looked like in the Navy and Coast Guard. This helps immerse readers in the scene, which is particularly beneficial for younger and non-military readers. For readers that are unfamiliar with the specifications and dynamics of a ship, footnotes are added to define concepts, explain ship layouts, and even detail Navy and Coast Guard customs. Each chapter starts like a diary, setting a place and time, whether a season, year, month, or day. Part One discusses historical rescue missions off of Alaska and the inspirational actions of the ship’s namesake, Captain David H. Jarvis. This historical rendition examines the Alaska Relief Expedition led by then Lieutenant Jarvis from 1897 to 1898, for which he was honored with the naming of USCGC Jarvis. The ship, much like its namesake many years before, would be tested beyond normal human endurance. Part Two first sets the stage for the Jarvis’s departure, introducing main characters and places in Alaska culminating with the Jarvis’s mission send off. By the end of Chapter 5, readers finally arrive at the point of disaster: the Jarvis running aground. Chapter 6 and those that follow dive into incredible detail of the grounding as well as the subsequent reaction and rescue of the Jarvis. Readers are seamlessly transitioned from the narrative of the grounding and response to quotes from participants, and even photographs of the Jarvis and its crew. Even though the grounding of the Jarvis does not take place until the end of the fifth chapter, readers are never left with the sense that the story is being drawn out. Instead, all of the contextual information builds anticipation for the inevitable disaster. There is a notable transition in the book’s structure and layout from the moment the Jarvis runs aground. Before that point, time is measured in years, seasons, or months, but beginning in Chapter 6, time is detailed in increments of minutes, heightening the sense of urgency. By Chapter 10 the emergency has been dealt with, and it is time to return to port. A strong sense of the crew’s loyalty to one another and to the ship is palpable throughout Craig’s narration of the disaster response and the epilogue, which examines the later years of Jarvis and its Captain. The last part of the main text details Craig’s sources, which include historical documents and oral histories. The thoroughness of Craig’s research credibly signals the text’s fidelity to true events. His final comment discusses his motivation for writing the book, which was not to second guess the findings of the board of investigation, nor to criticize the errors that led to the grounding (which he asserts are numerous). Instead, he sought to shed light on the individual efforts that contributed to the rescue of the vessel. Upon completing the book, readers are likely to find Craig’s main assertion quite compelling. When circumstances were at their bleakest, the crew did not panic but instead performed their duties admirably to save the ship. Consequently, the entire crew survived. Is that not the most important takeaway from such a disaster? Ellen A. Ahlness, PhD, is a board member and writer for the educational nonprofit Education Maksad. Her past publications on military history and leadership appear in On Contested Shores, Ecologia Politica, and Considering Leadership Anew. All Present and Accounted For: The 1972 Alaska Grounding of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis and the Heroic Efforts that Saved the Ship (Steven J. Craig, Hellgate Press, Ashland, OR, 2019). The post All Present and Accounted For: The 1972 Grounding of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis and the Heroic Efforts that Saved the Ship first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

The slow building crisis in Ukraine is reaching a point of critical mass. I think a decision point in coming in mid-Feb. I'm pondering in more detail over at USNIBlog. Come by and give it a read. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=w36yEhAGqR0:RrHkwzuF_HQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas General Dynamics Electric Boat won an $11.5 million contract modification to support the Virginia Class Common Weapon Launcher (CWL) technology insertion advanced processor build efforts for all variants. The Virginia Class submarine is the Navy’s latest fast-attack submarine and is capable of targeting, controlling, and launching MK 48 torpedoes and Tomahawk land-attack missiles (TLAMs). Work will take place in Connecticut. Estimated completion will be by September 20, 2022. The US Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $22.2 million deal for additional labor hours for smart start maintenance, repair, and modernization efforts in support of the USS Hartford (SSN 768) engineered overhaul. The USS Hartford is a Los Angeles Class attack submarine. The Los Angeles Class is a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines that forms the backbone of the US Navy’s submarine force. Work will take place in Connecticut. Expected completion will be by February 2022. Middle East & Africa Science and Engineering Services won a $13.6 million contract modification, which adds scope to provide return to flight repairs and storage for three SH-60F aircraft for the government of Israel. The SH-60F serves as an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft. It can carry offensive weapons, primarily on ASW missions. These include Mk 46, Mk 50, or Mk 54 torpedoes. Work under the modification will take place in Alabama. Estimated completion will be in January 2024. Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will reportedly fully unveil Hürjet advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft in two months. TAI head Temel Kotil told the Turkish website Daily Sabah that the company will build six to seven aircraft in the first year in the mass production phase. “We aim to produce two aircraft per month and 24 aircraft per year from the next year. After 2025, two Hürjets will leave the hangar and will be delivered to the customer every month,” he said. Europe The French Ministry of the Armed Forces’ Directorate of Aeronautical Maintenance (DMAé) recently awarded Dassault Aviation a contract to support the Mirage 2000 fleet of the French Air and Space Force (FASF). Covering a period of 14 years, the BALZAC contract includes all maintenance activities for the French Mirage 2000s until their retirement. Engine maintenance and the services provided by the SIAé (Service Industriel de l’Aéronautique) are the subject of separate contracts. Asia-Pacific North Korea said that it tested a tactical guided missile on Monday to confirm the accuracy of the weapons system under production. The South earlier suspected Pyongyang to have fired two short-range ballistic missiles eastward from the Sunan airfield. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the projectiles fired flew about 380km at an altitude of 42 km, reaching speeds of Mach 5. Today’s Video Watch: Kitty Hawk SH-60F Ocean Hawk Build Review – Part 1: Cabin and Cockpit View the full article

Americas The Pentagon’s blue-sky research agency recently announced that it selected 10 organizations to develop enhanced, less bulky night vision goggles to keep the crimp out of servicemembers’ necks. And so they can see better at night. The program, dubbed Enhanced Night Vision in Eyeglass Form (ENVision), will be divided to solve those problems in two separate technical areas. The five organizations selected in the first technical area will try to reduce the size and volume of night vision goggles. The Netherlands will base its soon-to-be received MQ-9A Reaper medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles in the Caribbean region. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) is due to receive four MQ-9A Block 5 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from US manufacturer General Atomics next month. Middle East & Africa The United Arab Emirates inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea for the purchase of M-SAM advanced air defense systems for $3.5 billion. The MoU for the surface-to-air missiles was signed on Sunday after the meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Emirati Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in Dubai. Reportedly three people were killed when drones attacked the Adnoc storage tanks in Abu Dhabi on January 17. A separate attack in the new construction area of Abu Dhabi International Airport caused a minor fire. Houthis rebels from Yemen have claimed responsibility for the attack. Adnoc says the attack took place at approximately 10.00 a.m. local time and six others were wounded when the three transport tankers caught fire. Europe Dassault Aviation delivered 55 airplanes in 2021, up from 47 the year before, the French aerospace manufacturer announced. Dassault provided 25 Rafale multirole fighters to export customers in 2021, which met expectations and was up from 13 the previous year. The company also delivered 30 Falcon business jets, up five from an earlier forecast but down four from the previous year. Asia-Pacific MD Helicopters (MDHI) has shipped six MD 530G Light Scout Attack helicopters for the Malaysia Ministry of Defense (MoD) via their agent Halaman Optima/ Destini Prima. The 530G for Malaysia is integrated with the Wescam L3 MX10D sensor and the Pathfinder Ares Weapons Management System from Tek Fusion which are used to support the Dillion M134 Mini Gun, FN Herstal Heavy Machine Gun and Rocket Machine Gun pods, and 2.75-inch Folding-Fin Aerial Rockets (guided and unguided). Today’s Video Watch: MD 530G Helicopter Power View the full article

With the growing tensions on the Russian-Ukrainian border (and Belorussian while we are at it) when Midrats regular Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg writes something, you need to pay attention. He recently co-authored an article with Michael Kofman at the Washington Post titled, "Here’s what we know about Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine." What is the nature of Russia’s military buildup? And how long can Russia keep its forces in these forward positions? Our research on Russia’s military capabilities offers some clues. This is a solid snapshot and quick read of what the Ukrainians are facing. Russian forces near Ukraine total at most 60 battalion tactical groups (BTGs), along with support elements. BTGs are task-organized combined-arms formations, each averaging 800 personnel in size. This translates into roughly 48,000 troops. Adding the supporting units, the total number of Russian troops is likely to be 85,000 — with more on the way. Aside from these regular Russian troops, there are about 15,000 separatist forces, or Russian-led formations in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Media outlets are reporting around 100,000 troops in total, but estimates vary widely. This means approximately 35 percent of Russia’s total available BTG formations (60 out of 168) are stationed near the Ukrainian border, ... As the authors mention at the end of the article, this many forces cannot remain there indefinitely. At some point, due to readiness, morale, and even conscription service issues - some units will have to go home. That is what we should look for. If we are lucky, as spring arrives we will see a plateau of force levels, and then a decrease. Watch. 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=u7fMXy_BLbM:uPKxYBgO5rY:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=u7fMXy_BLbM:uPKxYBgO5rY:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=u7fMXy_BLbM:uPKxYBgO5rY:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=u7fMXy_BLbM:uPKxYBgO5rY:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas General Electric won a $12 million deal for maintenance and overhaul of the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. The UH-60 Blackhawk is a multi-mission medium lift helicopter. The primary mission of the Blackhawk helicopter is as a troop carrier and logistical support aircraft. The helicopter can also be configured to carry out medical evacuation, command-and-control, search-and-rescue, armed escort, electronic warfare and executive transport missions. Estimated completion date is January 14, 2027. The Air Force awarded L-3 Communications Integrated Systems a $24 million deal for C-130H program depot maintenance. The deal provides for the services required to complete C-130H PDM actions, perform required aircraft modifications and all transactional sustainment actions associated for the C-130 Foreign Military Sales Directorate. Work will take place in Waco, Texas. Expected completion date is January 31, 2027. Middle East & Africa Turkey’s first intelligence ship, TCG Ufuk, was put into service in Istanbul on Friday as part of the country’s efforts to increase its naval power with a warship program. The ship was produced with national resources. Speaking at the delivery ceremony in Istanbul Shipyard, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ship was built with national engineering capabilities, putting Turkey among the 10 countries in the world that can domestically design, construct and maintain a warship. Europe HENSOLDT has won approximately $57 million to equip the German-Norwegian submarine project U212 CD with a fully digital sensor suite. The optronics division of HENSOLDT has now received a corresponding order worth over €50 million from kta naval systems, a consortium of Kongsberg, ThyssenKrupp Marine Systeme (TKMS) and Atlas Elektronik. TKMS was awarded €5.5 billion in July 2021 to build two 212CD submarines for Germany and another four for Norway. Leonardo has signed over $297 million worth contracts with HENSOLDT to help in the development of the Eurofighter Typhoon Jet’s ECRS Mk1 (European Common Radar System Mk1) E-scan radar, ordered by Germany and Spain. According to a press release, Leonardo will conduct development work on new wideband capabilities and provide core parts of the new radar’s antenna, APSC (Antenna Power Supply & Control) and its processor. Asia-Pacific The Philippine government will acquire another 32 S-70i helicopters. A Notice of Award (NOA) has been issued to PZL Mielec of Poland on December 28. The amount of the purchase is valued at $623 million and it comes with training and logistical support. The first five helicopters are to be delivered from 2023. The last aircraft is supposed to be handed over in 2026. Today’s Video Watch: ‘Turkey’s eyes, ears at sea’: 1st intelligence ship joins naval fleet View the full article

At last week’s SNA, an initial concept for DDG(X) was put up on a slide for all to see; Don’t get too excited though; ...the hull form shown in the concept image is not representative of the ship and that the service has not settled on a specific design yet. ...The program office isn’t committed to a specific hull design but presented a swept, angular, bulbous bow design reminiscent of an Arleigh Burke rather than the tumblehome, wave-piercing design of the Zumwalts. “We haven’t actually locked down the hull form, yet. That’s a concept,” Connelly said, referring to the concept drawing the office presented. “It is one of the many options still in play. … We as the design team, are going through all the different options to see which one performs best for the long-term and the mission.” Let me start out with saying what I do like. First of all, with a focus on fighting in Westpac you need range and dwell time. We seem to have it; The Navy is also calling for a ship that can travel 50 percent farther ... (than an Arleigh Burke) Second, after a couple of decades of serial debacles born from the Age of Transformationalism, we need minimal technology risk; The combat system developed for the Flight III destroyers will be wrapped in a new hull that would be able to grow as weapon systems evolve, Connelly said. “When we upgraded the Flight III … we took up all of the service life allowance on that platform. All of the space, weight and power has all been allocated. There is not enough room on that ship to put a new combat capability that takes more power or a larger footprint within the ship,” she said. “The first ship will focus on a new hull form and a new integrated power system. We will use the proven combat system from the Flight III ship so we are designing the ship with the flexibility and the margins to accommodate the future of the Navy and the needs for where we’re going.” In the spirit of the Spruance Class DD, we seem to be designing the platform with enough white-space so capabilities yet ripe can be included at a later date. The important thing is to displace water with the good now, and then make it better later. Very solid. I do have some concerns, starting with weaponeering; Initially, the ship would feature a 32-cell Mk-41 Vertical Launch System forward of the superstructure that could be swapped for 12 larger missile cells capable of fielding the Pentagon’s emerging hypersonic weapons being developed for the Navy, Army and the Air Force. The current DDG-51s field 96 MK-41 VLS cells and USNI News understands that Navy requirements keep the VLS cells for DDG(X) about the same. I’m sorry, that simply is not enough VLS cells. Ripping out the 32 so you can put in a dozen hypersonics doesn’t seem all that wise either unless that is a mission swap out you can do from a (yet to be designed and built) destroyer tender. Looking at the slide, I get the aft end is helo country, but what is amidships? Where are the ASCM? I don't think this part of the show was ready for prime time. Let's take a look at Ronald O'Rourke's summary in the Congressional Research Service report; The Navy’s DDG(X) program envisages procuring a class of next-generation guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) to replace the Navy’s Ticonderoga (CG-47) class Aegis cruisers and its older Arleigh Burke DDG-51) class Aegis destroyers. The Navy wants to procure the first DDG(X) in FY2028. The Navy’s proposed FY2022 budget request $121.8 million in research and development funding for the program. Non-concur here. We are repeating the mistake of trying to have a one-ship-fits-all false economy. Especially with long range hypersonics, we need to have a large surface combatant - yes a cruiser - at least the size of the ZUMWALTS that can carry dozens of hypersonics and still defend itself. Navy’s General Concept for the Ship Figure 1 shows a Navy rendering of a notional DDG(X) design concept. The Navy approved the DDG(X)’s top level requirements (i.e., its major required features) in December 2020. The Navy envisages the DDG(X) as having - an integrated propulsion system (IPS) that incorporates lessons from the DDG-1000 IPS and the Navy’s new Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine; - initially, combat system equipment similar to that installed on the Flight III DDG-51; and - more weapon capacity than the Flight III DDG-51. Navy officials envision the DDG(X) as being larger than the 9,700-ton Flight III DDG-51 design, but smaller than the 15,700-ton DDG-1000 design. A DDG(X) design midway in displacement between the DDG-51 and DDG1000 designs would displace about 12,700 tons, but the DDG(X)’s displacement could turn out to be less than or more than 12,700 tons. The Navy states that the DDG(X) would integrate non-developmental systems into a new hull design that incorporates platform flexibility and the space, weight, power and cooling (SWAPC) to meet future combatant force capability/system requirements that are not achievable without the new hull design. The DDG(X) platform will have the flexibility to rapidly and affordably upgrade to future warfighting systems when they become available as well as have improved range and fuel efficiency for increased operational flexibility and decreased demand on the logistics force. DDG(X) will provide an Integrated Power System with flexibility to enable fielding of high demand electric weapons, sensor systems and computing resources. (Source: Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget Estimates, Navy, Justification Book, Volume 2 of 5, Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Navy, May 2021, p. 479.) Here's my $.02 … they needed to put something out, so they put something out. Fine. However, we need to be building something. I fear we are stuck in analysis paralysis as we have not even selected a hull form yet? I’m not running anything, but if I were, I’d simply tell the team, “Pick one by 21 Jan 21 and let’s get moving with the most viable hull form. If the losing hull form in a couple of years looks like a player, then we can build it too as another class. Yes, we can build more than one class of DDG. Other generations did, it worked well for them, we can do it too … but we need to be building now.” If they are not ready to do that, then fire the entire team and bring in a new one. Faster please. 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=UH6wVn-bfCM:b3AU67FNP-k:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=UH6wVn-bfCM:b3AU67FNP-k:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=UH6wVn-bfCM:b3AU67FNP-k:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=UH6wVn-bfCM:b3AU67FNP-k:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will soon start testing unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) on par with human-piloted vehicles being built under the Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) program. The DARPA RACER program will develop and demonstrate autonomy technologies that enable unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to maneuver in unstructured off-road terrain at the limit of the vehicle’s mechanical systems and at, or beyond, human-driven speeds and efficiencies. The US Space Development Agency is planning to deploy 144 transport layer satellites and 28 tracking satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) by 2024 to detect maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles during flight. Speaking today at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies’ Schriever Spacepower Forum, Derek Tournear said satellites in LEO will make up the tracking layer that will be able to detect hypersonic threats by their heat signatures, eventually on a global scale. Middle East & Africa Dyncorp International won a §28.8 million contract modification aviation maintenance support services. Work will take place in Saudi Arabia. Estimated completion date is July 31, 2022. Europe A new contract has been signed between Artem State Joint-Stock Company, a subsidiary of Ukroboronprom and the Ukrainian defense ministry for the production of a large batch of unguided RS-80 air-to-air missiles. Under the current contract, the number of missiles is five times higher than the order that Artem fulfilled last year. This volume will allow to load own capacities of the enterprise and its co-executors, the company said in a release. The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to France of MQ-9 Communications Intelligence Sensor Pod Suites and related equipment. The Government of France has requested to buy up to eight Communications Intelligence Sensor Pod Suites, that will be added to a previously implemented case. The original FMS case and amendments, valued at $71 million, included five Communications Intelligence Sensor Pod Suites, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a release. Asia-Pacific According to Defense News, the Republic of China Navy commissioned two new rapid minelaying boats at Zuoying Naval Base in Kaohsiung city. The two boats were delivered in late 2021 but were put into active service on January 14. They will form the first and second Mine Boat Squadrons of the Navy’s 192nd Fleet (Minesweeper Fleet). Today’s Video Watch: America DARPA Testing Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) View the full article

Five presidents from both political parties oversaw the two decade debacle in Afghanistan that ended in the national humiliation at the end of August 2021 at the airport in Kabul where we retreated under fire following a negotiated surrender - leaving up to a thousand Americans behind and untold thousands of Afghan nationals who fought with us to their fate as the Taliban returned to the power we took from them in 2001. People in the executive branch, Department of Defense, Department of State, Congress, media, and the well credentialed chatterati said they were "shocked," "surprised," and otherwise unprepared for what unfolded. Should they have been, or was this the inevitable outcome warned of in official government lessons learned and historical interviews dating from the beginning of the conflict? Our guest for the full hour this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern will be Craig Whitlock, and we will be using his book “The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War” (Simon & Schuster, 2021) as a starting point for our conversation. Craig has been a staff writer for The Washington Post since 1998. He is assigned to the Investigative Desk, where he specializes in national security. At The Post, he's covered the Pentagon beat for the National Desk from 2010 until 2016. Before that, he was a foreign correspondent and served as the Berlin bureau chief for six years. While overseas, his primary assignment was investigative reporting into terrorism networks and counterterrorism policy in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. He has reported from more than 60 countries. 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=V1arkLpxafw:J-D5TKPrBvI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=V1arkLpxafw:J-D5TKPrBvI:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=V1arkLpxafw:J-D5TKPrBvI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=V1arkLpxafw:J-D5TKPrBvI:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

We are joined today by former MCPON Mike Stevens, the 13th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, and FLTCM April Beldo-Lilley to weigh in on the subject. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

We are joined today by former MCPON Mike Stevens, the 13th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, and FLTCM April Beldo-Lilley. The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

What is duty, duty to yourself, those who work for you, your mission, those who gave you your mission, and the purpose the mission was created? How do you rack and stack these priorities? Once again, my mind went to the story of T.E. Lawrence; The next morning, 23 May, the party left Khabra` Abu Ajaj and rode northeast by north to a group of wells of `Arfajah, whereby they aimed at entering the lower Wadi Sirhan, passing over a vast, flat, empty, no-man’s land which was called Bisayt [Biseita] meaning a carpet. In the evening they came to the top of a sand ridge named Ja`ala [Jaala] and slept there peacefully. According to the maps to be mentioned later, this is exactly a midway point between Fajr and `Arfajah. The next day, 24 May, was to become memorable for the rescue of Qasim [Gasim] by TEL when he was lost in the scorching Bisayt. He was one of TEL’s bodyguards though he was no Agayl but from Ma`an, ‹a fanged and yellow-faced outlaw, who fled into the desert and joined the Howeitat after killing a Turkish official in a dispute over cattle-tax. Crimes against tax-gatherers had a sympathetic side to all of us, and this gave Gasim a specious rumour of geniality which, we discovered later, was actually far from the truth (p.242).› TEL, solely out of a sense of duty and not from humanity, had turned his unwilling camel round, and forced her back into the emptiness behind. When TEL finally caught up the party with Qasim who had gone nearly insane from horror and heat and thirst sat on his camel’s rump, no one praised his deed. Auda said he would not have let TEL go back had he been present, and struck Qasim sharply. Nasib went so far as to blame TEL for such a whim to Nasir, saying it was clear to him that TEL must have reckoned they would come back. That evening, they decided not to go farther and camped at Qusaym `Arfajah, contentedly even without a mouthful of water, because they were already at the south bank of Wadi Sirhan and `Arfajah was within their sight. On 25 May, at 8 o’clock in the morning, TEL’s party reached the wells of `Arfajah. This ended the first leg of his journey for the `Aqaba raid. Qasim. If you know the story ... you know the story. What make you feel like you did the right thing in your context, may not be in the larger context ... and can end in ways you wouldn't expect. Leadership is hard. Duty seems simple, but it is not. Many times there are no correct answers or actions, only the less imperfect - you hope. Time travel is not possible. Not all effects are known ... they just are. 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=Wx6FaDQX8nA:jSUqCRix6cE:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Wx6FaDQX8nA:jSUqCRix6cE:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Wx6FaDQX8nA:jSUqCRix6cE:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Wx6FaDQX8nA:jSUqCRix6cE:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

A few quick items of good news where we have some strong messaging coming out. First a report of SECNAV making the right stand against a weak organization;China’s increasingly muscular efforts to isolate Taiwan internationally have paid off in Washington after a foreign naval association caved in to Chinese pressure and reversed course on letting Taiwanese officers join the group. Several people familiar with the dispute said the Washington-based Naval Attachés Association rescinded an invitation for Taiwan to join the group, which includes officers from American allies, after China strongly objected.What did SECNAV Del Toro do?The US navy has banned officers from attending NAA events. Carlos Del Toro, navy secretary, last month said it did not support China’s “coercive tactics” and opposed efforts to “manipulate independent organisations”. China often leans on governments, NGOs, companies, and the media to deny Taiwan’s sovereignty. But the NAA case is a rare example of it forcing a group in the US to sever ties with the island. It highlights the difficulty Washington faces in trying to expand exchanges with Taiwan and normalise contacts with Taiwanese officials while the US and most powerful nations deny Taipei diplomatic recognition.BZ SECNAV. People and organization either get it, or don't get it. Sometimes they need to pick a team and publicly put their cards out. If that is where NAA stands, then so be it. We don't have to stand with them if they show such NBA-like cowardice in the face of the PRC. Next over to the uniformed side of the house. As you would expect with this week's Surface Navy Association’s 34th Annual National Symposium in Washington, D.C., we have an opportunity to set the tone for the new year and Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Admiral Daryl Caudle, USN did not disappoint. Dare I say ... he decided to go full Salamander;“We need to be angry at not having the right manning. We need to be angry at not having the ships out at the right time,” Admiral Daryl Caudle said at the Surface Navy Association annual convention on January 12. can kick.” Caudle, who said in his opening remarks that he wanted more ships and a bigger budget, said the Navy does not have the “luxury of doing more with less”. “We can’t just build a bunch of ships and fill them with the right equipment, the right number of people,” Caudle said.Keep it up. Call it out. Be the squeaky wheel. Yes, I know there was some rah, rah fluff in his speech, but this bit of direct talk gives me hope. More of this Admiral. More of this, please. I'll take the "W." What about the Legislative Branch of government? Also from SNA-22 we have strong - and correct - thinking from of another leader on The Hill on naval and national security issues who will speak clearly, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI).The only short war for Taiwan would be a quick Chinese victory. If we’re going to win, we’ll have to buy time to amass assets in the region while denying the Chinese invasion. I’m concerned that our planning has not caught up to this reality, and our wargames don’t even integrate financial and economic warfare into their scenarios. However many munitions, logistics nodes, and fleet enablers we think we will need, we will need more. This goes for Taiwan itself, which needs enormous quantities of not only anti-ship and anti-air missiles and mines, but also enough food, water, and other essential supplies to enable the island’s defenders to weather a blockade that could last months or even years. Some of these defenders on the ground should be American. We should expand training missions in Taiwan, particularly when it comes to pairing National Guard units with Taiwan’s reserve forces, and regularly send senior military leaders to Taiwan to engage with counterparts and see the relevant wartime terrain with their own eyes. CyberCom should send Defend Forward cyber teams to Taiwan. We also need to be building the operational planning structures we will need ahead of time while incorporating allies like Japan and Australia. This includes re-establishing Joint Task Force Five One Nine under INDO-PACOM to run point on contingency planning in the region and re-establishing the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Command to fully integrate wartime planning with Taiwan.Keeping with the SNA-22 wins and from the other side of the aisle, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) is thinking 3-4 steps down the road and has clearly done some wargaming of her own. You want something actionable now for the porcupine? Here you go;The vice chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday said new legislation is needed to allow the U.S. to respond faster should China invade Taiwan. President Joe Biden “doesn’t have the authority [under the law] to actually respond” should China attack the island, Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., said, noting a U.S. response would be needed to maintain stability in the region. “If China were to invade Taiwan today, the president would have to come to Congress for authorization to respond,” the 20-year Navy veteran said while speaking at the Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Va. “We can’t lose [the] months that it would take in order for us to provide a response.”Let not your heart be troubled. There are smart people out there who are thinking right and - if given the opportunity - will speak and hopefully act in line with their thinking. We have good people ... we just need to get them closer to the levers of power to get us where we need to be. Time is short. Faster please. 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=2_CAC0XK7i4:skqxEoqjr0o:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=2_CAC0XK7i4:skqxEoqjr0o:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=2_CAC0XK7i4:skqxEoqjr0o:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=2_CAC0XK7i4:skqxEoqjr0o:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

By CWO-4 Lester B. Tucker, USN (Ret.) Originally Published in Pull Together Vol. 32 No. 1 (Spring/Summer 1993) It is a sure bet that one of the proudest days in an enlisted individual’s naval service is the date on which a first-class petty officer dons the uniform and is accepted into the Chief Petty Officer community. At this time, the PO1’s leadership and professional abilities are recognized by superiors. These qualities continue to be honed with experience and maturity until retirement. This article covers the history of the grade of Chief Petty Officer. April 1, 1993, marked the 100th anniversary of the creation of that grade. It is necessary, however, to look back to the origins of the Continental Navy to establish the foundation of relative grades and classifications that led to the ultimate establishment of the CPO grade. During the Revolutionary War, Jacob Wasbie, a Cook’s Mate serving on board the Alfred, one of the first Continental Navy warships, was promoted to “Chief Cook” on June 1, 1776. Chief Cook is construed to mean Cook or Ship’s Cook which was the official rating title at that time. This is the earliest example of the use the term “Chief” located to date by the author. The United States Navy was reauthorized under the Constitution by an act of March 27, 1794. The fledgling Navy was to consist of four forty-four gun frigates and two thirty-six gun frigates. The action taken by Congress on that date was based upon the need to counter the Algerian pirates. However, a treaty was reached between the United States and Algiers prior to completing any of the vessels, and the act was allowed to expire. The construction or completion of three frigates was later directed under an act of July 1, 1797. Those ships were the Constitution and United States, each rated at forty-four guns, and the Constellation, mounting 36 guns. Personnel allowed to the two classes of warships were the same under both acts. Petty officers, who were appointed by the Captain, consisted of one Captain’s Clerk, two Boatswain’s Mates, a Coxswain, a Sailmaker’s Mate, two Gunner’s Mates, one Yeoman of the Gun Room, nine Quarter Gunners (eleven were allowed for the two larger vessels), two Carpenter’s Mates, an Armorer, a Steward, a Cooper, a Master-at-Arms, and a Cook. Non-petty officers, as listed in the 1797 act, consisted of 103 Ordinary Seamen and Midshipmen and 150 Able Seamen for the larger frigates; the smaller vessel, Constellation, was allowed 130 Able Seamen and Midshipmen and 90 Ordinary Seamen. None of those figures included Marines, which added three Sergeants, three Corporals, one Drummer, one Fifer, and 50 Marine Privates to the complement of the larger ships. The 36 gun frigate was allowed 1 less Sergeant and Corporal and 40 rather than 50 Marines. Generally speaking, precedence of petty officers was not really introduced until the U.S. Navy Regulations, approved February 15, 1853, were published. It must be pointed out that those regulations were declared invalid by the Attorney General on May 3, 1853, and were rescinded due merely to the fact that the President rather than Congress approved them. However, this did not mean that the information and the guidelines contained in them were inaccurate. Conversely, the Secretary of the Navy submitted a set of naval regulations for Congressional acceptance on December 8, 1858, but they were never acted upon in that session of Congress. Based upon pay tables of the period, the contents of the 1858 plan, like the regulations of 1853, appear to have contained the current rating structure of that period. Prior to 1853, one could infer a quasi-precedence of ratings based upon the sequence in which ratings were listed within complement charts; this is backed by differences in pay of various petty officers. Another issue to be considered is the fact that the order of the names of the petty officers as they appeared on muster rolls could generally be considered an order of precedence. Precedence of ratings was explicitly spelled out in Navy Regulations approved on March 12, 1863. At this point it is useful to review the early Civil War petty officer rating structure just prior to the official usage of “Chief” with rating titles. Petty officers were listed under two categories—Petty Officers of the Line and Petty Officers of the Staff as shown in Table 1. The 1863 Regulations made the priority of ratings clear: “Precedence among petty officers of the same rate, if not established particularly by the commander or the vessel, will be determined by priority of rating. When two or more have received the same rate on the same day, and the commander of the vessel shall not have designated one of that rate to act as a chief, such as chief boatswain’s mate, chief gunner’s mate, or chief or signal quartermaster, their precedence shall be determined by the order in which their names appear on the ship’s books. And precedence among petty officers of the same relative rank is to be determined by priority of rating; or in case of ratings being of the same date, by the order in which their names appear on the ship’s books.” That lengthy paragraph was shortened in the 1865 regulations to read simply, “Precedence among Petty Officers of the same rate shall be established by the Commanding Officer of the vessel in which they serve.” Precedence by rating was a fact of Navy life for the next 105 years and was substantiated by rating priority and the date of an individual’s promotion. Precedence of ratings remained in effect until the issue of Change #17 of August 15, 1968, to the 1959 Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) Manual. At that time, precedence among ratings was eliminated and changed to a single system for military and non-military matters based on pay grade and time in grade. During 27 1/2 years of naval service, the author has been audience to an appreciable number of boiling point arguments on the ship’s fantail and in the Chiefs’ messes concerning seniority of ratings. As one can determine from the foregoing evidence, Boatswain’s Mates have not always been the senior rating in the Navy. However, if one tries to enlighten some of them they will usually get their danders up and argue until red in the face. Likewise, Aviation Machinist’s Mates have not always been the senior rating within the Aviation Branch. From 1924 to 1933, and again from 1942 to 1948, the rating of Aviation Pilot topped the mechs as well as all other aviation ratings. It is not the intention of this synopsis to present an extended dissertation on individual ratings. However, at this point, clarification of a longstanding controversy and its resultant misconceptions regarding the Chief Boatswain’s Mates, Chief Gunner’s Mates, and Chief or Signal Quartermasters of the 1864-93 era is necessary. Those three ratings have at one time or another been erroneously identified and argued as being Chief Petty Officers. General Order #36 of May 16, 1864, effective July 1, 1864, listed Navy ratings along with monthly pay for each rating. Among the ratings included were Chief Boatswain’s Mate, Boatswain’s Mate in Charge, Boatswain’s Mate, Chief Gunner’s Mate, Gunner’s Mate in Charge, Gunner’s Mate, Chief Quartermaster and Quartermaster. Boatswain’s Mates and Gunner’s Mates received $27.00 monthly and Quartermasters, $25.00. Chief Boatswain’s Mates and Chief Gunners’s Mates were paid $30.00 per month and were listed for service only on board vessels of the lst and 2nd rates. Chief Quartermasters were paid the same except for a $2.00 reduction while serving in ships of the 3rd and 4th rates. Boatswain’s Mates in Charge and Gunner’s Mates in Charge were also paid $30.00 per month. The primary difference between the Chief Boatswain’s Mate and Boatswain’s Mate in Charge and the Chief Gunner’s Mate and Gunner’s Mate in Charge lay in their assignments. Chief Boatswain’s Mates and Chief Gunner’s Mates were permitted on board ships of the first two classes of vessels (1st and 2nd rates with 100 or more crewmen). The Boatswain’s Mate in Charge and the Gunner’s Mate in Charge could be assigned to any of the four classed vessels (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rates) and specifically only when a Warrant Boatswain or Warrant Gunner was not assigned to the ship. Boatswain’s Mates in Charge and Gunner’s Mates in Charge appeared in the rating structure for only five years. They were last listed in the pay table included in the Navy Register for July 1, 1869, and were eliminated from this list with the issue of January 1, 1870. From that date, according to complements set in 1872, Chief Boatswain’s Mates and Chief Gunner’s Mates were assigned to vessels of all four classes. Then, five years later, by the allowance list of 1877, they were assigned only to ships without a warranted Boatswain or Gunner. The title of Chief or Signal Quartermaster was mentioned in the 1863 Regulations and requires explanation. The term Signal Quartermaster was utilized from at least the early 1800s. That title identified those Quartermasters who were principally involved with signaling and the care of flags, halyards, markers, lanterns and other paraphernalia as opposed to Quartermasters who were mainly concerned with navigational and steering duties. From 1863 to 1865, the rating titles of Chief Quartermaster and Signal Quartermaster were virtually synonymous. Furthermore, the 1863 Navy Regulations and the 1864 pay order did not present a distinction between those two titles. In 1865, however, by U.S. Navy Regulations approved April 18, 1865, a distinction was made between Quartermaster (not Chief Quartermaster, which was never listed) and Signal Quartermaster listed under Petty Officers of the Line. Signal Quartermaster was listed as third in precedence (after Gunner’s Mate), whereas Quartermaster was sixth (after Coxswain to Commander in Chief of a Squadron or Fleet). Those two ratings continued to be carried in successive issues of Navy Regulations until 1885. It is of note that Signal Quartermaster was never listed as a separate rate from Chief Quartermaster in the pay tables covering those twenty years. Therefore, the title of Signal Quartermaster, instead of Chief Quartermaster, can be considered as the official title from April 18, 1865, to January 8, 1885. The title of Chief Quartermaster, primarily found in Navy pay tables for that same period, can be judged to be an alternate or common-use title for Signal Quartermaster. In other directives and correspondence these two titles were often used interchangeably. It is necessary to reflect back to Chief Boatswain’s Mates and Chief Gunner’s Mates to define their exact status. Navy Regulations of 1865, 1870, and 1876 fail to show Chief Boatswain’s Mate and Chief Gunner’s Mate as different rates or levels from Boatswain’s Mate and Gunner’s Mate respectively. It therefore follows that to justify calling the Chief Boatswain’s Mate and the Chief Gunner’s Mate additional rates one has to depend upon General Order 36 of May 16, 1864 (effective July 1, 1864), and Tables of Allowances for the 1870s which list them as rates or ratings along with Boatswain’s Mate and Gunner’s Mate. To answer the question of whether the Chief Boatswain’s Mate, Chief Gunner’s Mate, and Chief Quartermaster or Signal Quartermaster of the 1863-93 era were or were not actually Chief Petty Officers is elementary. They were not Chief Petty Officers due to the fact that the grade had not yet been created. On January 1, 1884, when the new pay rates became effective, there existed the three aforementioned rates carrying the word Chief–Boatswain’s Mate, Gunner’s Mate, and Quartermaster–all paid $35.00 per month. Several other rates were paid higher amounts, ranging from $40.00 to $70.00 per month. Fifty-three weeks later, on January 8, 1885, the Navy classed all enlisted personnel as first, second, or third class for petty officers, and as Seaman first, second, or third class for non-petty officers. Chief Boatswain’s Mates, Chief Quartermasters and Chief Gunner’s Mates were positioned at the Petty Officer First Class level within the Seaman Class; Masters- at-Arms, Apothecaries, Yeomen (Equipment, Paymasters, and Engineers), Ships Writers, Schoolmasters and Band Masters were also First Class Petty Officers but came under the Special Branch; finally, Machinists were carried at the top grade within the Artificer Branch. Included under the Special Branch at the second class petty officer level was the rate of Chief Musician who was junior to the Band Master. That rate was changed to First Musician under the 1893 realignment of ratings was and carried as a petty officer first class until 1943. On April 1, 1893, two important steps were taken. First, the grade of Chief Petty Officer was established; secondly, most enlisted men received a pay raise. The question is often asked, “Who was the first Chief Petty Officer?” The answer is flatly: “There was no first Chief Petty Officer due to the fact that nearly all ratings carried as Petty Officers First Class from 1885 were automatically shifted to the Chief Petty Officer level.” Exceptions were Schoolmasters, who stayed at first class; Ship’s Writers, who stayed the same but expanded to include second and third class; and Carpenter’s Mates, who had been carried as second class petty officers but were extended to include chief, first, second, and third classes. Therefore, the Chief Petty Officer grade on April 1, 1893, encompassed the nine rates shown in Table 2. Prior to the establishment of the Chief Petty Officer grade, and for many years thereafter, commanding officers could promote petty officers to acting appointments in order to fill vacancies in ships’ complements. Men served various lengths of time under acting appointments, generally six months to a year. If service was satisfactory, the captain recommended to the Bureau of Navigation (called the Bureau of Personnel, BUPERS, after October 1, 1942) that an individual be given a permanent appointment for the rate in which he served. Otherwise the commanding officer could reduce an individual to the grade or rate held prior to promotion if he served under an acting appointment. The change in status from acting to permanent appointment was always a “breathe-easier” occurrence. This meant that the commanding officer could not reduce a Chief Petty Officer in rate if he messed up. It took a court-martial and the Bureau’s approval to reduce a Chief serving under a permanent appointment. The letters “PA” and “AA” were written alongside rate titles and their abbreviations. Those letters stood for permanent appointment and acting appointment, and were used to signify a Chief Petty Officer’s status. After March 8, 1946, the letter “A” (for acting appointment) was used integrally with the rate abbreviation. For example, Chief Boatswain’s Mate with an acting appointment was abbreviated CBMA. Pay grade 1-A no longer signified acting appointment for Chief Petty Officers after October 1, 1949, as affected by the Career Compensation Act of October 12, 1949. From that time, CPOs received the same pay regardless of whether they held permanent or acting appointments. On November 1, 1965, acting appointments were dropped from use. A pay differential existed between permanent and acting appointments until 1949. Pay for Chief Petty Officers, in 1902, ranged from $50.00 to $70.00 depending upon the specialty held. General Order 134 of June 26, 1903 (which became effective on July 1, 1903), ordered that “Chief Petty Officer Officers whose pay is not fixed by law and who shall receive permanent appointments after qualifying therefore by passing such examination as the Secretary of the Navy may prescribe shall be paid at the rate of $70.00 per month.” CPOs holding permanent appointments dated prior to July 1, 1903, were required to requalify by standing an examination before a board of three officers. If they passed, they were issued permanent appointments by the Bureau of Navigation. Those who did not requalify remained in their pay and grade level instead of increasing to the $70.00 level. Pay levels for enlisted men at that time were established by executive order until July 1, 1908. An act of May 13, 1908, established that the U.S. Congress would set pay for enlisted men. However, during the Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, by executive order alone, temporarily decreased the pay of all Armed Forces personnel by 15 percent from April 1, 1933, to June 30, 1934, and 5 percent from July 1, 1934, to June 30, 1935. The act of May 18, 1920, effective January 1, 1920, standardized pay at all levels from the lowest non-rated grade, which was Apprentice Seaman, through Chief Petty Officer. Base pay for Permanent Appointment Chiefs was $126.00 per month, and for Acting Appointments, $99.00. These pay rates remained effective until June 1, 1942. Under the act of June 16, 1942, pay was increased to $138.00 and $126.00 for CPOs with permanent and acting appointments, respectively. By an act of June 10, 1922, which became effective July 1, 1922, the pay grades of 1 and 1-A to 7 were established. CPOs (PA) and Mates were carried in pay grade 1 whereas Chiefs with Acting Appointments were listed in pay grade 1-A. On October 1, 1949, by the Career Compensation Act of October 12, 1949, pay grades were reversed and the letter E, for enlisted, was added setting all Chief Petty Officers at E-7 vice pay grades 1 and 1-A. The pay grades of E-8 and E-9, Senior Chief and Master Chief, were created effective June 1, 1958, under a 1958 Amendment to the Career Compensation Act of 1949. Eligibility for promotion to E-8, the Senior Chief level, was restricted to Chiefs (Permanent Appointment) with a minimum of four years in grade and a total of ten years of service. For elevation from E- 7 to Master Chief, E-9, a minimum of six years service as a Chief Petty Officer with a total of 13 years service was required. The E-5 through E-9 levels included all ratings except Teleman and Printer which at the time were being phased out of the naval rating structure. People holding those ratings were absorbed or converted to Yeoman or Radioman from Teleman and primarily to Lithographer from Printer. Service-wide examinations for outstanding Chiefs were held on August 5, 1958, with the first promotions becoming effective on November 16, 1958. A few months later, a second group of Chiefs from the February 1959 exam inations were elevated to E-8 and E-9 effective on May 16, 1959. The names of the first two groups of selectees are listed in Bureau of Naval Personnel Notices 1430 of October 17, 1958, and May 20, 1959. It is noted that after the May 1959 elevations, promotions to E-9 were through Senior Chief only. On July 1, 1965, compression of several ratings at the two top grades was enforced. Six new rating titles were created: Master Chief Steam Propulsionman, Master Chief Aircraft Maintenanceman, Master Chief Avionics Technician, Master Chief Precision Instrumentman, Master Chief Constructionman, and Master Chief Equipmentman. Conversely, about four years later, on February 15, 1969, some expansion at the Senior and Master Chief grades eliminated Master Chief Steam Propulsionman. Expanded rates included Master and Senior Chief Torpedoman’s Mate, Quartermaster, and Storekeeper. Seven ratings were reestablished at the E-8 and E-9 grades, presenting the opportunity for Chiefs to again advance within their specialty to E-9. The seven affected ratings were Signalman, Mineman, Aircrew Survival Equipmentman, Aviation Storekeeper, Aviation Maintenance Administrationman, and Boiler Technician. The only recent rating change that has had a substantial effect on the Chief Petty Officer community occurred on January 1, 1991, when three ratings were merged into one. Antisubmarine Warfare Technician, Aviation Fire Control Technician, and Aviation Electronics Technician ratings at the E-3 (apprenticeship) and E-4 through the E-8 petty officer grades were merged into the single rating of Aviation Electronics Technician. At the same time, the rating of Avionics Maintenance Technician (E-9 only) remained as the normal path of advancement from the rates of Senior Chief Aviation Electronics Technician and Senior Chief Aviation Electrician’s Mate. The current number of ratings of Chief Petty Officers falls far short of the number listed at the end of World War II, which then totaled 207 different rating titles. At the present time there are 81 rating titles that apply to Chief Petty Officers, 80 titles for Senior Chiefs, and 69 rating titles for Master Chiefs. Only two ratings have remained in continuous use since 1797—Boatswain’s Mate and Gunner’s Mate. The service of all senior enlisted personnel, past, present and future, are recognized in their centennial year, aptly marked by the theme, “One Hundred Years of Leadership.” The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Reviewed by LCDR Brian Hayes, USNR (Ret.) The Indestructible Man tells the story of Dixie Kiefer, a naval officer and aviator who served in several of the legendary battles of World War II’s Pacific Theater. Kiefer has been the subject of profiles by the Naval History and Heritage Command and other Internet and print publications, but Don Keith and David Rocco have written the first book-length account of his life. Although not a scholarly biography, it is a fast and enjoyable read. Born in Idaho, Kiefer joined the U.S. Naval Academy’s class of 1919. The class graduated early because of World War I, and Kiefer spent the first year of his naval career patrolling and clearing mines in the North Sea. After the war, he attended flight training and joined the Navy’s fledgling aviation program. Over the next two decades, Kiefer performed the first night take-off from a vessel, served as an instructor pilot, studied aeronautical engineering, and served in flying and seagoing assignments. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Kiefer was serving as executive officer of a seaplane tender. He was promptly reassigned to the carrier Navy, just as it was about to take center stage in the Pacific Theater. Kiefer’s assignments placed him at the center of some of the war’s most significant actions – executive officer of USS Yorktown (CV-5) at the Coral Sea and Midway, then skipper of USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) during the invasion of the Philippines and the approach to Japan. He distinguished himself throughout, receiving the Navy Cross (for heroism in firefighting and lifesaving in Yorktown, despite rope burns and a broken ankle) and the Silver Star (for continuing to fight from Ticonderoga’s bridge despite wounds suffered during a kamikaze attack). After recovering from his injuries in the Ticonderoga action, Kiefer was promoted to commodore and cleared for stateside duty. He finished the war at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, commanding both the station and the First Naval District. In an ironic twist, Kiefer survived hellish naval combat in the Pacific only to die in a peacetime plane crash in November 1945. In 2013, co-author David Rocco learned of the crash and the presence of wreckage near Beacon, New York, while on a historic restoration project in the area. He shared the story with Don Keith, a journalist and author of military thrillers (including the novel Hunter Killer, now a feature film) as well as popular histories of World War II. The Indestructible Man is the product of their collaboration. Kiefer’s life is inherently fascinating, and his heroism in three of the Pacific War’s most significant battles will certainly interest students of World War II. Another theme of the book is Kiefer’s informal leadership style, which emphasized positive reinforcement and leadership by personal example. As a result, the book could serve as a useful case study for leadership courses at the midshipman and junior petty officer levels. Historians should be aware that this is neither a true biography of Kiefer, nor a scholarly work of history. The authors regrettably chose not to include “footnotes or other distractions” (their words). The book also lacks a bibliography. Despite this lack of sourcing and a disclaimer about having “specifically avoided speculation,” the authors repeatedly present as fact details such as what Kiefer “knew” or felt. They also attribute numerous direct quotations to Kiefer, but the historical circumstances, lack of supporting evidence, and jingoistic tone cast doubt on the accuracy of much of the quoted material. Finally, the authors tend to generalize and romanticize the history. It is unlikely, for example, that “everyone” within an aircraft carrier’s crew had a “sunny mood” while going into combat and did his job “calmly and efficiently.” Beyond the battle history and tales of Kiefer’s bravery, the book briefly addresses a topic that is of great interest at present: race relations and the role of black sailors. The authors state that, in 1941, “Kiefer made an effort to treat all of his men the same, to make certain black sailors were trained to fight just as their white counterparts were.” If true, this was unusual for the segregated Navy of that era. Keith and Rocco also identify another victim of the Mount Beacon plane crash as Clarence Hooper, a 22-year-old black sailor whose service records include references to having been assigned to, then removed from, “duty involving flying.” The authors imply that the segregated Navy accidentally selected Hooper for flight duty, then rescinded the assignment after realizing his race. These are brief anecdotes in the book but may be of great interest to current naval historians. Both would benefit from further research. I recommend The Indestructible Man to anyone with an interest in World War II carrier combat. Despite its limitations, the book is a worthwhile introduction to the life and service of an extraordinary officer. Kiefer’s life deserves a serious, professional biography; perhaps reading this book will inspire a naval historian to write one. The Indestructible Man: The Incredible True Story of the Legendary Sailor the Japanese Couldn’t Kill (Don Keith and David Rocco, Stackpole Books, Lanham, Maryland, 2021). The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Americas A US Navy MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter made a crash landing in coastal Virginia. The incident took place shortly before 11:30 am on January 12. Virginia State Police said the aircraft hit several trees on the way down. The MH-60S was assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, based out of Naval Station Norfolk, roughly 30 miles southeast of Smithfield. Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division achieved the Aegis light-off milestone on the US Navy’s first Flight III Arleigh Burke Class guided missile destroyer Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125). The Flight III upgrade incorporates a number of design modifications that collectively provide significantly enhanced capability. Aegis light-off is an important milestone for integrating and activating all of the new electric plant equipment and combat systems. Middle East & Africa An Israeli company’s subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates inked a $53 million deal to supply direct infrared countermeasures and airborne electronic warfare systems for A330 tanker aircraft. According to reports, this is the first public deal for the recently established Elbit Systems Emirates Limited. Elbit Systems said the project will take five years. Europe The US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Greece of Follow-on Support for F-16 Engine Maintenance and related equipment for an estimated cost of $233 million. Greece had requested to buy parts and services to support follow-on depot level maintenance and sustainment of F100-PW-229 engines to include spare, repair parts, and accessories; repair and return services; publications and technical documentation; US Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistical services; and other related elements of logistical and program support. Saab will be delivering MS20 Block 2 capability upgrades to Hungary’s Gripen fighter aircraft which includes upgrading their radars, enhancing Link 16 functionality and enabling them to carry more weapons, the company announced. Saab said the Hungarian Government Commissioner Office responsible for defence development and the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) successfully completed the negotiations for the MS20 Block 2 capability upgrade to the Hungarian fleet of Gripen jets. Asia-Pacific Thailand’s cabinet approved a plan to buy four fighter jets starting in the next fiscal year, an air force spokesman said on Wednesday, with a budget of $413.67 million set aside for the procurement. The approval follows a recent expression of interest by the air force chief, Air Chief Marshal Napadej Dhupatemiya, in procuring eight F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin. Today’s Video Watch: Nothing Can Kill the Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer View the full article

Reviewed by Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D. 80 years after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, new books are being published on topics leading up to that event, the attack itself, and its aftermath. A volume titled Avenging Pearl Harbor: The Saga of America’s Battleships in the Pacific War has been written by U.S. Navy veteran and professional firefighter Keith Warren Lloyd. Lloyd studied history and political science at Arizona State University and has previously authored several other books centered on World War II, among them Great Desert Escape: How the Flight of 25 German Prisoners of War Sparked One of the Largest Manhunts in American History (Lyons Press, 2019) documenting Kreigsmariners’ escape by tunneling out of a POW camp in Arizona in December 1944. The global tabulation WorldCat currently lists 12,634 entries on the Pearl Harbor attack, but Avenging Pearl Harbor adds to the literature on the strike in a unique manner by concentrating on the eight American battleships that were bombed or torpedoed on the morning of December 7, 1941, in particular the five that were salvaged. USS Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, and Tennessee were raised, repaired, modernized, re-manned, and returned to active service as “avengers” approximately three years later. Lloyd also provides historical context for the 1941 and subsequent confrontations and characterizes each capital ship and a few other battleships and aircraft carriers that took part in actions in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The book is 336 pages long, comprising a “Preface,” 22 chapters, four maps, 24 black-and-white images (six significant individuals, four places, and 14 ships), “Acknowledgments,” a tabulation of “Sources,” and a 14-page “Index.” The photographs are clustered between pages 162-163, while the maps are scattered across the four chapters they pertain to. The “Sources” consist of 67 books (mostly secondary literature), 27 journal articles, 25 websites (including primary sources and U.S. government websites), five videos, and 38 additional sources (mostly U.S. federal government and Navy publications, notably from the History and Heritage Command and Defense Technical Information Center). The author has chosen not to use scholarly footnotes, endnotes, or other citation methods in his narrative. As a result, readers are unable to discern his specific sources or fact-check his narratives. The double-column 14-page “Index” includes proper noun personal and ship names, as well as major events, and is a valuable resource. The narrative mainly proceeds chronologically, so that following a particular ship is possible only with some difficulty. The initial five chapters provide diverse information about the composition of the U.S. Pacific Fleet as of December 6, 1941, a brief biography of Alfred Thayer Mahan, author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History (1890); and a summary of the battles of the Russo-Japanese War (Port Arthur, February 8, 1904; Yellow Sea, August 10, 1904; and Tsushima Strait, May 27, 1905). A variety of naval capital ships are described, including the Royal Navy’s HMS Dreadnought and German High Seas Fleet’s SMS Nassau in addition to American battleships USS South Carolina, Minnesota, and Nevada. Finally, Lloyd notes the limitations imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty and includes a brief biography of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Chapter 6 documents the move of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from California to Pearl Harbor and the subsequent detachment of three battleships and aircraft carrier USS Yorktown to the Atlantic Fleet. In Chapter 7, he describes the first wave of the Japanese attack and fates of the USS Arizona, West Virginia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Tennessee. The subsequent chapter is a review of the second wave and strikes on the USS Pennsylvania (and destroyers Cassin, Downs, and Shaw) and battleships USS Oklahoma, Maryland, and Tennessee. Chapter 9 summarizes the results of the two waves of attacks on Ford Island and other Navy facilities at Pearl Harbor, as well as the post-attack disposition of the eight battleships (USS Oklahoma, Minnesota, Maryland, Arizona, Tennessee, California, Nevada, and Maryland). Short biographies of Admiral Chester Nimitz and Captain Homer Wallen (who headed the Navy’s salvage operation at Pearl Harbor) follow, and Lloyd emphasizes the importance of civilian construction crews who were essential to successes in raising the sunken battleships and other vessels. Wallen ultimately rose to the rank of Vice Admiral. Chapter 11 beings with a series of reports on ship damage, casualties, and the temporary repairs necessary to move the ships to facilities in the continental United States for permanent repairs and modernization of the older vessels with up-to-date radar and fire control systems as well as turbo-electric propulsion. The first ship he discusses is the USS Nevada which moved out of Pearl Harbor on February 18, 1942, and transited with escorts to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington State. The “Prune Barge,” USS California, was moved to Pearl Harbor Drydock 2 on April 9th for temporary repairs and left for Puget Sound on October 10, 1942. The USS West Virginia, after receiving an assist from the Pacific Bridge Co., was refloated and moved to Drydock 1 for temporary repairs, then to Puget Sound on April 30, 1943. By late December 1941, the USS Pennsylvania was sent to Hunter’s Point, California for refitting, while Maryland and Tennessee were dispatched to Puget Sound in August 1942 for final repairs and modernization, including new antiaircraft capabilities. A change in naval strategy is detailed in Chapter 14, with the assignment of USS Mississippi, New Jersey, and New Mexico from the Atlantic Fleet, transiting the Panama Canal, and joining the Pacific Fleet. Three carrier tasks forces composed of the USS Enterprise, Yorktown, and Lexington were created and their respective raids, including the April 14, 1943, Doolittle attack on Japan, are reviewed. Likewise, Lloyd recounts the Battle of the Coral Sea in May and the Battle of Midway in June. He comments that America was victorious at these events because of her speedy transition from peacetime to wartime production, assembly of a variety of military aircraft, rapid training of pilots and aviators, installation of better radar and fire control systems, and HYPO decrypts, though the importance of the latter is minimized in this book. Lloyd also details the actions at Wake Island, Guadalcanal, and Tulagi. Another chapter documents the reorganization of U.S. naval forces by Admiral King, MacArthur’s Operation Cartwheel, and planning for amphibious operations in the Pacific. Upon their return to active service, the older battleships (Lloyd terms them “dreadnaughts” as opposed to “fast” battleships) were assigned along with more recently built battleships to support invasions of Japanese-held islands in the South Pacific. For example, the invasion of the Gilbert Islands included 140 warships, among them six fast battleships and seven older ones. The invasions of Tarawa, Betio, Kwajalein, and Truk are also mentioned. Following the deployment of the older battleships to the Marianas, the damaged USS Maryland was dispatched home to Pearl Harbor but the dreadnaughts New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee were assigned to invade Leyte and Luzon in the Philippines, and actions at Peleliu and Palau. The Battle of the Philippine Sea is recounted in detail and with a map; Halsey’s Third Fleet included four fast Carrier Task Groups which involved six carriers as well as the USS Tennessee, California, and Pennsylvania. USS Maryland would return to support the invasion of Okinawa. The Battle of Leyte Gulf, Lloyd states, was comprised of four “minor” engagements in the face of Japanese kamikaze attacks. The dreadnaughts, supported by PT boats, had successfully “sought revenge” at the Battle of Surigao Strait. The USS California was damaged and returned to Puget Sound, and Pennsylvania would be sent for refit in January 1945. Lloyd’s “Epilogue,” recounts the Japanese surrender in September 1945 in Tokyo Bay on the battleship USS Missouri in the company of 250 Allied ships. The fate of the American battleships at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is reviewed: USS Arizona was unable to be completely salvaged and became part of a war grave and monument at Pearl Harbor; Oklahoma was decommissioned in 1943 and scrapped in 1946; Pennsylvania and Tennessee were sunk as part of Operation Crossroads, an atomic bomb test at Bikini; Nevada survived the war and atomic tests to become a gunnery target. Several ships are not fully documented: Maryland had been struck by kamikazes at the Battle of Leyte Gulf and at the Battle of Okinawa, repaired at Puget Sound, and was headed back into action when the war ended. She was included as part of Operation Magic Carpet, ultimately decommissioned in 1947, and sold for scrap in 1959. California, moderately damaged at Pearl Harbor, supported amphibious operations and was in the Battle of Okinawa. At the end of the war, she returned to the United States via the Indian and Atlantic Oceans, was laid up in Philadelphia in 1946, and broken up for scrap in 1959. The former battleship USS Utah was a target vessel at Pearly and had been attacked by the Japanese mainly because of her location on Battleship Row. Lloyd mentions her only once (p. 75). The author has a very engaging “storytelling” style of writing. He provides an interesting and unique account of the battleships present at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, their subsequent resurrections, reassignments, and ultimate destiny. A tabulation of ship, activity, and timeframe in a chart or table might have been useful, as it is not always clear where a ship was at a particular time. The author refers to one oral history account from a sailor stationed on the USS Maryland, John Henry Ashby, age 95 (p. 307), but the latter part of his book contains numerous oral accounts with unattributed sources – I wish that he had referenced these so that the facts might be verified. For example, holdings in the U.S. Naval Institute Oral History Program are significant resources, www.usni.org/press/oral-histories/about. Oral accounts may be flawed because an interviewer did not follow up on particular statements and facts; unstructured interviews are always suspected unless there are appropriate independent substantiations or verifications. Lastly, there appears to be some confusion regarding the drydock facilities at Pearl Harbor. The cruiser Helena was located near rather than in 1010 Drydock (p.75), as 1010 was occupied by USS Pennsylvania and destroyers Cassin and Downs. Drydock 1 accommodated West Virginia and Tennessee at different times; initially California was in Drydock 2 for repairs, with Tennessee occupying that facility later in the war. Charles C. Kolb, Ph.D., is a USNI Golden Life Member. Avenging Pearl Harbor: The Saga of America’s Battleships in the Pacific War (Keith Warren Lloyd, Lyons Press, Lanham, MD, 2021). The post Blog first appeared on Naval Historical Foundation. View the full article

Americas The Pentagon has assigned BAE Systems to produce and install a new airborne high frequency radio to replace the AN/ARC-190 on various types of aircraft. The press release says approximately 2,500 radios will be installed on Air Force’s HC-130J, KC-135, C-130H, C-130J, C-17, C-5, B-1, B-52, and E4-B, as well as the Navy’s E6-B, the Marine Corps’ KC-130J, and the Coast Guard’s C-130 and C-130J. BAE Systems will be tasked to install 2,000 radios. The US Army is moving a step towards developing a new wheeled 155 mm howitzer and is asking companies to participate in a multi-year assessment that could lead to the design of a new weapon system. The US Army Contracting Command said that the request would help to do market research and pick candidates for the multiyear capability assessment program. Middle East & Africa Algeria has acquired a 120mm Chinese self-propelled mortar, according to information shared on twitter. The new Chinese 120-mm mortar, manufactured by Chengdu Lingchuan Special Industry, is mounted on a Dongfeng Mengshi CSK131 with a 6 × 6 wheel formula. The machine is reportedly equipped with an inertial navigation system and a battlefield control system. The process of aiming by calculating the coordinates of the target, which will be hit by mortar fire, according to the developers, takes 30 seconds. Europe Russia’s Tu-160M strategic bomber, the heavily modernized version of the Soviet era Tu-160 long range bomber, today undertook its first flight marking the potential of the aircraft to carry latest weapons such as hypersonic missiles. The aircraft took off from the airfield of the Kazan Aviation Plant, a Tupolev branch of the United Aircraft Corporation. The flight took place at an altitude of 600 meters and lasted about 30 minutes. The crew of test pilots of PJSC “Tupolev” performed maneuvers to check the stability and controllability of the aircraft in the air, Rostec said in a release. France and Spain has successfully controlled an MQ-9 Reaper drone from the 02/33 “Savoie” drone squadron in the same airspace as commercial aircraft in December of 2021. Since January 2017, the French civil and military authorities have been carrying out an experimentation campaign to explore the operational framework and the changes necessary for the continued integration of MALE (medium altitude long endurance) drones into civil air traffic. Asia-Pacific South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) tested a counter missile system for military aircraft to help dodge enemies’ portable surface-to-air missiles. The directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system enables aircraft to dodge missiles by emitting a laser beam to the ground, blinding missiles that rely on heat to track targets, the ADD said in a statement Wednesday. Today’s Video Watch: Tu-160 Blackjack in Action View the full article

Any nation facing the Russians and are facing great odds usually look at two modern wars - the Polish-Soviet War of 1918-1921 and the Winter War of 1939 when plucky Finland held their own against the Soviet Union. Are there things Ukraine can learn from the Winter War? Over at USNIBlog, I think there is ... but it isn't tactical. Come on by and give it a read. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=B3j6hXig1P8:GX0Q93banng:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=B3j6hXig1P8:GX0Q93banng:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=B3j6hXig1P8:GX0Q93banng:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=B3j6hXig1P8:GX0Q93banng:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Both the Freedom and Independence Class LCS have been - if we are to be polite - suboptimal in both utility and performance. We've documented that for the better part of 17-years and that record is all available at the LCS tag, so no need to rehash the whole sordid thing again. Well ... maybe just a little bit. Of course we should have adopted Plan Salamander as outlined over 11-yrs ago, but we have what we have. Smart people with hard jobs given enough Sailor sweat and seabags of cash have managed to get the Independence Class to contribute to the presence mission in WESTPAC, but as outlined in Megan Eckstein's latest at Defense News, Freedom remains the more troublesome of the sisters. There is a nice graphic in her article that I know the folks on The Front Porch would get a little schadenfreudesque pleasure in seeing because it reflects what many of us predicted when The Smartest People in the Room™ told us that the mission-module concept would be all that and a box of chocolates. Of course, as led by our friend Chapomatic and others, even before this blog started in 2004, people were warning that it was - like the phantasmagoric manning CONOPS - simply not realistic with the humans we have. In the end, these would be single mission ships. That was clear, but those warning were dismissed. And so, BEHOLD! The LCS program originally promised three mission packages, each interchangeable with any of the ship hulls and able to be swapped on demand. The Navy changed its operational model in 2016, assigning each ship to a division within the LCS squadrons based on a single warfare area, allowing the ship crews’ composition and training to be tailored to that warfare mission. LCSRON 2 set up a mine countermeasures division in October 2020; the division and its ships will finally get their mission package early this year. Hopefully one of the lessons Big Navy will take away from the Age of Transformationalism is that if your programs are moving forward through threats and silencing people to the point that everyone in the room agrees with you that - yes - we can ignore centuries of best practices because we are smarter and better than previous generations who did great things ... then perhaps you're not in a good place. Good to see that the Freedom Class is starting to get its footing and BZ to the good people in hard jobs for making it happen. It isn't what was promised or even what we need, but it is what we have; our legacy from the Age of Transformationalism we will simply have to make the best of. 0.5 >0.0. Yes, we were promised 4.0 and only received 0.5 ... but I will go to war with 0.5 over 0.0 any day. 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=FBghfI3Em9g:FpcskTclKN8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=FBghfI3Em9g:FpcskTclKN8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=FBghfI3Em9g:FpcskTclKN8:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=FBghfI3Em9g:FpcskTclKN8:F7zBnMyn0Lo View the full article

Americas United States Force in South Korea, is being outfitted with newest AH-64 Version 6 (V6) helicopter. “The upgraded aircraft integrates modern technology for both the aviator and maintainers in our battalion,” Capt. Timothy Luchs, D Company commander, said. “For our maintainers, the new systems onboard allows them better diagnostic capability and decreases the downtime of the aircraft. While for the aviator, AH-64E provides an overall increased situational awareness with an upgraded sensor suite, level 4 manned-unmanned teaming, and an upgraded drive system which is a vast improvement over the Delta variant of the model.” The US Air Force is passing targeting information from A-10 Thunderbolts to the F-35B jets in order for the latter to destroy them. Last week, the Idaho Air National Guard welcomed US Marines from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225, who fly the F-35B Lightning II, to Gowen Field. The squadron brought four of the fifth-generation fighters to train with A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 124th Fighter Wing’s 190th Fighter Squadron. Middle East & Africa Turkey’s Naval Forces Command will receive the country’s first domestically developed intelligence collection ship A-591 Ufuk on January 14. The delivery ceremony to be held in Istanbul Shipyard is expected to be attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, local media reported. Europe BAE Systems announced it signed a new support, sustainment, and readiness agreement with the Norwegian Army for its fleet of 144 CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, securing a new contract model to support the availability and continuous modernization of the fleet. The seven-year agreement with the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation governs the purchase of components and equipment, as well as management and engineering work. It includes maintenance of the System Integration Lab, which ensures that both the customer and BAE Systems can monitor vehicles’ current conditions and state of readiness to optimize vehicle performance and capabilities across the fleet. The United Kingdom has received its ninth and final Boeing P-8A Poseidon MRA1 maritime multimission aircraft (MMA), with ZP809 arriving at Royal Air Force (RAF) Lossiemouth in Scotland on January 11. This brings a two-year delivery run that began with the arrival of ZP801 Pride of Moray in February 2020 to an end. Since then, ZP802 City of Elgin, ZP803 Terence Bulloch DSO DFC, ZP804 Spirit of Reykjavik, ZP805 Fulmar, ZP806 Guernsey’s Reply, ZP807 William Barker VC, and ZP808 have all been received. Asia-Pacific India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) flight tested the final deliverable configuration of Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM). The present test was to prove the consistent performance for the minimum range. The missile performance has been proven for the maximum range in earlier test trials. Today’s Video Watch: Defence Insights: INS Vikrant Sea Trials, Turkish A591 Ufuk, AH-64E in RoK and US F-35 Integration View the full article

Americas Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division launched the amphibious transport dock Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) being built for the US Navy. Richard M. McCool Jr., the 13th LPD in the San Antonio class of amphibious assault force ships, will support US amphibious assault, special operations and expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st century. The Argentinian Ministry of Defense has approved the purchase of two Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King helicopters for the Argentinian Navy. The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. ASW equipment used on Sea Kings has included the AQS-13A/B/E dipping sonar which included specialized computers for processing sonar and sonobuoy data, various models of sonobuoys, ARR-75 Sonobuoy Receivers, and the ASQ-81 Magnetic Anomaly Detector. Middle East & Africa Smart Shooter has unveiled SMASH Dragon, an armed drone system incorporating company-developed SMASH Technology for precise target elimination. SMASH Dragon is an advanced robotic weaponry payload that can be mounted on different drones and other unmanned aerial platforms. It can incorporate various types of assault rifles, sniper rifles, 40mm, and other ammunition with great precision. Extremely lightweight and therefore allowing long mission endurance, SMASH Dragon integrates a unique stabilization concept with the SMASH technology that enables the system to accurately hit static and moving targets while flying. Europe Raytheon Systems was awarded a $13.5 million contract by the UK Ministry of Defense for in-service support for the AMRAAM missile system. The AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile), also designated AIM-120, has a 30 to 40 mile range and can reach a speed of Mach 4. The system is a beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operation. Asia-Pacific Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is confident that the first Tejas MK-2 prototype will be rolled out by end of this year or early next year. R. Madhavan, Chief Managing Director, said that the design has been finalized and some manufacturing activities have started. Pakistan has decided not to purchase the T129 attack helicopter from Turkey, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has disclosed. Instead, the country will explore buying the Z-10 attack helicopter from China. The US government had refused to grant an export license for the T129 LHTEC T800 turboshaft engine to Pakistan. Today’s Video Watch: Smart Shooter SMASH 2000 system – ‘smart rifle’ that only shoots if the bullet will hit an enemy View the full article