HG S2 (Intel Bot)

What have you seen in your life? What have you done in your life? When your time comes, will you feel you gave it all you can? I offer to you Commodore David Hughes, Royal Navy; He joined the Royal New Zealand Sea Scouts with his twin brother John aged 14 and then the Royal New Zealand Navy as midshipmen. After sea training with the Swedish Navy aboard the Prince Oregon, a three-mast sailing vessel, the brothers attended Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth for officer training, then on to Collingwood and Excellent for training as gunnery officers. David was subsequently assigned to motor torpedo-boats and made three trips to Dunkirk during the evacuation as a sub lieutenant, while his twin brother was killed as navigator of a Q ship – used to lure enemy submarines into a trap – which was sunk by the Japanese in the Indian Ocean. He remained on the Dover Patrol, grappling with German E-boats, supply vessels and coastal batteries and took part in the legendary St Nazaire raid in 1942, suffering a shrapnel wound to the stomach. Recovered, he served in Normandy and was then assigned to the staff of Winston Churchill as a liaison officer, accompanying the premier to Yalta in 1945. After a spell on secondment with the US Navy and post-war service with the RN, he joined the MOD… but never disclosed his job due to its secrecy. He settled in Whiston, near Rotherham, in South Yorkshire and became an active member of the nearby branch of the Royal Naval Association in Mexborough, serving as its president. Even at the age of 106 he strove to keep in touch with the modern Royal Navy. He was gutted at missing out on a visit to look around flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (aged 105) and similarly hoped to look around the Imperial War Museum, where his medals are held. Commodore Hughes passed away earlier this month, just short of his 107th birthday. A long life, well lived. Fullbore. 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=YoMF3D0q-uc:jr1wCaZHHyQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YoMF3D0q-uc:jr1wCaZHHyQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YoMF3D0q-uc:jr1wCaZHHyQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=YoMF3D0q-uc:jr1wCaZHHyQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/YoMF3D0q-ucView the full article

Americas Raytheon won a $136.4 million deal for MK 15 close-in weapon system upgrades and conversions, system overhauls and associated hardware. MK 15 Phalanx CIWS provides ships of the US Navy with an inner layer point defense capability against anti-ship missiles, aircraft and littoral warfare threats that have penetrated other fleet defenses. Phalanx automatically detects, evaluates, tracks, engages and performs kill assessment against ASM and high-speed aircraft threats. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (85%); and the government of South Korea (15%), under the foreign military sales program. If all options are exercised, work will continue through September 2026. The 325th Fighter Wing’s Formal Training Unit, which trains pilots to fly the F-22, will be permanently located at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. The unit is currently located at Eglin Air Force Base. It was forced to settle in Florida after Hurricane Michael damaged its original home at Tyndall in 2018. The move will bring 28 F-22s and 16 T-38s to Virginia. Middle East & Africa According to reports, the Biden administration is sharply reducing the number of US antimissile systems in the Middle East in a major realignment of its military footprint there as it focuses the armed services on challenges from China and Russia, administration officials said. The Pentagon is pulling about eight Patriot antimissile batteries from countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, according to officials. Another antimissile system known as a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad system, is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabia, and jet fighter squadrons assigned to the region are being reduced, those officials said. Europe An experiment by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) flight experiment team will soon determine whether the boundary layer transition of a hypersonic vehicle is laminar or turbulent. The team is targeting a late-June launch of the vehicle from the Esrange Space Center (SSC) in Kiruna, Sweden. Understanding the transition provides valuable information in the design of hypersonic aircraft and missiles. Duqm Naval Dockyard, the Joint Venture between Babcock International and the Oman Drydock Company, has completed a first of its kind double engine replacement for the Royal Navy in the Middle East. Undertaken at Asyad dry dock facility at Duqm, in Oman, the operation to replace the Forward Auxiliary Machinery Room generators was a package of more than 500 items, and enabled the Royal Navy to sustain operations within the region as the latest example of Babcock’s global reach. Asia-Pacific The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s first Type 075 Yushen Class amphibious assault ship Hainan recently conducted helicopter takeoff and landing training. The ship has a two-digit number 31 on its hull, indicating its likely role as a small aircraft carrier. Several 13 ton-class Z-8 transport helicopters could be seen landing on the large, straight flight deck of the newly commissioned warship, local news reported. Today’s Video Watch: The Powerful US Phalanx CIWS in Action View the full article

Today we're going to build off of last week's DivThu that was focused on the CNO, Admiral Giday, USN. We are going to tie in the connection between Critical Race Theory, Antiracism, and Marxism - topics everyone is talking around for reasons best explained by them if you can get them to actually answer a question. If you missed last week, click here and read it, watch the videos, then come back, We'll leave last week at the House, and go to the CNO in the Senate in this remarkable exchange with Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR). The CNO did not answer the question. He just repeated talking points from last week. He brings up unrelated topics ... as if Kendi's work has anything to do with critical thinking, China or Russia. No other side contra to Kendi's world view is on the reading list that one can reference to have a discussion about the issue, or "think critically." There is no balance here at all. The CNO has chosen a side. He has become political on a domestic issue, dragging his Navy along with him. The CNO has read Kendi, I'll take him at his word, and by all indications is a true believer. Hoist that onboard and accept it. I have. From here on out it is important to remember that when the CNO uses the words, "racism" and "equity," he does not define it as you and I do - but as Kendi does, In his book,"How to be an Antiracist," Kendi defines racism as; Racism is a marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalized racial inequities. Next, equity: Racial equity is when two or more racial groups are standing on a relatively equal footing. An example of racial equity would be if there were relatively equitable percentages of all three racial groups living in owner occupied homes... Apply that concept to nuclear power school, medical schools, as well as biathlon and NBA teams. You can only get there by using a 1920's KKK definition or race married with strict quotas. That is the remedy being injected right in to the veins of our Navy. What a shame. Many (D) oppose the Navy because a larger Navy was a Trump thing, and as such it must be opposed and resisted because orange man bad. Now we have many natural allies of our Navy on the (R) side not all that sympathetic to other issues the CNO may bring up because in word and action, the Navy now seems the most woke of all the services. Then again, maybe not. Perhaps we have a savior. Then this Wednesday we had the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley, USA up in the House. Again, we have unrelated talking points that clearly show that they do not know what they are reading, if they have read it in full. Mostly the Chairman and CNO sound like they are just repeating what their briefers from the DOD/DON branch of the diversity industry told them. "White rage?" That isn't in Kendi, and wasn't about the events of 1/6/21. There are all sorts of strange defections here. Watch it yourself. He brings up Mao, Marx, and Lenin. Huh. Funny he should say that. I want to bring to your attention a 4-minute segment from a podcast by Jonah Goldberg from last week. You can listen to the full podcast here if you want, but this segment from ~the 16-20 minute mark are germane. Here's the transcript; “The Ibram X. Kendi, I think that’s his name, the foremost guy in this anti-racism stuff. That’s basically, if that is what we are calling Critical Racism theory, right, which is that, this anti-racism thing that it doesn’t matter wether if you don’t bigotry in you heart, that if you don’t affirmatively support what he and his milieu of activists define as anti-racist policies, then you are objectively racist. And, people keep asking why does this has anything to do with, why do people call this Marxist, actually I was had a long conversation with my wife about this the other day. To the extent it draws on Marxism, which it does as a matter of intellectual history, even though I doubt one in a thousand people who talk about Critical Race Theory as a good thing could explain to you what its roots in Marxism are, but it goes back to this idea of Material Conditions that is in Marx and a lot of Marxist thought. It’s very much like this anti-racism stuff in this way. It used to be Marxists when they had their conferences or gave their speeches or whatever, that would say, “It is objectively true that…”, right, and they would argue that, “it is objectively true” because they liked to use the phrase “It is objectively true..” because it conjured, it drew upon the myth that Marxism was scientific. This has nothing to do with one person’s opinion or a contest of values, they always liked to steal authority on the cheap by claiming it was scientific. That’s largely gone now, but instead what’s left is this same sort of Marxist argument they used to make which is that if you were not with the program of the communists or the socialists or whatever, and you had a point of view that wasn’t for the revolutionary overthrow or radical revolutionary transformation of society, then you were objectively on the side of the ruling class, the aristocracy, the industrial class or what Randy Weinegarten called the ownership class. That’s where this whole thing about class consciousness comes out of in that is where you are part of the proletariate, the working class, the lumpen proletariate, all those kind of things, once you achieve class consciousness, once you actually see the exploitation inherent in the system, then of course you will act in solidarity with the other members of your class for the overthrow of the established order, and if you don’t agree with all of that, then you are objectively on the side of the oppressors. So that’s the psychological-rhetorical trick that Critical Race Theorists use or at least Anti-racist theorists use when they talk about race insofar that they say that we have a monopoly on the truth. We have a monopoly on what constitutes racist policy and not racist policy and if you don’t affirmatively side with us in pushing anti-racist policies, and philosophies, and ideas, then you are objectively on the side of racism and it doesn’t even matter whether you are personally racist, because you are on the wrong side of the defining Material Conditions of how society is organized. That would be wrong enough and bad enough except for the fact that because most of these people don’t actually understand that that they are mimicking Marxist arguments, they take it an step further in they say that not only are you on the side of racism, but you must actually be a racist in your heart if you disagree with us." Interesting times we find ourselves in. You were warned here every Thursday. UPDATE: Highly recommend everyone take a time to listen to or read the transcript of the recent Hugh Hewitt interview with Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) on Chairman Milley's comments.UPDATE II - Electric Boogaloo: This Solzhenitsyn quote seems germane.“And he who is not sufficiently courageous to defend his soul — don’t let him be proud of his ‘progressive’ views, and don’t let him boast that he is an academician or a people’s artist, a distinguished figure or a general. Let him say to himself: I am a part of the herd and a coward. It’s all the same to me as long as I’m fed and kept warm.” 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=AfwZagyD3lo:HFGO42CXGZI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=AfwZagyD3lo:HFGO42CXGZI:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=AfwZagyD3lo:HFGO42CXGZI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=AfwZagyD3lo:HFGO42CXGZI:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/AfwZagyD3loView the full article

Americas The Pentagon launched Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Acceleration (ADA) initiative, goal of which is to rapidly advance data and AI dependent concepts, like joint all-domain command and control. Speaking virtually to the opening of the Defense Department’s Artificial Intelligence Symposium and Tech Exchange, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks said DOD’s operators must come to trust the outputs of AI systems; its commanders must come to trust the legal, ethical and moral foundations of explainable AI; and the American people must come to trust the values DOD has integrated into each of its applications. Northrop Grumman has successfully flight demonstrated its new Terracotta sensor. The sensor is a digital open mission systems (OMS)-compliant wideband active electronically scanned array (AESA). Terracotta’s nearly 200 wideband digital channels can be molded cooperatively or segmented for unique purposes, including electronic warfare, airborne early warning radar, active and passive sensing, and communications. This most recent flight verified Terracotta’s ability to simultaneously perform active and passive radio frequency capabilities. The flight test was a follow-on to successful ground and flight demonstrations of Terracotta conducted last fall. Middle East & Africa Nordic Monitor has obtained and published a technical agreement document between Qatar and Turkey. While the agreement is to permit Qatar to send up to 36 military aircraft and not more than 250 personnel to Turkey for training. The agreement also allows Qatar to transport Turkish military equipment, material, dangerous goods, ammunition, personnel or humanitarian aid materials inside and outside of Turkey. Under point 10, “in case of a support requirement of (Turkey), (Qatar) is to avail of its other type of aircraft in (Qatar’s) inventory for transportation of (Turkey’s) military equipment, material, dangerous goods, ammunition, personnel or humanitarian aid materials, if it is deemed suitable by competent authority of Qatar.” Europe Boeing won a $580.6 million delivery order for 14 Chinook H-47 extended range rotary wing aircraft that satisfy the United Kingdom’s requirement for heavy assault, rotary wing aircraft. This modification exercises an option that was awarded on an existing delivery order. Foreign Military Sales funding from the United Kingdom in the amount of $580.6 is being obligated at the time of award. The United Kingdom will be the first international operator of a Block II Chinook. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2026. The Block II variant was officially launched in 2017. Block II Chinook improvements are applicable to “regular” CH-47Fs, and Boeing began flying a Block II CH-47F trials aircraft on March 28, 2019, albeit initially lacking the new rotors. Work will take place in Pennsylvania. Expected completion will be by July 2026. Damen Naval and German ship classification society DNV, signed a contract for the comprehensive classification and verification of the new F126 frigates that a Damen-led team is building for the German Navy. Following the signing of the contract on June 7 at the DNV Maritime headquarters at its German office, DNV will carry out extensive work and conduct in-depth ship verifications and surveys in Hamburg, Wolgast and Kiel throughout the duration of the project. Asia-Pacific Malaysia published the tender for the supply of eighteen Fighter Lead In Trainer-Light Combat Aircraft for the Royal Malaysian Air Force on June 22. Closing date for the tender is September 22. Currently, the tender website is offline. Today’s Video Watch: Here Comes the New MH-47G Chinook Helicopter View the full article

Do you ever listen to someone from this think tank or that, or read one of their reports and wonder, "Where do they get their funding?" Some think tanks are quite open on where their funding comes from, many are not. Does that matter? I'm pondering over at USNIBlog. Come by and ponder with me. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=hgcN6EQgR0g:m9CTKAdfoE8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=hgcN6EQgR0g:m9CTKAdfoE8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=hgcN6EQgR0g:m9CTKAdfoE8:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=hgcN6EQgR0g:m9CTKAdfoE8:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/hgcN6EQgR0gView the full article

Americas Sikorsky won a $73.2 million modification, which adds scope to procure 362 spare parts and support required for the repair and maintenance of the CH-53K low rate initial production configuration aircraft. The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. The Super Stallion can be fielded from amphibious assault ships for the transportation of personnel and equipment. It will also be used to carry external cargo loads. Work will take place in Connecticut, Canada, Washington, Pennsylvania, the UK, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Iowa, Texas and Massachusetts. Estimated completion date will be in December 2026. Raytheon won a $17 million contract modification, which exercises an option to provide software engineering and testing, avionics integration and testing and avionics acquisition support to include classified and unclassified laboratories, configuration and data management and release of avionics software products and related systems in support of V-22 Software Support Activity systems. Work will take place in Indiana. Estimated completion will be in December 2023. Middle East & Africa The Israeli Ministry of Defense (MoD)’s research organization, Mafat, Elbit Systems and the Air Force have completed a series of experiments during which UAVs were intercepted at different ranges and flight altitudes using an aerial laser system installed on an aircraft. The ability to destroy air threats from the air is an innovative capability with the potential for a strategic change in the air defense capability of the State of Israel, the Israeli MoD announced. Europe Saab has signed a contract for the delivery of live training systems and services to the Dutch armed forces. The order comprises the supply of new equipment and functionality at $85.1 million, with a 10-year support contract with an annual value of $7.8 million. The total order over the ten year period is valued approximately $163.9 million. The contract also has an option for five years additional support following the initial 10-year period. The third and final Royal Navy autonomous minehunting boat has been delivered to Clyde Naval Base. “RNMB Hebe, named after the ancient Greek goddess of youth, has now joined sister vessels Harrier and Hazard as part of the Royal Navy’s crewless minehunting programme Project Wilton. Hebe, four metres longer than her sisters and with more technology on board, is able to work in isolation on operations but also integrated with existing equipment, the Royal Navy said in a press release. Asia-Pacific Jane’s reports that the Indonesian Ministry of Finance has given the green light to seek foreign loans up to $700 million for the acquisition of two aerial tankers for the Indonesian Air Force. It added that the tanker must be able to employ both the probe-and-drogue and flying boom aerial refueling methods. Today’s Video Watch: CH-53K King Stallion Takes Flight at MCAS New River View the full article

Watching our great Anglosphere partner New Zealand continue to debase herself in the face of the communist Chinese government should be as frustrating and disappointing to all free, liberty minded people as it is to me. Sophie Richardson puts the New Zealand government on report; New Zealand has signed on to a number of key initiatives led by other countries criticising the Chinese government’s ... Yet these remarks tend to be in the passive voice, sending a mixed message of wanting to criticise without irking Beijing. That squeamishness is reflected in other recent policies and remarks, including Labour’s peculiar position in the parliamentary debate over whether to use the term genocide to refer to Beijing’s policies towards Uyghurs, ... The government’s decision not to join a January 10 statement with Five Eyes allies on arrests of democracy activists in Hong Kong, saying it had communicated its concerns bilaterally to Beijing, raised eyebrows when a few weeks later Wellington and Beijing agreed to upgrade a free trade agreement. Ardern has had to publicly defend her government against allegations that New Zealand was giving Beijing a free pass on its human rights record. ... No New Zealand government has thoroughly confronted Chinese state and Chinese Communist Party influence in New Zealand. Former politicians, parties, universities, and companies across the country have been shown to have problematic ties to Beijing, yet there is little movement towards a broad, thorough public examination of these relationships. In 2018, the Chinese embassy in Wellington hosted a reception for the People’s Liberation Army – a force deployed to crush peaceful speech from Tibet to Tiananmen Square – not at its own premises but at Te Papa, a public institution devoted to multiculturalism. Human institutions often reflect, and are motivated, by the same things as the humans who run them. Though a generalization, human actions are generally driven by the desire for four things deeply rooted in the brainstem; money, status, sex (aka social clout/influence), and resentment. The order can change from person to person, but scratch the surface of any problem, and one of these will be right there under the surface, usually supported by the other three. These drivers can be seasoned by other aspects of human nature, virtue and sin. When you look at a policy being pursued that seems good from your perspective or bad, look at the four motivations. What seems to be driving it? If you are having trouble, look at the flavorings that shape the four motivators for good or bad. Though I’m not Catholic, I’ve always held their theological work in the highest regard – especially the easily grasped portions. Let’s use those for our flavorings. You have the Seven Heavenly Virtues, first four from classic scholarship, the last three of a more theological underpinnings; prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, and charity. Then you have the Seven Deadly Sins; pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. How does this help us understand New Zealand’s actions? My take is this is mostly driven by money (economic) not so much flavored by sin, but by a lack of virtue – specifically courage. If they had more courage, it would decrease the primary desire for money, and would bring status to the front. A status bolstered by justice, hope, and charity (for the oppressed). Poor leadership is always the result of a lack of virtue. Poor leaders are not necessarily driven by sins – though that is more common than not – but by a weakness of virtue. That “weak” in “weak leadership” is just that – leaders weak in virtue. New Zealand’s problems are a reflection of weak leadership. New Zealand took an opposite fork in the road from its close brother Australia when it comes to China. Will the New Zealand people catch up to the Australian view? In their isolation and leadership, hard to say … but this has to soak in at some point. The character of the New Zealand people will be reflected in how much they accept this kind of leadership. They need to be more like Australia and Palau and less like some backwater Duhu Fu. 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=ZiC9VeqTD0Y:LqFEepuDFIQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=ZiC9VeqTD0Y:LqFEepuDFIQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=ZiC9VeqTD0Y:LqFEepuDFIQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=ZiC9VeqTD0Y:LqFEepuDFIQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/ZiC9VeqTD0YView the full article

Well, at least they have a full scale static display; The German defense ministry has forwarded a request to lawmakers seeking approval for almost 4,5 billion euros, or $5.3 billion, that would pay for the country’s contributions to the next stage of the Future Combat Air System. Lawmakers on the Bundestag’s Budget and Defense committees are scheduled to consider the request next week. It covers a collection of research and technology-development activities, collectively dubbed phases 1B and 2, between 2021 and 2027. During that time, officials want to begin regular test flights with a demonstrator, constructed under the auspices of France’s Dassault Aviation. I am a fan of the German thinking here; German officials also want to offset nationally what they consider insufficient attention to the fields of electronic warfare, mission planning, weapons interfaces, and the secure distribution of sensor data, according to the document. How fast could they move the timeline to the left if they had more money? Hard to say ... but 2027 is closer than it seems. 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=KwahZ9gHJas:FEkJr3Ss270:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=KwahZ9gHJas:FEkJr3Ss270:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=KwahZ9gHJas:FEkJr3Ss270:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=KwahZ9gHJas:FEkJr3Ss270:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/KwahZ9gHJasView the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $9.4 million contract modification for HELLFIRE and Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile engineering services. The AGM-114 Hellfire II is an air-to-ground missile developed primarily for the anti-armor role. It is a combat-proven tactical missile system using multiple launch platforms based on air, sea and ground. Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) is an Army led program managed by PEO Missiles and Space, Joint Attack Munitions Systems (JAMS) Project Office. JAGM is a multi-sensor air-to-ground missile that is the successor to the combat proven HELLFIRE Romeo and HELLFIRE Longbow missiles. Work will take place in Florida. Estimated completion date is June 16, 2023. Insitu won a $12.5 million modification, which increases the ceiling to provide additional air vehicles, support equipment and spares in support of the RQ-21A Blackjack Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) and ScanEagle UAS for the Navy and Foreign Military Sales customers. The Blackjack can be deployed in persistent maritime and land-based tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, data collection, target acquisition and dissemination missions. ScanEagle has a range of 1,500km and an endurance of more than 28 hours. The air vehicle can operate at speeds between 80km/h and 126km/h and the cruise speed is 90km/h in level flight. Middle East & Africa Turkey’s tactical fixed-wing loitering munition, ‘Alpagu’ hit a target with pinpoint accuracy in a test fire by the military. Weighing less than two kilograms, Alpagu can be operated by a single soldier. Its small size makes it nearly immune to radar and the target’s defensive systems are unaware of the killer drone’s presence until the last moment. Europe The UK Royal Navy’s newest Offshore Patrol Vessel HMS Spey has been commissioned into the Royal Navy during a ceremony alongside the Ross-shire town of Invergordon. HMS Spey has been undergoing a programme of operational sea training to ready her for action. Asia-Pacific Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, said the MiG-21 will be phased out of service within three years. Bhadauria was speaking at the combined graduation parade at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal. He said once the Rafale is fully operational, the service can turn its attention to inducting the LCA. The indigenous jet will replace the MiG-21. Separately, Times of India also reported that the Indian Air Force has stand up 101 Squadron as the second Rafale Squadron. The unit is now at Ambala and will officially induct at Hasimara air base within a month. Sea trials of India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant has been delayed due to travel and quarantine issues caused by COVID-19. As per news report, Indian navy personnel and equipment suppliers are unable to travel or are being quarantined. New Indian Express says the trials are rescheduled for September after the monsoon period is over. Today’s Video Watch: America’s AGM-114 Hellfire Missile Destroyed Armored Vehicle in ONE Seconds View the full article

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $191.2 million contract modification for the US and United Kingdom to provide strategic weapon system Trident SSI Increment 8 production of inertial navigation systems and associated inertial spares for the Ohio and Columbia ballistic missile submarine shallow water submersible platforms for the fleet ballistic missile program. The Trident II D5 is the latest generation of the USN’s submarine-launched fleet ballistic missiles. First deployed in 1990, the Trident II D5 missile is currently onboard the US Ohio Class and UK RN Vanguard Class submarines. Work will take place in Ohio, California, New York and Virginia. Estimated completion date is February 28, 2028. The US Air Force has revised upwards the money required to re-engine the B-52H bomber. The program will now cost $11 billion. Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth told lawmakers that this represents a 9 percent jump, he also refuted recent press reports of a 50 percent increase as incorrect. Gen. Timothy M. Ray of Air Force Global Strike Command revealed that depending on the scenario, the new engines would reduce the requirement for aerial refueling by up to 50 percent. Middle East & Africa Turkey conducted the last test firing of its homegrown Atmaca long-range anti-ship missile on June 18. “The anti-ship missile Atmaca, our homeland’s steel sword, has hit a target ship during the last test today before it will enter service,” Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan posted on Twitter, attaching a 58-second video showing the test firing of the Atmaca missile. The Atmaca project seeks to replace the U.S.-built Harpoon missile from the military’s arsenal as part of a campaign to wean Turkey’s defense infrastructure from overt dependence on US and NATO equipment. Europe Rheinmetall announced the release of the Mission Master XT, the latest member of its successful Mission Master family of Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicles (A-UGVs). Unlike the Mission Master SP platform, which is already introduced to the market, the Mission Master XT has a diesel-powered engine. It was developed by Rheinmetall Canada. Asia-Pacific Kyodo News says Japan will drop the AGM-158C LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile) from the list of items it wants to integrate on the F-15JSI. Anonymous officials say this is to reduce costs but no official decision has yet been made. The same article suggests that the AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) will be retained. Australia has grounded its MRH-90 transport helicopter fleet as a safety precaution, ABC news reports. A defense spokesperson told ABC that the issue was releated “to the application of the helicopter’s maintenance policy in the helicopter’s IT support system.” Today’s Video Watch: MRH-90 Taipan – Australia’s High Performance Multi Role Helicopter View the full article

Were there milbloggers, gadflies, and other agitators before their time? You bet there were. Before “CDR Salamander” emerged from the head of Neptune, there were many examples that nudged “me” in to being. They are sprinkled throughout our history, some like Sims are well known – others have faded a bit in to the mists of time. Today I want to bring someone out in to the light that is worth remembering. He saw well in to the future what realistic technological capabilities were emerging that would more effectively and efficiently deliver what makes or breaks war at sea; delivering ordnance to target. Let’s take a moment to appreciate a great naval officer, Admiral Sir Percy Moreton Scott, Royal Navy, 1st Baronet, KCB, KCVO. To honor him I want to pull a few quotes from his 1919 book, Fifty Years in the Royal Navy. You can get a hard copy at the previous link, or via books.google, a free PDF is available. Heck, I'll embed it below too. Remember, this is right after World War One ended. As I could not convince the Admiralty that the sub marine was anything more than a toy, I considered it my duty to communicate with the Press. On the 15th December, 1913, I wrote a letter but withheld it on representations by a member of Parliament that the Little Navyites, then very powerful in the country, might use it as a weapon to cut down the Navy Estimates, and that I should better serve the country by waiting until the estimates were passed, and Mr. Winston Churchill had got the money. He could then, if he agreed with me, easily strike off some battleships from the building programme, and spend the money voted for their construction on submarines, aircraft, and anti-submarine measures. Their Lordships were so annoyed with me for venturing to put their heads straight as regards submarines that at the end of the year they took away the pay that I had been receiving for helping them with director firing. Their letter was remarkable for the statement that the installation was practically completed in several ships and that the manufacture of the gear was in a very advanced stage. As a matter of fact, it was only completed in two ships and was not even designed for the various classes of ships in which it was to be installed. In this letter, dated the 30th December, 1913, the Admiralty bade me farewell, expressing " their high appreciation " of my services in connection with “ this sighting gear ” and referring to its marked success." ….. In due course the Navy Estimates for 1914-1915 were published, and as the substance of them revealed that the Admiralty had realised neither the menace that submarines were to this island country not the necessity of providing measures against them, I sent a letter to the Times on the 4th June, 1914, the gist of which was as follows : “ That submarines and aircraft had entirely revolutionised naval warfare. “ That if we were at war with a country within striking distance of submarines, battleships on the high seas would be in great danger ; that even in harbour they would not be immune from attack unless the harbour was quite a safe one. “ That probably if we went to war, we should at once lock our battleships up in a safe harbour, and that the enemy would do the same. “ That all naval strategy was upset, as no fleet could hide from the eye of the aeroplane. “ That submarines could deliver a deadly attack in broad daylight. “ That battleships could not bombard an enemy if his ports were adequately protected by submarines. " That the enemy's submarines would come to our coasts and destroy everything they could see." … What is the future Navy to be ? Some officers say that the battleship is more alive than ever; others declare that the battleship is dead. I regarded the surface battleship as dead before the War, and I think her more dead now, if that is possible. The battleship of today costs roughly £ 8,000,000; she carries about 1000 shells containing about 100,000 lbs. of high explosives ; her effective range is, say, 15 miles, she is vulnerable to aircraft with bombs and aerial torpedoes, and to submarines, the latter possibly carrying a 15-in. or 18-in. gun; and the ordinary automobile torpedo is still in process of development, and may, in the future, carry a ton of high explosives, which would probably sink any battleship. For £8,000,000 we could build many aeroplane-carrying ships, equipped with aeroplanes carrying over 100, 000 lbs. of high explosives. If these aeroplanes carried fuel sufficient for five hours, their range would be about 150 miles out and 150 miles home. In the battleship we put all our eggs into one basket. In peace-time the aeroplane - carrying ships could be used as passenger ships, and the aeroplanes for carrying passengers instead of bombs. As to relative cost of upkeep, the single battleship would require in peacetime about: - 800 men ... £60,000 - Provisions and stores ... £30,000 - Coal ... £10,000 - (total) ... £108,000 Say £120,000 a year. The aeroplane-carrying ships and the aeroplanes would cost nothing ; they would be earning money. The officers and men to form the crews of the ships would belong to the Merchant Navy. Aeroplane pilots will be as numerous as taxi drivers and get about the same pay. The battleship waddles along at twenty miles an hour, and cannot waddle very far, and in comparison with an aeroplane has a very low rate of speed. The object in war is to introduce high explosive materials into your enemy's ships or country ; transmitting this high explosive by guns is expensive as the container of the high explosive has to be very strong, and consequently very heavy, to withstand the shock of discharge. It takes a battleship weighing 30,000 tons to carry 100, 000 lbs. of this explosive. Ten aeroplanes weighing about three tons each would carry the same amount, so the relative weights of the carriers is as 30 tons to 30,000 tons. When the battleship nears the end of her coal or am munition, she must waddle home at about the same speed as a South Eastern Railway train ( I am told that this is the slowest line on earth ), and it takes her several hours to fill up even if she uses oil fuel. The aeroplane does not waddle home, but comes back at 100 miles an hour, and it takes three minutes to fill her up with fuel and am munition. The future is with the aeroplane, which is going to develop rapidly in the next few years. Probably we shall also have submersible battleships of 10,000 tons. What chance will the surface battleship, presenting a huge target, have against such a vessel? Be a gadfly. Take the slings and arrows. You serve your navy and your nation, not a bunch of imperfect people conflicted by personal ambition and the bias of the now. Always demand that those in charge of your navy are doing all they can and investing their money wisely so when your nation orders your Sailors in to harm's way, they have better and more capable tools to do their job than your nation’s opponents. Admiral Scott, fullbore. As a final note ... I'll just leave this here for the Front Porch; Financial independence allowed Scott to indulge his intellectual arrogance and judgemental nature, which, when combined with his flair for self-publicity, formed the basis of his fractious relationship with Navy authorities. 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=1FlB-o0EGMQ:3CVwpQnBsao:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=1FlB-o0EGMQ:3CVwpQnBsao:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=1FlB-o0EGMQ:3CVwpQnBsao:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=1FlB-o0EGMQ:3CVwpQnBsao:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/1FlB-o0EGMQView the full article

Americas The US Army declared that it has tested an autonomous variant of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) on June 16. The Autonomous Multidomain Launcher was tested at Yuma Proving Ground and two other islands during a 1.25-hour mission. The Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system (ICBM) is expected to make its first flight in 2023, GBSD program manager Col. Jason Bartolomei disclosed on June 14. He foresees the system reaching initial operational capability in 2029. Full operational capability will be 2036. Middle East & Africa Last month, the US Air Force’s 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron carried out a demonstration to covert commercial-grade aircraft fuel (Jet A-1) into military-grade aircraft fuel (JP-8) at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Saudi Arabia. Europe Ukrainian firm LUCH unveiled a concept of a new mid-range air defense system, called the SD-300, at the Arms and Security exhibition being held in Kyiv from June 15-18. The SD-300 surface-to-air missile system is designed to intercept various threats such as air-to-ground missiles, helicopters, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), guided bombs, and tactical ballistic missiles up to 100km. It can be used to destroy ground (surface) radar-contrasting moving targets, Defence Blog reported. Asia-Pacific Pakistan’s state-owned Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW) has cut the first steel for what will be the country’s fourth Milgem Class corvette. A ceremony to mark the milestone was carried out at KSEW’s premises in Karachi. While fourth-in-class overall, the vessel that is being worked upon would be the second Pakistani Milgem corvette to be constructed in-country. Indonesia reportedly signed a ‘Coming into force’ contract with France/Dassault Aviation for 36 Rafale jets on June 7 which will go into effect in December 2021. Airspace Review reported quoting its sources said that the contract was signed in Jakarta but did not mention who were the officials involved in signing the contract on either side. The “Coming into force” contract will then become the basis for an Effective Contract after all agreements between Indonesia and France are reached and Indonesia has paid an advance for the purchase of 36 Rafales, it said. Today’s Video Watch: Russian Su-35 “flew”: Indonesia chose French Rafale fighters View the full article

Today we return to the subject of the addition to the CNO's reading list of a book that openly calls for the most sectarian view of race. Worse, it calls for the official application of racism in to official policy. For those who have not read his book, let me pull out how Ibram X. Kendi defines things in his book, "How to be an Antiracist," the book in question. Words mean things, and when people redefine words, you need to pay special attention; Now operationalize that concept in your mind every time in our Navy you hear, "equity." From Flight Surgeons to Nuke Power School - operationalize the above concept and how, once people read this CNO recommended book, they move to reflect that in how we do business. Outside our Navy, by that example everything is racist from medical school, to the NBA, cattle ranching, and the music world. To accept that definition is to either encourage unending sectarian conflict and activated "one drop rule" discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, etc ... which naturally, will lead to sectarian conflict. To inject Kendi's world view is to invite conflict. Indeed, that is exactly where it wants to go. Chaos and conflict are opportunities for those who desire power and control. Now to yesterday's hearing. You can watch the full hearing here or here, but below is a cut specifically to the 01:08 point where the CNO is asked about the disgraceful addition of the divisive and sectarian Ibram X. Kendi to his reading list. It is one thing to see the obviously flustered CNO try to maneuver around his own minefield, but I think it is much more revealing to read the transcript; Congressman Lamborn (R-CO): "Admiral Gilday, I have to ask you about something first, that I'm concerned about and a lot of people in the civilian world. I sent you a letter with two dozen people on it concerned that you recently added several books to the Navy's professional reading list promoting Critical Race Theory and one of these books is Ibram X. Kendi's "How to be an Antiracist" and it argues that the entire American system is corrupted from top to bottom by racial prejudices which account for all differences in outcomes in out society and one sentence out of that book says that, "The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination." Now, I understand that this is a voluntary reading list, but how does exposing to our Sailors to the idea that they are either oppressors or the oppressed, and that we must actively discriminate to make up for past discrimination improves our Navy's readiness and lethality for great power competition?" CNO Gilday: "Sir, initially you mentioned Critical Race Theory. I am not a theorist, I'm the Chief of Naval Operations, but I can tell you is factually on a substantial enough of time talking to Sailors there's racism in the Navy just like racism in our country and the way we're going to get after it is to be honest about it and that's what we're doing and that's one of the reasons that book is on the list doesn't mean I have any expectation that anybody believe or support everything that Mr. Kendi states in his book. I don't support everything that Kendi says, but the key point here is the Sailors in our Navy, we have to be able to think critically. They have to be able to look outwardly at China and Russia and they have to understand what these societies, why those societies who are potential dangers to the United States inwardly. We have to understand ourselves and we have to understand critically that we value diversity, and I thought okay..." Lamborn: "Admiral, I agree that we should have a robust and a great discussion and any racism uprooted and taken away. I absolutely agree and I endorse that, but should we have future discrimination? Do you, don't you disagree that particular statement, do you?" Gilday: "Sir, I have to look at the context of it. I'm not trying to be evasive, but I don't, as I mentioned, I don't support everything Kendi asserts, I don't believe everything that I read. I think that I hope, I think that everyone has to be in a position to weigh facts from fiction. Even our Sailors, they're bombarded every day from misinformation, much of it comes from China and Russia on this issue that's getting in our national psyche. I'm trying to get after it in the Navy." Lamborn: "OK, well I hope that's one statement you don't endorse and maybe we can follow up on that." There is so much to unpack here, and so much that is revealing. I can't cover it in one post, and if you've watched the clip and read the transcript, the problems with the CNO's response and understanding are self-evident. Let me pick my top issues. Theory: I'm sorry, but the CNO specifically and Flag Officers in general damn sure better be theorists. That is their job. You have to understand and execute the practical application of theory; just war theory; deterrence theory; recruitment theory; etc. The oft mentioned, "Project Overmatch" is a theory. Alliances are based on theory. Most of what the late great Wayne Hughes taught us was theory. Sorry, that dog don't hunt CNO. Kendi: OK Admiral, now let's get to why of all authors you have Kendi on your list. If you don't support all of what Kendi asserts, what do you support that he asserts such that you would put it on your reading list? If you want Sailors to think critically, where are the books out there that provide a different view than Kendi on the topic of how to address racism so our Sailors can critically weigh his ideas against others? If that is your desire, then you've failed. If that isn't your desire, then it is clear what you are doing - endorsing political sectarianism - intentionally or unintentionally. Misinformation: What specific examples of misinformation that our Sailors see daily on racism is coming from China and Russia that you think Kendi's work is helpful with? Are people entitled to state that the ideas, examples, and opinions about the USA - its people and institutions - in Kendi's book are themselves "misinformation?" This very revealing exchange - there have been more and I hope there will be more - clearly tells us we have one of two things, or both: 1) Either the CNO is fully engaged in Kendi's view of our nation and it's people, or... 2) ...he has decided to let the Navy's branch of the diversity industry bully him in to including his and similar works so they will not raise trouble and call him nasty names. Either answer to the above is unacceptable. Yes it matters. The United States of American is an experiment in self-governance by a gloriously polyglot people. The only way this will work is if the people see themselves as Americans first, and believe that their government will treat them as individuals; equal to all other citizens. We've spent the entire history of our republic striving to get better at this ideal and have been more successful in this regard than any other nation in the history of the world. As we approach the middle of the 21st Century, if we turn from the concept of judging people by the content of their character instead of their race, creed, color, national origin, or other sectarian divisions, and turning back towards lower-brainstem sectarianism, we are heading to a very dark place. No society that encouraged sectarianism amongst its people has ever survived. It always leads to division, and usually rivers of blood. To inject that view in to a nation's military, as opposed to suppressing it, is the height of foolishness and greases the path towards self-destruction. UPDATE: Later on in the hearing, Rep. Banks (R-IN) also weighed in to the topic. The CNO comes off even worse. 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=QqG2RVpL9iQ:ClM3U80aPL0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QqG2RVpL9iQ:ClM3U80aPL0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QqG2RVpL9iQ:ClM3U80aPL0:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QqG2RVpL9iQ:ClM3U80aPL0:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/QqG2RVpL9iQView the full article

Americas DigiFlight won a $13.8 million contract modification for programmatic support for the Apache Attack Helicopter. The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a twin-turboshaft attack helicopter. It is equipped with two turboshaft engines, each providing 1,265kW. The American AH-64D has General Electric T700-GE-701 engines and the UK Apache is fitted with RTM322 engines from Rolls-Royce / Turbomeca. Work will take place in Maryland. Estimated completion date is May 23, 2022. The US Army’s 4th Infantry Division participated in a Counter-Small UAS home-station training session at Fort Carson, Colorado, from April 19-May 7. This is the first time such training was held at home-station. Soldiers learn to operate the Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS). This will prepare the soldiers ahead of their deployment to the US Central Command region. Middle East & Africa Israel’s BlueBird Aero Systems completed delivery of 100 WanderB-VTOL UAVs to a European customer. The vertical takeoff and landing UAVs are part of a transaction involving over 150 WanderB-VTOL and ThunderB-VTOL UAVs. This is the world’s largest number of VTOL UAVs delivered to any customer at one time, and was completed within the agreed timetable despite COVID-19 conditions, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) that owns 50% shares of the BlueBird Aero systems said in a statement. Europe The Netherlands MoD approved the purchase of 179 small all-terrain patrol vehicles for the Marine Corps to replace some of the current BV206D, Viking and Landrover vehicles which are at the end of their lifespan. The project will start this year and will last until 2028. The first vehicles are expected to arrive in 2025. The Polish Air Force celebrates 100,000 flight hours of its F-16 aircraft fleet in May. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of Poland’s decision to buy the F-16. The F-16 is a leading multinational aircraft that has allowed the Polish Air Force to engage in multiple multinational exercises and operational deployments to include Baltic Air Policing and Operation Inherent Resolve. Asia-Pacific The Indian Army tested the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) developed by the Indian Railways for faster movement of freight across the country. The army conducted a successful trial by moving a military train loaded with vehicles and equipment from New Rewari to New Phulera validating the efficacy of the DFC. The intricate and synchronised coordination by the Indian Army with Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) and Indian Railways will significantly enhance the mobilization capability of the Armed Forces. Today’s Video Watch: BlueBird Aero Systems – ThunderB & WanderB VTOL UAS View the full article

We think we know the future, we don't. We thought our leadership would learn from killing 17 Sailors in the summer of 2017, but it didn't. We thought our Navy would be ready for war sometime this decade, but we've decided to taunt fate and push two decades down the road. Pray for peace. Details over at USNIBlog. 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=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=flW-Dl9MOso:AI-vtm2PjHA:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/flW-Dl9MOsoView the full article

Americas Leonardo Helicopters handed over the keys to the first operational TH-73A helicopter to the US Navy at its AgustaWestland Philadelphia Corporation (Leonardo) plant in Philadelphia on June 10. Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell, Commander, Naval Air Forces, accepts the keys accepted the keys on behalf of the Navy from Bill Hunt, CEO of Leonardo Helicopters. The service placed an order for 130 helicopters with Leonardo in January 2020. Boeing won an $18.4 million delivery order modification to an existing contract (W91215-16-G-0001) for the procurement of long-lead components and parts in support of the MH-47G Chinook Block II production program. Fiscal 2021 Army aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $18,372,000 are being obligated at the time of award. The majority of the work will be performed in Ridley Park. The Boeing MH-47G is a special operations variant of the CH-47 Chinook multi-role, heavy-lift helicopter. It is in service with the US Army Special Operations Aviation Command (USASOC). Middle East & Africa Raytheon won a $78.1 million contract modification for contractor logistic support for the Qatar Early Warning Radar for a period of five years. Raytheon had won a $1.06 billion deal to provide an early warning radar (EWR) to Doha in February 2017. The Qatari radar is supposed to add long-range detection to the country’s layered Integrated Air and Missile Defense architecture, which includes Patriot systems and an Air Defense Operation Center. Work will take place in Massachusetts and Doha, Qatar. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2026. Iranian Navy inducted locally-manufactured ‘Dena’ destroyer and ‘Shahin’ minesweeper at an event in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas. Dena is the fourth Jamaran Class destroyer manufactured by the Defense Ministry’s naval industries. The Iranian destroyer is “capable of detecting, tracking, and hitting various aerial, surface, and submarine targets. It can carry helicopters on its deck.” the navy said in a statement. Europe A new training facility that according to the British Defense Ministry will “secure HMNB Clyde as the central base for submariners in the UK” is taking shape at HMNB Clyde. Last year the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) awarded a contract to Kier Graham Defence Ltd to deliver the works, which are expected to be completed in early 2023. HMNB Clyde in Scotland will host the Submarine Training Facility for the personnel on board the future Dreadnought Class nuclear submarines yet to enter service. Asia-Pacific France’s Naval Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) to jointly explore new technologies such as additive manufacturing for naval applications. Under the agreement, the organisations will jointly identify potential use cases of harnessing additive manufacturing. This includes the sharing of production methodology, certification and qualification of additive manufactured components for naval platforms. Today’s Video Watch: Delivery of the First TH-73A View the full article

No, this isn't Rep. Luria (D-VA) week on CDR Salamander, though it is playing out as such ... but my post that was going up today is going on the back burner so we can bring up this jewel ... dare I say a Salamanderesque episode as uploaded by our friend Herb Carmen from today's HASC hearing. I'll let Rep. Luria take it from here. If we could have another dozen or so like this on The Hill, that would be great. Thanks. Now, dig deep in to the point she's making here. Our Navy got in the pickle it is right now from overpromising and underdelivering; by acting like a salesman for the defense industry, vice a customer of same. More of this is needed ... and on THU we'll have an earlier exchange with a different member of Congress that we'll cover. 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=snXMGr8IRxI:feOGw-EiA_w:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=snXMGr8IRxI:feOGw-EiA_w:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=snXMGr8IRxI:feOGw-EiA_w:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=snXMGr8IRxI:feOGw-EiA_w:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/snXMGr8IRxIView the full article

Americas Sikorsky won a $9.5 million order, which provides systems engineering and program management services in support of CH-53K low rate initial production Lots 5 and 6 aircraft rate tooling. The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. It is a new-build helicopter that will expand the fleet’s ability to move more material, more rapidly throughout the area of responsibility using proven and mature technologies. Work will take place in the UK, Washington, Connecticut and Spain. Estimated completion is in December 2024. The American MQ-25 programme has successfully conducted the first ever aerial refueling operations between a crewed receiver aircraft and an uncrewed tanker. According to the US Navy, the successful flight “demonstrated that the MQ-25 Stingray can fulfill its tanker mission using the Navy’s standard probe-and-drogue aerial refueling method”. Middle East & Africa Turkey is working on its ambitious TF-X National Combat Aircraft. Temel Kotil, general manager of Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), which is the main contractor of the project, told government-owned Anadolu Agency that the production process is progressing well and that the prototype, which includes avionics, control and hydraulic systems, will be unveiled for the first time on March 18, 2023. Textron won a $12.5 million firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract action for Tunisia T-6C long lead items procurement and site survey. This contract provides for the procurement of long lead production items and spares to support delivery of eight T-6Cs in 2022 and conducting a site survey in Tunisia. Work is expected to be completed October 2022. Europe According to the UK Defence Journal, an F-35B Lightning from British Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has conducted the UK Lightning Force’s first ‘austere forward refuellng’ in an overseas environment, whilst operating from the aircraft carrier. The RAF aircraft flew to the Italian island of Pantelleria where it conducted a fast ground refuel from an Italian KC-130J. Asia-Pacific Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is assembling five more prototypes of its KF-21 fighter jet after the first prototype was rolled-out on April 9. The first prototype is currently in the building opposite the assembly line, where its insides are exposed for ground testing which will take another year or so, a report in South Korean media outlet Hankyoreh, which was granted access to the assembly line, said. Today’s Video Watch: T-6A Texan II Inflight Cockpit Vid • 80th Flying Training Wing View the full article

The Front Porch got some nice top-cover to start the week off. This is good. As we covered here and on Midrats, sadly, the US Navy’s uniformed and civilian leadership over the last decade left a record of a serial inability to plan for the future of our Navy and worse, clearly define its importance to the security of our republic. Compounding the errors at the dawn of this century in the Age of Transformationalism, in the middle of the last decade it became clear to me in stark relief that the key to avoid further compounded errors lies in Congressional action. We need to identify and support Representatives and Senators of all parties (remember, there are (I) in the Senate), who show the right focus and understanding to lead the required change through legislative change. DOD/DON is incapable of reforming itself, but it will follow the law and the holder of the purse. Ultimately, legislative change will need to replace Goldwater-Nichols, the COCOM structures, and accretion bound and ossified procurement system. Until then, we can do other things in parallel that can help shape the future – and must shape our fleet now. One such action is strategy. During to the last Navy strategic effort of heft back in 2007, I dug out my hard copy of the 1986 Maritime Strategy I received as a Midshipman. As this is 2021, let us take a moment to contextualize those timelines. Here we are in 2021 referencing 2007, 14 years ago, and 1986, 35 years ago. 14 years is the length of time from the end of WWII and the commissioning of our first ballistic missile submarine, the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (SSBN-598). 35 years is the same length of time from the end of WWI to the de facto end of the Korean War. Yes, we are thinking at the speed of smell. What about today? What can we do when our uniformed and civilian leadership seem hobbled by socio-political distractions or intellectually frozen in aspic? Again, we need to look to Congress. One of the congressional leaders navalists should keep in their scan is Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA). Consistently solid on naval matters, as one would expect from a fellow member of the exalted order of retired Navy Commanders, her article out today at WOTR is worth your time to review. In it she states one of the most important concepts people in 2021 need to understand about the urgency of the needed change in the direction of our Navy; As the Navy focuses almost exclusively on future capabilities, it risks overlooking the immediate threats posed by that competition today. A Battle Force 2045 plan does little to ensure a ready battle force in 2025. Today, no longer in uniform, but as the vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, I believe the constitutional role of Congress “to provide and maintain a navy” should be based on something more than future hopes in technology and budget expectations. We need to be prepared now for any contingencies that may occur on our collective watch. ... U.S. maritime leaders need to answer the question: How would the U.S. Navy deter or defeat Chinese naval aggression, which may perhaps be compounded and complicated by other states such as Russia, Iran, or North Korea acting opportunistically while U.S. Navy forces are engaged elsewhere? ... ...the U.S. Navy has lost a generation of shipbuilding to failed programs. For example, the DD-21 program office (which resulted in the Zumwalt-class destroyer) was established in 1998. Originally scheduled for a 32-ship production line, but pared down to just three, the Zumwalt and her two sister ships have not deployed. ... Similarly, the CVN-21 program executive office, which was set up to produce what became the Gerald Ford-class aircraft carrier, was established in 1996. The USS Ford has not yet deployed. ... Multiple challenges with the Littoral Combat Ship program have resulted in some of those ships being slated for decommissioning only a few years into their intended lifespan. The Constellation-class frigates, intended to provide a more capable alternative to the lightly armed littoral combat ship, will not be present in the fleet in significant numbers for a decade or more. Hard truth, and glad to hear it from Congress. Time is of the essence, and we are late. Today, U.S. Navy leadership should heed the words of Lehman: “First strategy, then requirements, then the POM, then budget.” The global situation and America’s competitors and adversaries may have evolved, but the process by which the U.S. Navy designs and builds the fleet should take a valuable lesson from the 1980s. If the United States is to remain a global power, it needs a Navy fit for the purpose and the United States, as a nation, needs to make the commitment to prioritize national defense and make this investment. Verily. 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=3HlQpH_EMaU:vfM4S-U407Y:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=3HlQpH_EMaU:vfM4S-U407Y:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=3HlQpH_EMaU:vfM4S-U407Y:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=3HlQpH_EMaU:vfM4S-U407Y:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/3HlQpH_EMaUView the full article

Americas The deputy head of Air Mobility Command has revealed that the next Gremlins test flight is set to take place between October to November. Steve Fendley, president of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, told Military.com that the Pentagon has added a new requirement for the Gremlins to be able to rearm in flight and redeploy out of a C-130. Kratos builds the airframe of the Gremlins. Fendley added that around 20 Gremlins will be deployed on a typical mission. Northrop Grumman won a $53.7 million deal to provide continuing operator, maintenance, logistics and sustainment engineering support, to include training, supply chain and spares management for peculiar items, peculiar support equipment, and technical publications in support of the RQ-4A Global Hawk Broad Area Maritime Surveillance – Demonstrator (BAMS-D) aircraft being mission-capable for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions for the Navy. Work will take place in Maryland, California, Indiana, Virginia and Utah. Estimated completion date is in April 2022. Middle East & Africa Exercise African Lion will take place in Kenitra, Morocco over the two-weeks and three C-130J from the 86th Airlift Wing are participating. The C-130J crews will assist in training their Moroccan counterparts in airdrop, airlift and aeromedical evacuation capacities. While on their way to Kenitra, the C-130s airdrop over 150 U.S. and British paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and the 16th Air Assault Brigade over Grier Labouie, Morocco for a joint forcible entry via airborne assault demonstration. US Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps joint terminal attack controllers participated in a joint training exercise with Italian Air Force Eurofighters at Udairi Range Complex, Kuwait on May 26. Four Italian Eurofighter Typhoon jets are currently stationed in Kuwait, to support OIR (Operation Inherent Resolve), the multinational campaign against Daesh in Iraq and Syria. The F-2000A jets have deployed in April 2021, as part of “Prima Parthica”, as the Italian Armed Forces operation is dubbed at national level, and operate within the Task Group “Typhoon”. Europe The authorities of Ukraine’s Mariupol city are reportedly planning to buy the Iron Dome system from Israel to protect its airport. Mariupol International Airport, located just 5km from the city, was closed in June 2014, due to the escalation of an armed conflict. The airport is situated on the extreme south-eastern part of Ukraine near the border with Russia. The Iron Dome reportedly shot down over 90% of the rockets fired by Hamas during the recent bloody 11-day war. Asia-Pacific A group of 12 Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) aircrew students have started their training to operate the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. Lead by Lt. Col. Tetsuji Kamiguchi, 405th Air Refueling Squadron commander, the team consists of six pilots and six boom operators. The three-months conversion course is made up of three phases. The academic phase will have four classes daily before they proceed to the second phase to work on simulators and performed pre-briefs and debriefs. The group will then proceed to fly eight flights and a check ride with one of the 56th Air Refueling Squadron instructors before graduating. Today’s Video Watch: The C-130J Super Hercules View the full article

China is interested in a lot more than just the first or second island chain. In the vast reaches of the Pacific Ocean, the islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia are critical to the sea lines of communication for the economic powerhouses on both sides. From the Age of Discovery to today, their importance rises to the top of any power who wished to influence the area. To look at this area of returning importance with us for the full hour from 5-6pm Eastern this Sunday will be Alexander B. Gray. The starting point for our conversation will be the issues he raised in two recent articles; How the US Can Protect the Sovereignty of the Smallest Pacific Island in The Diplomat, and Why a Crisis in the Pacific islands matters for Washington and Beijing in The Hill. Alex is a Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council, served as Director for Oceania & Indo-Pacific Security at the White House National Security Council from 2018-2019. 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=pGrSwVzmhU8:-QG7y8EBeYw:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pGrSwVzmhU8:-QG7y8EBeYw:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pGrSwVzmhU8:-QG7y8EBeYw:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pGrSwVzmhU8:-QG7y8EBeYw:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/pGrSwVzmhU8View the full article

Our Navy needs a 4th USS Aaron Ward. Read all of this and tell me this isn't a name that needs to be active in our fleet. We also need a ship named after her CO, Adam Sanders. I'll just stick with the citations: The Presidential Unit Citation for Aaron Ward reads as follows: For extraordinary heroism in action as a Picket Ship on Radar Picket Station during a coordinated attack by approximately 25 Japanese aircraft near Okinawa on 3 May 1945. Shooting down two kamikazes which approached in determined suicide dives, the USS AARON WARD was struck by a bomb from a third plane as she fought to destroy this attacker before it crashed into the superstructure and sprayed the entire area with flaming gasoline. Instantly flooded in her after engine room and fireroom, she battled against flames and exploding ammunition on deck, and, maneuvering in tight circles because of damage to her steering gear, countered another suicide attack and destroyed three kamikazes in rapid succession. Still smoking heavily and maneuvering radically, she lost all power when her forward fireroom flooded after a seventh suicide plane which dropped a bomb close aboard and dived in flames into the main deck. Unable to recover from this blow before an eighth bomber crashed into her superstructure bulkhead only seconds later, she attempted to shoot down a ninth kamikaze diving toward her at high speed and, despite the destruction of nearly all her gun mounts aft when this plane struck her, took under fire the tenth bomb-laden plane, which penetrated the dense smoke to crash on board with a devastating explosion. With fires raging uncontrolled, ammunition exploding and all engine spaces except the forward engine room flooded as she settled in the water and listed to port, she began a night-long battle to remain afloat and, with the assistance of a towing vessel, finally reached port the following day. By her superb fighting spirit and the courage and determination of her entire company, the AARON WARD upheld the finest traditions of the Unites States Naval Service. The Navy Cross citation for Commander Sanders reads: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander William Henry Sanders, Jr., United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Destroyer USS AARON WARD (DM-34), in action against enemy aircraft on 3 May 1945, while deployed off Okinawa in the Ryukyu Islands. With his radar picket station the target for a coordinated attack by approximately twenty-five Japanese suicide planes, Captain Sanders gallantly fought his ship against the attackers and, although several bomb-laden planes crashed on board, skillfully directed his vessel in destroying five kamikazes, heavily damaging four others and routing the remainder. Determined to save his ship despite severe damage and the complete loss of power during this action, he then rallied his men and renewed the fight against raging fires, exploding ammunition, and the flooding of all engineering spaces until, after a night-long battle to keep the ship afloat, he succeeded in bringing her into port. By his inspiring leadership and courage in the face of overwhelming odds, Captain Sanders upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Like I said, read it all ... and be humbled at man's ability to persevere. Fullbore. 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=0pVVUNpnqhE:TvNOf1qzI24:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0pVVUNpnqhE:TvNOf1qzI24:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0pVVUNpnqhE:TvNOf1qzI24:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=0pVVUNpnqhE:TvNOf1qzI24:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/0pVVUNpnqhEView the full article

Americas Raytheon won a $3 billion contract for F-15 Radar Eagle Vision. This contract provides for the production, modernization and support of the F-15 APG-82 radar system to rapidly deliver and stay aligned with the F-15 weapon system program. According To Raytheon, the APG-82(V)1 AESA radar is the latest radar advancement for the US Air Force F-15E fleet and optimizes the F-15E jets multirole mission capability. Additionally, with its extensive range and advanced multi-target track and precision engagement capabilities, the APG-82(V)1 offers enhancement in system reliability over the APG-70 radar. Work will take place in California. Expected completion date is June 8, 2036. The Gray Eagle Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) completed initial flight tests equipped with a new brushless generator system, providing over 50% more power than the current system. The tests were held on May 13, 2021, at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. The initial flight test of the system marks an important milestone towards upgrading the GE-ER fleet with generators that will significantly improve reliability and dramatically reduce platform sustainment costs. The new generator also provides electrical power to support expanding mission scenarios for the UAS, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. said. Middle East & Africa Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Tomer, a government-owned company producing rocket propulsion systems, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop projects in rocket propulsion and innovative missiles rocket engines. The MoU includes investment in joint projects, mutual R&D and establishing infrastructure for the companies’ respective R&D departments for the benefit of developing future, advanced technologies in the field of rocket propulsion and innovative rocket motors, at a higher quality and faster than in the past. Europe The 50th Baltic Operations (BALTOPS 50) exercise, the premier maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic Region, kicked off on June 6th. Between June 6th and 18th, air and maritime assets from 18 NATO Allies and partner nations will participate in live training events that include air defence, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious operations, maritime interdiction, mine countermeasure operations. Insitu, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company has collaborated with two Norwegian firms – Robot Aviation and Andøya Space – to promote the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) ecosystem in the Arctic and High North. The alliance will offer products and services optimized for the harsh environments north of the Arctic Circle where many North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) allies operate. Asia-Pacific A mock-up of a fighter, likely the Shenyang FC-31 stealth jet, was seen at a naval test facility in Hubei Province’s Wuhan, fueling speculations that China intends to operate the type on its ships. An unverified photo recently surfaced on social media that, for the first time, showed an FC-31-like model positioned on the “flight deck” of a full-size mock aircraft carrier at the test center. The photo also showed mockups of J-15 carrier fighters, as well as one of a Z-18 series helicopter, a standard heavyweight rotary-wing type in People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) service and a frequent visitor to its carriers. Today’s Video Watch: Most Expensive Drone & Scary MQ-1 Gray Eagle in The World View the full article

Want to know an organization's priorities? Follow the money. The skunk at the navalist picnic last week, in an already tough year, was the unexpected - by almost everyone - rather clunky MEMORANDUM of June 4, 2021 put our by the Acting Secretary of the Navy. You can read it in full here or below, but it outlines some significant cuts in to the Navy's teeth, - The Navy cannot afford to simultaneously develop the next generation of air, surface and subsurface platforms...prioritize of of the following (sic) capabilities and re-phase the the other two after an assessment of operational, financial, and technical risk. ... - The Navy cannot afford to own, operate, and maintain its current infrastructure ... the CNO is directed ... to achieve a 1 percent facility footprint reduction measured in square feet per year over 10 years. ... - Defund Sea-Launched Cruise Missile - Nuclear development efforts. Just when it needs the ability to get ready for the oft-touted "high end fight" we are cutting what will fight that war. What is getting money? Well besides the SSBN replacement that we outlined as the main driver of The Terrible 20s over a decade ago, we want to invest in telework, Naval Community College, various flavors of suicide prevention, sexual assault, and sexual harassment programs, & mental health. Oh, and of course; - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are critical to readiness of our Navy and Marine Corps team, and ultimately to our mission success. As part of the POM 23 process, the DON shall provide funding and manpower necessary to establish and appropriately staff and resource an office of primary responsibility to comply with the Department of Defense andDON DEI policies, guidance, and activities. Funding priorities for programs will be directed towards enhancing or sustaining recruitment, career development, retention, and training programs that reduct.eliminate barriers to service or advancement and deliver resources and benefits equitable to all. As we've documented since the start of this blog, the Navy branch of the diversity industry is already a large and well populated commissariat. This grows it even more ... and it will foster more division, more inequality, more strife. Watch how they operationalize the last sentence. Warfighting? Meh. Culture wars? Hell yeah. 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=sYWIS8zfNy0:ZhppBR8V-PE:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=sYWIS8zfNy0:ZhppBR8V-PE:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=sYWIS8zfNy0:ZhppBR8V-PE:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=sYWIS8zfNy0:ZhppBR8V-PE:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/sYWIS8zfNy0View the full article

Americas Boeing won a $39.7 million contract modification for new-build AH-64E aircraft. The AH-64 Apache is a twin-engine, four bladed, multi-mission attack helicopter designed as a highly stable aerial weapons-delivery platform. The helicopter is designed as a weapons delivery platform and is equipped with: a M230E1, 30mm automatic gun, aerial rockets system, and point target weapons system. Work will take place in Mesa, Arizona. Estimated completion date is October 31, 2025. A US Air Force probe into its recent contract award to Boeing for Japan’s KC-46 tankers spare parts has raised concerns about unfair pricing. Service officials reportedly confirmed to Defense News the Air Force’s recent $88 million contract award to Boeing for the spare parts included about $10 million in costs they could not determine to be fair or reasonable. Middle East & Africa The Lebanese Navy is set to receive new offshore patrol vessels from the United States and France, Defense News reported. 4 of the 7 vessels will be provided with help from France, while the remaining three Protector-class offshore patrol vehicles (OPVs) will come from the US. Europe Swiss newspaper Le Matin says the Dassault Rafale fighter is leading the competition to become the next fighter for Switzerland. The news report says a decision could now be announced on June 23. Le Matin says there are signs that the Swiss government has decided on the Rafale. For example, the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport, Viola Amherd, had cited the Rafale as an example of how the Swiss military could achieve its strategic objectives. Saab announced that it would be working with Finnish firm Varjo to integrate the company’s Human eye resolution mixed reality (XR) technology into all simulators for the Saab Gripen E/F aircraft. Saab’s Head of Tactical Environment Simulation and Visualisation Stefan Furenbäck said in a statement, “We are finalising the basic functionalities in our own simulator so that we can use Varjo’s XR-3 headsets in all our flight simulators. We’ve previously carried out smaller, independent prototype-like projects but now we’re integrating them into our actual flight simulators.” Asia-Pacific Samsung Heavy Industries Co. said that it teamed up with Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) to develop carbon-free nuclear-powered ships. The project will be based on the so-called molten salt reactor technologies. A molten salt reactor is a kind of small module reactor that utilizes molten fluoride salts as the primary coolant at low pressure. It has been emerging as a carbon-zero nuclear energy source, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday. Today’s Video Watch: Is the Boeing AH-64 Apache The Ultimate Weapon?| The Ultimates: Combat Helicopters | Spark View the full article