HG S2 (Intel Bot)

When people think of the freed slaves and freemen who fought for the Union in the formations then known as United States Colored Troops (USCT), they often think of July 18, 1863, when the 54th Massachusetts stormed Fort Wagner. Sadly, that more well known event - a Union defeat - overshadows an event six weeks earlier - a Union victory - that, at the time, probably had a greater impact on the growing support in the very racist by modern standards Northern Army to arming large formations of African-Americans than anything else. The attack on Ft. Wagner and the 54th Massachusetts were both in the Eastern theater of operations. As such, they naturally get more attention. There is so much more to learn in the often overlooked Western campaign, just you need to try harder to find it. This FbF, I want to draw your attention to the Western theater and a battle on June 7th, 1863 known as the Battle of Milliken's Bend upriver from Vicksburg. Let me set the scene. You just immigrated from Switzerland to the USA seven years ago. Five years ago you were a private in this new army, and two years later you find yourself a Colonel. You are commanding a supply depot as a side show of a side show of Grant's Vicksburg Campaign. You have a little over a 1,000 forces at your command. You are senior officer present, and with your command, the curiously named "African Brigade" by some, but to you are the 9th Louisiana Infantry (African Descent). They are almost all former slaves that you are told everyone knows will not make good soldiers. The rest of your forces include the 23rd Iowa Infantry and 10th Illinois Cavalry. Facing you, with 50% more forces than you have - a brigade in Walker's Texas Division. On the morning of June 6, Union Colonel Hermann Lieb with the African Brigade and two companies of the 10th Illinois Cavalry made a reconnaissance toward Richmond. About three miles from Richmond, Lieb encountered enemy troops at the Tallulah railroad depot and drove them back but then retired, fearing that many more Confederates might be near. While retiring, a squad of Union cavalry appeared, fleeing from a force of Rebels. Lieb got his men into battle line and helped disperse the pursuing enemy. He retired to Milliken's Bend and informed his superior by courier of his actions. The 23rd Iowa Infantry and two gunboats came to his assistance. Walker proceeded east from Richmond at 7 p.m. June 6. At midnight, he reached Oaklawn Plantation, which was situated about 7 miles from Milliken's Bend to the north and an equal distance from Young's Point to the south. Here, he split his command. Leaving one brigade in reserve at Oaklawn, he sent one brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. Henry E. McCulloch north to Milliken's Bend, and a second brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. James M. Hawes south to Young's Point. Around 3:00 a.m. on June 7, Confederates appeared in force and drove in the pickets. They continued their movement towards the Union left flank. The Federal forces fired some volleys that caused the Rebel line to pause momentarily, but the Texans soon pushed on to the levee where they received orders to charge. In spite of receiving more volleys, the Rebels came on, and hand-to-hand combat ensued. In this intense fighting, the Confederates succeeded in flanking the Union force and caused tremendous casualties with enfilade fire. The Union force fell back to the river’s bank. About that time Union gunboats Choctaw and Lexington appeared and fired on the Rebels. The Confederates continued firing and began extending to their right to envelop the Federals but failed in their objective. Fighting continued until noon when the Confederates withdrew. The Union pursued, firing many volleys, and the gunboats pounded the Confederates as they retreated to Walnut Bayou. A small battle, with huge implications. It got the attention of the right people; Grant praised the performance of black U.S. soldiers at the battle, observing that "This was the first important engagement of the war in which colored troops were under fire," and despite their inexperience, the black troops had "behaved well." Assistant Secretary of War Charles A. Dana wrote, "the sentiment of this army with regard to the employment of negro troops has been revolutionized by the bravery of the blacks in the recent battle of Milliken's Bend." Having seen how they could fight, many officers were won over to arming them for the Union. Even Confederate commander Henry McCulloch said the former slaves fought with "considerably obstinacy." U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton also praised the performance of black U.S. soldiers in the battle. He stated that their competent performance in the battle proved wrong those who had opposed their service: Many persons believed, or pretended to believe, and confidently asserted, that freed slaves would not make good soldiers; they would lack courage, and could not be subjected to military discipline. Facts have shown how groundless were these apprehensions. The slave has proved his manhood, and his capacity as an infantry soldier, at Milliken's Bend, at the assault upon Port Hudson, and the storming of Fort Wagner. — Edwin M. Stanton, letter to Abraham Lincoln, (December 5, 1863) While researching this I came across one story that bears mention. One early recruit to join the regiment was named Jack Jackson. Jackson was said to be very large and strong-willed and quickly became a Sergeant in Company B. At some point Jackson joined the regimental recruiting parties; the officers were having trouble with convincing local field hands to join. Jackson's recruiting method was described as very forceful but ultimately successful. At the Battle of Milliken's Bend one of Jackson's superior officers, Lieutenant David Cornwell, described the attack; saying that the 23rd Iowa was not behaving courageously but the three black infantry regiments offered great resistance. He said that Jackson, "Laid into a group of Texans... smashing in every head he could reach", and that, "Big Jack Jackson passed me like a rocket. With the fury of a tiger he sprang into that gang and crushed everything before him. There was nothing left of Jack's gun except the barrel and he was smashing everything he could reach. On the other side of the levee, they were yelling 'Shoot that big [_______]!' while Jack was daring the whole gang to come up and fight him. Then a bullet reached his head and he fell full on the levee." It would be a great think if Jack and the rest of the forces that fought under Lieb could see the nation they brought in to the modern era. It would be great to talk to them. 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=KhBDFqciktI:kOR7W3ks-FE:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=KhBDFqciktI:kOR7W3ks-FE:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=KhBDFqciktI:kOR7W3ks-FE:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=KhBDFqciktI:kOR7W3ks-FE:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/KhBDFqciktIView the full article

Americas General Electric Aviation won a $111.9 million contract modification, which procures 20 T408-GE-400 turboshaft engines, peculiar support equipment, and associated engine, programmatic and logistics services in support of CH-53K Lot 4 low rate initial production and spares. The CH-53K is the United States Marine Corps’ (USMC) heavy lift replacement for the CH-53E. The most powerful helicopter in the Department of Defense, the CH-53K 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 Lynn, Massachusetts. Expected completion will be in December 2023. Bell Boeing Joint Project Office won a $81.1 million deal, which provides continued non-recurring engineering support as well as the recurring procurement of kits and installs in support of the forced retrofit fleet implementation and installation of nacelle improvements and the conversion area harness onto the CV-22 aircraft for the Air Force. This order provides engineering, production, supportability, and management support necessary to facilitate the incorporation of the improved nacelles into the fleet via forced retrofit at the depot level of maintenance for previously delivered V-22 aircraft in support of phase two of the nacelle improvements effort. The V-22 Osprey is a joint-service, medium-lift, multimission tilt-rotor aircraft developed by Boeing and Bell Helicopters. Boeing is responsible for the fuselage, landing gear, avionics, electrical and hydraulic systems, performance and flying qualities. Work will take place in Texas and Pennsylvania. Estimated completion will be in June 2024. Middle East & Africa The State Department has cleared Saudi Arabia’s request to procure 3K GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb I munitions produced by Boeing, associated equipment and support services from the US government through a potential $290M FMS deal. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the agreement will also include the procurement of containers and parts and engineering, logistics and technical support. Boeing developed the SDB with a multipurpose warhead and a pneumatic carriage that can house up to four weapons. The glide bomb technology is designed to integrate with fighter and bomber aircraft platforms as well as unmanned aerial vehicles. Europe French Air Force Rafales will descend upon Jodhpur, India in the third week of next month for exercise SKYPROS with the Indian Air Force. Anonymous sources quoted by the local media say this exercise is different from the Garuda series of exercise that has been carried out by both sides previously. India is expected to send its own Rafale and Su-30MKI fighters to the training exercise. Two B-52 “Stratofortress” bombers of the US Air Force arrived in the Middle East in a show of short-notice force, US Central Command said. CENTCOM’s announcement did not specify a destination for the planes, but emphasized their in-flight refueling capabilities and noted that their “deliberate appearance” was meant to “underscore the US military’s commitment to regional security and demonstrate a unique ability to rapidly deploy overwhelming combat power on short notice.” The B-52s are part of the 5th Bomb Wing, headquartered at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. The deployment of bombers was CENTCOM’s third to the Middle East in the past 45 days. Asia-Pacific The Philippine Navy’s new Jose Rizal-class guided missile frigates will only get its first shipment of missiles starting from October 2021. “(Deliveries for) the surface-to-air missile is (on) October 2021 and March 2022 for the surface-to-surface missile,” Navy public affairs office chief, Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas, said in a message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA). The Mistral 3 has been selected as the anti-air missile for the warships while South Korea will suppy the SSM-700 Haeseong anti-ship missiles. Today’s Video Watch: RAFALE FRENCH NAVY PILOTS – CHILLOUT 7 View the full article

So, we’ve made it – 2020 is about done. It is cliché to go over all the things that will make this year stand out more than any other, but for the navalists out there, perhaps we should take a moment to ponder the Top-5 events that come to mind. 1. Captain Crozier, USN and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71): it would be difficult to write a screenplay – and I am sure we will see one after the book – of the circumstances in the 1QCY20 as COVID-19 appeared on the scene. This will be a study in leadership for a long time. I think with time and distance that my original take, with sympathy towards Corzier, will become the standard. As more is found out about what happened up the chain of command from him, that will become the major part of the story. Sure, in hindsight there is a lot to criticize, but none of us were there at that specific time with that specific information with that level of support receiving that specific advice. In the end, two things can be both correct at the same time; Crozier did the right thing, and firing him was correct. Perhaps. 2. Public shaming of USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and USS Gravely (DDG 107): everyone by now should understand the cumulated deferred maintenance of our warships. This is something that has been with us for decades. The condition of the SPRUANCE DD in the early 00s was an early warning that was ignored. Substandard has become the standard. That being said, this year saw enough pushback that there may be enough traction to get the funding and mindset back to where it needs to be in order to be proper stewards of the nation’s navy. Perhaps. 3. The burning of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6): I am waiting for the full investigation, but even months later, the initial observations remain. As they did after the collisions of the FITZ and MCCAIN in 2017, our Sailors responded in the finest traditions of our navy to the crisis. Also like the events of 2017, the weakest part of the story is the senior leadership – mostly absent, hiding from the press and people, and hoping someone else will take the PR hit. Just horrible. 4. Callous disregard for the lessons of 2017: of the many bold-faced lessons we thought we took away from 17 Sailors drowning in berthing in the summer of 2017, I though we agreed that we cannot over-deploy and under-support our fleet without negative results to follow. However, we are double-pumping CVN on pointless deployments and extending already exhausted ships at sea for … what? 5. The Culmination of the 355 Ship Navy: navalists, whether they were Trumpists or not four years ago, were excited that the 2016 election was won by a candidate that had a 355 ship navy as an above-the-fold priority. For reasons that are his as the Chief Executive, Trump failed to put the civilian leadership in place and promote the uniformed leaders who would follow through. We failed. It took the National Security Advisor – of all people – to take the point of leadership on this issue. The 2020 election pushed that on to the off ramp. A new administration is coming in, and there are no navalists or mandate from the Biden supporters for a larger navy. There are some good, right-thinking people coming in to the Biden administration … but none at this point who will fight and act towards a larger navy. Will have to wait. Hopefully navalists will take the time in exile to do the intellectual work, and build the right network of like minded people who will take action, so when the next opportunity presents itself, action can take place on day-1. So my good friends of the Front Porch – and I do consider <most of> you friends, we come to another year. Though I don’t jump in all that much, I do read the comments section for every post. Many of you are much smarter and have greater experience than I do and you help make CDRSalamander what it is. I look forward to reading the comments section here, I don’t fear it. I wish everyone the best as we go forward, and peace in dealing with any weight 2020 has placed on your shoulders. Cheers, Sal 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=uxKsHeym5so:Lzh_Bn0fEtM:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=uxKsHeym5so:Lzh_Bn0fEtM:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=uxKsHeym5so:Lzh_Bn0fEtM:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=uxKsHeym5so:Lzh_Bn0fEtM:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/uxKsHeym5soView the full article

Americas Boeing won a $198 million contract modification, which provides for the integration of a ground control station that provides command and control capability in support of the MQ-25 air vehicle for the Navy. The Boeing MQ-25 Stingray is an aerial refueling drone. In early December Boeing has flown its MQ-25A test asset (T1) with an aerial refuelling store under its wing for the first time. Earlier this year the US Navy exercised an option to acquire three additional MQ-25 air vehicles, bringing the total aircraft Boeing is initially producing to seven. The Navy intends to procure more than 70 aircraft, which will assume the tanking role currently performed by F/A-18s, allowing for better use of the combat strike fighters. Work will take place in Missouri and various locations within the continental US. Expected completion will be in August 2024. The 53rd Wing of the Air Force has combined its series of large-scale tests at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base into a new event called Black Flag. Gen. Mark D. Kelly inked COMACC Plan 21 on December 15, formalizing the creation of Black Flag as a training event “solely focused on test and tactics development in a realistic, massed force, fully integrated, high threat density environment.” Black Flag was established as the testing counterpart to Red Flag, the Air Force’s training event. Middle East & Africa The US State Department approved two possible arms sales to Kuwait totaling $4.2 billion on December 29. Per the larger of the two deals, for $4 billion, Kuwait’s government has asked to buy 24 AH-64E Apache helicopters, eight new and 16 remanufactured along with related equipment. The deal, if approved, would also include 22 T700-GE 701D engines, 36 remanufactured T700-GE 701D engines as well as support equipment, tools and test equipment, technical data and publications. The second FMS is for $200 million. The United States would sell spare parts to upgrade Kuwait’s Patriot missile systems. The principal contractor for this deal would be Raytheon. The US State Department also cleared two potential Foreign Military Sales to Egypt. The first is a potential sale of 20 Lockheed Martin AN/AAQ-33 Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods for $65.6 million. The FMS case does not state the type of aircraft on which the pods will be deployed, but Cirium fleets data indicates that Egypt has 218 in-service F-16s, including 33 F-16A/Bs and 185 F-16C/Ds. The second is for the provision of the Northrop Grumman Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures (LAIRCM) suite aboard an Airbus A340-200 that is used to transport the country’s head of state. The value of the LAIRCM deal is $104 million. Europe The Swiss Air Force will start having fighters on standby 24 hours a day starting from December 31. Currently, the F/A-18s are on standby during office hours. “From now on, the air police service will be on call 24 hours a day to guarantee the security and the sovereignty over Swiss airspace,” a statement said. The plan to increase Swiss airspace surveillance was proposed to parliament in 2009, but it was boosted by an embarrassing incident five years later that cast a spotlight on the lack of round-the-clock protection. In February 2014, an Ethiopian Airlines co-pilot hijacked his own plane, carrying 202 passengers and crew from Addis Ababa to Rome, and forced it to land in Geneva. Although the co-pilot-turned-hijacker announced he wanted to land the plane in Switzerland, where he later said he aimed to seek asylum, Switzerland’s fleet of F-18s and F-5 Tigers remained on the ground. The Swiss Air Force explained at the time that this was because its planes were only available during office hours. Asia-Pacific Northrop Grumman won a $37.7 million deal for the Japan Global Hawk Program. The deal provides for the procurement of initial spare parts to include modifications to the system engineering and program management tasks required to execute, manage, control, and report on all program activities. The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned high-altitude long-endurance surveillance aircraft that first flew in February 1998 and has been in active service with the US military since 2001. Today’s Video Watch: Boeing MQ-25 Continues Flight Tests View the full article

OK, that may be a stretch but we may have an opening to discuss the logistics and maintenance holes that everyone else was ignoring this century. I'm not a fan of all he has plans for 2021, but I am encouraged by a recent statement. Details over at USNIBlog. Come on by and tell me your thoughts. 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=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=4-1vGL_D2kA:2QuwJRWKFt0:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/4-1vGL_D2kAView the full article

Americas Mnemonics Inc. won a $10 million contract to procure as-needed engineering support services in support of the Radio Frequency Blanking Unit (RFBU) and Electronic Attack Unit (EAU) components of the Advanced Electronic Attack (AEA) system of the EA-18G Growler aircraft. The services under this contract are engineering support services, logistics management information and fleet support team efforts for the RFBU and EAU variants and derivative systems. Technical instructions will be issued in accordance with the statement of work for this contract to support the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane EA-18G EAU Organic Depot. Mnemonics, Inc. supplies electronic products and services. The Company offers electronics systems solutions such as hardware, software, and systems designs, as well as developing and testing of art weapons and communications systems. Mnemonics operates in the United States. Work will take place in Florida. Estimated completion will be by September 2025. An 11-day Weapons System Evaluation Program event ended successfully at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, the Air Force announced. The WSEP, conducted regularly, evaluates air-to-ground and air-to-air weapons systems, with an emphasis on missile firing and combat skills, according to Air Force officials. Tyndall’s 43rd Fighter Squadron, and the US Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadrons 11, 34, 81, and 211 of Carrier Air Wing One, based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., participated in the evaluation. “Pre-deployment joint training is crucial to success for the future,” Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Kellner, 83rd Fighter Squadron FA-18 program manager said in a press release. Middle East & Africa The US Navy said on Monday that the Nimitz Strike Group is positioned off the Africa coast as US troops relocate from Somalia to other East African areas. The strike group consists of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its air wing of 60 aircraft, two guided-missile cruisers and a guided-missile destroyer. According to a statement, the strike group arrived near the Somalia coast last week to provide “operational and close air support to Joint Task Force-Quartz and Operation Octave Quartz.” The missions are involved in combating Somalian al-Shabab extremists and the plan to move U.S. troops from Somalia to other encampments in East Africa. Europe Lockheed Martin won a $101.5 million contract modification, which adds scope to provide sustainment services and outcomes for the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, supporting daily flight operations with the national specific capabilities required at various F-35 operating sites in support of the F-35 Lightning II UK Lightning Air-system National Capability Enterprise. Work will take place the UK, Texas and Florida. Estimated completion is in December 2022. British company BAE Systems, in collaboration with UAVTEK, has developed a nano “Bug” drone, and delivered the first 30 units to the British Army, which has put it through its paces as part of a trial. The Bug is a nano-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) weighing 196g – similar to the weight of a smartphone – with 40 minute battery life and a 2km range. It boasts a stealthy low visual profile and the ability to fly even in strong winds of more than 50mph. According to BAE, it was the only nano-UAV able to cope with the uncompromising weather during a recent Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) event hosted by the Ministry of Defense’s Future Capability Group. Asia-Pacific Defense Minister Prabowo reignited an old debate in June when he sent a letter to his Austrian counterpart Klaudia Tanner on the possibilities of buying 15 Eurofighter Typhoon heavy jet fighters from the central European country to modernize the Indonesian Air Force. Operation Modern was a seldom reported deal between Indonesia and United States for the exchange of four MiG-21F-13 fighters for 19 T-33 trainers. A total of 13 MiG-21s went to America in exchange for the T-33, UH-34D, and later, F-5 and OV-10 aircraft. Today’s Video Watch: The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star subsonic jet trainer – America’s first jet trainer. View the full article

Unlike Germany and Italy, Japan has been much slower to get back in to the military game outside its borders. Much of that derives from the constitutional restrictions we put in their new government after WWII. With that are the habits generations of Japanese leaders have developed when looking at this area and are comfortable with. Slowly, that is changing. Especially as memories fade of Japanese occupation, and a sober appreciation of the very real threat from China, each year brings more details. Here's the latest move; The government is considering exporting the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s destroyer to Indonesia, according to informed sources. Negotiations on the export are underway with the Indonesian government, the sources said. A successful destroyer deal, if struck, would provide momentum for Japan’s exports of defense equipment and help realize the country’s initiative to make the Indo-Pacific region free and open, the sources said. More steps need to be taken in Japan to make this happen; Japan’s three principles on defense equipment transfers, adopted by the Cabinet in 2014, allow exports of equipment that will be used for life-saving, transportation, vigilance and surveillance activities, or minesweeping. “Exporting a destroyer will not be easy (in light of the principles) because the ship has not only warning and surveillance functions but attack capabilities,” a senior Defense Ministry official said. But the export may be possible if it is made for the purpose of joint ship development with a foreign country, the official added. In fiscal 2015, the ministry set up the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency for uniform control of exports of defense equipment. But the agency had failed to arrange equipment exports until it worked out in August this year a deal to ship four radars to the Philippines. I support this for a variety of reasons, top most would be that it is in our interest for regional cooperation as a bulwark against China. The Japanese can play a significant role in this, and military ties would bring them closer. Additionally would be the military effectiveness this will bring to nations that are no threat to us. The Japanese build quality kit, most of which the USA could help support if needed. Good. All good. Crossposted to substack. 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=Lnnh30yUG7s:h9hMsC3W-sQ:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Lnnh30yUG7s:h9hMsC3W-sQ:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Lnnh30yUG7s:h9hMsC3W-sQ:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Lnnh30yUG7s:h9hMsC3W-sQ:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/Lnnh30yUG7sView the full article

Problems with accessing this content on facebook - mostly due to OPFOR action, has been longstanding and hard to fix. On NMCI and some other platforms, there are issues with the entire blogspot domain ... again, longstanding. As such, while I am not changing platforms as of yet, from here on out I am going to be crossposting to the CDR Salamander page on Substack. I've decided to let Bryan's post be the test run as FB now won't let anyone link to my stuff, and NMCI trolls have done there work there as well. Some of you may like that format, and through the years many of you have asked if I had a "tip jar." I have not moved to pay subscriptions, but may add that in the near future over there. If I do, it will be for you the same as a "tip jar" as you can't buy me all the beer you owe me, but I think I may offer extra content for paid subscribers. More to follow ... but until then, you can head on over to my substack page where you can, as you can here, subscribe via email to have it come directly to you. 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=MB4VMyLcGc4:en-YZj1ZqyI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=MB4VMyLcGc4:en-YZj1ZqyI:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=MB4VMyLcGc4:en-YZj1ZqyI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=MB4VMyLcGc4:en-YZj1ZqyI:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/MB4VMyLcGc4View the full article

Americas The future USS Daniel Inouye completed builder’s trials after spending four days at sea off the coast of Maine last week, the Navy announced. The builder’s trials consist of a sequence of in-port and at-sea demonstrations allowing the Navy and the ship’s builder, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, to assess whether the ship is ready for delivery. The vessel will return to sea early in 2021 to conduct acceptance trials, during which all systems will be inspected and evaluated before the Navy can accept delivery. The Inouye is a Flight IIA destroyer equipped with the Aegis Baseline combat system, intended to deliver quick reaction time, high firepower and increased electronic countermeasures. The US Air Force has been testing the new M7.3 update for the F-16. Five members from the 84th Test and Evaluation Squadron made the trip to conduct critical training at the Nellis mission training center simulators and embedded with the 422nd TES F-16 division for an early operational look at the M7.3 program in a multi-domain environment. “The Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force is actively testing the M7.3 Operational Flight Program, which is a new software suite consisting of new core software that supports several new hardware programs that will drastically enhance warfighter capability when fielded in summer of ’21,” said Lt. Col. Benjamin Wysack, 84th TES F-16 test director. The OFP CTF is a dual major command unit that combines both developmental and operational test management experts that interact with several test execution units across the United States. Middle East & Africa Israel Shipyards started construction of the first of two OPV-45 offshore patrol vessels that have reportedly been ordered by Côte d’Ivoire. Israel Shipyards announced the order in July but did not identify the customer, although suggested it was a navy operating in the Gulf of Guinea when it said the vessels were designed to provide “protection against the increasing threat of piracy in the region”. Local media reported later that month that the OPVs had been ordered by Côte d’Ivoire. The OPV-45 displaces 300 tonnes, has a length of 45.7 m, a beam of 8.6 m, and a draught of 2.4 m. The two MAN 6V 175D-MM diesel engines provide a combined power of 2,960 kW at 1,900 rpm for a maximum speed of 24 kt. It has a range of 3,500 n miles at 12 kt. Europe France launched its CSO 2 spy satellite into space from its Guiana Space Center in South America. The satellite is carried into space using a Russian Soyuz ST-A rocket. It is the second in the Composante Spatiale Optique series. The first satellite was launched in 2018. The CSO 2 will have the highest resolution camera for a European reconnaissance satellite. While CSO 1 launched into an orbit around 500 miles (800 kilometers) in altitude, the CSO 2 spacecraft will head for a lower-altitude orbit approximately 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth. Its position closer to Earth will allow the satellite to produce sharper images for French military planners and intelligence analysts. Asia-Pacific Australia has declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for its F-35A fleet, clearing the way for the aircraft to be deployed for operations. “The fifth-generation F-35A, along with the F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler, is key to our air combat capability and critical to achieving the objectives set out in the 2020 Defense Strategic Update to Shape, Deter and Respond,” Minister for Defense Linda Reynolds said. The US State Department cleared the sale of two King Air Scorpion Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance (ISR) mission aircraft to Kazakhstan. They will be fitted with Raytheon AST TITAN Communications Intelligence (COMINT) Sensor Suites, Leonardo Osprey 30 radars, WESCAM MX-15HDi Elector Optical Infrared Turret Electro Optical Infrared Sensors and Sierra Nevada Small SWAP Auto Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) Systems. If the deal goes through the United States would also provide spare parts and technical and logistical support services, including technical documentation and training. Today’s Video Watch: Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) Launch Timelapse View the full article

For the last Monday of 2020, we are bringing in one of our favorite regulars guests, Bryan McGrath. Bryan offers one of the better situation reports of where our Navy finds itself in the first year of what will be an incredibly challenging decade. Get a fresh cup of coffee and dig in. He doesn't just provide the solid analysis of where we are, he offers a way forward. Bryan, over to you. Coming as it has on the heels of scandal, tragedy, leadership failure, and pandemic, recent news of plans for a dramatically larger Navy seemed to be a lifeline to an organization that has had a few difficult years. That this planned Navy comes after a year of intense scrutiny from the then Secretary of Defense (who rose to that job came through Army service and the Army Secretary position) and has been buttressed by the support of a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (who had previously been Chief of Staff of the Army), seemed to add to the sense of certainty. That said, reading the tea leaves in this manner ignores that there are problems with the Navy Department that could put these optimistic growth plans in jeopardy and, worse, risk holding back the Navy at a time when its strategic value to the country is rising. There is an opportunity for a fresh start with an incoming administration. Focused leadership and a willingness to pivot offer the best paths to moving beyond some of these issues and to placing the Navy on the firm footing the nation requires. This essay identifies several key problems and then offers a set of recommendations to address them. Trust To say the Navy has lost the trust of its governing institutions goes too far, but trust has frayed. Congress, the Secretary of Defense, and the White House have each taken actions that indicate dissatisfaction with basic functions that in the past have been carried out within the Department of the Navy, and for which the Navy was generally considered competent. The pathologies leading to diminished trust seem to disproportionately spring from major shipbuilding acquisition failures. The post-Cold War Navy placed efficiency over effectiveness and, in the process, lost both. The government acquisition and technical workforce, specifically those who in the past were trusted with being the honest brokers between program managers and requirements organizations, was eviscerated, with these functions largely outsourced to industry. The mania for “efficiency” led to too few watchers even as the complexity of desired technology exploded, along with the basic costs of owning a Navy (personnel costs chief among them). In the end, increasingly expensive platforms advanced with immature designs shepherded along by a process that relied on optimistic assessments of technology readiness and a sense that whatever was broken could be fixed in the endgame. We are now two decades into this era of efficient shipbuilding and it is an unmitigated failure. To the extent that there are any successes in the Navy’s shipbuilding portfolio, it is from programs that began prior to the year 2000 (DDG 51 and LPD 17) although both are wrestling with major modifications in their latest variants. The Navy’s CONSTELLATION CLASS Frigate program seeks to return to the 20th Century approach by capitalizing on an existing hull and proven technology, but success is not predetermined here. The degree to which Congress doubts the Navy’s basic approach to shipbuilding was reinforced in the omnibus spending measure passed last week, in which language was inserted to essentially zero the Navy’s “Large Surface Combatant” program, and by continuing resistance on Capitol Hill to the Navy’s Large Unmanned Surface Vehicle program. Trust in the Navy has also been an issue within DoD, manifesting itself in the historic micromanagement of fleet architecture and force structure by OSD over the past year. And while I consider the process to have ultimately produced a supportable and reasonable architecture (which in many respects resembled the Navy’s original work), it also injected delay and disruption in the logical sequence of architectural development. That sequence should have started with a strategic basis, then moved to a fleet architecture to support the strategy, and finally onto a 30 Year Shipbuilding Plan that would project the resources and pace necessary to implement a large portion of the architecture. For those keeping score at home, this is a representation of the classic “ends, ways, and means” of strategy-making. The Trump Administration provided the Navy with superb bases for moving forward. The National Security Strategy and the National Defense Strategy both point clearly to the benefits of naval power, and the fact that there was nearly a three-year gap between the release of the NDS (January 2018) and the new Tri-Service Maritime Strategy (December 2020) is inexcusable. Into the void, the new Commandant of the Marine Corps General Berger released his 2019 “Commandant’s Planning Guidance”, which was, as I said at the time, the most important bit of naval strategic thinking since the famous maritime strategy of the 1980’s, but which for all its worth, represented the distillation of thinking and discussion about naval integration that had been ongoing for eight years. A maritime strategy effort timed to drop within three months of the release of the NDS, followed shortly thereafter by an update to the fleet architecture studies released in early 2017 could have resulted in a 30 Year Shipbuilding Plan submitted with the FY 21 budget in the spring of 2019. That plan would likely have had a lot in common with what was submitted earlier this month in the dying days of the Trump Administration but would have had the benefit of two years’ worth of familiarity. Instead, the pathologies cited earlier (scandal, tragedy, leadership failure, and pandemic) dissipated Navy senior executive time and energy while Congress grew increasingly impatient with the Department of the Navy’s inability to articulate its needs. On a human level, it is difficult to imagine that the Navy’s troubles did not also color its relationship with OSD, and pressure from Congress on OSD certainly did not help this problem. For that matter, neither did pressure from the White House. That pressure arrived in the person of National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, who entered the picture in the Fall of 2019. O’Brien, who has an interest in naval matters and fleet architecture, came into office determined to make progress on Trump’s campaign promise to grow the Navy, but which had not seen much progress due in no small part to the foregoing issues (and to an inattentive President). The energy with which OSD interposed itself into Navy force structure planning in 2020 was a sign of both impatience with the Navy and a bureaucratic response to NSC pressure. Mostly though, what played out in 2020 was a case of diminished trust in the Navy across the board; trust deeply impacted by decades of shipbuilding failures, compounded by other perceived failures, and pressurized by doubt in the ability of the Navy to do things it once was good at. Communication If the Navy does its job properly, its contributions to national defense and economic prosperity are difficult for the average American to discern. Over time, questions rise as to the necessity of providing the enormous sums required to maintain a first-rate Navy, especially in the face of other important national priorities. Freedom of the seas and the everyday business of conventional deterrence around the world do not convey easily to mass entertainment. Americans understand the importance of ships, submarines, and aircraft when the shooting starts, but they do not hold a firm grasp of the fact that those weapons must be regularly procured in peacetime and must be constantly modernized and postured forward to keep that shooting from happening in the first place. It is the job of the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps to make this case relentlessly, both to the public at large and to their representatives in Congress. Over time, the zero-sum power game between the Service Secretaries and the Secretary of Defense has moved decidedly in the direction of OSD, and the consensus-driven, grand-unifying theory of Jointness has dampened the public advocacy of naval power as a foundational element of national power. The costs of providing and maintaining the world’s most powerful Navy are considerable, as are the myriad claims upon national resources made by our modern economy and social safety network. The Navy must do a better job in communicating the value it provides to the nation and the role it plays in the stability and prosperity that underpin the other elements of national power. Advocating for seapower does not mean criticism of other elements of military or national power. It means making the persuasive case for the obvious linkage between the health and power of our Navy and the well-being of the Republic. The development and implementation of this communication strategy must be driven from the top and aligned among the various constituencies targeted. Message alignment across the fleets, within the force, upward to OSD, Congress, and the White House, and outward to the American public, our allies, AND potential adversaries must be carefully managed and implemented. Strategic communication is a first order responsibility of leadership, and it must be treated as such. Organization The Department of the Navy is not well-organized to produce its main, desired product, and that is ready, integrated naval forces in support of conventional deterrence, warfighting, and war-termination. Two services exist within the Department, and it is meet and proper that they do. Existence and organization are different things, and no one should take from this essay a sense that the differences should be eliminated. But within the Department of the Navy, there is no organization resourced to determine the warfighting requirements necessary to achieve the Integrated American Naval Power that the CNO and the Commandant desire. And if such an organization existed, there would be no organization resourced to do the systems engineering and systems architecture necessary to achieve those requirements. And if such an engineering and architecture organization existed, there is no acquisition organization resourced or constituted to field these requirements. There is instead a kluge consisting of military services, each with its own requirements organizations, doctrine commands, systems commands, and program offices all operating within their lanes and achieving truly integrated capability largely as the result of the efforts of talented persons working together on an ad-hoc basis rather than as the result of repeatable processes that work despite leadership talent or personality. Naval integration must be top down and bottom up, and changes need to be made throughout and between the Navy and the Marine Corps. Nothing is as cliché as a reorganization carried out by a new management team. That said, the Department of the Navy must organize better to achieve its mission, to include the possibility of larger staffs and additional organizations suitable for a new era of great power competition. The age of efficiency at the cost of effectiveness has ended. Recommendations There are of course, other problems in the Department of the Navy. I have chosen to concentrate on the ones that senior leadership can best tend to, but there is no substitute for ethical, deck-plate leadership to address many of the others. To complete this essay, I offer the following recommendations to address the deficiencies noted. When you are in a hole, stop digging. Rebuilding the relationship with Congress should be job one. Being uncommunicative and stubborn with your bankers is self-destructive. A better relationship with Congress will lead to less micromanagement from OSD and the White House. Fully fund the basic engineering and test facilities that Congress rightly believes underpinned previous shipbuilding success for the Large Surface Combatant and LUSV programs. Alter current shipbuilding plans to reflect a realistic timeline for these facilities to mature, even if it means injecting several years of delay in the desired shipbuilding profile. In the meantime, continue to build ships already designed, increase capital investment in desired industrial capability, and spend more on innovative networking schemes. Commit to a shipbuilding philosophy that relies on mature designs and technologies, with batch implementation of only proven upgrades. Move more cautiously in identifying a second source to build the CONSTELLATION Class Frigates; be confident in the design and learning curve before dramatically increasing production rate. Remember your AOR. The AOR for the Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps extends from their offices on the fourth deck of the Pentagon, to the Offices of the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Capitol Hill, to the White House. The overwhelming majority of time and effort should be spent in this small AOR. Travel outside of Washington should be rare and impactful. Make immediate plans to implement Congressman Mike Gallagher’s initiative to bring Congress more fully into the discussion of fleet needs. Routinely invite key staffers to participate in DC area forums, war-games, and table-top exercises. Get the order right. Ends. Ways. Means. The Department has a strategy now—the Tri-Service Maritime Strategy—and although its release was timed unfortunately, it is an excellent document that ought to be discussed and briefed across the naval service, around the country, and within the leadership AOR. When the Biden Administration releases its NSS and NDS as it inevitably will, this strategy should be re-evaluated against the new political direction and updated. Immediately thereafter. Future fleet architecture efforts and force structure assessments must be routine, and the 30 Year Shipbuilding plan should be delivered with the budget every year, on time. Large swings in the shipbuilding plan are difficult for the industrial base to digest and strain an already brittle supply chain. Any hope of successfully growing the Navy hinges on consistent growth over time resulting from sound analyses and strategic insight. One message, many voices. Strategic communications within the Department of the Navy needs to be formalized, regularized, and reformed. The Under Secretary of the Navy is the perfect place for this responsibility, and he or she should convene a regular process of message development, targeting, and assessment. This process should be holistic, encompassing communications with OSD and CJCS, operational movements and fleet messaging, international messaging, test and evaluation, internal service messaging, legislative affairs, and media relations. The Chief of Information (CHINFO) and the Chief of Legislative Affairs (CLA) should be blended USN/USMC staffs that report solely to the Secretary of the Navy through the Under Secretary. Leadership of the organizations should pass between the Navy and the Marine Corps. USN and USMC flag and general officers must be directed to deliver standardized educational briefings to civic groups around the country and report back to CHINFO on what their audiences bring up as important and relevant. Navy leadership should encourage the Navy League of the United States to execute its advocacy and education missions more fully and formally and should support these efforts consistent with law and practice. Organize for Success. The Secretary of the Navy should consider a reorganization that brings certain important functions currently delegated to the Chief of Naval Operations and the Commandant of the Marine Corps into the Secretariat to drive closer integration of the planning and budgeting functions in DoN. Specifically, the DCNO for Integration of Capability and Resources (N8) and parts of the Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources would merge into an Integrated Naval Power Capability and Resources branch. The individual service staffs would continue to execute resource sponsor responsibilities and requirements validation, but the Secretariat would be where the trades would be made across capabilities and services in pursuit of greater integration.The Under Secretary of the Navy create and implement the Strategic Communications process discussed above, and both CHINFO and OLA would reform accordingly.A four-star Systems Engineering, Design, and Acquisition Command should be established to create and maintain the integrated naval architecture and enforce architectural compliance across the DoN. The existing SYCOMS would continue to execute construction, delivery, and life-cycle management responsibilities, but design and acquisition functions would accrue to this cross-domain/cross-service organization. Some other ideas of note can be found in this 2016 piece by current National Security Council Senior Director Mark Vandroff and me. Consideration should be given to whether the existing doctrine organizations within the Navy and Marine Corps can produce doctrine for Integrated American Naval Power. Currently, there is no organization charged with this task. Do Something Big but, Unexpected. A new administration coming in with President whose electoral process did not require a detailed program of military spending and national security planning has a lot of options, and there will never be a better opportunity to do something bold. Some candidates include:Cancel the remaining LCS ships, take most existing ships out of commission (exempt MIW), and offer for foreign military sale or if necessary, direct transfer. Re-invest any savings into modifying the three ships of the DDG 1000 class with the same combat system as the DDG 51 Flight III (including an upgraded IAMD worthy radar) and install a launcher to accommodate Conventional Prompt Strike Missiles. Create a true Maritime Dominance Destroyer.Direct the installation of a variant of the DDG 51 Flight III combat system be employed in the LPD 17 Flight II class; direct each new construction LPD 17 to be equipped with a 32 cell VLS Launcher. Backfit all existing LPD 17’s with the Flight III combat system and the VLS Launcher.Both initiatives would move the force toward the future integrated combat system and would increase the available VLS cells. Consider the truncation of the FORD Class CVN with the latest hull in the budget. Direct the Navy and Marine Corps to do preliminary design of an aviation capable, nuclear-powered, catapult-equipped platform without a well-deck. Set the cost ceiling (fully constructed for fleet use) at $10B (FY 10) and give them a year to come back with a plan. Set a goal of 25 hulls and fully interchangeable with current CSG and ESG missions.Consider the conversion of an existing nuclear capable shipyard into a second building yard for this platform. Good, smart people lead and follow in the Navy and Marine Corps. What they do is of supreme importance to the nation, and the difficulties of the last few years weigh on many of them. There are no silver bullets, there are no quick and easy paths to the easy life. Providing, maintaining, organizing, training, equipping, and operating the most influential and powerful Naval Force the world has ever known is hard. Tell the truth about what you think you need, show the math when you tell the truth, explain the assumptions behind the math, and when your bankers tell you to do something, do it. Don’t be satisfied with organizations that aren’t aligned with your goals. Work to change them. Question your own assumptions more aggressively than your opponents do. Take on the best arguments against you. Make your case, make it well, and make it often. Things will get better. They have to. Bryan McGrath is the Managing Director of The FerryBridge Group LLC. All opinions here are his own and do not reflect the views of his clients, which include the U.S. Navy. 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=j_qnmVcpgbk:rnmrcmURdms:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=j_qnmVcpgbk:rnmrcmURdms:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=j_qnmVcpgbk:rnmrcmURdms:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=j_qnmVcpgbk:rnmrcmURdms:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/j_qnmVcpgbkView the full article

Americas Northrop Grumman Aerospace won a $53.7 million deal for the RQ-4B Global Hawk. The contract provides for repair services for “common items” for both the RQ-4 GH and MQ-4C Triton. It will support reparable national stock numbers (NSNs) which encompass the air vehicle, multiple sensor packages, mission control element and launch and recovery element. In addition, this effort includes support engineering services covered under the Engineering Delegation Authority (namely Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages projects) for NSNs transferred to and under the management of the 407th Supply Chain Management Squadron. Northrop Grumman successfully completed the first flight for the Global Hawk Ground Station Modernization Program at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. earlier this month. The modernized Global Hawk ground stations will revolutionize the operator experience with new cockpit displays, the ability to fly all Global Hawk variants without software or configuration changes, simpler maintenance interfaces, and improved situational awareness and environmental conditions for pilots and sensor operators. Work under the new contract will take place in California, Virginia, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio, Canada, New Jersey, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York and Maryland. The basic ordering period and six one year ordering periods are expected to begin January 1, 2021, and end on December 31, 2028. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics won an $8.7 million contract modification adds scope to provide program management support to execute the planning, procurement and delivery of initial aircraft spares in support of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy; non-Department of Defense (DOD) participants and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers operational aircraft. Work will take place in Texas. Estimated completion date is in December 2021. Middle East & Africa AITC-Five Domains JV LLC won a $29 million contract to provide train, advise, assist and mentor services. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with an estimated completion date of December 30, 2025. Fiscal 2021 Foreign Military Sales (Saudi Arabia) funds in the amount of $29,028,329 were obligated at the time of the award. The company also won a $17.7 million contract with an estimated completion date of August 30, 2023. Spartan Air Academy Iraq LLC won a $15.7 million contract modification for the Iraq T-6A contractor logistics support and training maintenance program. The modification provides for the exercise of an option to extend the term of the contract for the continued services needed in order to effectively maintain and operate a fleet of 15 T-6A training aircraft. The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop trainer aircraft built by the Raytheon Aircraft Company. Work will take place at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Expected completion date is June 30, 2021. Europe Belgium’s first A400M has been delivered and flown to the 15th Wing Air Transport in Melsbroek. The second A400M for Belgium will be delivered in early 2021. The country has ordered seven aircraft. This A400M, known as MSN106, will be operated within a binational unit composed of a total of eight aircraft, seven from the Belgian Air Force and one from the Luxembourg Armed Forces. The second A400M for Belgium will be delivered in early 2021. Asia-Pacific Hindustan Times reports that at least three Dassault Rafale fighters will be flown to India next month. This is the third ferry flight and like the second delivery flight, all three aircraft will fly non-stop from France to India. The jets were ordered from France in September 2016 under a government-to-government deal. The delivery of the three jets in January will take the number of Rafales in the IAF’s inventory to 11. Today’s Video Watch: MQ-4C Triton – America’s First-Class Unmanned Surveillance Aircraft View the full article

This has been a difficult year, and many of us are not where we want to be this Christmas, or with who we want to be with. This too will soon pass, but to my nation's enemies, in the Christmas spirit, I will offer you this reminder for this evening; 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=rWXnE8x9-i0:8_ConCv0yH8:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=rWXnE8x9-i0:8_ConCv0yH8:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=rWXnE8x9-i0:8_ConCv0yH8:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=rWXnE8x9-i0:8_ConCv0yH8:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/rWXnE8x9-i0View the full article

Americas General Electric won a $220 million contract modification, which exercises an option to procure 48 F414-GE-400 engines and engine devices in support of the F/A-18 Super Hornet production aircraft for the Navy. The General Electric F414 is an American afterburning turbofan engine in the 22,000-pound thrust class. Two F414 engines power the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. The US Navy F/A-18 E and F Super Hornet maritime strike attack aircraft was manufactured by Boeing, and flew for the first time in 1995. The air inlets have been enlarged to provide increased airflow into the engines. The structural changes to the airframe on the F/E variant of the aircraft increase the internal fuel capacity by 3,600lb, a 33% higher fuel capacity than the F-18C/D variant. Work will take place in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Kentucky. Estimated completion will be in August 2023. Northrop Grumman won a $13.1 million order, which procures 39 avionic flight mission computers, 10 control display units and one environmental stress screening station in support of E-2D aircraft. The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (AHE) is the newest variant of the E-2 aircraft platform. It features a state-of-the-art radar with a two-generation leap in capability and upgraded aircraft systems that will improve supportability and increase readiness. The E-2D continues the Navy’s integrated war fighting legacy by providing broad area coverage resulting in broader range capabilities. With the E-2D’s enhanced ability to work in the littoral and over land, the platform provides a critical capability to protect our nation’s interests. Work will take place in California and Florida. Estimated completion is in November 2024. Middle East & Africa The guided-missile submarine USS Georgia passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the US Naval Forces Central Command said in a rare disclosure. The submarine, which can carry up to 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, was escorted by the guided missile cruisers USS Port Royal and USS Philippine Sea through the strait as it entered the Persian Gulf. The US military rarely announces the movements of its submarines, and the disclosure comes as US officials are on alert for heightened tensions in the Middle East. Europe Two people working for Italian defense contractor Leonardo had installed malware on the company’s computers and stole at least 10 gigabytes of data between 2015 and 2017. Reuters say 94 computers were hacked, 33 were at the Pomigliano plant. Files stolen includes information on the electronic system of the nEUROn, C-27J cargo plane and ATR commercial and military turbo-prop planes. Airbus Helicopters has begun upgrading Hungary’s eventual fleet of 20 H145M rotorcraft with the company’s HForce Generic Weapon System (GWS). The company announced that three of the 16 helicopters so far delivered under the Eastern European nation’s Zrínyi 2026 military development programme have been retrofitted with the HForce GWS. The H145M joined the fleet of the Hungarian Air Force one year ago. A couple of days ago it was reported that the Hungarian Air Force had taken delivery of 16 H145M helicopters that it ordered. A total of twenty helicopters were ordered. Asia-Pacific Four Chinese bombers and 15 Russian military aircraft carried out a joint air patrol on Decemver 22. Japan and South Korea scrambled fighter jets to keep track of those warplanes. Four Chinese military aircraft and 15 Russian planes entered the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone. According to Korea’s joint chiefs, the Chinese planes flew into the KADIZ from the west, with two out of the four planes passing through an area east of Ulleungdo, a South Korean island. Today’s Video Watch: FLOW – The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Enhancement: Refuel in Air View the full article

Ignoring all that we will be fighting during the Terrible 20s, I can't think too much about the fleet we have provided to our Sailors to fight with this decade too much without having a slow-building rage. Maybe you're happy. If so, head on over to USNIBlog and tell me where I'm wrong. Ho, ho, ho. 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=f-NqqpmrNds:8mIrpv-xOrE:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=f-NqqpmrNds:8mIrpv-xOrE:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=f-NqqpmrNds:8mIrpv-xOrE:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=f-NqqpmrNds:8mIrpv-xOrE:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/f-NqqpmrNdsView the full article

Americas Boeing won a $29.4 million order, which procures various parts and quantities for main and nose landing gear critical components retrofit kits in support of F/A-18A-D aircraft modification efforts. F/A-18 Hornet became the nation’s first all-weather fighter and attack aircraft, and was designed for traditional strike applications such as interdiction and close air support without compromising its fighter capabilities. The F/A-18 A-D is employed in Marine Corps fighter attack squadrons, US Navy and Marine Corps Reserve squadrons, the Navy Flight Demonstration Team (Blue Angles), and various other fleet support roles. Work will take place in Missouri and is expected to be finished in February 2024. Meggitt Defense Systems won a $27.4 million contract modification, which adds scope for the procurement of additional P-8A liquid palletized systems in ordering Years Two, Three and Four, with 10 units in Year Two, 11 units in Year Three and 11 units in Year Four, in support of the Navy P-8A aircraft. The P-8A Poseidon is the US Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft. It is capable of broad-area, maritime and littoral operations, and is also successful at search and rescue. Operating with a smaller crew, yet delivering an extended global reach, greater payload capacity, higher operating altitude, open-systems architecture and significant growth potential, the P-8A provides more combat capability. Work will take place in California, Washington and New York. Estimated completion will be in November 2024. Middle East & Africa General Electric won a $20 million deal to provide contractor engineering and technical services engine support for Air National Guard and Foreign Military Sales partners. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. Work will take place in Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Cincinnati, Ohio. Estimated completion date is December 21, 2022. Northrop Grumman, doing business as Alliant Techsystems Inc. was tapped for a $15.2 million modification for contractor logistic support for the Iraqi Air Force’s Cessna 208 and 172 fleet. The Cessna 208 and 172 are utility aircraft. An Iraqi Air Force Cessna 172 Skyhawk training aircraft crashed during a training mission in Salah ad Din Governorate in central Iraq on October 31 killing the pilot and co-pilot. Work will take place in Balad Airbase, Iraq and estimated completion date is June 30, 2021. Europe The UK MoD is inviting expression of interest applications for the potential sale of surplus RAF Sentinel and Sentry aircraft for dismantling. The Sentry aircraft, part of a larger fleet that originally numbered 6, are being sold off as the fleet draws down to 3 aircraft before it is replaced by the E-7 Wedgetail aircraft over the coming decade. There is no replacement for sentinel. Asia-Pacific According to Chinese media, a People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF) Y-8Q/KQ-200 anti-submarine warfare (ASW)-capable maritime patrol aircraft recently conducted a live-fire exercise using “a new type of air-droppable, self-guided depth charge”. During the exercises, a Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft deployed a new type of air-droppable, self-guided depth charge from its belly, and accurately hit its intended target, according to the report and a photo attached to it. Multiple depth charges were used in the real scenario exercises, which boosted the aircraft’s anti-submarine warfare capability, the report said. Today’s Video Watch: America’s P-8 Poseidon: Now a Ship Killer, Bomber & More View the full article

Cessna 208B: note ISR turret (click to view full) Iraq’s air force has been very slow in getting to its feet. A handful of Seeker light observation aircraft with their distinctive bubble-shaped fronts, a few Comp Air light propeller aircraft, a couple of old, refurbished C-130E transports, and a slowly growing fleet of helicopters. A few Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350s have been ordered for transport and surveillance duties, and an RFP for armed counterinsurgency aircraft has only given Iraq a set of unarmed T-6B trainers. Even subsequent orders for F-16C/D fighters and L-159 advanced trainer and attack jets leave the Iraqi air force a long way from being able to secure Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. While it continues to grow<, the IqAF’s primary duties remain troop/medical transport, light supply duties, and surveillance of roads and infrastructure. That kind of surveillance doesn’t require high tech, high-end aircraft. The USAF was using F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft at $15,000 per flight hour, plus recapitalization amortization. Iraq’s solution takes a page from the US military’s own past, and offers a significant contrast to the American approach. Hey, Bird Dog L-19 “Bird Dog” (click to view full) Light propeller aircraft like Cessna’s L-19 “Bird Dog” and O-2 successor worked very well in Vietnam. Their modern descendants can be outfitted with modern surveillance turrets plus “Mk1 eyeballs and ears” for a fraction of a fighter jet’s acquisition and amortization cost, in order to do more or less the same ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) job. They’ll also crash less often than expensive UAVs, and are more suitable for fledgling air forces. Specialty models like the Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor even add acoustic silencing, plus more mission space for dedicated surveillance equipment. The “Bird Dog” concept certainly fits the IqAF’s profile and support capabilities, and Cessna 172s were initially slated to serve as a trainer aircraft. Unsurprisingly, statements from people on the front lines quickly revealed that larger Cessna 208B Caravan aircraft were picking up key surveillance roles, and that a push was on to arm the planes with the same kinds of Hellfire missiles carried by more expensive attack helicopters and Predator drones. The process has continued in close lockstep with the growth of the Iraqi Air Force’s own professionalism and capabilities, and the Iraqis are now fielding armed “Bird Dog” aircraft as one of their primary domestic options for close air support. Contracts & Key Events ATK on AC-208 click for video Note that some planes may have been ordered under the “Special Defense Acquisition Fund.” Its ostensible purpose is to buy items quickly for friendly governments. It actual effect is to hide which governments are receiving the items. The US military announced SDAF orders for 8 C-208B aircraft in CY 2012, but 2009 releases already showed a significant difference between Iraqi C-208 numbers and public Pentagon announcements. 2011 – Today Iraq able to use AC-208s on their own, to limited effect; Support contracts. AC-208B firing (click to view full) December 23/20: Cessna 208 and 172 Northrop Grumman, doing business as Alliant Techsystems Inc. was tapped for a $15.2 million modification for contractor logistic support for the Iraqi Air Force’s Cessna 208 and 172 fleet. The Cessna 208 and 172 are utility aircraft. An Iraqi Air Force Cessna 172 Skyhawk training aircraft crashed during a training mission in Salah ad Din Governorate in central Iraq on October 31 killing the pilot and co-pilot. Work will take place in Balad Airbase, Iraq and estimated completion date is June 30, 2021. July 4/14: Intelligence? A weapon deficiency may not be Iraq’s biggest problem. The way they’re employing their forces makes it hard to use them effectively, and seems geared to stoking massive sectarian conflict: “But even before the U.S. military left the country, the Iraqi government purged many of its best intelligence officers and assets because they were either Sunnis or Kurds… according to a senior intelligence official who spoke anonymously so that he could speak freely…. Michael Pregent, a former Army intelligence officer working on contract as an embedded adviser to the Iraqi security forces in 2008, obtained evidence that showed how politicized the Iraqi targeting process had become…. A confidential analysis of the [3,000 target] list by Americans in a targeting cell at the Baghdad Operations Center found that 95 percent of the targets were either Sunni men of military age, tribal leaders or other Sunnis listed simply as “the friend of a terrorist, father of a terrorist, grandfather of a terrorist,” Pregent said. No direct evidence of terrorist involvement was provided, he said.” The Saddam approach to crushing an insurgency can work as long as you have the guns and technological superiority to pull it off. Iraq is shaky in terms of the weapons advantage, and that gets shakier if the rebels receive competent outside assistance. Can Iran help drown the Sunnis in manpower? And will the USA be able to continue supporting the Iraqi government if it plays by standard Mideast rules in a sectarian civil war? Sources: Washington Post via Stars and Stripes, “Iraq lacks ability to fly F-16s it seeks, US trainer says”. June 30/14: Missile deliveries. As the Iraqi government’s authority collapses in the north and west, US Defense Department spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren says that: “I know we’re down to having delivered all but 100 of the recent purchase of 500 [Hellfire missiles] that the Iraqis made. There were shipments within the last week…. We expect that purchase of a total of 500 Hellfires to be closed out within the coming two or three weeks.” The Hellfire’s main platform in Iraq is currently their AC-208 fleet. Sources: Pentagon, “U.S. Continues Military Aid to Iraqi Government”. June 21/14: Out of Hellfires. As its northern cities and Sunni areas steadily fall, Iraq has a minor but significant problem: “The Iraqi military ran out of Hellfire missiles six days ago, and though the U.S. is rushing more missiles into the country, Iraq has only two modified Cessna aircraft to launch them in their battle against the radical Islamic militia ISIS…. The losses have left the Iraqi military with no offensive capability, and no real air force. “ Iraq hasn’t had a real combat air force since Saddam Hussein’s era, and the best estimates didn’t expect one before 2017 at the earliest. The Iraqis do have armed Russian Mi-17 helicopters that don’t use Hellfires, and French EC635 scout helicopters whose armed status is uncertain. Russia has also agreed to sell them Mi-28 attack helicopters, but there are no signs of any in service. ABC News, “Iraqi Military Out of Hellfires in Battle Against ISIS” May 30/14: Hellfires. US Security Assistance Command touts its role in delivering 300 Hellfire missiles to Iraq through the Foreign Military Sales program. The Ac-208B is the missile’s key platform. “Upon receiving a letter of request in January, USASAC began to work closely with the Aviation and Missile Command, Joint Munitions Command, the vendor and various other organizations in order to implement an emergency case…. “USASAC had the lead from an overall program management perspective,” said Will Collins, country program manager for Iraq…. A case for 300 Hellfire missiles completed formal congressional notification Feb. 22. Within a week USASAC received a signed letter of acceptance from the government of Iraq, and on Feb. 27 USASAC began implementing the case…. providing weekly updates to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.” It wasn’t quite enough (q.v. June 21/14). Sources: US Army, “USASAC meets request”. May 5/14: Support. ATK in Fort Worth, TX receives a maximum $15.2 million firm-fixed-price unfinalized contract modification to to continue contractor logistic support services for the Iraqi Air Force’s RC-208 ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) and armed AC-208 Cessna Caravan light planes, without a break in service. They’re Cessna planes, but ATK equipped them to be full-fledged Bird Dogs instead of just initial flight trainers. The firm will also provide student training for Iraqi aircraft maintenance specialists. $7.6 million is committed immediately. Work will be performed at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, and is expected to be complete by Dec 31/14. USAF Life Cycle Management Center/WLKCL at Tinker AFB, OK manages the contract (FA8106-10-C-0010, PO 0039). May 1/14: On the ground… A Wall Street Journal report offers a poor review of the Iraqi military’s performance, citing desertion, poor logistics, and insufficient support. Prime Minister Maliki’s policies of ethnic division haven’t exactly helped, and the conflict next door in Syria ensures that many Sunnis are returning home with even more battle experience. Close air support is especially problematic: “In January, Gen. Dulaimi says, he was passing through a dense urban area of Ramadi in a column of nearly 50 Humvees, tanks and armored cars. They were ambushed by what he describes as hundreds of militants carrying machine guns, grenade launchers and improvised explosives…. [but] he was told that there were no airplanes capable of operating at night…. After nearly five hours, Baghdad sent a Russian-made prop plane loaded with two missiles—its maximum capacity. One of the missiles landed a direct hit, scattering the antigovernment commandos.” The prop plane was almost certainly a very American AC-208 Combat Caravan, but the anecdote illustrates the problem. A few Cessnas won’t fix it, though buying a lot of them might have made a much bigger difference. Sources: WSJ, “Fledgling Iraqi Military Is Outmatched on Battlefield: On Eve of Elections, Demoralized Army Is Losing Fight Against Islamist Militants” | See also: Defense One, “Iraq’s Elections Setting Up ‘Worst Case Scenario’ “. April 24/13: Alliant Techsystems Inc. in Fort Worth, TX receives a maximum $31.5 million firm-fixed-price contract modification “to continue contractor logistic support servces [sic] for the Iraqi Air Force’s Cessna 208s and to provide maintenance student training”. ATK is closely involved in the armed AC-208 Combat Caravan program, but that maintenance is separate (q.v. May 5/14). Work will be performed in Tikrit, Iraq, and is expected to be complete in April 2014. $13.8 million is committed immediately, and USAF Life Cycle Management Center/WLKCL at Tinker AFB, OK acts as Iraq’s FMS agent (FA8106-10-C-0010, PO 0030). April 19/13: Support. L-3 Vertex Aerospace LLC in Madison, MS received a maximum $45.2 million firm-fixed-price contract modification, extending their support work with IqAF C-208 Caravan family and C-172 aircraft for another 12 months. They’ll also continue to teach maintenance students training on both aircraft. There is a significant gap in public announcements re: these support contracts. Work will be performed at Tikrit Air Base, Iraq, and is expected to be complete by April 20/14. The USAF Life Cycle Management Center/WLKLC at Tinker AFB, OK acts as Iraq’s FMS agent (FA8106-10-C-0012, PO 0012). March 23/11: AC-208s. An AC-208B Combat Caravan successfully attacks a target called in by Iraqi Special Operations Forces at the Aziziyah Training Range. A 2-ship formation of Iraqi air force Cessnas from Squadron 3 at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, fired a single air-to-ground missile, after receiving ground target coordinates and direction from Iraqi forward air controllers, inserted near the target area by Mi-17 helicopters flying from Camp Taji. The exercise marked the 3rd time an Iraqi air force aircraft has fired an AGM-114 Hellfire missile in 3 years, as the scenarios increase in complexity and scope. Even more important, it was an ISOF Forward Air Controller calling the shot. Pentagon DVIDS. All-Iraqi AC-208 shot 2009 – 2010 Mismatch between announced deliveries and announced orders; RC-208 recce & AC-208 armed variants in service; Mx-15 sensor contract; Support. AC-208 loading (click to view full) Nov 8/10: AC-208s. An Iraqi AC-208B Combat Caravan fires a Hellfire missile at a vehicle on on the Aziziyah Training Range, south of Baghdad, achieving a direct hit. This is the first time since the American invasion that the Iraqi Air Force has run a live-fire missile training exercise, from start to finish, all on its own. It’s the 2nd time an Iraqi AC-208B has fired a Hellfire. The human infrastructure is actually more important than the technical achievement. USAF Maj. Devin Traynor: “Think of it this way… First we have to find our target. Then we fix the location and continue tracking it. Next we target and then engage the adversary. Finally, we make an assessment on whether or not we achieved the results we wanted. Each of these elements of this type of mission must be done perfectly and coordinated perfectly for the mission to succeed. The air advisers have played a crucial role in developing these capabilities within the Iraqi air force.” Nov 16/09: C-208s. ATK announces delivery of the 3rd AC-208B Combat Caravan aircraft to the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission in Kirkuk, Iraq. To date, ATK has delivered 11 modified C-208 aircraft in support of U.S. Government contracts for rebuilding the Iraqi Air Force: 3 RC-208B reconnaissance aircraft, 5 C-208B trainer aircraft and 3 AC-208Bs. Which is interesting, because the relevant contract announcements cover just 5. The AC-208B Combat Caravan aircraft is a specially modified Cessna Grand Caravan that incorporates an electro-optical targeting system with integrated laser designator, Hellfire laser guided missiles, an air-to-ground and air-to-air data link and aircraft self-protection equipment. ATK’s STAR Mission System provides both day and night reconnaissance and fire control capabilities for the mission crew. The Combat Caravan program was awarded to ATK in 2008. Within 11 months, ATK completed live fire testing and delivered its first aircraft to Iraq. The aircraft holds both a Military and Civil Certification. Nov 4/09: AC-208s. A 3-man Iraqi aircrew from Squadron 3 fires an AGM-114 Hellfire missile from an AC-208B Caravan at a target on a bombing range near Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. Pentagon AFPS. Oct 5/08: AC-208s. Aviation Week reports that IqAF AC-208 Combat Caravans have been fitted with launchers, and will be cleared to start shooting laser-guided Hellfire missiles later in October 2009. The report adds that: “On the intelligence-collection side, operating the C-208 Caravans, Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350s and SAMA CH2000s also has progressed well. As a result, coalition advisers are focusing more on teaching the Iraqis how to exploit the sensor information.” Sept 22/09: Sensors. L-3 WESCAM announces an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract to provide more than 50 MX-15D surveillance turrets with laser designation and rangefinding capability to the U.S. Army, in support of the Army’s Iraqi Air Force Reconstruction Program. The MX-15D will likely be used to equip several Iraqi platforms, including its AC-208B Combat Caravans. Iraq’s larger MC-12W King Air twin-turboprops also use the MX-15, and it may end up equipping Iraq’s counter-insurgency aircraft – currently projected to be HawkerBeechcraft’s AT-6B, which is still in development. Aug 19/09: Training. At Kirkuk AB, 3 Iraqi airmen, assigned to Iraqi Air Force Squadron 3, become the first Iraqi weapons loaders certified as a lead weapons crew. As a lead weapons crew, they are qualified to load weapons, and to train and evaluate their fellow Iraqi service members. The associated pictures show them working to fit a dummy Hellfire missile onto the weapons pylon of a Cessna AC-208 Caravan. Pentagon DVIDS. March 25/09: Support. L-3 Communications Vertex Aerospace in Madison, MS receives a $15.6 million firm fixed contract to provide fleet maintenance and training support on 12 Cessna 173 aircraft and 5 Cessna 208B trainer aircraft owned by the Iraqi Government. At this time, $7.6 million has been committed. The 727 ACSG/PKB at Tinker Air Force Base, OK manages this contract (FA8106-09-C-0004). 2007 – 2008 Purchase of 18 C-172s and 5 C-208s. IqAF Cessna 172 (click to view full) Oct 14/08: AC-208s. Aviation Week reports that armed Cessna 208Bs destined for Iraq are flying out of an airport near Fort Worth, TX, and are set to be delivered in December 2008. The airport is used by ATK Integrated Systems for its projects: “Two Cessna Grand Caravan 208Bs, armed with a pair of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles each, have been photographed flying out of Meacham Airport earlier this month… In December the Iraqi Air Force will receive the first three armed Caravans – with laser designators for the missiles – followed by two more in early 2009, says USAF Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash, current chief of the Coalition Air Force Transition team.” some Cessna Caravans are already in service with the IqAF, as unarmed reconnaissance planes. July 9/08: U.S. forces transfer ownership of 11 aircraft to the Iraqi air force during a ceremony at New Al Muthana Air Base. Army Lt. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of Multi-National Security Transition Command Iraq, signed over 8 Cessna 172s and 3 Cessna Caravan 208s worth more than $9 million to Iraqi Defense Minister Abd al-Qadir al-Mufriji. Hawker Beechcraft’s new King Air 350 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and King Air 350 light transport aircraft were also unveiled during the ceremony. Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash said the Cessna 127 and 208 aircraft would be part of the IqAF training program at Kirkuk Regional Air Base in northern Iraq, allowing more than 130 new pilots to train and graduate by 2010. “As of now, the Iraqi air force is just beginning to grow,” [Bash] said. “They will double in size within the next year, giving them up to 6,000 airmen and 133 aircraft by the end of 2009.” USAF release. New array of light aircraft unveiled Caravan to Kirkuk (click to view full) Nov 29/07: C-208s armed? Cue more Cessna Caravans. The Cessna Aircraft Co. of Wichita, KS received a firm-fixed price contract for $23.7 million to buy 5 Cessna C-208B Caravan aircraft along with minor aircraft modifications, logistic support services, and one year of spares for the Iraqi Air Force. The contract also includes an option for 2 additional aircraft, At this time, all funds been obligated. The 337th AESG/FMS at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8617-08-C-6183). 5 C-208B Caravans ordered Oct 31/07: C-208s. U.S. Air Force Col. Michael Wobbema, Chief of Staff for the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, says in an interview that: “And then we’ve got this Cessna [208B] Caravan. The Cessna Caravan will also become — there will be an armed variant of that that will come online.” Aug 3/07: C-172s. Cessna Aircraft Co. in Wichita, KS has received a firm-fixed-price contract for $10.6 million. The aircraft will reportedly be used primarily in a trainer role, and for about the price of a high-end Predator UAV system, this contract action will procure 18 Cessna C-172 aircraft (with an option for 10 more), logistics support services, and 1 year of spares for the Iraqi Air Force. At this time, $7.5 million has been obligated. Work will be complete December 2008. Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8617-07-C-6181). 18 C-172s ordered Additional Readings & Sources Thanks to sharp-eyed reader Steve Sommer of Corporate Skyways, Inc., who first brought our attention to a long-standing mis-labeling in one of the Cessna photos. Background: Aircraft ATK – AC-208 Combat Caravan. Air Force Technology – AC-208 Combat Caravan Light Attack Aircraft, Iraq. Related DID – Standing Up the IqAF: King Air 350s. Many are 350ER-ISR specialty variants. They aren’t really “Bird Dog” aircraft, however – more like the low end of long-endurance, dedicated surveillance aircraft, with armament comparable to a Predator or the Caravan 208Bs. DID – Task Force ODIN: In the Kingdom of the Blind…. The USA discovers that low-cost manned aircraft, plus UAVs, plus better organizational approaches, can yield significant success. DID – “Bird Dog” Light Planes for Afghanistan. They picked Cessna 182 turbos for high-altitude terrain, and 208Bs as their mainstay. News & Views Defense Tech (July 23/09) – COIN Air Force on its Way – in the US, as well as Iraq. Its exact shape remains TBD. USAF (May 21/08) – Iraqi air force postured to break records [dead link]. As long as you begin history with the end of Saddam’s regime. StrategyPage (Feb 19/08) – Iraq Seeks Cessna Solution. “The 208Bs are being equipped with the same sensors and targeting pods used on the Predator UAV. The 208B can be rigged to carry Hellfire missiles as well, giving the Iraqis an aircraft that can act as an Predator clone, a personnel transport or a cargo hauler. Many are available on the used aircraft market for about $2 million each. And pilots can be quickly trained on the 172, and easily transition to the 208B.” Defense Tech (Oct 31/07) – Rebuilding the Iraqi Air Force. USAF, Wright-Patterson AFB (Oct 31/07) – Wright-Patt plays a part in training future Iraqi pilots. USAF (Oct 5/07) – Iraqi air force flying training school opens at Kikuk. They mean Kirkuk, where the 52nd Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron operates. USAF Guy’s Milblog (June 11/07) – Manners & Mustaches (pics). “Got to fly up in the Iraqi Air Force’s newest aircraft–a modified Cessna Caravan. It’s a great little aircraft and has a large forward looking infrared and video pod the Iraqis will use for reconnaissance.” The Author is a US Air Force officer deployed at that time to Basrah Air Station, Iraq where he is embedded in an Iraqi Air Force squadron as a military advisor. View the full article

There was a little incident a month ago that kept coming back in to my mind. My guess is that my subconscious was bothered, as it is on a usual basis, that the article did not come with a map. You might recall the story ... one in a long list of similar stories; Russia says one of its warships caught and chased off a US Navy destroyer after it entered territorial waters in the Sea of Japan on Tuesday. Moscow accused the USS John S McCain of travelling 2km (1.2 miles) across its maritime border in Peter the Great Gulf and says it threatened to ram the ship. The US warship then left the area, according to Russia. However, the US Navy denied any wrongdoing and said its ship had not been "expelled". The incident took place on Tuesday in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, a body of water bordered by Japan, Russia and the Koreas. The BBC story just does not give you enough information. The key here is "Peter the Great Gulf." That is a lot more specific than "Sea of Japan." Look for yourself, but in the upper right is the location. No, the marker is not where the close formation exercise took place, just the center of the Gulf. That is right off Vladivostok. No wonder the Russians are a little more touchy than usual. That is their Norfolk or San Diego. So, sure, we were getting in their business - as we like to do. I'll cut Ivan some slack. As a side note, the Russian ship is the same one that gave the CHANCELLORSVILLE a little nudge a few years ago - the Admiral Vinogradov. One of the remaining beautiful Udaloy destroyers. Pretty girl. 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=Pgvk0dqFW8Q:CTak6UzHwSU:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Pgvk0dqFW8Q:CTak6UzHwSU:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Pgvk0dqFW8Q:CTak6UzHwSU:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=Pgvk0dqFW8Q:CTak6UzHwSU:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/Pgvk0dqFW8QView the full article

Americas General Dynamics Bath Iron Works won a $23.9 million contract modification to exercise options for the accomplishment of planning yard efforts such as engineering, technical, planning, ship configuration, data and logistics efforts for DDG-1000 class destroyers post-delivery and in-service life-cycle support. The Zumwalt Class is the largest and most technologically advanced surface combatant in the world. Zumwalt is the lead ship of a class of next-generation multi-mission destroyers designed to strengthen naval power from the sea. Work will take place in Maine and California. Estimated completion will be by December 2021. The US Army and Clemson University announced a partnership to study conversion of Bradley tanks and armored personnel carriers to autonomous use. The study for the conversion of existing Army equipment to self-driving vehicles is enabled by an $18 million Defense Department grant in the school’s Virtual Prototyping of Ground Systems, and a partnership between the US Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center and the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, Clemson University announced. The multi-year project will involve 60 faculty members in seven engineering disciplines, and will focus on autonomy-enabled ground vehicles, including digital engineering, next-generation propulsion and energy systems, and manned and unmanned teaming in unknown off-road environments. Middle East & Africa A community that connects the innovation, technology, and business ecosystems of Israel and the UAE was launched last week. The establishment of the UAE-IL Tech Zone, the first community of its kind, follows the signing of the Abraham Accords by the two counties. The tech zone is said to already include more than 1,000 people in the business, innovation and technology sectors, investors, developers, and government entities from both countries. The community connects investors and entrepreneurs from both countries and helps Israeli entrepreneurs deepen their understanding of the business and innovation culture in the UAE, said Start-Up Nation Central, an independent nonprofit organization that builds bridges to Israeli innovation. Europe The Hungarian Air Force has taken delivery of 16 H145M helicopters that it ordered. A total of twenty helicopters were ordered. Four Zlin light training aircraft were also delivered recently. The H145Ms of the Hungarian fleet are equipped with a fast roping system, high-performance camera, dual cargo hook, hoist, disaster management kit, ballistic protection as well as an electronic countermeasures system to support the most demanding operational requirements. An old Swedish submarine was relaunched after a 12-month mid-life upgrade, defense contractor Saab announced. The HMS Uppland, the second in the Gotland class of three submarines, had 50 new systems installed or modified, including installation of an Optronic Mast to replace a periscope. Some of the new systems will be used on the planned Blekinge class of vessels, next-generation submarines to replace the Gotland class. The HMS Uppland was returned to the Swedish Navy’s Defense Materiel Administration in a ceremony this week in Karlskrona, Sweden. At 198 feet in length, it is powered by two diesel and two Stirling electrical engines, and carries torpedoes and external mines. Asia-Pacific CFM International won a $28.5 million contract modification, which adds scope to procure two P-8A Poseidon CFM56-7B27AE engines for the governments of Australia and New Zealand. The P-8A Poseidon has advanced sensors and mission systems, including a state-of-the-art multi-role radar, high definition cameras, and an acoustic system with four times the processing capacity of the AP-3C Orions. In July, the Australian Government had signed a new deal with Boeing Defense to deliver support services and provide advanced surveillance and response capabilities to the P-8A Poseidon aircraft. Today’s Video Watch: 4K??? Airbus H145M Light Attack & Battlefield Support Helicopter Flight Demonstration View the full article

Sweden is not an official ally, but as the largest Scandinavian country, she has influence from Finland, through the Baltic and across the sea to Iceland. She also has a long history with Russia that she cannot keep an eye off for too long. This little bit deserves more attention than it is getting; The Swedish parliament has approved an increase of a whopping 40% in the defence expenditure to counter the threat of Russian aggression. This will take the Swedish defence expenditure to USD 11 billion. This is the first such massive increase in the Swedish defence expenditure in the last 70 years. Only last week, the main parties in the Swedish parliament also adopted the stand to support NATO membership. As discussed in the article linked above, this move has been in work for awhile ... but things are accelerating; Troop numbers will rise from 60,000 to 90,000 over the next four years and annual defence spending will increase by 40 per cent to £7.2 billion, or about 1.5 per cent of GDP, under a budget passed by MPs on Wednesday. They have been slowing drifting closer to NATO since 1997, and I know their military is game - but is their larger political establishment ready? A Swedish parliamentary majority in favour of readiness to join NATO as a possible security policy option has emerged for the first time after the far-right Sweden Democrats party shifted position on the military alliance. However, the government, which decides foreign and security policies, remained opposed to adopting such a “NATO option”. The introduction of a “NATO option” would not mean Sweden would apply for membership of the U.S.-led Western alliance but rather that Sweden would consider it down the road if deemed necessary for security. I've taught a seminar at Försvarshögskolan, the Swedish Defense University in Stockholm, and served with Swedish officers on staffs in Europe and Afghanistan. They are great professionals, pound for pound as good as any American, German, or Brit. It would be great to officially have them on our team. Even though they are just a bit under 10-million souls, their leadership in Europe on defense if very welcome. Now, if we could just get them to at least 2% vice 1.5% at the end of the 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=GjiJrd5xxHc:CDXTwbJfG9k:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=GjiJrd5xxHc:CDXTwbJfG9k:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=GjiJrd5xxHc:CDXTwbJfG9k:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=GjiJrd5xxHc:CDXTwbJfG9k:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/GjiJrd5xxHcView the full article

2020 has been a year … that is an understatement. From the maritime and national security perspective what were the bold-faced items that changed the outlook the most. While COVID-19 absorbed much of everyone’s time, the world kept turning and history kept moving. Using our ever-popular melee format – open topic, open chat room and open phones for Midrats’ end of the year review. We’ll be live and hope you’ll join us this Sunday from 5-6pm Eastern. DON’T MISS IT! 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. 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=pNP8mtWN9KU:nkUdTCr25W0:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pNP8mtWN9KU:nkUdTCr25W0:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pNP8mtWN9KU:nkUdTCr25W0:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=pNP8mtWN9KU:nkUdTCr25W0:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/pNP8mtWN9KUView the full article

Americas L3 Technologies won a $29.2 million deal for the manned/unmanned teaming hardware, as well as technical and engineering support, for the Apache helicopter. The Apache attack helicopter was developed by Boeing for the US armed forces. It entered service with the US Army in 1984. is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vision systems. Work will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah. Estimated completion date is June 30, 2023. Lockheed Martin won a $9.3 million contract modification for the US and United Kingdom to provide strategic weapon system Trident fleet support, Trident II SSP Shipboard Integration (SSI) Increment 8, SSI Increment 16, Columbia class and UK Dreadnought class navigation subsystem development efforts. Trident II D-5 is the sixth generation member of the US Navy’s Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) program which started in 1956. Systems have included the Polaris (A1), Polaris (A2), Polaris (A3), Poseidon (C3), and Trident I (C4). The first deployment of Trident II was in 1990 on the USS Tenessee (SSBN 734). While Trident I was designed to the same dimensions as the Poseidon missile it replaced, Trident II is a little larger. Work will take place in New York, California, Florida and Massachusetts. Estimated completion date is November 30, 2023. Middle East & Africa The AC-130W Stinger II is conducting air operations over Somalia under Joint Task Force – Quartz in support of Operation OCTAVE QUARTZ. The mission of OOQ is to reposition US DOD personnel from Somalia to other locations in East Africa. The AC-130W Stinger II primary missions are close air support and air interdiction. The aircraft is a highly modified C-130H featuring improved navigation, threat detection, countermeasures, and communication suites. All AC-130W aircraft are modified with a precision strike package to perform the gunship mission. Europe General Atomics won a $36.3 million contract modification for France contractor logistics support MQ-9 Block Five and Block One aircraft. The contractor will provide an additional period of contractor logistics support for the French Air Force. Work will take place in California. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2021.In January 2014, French Air Force took delivery of MQ-9 (Block 1) Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Reaper drones and deployed them at Niamey Air Base in Niger for border reconnaissance in the Sahel desert. Asia-Pacific Royal Malaysian Air Force chief Gen. Tan Sri Ackbal Abdul Samad has disclosed that the service will acquire the Fighter Lead-In Trainer/ Light Combat Aircarft (FLIT/ LCA) aircraft within the next three years. The Ministry of Defense will request for the budget to buy 18 aircraft in the 2021 budget and another 18 aircraft in the 13th Malaysia Plan. The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) will be terminating the service of all Nuri helicopters within five years, said RMAF chief General Tan Sri Ackbal Abdul Samad. He said the helicopter, which has served for more than 52 years, is now obsolete as most of its components and spare parts are no longer in production. Local media reports that Japanese defense officials are considering the option of installing new long-range standoff attack missiles on the two new Aegis warships to be built. Yomuiri Shimbun says the range of the new indigenous missiles will be around 1,000 km. The government may install such missiles on the two ships equipped with Aegis missile interceptor systems in response to increasing naval activities by Beijing in the East China Sea amid tensions over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims and calls the Diaoyu. The Cabinet approved Friday the building of the two vessels to enhance its defense capabilities in the face of the North Korean missile threat. Today’s Video Watch: Japan Building Two Super-Sized Destroyers As An Alternative To Aegis Ashore View the full article

A reboot from almost four years ago. We have a new class of FFG to name ... we need a USS ENGLAND. What can one small ship, well trained, well led, and well armed do when she finds herself in the right place at the right time? I give you the USS ENGLAND, (DE 635), via Michael Peck at TheNationalInterest; The saga of the England began on May 18, 1944, when the England and two other destroyer escorts received orders to find a Japanese submarine reported heading toward the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. On the afternoon of May 19, the England's sonar detected the submarine I-16. What happened next is detailed in an account written by Captain John Williamson, who served as the England's executive officer during that time. In a March 1980 article in Proceedings Magazine, Williamson and co-author William Lanier describe the destroyer escort's baptism of fire. Four times the ship made attack runs over I-16 to launch Hedgehogs, which missed. The Japanese skipper cleverly tried to evade its pursuer by following the England's course and wake. On the fifth run, the sub's luck ran out. Williamson recalls the crew cheering as they heard four to six Hedgehog hits. Then the England's “fantail was lifted a full 6 inches, then plopped heavily back into the water....We had, with cataclysmic certainty, heard the last of one Japanese submarine. Sobered, and more than taken aback by that final blast, we no longer felt like cheering. But we did stand a little straighter.” Later that May, the Japanese Navy implemented Operation A-Go, which called for concentrating the Japanese fleet to ambush the Americans in a decisive battle. The plan included establishing a blocking line of seven subs northeast of the Admiralty Islands and New Guinea, across the expected path the Americans would take. The subs would give the Japanese early warning and then sink enough of the American battleline to affect the decisive fleet battle that would follow. But after U.S. codebreakers deciphered the Japanese orders, the Americans decided that the England and her two companions would roll up the Japanese sub line from one end to the other. On the night of May 22, the USS George's radar picked up the RO-106 cruising on the surface, and illuminated the sub with its searchlight. The sub dived, only to run into the England conducting Hedgehog runs. The England obtained at least three hits, and observed wreckage bubbling to the surface. On May 23, the RO-104 became the England's third victim, followed by the RO-116 on May 24. On May 26, a hunter-killer anti-submarine task force arrived, centered on the escort carrier Hoggatt Bay, which allowed the England and her two consorts to head to the port of Manus for resupply. On the way, the England sank the RO-108. After taking on supplies, the destroyer escorts sailed back to what was left of the Japanese underwater picket line. On the early morning of May 30, the destroyer Hazelwood, escorting the Hoggatt Bay, picked up the RO-105 on radar. While several American ships hounded the sub, the England was ordered to stick to its own patrol area. For almost 24 hours, the other U.S. ships hunted the RO-105, on which was sailing Captain Ryonosuka, the highly experienced leader of the Japanese Navy's Submarine Division 51. The sub managed to evade their attacks. Williamson recalls that the England offered to help and requested the location of the U.S. ships, only be told that “We are not going to tell you where we are. We have a damaged sub, and we are going to sink her. Do not come near us.” By now out of air, the RO-105 surfaced between two of the American ships, which blocked each other's fire, then submerged again. Disregarding orders, the England headed to the vicinity, and was finally cleared to make its own attack. After surviving 21 attacks over 30 hours, the RO-105 was sunk by the England's Hedgehogs. Two of the seven subs in the Japanese picket line had previously returned to port. The remaining five had all been sunk by the England. ... Admiral Ernest King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, had this to say about the destroyer escort's exploit: "There will always be an England in the U.S. Navy." Kind of full of huzzah, eh? Well, this is CDRSalamander, so - here we go. Look at King's quote again. "There will always be an England in the U.S. Navy." USS England (DE-635) was decommissioned in 1945 as it was just too much to repair her after surviving damage off Saipan. The next ship to have that name was the LEAHY Class ship, USS England (DLG/CG-22). She was commissioned in 1963 and decommissioned in 1994. Think off all the warships we have commissioned since 1994 - some of which have names of dubious nature. And yes ... we continue to make a liar out of Fleet Admiral King. In the word of a great American post-modern poet; sad. 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=QCF6kT2IDlM:XH7GLgubIgg:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QCF6kT2IDlM:XH7GLgubIgg:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QCF6kT2IDlM:XH7GLgubIgg:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=QCF6kT2IDlM:XH7GLgubIgg:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/QCF6kT2IDlMView the full article

As we have covered here through the years, the USCG used to be the most equal opportunity and race neutral of the uniformed services. Then a decade ago, Congress removed the requirement at the USCG Academy that it could not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, or national origin – and once that firewall was gone, we were off to the identity politics Olympics. I would like to point your attention to two ALCOAST messages; 452/20 and 195/20. Both went out December 15th, 452/20 about five hours before 195/20. You can read the full messages at the hypertext links above. Before you do that, let’s establish a few assumptions. 1. The diversity commissariat used to tell us that diversity was a “broad” definition, not just race and ethnicity metrics that can be put on a PPT slide – but a larger definition that included regional diversity, educational diversity, etc, etc. Well, they’ve backed off that in the last few years and, as we will see, are now proudly saying the quiet part out loud that they used to protest wasn’t there. 2. In theory – and you can see this manifested on appointments to the academy – our uniformed services should draw people from our vast nation, and should invest recruiting appropriately in the four corners of the USA as population density would lead you. 3. We have all heard complaints – for decades – that the uniformed services are “too Southern.” Those people have never read Albion’s Seed or refuse to accept the actual cultural diversity of this nation, so they will never get it – but one would assume efforts would be made to help adjust this imbalance … but … behold! From 452/20: To better access the richness of American society to recruit a world-class workforce, the Coast Guard is establishing a dedicated Officer Recruiting Corps. This team will focus on the sustained outreach necessary to attract the best of America’s diverse population that reflects the people we serve. … The Corps will serve all non-Academy officer programs including Officer Candidate School and Direct Commission Officer Programs, with a special emphasis on supporting the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) at minority-serving institutions. 3. The Officer Recruiting Corps will initially have five members in two-year billets; one Commander and four Lieutenants. The O5 position will serve at Coast Guard Recruiting Command in Washington, DC. The four O3 positions will be assigned to various priority recruiting markets. As usual though, they can't bring themselves to be completely honest. They call this, "...a dedicated Officer Recruiting Corps" but it is no such thing. That is not its primary focus ... oh no. This is, of course, focused on one thing – race. This is just another injection of the cancer of sectarianism in to our nation’s government. Defining people by something as meaningless as their self-identified race or ethnicity – a factor that in any other setting, or mix of variables, would be called out for exactly what it is – racial preference. I know there are well meaning people who support this, and not everyone who is pushing this understands that this adds to a corrosive stew that is identity politics. We have to make every effort to bring people together, not focus more an more on differences that – to our great credit – the larger culture is trying to get rid of. So, how is this going to be operationalized? Let’s look at 195/20: CGRC is in need of highly motivated officers to fulfill several key positions to advance this initiative and immediately begin officer recruiting in various geographic locations. … The LT officer recruiters are co-located with select Recruiting Offices. Four LT positions are open at the following locations: Atlanta, GA; New Orleans, LA; Hampton Roads, VA; and Miami, FL. There you go. All in the South, that land so fertile and rich. That is fine for me, a Southerner of long standing. I have a lot more in common culturally from food to religion to family to music to manners with Southerners of all races than I do with that obnoxious people from Boston or LA – much less those Chicago types … so this is fine, I guess. Here is what I don’t want to hear. 1. Don’t tell me the USCG does not discriminate on the basis of race. They are. In these two messages they are specifically targeting one racial group to make someone’s PPT slide look better. People and money are a zero sum game. They are taking this away from efforts elsewhere. 2. Don’t complain that the military is too Southern. We have a more martial culture, always have. Your leftist politicians in bed with greedy developers gave up in the 1990s BRAC much more non-Southern military acreage. You are pooling your recruiting efforts down here too. Sit down. In case you need a picture, here’s is a map of the USCG’s view of diversity supporting our nation. 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=xBtiIMyb6_8:yV3z-kD_C7s:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=xBtiIMyb6_8:yV3z-kD_C7s:-BTjWOF_DHI http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=xBtiIMyb6_8:yV3z-kD_C7s:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/blogspot/FAFV?i=xBtiIMyb6_8:yV3z-kD_C7s:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/FAFV/~4/xBtiIMyb6_8View the full article

Americas Boeing won a $41.7 million delivery order for consumable and depot-level repairable parts for the KC-46 military unique program. The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is a military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft. In 2011, the DOD announced the Boeing Company as the winner of a competition to build 179 new KC-46 Aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force, a contract valued at roughly $35 billion. Boeing designed the KC-46 to carry passengers, cargo and patients. The aircraft can detect, avoid, defeat and survive threats using multiple layers of protection, which will enable it to operate safely in medium-threat environments. Work will take place in Missouri. Estimated completion date is December 15, 2023. Boeing won a $10.9 million contract modification for additional F/A-18 A-D and E-G aircraft integrated product support. The F/A-18 Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic, all-weather, carrier-capable, multirole combat jet, designed as both a fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18 has a top speed of Mach 1.8. It can carry a wide variety of bombs and missiles, including air-to-air and air-to-ground. Work will take place in Missouri, California, Virginia, Washington, Nevada and South Carolina. Estimated completion date is December 31, 2023. Middle East & Africa The US Army contracted Oxford Federal LLC with an $11.6 million deal for design-build construction at sites in Israel. Oxford Federal is a company engaged in building US government and private sector infrastructure projects located within and outside the Continental United States. Work will take place in Tel Aviv, Israel. Estimated completion date is June 8, 2022. Fiscal 2021 Foreign Military Sales (Israel) funds in the amount of $11,554,000 were obligated at the time of the award. Turkish media reports that Turkish Aerospace Industries sold three Anka unmanned air vehicles to Tunisia. Around 52 Tunisian pilots and maintenance personnel will go to Ankara for training. The Turkish drones were purchased following nearly two years of negotiations. The Tunisian Ministry of Defense began talks for the procurement of the UAVs from TAI at the beginning of 2019. Some 52 Tunisian pilots and maintenance personnel will be given the necessary training at TAI facilities in the capital Ankara. Europe British Royal Navy frigate HMS Northumberland has arrived in Lerwick harbour. HMS Northumberland was recently involved in an effort to monitor the movements of a Russian Udaloy Class destroyer in the North West of the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. „Type 23 frigate HMS Northumberland watched the movements of Udaloy-class destroyer, the Vice-Admiral Kulakov, as she sailed North West of the Outer Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Patrol ship HMS Severn was on duty in the English Channel and Dover Strait, where she shadowed a surfaced Kilo-class submarine, the Stary Oskol, the corvette Boikiy, patrol ship Vasiliy Bykov and support ships. Severn was also on patrol as the Vice-Admiral Kulakov sailed through the Channel“, the Royal Navy said in a statement. Asia-Pacific India has decided that it will acquire six A320 airliners from Air India to modify them into airborne early warning (AEW) platforms. The radars supplied by the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will have full 360-degrees coverage. The previous plan was to buy two new A330 airliners for conversion. The new proposal will take between four to seven years to be completed. Today’s Video Watch: Dream Realized: The Air Force’s New Multi-Mission KC-46 Tanker Is Ready View the full article

Americas The Marine Corps and the Air Force successfully tested bi-directional data sharing on the F-22 and F-35 in exercises in Arizona and Nevada for the first time. The test was reportedly the latest demonstration of the network architecture underpinning its Advanced Battle Management System. Fifth-generation fighters are generally only able to communicate with each other and to command and control centers, but not with fighters in other classes because they use digital languages that aren’t compatible. But the gatewayONE system can translate between those formats, allowing the aircraft to more fully gather and share data and intelligence. The service announced that the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), along with partner Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., had flown with the gatewayONE payload aboard a XQ-58A Valkyrie UAV demonstrator in formation with a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). “During the test event, an F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning, the air force’s two fifth-generation fighters formed up off the wings of the smaller Valkyrie as it continued to fly autonomously in formation. This is a major milestone in the service’s efforts to provide low cost force multipliers in relevant operational environments,” the USAF said. The first seven people to enlist directly into the US Space Force have graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The five men and two women, who graduated December 10, were among 414 recruits who completed seven and a half weeks of training, according to an Air Force announcement. Training began Oct. 20 following the recruits’ swearing-in at Fort George G. Meade Military Entrance Processing Station in Fort Meade, Md. At the graduation ceremony, Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett spoke about three Airmen who represent the Air Force’s ideals of integrity, service and excellence, including Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, who flew more than 30 different types of aircraft as an Air Force test pilot and then served 12 years as an astronaut. Middle East & Africa Boeing won a $46.9 million deal for the F-15 Qatar program. The deal provides or the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement to procure Digital Electronic Warfare System spares for the Qatar Emiri Air Force. The F-15QA is the most state-of-the-art variant of the Eagle to date, building upon the F-15SA that was developed for Saudi Arabia. Qatar has ordered 36 F-15QAs which are the first to feature a new Advanced Cockpit System with Large Area Displays, among other improvements.Work will take place in St. Louis, Missouri. Estimated completion date is August 23, 2023. Bell Textron won a $22.8 million order, which provides engineering and logistics support, procures four resident integrated logistics support detachment computer seats, trailer lease site for flight test engineers, support equipment workaround material and aircraft wiring integration remote terminal and flight control computer test station material in support of Marine Corps (USMC) AH-1Z; the governments of Bahrain and the Czech Republic UH-1Y and AH-1Z production aircraft; and USMC UH-1Y and AH-1Z aircraft modifications and sustainment. Work will take place in Texas and Maryland. Estimated completion date is in February 2022. Europe The US State Department approved a possible $500 million sale of two fully equipped Gulfstream G550 Aircraft to Italy. Italy’s government had requested two aircraft and supporting equipment including four Multifunctional Information Distribution Systems, three GPS security devices and four (4) RIO Communications Intelligence Systems. Italy also requested that up to six additional US contractors work in Italy for a year train personnel in use of the new equipment. The Gulfstream is a private business jet also utilized by the USAF for transportation of elected officials, cabinet secretaries and top generals. Asia-Pacific South Korea will go ahead to sign a contract to buy 12 MH-60R naval helicopters from Lockheed Martin this month. The contract is worth $878 million and all helicopters will be delivered by 2025. A total of 12 Seahawks will arrive according to an agency official said. The 19.76-meter-long and 5.1-meter-high chopper with the maximum cruising speed of 267 kilometers per hour can handle multiple missions, including operations of warfare, search, rescue, and medical evacuation. Today’s Video Watch: Full F-22 Demo: Exclusive Look Inside the Raptor View the full article