CV32

China Naval Modernization: Implications for US Navy CapabilitiesBackground and Issues for Congress (CRS, pdf)

Good suggestions, Enrique. I don't know if there will be room for all of them, but we will make the attempt.

24 April 1918 Tanks meet each other on the battlefield for the first time, at Villers-Bretonneux in France, where three British Mark IVs fought against three German A7Vs. Two of the three Mark IVs were 'females', armed only with machine guns, and were damaged and forced to withdraw. The 'male' Mark IV, armed with 6-pounders, hit and disabled the lead A7V and forced the two remaining A7Vs to withdraw.

U.S. Navy Deploys Standard Missile-3 Block IB for First Time (Seapower)

23 April 1947 The US Navy Essex class aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) is decommissioned for the first time, only to be returned to service in 1955 and then soldier on for another 36 years. Though operated in a training role for the bulk of her remaining years, she is the oldest remaining carrier in the world when finally decommissioned in November 1991.

Interview with Capt Mark Vandroff, DDG 51 Program Manager, PEO Ships, Naval Sea Systems Command (Defense Media Network)

22 April 1944 Flying a Sikorsky YR-4B, US Army Lt Carter Harman of the 1st Air Commando Group conducts the first combat rescue by helicopter in the China-Burma-India theater.

F-35 Selected Acquisition Report, December 2013 (Scribd)

F-35 Cost Up $7.8B, Bogdan Fires on Pratt (Aviation Week) Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) 2013 Cost Data Fact Sheet (Aviation Week)

17 April 1961 The failed 'Bay of Pigs' invasion of Cuba is launched by Brigade 2506.

NATO Treads Carefully on French Deal With Russia (DefenseNews)

16 April 1947 The term "cold war" is used in a speech by Bernard Mannes Baruch to describe post war geopolitical tensions between the Soviet Union (and its allies) and the USA (and its allies).

Balloon may be going up. Ukraine Moves Against Separatists as Medvedev Evokes Specter of Civil War (Bloomberg)

Insurgents dig in; Ukraine tanks reported on move (Stars and Stripes)

Russia and Ukraine: Military-strategic options, and possible risks, for Moscow (FOI, pdf)

Russian Fighter Buzzes US Destroyer in Black Sea (USNI News) This story is getting some attention. Su-24MR (Fencer E) perhaps?

15 April 1986 During Operation El Dorado Canyon, US aircraft (including F-111F strike aircraft flying out of the UK, as well as aircraft flying from three aircraft carriers) carry out air strikes against targets in Libya in response to the bombing of the La Belle night club in Berlin ten days earlier.

14 April 1988 Just before 5 pm, the US Navy Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) strikes a M-08 moored contact mine in the main eastbound channel of the Persian Gulf, ripping a 15 ft wide hole in the hull, flooding the engine room and breaking her keel. Miraculously, there are no fatalities and the ship survives, limping into Dubai with the aid of converted Kuwait Oil Tanker Co tugboat Hunter. It is determined that the mines had been laid by Iranian ship Iran Ajr, prompting Operation Praying Mantis.

11 April 1990 British customs officers at Middlesbrough seize eight "pipes" aboard the ship Gur Mariner, bound for Iraq. Fitted together, the "pipes" are believed to form the barrel for a super gun 130 feet in length, with a range of about 600 miles. The incident aggravates already strained relations with Iraq.

F-35′s Stealth, EW Not Enough (Breaking Defense)

Imagery Reveals Destabilizing Russian Forces Near Ukraine Border (NATO Allied Command Operations)

US House approves frigate sale to Taiwan (The Diplomat, China Power)

Halfway There: Twelve Years on the F-35 Must Mature Quickly (Defense Media Network)

Ohio Class Replacement 2014 Briefing Slides (USNI News)

Navy Axes Griffin Missile In Favor of Longbow Hellfire for LCS (USNI News)