pmaidhof

Interesting summary Herman. Wonder how it would translate into USAF/USN terms. Should be a good read one of these days.

Roughead Outlines Future For Pacific By William Cole, Advertiser Military Writer PEARL HARBOR — The new submarine USS Hawaii will be commissioned Saturday on the East Coast, and "the bias will continue to be toward the Pacific and Pearl Harbor" as decisions are made on where to base other subs, the outgoing commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet said. Adm. Gary Roughead said as the new Virginia-class attack submarines continue to come on line, "you are going to see the numbers in substantial amounts out here in Pearl Harbor." The USS Hawaii, the first of those, will arrive in 2009. After nearly two years in the same bunker office that was once occupied by Adm. Chester Nimitz, the 55-year-old Roughead is heading to the East Coast to become U.S. Fleet Forces commander. On Tuesday, Adm. Robert F. Willard will assume command of the region that spans more than half the globe and includes more than 170 ships and submarines, 1,300 aircraft and 100,800 sailors and reservists. Willard arrives at a time of less routine and more flexibility by the Navy to rapidly surge its forces, and more of a focus on the Pacific. "We really have moved our naval forces around the Pacific over the past two years in ways that we haven't done in the past," Roughead said in an interview yesterday. "We who live here really understand the energy that's taking place in the Pacific today — the trade and the increasing prosperity, the emergence of the economies here." The trade that flows between the United States and the Pacific is 3 1/2 times the trade between the U.S. and Europe, he said. The Navy this summer will send three aircraft carriers to waters off Guam for large-scale exercises in a demonstration of U.S. sea power. Last year's version of "Valiant Shield," also with three carriers, represented the biggest assemblage of flattops in the western Pacific in 30 years. With U.S. concerns over North Korea, interceptor missiles capable of shooting down ballistic missiles are being placed on 18 Aegis destroyers and cruisers. Sixteen will be in the Pacific. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington is scheduled to replace the aging Kitty Hawk in Japan in 2008. The air wing of about 85 aircraft will change out in Hawai'i, leaving the Kitty Hawk and moving to the George Washington, Roughead said. The Navy also is looking at basing an amphibious-ready group in Hawai'i centered around a carrier-like ship that carries helicopters, Harrier jump jets and Marines. Roughead only would say "we're always looking at where our forces should be," but added that "amphibious ships are very valuable to us in the Pacific." The USS Peleliu, an amphibious assault ship, is scheduled to embark on a humanitarian mission to Southeast Asia this summer to build clinics and dig wells. Pacific Fleet last year sent the hospital ship Mercy out on a medical mission that treated 61,000 people. "That had never happened before," Roughead said.

Reactivation Creates Wing For Remotely Controlled Planes Ceremony at Creech Air Force Base signals step in spy warfare By Keith Rogers, Review-Journal INDIAN SPRINGS -- Air Force leaders set a new mark in military history Tuesday by creating the nation's first combat wing for remotely piloted spy planes at their base here, 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas. In a ceremony attended by hundreds of airmen at Creech Air Force Base, Lt. Gen. Norman R. Seip reactivated the 432nd Wing. The unit has roots dating back to World War II and now consists of six operations squadrons and a maintenance squadron for the Air Force fleet of 60 MQ-1 Predator and six MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles. The wing is expected to cause a surge in construction projects at the base. A spokesman estimated that the wing's personnel numbers will grow from 1,900 to 4,000 within five years. Seip, commander of the 12th Air Force, put Col. Christopher R. Chambliss in charge of the 432nd Wing. Prior to Tuesday, most operations for the Predator and its big brother, the Reaper, which arrived at Creech in November, fell under the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base where fighter pilots train. "The significance is it really shows the Air Force's dedication to the unmanned aerial system mission," Seip said after the ceremony while standing next to a Reaper, an attack plane that can fly faster and higher than a Predator and drop laser-guided bombs as well as fire missiles. Predators have been in high demand by battlefield commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan in assisting soldiers, Marines and special forces troops to hunt down and kill militants. They can be controlled remotely from ground stations thousands of miles away from where they are launched. More than 600 hours of observation time from Predators' near-real-time video and infrared cameras played a key role in hunting down terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in an Air Force bomb attack on a house in Baquba, Iraq, on June 7, said Brig. Gen. William J. Rew, commander of the 57th Wing. In addition to the prospect of more unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadrons in Nevada at Creech, the new wing will train and operate Air National Guard and Air Reserve UAV units in other states including California, Arizona, North Dakota, Texas and New York. "This will be the centerpiece. This will be the focus," Seip said about the wing at Creech. "Day in and day out, 90 percent of the time when those folks are employing the Predator and the Reaper for the near future it will be in support of a combatant commander somewhere around the world because there is not enough of these and everybody wants to have that," Seip said. "Everybody wants it in their area of responsibility and there'll never be enough," he said. Chambliss predicted the wing will boost the local economy, particularly with construction projects at Creech. "Right now we have roughly $80 million to $90 million worth of construction going on at Creech," he said. "And that amount of money is not going to diminish per year as we continue to add more aircraft and more people out here." Befitting the mission of Predators and Reapers, the 432nd Wing's patch features an "all knowing, all seeing owl with lightning bolts able to strike," Chambliss said. The 432nd Observation Group was created in 1943 in Europe to train air crews and ground observers in finding targets in forward locations. From 1954 to 1958 the group trained in reconnaissance and was designated a wing in 1958. The wing performed combat reconnaissance during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1973 and supported the evacuation of U.S. and allied troops from the war zone in 1975. The wing was activated at Misawa Air Base, Japan until it was deactivated in 1994.

Admiral stresses more talk between navies By Rod McGuirk - The Associated Press Posted : Thursday May 3, 2007 8:05:12 EDT CANBERRA, Australia — China will likely expand its navy and send its ships further out on the high seas to take a more active role in securing global sea lanes vital to its burgeoning economy, the U.S. naval commander in Japan said Thursday. Rear Adm. James Kelly said the strategic shift heightened the need for operational transparency between the world’s navies “so we don’t have a misinterpretation of something out on the high seas.” “As their economy continues to grow ... I suspect that China is thinking that they need to have a blue water navy to protect their interests around the globe,” Kelly told reporters, referring to a fleet of ships capable of traveling great distances. Kelly, in Canberra on Thursday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea, said China signaled the change in October last year when a Chinese submarine surfaced near a U.S. carrier group in international waters off Japan. “We have in the past maybe had more of an expectation that they would stay very close to their own territorial waters and not operate that much outside of those waters,” Kelly said. “So I think it’s probably a sign of things to come.” Kelly predicted that the Chinese planned to protect global sea lanes, such as those that bring iron ore and natural gas from Australia and have helped China become the world’s biggest economy after the U.S. and Japan. “I would say in the sea lanes to and from — between whatever their major ports are that they’re hauling in the minerals and things ... that will be coming from Australia — I certainly would envision them keeping an eye on those sea lanes,” Kelly said. “It’s pretty obvious to all of us, I think, that the Chinese navy is building up as well as many of their other forces. Their build up is certainly associated with a growing economy.” he added. Visits between the Chinese and American militaries dropped off after the collision of a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet off China’s coast in 2001. Relations have been improving recently as U.S. leaders cautiously seek to increase exchanges and better understand China’s rapidly modernizing People’s Liberation Army, the world’s largest. Find article here.

Sure continue to rub it in (I know it was taken out of context)

AGAIN, could not watch the Devils-Senators Game 4 last night. Boo NHL!

OK, I have long known of the Perry Castaneda Map Room at the University of Texas - Austin for maintaining a plethora of digitized maps. Now, through another wargame forum, I found and present to you the: University of Texas Map Room - Army Map Service The US Army 1:250,000 series. Somewhat dated but plenty of maps for all kinds of wargaming, may of which would support H4.1 littoral operations.

Defendant testifies in Aegis secrets trial By Gillian Flaccus - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 2, 2007 7:26:11 EDT SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Chinese-American engineer accused of conspiring to export defense technology materials to China took the witness stand in his federal trial Tuesday and denied he was trying to give information to the Chinese government. Defense attorney Ronald Kaye immediately asked defendant Chi Mak about three computer disks containing material presented at technical conferences, including a paper on a propulsion system called quiet electric drive that is intended to reduce the ability to detect submarines. “Did you give the three disks with the conferences on them to your brother in order for them to be given to the Chinese government?” Kaye asked. “No,” said Mak. “Did you believe that you were prohibited in any way from giving these disks to your brother?” Kaye asked. “No, I did not believe,” Mak said. Authorities believe Mak, a naturalized U.S. citizen, took thousands of pages of defense documents from his defense contractor employer, Power Paragon of Anaheim, and gave them to his brother, who passed them along to Chinese authorities over a number of years. Mak was arrested in 2005 in Los Angeles after FBI agents stopped his brother and sister-in-law as they boarded a flight to Hong Kong. Investigators said they found three encrypted CDs in their luggage containing documents on the propulsion system, among other things. Mak, 66, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to export defense material to China, failure to register as a foreign agent, attempted and actual export of defense articles and making false statements. His wife, brother and other relatives also have been indicted. He was expected to continue his testimony Wednesday. Kaye asked Mak why he gave the disks to his brother to take to China. The defendant said he wanted to have an exchange of technological ideas with two old colleagues, one who worked at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and one who worked at the Hong Kong Electric Co. He said he did not believe he was doing anything wrong because all of the information had been presented at various international conferences. Mak also said the “Mr. Pu” that prosecutors have called his “handler” was a family friend who was taking care of his sister-in-law’s mother, who was ill. Kaye led his client through testimony on his early years as an immigrant from China to Hong Kong, then a British colony, in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Prosecutors have alleged Mak was able to leave communist China for Hong Kong only because he was being groomed as a future agent. They have also alleged he kept detailed records of Navy ships that docked at Hong Kong as one of his earliest assignments for the Chinese government. Mak testified that he was granted a pass to leave mainland China in the mid-1960s because he had a severe case of rheumatism and needed a German medicine that was not available in China. He said in order to get permission to leave, he had to provide doctors’ letters and copies of prescriptions and wait more than a year. He acknowledged he kept detailed records of ships coming into the harbor but did so to keep track of U.S. sailors who were customers at a custom clothing shop, Johnson Tailor, where he worked in the navy purchasing department. The high-end tailor encouraged such record-keeping because American sailors often wanted monograms on their clothing that listed the name of their ship, ship number and their rank, he said. “Did you try to put yourself close to the military by applying to work at Johnson Tailor?” Kaye asked. “No,” Mak replied. Investigators have said that during a search of his home they found two torn-up notes from Chinese officials asking him to get documents on a number of sensitive U.S. naval projects involving torpedoes, electromagnetic artillery, missile detection and nuclear defense. They also seized documents on the DD(X) Destroyer, electromagnetic launch systems for aircraft carriers, high-powered electromagnetic guns, and submarine-mounted kinetic energy projectiles, according to court papers. The government also suspects Mak fed information about Aegis-class warships to China since the 1980s. Mak said it was common practice for engineers to bring documents on military projects home so they could continue their work after hours and he was encouraged to do so by his boss. He said he never heard of a company policy against such a practice, and if he had, he would have objected. “If I reviewed such a thing, I definitely would have brought it up with my boss,” he said. “I don’t think it’s practical.” Find article here.

WWII Navajo code talker dies The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 2, 2007 7:19:23 EDT TSE’ DAA’ KAAN, N.M. — A Navajo code talker who was awarded a congressional silver medal for his service in World War II has died. Stewart Clah of Tse’ Daa’ Kaan died Sunday in his sleep, his family said. He was 87. The code talkers were an elite group of Navajo Marines who confounded the Japanese during the war by transmitting messages in their native language. Clah’s family members said he told them little about his days of combat but enjoyed swapping tales with fellow code talkers. They would drink coffee and talk so loudly in Navajo that it drove Clah’s daughter, Lucille Harris, from the house, she said. When he went out of town, Clah often wore a black Code Talker baseball cap with the words, “I served with pride.” As a young boy, Clah attended boarding school in Shiprock, where staff members cut off his long hair and punished him for speaking Navajo. He graduated from Shiprock Agricultural High School in 1940 and joined the military soon after. In the military, he served in Midway, Saipan, Guam and Guadalcanal, transmitting radio message in the unbreakable Navajo-based code. In August 1945, he was stationed in Nagasaki, Japan, where he spent the next four months occupying the empty, bombed-out city. He returned to Shiprock that December and worked as a cook and a baker at the boarding school and later at the BHP Navajo Mine as a security guard. He retired in 1987. On Monday, an American flag flew at half-staff outside his daughter’s house in Tse’ Daa’ Kaan. Every Memorial Day and Veterans Day, Clah directed his children to raise a flag and take it down at night. “He didn’t like to see anyone abuse the flag,” said his son, Darrell Clah. Find article here.

A manned, subsonic long range bomber...do I smell a battleship mentality in the 21st century?

Can't wait for the NHL to come crawling back to ESPN. The whole Outdoor Life Network-Verses/NBC fiasco was the result of the lock-out and the fact that while popular, hockey unfortunately is not as popular, especially on TV, as the other major sports. I predict that they will be back at ESPN for a fair, perhaps less than fair contract, in exchange for getting their product to market. RANT MODE off.

Rangers take two from the Sabers, at the Garden to tie the series at 2-2, and Game 6 will be back at the world's most famous arena, MSG.

Gents, The following articles are found in the current issue of the MCG, and may be of interest to those aviation-centric scenario designers. Making Better Use of Aviation Assets - Employment of the ACE during COIN/SASO Operations by 1stLt David F. Samuel, USMC No Need For Propaganda - Marine Close Air Support Really Is Better by Maj Neil E. "Rudy" Rickner, USMC Under the Umbrella - Utilizing Electronic Warfare to Suppress IEDs by CAPT Brian "Turtle" Pena, USAF Also, Rethinking Naval Forward Presence - Does the Navy Still Believe It Needs Marines by LtCol F.G. Hoffman USMCR(Ret) Should be an enjoyable, and interesting couple of days worth of reading.

A nice collection of weaponry displayed. In addition to the lead dude's saber, a mass produced soviet submachine gun (Pph? something like that?) and a captured german one (MP-40?) over his shoulder. Background character with an AK variant.

yeah, yeah

What I found funny/entertaining, though probably more from my more-parochial view, was:

N. Korea missile could hit Guam, report says The Associated Press Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 13:27:31 EDT North Korea displayed a newly developed ballistic missile capable of reaching the US territory of Guam during a massive military parade last week, a news report said Sunday. The parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday featured three new models, including the medium-range missile that can travel 2,500km to 4,000km, the Chosun Ilbo reported. The report cited an unidentified South Korean government official familiar with an analysis of U.S. satellite images. “All three [new] models are ground-to-ground missiles,” the official was quoted as saying. “Of them, the medium-range ballistic missile is noteworthy as it ... has Guam in its range.” The Defense Ministry said it has no comment. North Korea’s missile development has been a constant concern to the region, along with its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The regime test-fired a series of missiles in July last year, including its latest long-range model, known abroad as the Taepodong-2, which experts believe could reach parts of the U.S. Pyongyang rattled the world again in October by conducting its first-ever test of a nuclear device. However, experts believe it does not have a bomb design advanced enough to be placed on a missile. Kim Tae-woo, a top missile specialist at South Korea’s state-run Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said the North has been believed in recent years to be developing a brand new missile, separate from its Nodong or Taepodong missile series. “Personally, I was thinking that it was about the time for the North to show it off,” Kim said. Wednesday’s parade, which showcased 52 missiles, was reviewed by the North’s leader Kim Jong-il. “By disclosing its newest missiles in large numbers this time, North Korea showed off that its strategic weapons are centered on nuclear weapons and their means of delivery,” the paper quoted a military official as saying. The parade marked the 75th anniversary of the country’s military, which dates its origin to resistance movements against Japan’s occupation of the Korean Peninsula before its liberation and division after World War II. Find article here.

I usually am pretty successful in staying away from topics relating to opinions of events currently unfolding in the middle east, more spcifically Iraq. Please feel free to either read the article, or if I have strayed too far, please delete or lock this post. I have posted it since I feel that the author takes quite a professional risk in laying out what troubles his conscience. Read article here

Submarines A Top Priority In China By Richard Halloran An American military intelligence officer, asked some years ago how far the Chinese could project their military power, answered only half-jokingly: "About as far as their army can walk." That is changing rapidly today as China's leaders fuel the budgets of the People's Liberation Army, which comprises all of their armed forces. Says a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations, the think-tank in New York, China is driven both by "a clear operational objective," which is to take Taiwan, the island Beijing claims, and "a clear strategic objective," which is to be a modern power. China's military priorities are four: the navy, in which submarines take first place; the air force of jet fighters and long range bombers; space, not only threatening U.S. and other satellites but putting up their own; and what the Chinese call the Second Artillery, their land-based nuclear weapons including 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan. "Submarines currently dominate China's naval development," say analysts Andrew Erickson and Andrew Wilson, writing in a recent U.S. Naval War College Review. China has long been rumored to be eager to build aircraft carriers but for now, these analysts say, discussion of submarines "is much more advanced and grounded in reality than that of carriers." At first, the Chinese got submarines and submarine technology from the Soviet Union and, to a lesser extent, from France and Israel. Now they are building their own. Moreover, they are retiring older boats and replacing them with fewer but more advanced boats, both diesel-electric and nuclear powered. Over the next eight years, the Chinese plan to have in operation five Han- and six Shang-class nuclear-powered submarines whose mission will be to attack aircraft carriers and other surface warships. In addition they will have 15 Song and 17 Ming diesel-electric boats with the same task but closer to home, according to Global Security, a private research organization. China also plans to put to sea a nuclear-powered submarine, Jin, armed with ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads and to retire an older boat, Xia, with the same arms. An analyst in Taiwan, Cheng Dai-ch'eng, wrote: "The communists are probably not going to use their submarine-launched missiles against us, but against the United States who may come to our aid in future conflicts." The Chinese have vigorously denied that their navy is a threat to other countries. An article in Huangiu Shibao, a government newspaper, asserted last month that Americans were "talking nonsense about details of China having expanded its submarine fleet." Some Americans agree, at least in part, saying it will be many years before Chinese submarines will be able to challenge the U.S. Navy. Even so, Chinese military planners have revised their operational thinking on attack submarines. Before, they patrolled close to China's coast to repel an invasion. Now, says a fresh study from the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, they are deployed farther out to resist invasion, protect territorial sovereignty and safeguard the nation's maritime rights. Chinese submarines have been detected well past what the Chinese call the first island chain that runs from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines to Indonesia. "Offshore defense" evidently calls for Chinese submarines to venture "as far as the PLA Navy's capabilities will allow it to operate," the Office Naval Intelligence says. Some Chinese officers suggest that a future objective will be patrols as far east as Hawai'i. A critical question is Chinese seamanship. An American naval officer has 500 years of seagoing experience behind him, 250 years of the British navy and 250 years since the sailing ships of Salem plied the seven seas and John Paul Jones founded the U.S. Navy. American submariners have 100 years of experience, since the early 20th century, to draw on. In contrast, China in 5,000 years of history has produced only one great sailor, Adm. Zheng He or Cheng Ho, who sailed the Pacific and Indian oceans in the 15th century. Chinese submariners, hampered by the Sino-Soviet split and the chaos of the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, are just beginning to learn their craft in highly complicated vessels. U.S. military leaders, including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, have for many months contended that the Chinese should be more open about their military intentions, including why they are expanding their submarine fleet. Pointing to China's surging economy that pays for the boats, an American submariner, wondered out loud: "I suppose they do it because they can." Richard Halloran is a Honolulu-based journalist and former New York Times correspondent in Asia.

WWII torpedo boat wreck surfaces in Pacific The Associated Press Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 5:48:52 EDT WELLINGTON, New Zealand — The explosive-laden wreck of a World War II torpedo boat has risen from the Pacific Ocean off the Solomon Islands, pushed above the water by a powerful earthquake, an official said Friday. The boat was exposed when reefs rose 10 feet above sea level during a 8.1-magnitude quake that caused a devastating tsunami, killing 52 people in the western Solomons in early April, said Jay Waura of the National Disaster Management Office. The Solomons’ main island, Guadalcanal, was the scene of fierce fighting during World War II. The coastline is littered with wrecks, including the torpedo patrol boat commanded by President John F. Kennedy, PT-109, which was found in 2002 by shipwreck hunter Robert Ballard. “My team members believe that this boat could have been one of those U.S. torpedo boats,” Waura told the New Zealand Press Association. “We were amazed by this finding, as previously this wreckage had long been sitting under the sea and rusting in peace without anyone knowing about it.” Only the boat’s hull with its deadly cargo of explosives remained intact, he said. Waura said a Solomon Islands Police Force bomb disposal unit would be sent to the island to safely detonate the explosives. Kennedy was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy when his boat was cut in two by a Japanese destroyer. Two crew were killed, but Kennedy and the vessel’s other survivors clung to the wreckage before swimming to a nearby island. The experience earned Kennedy the Navy and Marine Corps Medal. The Solomons are a chain of islands 2,385 miles northeast of New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, with a mainly Melanesian population of about a half million. Find article here.

Navy debates STOVL JSF future Marines, U.K. worry about F-35 variant By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 30, 2007 10:49:54 EDT Despite public support by Pentagon and Navy leaders for the short-take-off/vertical-landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, debates about the planned acquisition and operation of the F-35B continue behind the scenes — worrying Marine Corps officials and potential foreign customers who are counting on the versatile aircraft. Navy officials have set no public deadline to settle JSF procurement plans, but a current Navy briefing document provides a rare window on the debate. It argues that the STOVL version should not fly as part of a carrier air wing. The JSF program is slated to produce three variants: the F-35A, a conventional takeoff version; the F-35C, strengthened for carrier takeoffs and landings, and the F-35B, fitted with a liftfan that allows it to perform the crucial Marine missions of operating from amphibious ships and primitive bases in forward areas. The plane’s biggest customers — the Navy and Air Force — are more enthusiastic about the higher-performance F-35A and C versions. But the five-year-old practice of including a Marine fighter squadron with most carrier air wings means putting the F-35B, with its slightly different shape and maintenance requirements, aboard the carriers. In the briefing document, Navy tactical-aviation planners argue that the Marines should drop the F-35B in favor of the F-35C, at least for carrier-based units. They cite the differing operating characteristics of the STOVL aircraft and note the C’s superiority in range and weapons load. “STOVL sub-optimizes CVW [carrier air wing] operations and capabilities,” Navy planners assert in the document, a copy of which was obtained by Defense News. “STOVL, while capable of CVN operations, should not be integrated into the CVW as part of a standard construct.” Shopping plans Officials in the Navy Department, which includes the Navy and Marine Corps, are trying to decide how many of each variant to buy. The Navy plans to buy a total of 680: 360 F-35Cs and 320 F-35Bs, although the Marines have a requirement for 420 JSFs. Early-production F-35As are already five months into flight tests, while the first F-35B is scheduled to take to the air in 2008, and the F-35C in 2009. In the document, Navy planners say the STOVL aircraft will have “thermal, pressure and acoustic effects more dramatic than models predict” and refer to issues certifying Marine V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft for shipboard operations. Flight deck movement will be restricted by blast from the aircraft, the planners wrote, and launching and recovering each STOVL F-35 will add two minutes to the carrier’s flight cycles. Marine planners are digging in against these assertions, claiming built-in biases by Navy aviators against STOVL operations. They also say the briefing misuses and mischaracterizes numerous facts. In the briefing, the Navy aviation planners list more than a dozen ways the F-35B short-takeoff-and-landing version will “sub-optimize” aircraft-carrier operations. Among other things, they say the F-35B will: * Offer poorer capability and sustainability at a higher price than the carrier-optimized F-35C. The Marines say the STOVL aircraft outperforms the C model in all kinds of missions except carrier-based ones. * Reduce flexibility in carrier-deck operations. Marines: That won’t be known until flight tests begin. * Carry only 70 percent as much fuel as the F-35C. Marines: That advantage will be reduced by the F-35C’s heavier weight, by the -B’s ability to fly from forward bases, and by the fact that the STOVL version doesn’t need to carry backup fuel in case it can’t trap aboard a carrier. * Not carry a 2,000-pound bomb in its internal bomb bay. Marines: The F-35B can carry one externally, and weapon is needed for only 15 percent of missions anyway. * Lack an internally carried, stand-off weapon that can hit enemy radar. Marines: That could be remedied with the under-development Small Diameter Bomb. * Lack an internally carried, stand-off weapon that can hit enemy ships. Marines: It carriers the Joint Stand-Off Weapon externally. The use of Marine fighter squadrons in Navy carrier wings is mandated under the Navy-Marine Corps Tactical Air Integration plan, approved in 2004. By including Marine strike fighters in regular carrier deployment, each service was able to reduce the number of squadrons and aircraft. The TacAir plan allowed planners to cut the total procurement of F-35s and F/A-18 Super Hornets by nearly 500 aircraft, saving — according to the Navy in 2004 — about $35 billion. The Marines, committed to an “all-STOVL force,” intend to replace the current crop of AV-8B Harrier jumpjets and F/A-18 Hornets with the F-35B. Replacement of the Harrier with the JSF is not at issue. Rather, the problem facing Navy planners is how to manage the STOVL F-35Bs in a wing otherwise composed of F-35Cs, F/A-18E and -F Super Hornets and EA-18G Growlers. The Navy is committed throughout its aviation community to “necking down” the number of different types of aircraft to a handful of basic models. Last year, the strike fighter community finished their switch from the F-14 Tomcat to an all-F/A-18 force. Several observers note that introducing the F-35 into the -18 mix could strike Navy planners as counter-productive, and figuring how to use yet another version of the F-35 would only compound perceived problems. That notion struck one aviation analyst as silly. “I’ve never seen any definitive analysis that says a STOVL aircraft can’t be successfully integrated into a carrier wing,” he said. “I think what you have is this sort of culture in the Navy that says we just don’t do it that way. I’m not convinced [sTOVL aircraft] can’t work with air wings.” At the other end of the cultural debate, the Marines argue they didn’t join up to fly from carriers. “The surface story of blue and green working together is great,” said Dakota Wood, a former Marine officer who is now an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “But the reality is that [in a carrier wing] you’re on Navy time, and the Marine Corps ground commander is saying, where is my tac air?” The comparisons of the two JSF versions also struck Wood as “an unfair comparison. Each version has been optimized for the environment in which it’s to be employed.” “The legitimate argument,” he said, “is how you’re going to use the airplane.” Ships Riding on JSF And while the Navy and Marine Corps continue their debate over the JSF, at least two members of the 11-nation JSF partnership have a far deeper interest in the survival of the STOVL plane. Britain is making an enormous investment — $7.7 billion in ship construction costs alone — in building two 65,000-metric-ton aircraft carriers intended to operate the F-35B. Later this year, Italy expects to commission the 27,000-metric-ton carrier Cavour, specifically intended to operate JSFs as a replacement for its aging carrier-capable AV-8B Harriers. The planned 131-aircraft Italian JSF order — 22 STOVLs and 109 conventional aircraft for the Air Force — is strictly linked to the need to replace the Harriers, Italian Defense Undersecretary Lorenzo Forcieri said Jan. 16. The British are even more dependent on the F-35B, as they have chosen to build their two carriers without the steam catapults planned for the French Navy’s similar PA2 ship. Evidence of British concern for the health of the F-35B program was published by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) April 27. MoD said it “remained fully committed to the carrier program” but added, “The department continues to closely monitor the U.S. STOVL requirements and the performance of the STOVL variant.” With no other STOVL strike fighter in development, loss of the F-35B would mean British planners could choose to install catapults — early design work on the ships accounted for this possibility — and decide between the French Rafale, F/A-18 or another competitor. British support for the F-35B is seen by many observers as a key element in the survival of the variant in last year’s Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). Although the QDR was completed over a year ago, the British carrier program remains a major ingredient in the STOVL program. A British government official said Pentagon officials “periodically seek updates from the British government on the status of the carrier program — a move that some have suggested has less to do with Britain’s interest in building the ships than whether London is wavering on the raison d’être for the JSF STOVL program.” Debate goes on Inside the Pentagon, Navy and Marine Corps planners continue to debate the issue, which soon could move to Capitol Hill. Sources close to service leaders Adm. Mike Mullen of the Navy and Gen. James Conway of the Marine Corps say both officers are seeking to avoid public disagreement on the JSF program and other issues and are working to find common ground. “This is a 20-year discussion,” said an industry analyst. “It’s not going to be over just because the Navy did a briefing.” Staff writers Andrew Chuter, Tom Kington, Vago Muradian, Bradley ***ton and Gayle Putrich contributed to this report. Find article here.

Taiwan Drills For Attack On Chinese Carrier Taipei (AFP): Taiwan is performing a computerised military exercise which for the first time focuses on attacking a Chinese aircraft carrier, it was reported Monday. The scenario of a five-day drill -- part of military manoeuvres codenamed "Han Kuang 23" -- is that in 2012 the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launch a blitz on the island after they acquire their first aircraft carrier, the Taipei-based China Times reported. The defense ministry declined to comment on the report. In the drill beginning Monday, the Taiwanese navy armed with home-made "Hsiungfeng II" ship-to-ship missiles and the improved version of supersonic "Hsiungfeng III" missiles is to simulate launching its arsenal against a Chinese aircraft carrier, the report said. The Taiwan air force's F-16 fighters would also simulate attacks on the carrier using US-made Harpoon missiles, it said. The report also said the former commander-in-chief of US Pacific Command, Dennis Blair, would witness the drill. China has stepped up its cross-strait combat readiness and modernised its navy in recent years. China's PLA staged a series of live-fire war games near Taiwan and lobbed ballistic missiles into the shipping lanes off the island's two major harbours to scare Taiwanese voters into not re-electing then president Lee Teng-hui for a second term during the 1995-96 missile crisis. The sabre-rattling did not die down until Washington sent two battle carrier groups to waters near Taiwan in a clear message to Beijing not to take military action against the island that China regards as part of its territory. Tensions between Taiwan and mainland China have escalated since independence-leaning Chen Shui-bian was elected president in 2000. He was re-elected in 2004. China has repeatedly threatened to invade the island should it declare formal independence. Find article here.

War and Conflict Flying Tigers strike Jaffna military base Apr 24, 2007 Separatist Tamil Tiger rebels flying light aircraft bombed a military airbase on Sri Lanka's northern peninsula of Jaffna on Tuesday, killing at least six people, officials and the guerrillas said. If confirmed it would be the second air attack in two months by the Tigers, although it was denied by the defence ministry who said the rebels only fired artillery. Guerrilla spokesman Rasiah Ilanthiriyan said two light aircraft from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) headed toward the Palaly military air field in the Jaffna peninsula just after midnight. "We have carried out our second air attack... on the Palaly air field and their military stores," he said by satellite telephone from the north of the island. Sri Lanka's army chief Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka, in remarks which contradicted the defence ministry, said the aircraft were attacked with ground fire and then changed course to bomb a nearby army detachment. "Troops at the forward defence lines saw them (Tiger aircraft) coming and alerted the Palaly base, and they used all their resources to direct fire at the aircraft," Fonseka said. He said the military switched off lights, rolled out heavy guns and opened fire. However, the guerrilla aircraft managed to escape. Military sources said six troopers were killed and six wounded in the Tiger air attack. Tiger spokesman Ilanthiriyan said their pilots saw flames after dropping bombs on the sprawling complex. It is the main military complex in Jaffna, a former Tiger bastion captured by troops in December 1995. He said the Palaly air field was also targeted, but it was not immediately clear if the attack had succeeded in inflicting and damage. The pro-rebel tamilnet.com website said explosions were heard from within the high security zone of Palaly following the Tiger attack. It also said that electricity and mobile phone networks in the area were cut off by authorities for several hours. Tamilnet said heavy clashes were also reported along the border separating the rebel-held part of Jaffna peninsula from the rest of the region, which is held by government forces. The Tigers failed to break the defence lines and move into Jaffna in August last year, and since then the main land route to Jaffna has remained shut. The military depends on air and sea transport to ferry supplies to 40,000 security personnel and more than 350,000 civilians living in government-held parts of the peninsula. The rebels, whose drawn-out campaign for independence for the ethnic Tamil minority has left more than 60,000 dead, carried out their first air strike on Sri Lankan forces last month. In that attack, the guerrillas flew two aircraft over the main military air base, which shares a runway with Sri Lanka's only international airport, and dropped six bombs. Three airmen were killed and 17 wounded. An investigation is still under way to find out how the aircarft managed to evade radar and remain in the air for a total of more than three hours without challenge. Since then, the Sri Lankan military has acquired night-flying capabilities and said it has bombed several suspected Tiger targets, including guerrilla naval assets, communications facilities and training camps. Hours before Tuesday's pre-dawn attack, a roadside bomb killed five people and wounded 33 in Vavuniya, which is next to a rebel-held area, the defence ministry said earlier. It also said that the air force hit a suspected Tiger base located on the southeastern side of the Jaffna peninsula Monday. A pro-rebel website reported that security forces have been massing troops in the peninsula for a possible offensive against the guerrillas, who control the only land access to the region. The government on Monday asked peace broker Norway to put off a visit to rebel-held territory by their ambassador, citing security considerations. Find article here.

Yes, but while you may be a "harpoon admiral" in our eyes, he is "CNO".

Navy christens newest attack sub By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 23, 2007 15:24:07 EDT The fourth Virginia-class submarine, the $2.3 billion North Carolina, was christened Saturday in Newport News, Va., in front of a crowd of thousands. Vice Adm. Jay Donnelly, commander of the submarine force, told the pre-commissioning crew, “Never fear, your turn to deploy will come soon enough,” according to a Navy announcement. The North Carolina joins the Virginia, Texas and Hawaii as the first ships of the post-Cold War submarine class. The North Carolina is scheduled to be commissioned in 2008. The Navy expects to buy 30 Virginia-class subs. The ceremony was held at the Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard. North Carolina’s sponsor is Linda Anne Rich Bowman, wife of retired Adm. Frank Bowman, a submariner who served as the director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion as well as chief of naval personnel. The first ship in the class, the Virginia, is expected to go on its first deployment some time in 2008.