US military news, discussions and history

[Transhumanist]

@Transhumanist - 1:03

I work for that company. I can't divulge my division though.

I've seen a 30mm turret on the Bradley too:

Increasing lethality for the Bradley | Defense Update:

Sounds like a well deserved upgrade for the Strykers!!! Thanks Russia.

 

[Gabriel92]

USS Carl Vinson launching most of its aircraft.

Some years ago our Navy thought about buying some F18s before the Rafale M entered in service.

 

[AMDR]

This is probably one of the coolest photos I've ever seen

USS Mustin (DDG-89) live-fire phalanx exercise at night

 

[Oldman1]

 

[AMDR]

 

[Gabriel92]

HII Awarded Contract for Detail Design & Construction of Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)

Huntington Ingalls Industries received a $3.35 billion contract award for the detail design and construction of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the second ship in the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers. The work will be performed at the company's Newport News Shipbuilding division. The company also received a $941 million modification to an existing construction preparation contract to continue material procurement and manufacturing in support of the ship.

A photo illustration of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79).



Contract work includes ship construction, ship design activities, engineering services, procurement of materials and hardware to support construction and logistics activities.

"These awards are important, not only for the shipbuilders at Newport News Shipbuilding, but for the thousands of suppliers nationwide who provide the steel, pipe, cable, paint and equipment that goes into this cutting-edge defense platform—and for the sailors who will sail her," said Mike Shawcross, Newport News Shipbuilding's vice president, John F. Kennedy carrier construction. "We look forward to continuing to implement lessons learned from the first-of-the-class ship, Gerald R. Ford, in the construction of Kennedy and delivering the next great carrier to the Navy."

John F. Kennedy's first steel was cut in December 2010. Since then, more than 450 of the ship's 1,100 structural units have been constructed under a construction preparation contract that will be used to start erecting the ship's hull. The ship's keel-laying ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 22.

John F. Kennedy will continue the legacy of highly capable U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier platforms. Ford-class enhancements incorporated into the design include flight deck changes, improved weapons handling systems and a redesigned island, all resulting in increased aircraft sortie-generation rates. The Ford class also features new nuclear power plants, increased electrical power-generation capacity, allowance for future technologies, and reduced workload for sailors, translating to a smaller crew size and reduced operating costs for the Navy.

HII Awarded Contract for Detail Design & Construction of Aircraft Carrier John F. Kennedy (CVN 79)

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Watch the US Navy test its electromagnetic jet fighter catapult

The US Navy's next-gen electromagnetic catapult for aircraft carriers works! Well, OK, the military hasn't exactly used it to launch an actual fighter jet yet, but a recent test has proven that it can handle 80,000 pounds of steel. The Navy has been testing the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System or EMALS for months aboard the Gerald R. Ford carrier, but this is the first time a "dead-load" (or a wheeled steel sled that weighs as much as a jet) is involved. Its advantages over traditional catapults that use steam instead of electromagnetic energy include smoother acceleration and its ability to place less stress on the aircraft -- plus, it was designed to work even with more advanced carriers that the military will surely use in the future. It will take a long time before any plane goes near the system, though: the Navy has already retrieved the sled above from the depths of the James River to conduct more dead-load launches.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

B-2 Stealth Bombers Appear In Europe As Tensions Rise With Russia

A pair of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, callsign DEATH 11 and 12, have joined a trio of B-52s at Royal Air Force Base Fairford, a long-time forward staging base for USAF strategic assets in the UK. The presence of US nuclear bombers, the B-2 in particular, along with the massive allied training war game known as BALTOPS ‘15, of which B-52s are playing a role, and the myriad of fighters, tanks and ships already operating on Russia’s doorstep, is the largest flashing of sword yet for U.S. and its allies in the region.

The Pentagon says that the B-2s conducted hot-pit refueling and engine-running crew change tests during their time on the ground in the UK, but this is only a small portion of the story. The bat-winged super-bombers went out on a mission and are now heading back to the base as this is being written. It would appear that they are now officially forward staged, at least for the time being, out of the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, the three B-52Hs that forward deployed days earlier to RAF Fairford look like they are going to take on a larger role in region’s numerous training exercises. Originally, the USAF had stated that they would be used as naval mine layers for the large BALTOPS ‘15 exercise that in underway on the Baltic Sea. This was a fairly limited mission, but one pointed directly at Russia whose ports on the Baltic could be temporarily closed due to such a mining operation.

Now it looks like the B-52s may provide other capabilities to BALTOPS as well as supporting theU.S. Army’s annual European exercise known as Saber Strike, much of which will be occurring near the Russian border. The B-52s have been warming up their European and Arctic flying capabilities over the last few months, so it is no surprise that they would be forward deployed at some point to the European theater, but the inclusion of their B-2 counterparts is.

This all comes as President Obama and other world leaders engaged in dialogue at the G7 summit in Germany, of which Russian President Vladimir Putin as not invited. President Obama did address the Russian issue and Putin’s recent choices at the summit by stating:

“The G7 is making it clear that if necessary we stand ready to impose additional significant sanctions against Russia.” Along with that strong economic statement, President went on to make comments directed at the Russian leader himself, stating that Putin needs to decide whether he wants to destroy Russia’s economy in pursuit of “recreating the glories of the Soviet Empire.”

All this occurred as a mass of surveillance planes were orbiting over the Baltic Sea. Aviation radio and transponder trackers had US, NATO, Swedish and Russian signals intelligence aircraft operating in the same general vicinity. Considering BALTOPS includes a huge array of NATO and Scandinavian warships and aircraft, there is little puzzlement why Russian surveillance aircraft would have great interest in monitoring the exercise. Then someone has to monitor the monitors I guess. There is also a need to support certain ‘contingency’ operations should an issue arise during the G-7 summit.

The fact of the matter is that deploying the B-2, not to mention a handful of B-52s, to the region has greatly upped the saber rattling equation between the U.S, its allies and Russia. There is not an airborne weapon system that poses a greater threat to Russian interests than the B-2, and the aircraft’s very presence in a geographical region is known to vastly increase tensions.

Such a training event by the Air Force’s Global Strike Command does clearly show that American can forward deploy its hardest hitting air power anywhere in the world, but that is not a lesson that needs to be taught to anyone anymore. The presence of the most powerful air combat capability the world has ever seen near Russia maybe is.

The big question is what don’t we know? Obviously these movements, which some would call provocative, are approved from the top down. Why send this message now? It surely is not a random escalation in deterrence. Maybe it is in response to what many see as a looming wide-spread invasion of Ukraine by regular Russian forces? Maybe it is a reaction to something else? But if we are increasing the cadence of our march into another all-out Cold War, these details would sure be nice to know.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

A handy guide to the U-2 spy plane - for info on U-2 variants

 

[Indus Falcon]

US continues with UAV operations in Djibouti


Written by Eamon McCarthy Earls, Wednesday, 10 June 2015

Despite reportedly considering operations elsewhere, the US military continues to focus on one site for launching drones in Djibouti, maintaining a squadron of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from its unacknowledged air base at Chabelley Airport, 12 kilometres southwest of the capital Djibouti City.

A French CNES satellite shows the remote desert airstrip in March 2015 with six UAVs on the tarmac. In 2010, the US first positioned eight General Atomics MQ-1B Predators at Camp Lemmonier, a few kilometres southeast of Djibouti City at Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport. Djibouti has become a centre for UAV reconnaissance and strike missions over Somalia and Yemen.

Camp Lemmonier hosted close to 3 000 US troops in 2013 and remains a major hub for manned transport and strike aircraft. However, a series of UAV crashes halted operations out of the airport in August 2013. At the time, the Washington Post reported that Chabelley Airport would receive up to $13 million of upgrades from the US military. Satellite imagery confirms that these upgrades have taken place. During the summer of 2013, a tarmac extension adjacent to the runway, to the north, with seven hangars and service buildings, was added.

Recent images show that the base may now host a compound with up to 32 buildings, likely housing mechanics and maintenance personnel for the aircraft. Four tanker trucks also appear to be visible in satellite imagery.

At least three of the UAVs are likely to be MQ-1B Predators from the first group of aircraft dispatched to Djibouti. However, three other aircraft are suspected to be MQ-9 Reapers, based on their 20 meter wingspan, greater than the wingspan of a standard Predator. Although Reapers and Predators have comparable range, the Reaper is capable of transporting a larger weapons payload.
Although reports in 2013 suggested that UAVs would also operate out of Niamey airport in Niger and Arba Minch in Kenya, satellite images collected in 2015 by CNES have not shown UAVs visible outside of hangars. The status of these possible additional sites is unclear, but the availability of Reapers in Africa seems to indicate a move toward heavily armed, high-altitude missions. Although Reapers have only about half the endurance of Predators, they are capable of operating at double the altitude of a Predator—up to 15 000 meters—and can carry weapons on seven hardpoints instead of the two typical of Predators.

US continues with UAV operations in Djibouti | defenceWeb

 

[AMDR]

Raytheon Officials Outline Standard Missile, AMDR Progress
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
By OTTO KREISHER, Special Correspondent

ARLINGTON, Va. — Raytheon officials June 10 reported significant progress on their improved Standard Missiles (SMs) and new radar system that will enhance the Navy’s air and missile defense capabilities at sea and ashore.

Standard Missiles program official Bill Blair cited the successful first flight test of the SM-3 Block IIA missile, which has a larger, more powerful 21-inch-diameter first-stage rocket for extended intercept range, and an improved kill vehicle.

The test missile was launched June 6 from a MK 41 vertical launch system at the Navy’s Point Mugu, Calif., Sea Range and successfully demonstrated nose cone and steering functions and separation of the three rocket stages. It also tested the missile’s ability to integrate with the SPY-1 radar, Blair said.

Target intercept was not planned as part of this test, he said.

The SM-3 Block IIA is being co-developed by Japan, which uses the same Aegis/SM-3 anti-air and anti-missile systems as the U.S. Navy. The more capable missile is “on track” for deployment at sea by 2018 and for the second Aegis-ashore missile defense system being built in Poland, Blair said.

SM-3 Block IB interceptors currently are operational on U.S. and Japanese destroyers and will be installed at the Aegis-ashore site in Romania later this year as part of the U.S.-NATO European Phased Adaptive Approach missile defense system.

Blair also noted the successful testing earlier this year of an improved version of Raytheon’s SM-6, which provides enhanced capabilities against aircraft and anti-ship cruise missiles.

In the same briefing at Raytheon’s Rosslyn offices, Larry Tindal said the engineering development of the company’s new Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) is 40 percent complete and “has met all milestones so far.”

AMDR passed its critical design review in April that validated the system’s hardware and software, putting the radar, labeled AN/SPY-6, on track for delivery of the first shipset in 2018, Tindal said.

The new radar, which combines S-band frequency for long-range, high-definition detection and tracking of air and missile threats and X-band to provide horizon search, precision tracking, missile communication and terminal illumination of targets.

SPY-6 “provides the Navy the first truly integrated air and missile defense,” Tindal said. The active electronically scanned array system “is fully modular and scalable,” he said. A customer can stack the modules into various size arrays with an associated range of electrical power and cooling requirements.

The system software works for any size array, he said.

The SPY-6 will be “30 times more sensitive” than the SPY-1 radar now used on the DDG 51Arleigh Burke destroyers, he said.

The Navy has planned to install AMDR on the Tier III models of the DDG 51s. But there have been questions over whether the Burke superstructure, as currently planned, can handle arrays as big as may be required for the greater missile defense capability being sought.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

DARPA's robot Challenge 2015 - I was at the event

Prelude to a Robot Uprising.

South Korean robot in action (winner)

 

[AMDR]

Navy Declares IOC On Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2
Navy Declares IOC On Rolling Airframe Missile Block 2 - USNI News

The Navy declared initial operational capability (IOC) on Raytheon’s Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2, which brings greater accuracy and maneuverability to the self-defense system, the company announced.

Block 2 has an increased range due to a four-axis independent control actuator system and an increase in rocket motor capability, according to a June 1 statement. Its improved passive radio frequency seeker and upgrades to some components of the infrared seeker, along with advanced kinematics, help the newest block go after more complex maneuvering targets.

“RAM Block 2 provides the accuracy and lethality our sailors need to combat growing regional threats,” Capt. Craig Bowden, the Navy’s major program manager for Rolling Airframe Missile at the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems, said in the statement. “IOC signals that the U.S. Navy is pacing the threat and ensuring the safety and security of our sailors and ships so they can operate wherever required.”

RAM Block 2, a cooperation between the United States and Germany, was designed to protect against the newest generation of anti-ship cruise missiles. It also defends against helicopter and airborne threats and hostile surface craft, and its dual-mode guidance design allows it to engage multiple threats simultaneously.

“RAM has been protecting naval ships for three decades, and the enhanced Block 2 variant enables vital defense of our warfighters far into the future,” said Rick Nelson, vice president of Naval Area and Mission Defense for Raytheon Missile Systems. “The U.S. Navy’s declaration of IOC is an important accomplishment that shows RAM Block 2 is ideally suited to protect against the full range of threats on a variety of platforms.”

Block 2 delivered to the Navy in July 2014 and has since undergone testing. In one test event, the system went two for two against a supersonic maneuvering raid, which Raytheon says is the first time a ship-based firing system has accomplished that.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Watch The Razorbacks And Their Apaches Tear Up The Sky Around Hawaii

Last year, the U.S. Army’s Razorbacks were the first AH-64 Apache unit to participate in the Pentagon’s gigantic Rim of the Pacific exercise (RIMPAC) on and around the Hawaiian Islands. This included embarking aboard USS Peleliu (LHA-5) along with their USMC counterparts. The Razorbacks arrival also marked the first time an Apache had been to Hawaii.

First Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade out of Fort Carson, Colorado took part in the expansion the Army’s AH-64E Apache Guardian’s capability by integrating them into a joint-force maritime environment.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Matthew Gottschling, a company instructor pilot, was quoted describing this relatively new (for U.S. Army Apaches at least) operating environment:

“With all the deck training, the reason it’s interesting and different is because the Apache is a land-based piece of equipment... By training us how to do the ship landings on a larger ship, it enables us to forward project our force by doing the cross training with the Navy and the Marines... It allows us to land on their ships, refuel, rearm and project power further forward as opposed to just being a land-based unit...It just gives us additional capabilities and additional experience. In the event of conflict, we would be able to deploy our aircraft via a ship to land and be able to operate in a maritime environment.”

Embarking Apaches aboard naval assets is nothing new. Britain’s WAH-64Ds have been operating aboard the HMS Ocean for many years and U.S. Army Apaches have also worked off the decks of the Navy’s sea base, the USS Ponce, in the Persian Gulf.

The Apache was actually designed with maritime use in mind, although the Army’s variant is not nearly as adapted to it as it could be. Various navalized proposals for sea-going Apaches have come and gonethroughout the attack chopper’s development and operational history. Some are more radical than others, with relatively simple avionics, minor structural and corrosion resistance changes being made to the lightest concepts, and a whole new fuselage and the inclusion of the F/A-18’s radar in the most elaborate concepts.

The last time Boeing pushed for a navalized Apache was in their proposal to replace the USMC’s AH-1W Cobras, with a sea-going version of the AH-64D Apache Longbow. This ended up being passed over for the more familiar and less complex Bell AH-1Z Viper.

Integrating the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Army into the maritime combat environment as a composite fighting force is the centerpiece of America’s pivot toward the Pacific and the evolving Air-Sea Battle concept that will supposedly support such a strategy during a time of conflict. If anything else, this increased ‘jointness’ among the services for expeditionary operations at sea will help overcome the massive reduction in the Pentagon’s fleet sizes over the last decade and a half and will help offset current cuts in end strength. It will also allow for increase flexibility and basing options during a conflict in the vastness of the Pacific, which is a very good thing.

Aside from the strategy and tactics debate, it sure looks like the Razorbacks had a good time during their adventure in paradise.

 

[AMDR]

Afloat Forward Staging Base Lewis B. Puller Delivers to Navy
SEAPOWER Magazine Online

The mobile landing platform Lewis B. Puller (T-MLP-3/T-AFSB-1) successfully completed launch and float-off at the General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) shipyard on Nov. 6, 2014. US Navy Photo

The first General Dynamics NASSCO built Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) delivered to the U.S. Navy on Friday, Naval Sea Systems Command said.

USNS Lewis B. Puller (MLP-3/AFSB) — based on an Alaska-class commercial crude carrier — is designed to host special operations forces (SOF) and mine countermeasure (MCM) helicopters as part of the Navy, U.S. Military Sea Lift Command and the Marines push to more capability for amphibious forces and capacity for seabasing with less expensive ships.

“This ship represents a leap forward in flexible capability for the U.S. Navy,” said Capt. Henry Stevens, Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager in Program Executive Office, Ships said in a statement.
“NASSCO was able to leverage a mature design and hot production line to meet the Navy’s requirements for an AFSB platform while minimizing program cost and risk.”

The ship is the third based on the Alaska-class following two MSC Mobile Landing Platforms — USNS Montford Point and USNS John Glenn — built to act as an interface between military cargo ships and Navy Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft.

In December, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) awarded NASSCO $498 million to start construction on the second AFSB.

The service is planning to fund a third AFSB as part of the Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

The two ships in the class are planned to be forward deployed assets for the Navy – one to the U.S. 5th Fleet in the Middle East and one to the U.S. 7th Fleet in the Pacific.

The Navy currently employs the Austin-class LPD, USS Ponce (AFSB-(I)-15), as a temporary Middle East AFSB.

The following is the June 12, 2015 statement from Naval Sea Systems Command.

SAN DIEGO – The Navy’s first Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) variant of the Mobile Landing Platform, USNS Lewis B. Puller, delivered to the Navy today. Built by General Dynamics NASSCO, delivery of the ship follows a series of at-sea tests and trials in San Diego.

The Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) AFSB variant is optimized to support a variety of maritime based missions with an added flight deck, berthing, fuel storage, equipment storage, and repair spaces.

“This ship represents a leap forward in flexible capability for the U.S. Navy,” said Capt. Henry Stevens, Strategic and Theater Sealift program manager in Program Executive Office, Ships. “NASSCO was able to leverage a mature design and hot production line to meet the Navy’s requirements for an AFSB platform while minimizing program cost and risk.”

The MLP program is comprised of five ships across two variants in support of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (MPF) and an AFSB initiative. USNS Montford Point (MLP 1) and USNS John Glenn (MLP 2) have delivered and are in service. MLP 4, also an AFSB variant, is under construction and a fifth AFSB ship is planned for procurement in fiscal year 2017.

MLPs are highly flexible platforms that provide logistics movement from sea to shore supporting a broad range of military operations. The AFSB variant is designed around four core capabilities: aviation, berthing, equipment staging area, and command and control.

The MLP AFSB will primarily support Aviation Mine Countermeasure and Special Operations missions. Additional features include a large flight deck and hangar with two aviation operating spots capable of handling MH-53E equivalent helicopters; berthing and messing accommodations; work spaces, and ordnance storage for embarked force; enhanced command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) to support embarked force mission planning; and execution and reconfigurable mission deck area to store embarked force equipment to include mine sleds and rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs).

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft. Delivering high-quality war fighting assets – while balancing affordability and capability – is key to supporting the Navy’s Maritime Strategy.