US military news, discussions and history

[Fenrir]

Exclusive: Lockheed to buy United Tech's Sikorsky for over $8 billion

Exclusive: Lockheed to buy United Tech's Sikorsky for over $8 billion| Reuters

Mick Maurer, president of Sikorsky, gestures on stage as he remarks about the new Sikorsky Aircraft S-97 RAIDER helicopter during its unveiling ceremony at Sikorsky Aircraft in Jupiter, Florida October 2, 2014.
REUTERS/ANDREW INNERARITY

Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) has agreed to buy United Technologies Corp's (UTX.N) Sikorsky Aircraft for over $8 billion, two sources said on Sunday, cementing a deal that would confirm Lockheed's dominance in weapons making and giving the Black Hawk helicopter to the maker of the F-35 fighter jet.

The deal will add further heft to Lockheed, which already has annual revenues of around $45 billion and dwarves its nearest competitors, the defense business of Boeing Co (BA.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).

It will make Lockheed less reliant on the $391 billion F-35 fighter jet business, while expanding its overseas sales by adding Sikorsky's iconic Black Hawk helicopters to a product line that already spans everything from satellites to naval ships.

The two companies plan to announce the deal on Monday before both report second-quarter results on Tuesday, said the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.

It will be Lockheed's largest acquisition since it bought Martin Marietta Corp for about $10 billion two decades ago. It is the first major strategic move for both United Tech Chief Executive Officer Greg Hayes, who was elevated to CEO from finance chief in November, and Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson, who took her job in January 2013.

United Technologies and Lockheed officials declined comment.

Textron Inc (TXT.N), parent of Bell Helicopter, had submitted a bid for Sikorsky, but dropped out of the bidding after the price rose, according to several sources familiar with the matter. Both helicopter makers have seen revenues drop due to lower demand from the oil and gas sector.

Pentagon officials last week said they would carefully evaluate any sale of Sikorsky, saying it was important to the department to maintain competition and avoid market distortions.

The U.S. Defense Department can object to a merger involving its key suppliers during a federal antitrust review, which in this case could be led by the U.S. Justice Department.

Industry executives do not expect antitrust objections since Lockheed does not build helicopters, but said U.S. officials could ask for certain written assurances given Lockheed's expanded scale.

"It's a big deal, but it doesn't concentrate markets any further than they already were," said Virginia-based defense consultant Loren Thompson. "There's no real overlap between the fighter market and the rotorcraft market. They're discrete markets with different customers and users."

Lockheed is also looking to shed some of its lower-margin services businesses, which could help lower revenues in coming months, according to several sources familiar with the matter.

Industry executives have long predicted further consolidation in the U.S. defense market after a massive contraction in the 1990s after the Cold War. The only sector that had remained largely unscathed was the helicopter market. Boeing, which makes CH-47 Chinook helicopters and works with Bell on the V-22, has already teamed up with Sikorsky to develop a next-generation helicopter for the U.S. military.

UTC in March said it would explore alternatives for Sikorsky, which accounted for $7.5 billion in sales last year out of total UTC revenues of $65 billion. In June, it said it would exit the helicopter business and sell or spin off Sikorsky, which expects slower revenue growth and has lower profit margins than other UTC divisions.

Sikorsky's fit with United Tech, which also makes Pratt & Whitney jet engines and Otis elevators, had been long debated on Wall Street.

Sikorsky's first-quarter operating profit dropped 11 percent on a 7 percent fall in sales. In June, the unit announced 1,400 job cuts and said it would consolidate facilities.

The price of the acquisition was inflated by a huge tax bill facing UTC since Sikorsky's value has appreciated so much since it became part of United Tech in 1929.

UTC could use the funds for other large acquisitions, although the CEO has said the high valuations of targets have made potential transactions expensive.

Lockheed decided to proceed with the deal, despite the hefty price tag, because it views Sikorsky as a "signature company" that will ensure strong revenues in the medium term, when F-35 production begins to taper off, according to two of the sources.

Lockheed and Sikorsky already work together on several major helicopter programs, including the presidential helicopter, a combat rescue helicopter and the MH-60R- and S-model helicopters built for the Navy and Marine Corps.

Sikorsky's strong foreign sales would help Lockheed expand its international footprint, said Richard Aboulafia, aerospace analyst with the Virginia-based Teal Group.

"It's a great business for them to own. In addition to the F-35 and the C-130J, Sikorsky is another great brand for them to underpin their defense strategy," he said.

Lockheed is keen to preserve the Sikorsky brand, the sources said, which means the company may well allow Sikorsky to continue functioning as a standalone business instead of integrating it into its already huge Aeronautics division, which had revenues of over $14 billion last year.

Other big aerospace companies, including Italy's Finmeccanica SpA, Europe's Airbus and Textron Inc, allow their helicopter businesses to operate as separate units.

 

[AMDR]

Primes Line Up to Compete for JSTARS Recap Program
August 2015

By Stew Magnuson

JSTARS E-8C

The next version of the Air Force’s joint surveillance and attack radar aircraft will have a smaller airframe, along with updated radar, communications and battle management suites.

But JSTARS is a recapitalization program, not something new, Col. David Learned, the program’s senior material leader said.

“The war fighters want the existing capability — what they have in the field now — but at a reduced lifecycle cost,” he said in an interview. This is not a developmental program, he stressed. In fact, the Air Force has colored the first round in the procurement process as an “engineering contract.”

“We’re recapitalizing a combat proven capability,” he said.

The Air Force-Army JSTARS E-8C carries a radar that provides intelligence on the movement of ground forces, plus a battle management system. The current fleet was built from second-hand Boeing 707-300 aircraft, which are expected to come to the end of their service lives in the early 2020s. As older airframes, they are expensive to operate and maintain.

After the Air Force’s self-proclaimed top three most important acquisition programs — the joint strike fighter, the long-range bomber and aerial refuelers — the service considers JSTARS its “number four” priority, Learned said.

“From my perspective, the Air Force has been all in,” he added. The program is fully funded in fiscal year 2015 and he hoped for the same in 2016. There is $2.4 billion budgeted through the following five years.

William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, cautioned that programs such as JSTARS, when it comes to budgets, can be dicey. It could be another three years after the preliminary design review when the Defense Department gives the green light to proceed.

“There’s always these programs that are right on the edge. … That’s what I warn people about — particularly in this [budget] climate that we’re in today — that just because you start a milestone A, the real commitment won’t come for about three years,” he said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies speech.

Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall doesn’t approve programs unless he is assured that they are fully funded and the service can afford them, he added.

Before coming to a final budget decision, contractors will have to reduce the technological risks, LaPlante added.

Learned said this will be an integration challenge. The four main components that will have to work together are a new business-class sized jet, the radar, a communications suite and a battlefield management command-and-control system.

There is “a tight coupling to the legacy requirements,” he said. Those were first written some 40 years ago. “The only difference is where modern technology is available and provides better performance,” he said.

The Air Force is planning to place these same requirements in a smaller aircraft, which will be one of the technological hurdles, he said.

“We do expect to go with a new commercial derivative business-class jet,” he said. It will be smaller, more reliable and will allow operations with a smaller crew. Plans call for the crew number to shrink from 18 to 10.

“We will have to rely on automation to perform some of the missions that the existing crew does,” he added.

The key will be nondevelopmental technology — or at least very little of it — Learned said. So far, the Air Force has not spelled out to potential vendors the requirements for the subsystems beyond the original program’s specifications. It does want the latest radar, communication suites and battlefield management systems, but they must be at a high technology readiness level, he said. The program wants “proven performance.”

“We also want affordability throughout the lifecycle and agility. So we will focus on those key things within the subsystems we think we might need to replace or update,” he said. That means an open architecture where components can be easily swapped out when something better comes along.

Northrop Grumman is the current prime contractor for the program. Flying jets that were already used when the Air Force acquired them has proven costly. With the current fleet coming to the end of its life, there is a sense of urgency.

“I can’t tell you how long the legacy fleet will be kept alive. But that was the impetus for this program and what’s driving us to be a recap and deliver a capability as soon as we can to the war fighter,” Learned said.

The program is expected to award up to three pre-engineering manufacturing and development contracts in August. Learned could not disclose which vendors had responded to the Air Force request for proposals, however, incumbent Northrop Grumman, and rivals Boeing and Lockheed Martin have all announced their intentions to compete.

Alan Metzger, vice president and integrated product team lead for next-generation surveillance and targeting at Northrop Grumman’s military aircraft systems division, said its consortium, which includes business jet manufacturer Gulfstream and L-3 Aerospace Systems, is the best for the job because of its track record with JSTARS and other Air Force platforms.

“We have decades of proven battle command-and-control experience,” he said. The Gulfstream G550 model it is proposing will be able to provide better speed, range, altitude, reliability and endurance and at a lower cost than the legacy platforms.

“We think that the attributes that it has fit the mission very nicely,” he said. L-3 will bring its integration expertise and communications products. Northrop has yet to choose a radar, he said. It is still evaluating the options. “There are a few different manufacturers out there that exist, including Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and others,” he said. The team will make a selection on the sensor as the Air Force further defines its requirements.

He confirmed that there aren’t a lot of details yet.

“I will tell you that the requirements that we have seen are commensurate with what’s performing today on the existing JSTARS platforms,” Metzger said. “It’s up to us to figure out how to put the proper configuration and architectures together to satisfy those specs,” he added.

After the three possible pre-EMD contracts wrap up in about 2017, the Air Force will have an open competition for the final EMD phase where one prime integrator will be chosen.

At that point, new entrants may come in, or the three competitors may reconfigure their teams. The relationships with the subcontractors are not exclusive, company executives said.

“Who knows how it will play out and whether there will be reteaming?” Learned said.

Lockheed Martin also announced its team when it chose Bombardier for the business-class jet, and Raytheon for the radar system and communications suite.

“We have done a tremendous amount of work on battlefield management command and control — BMC2 — using the Air Force’s new open mission system architecture standards,” said Jack O’Banion, Lockheed Martin vice president of strategy and customer requirements. “Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have been the most prolific contractors in executing those contracts in both classified and nonclassified programs,” he said.

“And we’re now leveraging that body of work to create the BMC2 suite that will be the centerpiece for integrating JSTARS,” he said.

Montreal-based Bombardier has a stable of business-class jets to choose from, many of which have been converted to military use in overseas programs, he noted. Its Global 6000 aircraft are optimized for remote locations where customers can’t always depend on support being there.

“Raytheon has done a tremendous amount of work on the existing JSTARS solution and how to package a complex comms suite like that onto an aircraft and not have interference issues,” he added.

O’Banion reiterated what the Air Force said. It wants low-risk, low-cost technologies. “They are certainly interested in taking advantage of the latest technology provided that the [technology readiness] level is high and it’s not going to drive up the risk of the program or create an expansive development activity.”

The main hang-ups on such programs have been integrating the subsystems and creating the software that makes it all work together. That is the one area where there may be some developmental technology, he said.

“I think software is a concern for most programs that are incorporating and integrating technology,” he said.

“I can’t tell you at this time how much software development is going to be required to make that happen, but I can tell you that that subsystem integration is a key risk for us,” Learned said.

Boeing is not making any announcements as far as its possible team members, company spokeswoman Nanette Feeney said. It is offering its own 737-700, the smallest of its class, as the business-size jet, she said.

Learned said: “There is technology available now to meet our requirements. Whether it’s two teams or three teams, we’re just trying to prove that it’s out there.”

The winner of the EMD phase will build three test aircraft. The Air Force is aiming for 2023 for its initial operating capability, he said.

The new aircraft is going to address a lot of top cost drivers of the legacy JSTARS including manpower, maintenance and fuel. It’s going to be more reliable and require less upkeep along with improved mission performance, he said.

“It’s also going to allow us to have that strategic agility to make future changes in a competitive environment to address future threats. It’s going to provide a fantastic upgrade over the existing capability,” Learned said.

 

[AMDR]

Navy asks Lockheed Martin to study performance upgrades to Mk 48 Mod 7 CBASS submarine torpedoes
Navy asks Lockheed Martin to study performance upgrades to Mk 48 Mod 7 CBASS submarine torpedoes

NEWPORT, R.I., 13 July 2015. U.S. Navy undersea warfare experts are moving forward with plans to upgrade and enhance the Navy's Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) version of the Mk 48 Mod 7 heavyweight torpedo.

Officials of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division-Newport in Newport, R.I., announced a $26.4 million contract Friday to Lockheed Martin Sippican Inc. in Marion, Mass., for services to improve the Navy's fleet of CBASS submarine-launched torpedoes.

The CBASS broadband sonar makes the torpedo more effective against emerging submarine classes in the harshest of acoustic environments, Lockheed Martin officials say. The Mark 48 Mod 7 CBASS torpedo uses modern commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies in an open-architecture computing environment, and can be improved with regular hardware and software upgrades.

This this contract is for engineering to support the future capability upgrades of the Mk 48 Mod 7 CBASS torpedo, as part of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division-Newport’s spiral development program.

This includes technology assessment, mechanical and electrical component design analysis, software upgrade development, critical item testing, hardware and software integration, certification and test, in-water validation, and life cycle logistics studies for testing components of torpedoes and subsystems.

Lockheed Martin Sippican experts will recommend design changes; address failure and improvements to weapon hardware, software, and firmware; and support government testing.

The Mark 48 Mod 7 torpedo is standard armament for the Navy's fleet of Los Angeles-, Virginia-, and Seawolf-class fast attack submarines, as well as Ohio-class ballistic-missile and cruise-missile submarines.

The Lockheed Martin Corp. Mission Systems and Training segment in Washington is building the Mark 48 Mod 7 CBASS heavyweight torpedo with advanced common broadband advanced sonar system for expanded operational capabilities for shallow waters along coastlines and inside harbors, as well as in the deep-water open ocean.

The CBASS torpedo also has the ability of multiband operation with active and passive homing; advanced counter-countermeasure capabilities; effectiveness against low-Doppler shallow submarines, fast deep diving submarines, and high-performance surface ships; autonomous fire-and-forget operation or wire-guide capability to enable post-launch monitoring and updates via the submarine combat system; and running Otto Fuel II as the propellant.

The Mark 48 Mod 7 CBASS torpedo can transmit and receive over a wide frequency band and use broadband signal processing techniques to improve the torpedo’s search, acquisition, and attack, Lockheed Martin officials say.

The Mark 48 torpedo is 19 feet long, 21 inches in diameter, and weighs 3,500 pounds. It can be used as deep as 1,200 feet at distances as far as five miles. The torpedo can travel at 28 knots and has a 650-pound high-explosive warhead.

On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Marion, Mass.; Newport, R.I.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Australia; Washington; and Keyport, Wash., and should be finished by June 2020. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Sippican online at www.sippican.com, or the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division-Newport at

 

[AMDR]

Georgia Power to build 30MW solar power facility on US Navy base
Georgia Power to build 30MW solar power facility on US Navy base - Naval Technology

eorgia Power and the US Department of the Navy (DON) have reached an agreement on the development of a new 30MW AC solar generation facility at Naval Submarine Base (SUBASE) Kings Bay in St Marys.

As part of the agreement, a real estate outgrant has been executed with the DON to use 258 acres of land at SUBASE Kings Bay for the solar project.

SUBASE Kings Bay commanding officer captain James Jenks said: "We are excited to partner with Georgia Power to develop a large cost-effective renewable energy project that will enhance the navy's energy security and operational capability.

"This project is important in meeting the Secretary of the Navy's energy goals."

The project, which is expected to increase DON's energy security, involves development of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to deliver energy to the state's electric grid.

Georgia Power Renewable Development vice-president Norrie McKenzie said: "Our innovative solar partnerships with the state's military bases, including SUBASE Kings Bay, are growing solar in Georgia, strengthening Georgia military bases and stimulating investment in Georgia communities.

"Our latest project with the DON will add even more cost-effective solar energy to our state and further execute on our strategy of identifying opportunities for renewable growth to benefit our customers and partners."

The company expects to break ground on the project by September and bring the facility online by the end of 2016.

The SUBASE Kings Bay solar project is estimated to represent a $75m investment at the installation.

 

[Fenrir]

Marines blow up concrete walls protected only by a blanket

Watch US Marines with the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, 9th Engineer Support Battalion show how they get into buildings. The most amazing part is when they blow a concrete wall while they all stand there in line, just protected by a ballistic blanket. These guys are nuts.

 

[Fenrir]

Someone order some freedom?

 

[AMDR]

Air Force F-35As Fly SEAD Missions
Air Force F-35As Fly SEAD Missions | Defense Tech

Air Force F-35A pilots flew last month for the first time in a large scale combat training mission to specifically defeat enemy air defense systems.

Known as SEAD, or suppression of enemy air defenses, military leaders have highlighted the F-35’s ability to defeat air defense systems to allow U.S. and coalition aircraft to penetrate enemy borders. The military has allowed other aircraft such as the EA-6B Prowler to retire and allow the F-35 to take over the SEAD mission.

The F-35A is still a year away from its initial operating capability date but F-35A pilots flew SEAD missions in the recent Air Force Weapons School Integration Phase out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for the first time.

Air Force officials didn’t offer many details on the F-35A’s performance and pointed out that many of the sensors and software is not yet ready for many of the SEAD missions.

However, Air Force leaders highlighted the ability to add the F-35A to mission packages has opened up F-22 pilots to focus more on air-to-air responsibilities. Previously, F-22 pilots were becoming over saturated with tasks, “potentially hampering mission execution,” according to the release.

 

[AMDR]

Fabrication Begins on Future USS Delbert D. Black
SEAPOWER Magazine Online

PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Construction of the future USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) currently is underway at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard, a Naval Sea systems Command spokesman said in a July 21 release. A ceremony held July 21 celebrated the start of fabrication.

The guided-missile destroyer honors the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON). Black, a 30-year veteran, rose from the ranks of Master Chief Gunner to Senior Advisor of the Navy; the title later changed to MCPON. The MCPON is an advocate and voice of all Sailors and their families, serving as the senior enlisted adviser to the chief of naval operations.

“I am excited to see DDG 119 production starting off strong,” said CAPT Mark Vandroff, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. “This ship will not only honor a great Navy leader, it will serve as a testament to all our current and future senior enlisted leaders of the value the Navy places on their service.”

This ship will be equipped with the Navy’s Aegis Combat System, the world’s foremost integrated naval weapon system. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare. The ship is part of the Navy’s latest flight of destroyers, Flight IIA, which enables power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of low-intensity conflict/coastal and littoral offshore warfare as well as open-ocean conflict.

DDG 119 is the third ship in the fiscal 2013-2017 multiyear procurement contract to start fabrication. The future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) already has begun fabrication at HII. Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) currently is in production at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.

 

[Fenrir]

Navy to Invest Up to $1.43 Billion to Support Unmanned Mine Countermeasures Vehicles

Navy to Invest Up to $1.43 Billion to Support Unmanned Mine Countermeasures Vehicles - USNI News

Aerographer’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Carlson, left, and Aerographer’s Mate 1st Class Melvin Lankford, assigned to Commander, Task Group 56.1, deploy a MK 18 MOD 2 Swordfish to survey the ocean floor during the International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX) in the Gulf of Oman on November 4, 2014. US Navy photo.

The Navy will spend as much as $1.43 billion in the next several years on unmanned surface and subsurface vehicles to conduct mine countermeasures missions.

Seven contractors were awarded three-year contracts, with two one-year options, for a range of engineering work: design, fabrication, installation, test and evaluation, fielding, maintenance, training and more for both hardware and software of existing and future systems, according to a July 6 contract announcement.

Applied Research Associates, Inc., Camber Corporation, Exelis, Inc., Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Mantech Advanced Systems International, MAR Range Services LLC and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) won these contracts, which will allow them to compete for task orders throughout the next three years or longer if options are exercised.

“The Unmanned Maritime Systems Support contract is intended to support programs engaged in waterborne and underwater mine countermeasures (MCM), both surface and subsurface,” Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific spokesman Ed Budzyna told USNI News on July 21.

“MCM systems currently planned for deployment include the MK 18 Unmanned Underwater Vehicle system and Mine Hunting Unit Unmanned Surface Vehicle system. The scope of this contract covers current systems as well as any future waterborne and underwater technologies in the following maritime system mission areas: MCM; anti-submarine warfare; Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance; or force protection.”

The base value of the seven contracts add up to $846 million, representing a hefty investment in unmanned MCM capabilities in the coming years.

The MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish underwater unmanned vehicle first deployed to the Middle East in 2013 for testing, and in 2014 it participated in the International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX).

The Mine Hunting Unit Unmanned Surface Vehicle system was a rapid-acquisition collaboration between the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406), Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and Northrop Grumman. It combines Northrop Grumman’s AQS-24A Mine Detecting Sensor System with an 11-meter unmanned surface vehicle and was successfully demonstrated in the Arabian Gulf last fall.

 

[Armstrong]

Navy to Invest Up to $1.43 Billion to Support Unmanned Mine Countermeasures Vehicles

Navy to Invest Up to $1.43 Billion to Support Unmanned Mine Countermeasures Vehicles - USNI News

Aerographer’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Carlson, left, and Aerographer’s Mate 1st Class Melvin Lankford, assigned to Commander, Task Group 56.1, deploy a MK 18 MOD 2 Swordfish to survey the ocean floor during the International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX) in the Gulf of Oman on November 4, 2014. US Navy photo.

The Navy will spend as much as $1.43 billion in the next several years on unmanned surface and subsurface vehicles to conduct mine countermeasures missions.

Seven contractors were awarded three-year contracts, with two one-year options, for a range of engineering work: design, fabrication, installation, test and evaluation, fielding, maintenance, training and more for both hardware and software of existing and future systems, according to a July 6 contract announcement.

Applied Research Associates, Inc., Camber Corporation, Exelis, Inc., Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, Mantech Advanced Systems International, MAR Range Services LLC and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) won these contracts, which will allow them to compete for task orders throughout the next three years or longer if options are exercised.

“The Unmanned Maritime Systems Support contract is intended to support programs engaged in waterborne and underwater mine countermeasures (MCM), both surface and subsurface,” Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific spokesman Ed Budzyna told USNI News on July 21.

“MCM systems currently planned for deployment include the MK 18 Unmanned Underwater Vehicle system and Mine Hunting Unit Unmanned Surface Vehicle system. The scope of this contract covers current systems as well as any future waterborne and underwater technologies in the following maritime system mission areas: MCM; anti-submarine warfare; Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance; or force protection.”

The base value of the seven contracts add up to $846 million, representing a hefty investment in unmanned MCM capabilities in the coming years.

The MK18 Mod 2 Kingfish underwater unmanned vehicle first deployed to the Middle East in 2013 for testing, and in 2014 it participated in the International Mine Countermeasure Exercise (IMCMEX).

The Mine Hunting Unit Unmanned Surface Vehicle system was a rapid-acquisition collaboration between the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Maritime Systems Program Office (PMS 406), Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and Northrop Grumman. It combines Northrop Grumman’s AQS-24A Mine Detecting Sensor System with an 11-meter unmanned surface vehicle and was successfully demonstrated in the Arabian Gulf last fall.

@Nihonjin1051 - Is it me or does this Norwegian lady needs a normal hobby ?

I've never seen Transhumanist talk about football, food or even fashion !

Only tanks, missiles, guns and aircrafts !

 

[Fenrir]

@Nihonjin1051 - Is it me or does this Norwegian lady needs a normal hobby ?

I have other hobbies.

I like to dance

Badly

football

What's that? Can you play it with a stick and puck?

food

I'm not really the eating type.

fashion

Does this count as fashion? 'Cause I'm totally into this.

Only tanks and guns

Who?

aircrafts

Well I am an ex-member of:

 

[Aepsilons]

I have other hobbies.

I like to dance

Badly

What's that? Can you play it with a stick and puck?



I'm not really the eating type.



Does this count as fashion? 'Cause I'm totally into this.

Who?



Well I am an ex-member of:

So, can you into competition with Armstrong?

 

[Armstrong]

So, can you into competition with Armstrong?

I hear that @Technogaianist is chubby so I dunno if there would be much of a competition !

But then again I've gained a few pounds these past few months too !

And no I don't know how to dance.....at all !

 

[Fenrir]

So, can you into competition with Armstrong?

No, I think Armstrong's already won the "who's the most girly person on PDF" competition, though I hear Sven gave him a run for his money too.

I hear that @Technogaianist is chubby so I dunno if there would be much of a competition !

I was in the US around Girl Scout cookie time, I felt like this afterwards:

 

[Armstrong]

No, I think Armstrong's already won the "who's the most girly person on PDF" competition, though I hear Sven gave him a run for his money too.

I was in the US around Girl Scout cookie time, I felt like this afterwards:

The most girly....!

Take that back...!

Take that back....!

I defined the word 'machismo' !

Okay jokes aside....its nearly midnight here and I've got a long day tomorrow !

I hate working !

So see you all later.....take care !