US Military News

[figatova]

Originally Posted by figatova

Brazil's Embraer aircraft wins U.S. Defense contract

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...7BU03Y20111231

Attachment 86866

USAF Cancels Super Tucanos; Investigates


Citing concerns with the procurement process, the U.S. Air Force has canceled Sierra Nevada Corp.’s (SNC) $355 million contract to supply 20 Embraer AT-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft for operation by the Afghan air force.

The decision to set aside the contract is a victory for Hawker Beechcraft (HBC), which took the Air Force to court after its offer of the AT-6 aircraft was disqualified, leaving SNC as the only bidder for the Light Air Support (LAS) program.

...continues

The power of lobbying.

[SHUTUPANDTHINK]

U.S./ROK forces show off air power

by Senior Airman Jessica Hines
8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

3/6/2012 - KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- (AFNS) -- Not even the sun had a chance to rise before Airmen here began their work during a combined combat generation exercise, March 2, between United States and Republic of Korea air forces.

"The purpose of the exercise today is to test the ability of our team to execute our combat mission at a moment's notice," said Col. Craig Leavitt, 8th Operations Group commander.

"This shows the resolve that we have as a team, the United States and the Republic of Korea forces, to defend the Republic of Korea at any time," he added.

From start to finish, aircraft were generated as they would be for wartime operations. The exercise helps Airmen practice how several pieces of a much larger puzzle are brought together in one swift motion, representing a cycle of events paramount to the overall defense of the region.

Describing it as a "bilateral event," Col. Stephen Williams, 8th Fighter Wing vice commander, noted the long hours spent behind the scenes that produced the combat air power seen between the five units. In all, the exercise included aircraft from the 35th and 80th Fighter Squadrons from the 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan Air Base, ROK; the 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from the 388th FW at Hill Air Force Base, Utah; the 55th EFS from the 20th FW at Shaw AFB, S.C.; and the 38th Fighter Group of the ROK Air Force.

"Airmen from all the groups are participating - the entire Wolf Pack - and they don't always get to see the tail end of this," said Williams.

A befitting finale, the "tail end" event was ushered in by the roaring sound of fighter jets as they glided down the runway as a combat-ready procession.

This isn't the first time the Wolf Pack has exercised full combat generation, and certainly isn't the last, but working with host country air power defenses has brought a more personal association to the importance of the exercise.

"This is their [Koreans] homeland," said Williams, reminding Airmen that the Wolf Pack is part of a vested interest in defending the Republic of Korea from enemy forces.

"The more we work together, the better we'll be if called upon to take the fight north," said Williams.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123292658

Ever wonder what 50 combat loaded F-16's look like?
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[figatova]

U.S. Army to Congress: No New Tanks, Please

U.S. Army officials are once again on Capitol Hill trying to convince lawmakers that they do not need new M1 Abrams tanks.

Not only does the Army not need new tanks, it doesn’t need to upgrade the ones it has for another few years, Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff of the Army, told lawmakers during a March 7 hearing of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.

It is one of the most modernized platforms in the Army and has an average age of two-and-a-half-years old, Army Secretary John McHugh said.

The Army plans to finish out its Abrams buy in 2014 and then not begin upgrading its current fleet until 2017.

The Army tried to make the same argument last year, but Congress did not agree. In the 2012 defense appropriations bill, it provided an additional $255 million to buy 42 more tanks. The money was intended to keep the General Dynamics Land Systems’ production line open in Lima, Ohio.

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said that last year there was broad support on the committee to keep the Abrams production line open.

“Can you tell me how the Army sees this now?” he asked McHugh and Odierno.

McHugh said he just approved the execution of the 2012 Abrams funds. That money will buy between 42 and 44 tanks, which is fewer than needed to keep the production line going.

“In order to sustain the Abrams line at Lima, you have to produce at least 70 tanks a year. So, while the money provided is substantial, it will not fill the production gaps,” McHugh said.

Army analysis found that it would cost $600 million to $800 million to close and later reopen the production line versus the nearly $3 billion it would take to keep it up and running during that same time, McHugh said.

Not only does the Army not need the extra tanks now, it likely will have even less use for them once it completes a force mix study currently underway, Odierno said.

That study is determining how many infantry, Stryker and heavy brigades the Army will need in the future. The study could recommend further reductions in brigade combat teams — beyond the eight brigades the Army already plans to cut.

“As we go through this force structure review, we actually might reduce the requirement for heavy capabilities and that’s something that we have to make sure we take a look at,” Odierno said.

As for the other types of brigades, Odierno said, “I’ll tell you that right now the Stryker brigades are really not under consideration, because they’re found to be a very flexible capability that we want to sustain.”

Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., asked whether the Army should keep production lines open by buying the National Guard and Reserve more M1A2 System Enhancement Program (SEP) tanks, a more advanced variant than the M1A1 model.

Odierno said it could be beneficial for everyone to have a SEP tank, but added that the M1A1 is a “very good tank.”

The M1A1 is not as technically complex, which can make it easier to operate and requires less training, a plus for the Guard and Reserve, who have less time to train, Odierno said.

“Again, we’re in the process of reducing force structure. My guess is we will reduce some of our heavy requirements, so there will be tanks moving from the active to the reserve component probably. We have to continue to do that analysis before we make the determination of whether we need more SEP tanks.”

Dicks asked if the Army’s analysis considered the industrial base implications and the knowledge and skills that could be lost by closing down that factory for three years.

“We are concerned about those high-end jobs,” McHugh said, adding that the Army is working to fill in some of those production gaps with foreign military sales.

Odierno said several countries are considering buying new Abrams tanks, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and “a few others.”

U.S.-Egyptian co-production of the M1A1 Abrams tank began in 1988. Some of the tank’s components are manufactured at an Egyptian facility, while the remaining parts are produced in the U.S. and then shipped to Egypt for final assembly.

Last July, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a potential sale to Egypt of 1,200 tanks for $1.3 billion.

Saudi Arabia already has a large fleet of Abrams tanks.

Sales to both countries have come under increased scrutiny because of events related to the Arab Spring.

Members of Congress have expressed concerns about selling more tanks to Egypt while that country’s government is still in transition.

Last February, Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, led an armored intervention into neighboring Bahrain to help its government end growing popular unrest.

The German government faced widespread criticism last July when news broke that it planned to sell Saudi Arabia 200 German-made Leopard tanks, with critics citing Saudi Arabia’s actions to suppress protests in Bahrain.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

[figatova]

^^^Clear evidence defence corporations and their lobbying run congress. Same thing happened with the C-17 when the USAF said they didn't need so many but it was told by congress it was going to get extra C-17s whether they wanted them or not. Corporate interests in charge of government.

[figatova]

U.S. Military Unveils Ray Beam as Latest Nonlethal Weapon

U.S. MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — A sensation of unbearable, sudden heat seems to come out of nowhere — this wave, a strong electromagnetic beam, is the latest non-lethal weapon unveiled by the U.S. military this week.

“You’re not gonna see it, you’re not gonna hear it, you’re not gonna smell it: you’re gonna feel it,” explained U.S. Marine Col. Tracy Taffola, director the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, Marine Corps Base Quantico, at a demonstration for members of the media.

The effect is so repellant, the immediate instinct is to flee — and quickly, as experienced by AFP at the presentation.

Taffola is quick also to point out the “Active Denial System” beam, while powerful and long-range, some 1,000 meters (0.6 miles), is the military’s “safest non-lethal capability” that has been developed over 15 years but never used in the field.

It was deployed briefly in Afghanistan in 2010, but never employed in an operation.

The technology has attracted safety concerns possibly because the beam is often confused with the microwaves commonly used by consumers to rapidly heat food.

“There are a lot of misperceptions out there,” lamented Taffola, saying the Pentagon was keen to make clear what the weapon is, and what it is not.

The frequency of the blast makes all the difference for actual injury as opposed to extreme discomfort, stressed Stephanie Miller, who measured the system’s radio frequency bio-effects at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The system ray is 95 gigahertz, a frequency “absorbed very superficially,” said Miller.

The beam only goes 1/64th of an inch (0.4 millimeter), which “gives a lot more safety.”

“We have done over 11,000 exposures on people. In that time we’ve only had two injuries that required medical attention and in both cases injuries were fully recovered without complications,” she said.

In contrast, microwave frequency is around one gigahertz, which moves faster and penetrates deeper — which is how it can cook meat in an oven, said top researcher Diana Loree.

With the transmitter, a wave 100 times the power of a regular microwave oven cannot pop a bag of popcorn “because the radio frequency is not penetrating enough to heat enough to internally heat the material,” she stressed.

To be used in mob dispersal, checkpoint security, perimeter security, area denial, infrastructure protection, the U.S. military envisions a wide array of uses.

And in a bid to avert accidents, Taffola said the operator’s trigger, in a truck far from the action, has an automatic shut-off after 3 seconds for safety.

“This provides the safest means and also provides the greatest range,” he said.

The Pentagon has not yet decided to order any of the ADS system, but Taffola said they would be ready if asked.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2...text|FRONTPAGE

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A U.S. Marine Corps truck is seen carrying a palletized version of the Active Denial System, a DoD non-lethal weapon that uses directed energy and projects a beam that delivers a heat sensation to the skin and generally makes humans stop what they are doing and run.

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[figatova]

U.S. Navy Orders Four More LCS Vessels

Construction contracts for four more Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) were awarded March 16 by the U.S. Navy, bringing the total number of LCS vessels under order or in service to 12.

Lockheed Martin received $715 million for two ships, or $357.5 million apiece.

Austal USA received $691.6 million for two ships, at $345.8 million each.

The funds do not include government-furnished equipment needed to fully outfit each ship, such as weapons or communications equipment.

All the ships were funded in the 2012 defense spending bill.

Lockheed will build the Little Rock (LCS 9) and Sioux City (LCS 11) at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis. The ships are to be delivered in February and August 2016, respectively, according to the 2013 budget.

Austal USA will build the Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and Omaha (LCS 12) at its yard in Mobile, Ala. The Giffords is to be delivered in August 2015, while the Omaha is to follow in March 2016.

All four ships are part of two 10-ship, fixed-price incentive block buys covering ships from each builder from 2010 to 2015.

Two classes of LCS are in production: Lockheed’s LCS 1-class single-hull ships and Austal USA’s all-aluminum trimaran LCS 2 class. So far, all odd-numbered ships are built to the Lockheed design, while Austal USA’s ships are even-numbered.

The first two LCS ships are in commission, and two more are to enter service this year. The Fort Worth (LCS 3) is to be delivered in June from Lockheed, and Austal USA is aiming for a March 2013 delivery of the Coronado (LCS 4).

http://www.defensenews.com/article/2...xt%7CFRONTPAGE

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[figatova]

Navy grounds Fire Scout helicopter drones after 2 crashes

The Navy confirms that it temporarily suspended flights of the 14 remaining Fire Scouts, robotic spy helicopters developed by Northrop Grumman.

TheU.S. Navyhas grounded a fleet of helicopter drones after two of the aircraft crashed overseas within a week.

Known as MQ-8B Fire Scouts, the robotic spy choppers were developed by Northrop Grumman Corp.engineers in Rancho Bernardo, Calif. Armed with high-powered cameras, radars and sensors, they were first deployed to war zones in Afghanistan and Libya last year.

On Tuesday, the Navy confirmed that it had temporarily suspended flight operations for its 14 remaining Fire Scouts while system performance and operational procedures are reviewed. It also said that the crashes resulted in no injuries or damage to other aircraft.

In the first incident, the Navy said, a Fire Scout crashed off the coast of western Africa on March 30 when it was carrying out safety and security missions. The Navy did not disclose the exact location, citing national security concerns.

Operators crash-landed the Fire Scout in the ocean after it was unable to lock onto the Navy warship Simpson's automatic landing system — a requirement for landing aboard a ship at sea.

"After multiple approaches and exhaustive troubleshooting by operators, the aircraft was positioned a safe distance from USS Simpson and the flight was terminated," the Navy said in a statement. "Subsequently, Simpson crew performed a nighttime recovery of the aircraft."

On Friday, another Fire Scout crashed in Afghanistan but could not be recovered. The Navy said the cause of the incident had not been determined.

The Navy said it is conducting a thorough investigation of both incidents.

In all, the Navy has ordered 168 Fire Scouts at a total estimated program cost of $5.6 billion. So far, the Navy has accepted delivery of 16 from Northrop.

The company has about 350 employees working on the program in Rancho Bernardo. The drones are manufactured in Moss Point, Miss.

"Northrop Grumman is working closely with the U.S. Navy to determine the cause of the incidents," Northrop spokesman Warren Comer said in a statement. "We cannot provide further information at this time pending the results of the investigation."

The grounding order was first reported by aviation website FlightGlobal.com before the Navy released information on the incidents.

...continues

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...0,638191.story


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[SHUTUPANDTHINK]

Final F-22 Raptor

MARIETTA, Ga., May 2, 2012 – Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] leadership delivered today the 195th and last F-22 Raptor to U.S. Air Force leadership in a ceremony at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics site here. With this delivery, the U.S. Air Force now possesses the world’s only 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft fleet in the world.

“There is no longer any nation that wishes us ill or any adversary who wishes us harm that has any doubt that their actions will have consequences – that they will be held to account and that our response will be undeterred,” said Robert J. Stevens, Lockheed Martin’s chairman and CEO. “The very existence of this airplane – your airplane – has altered the strategic landscape forever.”
A host of distinguished officials participated in this monumental event, including senior leaders from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force; local, state and national elected officials; and Lockheed Martin employees who helped build the F-22 Raptor fleet.
This final Raptor joins a U.S. Air Force fleet of 187 operational F-22s and will join other F-22s in the Air Force’s 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. In all, Lockheed Martin delivered 195 F-22s to the Air Force beginning in 1997, with eight Raptors used as test aircraft.
F-22s are assigned to seven U.S. bases. Flight testing takes place at Edwards AFB, Calif. Operational tactics development continues at Nellis AFB, Nev. Pilot training takes place at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Operational F-22 aircraft are assigned to Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va.; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; Holloman AFB, N. M.; and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.
The F-22 Raptor is the world’s only operational 5th generation fighter, making it an unmatched national security asset. The Raptor is designed to defeat denied-access threats, enable joint and coalition operations in contested areas, and globally promote deterrence and security. For more information on the F-22, visit www.lockheedmartin.com/products/f22/.

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/new...delivered.html

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[seanjo]

Originally Posted by SHUTUPANDTHINK

Final F-22 Raptor

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/new...delivered.html

Attachment 95229

It looks good so it must be good!