Dutch Military Struggles to Find Space Amid Expanding Defense Needs
DefenseNews : This week, the U.S. Navy revealed that a future Virginia-class submarine will bear the name "Atlanta," marking the fifth vessel to represent Georgia's capital. Secretary Carlos Del Toro made the announcement in a ceremony acknowledging both Atlanta's rich history and the distinguished service of former President Jimmy Carter, a Navy submarine veteran. With construction expected in upcoming years, this vessel will uphold a legacy that dates back to the Civil War. USS Atlanta submarine construction announcement, N…
Navy warships helped take down Iran’s attack on Israel, Pentagon says
Pentagon : Two Navy destroyers launched around a dozen interceptors to help defend Israel against a massive attack by Iran on Tuesday, the Pentagon said. Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to say what kind of ordnance was used by the warships Cole and Bulkeley, or whether their intercept were successful, but he said the operations took place while both ships were in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Iran’s direct and widespread missile attack on Israel Tuesday was the second of the year, and once again threatened to spark a…
US Navy teams with Qualcomm to research 5G, artificial intelligence
SAN DIEGO — The Naval Postgraduate School and wireless specialist Qualcomm Technologies inked a cooperative research agreement to explore 5G, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, some of the U.S. Defense Department’s most pressing priorities. The collaboration, announced on Feb. 13, aims to inform the digital pursuits of the Navy and Marine Corps, while also engaging school faculty and students with some of the private sector’s leading scientists and engineers. “The core of warfighter development at NPS is preparing leaders to solve co…
China’s new aircraft carrier: Checkout Satellite Images of Type 003 carrier.
BANGKOK — China ’s most advanced aircraft carrier to date appears to be nearing completion, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Friday, as experts suggested the vessel could be launched soon. The newly developed Type 003 carrier has been under construction at the Jiangnan Shipyard northeast of Shanghai since 2018. Satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC on May 31 suggest work on the vessel is close to done. The launch has been long anticipated, and constitutes what the Center for Strategic and International Studies think…
India-US naval drill shows ability to project power with allies, says US defence secretary
NEW DELHI: US defence secretary Mark Esper said America was “closely monitoring” the India-China stand-off and the disengagement process on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In his virtual address to the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a global think-tank, Esper also said the USS Nimitz-Indian Navy exercises “shows US ability to project power in the Indian Ocean, and to sustain it with our allies and partners”. The Indian Navy’s maritime drill with the US carrier strike group has been interpreted as signalling America’s in…
US Navy takes delivery of new, more powerful radar
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy has taken delivery of the first AN/SPY-6 radar array for the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Jack Lucas, which was designed and built specifically to accommodate the upgraded air and missile defense radar. The Raytheon-built system is about 30 times more sensitive than the SPY-1 arrays on the Navy’s cruisers and destroyers, but it requires much more power. That led to a significant redesign of the Flight IIA DDG. Jack Lucas, being built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, is the first …
In 70's US Tried to Threaten India with USS Enterprise, Not It's Backing It
WASHINGTON: How times change. Nearly 50 years after then US President Richard Nixon ordered the Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise into the Bay of Bengal to threaten India in the face of its imminent victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war, Washington has sent the nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Nimitz to the same waters in a show of solidarity with New Delhi amid tensions both countries face with China. Currently the world’s largest aircraft carrier, Nimitz sailed into the Bay of Bengal on Monday to be greeted by the Indian Navy’s Eastern Co…
US Navy: Bonhomme Richard fire deals a blow to the Navy’s designs in the Indo-Pacific
WASHINGTON – The amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard , which burned through the night while in port in San Diego, was at the tail end of two years of upgrades supporting the integration of the F-35B , according to Navy documents. That means the Navy will now have fewer options to deploy the next-generation fighter in the Pacific. The Navy awarded the $219 million modernization contract to General Dynamics, National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. in 2018, which had options for up to $250 million. Bonhomme Richard is one of four large-deck amph…
US Air Force: Adopting Army’s Future Vertical Lift program
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is keeping an eye on the Army’s next-generation rotorcraft program, which could fill a gap for agile airlift that might be needed in a fight against Russia and China, an Air Force general said Thursday. With its large air bases vulnerable to attacks from a near-peer adversary, there’s no guarantee that the Air Force will be able to rely on its current processes or equipment to transfer supplies in and out of air bases. In a war with China or Russia , the U.S. Air Force would distribute its assets to bases ow…
BREAKING: USS Kidd Destroyer Called Off, Jump in COVID-19 Cases.
The novel coronavirus has spread aboard the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer Kidd at sea in the Caribbean, forcing the medevac of one crew member and infecting at least 16 others, the Navy said Friday. The ship is returning to port, where the crew of 300 will disembark and likely be quarantined while the destroyer undergoes a thorough cleaning, actions similar to the response to COVID-19 cases aboard the carrier Theodore Roosevelt in the Pacific, said Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon's chief spokesman. The Navy has not reve…
US Air Force: Bell V-280 aircraft flies with system that can see through Objects like aircraft's itself
Bell’s experimental V-280 Valor tiltrotor, built for a U.S. Army technology demonstration, has flown for the first time with an integrated system that provides the pilots and aircrew a 360-degree view through the skin of the aircraft. V-280 aircraft At the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual summit, Lockheed Martin displayed footage collected from its Pilotage Distributed Aperture System’s first flight over central Texas on the V-280 . PDAS “is the first fully integrated tactical distributed aperture system in the hist…
The US Navy’s $13 Billion Answer to China and Russia
China ’s lone aircraft carrier, the retrofitted Liaoning, has spent the past several weeks cruising around the South China Sea. It recently passed through the Taiwan Strait, which seen by some observers as a threatening message to Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen. The Taiwanese president, of course, set off diplomatic red alerts when she phoned Donald Trump to congratulate him on being elected president – and he took the call in what Beijing considers a violation of the “One China” policy in place since 1979. But if China ’s i…
Raytheon, U.S. Navy complete Tomahawk flight tests
Raytheon and the U.S. Navy have recently completed two flight tests with the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile. According to the company, the tests were conducted to demonstrate the missile's ability to engage time-sensitive targets. Raytheon officials praised their product's performance following the demonstration. " Tomahawk 's tactics and procedures have evolved to support the new missions that are being assigned to the weapon," program director Dave Adams said in a press release. "Tomahawk continues…
Navy Resumes Flights of Super Hornet, Growler Aircraft
The U.S. Navy on Monday resumed flights of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets and EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft after an accident triggered a temporary stand-down. The sea service on Friday had suspended operations involving the twin-engine, Boeing Co.-made planes after an accident at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state. A Growler experienced an unspecified "on-deck emergency" around 11 a.m. Friday, injuring both the pilot and electronic warfare officer, who were medically evacuated in …
US military prepares for the next frontier: Space war
Washington : Since man first explored space, it has been a largely peaceful environment. But now US adversaries are deploying weapons beyond Earth's atmosphere, leading the US military to prepare for the frightening prospect of war in space. "As humans go out there, there has always been conflict. Conflict in the Wild West as we move in the West ... conflict twice in Europe for its horrible world wars," Gen. John Hyten, head of US Strategic Command"So, every time humans actually physically move into that, there'…
The U.S. Navy is testing an underwater drone that resembles a shark
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy has been testing a GhostSwimmer unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story (JEBLC-FS). The tests were finished on Dec. 11, and more tests are planned for the future. They refer to it as a "science-fiction-turned-reality" project in a statement. It's part of Silent NEMO, a project aimed at examining the possible uses of underwater drones. In recent weeks, the device has been gathering data on tides, wakes, currents and weat…
Futuristic Laser Weapon Ready for Action, US Navy Says
The next generation of futuristic weapons has arrived. The US Navy announced that its high-tech laser weapon is ready to disable and destroy enemy drones and small boats, should the need arise. The 30-kilowatt laser weapon system (LaWS) is housed aboard the USS Ponce, a naval vessel stationed in the Arabian Gulf— a body of water located south of Iraq that separates the Saudi Arabian peninsula from Iran. While sailors have not yet used the new laser to destroy any real enemy targets, the Navy is prepared to do just that, if necessa…
Airbus commissions third naval radar for US Navy's LCS programme
Airbus Defense and Space has deployed and commissioned the third TRS-3D naval radar for the US Navy 's littoral combat ship (LCS) programme. The latest integration of the new radar on the Freedom-class variant of the new Milwaukee LCS (LCS 5) forms part of a deal with Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor. Airbus Defense and Space Communications, Intelligence, Security and Electronics division sales and marketing director Aaron Johnson said: "The TRS-3D is the choice for ships with multimode radar requirements, as evidence…
U.S. Navy says looking at possible further orders of Boeing jets
The U.S. Navy is looking at possible additional orders of Boeing Co's EA-18G electronic attack planes, or Growlers, as it shapes its fiscal 2016 budget request, the Navy's top uniformed officer said Saturday. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert told Reuters the Navy was reviewing its inventory of tactical aircraft, including Growlers and strike fighters, to ensure its electronic attack needs were met. Congress, responding to an "unfunded priority" list submitted by the Navy earlier this year, is pois…
India : Budding Blue-Water Navy Capabilities
India’s recent acquisition of the Russian-made aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya demonstrates its desire to increase its naval strength. Building a blue-water navy suggests that India is seeking to project both force and influence in the Asia–Pacific and hedge against China’s growing sphere of influence and continued naval buildup. India’s newest carrier joins the INS Viraat to form the foundation of India’s carrier fleet. The Vikramaditya is expected to be operational through 2018. At this point, the nation’s second aircraft carrier,…
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