Drones Are The Only Game In Town For Combating Al Qaeda

According to CIA Director Leon Panetta drones are,

the only game in town in terms of confronting or trying to disrupt the al Qaeda leadership,” Panetta told the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles.

Pakistan has complained repeatedly about what it says are airstrikes on its territory by U.S.-operated drones. The U.S. military in neighboring Afghanistan does not comment on the attacks, which typically target Islamic militants in the border region, but the United States is the only country operating in the region known to have the capability to launch missiles from remote-controlled aircraft.

yojoe (in UAV mode) out

Update On New Air Force One: To Be Made In America

It was previously reported that the new Air Force One may not be built in the United States. Now, according to Aviation Week, Airbus is not planning to compete for the contract.

That leaves only Boeing as the only competitor for the president’s new aircraft.

yojoe (in Made in America mode) out

More on the president’s aircraft:

New Air Force One May Be Made In Europe Not America

Upgrades To President’s Helicopter To Cost Additional One Billion Dollars

Army Not Happy With The Size And Weight Of MRAP

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle have been life-savers on the battlefield.  But, they are just to big and bulky.

The 10-ton vehicle must be transportable on a C-130 cargo plane. It should have a minimum range of 300 miles, and a turning diameter of 49 feet, And the crew has to be able to get out quickly, in case of a rollover. (“Of the 38 MRAP accidents between Nov. 7 and June 8, only four did not involve a roll-over,” Army Times noted.)

Maybe the Army will be interested in the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, that was placed on hold last year.

yojoe out

Navy Abandons Zumwalt-Class Destroyer

The Zumwalt-Class Destroyer (DDG 1000) was to be a class of next-generation, multi-mission surface combatants tailored for land attack and littoral dominance, with capabilities designed to defeat current and projected threats as well as improve battle force defense.

The destroyer was designed to be,

adaptable, affordable, survivable, flexible and responsive.

Evidently, the goal of affordability was not attained.

Growing costs and vulnerability to anti-ship missiles sank the Navy’s once-heralded “stealth destroyer,” a highly advanced warship designed to slip close to the shore unnoticed and pummel targets with big guns boasting pinpoint accuracy.

Faced with cost estimates upward of $5 billion per ship, the Navy had no choice but to let its prized Zumwalt destroyer program end after the first two ships are built, analysts said Wednesday.

The official rationale provided by the Navy for discontinuing the DDG 1000 is the cost.

The scuttlebutt, however, suggests that sailors were troubled by a Z-gram that indicated that they may be forced to wear sideburns if assigned to one of the destroyers.  In all likelihood this is rumor is completely unfounded.

yojoe (in no-sideburns mode) out

Joint Strike Fighter: Air Force Wants Boeing To Stop Talking Smack

Ok, that is not a direct quote.  Major General Charles R. Davis, USAF, the Program Executive Officer for the F-35 Lightning II Program Office, is far to articulate, educated, and gentlemanly to utter such a comment.  But, reality is not that far off.

According to Flightglobal, LtGen Davis is not pleased with, what he characterizes as “lies and half-truths,” being spread by Boeing about the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).

“That’s just pissing us off,” Davis says. “If Boeing has to say something negative about JSF to sell their aircraft, that tells me there is something wrong with their aircraft.”

Davis specifically faults Boeing executives for predicting further cost overruns and delays for the F-35 programme. By comparison, Davis says, he has heard BAE Systems make no such predictions in their efforts to sell the Eurofighter Typhoon.

However, it was pointed out to Davis that Boeing had delivered hundreds of F/A-18E/Fs on time and on budget, while the JSF programme has reported a 50% cost increase and an at least 18-month delay during the first seven years of development.

Davis acknowledges the F-35’s record, but refuses to back down in his criticism of Boeing.

Video: Firefight Between Coalition Forces And Anti-Afghan Forces

Video of firefight captured by UAV.

Marine Corps Joint Strike Fighter F-35B Makes First Flight

The Marine Corps version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) – aka the Lightning II – the F-35B , is the version of the JSF intended for vertical takeoff and landings.  According to Aviation Week,

Lockheed Martin has flown the first short-take-off-and- vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B, in conventional-take-off (CTOL) mode, clearing the way for funding to be released for production of the first six U.S. Marine Corps aircraft.

The 44-minute flight of aircraft BF-1, the first production-representive F-35, from Lockheed’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant also marked the start of a five-year, 5,000-plus test program involving three variants of the Joint Strike Fighter: the CTOL F-35A, STOVL F-35B and aircraft carrier-capable F-35C.

yojoe (in STOVL mode) out

Video: Test Of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter

This video is of the Marine Corps’s version of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B.

yojoe out

Air Force Wants New Drone

From the best technology-military blog Danger Room, comes the story of the Air Force’s desire to replace the Reaper with a new “hunter-killer” drone. MQ-9 Reaper first deployed to Iraq in the fall of 2007. It looks like the Air Force wants some of the $500 million budgeted for drone aircraft.

yojoe (in drone mode) out

US Navy: Carrier Air Wing To Be Unmanned By 2025

The Carrier Air Wing (CVW) in the U.S. Navy currently consists of:

• • • 3 squadrons of F/A-18 Hornets
      1 Marine Corps squadron of F/A-18 Hornets
      1 squadron of EA-6B Prowlers
      1 squadron of S-3B Vikings
      1 squadron of E-2C Hawkeyes
      1 detachment of C-2 Greyhounds
      1 squadron of SH-60F and HH-60H Seahawks

By the year 2025 the CVW will include a squadron of UAV, dubbed the Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS). The UCAS will replace the F/A-18s. This will extend the range and loitering ability of the CVW.

The U.S. Navy’s program to determine the airframe to replace the F/A-18 is the F/A-XX program. This program underscores both the Navy and Marine Corps’s intensified interest in the future of unmanned air systems.

Unmanned Aircraft: $500 Million In FY2008 Global War On Terror Supplemental Budget

Aviation Week is reporting that there is more than $500 million requested, in the FY2008 Global War on Terror supplemental budget request, for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Readers of Dreadnaught are aware of the increasing role of unmanned aircraft.

DoD Plan For Unmanned Vehicles Over The Next 25 Years

MQ-9 Reaper to Deploy to Iraq

Army Awards New Contract for Remote Weapon System to Kongsberg

Navy’s Latest Ship Constructed From Steel Salvaged From The World Trade Center

The latest San Antonio Class LPD is USS NEW YORK. The mission of the LPD is to transport Marines and their equipment, including AAAVs, LCAC, and MV-22 Osprey. The all-important-and-inspiring difference with the NEW YORK, is that the bow stern is constructed of 8 tons of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the Wold Trade Center.

This is the most fitting tribute to the men and women who lost their lives during 9/11. Send the WTC to the tip of the spear.

yojoe (in blue mode) out

Upgrades To President’s Helicopter To Cost Additional One Billion Dollars

According to Aviation Week, the Navy, specifically the Marine Corps, will stick with the US 101, aka the VH-71, helicopter for the helicopter version of Air Force One, known as Marine One. The upgrades will cost an additional $1 billion, on top of the original $6.1 billion price tag. The Navy had also considered the Sikorsky H-3s as an alternative airframe.
The original decision by the Navy to select the VH-71 caused some controversy because the aircraft is manufactured by a foreign company. The VH-71 is manufactured by AgustaWestland, a joint partnership between British and Italian companies.

yojoe (buy USA, or not) out

US Military Maritime Strategy For The 21st Century: Congress Not Impressed

In October 2007 the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard released their combined proposal for maritime strategy: A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower. As would be expected, given the group preparing the report, the strategic importance of the world’s oceans was stressed. The report lists six key tasks, or strategic imperatives:

1. Limit regional conflict with forward deployed, decisive maritime power.
2. Deter major power war.
3. Win our Nation’s wars.
4. Contribute to homeland defense in depth.
5. Foster and sustain cooperative relationships with more international partners.
6. Prevent or contain local disruptions before they impact the global system.

Marine Corps: Demonstration of F-35B Joint Strike Fighter

On 18DEC07, Lockheed Martin gave a demonstration of the F-35B, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), to the U.S. Marine Corps. The F-35B uses short-takeoff/vertical-landing (STOVL) to allow it to launch from either a short runway or to launch vertically. The F-35B will replace the AV-8B Harrier. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to make its first delivery of F-35Bs to the Marine Corps in 2012. That is if Lockheed does not experience further redesigns, as it was forced to do three years ago.

The F-35B is one of the three variants of the JSF:

Japan May Soon Develop Nuclear Weapon

Professor Gary Sick, of the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, and analyst of Middle East affairs, has reported about about the nuclear capabilities of the Japanese. According to Professor Sick, Japan is so close to a weapon that they “could do it, sort of, over a long weekend.”

Marine Corps Video Of MV-22 Osprey In Iraq

The Marine Corps has released video of the MV-22 Osprey during its first deployment to Iraq.

yojoe out

Background Paper: Transfer of Nuclear Missiles From Minot to Barksdale

In August 2007 it was revealed that there was an unauthorized transfer of armed nuclear missiles, aboard a B-52 Stratofortress, from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

The procedural errors that led to the mishap have been identified:

Israeli Nuclear Reactor Visible on Google Earth

Will the problems created by Google Earth ever stop? An Israeli nuclear reactor has been spotted on Google Earth.

As reported on Dreadnaught there is a continuing problem with submarines being visible on both Google Earth and Microsoft’s Live Search. Last month, the propeller of an U.S. Ohio-Class ballistic-missile submarine was viable on Live Search. Then details of a Russian submarine were posted a city’s website. and Chines Jin-Class submarines are visible.

What national secret will be next?

yojoe out

Ping zerohostel

Google Earth: Two New Chinese Nuclear-Powered Submarines

It appears there is a continuing problem with submarines being visible on both Google Earth and Microsoft’s Live Search. Last month, the propeller of an U.S. Ohio-Class ballistic-missile submarine was viable on Live Search. Then details of a Russian submarine were posted a city’s website. Now, two Chinese

Joint Light Tactical Vehicle: Set to Replace Humvee Has Been Placed on Hold

 

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is the purposed replacement for the HMMWV. That was until the requests for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles became the top priority for the military. According to InsideDefense, the JLTV has been put on hold because,

The misgivings stem from questions about technical maturity, shifting requirements and adequate funding.