October 24, 2015: Strategy Page

On September 23rd a scrap yard worker in the United States (Arizona) was killed while trying to cut up an American Mk82 500 pound (227 kg) unguided bomb. Not all of the explosives in the unguided bomb went off but enough did to kill the worker. Normally these bombs carry 127.2 kg (280 pounds) of high explosives. The U.S. Department of Defense is investigating where the bomb came from because such weapons are not sold as surplus but are demilitarized (explosives removed) in Department of Defense facilities. Currently the most likely source of the bomb is the only missing Mk-82s in the area. These are four Mk-82s that still missing after the A-10 carrying them crashed in a remote area of nearby Colorado. That was over 700 kilometers away but it was also in 1997 so there was plenty of time for the banged up bomb to make its way to Arizona. Not only that but the bomb apparently was missing much of its explosives, which might be the result of someone else extracting them or scattered when the unarmed (to explode) bomb hit the ground and broke up.

Contemporary military munitions do show up frequently enough in the United States for most major police forces to have explosives experts trained to recognize and deal with them. In the rest of the world it is a little different. World War II era munitions continue to show up throughout Europe. Although most of the millions of land mines were removed from Europe within a few years of the war ending in 1945, there are still a huge number of unexploded of grenades, shells, rockets and bombs buried all over the place. At least the mine fields were easy to find, although dangerous to clear. But the remaining munitions were left behind, in unrecorded locations, for some pretty simple reasons. First of all, many bombs, artillery and mortar shells (over ten percent, for some manufacturers) do not explode when they are supposed to, but just buried themselves into the ground. These shells are still full of explosives, and often have a fuze that, while defective, is often still capable of going off if disturbed. Other munitions were left in bunkers, or elsewhere on the battlefield, and got buried and lost. Most of these lost munitions eventually get found by farmers, or anyone digging up the ground for construction. London and Berlin, two of the most heavily bombed cities during World War II, still suffer from construction crews unearthing unexploded bombs.

 The problem goes back farther than World War II. Unexploded munitions from the World War I (which ended in 1918), and the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, are still showing up, and some of them are still deadly. Currently, over a thousand World War II munitions are discovered each year in Europe and smaller amounts in East Asia; mainly Japan, China and Korea with lots of 1960s vintage stuff still surfacing in Vietnam.

Oct 29, 2015 ASDNews Source : US Air Force

Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, has been chosen as the preferred alternative for the first Reserve-led KC-46A Pegasus main operating base, Air Force officials announced Oct. 29. The KC-46As are expected to begin arriving in 2019.

Tinker AFB, Oklahoma; Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts; and Grissom ARB, Indiana, were named as the reasonable alternatives.

"It is absolutely critical that we replace our aging tanker fleet with the KC-46A Pegasus aerial tanker," said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. "I am pleased to announce Seymour Johnson AFB as the first Reserve-led location because it is a testament to the Air Force's commitment to the total force.

“We must use all three components -- active, Guard and Reserve -- operating cohesively and seamlessly as one team so we can realize the full potential of airpower."

James also explained the 179 planned KC-46A aircraft are just the first phase of a three-phase effort to replace the aging tanker fleet. The first phase of tanker recapitalization will complete deliveries in fiscal year 2028.

During detailed, on-the-ground site surveys of each candidate base, the major commands evaluated the bases against operational and training requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, housing, infrastructure, and manpower.

The site survey teams also developed cost estimates to bed down the KC-46A at each candidate base. The results of the surveys were briefed to James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, who selected the preferred and reasonable alternatives for this mission.

"Seymour Johnson (AFB) was selected based on operational analysis, results of site surveys, cost, and military judgment factors," said Jennifer Miller, the Air Force deputy assistant secretary for installations. “The primary drivers for selecting this location as the preferred alternative were its lower costs and its highly successful existing active-duty association, which will lead to the lowest active-duty manpower required to stand up the KC-46A Reserve unit.”

Selection of this total force unit will minimize costs and the challenge of fielding a new weapons system while simultaneously establishing a new active association.

"Bringing the KC-46A online is a huge first step in recapitalizing a tanker fleet that has been the world leader in air refueling for more than five decades," Welsh said. "The incredible Airmen who will fly this great machine, and the joint and coalition partners they support in contingency and humanitarian operations around the world, deserve the improved aircraft availability rates, reliability and capability it will bring to the fight. Rapid global mobility has always been a core mission of our Air Force; the KC-46A will help us take it to the next level!"

The Air Force will also ensure Reserve component involvement from day one by establishing active/Reserve associations at all U.S. main operating base locations.

“The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve are vital to accomplishing our air refueling mission,” James explained. “Therefore, the ability to recruit for and maintain a strong Reserve component association was a major consideration in this basing action.”

“We will now begin the Environmental Impact Analysis Process (EIAP),” Miller said. “We look forward to the inputs provided from the communities as we proceed through the environmental impact analysis.

“Once the requirements of the environmental impact analysis process are complete, the Air Force will make its final basing decision.”

Reasonable alternatives will continue to be evaluated during the EIAP. Subsequent KC-46 decisions will use similar criteria; therefore, candidate installations will likely compete for future continental U.S. basing decisions.

The KC-46A will provide improved capabilities, including boom and drogue refueling on the same sortie; worldwide navigation and communication; cargo capacity on the entire main deck floor; receiver air refueling; improved force protection and survivability; and multi-point air refueling capability.

‪29.10.2015 Aviation royale canadienne

Depuis son arrivée en 1960, l'aéronef Hercules a été un appareil très polyvalent au sein de l'ARC. Il continue de jouer un rôle important dans les opérations domestiques et outremers et est présentement utilisé à l'exercice JOINTEX 15 au Portugal, qui fait partie de l'exercice Trident Juncture 15 de l'OTAN.

Reportage photos

Pour de plus amples informations au sujet de JOINTEX 15, visitez : http://bit.ly/1M72Ac6

The USS George Washington (CVN-73) aircraft carrier participated in joint naval exercise UNITAS 2015 with Chilean forces. The exercise is the longest running annual naval training program for the U.S. Navy. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Brendan Morgan

Oct. 29, 2015 By Ryan Maass (UPI)

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington hosted several Chilean officers as part of naval exercise UNITAS 2015. Carrier Strike Group Nine and embarked Carrier Air Wing Two also took part in hosting the officers, as they participated in several exercises designed to improve cooperative relations during tactical engagements. UNITAS is the Navy's longest running multinational annual training exercise. Sailors from both the U.S. and Chile said the program is helpful for building working relationships.

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Oct. 28, 2015 By Ryan Maass (UPI)

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced plans to deploy a squadron of underwater drones by 2020. The squadron will include the Large Displacement Unmanned Underwater Vehicle, or LDUUV, a 10-foot-long unmanned submarine. The vehicle is still under development, but it is expected to be fitted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

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October 25, 2015: Strategy Page

The U.S. Air Force is giving away its 41 RC-12W electronic reconnaissance aircraft. These were acquired by the air force starting in 2008 to deal with the shortage of Predator UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now eleven RC-12Ws are going to the army, 26 to SOCOM and four to another (not named) agency. The air force does not usually give fixed wing aircraft to the army, which is one reason most of the RC-12Ws went to SOCOM. But there was still demand for the RC-12W and the air force is trying to cut expenses.

The MC-12s were quite useful and could stay in the air for up to eight hours per sortie. Not quite what the Predator can do (over 20 hours per sortie) but good enough to help meet the demand. The MC-12 has advantages over UAVs. It can carry over a ton of sensors, several times what a Predator can haul. The MC-12 can fly higher (11 kilometers/35,000 feet) and is faster (over 500 kilometers an hour, versus 215 for the Predator). The MC-12s cost about $20 million each, more than twice what a Predator goes for. The MC-12's crew consists of two pilots and two equipment operators. Since 2009 the air force MC-12Ws flew 79,000 combat sorties averaging about five hours each. The sensors and operators enabled ground troops to kill or capture over 8,000 Islamic terrorists along with hundreds of terrorist hideouts, bomb workshops or storage sites. 

The MC-12 was based on one of the most widely used, but largely unknown, military transport aircraft; the King Air twin-turboprop. There are nearly 300 in military service and it’s not surprising that most people think of the King Air as a civilian aircraft because most of the 6,000 built since the 1960s have been for commercial not military use. Yet over the decades more than a thousand King Airs have been bought, often second-hand by the military because the price was right and the King Air could get the job done.

The U.S. military has often used the King Air for ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance) work as the MC-12 or as transports (the C-12 Huron) and electronic warfare (RC-12) aircraft. There are so many King Airs out there that the military often buys used ones because they are so much cheaper and still get the job done.

The RC-12W electronic warfare version is crammed with vidcams, electronic sensors, jammers, and radios. This aircraft (Ceasar, for Communications Electronic Attack with Surveillance And Reconnaissance) can spend hours circling an Afghan battleground, keeping troops on the ground aware of enemy walkie-talkie and cell phone use, including location of these devices and translations of what is being discussed. The enemy is vaguely aware of what this militarized King Air can do but have no better way to communicate. Thus the few Caesar equipped aircraft sent to Afghanistan have proved very useful for the American and British troops that use them.

Military use of the King Air arose in the United States (where manufacturer Beechcraft is located) in the early 1970s, when the U.S. Army adopted the King Air as the RC-12 and then used it for a wide variety of intelligence missions ever since.

The current King Air 350 is a 5.6 ton, twin engine aircraft that evolved from the first King Airs that showed up in the 1960s as a 5.3 ton aircraft that could carry 13 passengers. In the 1960s a much improved 5.6 ton version called, until the 1990s, the Super King Air was introduced. The Super King Air is simply a slightly larger and more capable version of the original King Air.

The military and civilian users both admired the simplicity and sturdiness of the design. The only other civilian aircraft on the top ten list of military transports is the single engine Cessna 208. Beechcraft and Cessna are now combined into the same light aircraft division of Textron and individual models like the King Air and Cessna 208 will continue to be built and sold under the same names.

October 24, 2015 David Axe - War is boring

Military didn't know old Lance rockets were in storage igloos in Alabama

For 30 years starting in 1962, the U.S. Army deployed Lance ballistic missiles in Europe to deter Soviet attack. Twenty feet long and weighing a ton and a half, an atomic-tipped Lance could zoom 75 miles at Mach 3 and explode with a force of up to 100 kilotons of TNT. The Army retired its last Lances in 1992 … and ultimately lost track of 27 of them at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, according to WAAY T.V.

Read more

October 27, 2015 by David Axe - warisboring.com

The first prototype of the CH-53K transport helicopter that Sikorsky is building for the U.S. Marine Corps took off on its debut flight at the company’s facility in Florida on Oct. 27. Sikorsky is building 200 CH-53Ks at a total cost of up to $23 billion to replace the Marines’ depleted force of around 150 CH-53E transports, which do the heavy aerial lifting for the Marines’ combat battalions. The triple-engine, seven-blade CH-53K will be, by far, the West’s most powerful helicopter, able to haul 18 tons of external cargo 110 miles — twice as much as the CH-53E can carry.

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28.10.2015 par Aerobuzz.fr

L’US Air Force a annoncé le 27 octobre 2015 qu’elle avait choisi Northrop Grumman pour construire son futur bombardier stratégique à long rayon d’action (LRS-B ou Long-Range Strike Bomber). Elle n’a pas retenu la proposition du consortium Boeing / Lockheed Martin qui a maintenant 100 jours pour faire appel de cette décision. Le contrat d’un montant estimé à 80 milliards de dollar porte sur la fourniture d’une centaine d’appareils dont le prix final d’acquisition a été fixé à 564 millions de dollars pièces. Sur les 80 Md$, dans un premier temps, 21,4 sont destinés au développement, à l’outil de production et à une première série de 21 avions.

Suite de l'article

27 oct. 2015 by Lockheed Martin

26.10.2015 45e Nord.ca (AFP)
 

Le directeur de la CIA John Brennan s’est dit mardi « scandalisé » et « préoccupé » par le piratage des ses emails personnels et a nié avoir violé ses obligations de sécurité.

La publication de certains emails personnels a pu laisser penser « que j’avais fait quelque chose de mal ou d’inapproprié » en terme de sécurité mais « ce n’était certainement pas le cas », a-t-il déclaré lors d’une conférence sur le renseignement à Washington.

L’organisation WikiLeaks a publié la semaine dernière plusieurs documents provenant du compte email personnel de John Brennan datés d’entre 2007 et 2009, avant sa prise de fonction au sommet de l’agence américaine du renseignement.

Mardi, le directeur de la CIA n’a donné aucun détails sur la manière dont des pirates avaient eu accès à ses emails personnels.

Il s’est borné à expliquer que bien qu’étant « un responsable gouvernemental », il avait « aussi une famille, des amis, des factures à payer, des choses à faire dans la vie quotidienne ».

Et « la manière de communiquer aujourd’hui se fait par Internet », a-t-il souligné.

Il a jugé disproportionné le traitement médiatique de l’affaire.

« Parfois il y a cette soif de rendre les choses plus sexy qu’elles ne le sont et de les faire gonfler hors de proportion », a-t-il dit.

« C’est faire la publicité d’une activité criminelle et disséminer des informations qui je pense sont inappropriées », a-t-il dit.

WikiLeaks avait notamment mis en ligne un court mémo sur l’Iran, accompagné de recommandations, adressé à l’époque au président-élu devant prendre ses fonctions en janvier 2009.

On trouve également sur son site deux documents datés de 2008 parlant de la torture, notamment une copie de loi examinée au Sénat et listant les pratiques interdites, comme la simulation de noyade (waterboarding) ou les fausses exécutions.

WikiLeaks a mis en outre en ligne une copie d’un document d’une cinquantaine de pages censé avoir été rempli par John Brennan en 2008, contenant de nombreuses informations personnelles, lors du processus de vérification de ses antécédents pour être autorisé à accéder aux informations sensibles.

John Brennan est directeur de la CIA depuis 2013.

La publication de ses e-mails était survenue quelques jours après qu’un pirate informatique se présentant comme un adolescent américain avait affirmé au tabloïd New York Post être entré dans la boîte email du directeur de la CIA et s’être emparé d’informations personnelles.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2015 – Boeing.com

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] today released the following statement on the U.S. Air Force’s decision to award Northrop Grumman the Long Range Strike-Bomber contract:

The Boeing and Lockheed Martin team is disappointed by today’s announcement. We will have further discussions with our customer before determining our next steps. We are interested in knowing how the competition was scored in terms of price and risk, as we believe that the combination of Boeing and Lockheed Martin offers unparalleled experience, capability and resources for this critically important recapitalization program.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial airplanes and defense, space and security systems. In addition, Boeing supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in more than 150 countries. The company’s products and tailored services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and performance-based logistics and training. Boeing employs more than 165,000 people across the United States and in more than 65 countries. Company revenues for 2014 were more than $90 billion. Follow us on Twitter: @Boeing.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 23, 2015 /PRNewswire

The U.S. Navy awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $159.9 million contract to manufacture, inspect and test Phalanx Close-in Weapon Systems (CIWS).

Phalanx 1B encompasses the range of actions required to assure success and shape the battlespace for naval, joint, and combined forces. The contract, which provides for a $10 million option in FY15 and another valued at $291 million in FY16, includes support equipment for the Phalanx and SeaRAM Weapon Systems, Block 1B radar upgrades and kits for reliability, maintainability, and availability. The contract also covers overhaul of four Land-based Phalanx Weapon Systems. "Phalanx provides the U.S. Navy's ships with a 'last-chance' defense against anti-ship missiles and littoral warfare threats while SeaRAM extends that inner-layer battlespace," said Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon's Naval and Area Mission Defense product line. "Close-in systems give warfighters the ability to automatically carry out functions usually performed by separate systems on other ships." Work under the contract, which was signed in the third quarter of 2015, is expected to be completed by August 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. This contract was announced by the Department of Defense on September, 30, 2015.

Close-in Defense Solutions

Phalanx is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and 20 mm gun system that automatically acquires, tracks and destroys enemy threats that have penetrated all other ship defense systems. More than 890 systems have been built and deployed in navies around the world.

Intended to enlarge Phalanx's keep-out range against evolving anti-ship missiles, rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft and other threats, SeaRAM Anti-ship Missile Defense Systems use advanced Phalanx Block 1B sensors and replaces the gun with an 11-round Rolling Airframe Missile guide. SeaRAM is aboard the Independence-class of the U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ships.

About Raytheon

Raytheon Company, with 2014 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 93 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as cybersecurity and a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.