Archive for the ‘Military & Defense’ Category
Next-gen Burkes may push limit of DDG frame
I think next-gen Burkes are probably a much better investment than DD(X), but it’s not a perfect solution, either.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) approaches Naval Station Mayport, Fla., March 10, 2010, for its maiden port visit. The ship is pulling in to pickup supplies and personnel prior to conducting carrier qualifications off the coast of Florida. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gary Granger Jr./Released)
U.S. Army Requests Permission To Modify Strykers
Defense News:
The U.S. Army has asked the Pentagon to approve a plan to increase Stryker vehicles’ survivability by adding a double V-shaped hull, Lt. Gen. Robert Lennox, deputy chief of staff for Army programs, told members of the House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee March 10…
For producing a brigade combat team’s worth of Stryker vehicles with the double V hull, including support vehicles, the Army estimates it will cost $800 million, according to the memo. The Army anticipates purchasing approximately 450 vehicles to support Afghanistan theater needs. This represents a change to vehicles already on order, the memo said.
Initial testing last fall showed that a double-hull Stryker had the equivalent survivability of an MRAP 2. Existing Strykers could not be modified.
Officials are counting on the SLEP to buy at least 10 more years, and maybe longer, beyond the landing crafts’ initial 20-year service life. The first LCACs entered the fleet in 1987, and the 91st and final craft was delivered in 2001. The Navy, which began the SLEP in 2002, plans to extend 73 LCACs, or most of the existing fleet.
Here are some LCACs in action:
Three landing craft air cushion vehicles assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 approach the shore after launching from the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan during Bright Star 2009. The biennial, multinational exercise is conducted by U.S. Central Command and involves U.S., Egyptian and other coalition forces. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristopher Wilson
Happy Birthday Aussies:
Chief of Army Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie addresses Army Personnel gathered around the Pool of Reflection at the Australian War Memorial for Army’s 109th Birthday. The Army Banner is in the foreground and was paraded by members of Australia's Federation Guard.
THE Taliban have found a way to beat American airpower. And they have managed this remarkable feat with American help.
The consequences of this development are front and center in the current offensive in Marja, Afghanistan, where air support to American and Afghan forces has been all but grounded by concerns about civilian casualties.
American and NATO military leaders — worried by Taliban propaganda claiming that air strikes have killed an inordinate number of civilians, and persuaded by “hearts and minds” enthusiasts that the key to winning the war is the Afghan population’s goodwill — have largely relinquished the strategic advantage of American air dominance.
The column doesn’t really include anything new on the subject of increasingly restrictive rules of engagement, but I’m surprised to see it (especially with those lead paragraphs) in the NYT.
While we obviously cannot and should not bomb away without regard for civilian casualties, I also worry that we’re putting our troops and the mission at risk by over-correcting.
U.S. Owns Up to Secret Hunt for Sunken Soviet Sub
Washington is owning up to Project Azorian, a brazen mission from the days of high-stakes — and high-seas — Cold War rivalry.
After more than 30 years of refusing to confirm the barest facts of what the world already knew, the CIA has released an internal account of Project Azorian, though with juicy details taken out. The account surfaced Friday at the hands of private researchers from the National Security Archive who used the Freedom of Information Act to achieve the declassification.
Though no one on the planet is surprised to hear this, Murdoc hopes they got ten times the stuff off the Rooskie boat as people suspect.
A while back I read Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine’s Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S., a story of the K-129 incident claiming that it could have been a quasi-rogue attempt to start a war that ended with the destruction of the sub.
Though the events in the book certainly seem plausible, it’s one of those things that a poor regular citizen like Murdoc will never be able to know the truth about.
The Glomar Explorer is currently in use as a drilling platform somewhere near Indonesia. At least, that’s what they’re telling us she’s up to.
So why is Murdoc seeing so many search engine hits on this photo of a USMC Assault Breacher Vehicle firing a line charge?
A commenter tips Murdoc off to this story: Marines push ‘The Breacher’ against Taliban lines
In today’s Shooting Wire (scroll down to Jim Shepard’s feature):
It was a simple question 84-year old Ted Gundy put to the guys at Shooting USA’s Impossible Shots: “How is it possible for snipers today to hit targets from such long ranges?”
From most of us, it would have been a gee-whiz kind of question, the kind that gets a polite “thanks for watching, snipers use….” kind of form letter response.
But Ted Gundy wasn’t just another TV fan. Gunday was asking about today, based on his own experiences from yesterday.
Gundy was a sniper in WW2 and joined the Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning for a run-through of today’s sniper world. And the old vet showed them young whippersnappers that he could still put rounds on target. With an ‘03 A4.
The story will run on ‘Impossible Shots’ on the Outdoor Channel on February 20th. Until then, go read.
