First a picture:

PANAMA CITY, Panama (Dec. 22, 2008) Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Joe Davies, top left, observes Panamanian National Air and Maritime Service personnel during a Southern Partnership Station mass casualty training exercise. Southern Partnership Station is a training mission to Central America, South America and the Caribbean Basin. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel Ball/Released)

Notice the ship in the background. It’s the HSV-2 Swift, mentioned a number of times previously on MO. The Swift is leased by the US Navy and is currently attached to the Military Sealift Command. For a number of images showing the Swift’s rear RORO ramp, check out this post.

In November, shipbuilder Austal won a contract to built at least 10 joint high speed vessels, five for the Navy, five for the Army, and possibly more to follow.

Austal’s design is based on that of the Westpac Express (HSV-4676), not the Swift (which was built by Incat.)

Murdoc likes this move.

P-8A Poseidon (Boeing Photo)

Strategy Page: P-8 Replacing Tu-142

India is buying eight U.S. P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft, for about $220 million each. This deal has been stalled for months, but the growing expense of maintaining their Russian Tu-142M aircraft, and the need for a more capable recon aircraft, has made the P-8 buy certain. The first P-8I will arrive in 2014.

This past Friday’s Linkzookery noted that the Navy’s 2010 budget proposal cut four of the six initial production P-8s. The sale to India might help soothe that blow a bit.

I still think that a big JDAM platform might be a worthwhile part of the USAF’s bomber force. Could a P-8-based plane fill that role?

Via a reader: AAI awarded sole-source contract by US Army

No time now, but check this out:

AAI Corporation, an aerospace and defence systems company and a business unit of Textron Inc (NYSE: TXT), announced on 11 December that it has been awarded a three-year, sole-source contract from the US Army’s Joint Service Small Arms Program Office, based at the Armament Research, Development & Engineering Centre, New Jersey, US.

Under the contract AAI will continue to develop Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT). AAI will continue, under a prior contract, to develop the 5.56-millimeter light machine gun and two lightweight ammunition technologies, including a cased telescoped (plastic-cased) design and a caseless design.

AAI also will begin development of a new cased telescoped carbine rifle variant.

More.

The CSAR-X initial operational capability has been pushed back to 2013.

An HH-60G Pave Hawk aircraft picks up downed Airmen during a training scenario at the Grand Bay training and gunnery range at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., during a combat search and rescue demonstration Dec. 5, 2007. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Brittany Barker) (Released) Photographer's Name: A1C BRITTANY BARKER Location: Moody Air Force Base Date Shot: 12/5/2007

A new CSAR-X contract, to replace the old contract which evaporated in an appeals by Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin, was supposed be be awarded by the end of this year. It won’t be.

I happened upon this image while searching for a picture of USS Ward yesterday:

At least 65 destroyers, many of them Wickes-class and Clemson-class ships, not needed. 1200-1300 tons each, with four 4″ guns, one 3″ gun, and a dozen torpedo tubes. 35 knots maximum speed. Not bad for pre-1920 tin cans.

They built 267 ships between those two classes in the years 1917 through 1920.

Today’s US Navy consists of around 280 ships. The big building plan is to get it all the way up to 313 over the next ten years.

Now, I’m not saying that we would really want 267 small, cheap, fast, multirole surface combatants. Why would we want that when we can have a couple dozen small, expensive, fast, multirole surface combatants?

Full caption of the image below:

(more…)

Cruiser Modernization: It’s Key to 313-Ship U.S. Fleet

In Defense News, Rear Admiral Vic Guillory writes:

The U.S. Navy has 22 Ticonderoga-class Aegis guided missile cruisers (CGs). Commissioned in 1986, Bunker Hill is the oldest and has the distinction of being the first to receive the full hull, mechanical and electrical, and combat systems “cruiser modernization” overhaul. This capability-enhancing, life-extending modernization program provides the most up-to-date warship at a fraction of the cost of new construction.

Upgrades include new computers, Block 1B Phalanx CIWS, Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles, and new 5 inch/62 cal guns to replace the original 5 inch/54 cal guns.

The gun upgrade would have allowed the use of ERGM rounds, but that program was killed earlier this year.

Read the whole article for more details on the upgrades.