Archive for the ‘Sea’ 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)
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
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.
Navy Times reports that the GC(X) program is deleted in the budget the Navy submitted yesterday and postpones the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle.
With its shipbuilding dollars the Navy would buy two Virginia-class submarines; two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers; two littoral combat ships; one America-class big-deck amphibious ship; the first in a new class of Mobile Landing Platform auxiliaries; and one Joint High Speed Vessel. The Navy would also extend the lives of four air-cushioned landing craft; buy one oceanographic ship; and pay for one new variety of “ship-to-shore connector,” a potential replacement for the air-cushioned landing craft.
As for aircraft, in fiscal 2011 the Navy would buy 13 F-35B Lightning II fighters for the Marine Corps; seven F-35C fighters, which fly off Navy carriers; 22 F/A-18E and F Super Hornets; 12 EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets; four E-2D Hawkeye advanced airborne warning planes; and seven P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol planes.
Also in the budget are plans to stand up four additional squadrons of EA-18G Growlers for land-based operations. But the “fighter gap” remains unaddressed.
Stormbringer has a good write-up of The Pueblo Incident.
I don’t think I knew that the Pueblo was a museum ship in the DPRK.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) maneuvers off the coast of Haiti Jan. 23, 2010. Carl Vinson and Carrier Wing (CVW) 17 are supporting Operation Unified Response after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake caused severe damage in Haiti Jan. 12, 2010. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker, U.S. Navy/Released)
Reminds me of America and its stupid aircraft carriers.
Time was that Murdoc was excited about this class of Littoral Combat Ship. The delays, cost overruns, and general jackassery surrounding the entire program, coupled with the fact that the Navy just plain doesn’t have enough ships, has soured my opinion quite a bit.
Still, I look forward to seeing it in action.
Air Force holds off on retiring famed reconnaissance plane
The U-2’s replacement would be a version of the existing RQ-4B Global Hawk fitted to take pictures and pick up enemy communications and other electronic signals.
The Global Hawk “has the potential to do all that but … it still isn’t quite up to the skill set yet because it’s a new airplane,” said Air Force Maj. Colby Kuhns, of the Air Force’s High Altitude Transition Team.
So the 32 Dragon Ladies keep on keeping on, providing both traditional strategic and, more recently, tactical surveillance.
U-2 over northern California.
Video of 1964 U-2 tests aboard USS Ranger (CV 61) below:
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Members from the Supply will all celebrate Christmas day, onboard HMAS Parramatta while on deployment in the Persian Gulf.
The HMAS Parramatta (FFH 154) is a 3,600-ton Anzac-class frigate. Main armament is a 5″/45 gun, Mk41 VLS, two quad Harpoon launchers, and two triple torpedo tubes. Some of the Anzacs have CIWS and some don’t. Parramatta doesn’t.
