Archive for June, 2005

“Hurry up, Private! The stem is way back there. You need to check the tire pressure every morning. Yeah, back there. The Lieutenant thinks he drove over a bottle last night.”

Image from the 06/28/2005 Frontline Photos, which has a different caption.

New York to unveil redesigned Freedom Tower

I’m not completely opposed to the 1,776 foot tall Freedom Tower design, but I really think I’ve decided that I like the idea to rebuild the original towers using modern engineering.

In fact, for quite a while after 9/11 that was what I though we should do, especially as joke images like this started appearing. As time went on I sort of gave up on that idea, but recently it’s gained some ground and I think it would be ideal.

The latest redesign is just a tweak to the original 1,776 foot tall design. The 1,776 foot tall tower was scheduled to open in 2009 but that might be slipping. If it does get built, the 1,776 foot tall Freedom Tower would be the tallest building in the world.

This morning’s MSNBC.com front page image:

But why not ever:

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The Navy’s FCS

My last post at Defense Tech. For more opinion on the battleship issue (something MO readers seem to take to heart), check out this string of op-eds in the Washington Times (in order): Battleships fit for duty, Building a new Navy, Distortions about ships, and Battling for battleships.
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In one year, I think that the Iraqi government has come farther than I expected. The elections went far more smoothly than I expected. We’ve seen more determination and willingness to compromise than I expected. We’ve seen more support for the new government among the Iraqi people than I expected. We’ve seen more resilience among Iraqi police and military forces than I expected. We’ve seen more outcries for democracy, inspired at least in part by Iraq, in other places than I expected.

Unfortunately, we’re also seeing more terrorist activity in Iraq than I expected.

It’s a long road. But it’s the right road.

Well, it appears that the stealth speedboat mentioned last Friday isn’t some sort of stealth snorkel for a massive ballistic missile sub like I didn’t think earlier.

It is, in fact, the SEALION (SEAL Insertion, Observation, Neutralization). Special Forces always get all the cool stuff.

As SEALION is a technology demonstrator, it is not necessarily headed for a particular acquisition program or even a particular sponsor, although we work very closely with special operations command and some applicability in the deployable vehicle area for surface warfare. And both of those are sponsors of SFAC.

The technologies under review would have applications to a number of programs within Naval Surface Warfare and USSOCOM. Bosworth explained, “There are several things we want to examine in this project. One is seakeeping. In other words, the ability of a fast planning craft to be in rough seas and not harm the occupants. Second, there is a degree of wave piercing that occurs due to the low, sharp bow; this also helps with seakeeping. Third, we were also examining enclosing the personnel aboard. Some of the current craft have open operating stations and there are potential benefits to the warfighters in being on the boat for a long time and being enclosed–they should be better prepared to perform their mission. We are also examining overall size–in particular we kept the craft sized so that it could be loaded onto a C-17. We are going to look at what capabilities we would gain by relieving the C-17 size restriction and making the craft a bit larger. And finally, we are looking at modularity.”

If you check out the article, you will see that the boat pictured is almost certainly this boat. That article is from May 2004, and another article from last October adds this:

The SEALION I, delivered in January 2003, is based in the Norfolk, Va., area, where it has been tested by Naval Special Warfare Group Four in the Hampton Roads waterways and the coastal Atlantic area. The 71-foot-long, aluminum-hull, high-speed watercraft is designed to demonstrate new technology in advanced hull forms, human systems engineering and interface, and modular mission packages.

“The design incorporates innovative construction techniques for vessels that will operate in the littoral,” Warring said. The boat is capable of operations in harbors and rivers as well.

SEALION II is scheduled for delivery to the Navy by December 2005. The second SEALION, as was the first, is being fabricated by Oregon Iron Works Inc. (OIW), under a $6 million contract from the Carderock Division in Bethesda, Md. No additional SEALION boats are planned.

So, while this one could be the second boat either before final delivery or delivered early, it’s more than likely the first boat.

The article goes on to mention that while the SEALION isn’t intended to replace the current Mk V Special Operations Craft, lessons learned from the SEALION program could be incorporated into the Mk V’s successor.

I also noted this at Defense Tech.

Heading downrange

Wow:

On Thursday, I received orders from the Army mobilizing me for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These orders followed an earlier set, cut on Tuesday, which transferred me from the Army’s individual ready reserve into the 101st Airborne Division. It’s an honor and privilege to deploy with such a storied unit — a band of warriors who have nearly all deployed at least once since 9/11. I’m scheduled to report for active duty in a little under 3 weeks to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. After some period of pre-deployment training and preparation, I will deploy with my unit to Iraq.

Mr. Carter, who I link to quite often, has been a force for good in the blogosphere. No doubt he will be the same back in uniform.

Booby-trapped dog explodes in Iraq

Via FR. Running short of suicide bombers?

A booby-trapped dog targeting a police patrol exploded in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk Sunday, injuring one police office, police said.

Sources in the oil-rich city said the dog was apparently drugged and blew up as a police patrol was passing on a main road in eastern Kirkuk.

It’s also clear who the insurgents think the real enemy is, and it isn’t the American military. I’ve noted many times that the fact that Iraqi police and military forces are taking the brunt of the attacks underscores both the threat they pose to the jihadists and the fact that most Iraqis are serious about running their own country. In February of 2004 I noted this snippet in the famous Zarqawi letter:

“The problem is you end up having an army and police connected by lineage, blood and appearance,” the document says. “When the Americans withdraw, and they have already started doing that, they get replaced by these agents who are intimately linked to the people of this region.”

While American troops remain at risk, most attacks against them are roadside bombs and hit-and-run mortar potshots. The attacks against Iraqi police and military recruits continue, as do the attacks against civilians. That is not a winning strategy, and barely even a fighting retreat.

Though the carnage (and threats of carnage) will continue, the Iraqi people have shown remarkable resilience. They seem to understand what this is all about, and they aren’t so quick to forget the hope that Saddam’s downfall and millions of purple fingers brought.

The insurgents, too, have shown remarkable resilience, and they, too, seem to understand what this is all about. They haven’t forgotten the hope that’s been kindled in the Iraqi people, and they are doing everything in their power to extinguish it.

FCS to hit the practice field this fall

My latest at Defense Tech is up. Major field tests of the Army’s Future Combat Systems will commence in October. It’s enough to make your wallet ache.

That’s the MSNBC.com front page this morning.

I wish our guys got going when the going got tough. I wish our guys would stand up and put it on the line.

Oh, that’s right…they do. They are relentless.

Some people might forget that, though, since they’re never reminded. If they even knew it in the first place.

This latest rash of attacks is certainly newsworthy. And it deserves coverage. But we don’t ever see the other side on the front page.

Once in while it would be refreshing (not to mention more honest) to see something along these lines:

NOTE: This is a fake. You won’t see this in the real world. Unfortunately.