Archive for August, 2006
A reader tips me off to this collection of altered photos on CNet. A bit of background is given for each. Some of them have been noted on MO.
Although certainly not definitive, it’s still quite interesting.
Click for bigger version
Northrop Grumman press release:
Patriotic tradition and unyielding optimism joined today when ship’s sponsor Silke B. Hagee smashed a champagne bottle against the hull of the Northrop Grumman-built (NYSE:NOC) amphibious assault ship Makin Island (LHD 8) before an audience of more than 1,000 guests.
With a confident and spirited swing, Hagee, wife of U.S. Marine Corps commandant Gen. Michael Hagee, capped a ceremony that honored some of America’s most heroic Marines and also signified a major milestone in the recovery of Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Pascagoula facility, which today hosted its first ship christening since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina…
Makin Island (LHD 8) is the eighth and final ship in the USS Wasp (LHD 1) Class, but is the first of the large deck amphibious assault ship class to be built with gas turbine engines and electric drive. Over the life of the ship, this design will provide significant savings in manpower and maintenance costs associated with traditional steam-powered amphibious ships…
The Makin Island is 844 feet long and 106 feet wide and weighs 42,800 tons. Its 70,000 horsepower hybrid propulsion system will drive it to speeds in excess of 20 knots. As a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship, it is designed to transport and land a Marine Expeditionary Unit, a force of almost 2,000 Marines, ashore by helicopter, landing craft and amphibious assault vehicle. It will also have secondary missions of sea control and power projection by helicopter and fixed-wing vertical short take-off and landing aircraft; command and control; and mission support, including a hospital with six operating rooms.
Via Instapundit: Progress is being made in the fight against AIDS in Africa, thanks in no small part to the president’s aid program. But that’s not what some people want to hear.
Boston.com:
FIVE YEARS AGO, in Jos, Nigeria, a city on the country’s central plateau, Dr. John Idoko regularly made rounds in a hospital packed with people dying from AIDS because they couldn’t pay for the antiretroviral drugs necessary to keep them alive. Three years ago, as the price of the drugs plummeted, the Nigerian doctor was able to deliver the life-extending medication to 700 patients-until his government’s supply ran out for several months.
Today, the change for the better is astonishing: Idoko now treats nearly 6,000 HIV-positive patients. He has expanded his clinic three times in five years, and his waiting room once again is too crowded. “Now, we are eyeing an abandoned building nearby,” he said last week, chuckling.
The major reason for Idoko’s success is the Bush administration’s AIDS program, which in the last three years has sent billions of dollars to Africa and helped save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
When Bush mentioned this in the State of the Union speech in 2003, I thought it was a biggie. Overshadowed, to be sure, by the impending invasion of Iraq, but a biggie nonetheless. A number of times in conversation I’ve mentioned the proposal and wondered why nothing ever became of it.
This is honestly the very first peep I’ve heard from anyone anywhere about a single penny being spent on this project.
In fact, the only think I’ve heard in the past couple of years was a comment on a blog (I think) about how Bush had lied when he said he wanted to spend money on AIDS relief for Africa.
Let me repeat: This is the very first time I’ve heard any news from any source about any money being spent anywhere in Africa for AIDS relief.
A lot of the problem seems to be that a lot of the money is headed for faith-based groups and abstinence education programs. And other groups seem to be a bit miffed that they aren’t getting the money. Instead of simply writing checks to these groups or local leaders, the program is being run by the folks with the funding.
No wonder the media doesn’t want to cover it. Not only is it good news, it’s news that makes Bush look good. And religious groups deserve some of the limelight, too. Which means you won’t hear a thing about it.
A few A-10 items caught my eye today. First, at Strategy Page, is A-10 Forever. The old ‘Hogs are being refurbished to last another ten years:
A-10s were built three decades ago, with a service life of 4,000 hours in the air. Most have already got over 6,000 hours. So refurbishment will extend service life to 16,000 hours, and install an F-16 like cockpit, along with the ability to use a targeting pod and deliver GPS and laser guided bombs.
And American Forces Press Service has Bagram A-10 Thunderbolts Surge for Summer Offensive in Afghanistan:
Read the rest of this entry »
“This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do all the damage we can.”
– Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland
Commanding Officer, USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413)
This book details the battle of Taffy 3, comprised of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts, against a Japanese battleship and cruiser force led by the monster BB Yamato in 1944. It’s told from the perspective of many of the men in the fight, and this will give you a “I can’t believe what these men did” feeling that no simple historical overview can impart.
You are there with the tin cans as they charge the battleships and cruisers. Yes, they charged them. Some of those Japanese battlewagons had gun turrets that outweighed each US ship. And they charged anyway.
The things men and women have done to make America what it is staggers the imagination.
By James D. Hornfischer. I’m currently listening to the audiobook. Also in paperback. Good stuff.
I saw a news link yesterday that said France had agreed to send troops to Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping force. What I hadn’t noticed was the quantity.
They’re sending 200 troops. Yes. Two hundred.
And this is for a cause that they not only supported but helped champion.
200 troops.
What a joke.
Speaking of jokes, is it just Murdoc or has the United Nations become a caricature of itself?
Time for the BabUN.
The amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17) fires the ship’s Rolling Air Frame Missile launcher for the first time during a live firing exercise. San Antonio and her crew are at sea conducting Combat Systems Ship Board Qualifications, in an attempt to see how well the ship’s Combat System’s Suite and ship’s weapons work together. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Anthony C. Tornetta (RELEASED)
I haven’t heard much about the San Antonio’s performance so far. The ship had a troubled construction.
The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is a short-range IR missile primarily for defense against cruise and anti-ship missiles. A future generation of the Phalanx Block 1B CIWS will replace the 20mm gun with 11 RAM launchers for greatly increased range. The new system will be called the Sea RAM:
For more info on the gatling gun-armed CIWS Block 1B, see CIWS now does surface targets, too.
Last night I linked to some fake headlines at OpFor in post called If World War II Were Fought Today…
Today I remembered the huge headline in the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph on either day three or day four (I think) of the air campaign in 1991:
WAR DRAGS ON
I’m not making this up. I wish I would have saved it. (I’ve tried to search for a link or others that remember, but no luck.)
A guy I worked with on the Air Force Academy had been ground crew for F-105s in Vietnam. He laughed all day long over that one.
Hezbollah says it will not disarm, and Lebanon says it’s okay.
The UN says that’s okay.
Israel says it’s keeping troops in Lebanon until the peacekeepers arrive, and that they’ll resume the offensive if Hezbollah refuses to disarm.
Meanwhile, France calls for the end of the blockade since it’s not needed any more.
Raise your hand if you’re surprised by any of this.
More at Captain Ed, Wizbang, Counterterrorism Blog, and Threats Watch.
Ohio drops terror charges against phone buyers
Prosecutors dropped terrorism charges Tuesday against two Michigan men who were arrested after buying large numbers of cell phones, saying they couldn’t prove a terrorism link.
The dismissal, in a one-page court document, came the day after Washington County Prosecutor James Schneider said he didn’t have enough evidence to present the felony charges to a grand jury.
I haven’t followed this story very closely, but this is pretty lame considering all the hoopla the arrest of these guys caused.
Keep in mind that these are NOT the guys reported to have targeted the Mackinac Bridge. The prosecution has been very publicly vocal about the terrorism links in that case, and if it, too, ends up being dropped or dismissed it’s going to deflate the whole balloon.
That being said, what I’ve heard about the Texas guys who supposedly were targeting the bridge that connects Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas doesn’t really convince me that they’re terrorists. I hope the prosecutors know a lot more than they’re letting on considering the strong statements they’ve made.
