Warships to get remote-controlled deck guns
The 25mm (not 22mm as stated in the article) Mk 38 Mod 2 chain gun is being added to most US Navy surface combatants.

Navy officials say the guns take sailors out of the firing line and give them a new set of eyes for protecting the ship against small threats close aboard, but they also help crews with more mundane tasks, such as finding channel buoys.

“They love it,” said Kevin Lapointe, program manager for surface guns at Naval Sea Systems Command. “This is a significant capability — not just the gun. It’s being used for more than it was initially intended. … They’re using it to gather information and do surveillance.”

The optics can move independently of the gun, so checking out a boat doesn’t necessarily mean giving it the business end of the barrel. The gun can also be operated manually if needed, and it has a back-up battery for two hours.

The plan calls for three Mod 2s aboard amphibious assault ships; two for cruisers, destroyers, frigates and Austin-, Whidbey Island- and Harpers Ferry-class amphibious ships; and one for patrol coastal ships. All the guns are scheduled to be installed by 2015

More info here.

The Army’s LandWarrior system will be making its first brigade-wide deployment when the 5thBrigade, 2nd Infantry Division hits the ground in Afghanistan. It was used by a battalion, with pretty good success, in Iraq.

The soldiers of 5th Brigade begin deploying to southern Afghanistan this month and should see less urban combat than previous Stryker deployments to Iraq. But each unit in the brigade will receive Land Warrior. Team leaders, squad leaders, platoon leaders, platoon sergeants and higher will all be equipped with the system.

The two Fort Lewis Stryker brigades deploying later this year to Iraq have requested the system but are unlikely to receive it before they leave, said John Geddes, the Land Warrior trail boss at Fort Lewis.

No doubt the use of the system in a different type of environment and on a larger scale will turn up both more problems and more new uses.

5th Brigade is the one that had been training for Iraq but was shifted to Afghanistan in February.

Senate Defies Veto Threat, Adds $$$ for F-22

Have to keep that line running until sales to Japan (and maybe Australia) are approved, you know.

F-22s in Spending Bill May Spur White House Veto

The White House is threatening to veto the 2010 defense authorization bill if Congress includes money for more F-22 stealth fighters.

Last week, the House Armed Services committee voted to spend $369 million to begin buying parts for a dozen additional Raptors.

The administration is also opposed to the F136 alternative engine for the F-35. Congress continues to support its development despite resistance from the Air Force.

New US battle rule: No fighting near Afghan homes

All the critics that said this war would last forever and ever and never ever end?

I guess they were right.

Isn’t this the equivalent of deciding that police will not chase criminals so that bystanders won’t get hurt, then publicizing the rule?

The return of the ‘Mystery Ships’

Malaysia’s conversion of the container ship Bunga Mas Lima is apparently a response to the hijacking last year of two Malaysian ships, the Bunga Melati Dua and Bunga Melati 5.

This Marine Log story doesn’t specify what new kind of capabilities or weapons the Bunga Mas Lima has added as part of its conversion, nor does this post at the Malaysian Defense blog. But we couldn’t help imagining how sweet it would be if the sides of some of the ship’s containers folded down to reveal a battery of Mk 38 Bushmaster chainguns, for use on any pirate skiffs unwise enough to try a hijacking.

While this might nab a few bad guys, I’m skeptical that it’s going to do much to change the situation in a meaningful way. I’m thinking a few ships with helicopters prepared to respond would be more effective, but even that is going to be tough with so much ocean to cover.

Maybe some Predator-Bs with Hellfires orbiting on patrol? The key is to get firepower to the right place before the bad guys get aboard the victim ship. And finding out about the attempt, getting guns on the target, and getting clearance to shoot take too much time.

It still comes back to ships having the capability to defend themselves. They’re the only ones who are guaranteed to be in the right place at the right time.

Also see this post at New Wars.

Military.com is calling it the Remington ACR (Adaptive Combat Rifle) but the last I heard it was being called the Bushmaster ACR. Bushmaster is now a sister company of Remington under the Cerebus empire. The ACR was, of course, previously the Magpul Masada.

‘I sank the Bismarck but only found out 59 years later’: British pilot learns of his place in history: Swordfish pilot who hit the Bismark’s rudder only found out it was him in 2000. Not really sure how this could have been a mystery for so long.

Group set to salvage parts of battleship Yamato

Despite jaw-dropping costs and immense technical difficulties, business leaders here plan to salvage parts from the sunken World War II imperial battleship Yamato…Panel members said they hope to at least raise the 2,780-ton main guns and the front portion of the hull, which they say bear distinctive Yamato characteristics.

Are they kidding?

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus: Okay, this is only battleship-related because a BB makes an appearance at about 0:39 of the trailer:

We watched this last night. The megashark eats the battleship. Seriously. It was the USS Missouri. Mighty Mo is devoured, but Debbie Gibson somehow manages to survive. I was hoping to have a screenshot of a battleship with a big bite out of it, but apparently the special effects budget didn’t allow for that.

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UPDATE: Back on the air.

A GunPundit post is #1 on a Bing search linked from MSN.com today, and traffic was through the roof until the host pulled the plug on the site. After explaining that it was legit traffic due to a temporary spike, the helpful support tech said “Sorry we can’t let it run with this traffic” and said I’d have to upgrade.

I understand that they can’t have one site hogging the majority of the resources on a server, but my sites combined do not pull in the traffic to justify dedicated hosting. I’ve had traffic higher than this in the past, and had no trouble after I installed a cache plug-in to prevent overloads when things spike for a day or two. Not sure why this is a problem today, but it is. I’ve seen where they temporarily move sites experiencing traffic to other servers until things die down, but apparently that isn’t an option for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, they are not telling me how long the site will be down. In fact, they aren’t being helpful at all.

UPDATE: Apparently got escalated. Someone else is at least going through the motions of being helpful. Hopefully I can disable a few things temporarily and be back on the air soon.

It Is Called a “Technical”