Tomahawk Cancellation an Error of Defense Strategy and Alliance Policy

Earlier this month, the U.S. Navy announced that it will stop buying Tomahawk cruise missiles in fiscal year (FY) 2016 and will seek to field a replacement within a decade.

This decision is an error of both defense strategy and alliance policy.

Congress should reject the Navy’s plans and require that it continue to buy a sufficient number of Tomahawks annually to keep production lines open and unit costs affordable until a replacement can be effectively deployed into service and until Britain and Australia (which use or plan to use the Tomahawk), after close consultation with the U.S., are satisfied that the replacement will affordably offer them capabilities that are equivalent or superior to those of the Tomahawk.

Read more

The Navy's Newest Destroyer Is a Drone

When the U.S. Navy christens the first of its newest class of destroyers this month, it will launch the first ship with a brain of its own.

Among the high-tech features included on the USS Zumwalt—cannons that fire rocket-propelled, GPS-guided rounds and stealth design that gives the 610-foot ship the radar signature of a small fishing vessel—there’s also a computer intelligence capable of preparing the ship for battle and engaging enemy targets on its own.

Think of it as a gigantic floating drone: “Most UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] are a few million dollars,” says Wade Knudson, who heads the Zumwalt project for Raytheon, which made most of the ship’s computer systems. “This is a $5 billion UAV.”

Read more

Myanmar commissions first frigate with reduced RCS

The Myanmar Navy (MN) has commissioned its first guided-missile frigate with low observable radar characteristics.

UMS (Union of Myanmar Ship) Kyansitthar (or Kyan-Sit-Thar ), with pennant number F12, was commissioned on 31 March at Thanlyin naval station near Yangon, just two days after the launch of the third frigate UMS Sin Phyu Shin (F14).

The commissioning is a significant milestone in Myanmar's fast-developing indigenous programme, through which the country is looking to develop a blue-water capability to protect its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and offshore energy interests.

Read more

German-Swedish submarine war rages on

It’s a war without a shot being fired, not fought on the high seas, but in the corporate boardrooms of two defense contractors.

On the one side is Sweden’s SaabGroup, a defense contractor looking to establish a submarine-building unit. On the other side is Germany’s ThyssenKrupp, trying to dominate northern Europe's submarine-building industry.

In the most recent development, the Swedes have been luring ThyssenKrupp employees to their side, prompting the Germans to offer them a bonus equal to a month’s salary to stay, according to an article in the Sweden edition of The Local.

Read more

Russian Navy puts into service ICBM Liner

The Russian Navy has put into service seaborne ICBM Liner designed by the Makeyev State Missile Center based in Miass, Chelyabinsk region, a source from the Russian defense sector said.

"The ICBM Liner system was put into service in the beginning of this year. These missiles will be deployed on nuclear-powered strategic submarines of Project 667BDRM," he added, Interfax reports.

According to open sources, ICBM Liner can carry a multivariate warhead in contrast to its predecessor, ICBM Sineva.

Read more

Nato to keep expanding, suspends Russia ties

Nato states have said the alliance will keep on expanding despite Russia’s protests, while freezing most co-operation with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

“We reaffirm that, in accordance with our policy, the alliance’s door remains open to new members in the future,” foreign ministers from the 28 Nato countries said in a joint statement marking the anniversary of former enlargements in Brussels on Tuesday (1 April).

They added in a second communique that “we have decided to suspend all practical civilian and military co-operation between Nato and Russia” because Russia “gravely breached the trust upon which our co-operation must be based” by invading Ukraine.

Read more

Seeing Double: Two C-130Js Delivered to Korea

Two C-130J Super Hercules aircraft operated by the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) ferried from the Lockheed Martin facility here today to South Korea.

ROKAF accepted delivery of these two aircraft last week at a ceremony in Marietta, home to the C-130J Super Hercules production line.

These Super Hercs will be flown by ROKAF aircrews, which currently operate a fleet of C-130H legacy aircraft.

Read more

US will not give Syrian opposition anti-aircraft missiles

US Secretary of State John Kerry reconfirmed that the US administration is opposed to providing the Syrian opposition anti-aircraft missiles during a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Russian media reported yesterday.

Following his meeting with Kerry in Paris, Lavrov said the US Secretary of State confirmed Washington's refusal to arm the fighters of the Syrian opposition with anti-aircraft missiles.

Russia Today quoted Lavrov as saying Washington's refusal is fully consistent with the agreements between the two parties not to send mobile rocket systems to hotspots.

Read more

NATO and Swedish Fighter Jets train together over the Baltic Sea

Two U.S. fighter jets under NATO command were scrambled from the Siauliai air base in Lithuania Tuesday (1 April 2014) to exercise with two Swedish Gripen fighter aircraft over the Baltic Sea, in a training event designed to improve coordination and emergency procedures.

The Baltic Regional Training event is conducted several times a year. The exercises bring fighter jets from NATO countries together with the air forces of Sweden and Finland, which are longstanding partners of the Alliance.

Search & Rescue and air combat training are included in the two-day event, which is designed to enhance the ability of fighter jets from NATO countries and regional partners to operate with each other effectively.

Read more

Congress digs in against Pentagon plan to mothball the A-10 fighter-bomber

Defense Department officials and Congress continue to disagree on how to save money in the fiscal 2015 defense budget.

In most instances, Pentagon officials have the facts and politicians generally have concern about the effects on their constituents.

Here are two examples from recent congressional hearings:

* Retiring the 40-year-old A-10 "Warthog," the slow-flying, close-air-support jet fighter-bomber that was designed to kill Warsaw Pact tanks, may be the most controversial. The Pentagon's plan last year to replace of all its 325 A-10s with the newer, still-being-developed, costly F-35 was blocked by Congress, at least through the end of 2014. So the Pentagon is trying again.

Read more

Flight MH370 search planes get their own airborne traffic controller to prevent collisions in crowded skies

Investigators are conducting a forensic examination of the final recorded conversation between ground control and the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 before it went missing three weeks ago, the Malaysian government said Tuesday.

Meanwhile Australia, which is coordinating the search for the Boeing 777, cautioned that it “could drag on for a long time” and would be an arduous one.

The forensic examination could shed light on who was in control of the cockpit and will also seek to determine if there was any stress or tension in the voice of whoever was communicating with ground control — crucial factors in an air disaster investigation.

Read more

Airplane enthusiasts spot secret U.S. army plane

Aviation enthusiasts in the United States have discovered a military aircraft that was hidden from the public. The purpose of the aircraft is not yet clear, but photographs taken of the Texas sky show that it is a relatively large stealth plane.

The discovery was made three weeks ago by two veteran aircraft "spotters," Steve Douglass and Dean Muskett, who were at Amarillo Airport in the Texas Panhandle doing what they like best: spotting planes.

They had just finished photographing two U.S. Air Force T-38 jet trainers when an unnamed friend of Douglass, a government employee, called his mobile phone and suggested he look toward the south-east.

Read more

Russia's Northern Fleet sailors hold air defense drills in Mediterranean Sea

Russia's Northern Fleet (NF) ships held air defense drills in the Mediterranean Sea, which included missile and artillery firing at simulated aerial targets, NF spokesman 1st captain Vadim Serga told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.

"The exercise involved the crews of the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the large anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ship Admiral Levchenko.

The crew of the Admiral Kuznetsov fired Kinzhal air defense missile systems and the AK-630 close-in weapon system, Interfax reports.

Read more

Behind the scenes with the British pilots learning to fly F-35 fighter jet which absorbs radar, flies backwards...and costs a cool £100m

These photos show how British pilots are putting a £100million fighter jet through its paces ahead of its first appearance in British skies this summer.

The first of the UK's F-35s – dubbed the Lightning II by maker Lockheed Martin – are at a giant military airfield in Florida’s Panhandle region, where pilots are practicing flying them backwards, stopping them in mid-air and reaching top speeds of 1.6 times the speed of sound.

The Daily Mail was invited for an exclusive, behind-the-scenes visit at the Eglin Air Force Base to find out how the first three British flyers and their 13 engineers are learning how to operate the F-35, which is recognisable by its sharp-angled design and special coating which makes it hard for enemy radars to detect.

Read more

DND eyes P18B Navy frigates

The Department of National Defense (DND) aims to sign the deal for the P18-billion Navy frigates project in July to fast-track the upgrade of the country’s territorial defense capabilities.

“We aim to perfect the contract for the frigates in July. The contract will have been completed by that time,” Defense Undersecretary Fernando Manalo told The STAR in a recent interview.

Workshops were done last February to determine if the four firms that pre-qualified can move on to the next stage of the bidding.

Read more

Nuclear submarines to be based in Sunderland if Scotland wins independence

Sunderland will be the new home of Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet if Scotland breaks away from the UK later this year.

The Scots will go to the polls in September to vote on whether to end the 1706 Treaty of Union, which created the United Kingdom and saw King James VI of Scotland also become King James I of England.

Under the terms of the vote, Scotland will inherit the barracks, air bases and naval bases on its territory, including Faslane, where the UK submarine fleet is based.

Read more

MH370: UK submarine joins search for missing plane

British submarine HMS Tireless has joined the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

The Ministry of Defence said the Trafalgar class submarine had arrived in the southern Indian Ocean and would help search for the plane's black box recorder.

It will soon by joined by Royal Navy coastal survey ship HMS Echo.

Read more

North and South Korea exchange fire with hundreds of artillery shells over disputed border

North and South Korea traded hundreds of rounds of live artillery fire across their disputed Yellow Sea boundary today.

It forced South Korean islanders to take shelter the day after the North raised tensions by threatening a new nuclear test.

The South said it had fired more than 300 shells in response to the North firing more than 500 shells during its three-hour military exercise.

Read more

Swiss fighter jet deal could triple in cost

Switzerland's defence deal to buy 22 fighter jets from Sweden might come with a price tag that's three times higher than the government claims, opponents said on Monday.

Campaigners who are gearing up for the May 18 plebiscite warned that the price tag could swell to 10 billion Swiss francs ($11.3 billion).

"As with all fighter plane deals, on top of the actual purchase price of 3.1 billion francs, you have to add operating and maintenance costs, as well as upgrades needed in the future," Green Party lawmaker Daniel Vischer, a member of the campaign coalition, said in a statement.

Read more

NATO Steps Up Military Pressure on Russia

NATO continued its military build-up on the Russian border even as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Paris Sunday evening to discuss the conflict over Ukraine. The meeting, involving four hours of “frank” talks, ended with no breakthrough and separate news conferences.

The two men met after Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated his readiness to make certain concessions. Last Friday he phoned US President Barack Obama in Saudi Arabia to discuss a “diplomatic resolution to the crisis.”

On Sunday, Kerry dismissed Lavrov’s proposal for a Federal Ukraine that was not part of NATO, cynically declaring that was “up to the Ukrainians”—that is, the fascist-led regime in Kiev backed by Washington.

Read more

India scans for new AWACS platform

New Delhi has issued a global tender for the supply of six aircraft that will serve as platforms for its ambitious Airborne Warning and Control System India (AWACS India) programme.

The tender invites bids from airframers by 15 July for the “supply of suitable aircraft with necessary structural modifications, power and endurance adaptations”, along with “equipment installation/installation provisions for the AWACS India role”.

The project will also include design and certification tasks, including the manufacture and installation of a 10m (33ft)-diameter antenna rotodome and supporting pylon.

Read more

GE LM2500 Gas Turbine Powers German Navy's Christened Baden-Wurttemberg F125 Frigate

GE Marine reports that the German Navy's Baden-Wurttemberg (F125-class) frigate was christened in December 2013, powered by a GE LM2500 gas turbine-based propulsion system.

The christening ceremony was held at ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in Hamburg, Germany.

According Dr. Hans Christoph Atzpodien, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems GmbH, "The F125 is a completely new type of frigate with numerous technological innovations which will secure a solid basic workload for the shipyards involved in the coming years and help the German naval shipbuilding industry maintain and expand its leading position in key technologies."

Read more

Pakistan can offer ‘30% less’ price on warships to Qatar

Pakistan can deliver ships of any size “minus the aircraft carrier” to Gulf countries, especially Qatar, at 30% less construction cost than what Western manufacturers offer, a senior Pakistani official has said.

In an interview, Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah, who is a serving Pakistan Navy officer and managing director of Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works (KSEW), said his organisation’s various international certifications prove that the country’s ship- and submarine-building capacity is on a par with the best in the world.

Pakistan has only one shipyard, the KSEW, which comes under its Ministry of Defence Production.

Read more

Navy left 'defenceless' after being forced to 'make do' with outdated Soviet hardware

India's biggest warships, including the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, have been left with nearly no protection against enemy submarines.

As if not having a new Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) for more than a month was not embarrassing enough, the Indian Navy is facing a situation in which its biggest warships, including a bunch of top destroyers, have become virtually defenceless against the ever-growing submarine fleets of the Pakistani and Chinese navies.

The reason behind this is the dithering of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) over the Navy's plea seeking an urgent go-ahead for an upgrade of Kamov 28 anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters.

Read more

Japan’s new ‘ninja’ submarines are all about stealth

Japan’s Soryu class submarines were launched by the Marine Self-Defense Forces (MSDF) in 2007, as an effort to increase the countries submarine force to a total of 22 (from the current 16) by the year 2024.

The submarine Hakuryu, or White Dragon, is the third of the class that is known for packing enough firepower to bring down an aircraft carrier.

But according to the MSDF, the firepower is not the submarine’s best weapon – it is stealth.

Read more