USA Armed Forces

[arfah]

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[GastonGlocker]

More here

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rep ... ts-n422346

Including hiding helmets in pillow cases ?!

Went from pillow "fight" to blanket party rather quickly.

[GastonGlocker]

More churn ahead....new pistol requirements for big Army: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015 ... Newsletter

[ArmChairCivvy]

Unarmored Humvees and other trucks are still going to be around for a good long while. Most likely the unarmored jerky-run role will end up totally the realm of COTS vehicles. So more CUCV/LSSV-style purchases when the unarmored Humvees need replacement. Hopefully they are competed better, current GM sole-sourcing rubs me the wrong way.

Thx, I was wondering about the big mismatch between the initial order and targeted production run.

[ArmChairCivvy]

More luck... than with Bowman?

I only have a superficial understanding of field comms, but regardless, it is my recollection that the long-faltering Bowman prgrm was rescued the the same way as what HK did by re-engineering our assault rifle, this time just from the other side of the pond:

"The Harris radios were chosen as the Bowman Programme’s communications solution based on Harris’ highly successful Falcon® II Tactical Radio product family, which is in standardized use by U.S., NATO, Partnership for Peace (PfP) and other defense forces around the world. Announced in 2001, Harris’ initial Bowman Programme contract is for more than 10,000 HF radios with a value to Harris of approximately $200 million. The company also recently announced an additional $7.3 million contract for vehicular accessories to support Bowman.

Harris’ modular Falcon II family easily accommodates new technology and upgrades. Unlike conventional, hardware-based radios, the software-based radio is easily reprogrammed, allowing features to be added quickly and cost-effectively as new product capabilities are added or communications needs change"

[arfah]

Slightly off topic.



11-09-2001 (9-11). A sad and shocking day.

I have many friends who work, have worked in the City of London and who lost friends and colleagues in New York's Twin Towers on this day.

Very proud of the Queen's response the day after the attacks.

9-11
Rest In Peace.

[xav]

U.S. Navy is Still Looking at MBDA's Dual Mode Brimstone for F/A-18E/F AGM Solution

Following our article published last year about U.S. Navy evaluation of MBDA's Dual Mode Brimstone, it was brought to our attention earlier this year that the U.S. Congress did allocate the $10 Million funding for "Brimstone weapon system qualification for the F/A-18 aircraft".

http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph ... ew&id=3087

[GastonGlocker]

Slightly off topic.



11-09-2001 (9-11). A sad and shocking day.

I have many friends who work, have worked in the City of London and who lost friends and colleagues in New York's Twin Towers on this day.

Very proud of the Queen's response the day after the attacks.

9-11
Rest In Peace.

Thanks Arfah. We are grateful for our Allies then and now.

[arfah]

Thanks Arfah. We are grateful for our Allies then and now.

"Collective defence means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies. The principle of collective defence is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty."

NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

[~UNiOnJaCk~]

Slightly off topic.



11-09-2001 (9-11). A sad and shocking day.

...

Very proud of the Queen's response the day after the attacks.

9-11
Rest In Peace.

x2 on that, Arfah. A very touching gesture that, if i do say so myself.

[xav]

U.S. Navy Coastal Riverine Group 2 Accepts the First Two of Twelve MK VI Patrol Boats
U.S. Navy Coastal Riverine Group 2 has taken ownership of the first two of 12 Mark VI Patrol Boats, in Portsmouth, Sept. 8. The MK VI, an 85-foot combatant craft, will provide a persistent capability to patrol shallow littoral areas for the purpose of force protection of friendly and coalition forces as well as critical infrastructure.
http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph ... ew&id=3091

[RetroSicotte]

Those are some pretty patrol boats! I do approve!

[arfah]

..................

[ArmChairCivvy]

One of the things they will do is escorting nuclear boats out of congested waters.

Would be interesting to see how the Navy's take compares to the CB90 Command Boats used by the Riverines (deeper V for seakeeping and crew comfort, even though the headline speaks of shallow waters?)

[ArmChairCivvy]

Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA or Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK?

Neither, but rather Virginia.

Anyway, I had overlooked that the coastal and rivers operations have been unified since June 2012. So in fact, these new boats belong to the same force as the CB90 Command Boats.

"CORIVFOR will be comprised of two Echelon IV groups, Coastal Riverine Group (CORIVGRU) 1 homeported in Imperial Beach, Calif. with squadrons located in San Diego at the Naval Amphibious Base. CORIVGRU 2 will be homeported in Portsmouth, Va. with active squadrons located at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story (JEBLC-FS), Va., a forward deployed detachment in Bahrain, and reserve squadrons located in Newport, R.I. and Jacksonville, Fla. "

[xav]

^ More comfort alright

The MK VI PB is configured with an ergonomically designed pilothouse seating 5 operators: The Engineer (taking care of the engines and Mk 38 turret), the Navigator, the coxswain, the communication engineer and the boat Captain. The main deck cabin is reconfigurable and modular with 13 Shoxs seats and a medical station in case of injury. Below it are the galley which serves as kitchen and mission planning area, berthing (6 racks) with shower and engine room. All compartments are armored.

http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.ph ... ew&id=3091

It felt like there was tons of room inside, and the pilothouse had tons of touch screens everywhere (something like 3 per operators IIRC)
(unfortunately no pics were allowed on-board)

[~UNiOnJaCk~]

^^ Sounds brilliant though i feel a bit bad for the Engineer if he has to deal with the engines AND two Mk38 stations!! Reading through some of the specifications on wikipedia you struggle to understand how 10 crew is enough to man the thing - especially given how much firepower they have bolted on to it!

[arfah]

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[ArmChairCivvy]

^^ Sounds brilliant though i feel a bit bad for the Engineer if he has to deal with the engines AND two Mk38 stations!! Reading through some of the specifications on wikipedia you struggle to understand how 10 crew is enough to man the thing - especially given how much firepower they have bolted on to it!

5 on duty, six below... sounds like an allowance for a specialist (a cook... just joking!)

So 2 x 6 (still one short of the seating for hi-speed or rough seas cruising). I counted 7 weapon stations, of which one certainly looks like an RWS. So all you need to do is to ring the bell, to get the other shift up
- sure, ten for normal patrolling, just all those duties listed, twice over

[GastonGlocker]

F-35 issues continue: http://warisboring.com/articles/the-mar ... or-combat/

[arfah]

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[GastonGlocker]

The Department of Defense must've really enjoyed that Avatar movie ?!

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defens ... /72267572/

Interesting! My kids may see it up close. Me, from my walker...

[The Armchair Soldier]

Pentagon Ponders Canceling Last Zumwalt Destroyer

(Bloomberg) — Pentagon officials are weighing whether to cancel the last of three ships in General Dynamics Corp.’s $22 billion program to build new destroyers even though the vessel is already under construction.

Canceling the USS Lyndon B. Johnson, a Zumwalt-class destroyer, is a topic that’s “to be reviewed in the next few weeks” by teams formed by the Pentagon’s independent cost- assessment office, according to a Defense Department briefing document dated Aug. 25. Two officials familiar with the issue confirmed that cancellation discussions are under way although no decision has been made.

Read More: http://gcaptain.com/pentagon-ponders-ca ... flA4d9VhBd

[Halidon]

Word around is this is as much a "put the fear of god into BIW and the Union" move as anything. The Navy hasn't cancelled a ship that's actively under construction in quite awhile, and it needs all the hulls it can get.

[Halidon]

The four Burke class destroyers forward-deployed to Rota in Spain for the Mediterranean BMD patrol are getting an upgrade to their point-defense capability with the installation of SeaRAM. The Rota-based destroyers all have an older Aegis BMD baseline which requires the combat system to be switched between Ballistic Missile Defense and Air Defense modes, leaving them vulnerable to one threat while configured for the other. Baseline 9 eliminates this restriction, but sequestration and generally depressed budgets mean older ships may not get the upgrade for some time, if ever. So SeaRAM was picked as a means to give those hulls some simultaneous engagement capability.

SeaRAM marries the radar and electro-optical targeting system of the Phalanx 1B with the RAM missile. So while the ship's combat system and main radar, SPY-1D, is busy in BMD mode the SeaRAM mount can detect, track, and engage threats on its own. Upgrading an older Aegis destroyer to baseline 9, which involves stripping out obsolete computers and CIC consoles and replacing them with modern equipment, requires a refit lasting about 78 weeks and costing about $183.8 million (2014 dollars). Adding SeaRAM, by contrast, will cost a fraction of that amount and will happen much faster. USS Porter (DDG-78) and USS Carney (DDG-64) will each get the upgrade in FY2016, which begins October 1st, and Porter will be back at sea by November.