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AdamG
01-11-2017, 01:32 AM
BATH, Maine — With President-elect Donald Trump demanding more ships, the Navy is proposing the biggest shipbuilding boom since the end of the Cold War to meet threats from a resurgent Russia and saber-rattling China.

The Navy's 355-ship proposal released last month is even larger than what the Republican Trump had promoted on the campaign trail, providing a potential boost to shipyards that have struggled because budget caps that have limited money funding for ships.

At Maine's Bath Iron Works, workers worried about the future want to build more ships but wonder where the billions of dollars will come from.

https://www.navytimes.com/articles/navy-trump-planning-biggest-fleet-expansion-since-cold-war


In a brief but illuminating interview, US Navy Vice Admiral#Tom Rowden, the commander of the US Navy's Surface forces, told Defense News'#Christopher P. Cavas a key difference between the ships of the US and Chinese#navies.#
Cavas asked Rowden about China commissioning a 4,000 ton frigate and deploying it just six weeks later, a start-to-finish speed inconceivable in the US Navy, where ships undergo many rounds of testing and often take more than one year to deploy.

When asked#about the differences between the US and China's processes, Rowden#explained that while a US and a Chinese ship may both appear combat-ready,"[o]ne of them couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag and the other one will rock anything that it comes up against."
Rowden couched his criticism well, but the meaning is clear. The US doesn't test its#ships for fun, or to spend excess money in the budget, but "to be 100 percent confident in the ship and confident in the execution of any mission leadership may give them."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/commander-us-naval-forces-implies-222602690.html

Azor
01-11-2017, 08:14 AM
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/navy-trump-planning-biggest-fleet-expansion-since-cold-war



http://finance.yahoo.com/news/commander-us-naval-forces-implies-222602690.html

The Admiral's comments are all well and good, but the US Navy needs to be deploying LRASMs and SM-6s tomorrow in order to not be outranged and outgunned by the PLAN's surface fleet.

Hopefully, Trump will be able to ensure that the US shipbuilding program involves at least two Virginias and one Columbia each year, perhaps curtailing the LCS orders for more Virginias. Note that Virginias are capable of littoral operations in a way that the Los Angeles and Seawolf classes were not.

Lastly, there needs to be upgrades to the Block IV TLAM-E in order to ensure that it has the speed, stealth, maneuverability and hardness to strike land targets protected by the most advanced CIWS and SAMs.

davidbfpo
01-11-2017, 11:33 AM
This report suggests that the USN has a problem now with their aircraft carriers maintenance / overhaul schedule, so much so that not one carrier was at sea a few days ago:http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-01-01/first-time-world-war-ii-no-us-carriers-are-deployed-anywhere-world

Building more sounds grand, but is there the capacity to man new ships?

I will leave aside the cost and which ships to buy.

AdamG
01-11-2017, 04:28 PM
The message Navy leaders are sending to President-elect Donald Trump’s team is: We need money to keep the current 274 ships in the fleet are maintained and modernized first and then give us the money to buy more ships.
Speaking to the press at the Surface Navy Association meeting Tuesday in Crystal City, Va., Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran said the transition team “has really been open-minded” and asked probing questions about the service’s plans for the coming budget deliberations understanding the department is currently operating now under a continuing resolution.
Moran said he and CNO Adm. John Richardson, have met with the team twice, but the team meets with different departments in all the services more often to gain an understanding of how the Pentagon operates.

https://news.usni.org/2017/01/11/maintenance-navy-trump-moran

AdamG
01-11-2017, 04:30 PM
The Admiral's comments are all well and good, but the US Navy needs to be deploying LRASMs and SM-6s tomorrow in order to not be outranged and outgunned by the PLAN's surface fleet..

Beijing does not think it straight lines - they won't fight ship-vs-ship, particularly if they know they have a disadvantage. They will use apple corers to fight oranges, then move their own apples into the power vacuum that's left behind.

Azor
01-11-2017, 05:30 PM
Beijing does not think it straight lines - they won't fight ship-vs-ship, particularly if they know they have a disadvantage. They will use apple corers to fight oranges, then move their own apples into the power vacuum that's left behind.

Yet if US surface ships don't have effective ASuW capabilities, they only burden the CAW and SS(G)Ns with these roles, in addition to their other missions.

If the PLAN's anti-ship missiles are countered, their surface fleet is only useful for air defense given that its anti-submarine skills are poor.

The PLA is cautious and seemingly aware of its lack of operational experience, particularly in the areas of precision-strike, combined arms and C4ISR.

Therefore, it is reasonable to expect them to rely upon their land-based cruise missiles (ballistic missiles being too risky and held in reserve) in a surprise attack to cripple US forces in the Western Pacific. If this blow fails, however, I think that the PLA would crumble and refocus on defending the mainland.

AdamG
01-13-2017, 09:25 PM
If this blow fails, however, I think that the PLA would crumble and refocus on defending the mainland.

As Foamy the Squirrel said, "it wouldn't hurt you people to think like a serial killer every now and then, if only for the sake of prevention" (https://youtu.be/r8eICCKMNEc?t=90).

If your ships physically can't leave Pearl or the West Coast, if your crews can't assemble in port, if your C4 systems are hacked then you don't get those pieces to use on the game board.

Apples and oranges goes beyond the physical, know what I mean?

Azor
01-13-2017, 11:38 PM
If your ships physically can't leave Pearl or the West Coast, if your crews can't assemble in port, if your C4 systems are hacked then you don't get those pieces to use on the game board.

Apples and oranges goes beyond the physical, know what I mean?

That sounds like the plot of "Ghost Fleet". Do you think that the US isn't working feverishly on those capabilities?

Regardless, the LRASM will be crucial to kinetic capabilities. The US has relied upon asymmetrical capabilities to deter and defeat its opponents since the early 1980s, particularly where electronic warfare is concerned. Snowden's revelations illustrated that the US was far from lagging in the cyber game as well...

AdamG
03-17-2017, 01:56 PM
U.S. President Donald Trump says he wants to build dozens of new warships in one of the biggest peace-time expansions of the U.S. Navy. But interviews with ship-builders, unions and a review of public and internal documents show major obstacles to that plan.
The initiative could cost nearly $700 billion in government funding, take 30 years to complete and require hiring tens of thousands of skilled shipyard workers - many of whom don't exist yet because they still need to be hired and trained, according to the interviews and the documents reviewed.
Trump has vowed a huge build-up of the U.S. military to project American power in the face of an emboldened China and Russia. That includes expanding the Navy to 350 warships from 275 today. He has provided no specifics, including how soon he wants the larger fleet. (For graphics on projected strength of U.S. Navy, shipyard employment see: tmsnrt.rs/2n3vOr0)
The Navy has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis a report that explores#how the country's industrial base could support higher ship production, Admiral Bill Moran, the vice chief of Naval Operations with oversight of the Navy’s shipbuilding outlook, told Reuters.
He declined to give further details. But those interviewed for this story say there are clearly two big issues - there are not enough skilled workers in the market, from electricians to welders, and after years of historically low production, shipyards and their suppliers, including nuclear fuel producers, will struggle to ramp up for years.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-shipbuilding-insight-idUSKBN16O142

AdamG
04-19-2017, 01:28 PM
The deployment of Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group has been extended by a month so the CSG can conduct presence operations off the coast of Korea, the commander of the strike group said late Tuesday in a message to his crew.
“Our deployment has been extended 30 days to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula,” wrote Rear Adm. Jim Kilby on the wall of the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) Facebook page.
“Our mission is to reassure allies and our partners of our steadfast commitment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. We will continue to be the centerpiece of visible maritime deterrence, providing our national command authority with flexible deterrent options, all domain access, and a visible forward presence.”
https://news.usni.org/2017/04/19/carl-vinson-carrier-strike-group-deployment-extended

AdamG
04-25-2017, 09:37 PM
The Navy would have to spend $102 billion annually build, operate and maintain a 355-ship fleet over the next 30 years, according to a new report from the Congressional Budget Office issued on Monday.
The report, prepared at the request of the House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower and projection forces, outlines cost scenarios in how the Navy buys and maintains the 355-ship fleet the service announced it needed in 2016 – up from its current fleet of 275 ships.
“The cost to build and operate a 355-ship fleet would average $102 billion per year (in 2017 dollars) through 2047, CBO estimates, or more than one-third greater than the amount appropriated for fiscal year 2016 for today’s 275-ship fleet… That amount would be 13 percent more than the $90 billion needed to build and operate the eet envisioned in the Navy’s 2017 shipbuilding plan,” read the report.
“Meeting the 355-ship objective would cost the Navy an average of about $26.6 billion (in 2017 dollars) annually for ship construction, which is more than 60 percent above the average amount the Congress has appropriated for that purpose over the past 30 years.”

https://news.usni.org/2017/04/25/cbo-355-ship-fleet-double-annual-shipbuilding-budget

see also https://news.usni.org/2017/04/25/25316

AdamG
04-25-2017, 09:45 PM
For more than three years now, I've been tracking the U.S. Navy's progress toward building a working electromagnetic railgun prototype -- a Mach 6 cannon reputedly capable of striking targets 110 miles away with pinpoint accuracy.
Each railgun projectile would cost about $25,000 to produce -- and if you're keeping track, then yes, success on the railgun project would yield a weapon boasting nearly twice the 67-mile range of Boeing's (NYSE:BA) Harpoon II missile#but costing just 1/48th the Boeing missile's $1.2 million cost.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/04/22/navys-new-mach-6-em-railgun-almost-ready-for-prime.aspx

AdamG
05-01-2017, 01:39 PM
Old enemies unite: Japan dispatches its biggest warship since WWII to protect a US supply ship from Kim Jong-un's missiles
Izumo, a helicopter carrier, is being sent by Japan to protect a US supply ship
The American vessel is thought to be supplying the USS Carl Vinson strike group#
Deployment marks the first time Japan has used new powers allowing its military to carry out actions that are not strictly in self-defense
Comes as North Korea threatened to carry out a sixth nuclear test at 'any time'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4461920/Japan-sends-biggest-warship-protect-supply-ship.html#ixzz4fpma5j7x

davidbfpo
05-01-2017, 01:57 PM
A curious deployment, which was just in a BBC News report. Why a helicopter carrier to escort a supply ship? Leaving politics aside.

What does this 'helicopter destroyer' contribute: ASW helicopters, SAR, CIWS, radar and the like. See:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JS_Izumo

Is there a NK submarine threat?

Thanks to Google there is another helicopter carrier in Japan, a French Mistral class ship; there for separate multi-national exercises this month at Tinian island. See: https://www.rt.com/news/386592-french-mistral-drill-japan/ or http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39768110

AdamG
05-01-2017, 03:51 PM
Why a helicopter carrier to escort a supply ship?
Is there a NK submarine threat?


Threat? Yes & No.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/north-koreas-submarine-fleet-big-threat-or-big-joke-20300

Meanwhile, back on the real carrier.


During the 2008 financial crisis the theory emerged that certain companies, particularly financial institutions, were “too big to fail.” These firms were considered to be so large and entwined with other companies that their closure would be catastrophic to the entire economy. In today’s Navy, the aircraft carrier has become “too big to sink.” When it functions as designed, it is an extremely powerful platform that has remarkable economies of scale. But carriers are crucial to so many of the fleet’s missions that if the enemy can defeat them, the results would be catastrophic for both the Navy and the nation. The loss of a $12 billion capital ship, more than 5,000 American lives, and a powerful symbol of U.S. military superiority would send shock waves around the world.
Yet the Navy remains blind to the reality that its carriers—by way of destruction, damage, or deterrence from completing their missions—are poised for defeat in battle. By accepting the eventual demise of the carrier, the Navy could accelerate its shift away from a carrier-centric fleet.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-05/too-big-sink

AdamG
05-03-2017, 02:29 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chairman of the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee believes the Navy can reach a 355-ship fleet in the 25- to 30-year timeframe, given industrial base capacity and expected funding levels.
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) told USNI News today that, based on a Congressional Budget Office report, achieving a 355-ship fleet in under 20 years would be impossible due to industrial base capacity, and so the question for lawmakers is now whether they want to aim for a 20-, 25- or 30-year track.
“I believe that we can truly send that signal (to industry) and we can get that production ramped up to where we can get to 355 I think somewhere in the 25- to 30-year timeframe,” Wittman said at an event cohosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute.
After the event, he told USNI News that spending an additional $5 to $6 billion a year above recent averages for shipbuilding would get the Navy to 355 ships in 25 years. While he would like to speed up that timeline a bit, the reality of continuing resolutions, budget caps and other political hurdles may slow the shipbuilding spree to a 25- to 30-year pace instead.


https://news.usni.org/2017/05/02/house-armed-services-committee-looking-25-30-year-pace-reaching-355-ships

AdamG
05-05-2017, 10:02 PM
Plot twist.


China is developing the unique ultra-low altitude anti-ship unmanned vehicle. Details have emerged of new Chinese unmanned ground effect vehicle that would attack enemy surface ships.



The new ultra-low altitude anti-ship unmanned system can fly as low as 50 cm above the sea, can reach a maximum altitude of 3,000 km, along with an endurance of 1.5 hours – depending on the flight profile. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) is 3000 kilograms and can carry a 1000 kg load.

http://defence-blog.com/news/china-develops-advanced-ultra-low-altitude-anti-ship-unmanned-system.html

AdamG
05-05-2017, 10:10 PM
What's a Superpower without redundancy?


“If you do not have presence to exert sovereignty, you’re a paper lion,” the Coast Guard commandant said in explaining why the United States needs to build three heavy and two medium icebreakers to operate in polar regions.
Adm. Paul Zukunft, speaking Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the loss of the service’s current heavy icebreaker#– the 40-year-old USCGC Polar Star#— would leave the U.S. without a key capability.
“It is the one aspect I lose sleep about,” he said.
“There are no heavy icebreakers that we can legitimately lease,” to replace the ship.

https://news.usni.org/2017/05/03/coast-guard-commandant-continues-call-u-s-icebreakers

davidbfpo
05-06-2017, 11:54 AM
Now there's an "Icebreaker Gap", this is ridiculous and little more than advocacy for yet more US$.

There is a simple answer: ask your neighbours for help. No, not Mexico. The Canadian Coast Guard who have both 'heavy' (11k tonnes) and 'Medium' (8.5k tonnes). See:http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/Icebreaking/home

AdamG
05-23-2017, 08:34 PM
PENTAGON: Despite his campaign pledge of a 350-ship fleet, President Trump’s first budget cuts Navy shipbuilding and aircraft procurement below what was enacted in 2017, documents released today reveal. Despite Trump’s criticism of President Obama’s defense plans, this budget sticks with Obama’s shipbuilding plan for 2018: eight ships. And it actually buys eight fewer aircraft than Obama planned.
So we were overly optimistic last week when we predicted Trump would add at least one warship (a $1.8 billion Aegis destroyer) and possibly two (a $550 million Littoral Combat Ship) to the Obama plan. Instead, it adds zip, zero — nada.
Even the mix of types is exactly the same as under Obama:
one aircraft carrier (the future CVN-80, Enterprise);
two attack submarines (Virginia-class SSNs);
two Aegis destroyers (Arleigh Burke-class DDGs);
one Littoral Combat Ship or — if the new class can be started in time — a frigate;
and two support ships (a T-ATS tug/salvage ship and a “T-Interim,” presumably what was previously called the T-AO(X) oiler).
We have heard persistent rumors that OMB director Mick Mulvaney added a second Littoral Combat Ship at the last minute after a working group warned him that buying only a single LCS would shutter one of the two shipyards involved. “There’s a discussion right now on whether or not we add some additional Littoral Combat Ships,” Mulvaney told the Hugh Hewitt Show on May 4th. “We did not add any of those as part of this $21 billion dollar request…The Navy doesn’t want them.”

http://breakingdefense.com/2017/05/no-new-ships-trump-cuts-navy-shipbuilding-aircraft-procurement/

AdamG
05-24-2017, 03:01 PM
Navy Gets 4K More Sailors, Eight More Ships in Budget Request

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/05/23/navy-gets-4k-more-sailors-eight-more-ships-budget-request.html

AdamG
08-21-2017, 12:38 PM
American, Singaporean and Malaysian armed forces on Monday are searching for 10 U.S. sailors missing after an early-morning collision between a Navy destroyer and a tanker near Singapore--the second collision involving a Navy ship in the Asia-Pacific region in two months.
The Navy says five sailors were hurt in Monday's collision between the USS John S. McCain and the 600-foot Alnic MC, an oil and chemical tanker. The four who required additional treatment were taken by helicopter to Singapore, where the McCain had been headed.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/08/21/search-underway-for-10-sailors-after-uss-john-s-mccain-collision-near-singapore-ship-has-significant-damage.html

AdamG
08-21-2017, 12:40 PM
The U.S. Navy has relieved the USS Fitzgerald's commander and two other senior leaders of their duties — and it's also praising the crew for saving their ship after the destroyer collided with a large Philippine-flagged container ship off the coast of Japan on June 17.
"It was also evident from this review that the entire Fitzgerald crew demonstrated real toughness that night," the Navy said. "Following the collision these Sailors responded with urgency, determination and creativity to save their ship."
Inadequate leadership and flawed teamwork contributed to the crash, the Navy said after releasing the findings of its investigation into the crash. It also blamed poor seamanship by the crews of both the guided-missile cruiser and the ACX Crystal, whose gross tonnage was triple that of the U.S. ship.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/18/544387493/uss-fitzgerald-leaders-punished-crew-is-praised-after-collision-with-cargo-ship

? http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?p=208776#post208776

AdamG
08-22-2017, 10:51 AM
The U.S. Navy announced a pause in its global operations and patrols and has begun a broad investigation after the destroyer USS John S. McCain on Monday collided with a merchant vessel, leaving 10 sailors missing, the second such incident in months.
The response by the U.S. military signals the Navy believes it needs to examine whether there may be institutional problems behind the deadly collisions, and that it may need to retrain some of its personnel in seamanship.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-begins-broad-review-of-collisions-with-10-sailors-still-missing-1503329812

AdamG
08-22-2017, 02:45 PM
Damn. Defacto calling the USN a menace to navigation is pejorative.


A Chinese newspaper on Monday castigated the U.S. Navy for being more of a "dangerous obstacle" than a protective force while sailing through Asia-Pacific waters -- the written rebuke coming as the Navy chief ordered a wide investigation of the Pacific Fleet following two recent collisions that left at least seven sailors dead.#
China Daily#published the editorial saying the U.S. Navy, despite its claim to protect the "freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea, is becoming a "hazard" in the region after two significant collisions.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/08/21/china-newspaper-claims-us-navy-is-hazard-in-asian-waters.html

AdamG
08-23-2017, 01:07 AM
WSJ NEWS ALERT: U.S. Navy to Relieve Admiral of Command After Collisions

Note: destroyers are not bumper cars.

Meanwhile, back on the water...


If your ships physically can't leave Pearl or the West Coast, if your crews can't assemble in port, if your C4 systems are hacked then you don't get those pieces to use on the game board. Apples and oranges goes beyond the physical, know what I mean?


The spate of incidents has given rise to speculations that there might be more than human error involved.
“There’s something more than just human error going on because there would have been a lot of humans to be checks and balances,” Jeff Stutzman, an ex-information warfare specialist in the Navy, who now works at a cyber threat intelligence company, told McClatchyDC.
"When you are going through the Strait of Malacca, you can't tell me that a Navy destroyer doesn't have a full navigation team going with full lookouts on every wing and extra people on radar,"#he said.
Itay Glick, the founder of cyber security firm Votiro, told news.com.au that the possibility of cyber interference was the first thing that came to his mind when he heard about the incident.
“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Glick told the website.
“Both USS McCain and USS Fitzgerald were part of the 7th Fleet, there is a relationship between these two events and there may be a connection,” he added.

http://www.ibtimes.com/hacking-may-have-caused-uss-john-s-mccains-collision-say-cyber-experts-2581131?utm_source=internal&utm_campaign=most_read&utm_medium=most_read4

AdamG
08-24-2017, 05:55 PM
Electronics Technician 3rd Class Kenneth Aaron Smith
Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Logan Stephen Palmer
Electronics Technician 3rd Class John Henry Hoagland III
Electronics Technician 3rd Class Dustin Louis Doyon
Electronics Technician 3rd Class Jacob Daniel Drake
Information Systems Technician 2nd Class Timothy Thomas Eckles Jr.
Electronics Technician 2nd Class Kevin Sayer Bushell
Interior Communications Electrician 1st Class Abraham Lopez
Electronics Technician 1st Class Charles Nathan Findley.

Search suspended. Photos here.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-navy-crash-idUSKCN1B40CZ

AdamG
08-26-2017, 09:52 PM
Try to tell people that even in peacetime, .mil can be a lethal job and they look at you funny. A traffic accident in convoy on interstate or negligent discharge or inattentiveness on demo range will kill you as dead as an IED.


The Navy began, as it often does, with accountability: On Wednesday, it fired the three-star admiral whose command in the Western Pacific suffered at least four big accidents this year, two of which may have killed a combined 17 sailors.

Commander Of Navy's 7th Fleet Dismissed After Series Of Ship Mishaps
An officer aboard the destroyer USS Stethem also was lost overboard near the Philippines on Aug. 1.

That compares with 11 service members killed in Afghanistan — details are available from the Military Times and icasualties.org.

http://www.npr.org/2017/08/23/545297589/navy-navigation-bungles-may-have-killed-more-troops-than-afghanistan-so-far-in-2

AdamG
08-30-2017, 11:35 AM
The collision on Monday between a Liberian tanker and a US warship, the latest in a series of incidents in Asia, has provoked questions about possible Chinese involvement.
A former Royal Navy officer said that the movements of the Guang Zhou Wan, a Chinese vessel, could be significant in explaining the fatal crash off Singapore that left at least one sailor dead. A further nine are missing.
Tracking data indicates that the tanker that collided with USS John S. McCain was followed by the Chinese vessel, which appeared to steer out of the way before the incident.
“You get the impression that fleet forces command are going to be looking at wider potential problems — hacking, crew training, how they are navigating, validating of ship-watch standards,” said the former British officer, who declined to be identified.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/the-times/china-suspected-of-being-behind-us-warship-crashes/news-story/11641b92bf9647e0a0de29e471d3b184

AdamG
08-30-2017, 11:37 AM
In office for only 26 days, the 76th Secretary of the Navy visited San Diego on Tuesday, vowing to rush emergency teams to hurricane-ravaged Texas, hike the firepower of the embattled littoral combat ships and solve the problem of warship collisions in the Western Pacific.

Former Wall Street tycoon and Marine aviator Richard V. Spencer also asked Congress to revamp the Budget Control Act of 2011 to restore billions of dollars to the military, hiking the quality of life for troops while prepping them better for combat against increasingly capable foes.


“I think if I had a message to the American taxpayer, I’d like them to pay attention to the Budget Control Act, which has really wreaked havoc on the military,” Spencer said. “We really need to work together to get the resources necessary to provide the quality of life and readiness for our services.”

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-nav-sec-20170825-story.html

AdamG
09-17-2017, 08:33 AM
The military is examining whether compromised computer systems were responsible for one of two U.S. Navy destroyer collisions with merchant vessels that occurred in recent months, Vice Adm. Jan Tighe, the deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, said on Thursday.
Naval investigators are scrambling to determine the causes of the mishaps, including whether hackers infiltrated the computer systems of the USS John S. McCain ahead of the collision on Aug. 21, Tighe said during an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Investigators are not, however, considering the possibility that the USS Fitzgerald collision, which took place on June 17, was the result of hacking. #
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/14/u-s-navy-investigating-if-destroyer-crash-was-caused-by-cyberattack/

AdamG
10-22-2017, 11:02 AM
Off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, U.S. and South Korean Navy ships prepared for an event they hope will never happen: a North Korean land and air attack against their neighbors to the south.
The annual bilateral training exercise called Maritime Counter Special Operations Force involved a U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan and a U.S. destroyer, the USS Stethem, as well as South Korean ships.
ABC News' Martha Raddatz was aboard the Reagan in the Sea of Japan for the exercise this week, as the Trump administration grapples with an increasingly hostile and technologically advanced North Korea.
Rear Adm. Marc Dalton, commander of Navy's carrier strike group in the Pacific, said the U.S. commitment to defending itself and its allies is "enduring."
"This exercise is an example of how we train with our allies in order to be ready to respond to a range of crises," he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/us-navy-prepares-defend-allies-amid-heightened-tensions/story?id=50595652

AdamG
11-01-2017, 03:54 PM
The crew was unprepared for the situation in which they found themselves through a lack of preparation, ineffective command and control, and deficiencies in training and preparations for navigation.”

Navy Collisions That Killed 17 Sailors Were ‘Avoidable,’ Official Inquiry Reports https://nyti.ms/2z34Xz5

AdamG
11-07-2017, 02:39 AM
Rut ro. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXQ_8e63wmE)



Seven out of 11 U.S. nuclear aircraft carriers are underway simultaneously for the first time in several years, USNI News has learned.
Three are on operational deployments in the Western Pacific with full air wings and carrier strike groups — USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).
Four more are out for short training missions as part of training operations or workups ahead of deployments. USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) are operating in the Eastern Pacific. USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) and the Navy’s newest carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) are operating in the Atlantic.
A Navy official confirmed the basic details of the carrier moves on Monday, to USNI News.
The Reagan, Nimitz and Roosevelt strike groups are all operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. Reagan is operating in the Sea of Japan near the Korean peninsula while Nimitz is returning to its homeport at Naval Station Kitsap-Bremerton, Wash. after a deployment to the Persian Gulf to conduct air strike against ISIS targets. Roosevelt deployed from San Diego, Calif. on Oct. 7 set to replace Nimitz as part of the continued U.S. operation against ISIS.

https://news.usni.org/2017/11/06/7-u-s-aircraft-carriers-simultaneously-underway

AdamG
11-18-2017, 01:59 PM
An air crew who used their US Navy warplane to draw a penis in the sky above the town of Okanogan, Washington, this week have been grounded, the US Navy said on Friday.
An electronic warfare plane from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in western Washington state created sky writings in the shape of male genitals in the skies over the rural community on Thursday.
Many residents spotted the contrails in the clear blue skies above the central Washington town of 2,500 people. Witnesses took photos and placed them on social media platforms, where they were widely viewed.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/18/penis-in-the-sky-us-navy-pilots-grounded-over-obscene-drawing

Someone's obviously in the
Danger Zone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyAn3fSs8_A)
https://i.imgur.com/endFkgo.jpg

AdamG
11-18-2017, 02:10 PM
The U.S. Navy announced Friday it will deploy its P-8A Poseidon maritime aircraft to assist in the search for the ARA San Juan, a missing Argentine submarine with 44 crew members aboard.
The submarine was last heard from Wednesday from the southern Argentine sea, 268 miles from the Patagonian coast. It was headed to the coastal city of Mar del Plata in Buenos Aires province, Reuters reported.



The P-8A Poseidon is expected to aid in the search because its technology allows it “to support a wide range of missions over large bodies of water, including sub-surface search-and-rescue operations,” a Navy statement said.
The U.S. also has offered to fly the NASA P-3 explorer aircraft to help in the search, Reuters reported.
Other countries offering assistance include include Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Britain and South Africa.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/11/18/us-navys-new-maritime-aircraft-to-aid-in-search-for-argentine-sub-and-crew.html

AdamG
11-22-2017, 05:26 PM
(CNN)A US Navy plane crashed into the ocean southeast of Okinawa Wednesday afternoon, leaving three people missing in the latest of a string of troubling incidents facing the Navy in waters off East Asia this year.
The C2-A Greyhound transport plane was carrying 11 crew and passengers to an aircraft carrier when it crashed into the Philippine Sea around 2:45 p.m. Japan Standard Time, the Navy said.
Eight people have been rescued and are in good condition aboard the carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, the Navy said in a statement. US and Japanese ships and planes are searching the area for the three people who remain missing.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/22/politics/navy-aircraft-crash/index.html

AdamG
11-24-2017, 10:38 PM
It was a once-in-a-decade display of American firepower.

Three US Navy aircraft carriers -- the largest, most sophisticated warships in history -- assembled off the Korean Peninsula, in a move timed to coincide with US President Donald Trump's first official visit to the region.
But behind the dramatic show of force, questions are emerging as to whether the US Navy is up to the challenges it faces in the Pacific -- from both a nuclear-armed North Korea and a strengthening China -- at a time when its top leaders acknowledge it lacks the money, manpower and weapons to ensure success. And when a massive corruption scandal threatens the ranks of dozens of its top officers.
The three-carrier exercise, conducted in early November with South Korean and Japanese warships, was just one of about 160 multilateral and bilateral exercises performed this year in the area of operations overseen by the Navy's 7th Fleet, a Navy spokesperson told CNN. That's about one exercise every two days.
And the tempo of operations isn't slowing.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/23/politics/us-navy-seventh-fleet-breaking-point/index.html

AdamG
11-29-2017, 12:46 PM
By blogger CDR SALAMANDER

Thursday, November 02, 2017
The FITZGERALD and MCCAIN’s MEMO - The Problem is Us
https://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-fitzgerald-and-mccains-memo-problem.html

AdamG
12-01-2017, 02:44 AM
Navy Lt. Steven Combs determined an emergency landing of his transport plane on the choppy waters of the Philippine Sea was necessary as the aircraft he was piloting failed only miles from the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, according to Navy officials.
The 28-year-old pilot’s decision to land the C-2A Greyhound on the water ultimately saved the lives of eight of the 11 people aboard the aircraft, Combs’ co-pilot told Navy investigators probing the Nov. 22 crash. Combs, Seaman Matthew Chialastri and Seaman Apprentice Bryan Grosso were declared dead in the crash after their bodies were not recovered during a three-day search.
“Lt. Combs’ co-pilot was effusive in his praise. He said, ‘He flew the hell out of that plane,’” Navy Cmdr. Ronald Flanders, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces, told Stars and Stripes. “It was heroic. A remarkable piece of flying that was instrumental in saving eight lives.”
http://taskandpurpose.com/fallen-navy-pilot-flew-hell-plane-saved-lives

AdamG
12-13-2017, 05:41 PM
Lockheed Martin Corp. will deliver its eight remaining Littoral Combat Ships an average of 11 months late, more than twice the five-month delay for rival shipbuilder Austal Ltd., the U.S. Navy estimates.

The contractors build different versions of the ship that’s been criticized for rising costs, equipment breakdowns and potential vulnerability in combat. Now, Austal’s timelier performance may give the Australian company an advantage in the winner-take-all competition for a guided-missile frigate intended as a more robust successor.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-12/lockheed-s-littoral-ships-running-11-months-late-u-s-navy-says

AdamG
12-14-2017, 03:59 AM
CAMP PENDELTON — A war game exercise that deploys a battalion-size air, sea and ground assault is playing out across Marine Corps bases in Southern California this week.
The exercise, which includes more than 20,000 Marines from the 1st Marine Division and more than 600 Marine aviators and their crews, is taking place at San Clemente Island, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Camp Pendleton and at the Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.
It combines the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s “Winter Fury” exercise with the 1st Marine Division’s “Steel Knight” training. Both are held annually to prepare Marines for worldwide threats and to sharpen their skills for upcoming deployments. But the combined exercise is the first in more than a decade, military officials say.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/12/13/marines-practicing-full-scale-air-sea-and-ground-assault-on-southern-california-bases/

AdamG
12-27-2017, 04:58 PM
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/this-is-not-closure-navy-families-want-answers-on-mccain-fitzgerald-deaths/ar-BBH2L2J?li=AA4ZnC&ocid=spartandhp


The grieving parents are questioning the official accounts they've received from the Navy. They say the 72-page report released by the Navy last month puts too much blame on the ship's crew while glossing over problems with training, manpower and maintenance that have plagued the Japan-based 7th fleet for years. And they're angry at what they view as a lack of will in Washington to pay for the demands placed on the military.

AdamG
01-10-2018, 01:44 AM
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Navy’s new class of 20 guided-missile frigates could cost an estimated $950 million per hull, the Naval Sea Systems Command FFG(X) program manager said on Tuesday. That total is more than double the current cost per hull of both variants of the Littoral Combat Ship.
Speaking at the Surface Navy Association 2018 symposium, NAVSEA’s Regan Campbell said the new class of small surface combatant would set a so-called threshold requirement for a net average cost of $950 million for the 2nd through 20th hulls in the FFG(X) next-generation frigate program following a down select to a final shipbuilder in 2020. First-in-class for the new frigate is expected to cost more than the $950 million average.
That number is almost twice the about $460 million per-hull cost of the existing Lockheed Martin Freedom-class (LCS-1) and Austal USA Independence-class (LCS-2) Littoral Combat Ships currently under construction.

https://news.usni.org/2018/01/09/navsea-new-navy-frigate-will-cost-950m-per-hull-double-lcs-cost

and with tongue-in-cheek,
Littoral Combat Ship Actually Figurative Combat Ship (https://www.duffelblog.com/2018/01/littoral-combat-ship-actually-figurative-combat-ship/)

AdamG
01-13-2018, 12:59 AM
USN Office of Naval Intelligence determined that the Argentine submarine San Juan suffered from an internal explosion back on November 15th 2017 and that the death of the 44 crewmembers was instantaneous.

Image of report posted on link below.

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Crew-of-ARA-San-Juan-Died-in-a-Explosion-According-to-Report-20180111-0025.html

Granite_State
01-13-2018, 05:03 AM
https://news.usni.org/2018/01/09/navsea-new-navy-frigate-will-cost-950m-per-hull-double-lcs-cost

and with tongue-in-cheek,
Littoral Combat Ship Actually Figurative Combat Ship (https://www.duffelblog.com/2018/01/littoral-combat-ship-actually-figurative-combat-ship/)

Wow. So much for the FFG(X) band-aid. And I doubt any heads roll over this ongoing disaster, as the taxpayer continues to get gouged. We're a long way from pour encourager les autres...

AdamG
01-17-2018, 01:47 PM
WASHINGTON (CNN) —
The US Navy announced Tuesday that the former commanding officers of the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain -- the ships involved in two deadly 2017 collisions that killed 17 sailors -- will face criminal charges including dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide.

http://www.wcvb.com/article/ex-navy-commanders-face-negligent-homicide-charges-over-deadly-collisions/15286826?src=app

AdamG
01-20-2018, 04:28 AM
The USNS Herschel “Woody” Williams is neither fast nor heavily armed. And while she may look like a commercial cargo ship, the Navy's new vessel is also one of the most useful ships in the entire U.S. military.
Called an “expeditionary mobile base,” the Woody Williams can do just about any job, whether that means supporting a fleet of minesweepers or potentially hosting F-35B Joint Strike Fighters. The Williams was recently christened by builder General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) and is set to join the fleet soon.

One major maritime blog called the USNS Woody Williams “unsexy,” and to be honest it’s not a unfair statement. Call it the cargo pants of boats. The 785-foot long, 164 foot-wide, 90,000-ton ship is based on the civilian Alaska-class oil tanker, also built by NASSCO, and despite the gray paint job it still looks like it. This is where the similarity with an oil tanker ends, however.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a15392206/woody-williams-us-navy-ship/

AdamG
01-21-2018, 02:31 AM
BEIJING: Beijing said on Saturday (Jan 20) it had dispatched a warship to drive away a US missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of Jan 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name.


https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/china-says-us-warship--violated--its-sovereignty-9879894

Bill Moore
01-21-2018, 07:14 PM
I'm belly laughing the Chinese who think that the SCS is their sovereign territory. That is like me claiming Key West is my sovereign territory, regardless of what the law says. Maybe I should go there and try to chase away the Coast Guard boats. It is about time we make some those military bases in the South China Sea simply disappear.

AdamG
01-23-2018, 01:23 PM
A brand-new U.S. Navy warship has not moved from Montreal since Christmas Eve and will spend the winter stuck in Canada due to cold and ice.
The USS Little Rock – unveiled in a ceremony on Dec. 16 in Buffalo, New York and attended by nearly 9,000 people – has not moved far since due to adverse weather conditions that kept the warship trapped at bay in Canada, the Toronto Star reported.
The warship known as a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) cost $440 million to build and stretches 387 feet in length and weighs 15 tons more than the Statue of Liberty. It is capable of traveling more than 46 miles per hour.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/22/brand-new-us-navy-warship-trapped-in-canada-amid-cold-and-ice.html

AdamG
01-23-2018, 01:48 PM
I'm belly laughing the Chinese who think that the SCS is their sovereign territory. That is like me claiming Key West is my sovereign territory, regardless of what the law says. Maybe I should go there and try to chase away the Coast Guard boats. It is about time we make some those military bases in the South China Sea simply disappear.

I'd like to be pithy with a quote about living in *Interesting Times*, but that's culturally inappropriate.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/may-you-live-in-interesting-times.html



HONG KONG/BEIJING, Jan 23 (Reuters) - While the Pentagon plays down patrols close to Chinese-controlled reefs and islands in the South China Sea, Beijing is sounding the alarm about them, seeking to justify what experts say will be an even greater presence in the disputed region.
Chinese officials publicized the latest U.S. "freedom of navigation patrol", protesting the deployment last week of the destroyer USS Hopper to within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal, an atoll west of the Philippines which Beijing disputes with Manila.
It was the second time in recent months that confirmation of a patrol came from Beijing, not Washington, which had previously announced or leaked details.
Bonnie Glaser, a security expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, said while the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump had a policy of keeping the patrols regular but low key, China was willing to publicly exploit them to further their military ends.
"It is difficult to conclude otherwise," she said. "Even as it pushes ahead with these (patrols), I don't think the Trump administration has really come to terms with what it will tolerate from China in the South China Sea, and what it simply won't accept, and Beijing seems to grasp this."
http://news.trust.org/item/20180123063045-8mhe8

For those in the cheap seats or just tuning in, don't miss our (currently 39 page) mega-thread on the Spratly Islands drama.
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=13460

AdamG
02-06-2018, 12:54 PM
The US Navy’s second Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer, the future USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), has successfully concluded its acceptance trials.
http://www.naval-technology.com/news/us-navys-second-zumwalt-class-destroyer-completes-acceptance-trials/



The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of a revolutionary uncrewed surface ship, one capable of traveling long distances and conducting missions all without a human on board. The Sea Hunter Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel—or ACTUV for short—could someday lead to fleets of unmanned warships plying the world’s oceans, doing everything from hunting submarines to acting as spy ships.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a16573306/navy-accept-delivery-actuv-sea-hunter/



SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Navy on Saturday commissioned its newest warship, the USS Omaha, a futuristic, $440 million vessel named for the Nebraska hometown of billionaire Warren Buffett, who was on hand for the ceremony.
The Omaha, a 418-foot-long littoral combat ship, was commissioned at its new home port in San Diego.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/02/04/warren-buffett-on-hand-as-navy-commissions-newest-warship/

AdamG
02-11-2018, 11:03 AM
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Navy is investigating at least a dozen U.S. sailors based in Japan, some serving aboard the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, for suspicion of buying, selling, and using LSD, ecstasy and other drugs, U.S. Navy officials said Friday.
The Navy also is probing whether U.S. sailors were using the internet to buy or sell drugs or were distributing them to local Japanese residents.
The Navy first learned about allegations of widespread drug sales on Feb. 6, when it received a tip about a petty officer third class using drugs, the officials said. He was subsequently detained and released, they said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-navy-probes-suspected-drug-selling-use-among-sailors-in-japan-1518210550

AdamG
02-15-2018, 09:44 PM
In 2017, the Navy saw two deadly ship collisions at sea. First, the destroyer Fitzgerald collided with a container ship near Japan in June, and then again two months later the destroyer John S. McCain collided with an oil tanker near Singapore.
Both incidents were, per comprehensive Navy investigations, due to human error. The findings quieted speculation that a network-based attack could have disabled onboard navigation or other critical systems — but the report didn’t end discussion of the possibilities of such scenarios.
As a result, top Department of Defense leadership ordered new training and safety procedures throughout the Navy; meanwhile, internally, Navy officials called for the service’s key IT and cyber elements to routinely be part of incident investigations in the future.

Navy leaders say the decision to include cyber elements in the incident investigation is a sign of the service’s greater emphasis on stitching together operational domains.
The goal is to better equip naval forces to take on emerging threats and a changing threat landscape, regardless of location or specific mission.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/it-networks/2018/02/07/navys-new-weapon-of-choice-information/



Feb. 6 (UPI) -- BAE Systems announced Tuesday that it was selected by the U.S. Navy to provide equipment and support services for Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic.
The contract will support the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic's Joint Warfare Support Division to "field, adapt, and optimize a variety of mission critical surveillance and sensor systems."

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2018/02/06/BAE-contracted-to-support-Space-and-Naval-Warfare-Systems-Center/7411517947621/

AdamG
02-22-2018, 11:10 AM
The U.S. Navy has sent a missile destroyer to Europe’s Black Sea to join another warship, the USS Ross, in a move that risks irking Russia once again. Moscow has persistently objected to Western military activities in the waters, on whose shore sits Crimea—the peninsula Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. :rolleyes:

http://www.newsweek.com/us-navy-sends-two-warships-black-sea-risking-russias-anger-814785

AdamG
02-27-2018, 04:35 PM
Lasers-n-railguns, oh my.


DAHLGREN, Va. – The Navy dedicated and named its electromagnetic railgun lines in honor of two public servants who envisioned, nurtured, and laid the foundation for the U.S. Navy’s Electromagnetic Railgun Program at a ceremony held in their honor, Feb. 22.

Posters and plaques commemorating the naming of the railgun lines for Adm. James Hogg (ret.) and Dr. Hans Mark were unveiled at the event and will be on permanent display to honor their efficacy and vision as the Navy continues working to push this revolutionary warfighting capability forward.

http://www.navsea.navy.mil/Media/News/Article/1451603/navy-railgun-lines-named-for-two-electromagnetic-railgun-visionaries-at-ceremony/


The Navy proposed spending $299 million in Fiscal Year 2019 on laser systems to protect ships against current and anticipated future threats, as part of a rapid prototyping, experimentation and demonstration initiative.
For nearly a decade, the Navy has considered laser technology a more cost-efficient and effective tool to protect ships from emerging threats such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and small patrol craft that could swarm a surface ship, according to a Congressional Research Service report, Navy Lasers, Railgun, and Hypervelocity Projectile: Background and Issues for Congress.
The Navy wants to move development of lasers a step closer to deployment, according to budget documents released by the Navy earlier this month.
https://news.usni.org/2018/02/26/laser_weapons_usnavy_330m

AdamG
03-05-2018, 07:34 PM
DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - A U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in Vietnam on Monday for the first time since the end of the Vietnam War, dramatically underscoring the growing strategic ties between the former foes at a time when China’s regional influence is rising. The imposing grey silhouette of the USS Carl Vinson could be seen from the cliff tops just outside the central Vietnamese city of Danang, where the 103,000-tonne carrier and two other U.S. ships begin a five-day visit.

https://in.reuters.com/article/usa-vietnam-carrier-vietnam/u-s-carrier-arrives-in-vietnam-amid-rising-chinese-influence-in-region-idINKBN1GH0SF

AdamG
03-06-2018, 03:22 PM
The F-35B Lightning II landed aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp on March 5, the first time the aircraft has deployed aboard a U.S. Navy ship in the Indo-Pacific.
Assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Okinawa, Japan, the F-35B will aid the Expeditionary Strike Group in a routine patrol to strengthen regional alliances and provide rapid-response capabilities.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/03/05/f-35b-lands-aboard-amphib-for-first-indo-pacific-deployment-on-navy-ship/



WASHINGTON — As the production rate of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 joint strike fighter goes up, the company is wrestling with quality escapes involving the jet’s low observability features, which now amount to about half of all defects on the aircraft, the company’s vice president of the program revealed Monday.
Last week, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, the head of the government’s F-35 Joint Program Office, slammed Lockheed for what he sees as its too-slow progress on eliminating so-called “quality escapes”— errors made by Lockheed’s workforce that could include drilling holes that are too big or installing a dinged part.
While those errors are minor, the rework done to bring the plane up to requirements is driving up the amount of money and time spent producing an airplane, Winter said.
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/03/06/stealth-features-responsible-for-half-of-f-35-defects-lockheed-program-head-states/

AdamG
03-20-2018, 05:43 AM
The U.S. Navy's Newest Nuclear Sub Uses an Xbox Controller for Key Operations
http://time.com/5205721/uss-colorado-submarine-xbox-controllers/

AdamG
03-26-2018, 04:56 PM
Beijing insists it has no hostile intent, but its sabre-rattling in the busy South China Sea, and around Taiwan, has touched a nerve in the region and in Washington.

In a “freedom of navigation” operation on Friday, a US Navy destroyer came within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island China has built in the South China Sea, provoking condemnation from Beijing, which claims most of the strategic waterway.

Zeng said it was not possible to single out any one trigger for the air force drills, saying there could be a number of political or diplomatic motivations behind such an unusually large mission.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2138792/chinese-air-force-jets-bombers-drill-over-south-china

AdamG
04-15-2018, 12:47 PM
As images of sick or dying children flooded global media all week, the U.S. guided-missile destroyer USS Winston Churchill churned toward the Mediterranean to join a flotilla of allied warships, including another U.S. destroyer, the USS Donald Cook.

It was a ruse.

While both vessels carry as many as 90 Tomahawk missiles -- the main weapon used in the Friday evening strike on Syria -- neither ship in the end fired a shot. Instead, according to a person familiar with White House war planning, they were part of a plan to distract Russia and its Syrian ally from an assault Assad’s government could do little to defend itself against.


As the president addressed the nation at 9 p.m. Washington time, on Friday, a barrage of 105 U.S., U.K. and French missiles converged on Syria. They came from the Red Sea, the Arabian Gulf and the Mediterranean, homing in from three directions to overwhelm whatever missile defenses Assad’s regime might deploy. Russia’s more advanced air defense system didn’t engage the allied weapons.

According to the Pentagon, the allied weaponry included 19 new “Extended-Range” stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Attack Munitions launched by two B-1B bombers based out of Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and six Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from the Virginia-class USS John Warner submarine. The bomber-launched missiles, built by Lockheed Martin Corp., had never been used in combat.


The cruiser USS Monterey fired 30 Tomahawks and the destroyer USS Laboon fired seven Tomahawks from the Red Sea. The destroyer USS Higgins fired 23 Tomahawks from the North Arabian Gulf, according to McKenzie.

The weapons also included French SCALP-EG cruise missiles and British Storm Shadow standoff missiles launched by Tornado and Typhoon jets. Nine SCALP missiles were fired at what the Pentagon said was a chemical weapons storage complex at Hims-Shinshar, along with two SCALPS, nine Tomahawks and eight Storm Shadows.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-14/warship-ruse-and-new-stealth-missiles-how-they-attacked-syria

omarali50
04-16-2018, 06:06 PM
can anyone explain why so many missiles struck just 3 targets? and why the reported damage is relatively low? were a number shot down enroute (as the Russians are claiming)? All in all, it looks like a very expensive way to send a signal, no?

AdamG
04-18-2018, 01:46 AM
Take due note, peanut gallery - this is the sort of cards we have had in our deck.


The hero commercial pilot who safely landed a Boeing 737 full of passengers after shrapnel from an engine explosion breached the cabin was an ace Navy pilot and one of the first women to take the yoke of an F/A-18 fighter jet, according to reports.

Southwest Airlines pilot Tammie Jo Shults, 56, kept cool Tuesday as she brought Flight 1380 down for an emergency landing in Philadelphia when an engine exploded mid-air, according to passengers’ social media.

https://nypost.com/2018/04/17/hero-pilot-who-landed-southwest-flight-was-a-navy-jet-fighter/

AdamG
04-18-2018, 01:46 AM
can anyone explain why so many missiles struck just 3 targets? and why the reported damage is relatively low? were a number shot down enroute (as the Russians are claiming)? All in all, it looks like a very expensive way to send a signal, no?

Don't believe everything you read.

AdamG
04-20-2018, 03:36 PM
First look: Super smart LRASM missiles that can obliterate enemies

Stronger, faster and technologically smarter, here's a look at Long range anti surface missiles. These "super" missiles can be fired from the air or sea and is poised to deliver far more damage.


http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/04/19/meet-us-militarys-warship-killer-these-new-missiles-will-sink-enemy-ships.html

AdamG
05-01-2018, 01:18 AM
Writing in the Naval Institute’s “Proceedings” magazine this month, Aucoin takes issue with how Navy leadership characterized the shortcomings in a comprehensive review and strategic readiness review done in the wake of the disasters. “The Comprehensive Review (CR), Strategic Review (SR), and some media reporting could lead one to the impression my staff and I were oblivious to or unconcerned about the manning, training, and maintenance deficiencies affecting my ships and their ability to carry out their assigned missions,” Aucoin writes. “That was not the case.”

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/04/27/fired-7th-fleet-admiral-speaks-out-on-what-caused-the-fitzgerald-and-mccain-collisions

AdamG
05-05-2018, 06:05 AM
Washington (CNN) Amid heightened tensions with Russia, the US Navy announced Friday the re-establishment of the US Second Fleet which will be responsible for Naval forces along the East Coast and in the northern Atlantic Ocean. The areas are seen as critical to counter the rising threat of Russia and the new US defense strategy that focuses more on great power rivalry, according to multiple US defense officials.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/politics/us-navy-second-fleet-russia-tensions/index.html

AdamG
05-15-2018, 12:51 PM
The escalating territorial disputes in the Pacific between China and America’s allies create an ever-more-urgent need for U.S. sea power. But even as China rapidly expands and modernizes its navy, the Trump administration has not proposed enough funds to maintain America’s maritime advantage. Beginning with the coming 2019 federal budget, the president and Congress must commit to funding a full, modern fleet—or risk ceding essential U.S. and allied interests.


Adm. Phil Davidson, nominated to lead the U.S. Pacific Command, told the Senate in April: China “is no longer a rising power but an arrived great power and peer competitor.” He added that “China has undergone a rapid military modernization over the last three decades and is approaching parity in a number of critical areas; there is no guarantee that the United States would win a future conflict with China.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-cant-afford-to-cede-the-seas-1526338043

AdamG
06-03-2018, 08:12 PM
Competition is heating up in the race to build the Navy’s next warship, with foreign and U.S. manufacturers vying for a multibillion-dollar opportunity.

In February, the Navy announced it had shortlisted five shipbuilders for the FFG(X) program, which calls for a replacement for the littoral combat ship.

Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Huntington Ingalls, Austal and Fincantieri were awarded research-and-development contracts this year, and the service expects to pick a single company to oversee the program in 2020.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/italian-manufacturer-wants-to-help-build-that-bigger-us-navy-fleet/2018/06/03/10c67964-65b5-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html

AdamG
06-07-2018, 01:09 PM
This is exactly how you wind up with Iron Bottom Sound Part II, should events on the world stage go South.



WASHINGTON — A three-month internal review conducted by senior U.S. surface fleet leaders found some or significant concerns with the ship handling skills of nearly 85 percent of its junior officers, and that many struggled to react decisively to extricate their ship from danger when there was an immediate risk of collision, according to an internal message obtained by Defense News.

Led by the Surface Warfare Officer School, officer of the deck competency checks were conducted on a random selection of OOD-qualified first-tour division officers (the newest officers in the fleet) in underway bridge navigation simulators fleet-wide between January and March. Of the 164 officers who were evaluated, only 27 passed with “no concerns.” Another 108 completed with “some concerns,” and 29 had “significant concerns,” according to the message, which was released by the Navy’s top surface warfare officer Vice Adm. Richard Brown.

Brown, who leads Naval Surface Force Pacific, termed the results “sobering.”
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/06/06/troubling-us-navy-review-finds-widespread-shortfalls-in-basic-seamanship/

AdamG
06-08-2018, 02:15 PM
Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science has been awarded a $1.25 million grant by the United States Office of Naval Research (ONR) to undertake research in support of autonomous unmanned marine vehicle platforms for coastal surveillance, coastal surveys, target tracking and protection of at-sea assets. The five-year project will entail developing unmanned surface vehicles that serve as "motherships" for unmanned underwater vehicles and aerial drones, thereby enabling multi-vehicle, multi-domain capability that may serve as a mobile coastal monitoring system, as well as training and education of graduate and undergraduate students in ocean engineering.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/fau-fa052218.php

AdamG
06-08-2018, 07:44 PM
Chinese government hackers have compromised the computers of a Navy contractor, stealing massive amounts of highly sensitive data related to undersea warfare — including secret plans to develop a supersonic anti-ship missile for use on U.S. submarines by 2020, according to American officials.
The breaches occurred in January and February, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The hackers targeted a contractor who works for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, a military organization headquartered in Newport, R.I., that conducts research and development for submarines and underwater weaponry.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/china-hacked-a-navy-contractor-and-secured-a-trove-of-highly-sensitive-data-on-submarine-warfare/2018/06/08/6cc396fa-68e6-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html

AdamG
07-10-2018, 12:46 AM
"our business is inherently dangerous "


A U.S. sailor assigned to guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) has died from injuries following a Sunday small-boat incident in the Red Sea, Navy officials confirmed to USNI News on Monday. The Navy on Monday evening identified the sailor as 23-year-old Ensign Sarah Mitchell, of Feasterville, Penn.

“The sailor was medically evacuated to a hospital in Aqaba, Jordan, and was pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m., local time,” reads a statement from U.S. 5th Fleet provided to USNI News. There is no evidence of foul play and the sailor died in a “non-hostile” environment, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Rob Manning told reporters on Monday. The Navy will identify the sailor following family notification.

https://news.usni.org/2018/07/09/uss-jason-dunham-sailor-dies-following-small-boat-accident-red-sea

AdamG
07-16-2018, 12:08 PM
Reference the death of Ensign Sarah Mitchell, from a former SWO;

A painful and interesting article in a recent Naval Proceedings stated that they shut the Surface Warfare Officer School down years ago. Now the Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) have to learn their job with OJT and with a box of DVDs. That is like learning to fly a plane as you fall to the ground. Plus, I am sure she had about 2 to 4 hours of sleep in the last 24. What could possibly go wrong!!!!!!

There is a Special place in Hell for those who set the conditions sending out our people improperly trained.

Meanwhile, "priorities" -


The United States Navy is giving female service members more choices with the shape and look of their hair. The Navy has approved changes to let servicewomen wear a ponytail or have other hairstyles. The new rules – announced during a Facebook Live event – went into effect on Wednesday. The Navy has long barred females from letting their hair down, including tying long hair in a ponytail. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson said the changes aim to make the Navy a more “inclusive team.”

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/us-navy-gives-women-permission-to-let-their-hair-down/4480179.html

AdamG
07-16-2018, 12:11 PM
The U.S. Navy says that it has likely hit the limit of what it can do with the Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyer design and isn’t sure if the hullform will be a useful starting place in any way as it begins developing a follow-on class of ships. This could have ramifications for the final shape and construction of the service’s future Large Surface Combatant, a prospective design packed with energy-hungry advanced radars and other electronics, directed energy weapons, and railguns, which could eventually replace both its older DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers and its Ticonderoga-class cruisers.

On July 11, 2018, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral William Galinis, head of the service’s Program Executive Office Ships, offered these and other new details about the project at a Navy League-hosted breakfast. The Large Surface Combatant, or LSC, is part of a broader fleet transformation effort that also includes the Navy’s future frigate, also known as FFG(X), and unmanned surface vessels.

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/22138/the-navy-may-use-one-hull-design-to-replace-its-cruisers-and-some-destroyers

Tangential and interesting piece by Craig Hooper


Asia is in the midst of a naval renaissance. But this renaissance has failed to lead to widespread adoption of Japanese and South Korean warship designs in the West. Why?

Not that there haven’t been opportunities for hybridization. But the American FFG(X) program is full of European designs, the Australian Navy has rebuilt their Navy using European designs. Even the Tide-class AEGIR replenishment ships are–despite being built at the master South Korean merchant-ship builder Daewoo–based on a BMT design that is, well, British. Japanese and South Korean designs simply aren’t there. http://nextnavy.com/is-the-west-ignoring-asian-naval-architecture/

AdamG
08-31-2018, 08:47 AM
WASHINGTON — U.S. Navy sailors seized more than 1,000 AK-47s from a small, disabled boat in the Gulf of Aden this week after boarding the vessel to determine its nation of origin, service officials said Thursday.

Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Jason Dunham on Monday observed unmarked packages being transferred onto a skiff from a small, masted sailing vessel, known as a "dhow." U.S. sailors boarded the craft Tuesday to investigate, according to Navy officials. The skiff was sailing in international waters near Yemen without flying a country’s flag and determined to be “stateless,” the officials said.

https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/navy-seizes-1-000-ak-47s-after-boarding-stateless-vessel-near-yemen-1.545177

AdamG
09-08-2018, 09:08 PM
Interesting commentary on the USS Fitzgerald incident, from back in June.

http://theothermccain.com/2018/06/17/tip-pentagon-covering-up-fact-that-female-officers-nearly-sank-navy-ship/

AdamG
10-02-2018, 02:50 AM
General Dynamics Corp.’s GD business unit, Bath Iron Works (BIW), recently secured a multi-year contract for manufacturing four DDG 51 class ships. Work related to the deal is scheduled to be completed by June 2028.

Details of the Deal

Valued at $3.9 billion, the contract was awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C. Per the terms of the deal, Bath Iron may also provide engineering change proposals, design budgeting requirements and post-delivery availabilities. On execution of these options, the cumulative value of the contract will reach $4 billion.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/general-dynamics-wins-4b-navy-151003764.html

AdamG
10-22-2018, 07:41 PM
Thanks, Trudeau.

Canada installs Chinese underwater monitoring devices next to US nuclear submarine base
Ocean Network Canada confirms addition of hi-tech sensors built by Chinese scientists to its marine observatories in Pacific Ocean
US state department has ‘nothing to say’ on matter
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2169474/canada-installs-chinese-underwater-monitoring-devices-next-us

AdamG
10-22-2018, 07:42 PM
Navy carrier aviation is back in the Arctic Circle for the first time in nearly 30 years, the latest sign that the Pentagon is looking to flex its muscles during an era of great power competition.

The Harry S. Truman entered the Norwegian Sea on Friday, the first flattop to do so since September 1991, according to a U.S. 6th Fleet press release.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/10/19/the-navy-sends-a-carrier-back-to-russias-arctic-haunts/

AdamG
10-23-2018, 12:12 PM
Russia says it will block any attempt by Ukraine to host military drills in the Sea of Azov, a strategic waterway where Kiev could soon be operating two newly acquired American warships. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said a bilateral treaty with Ukraine prohibits military drills in the area around Azov without a green light from Moscow.
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2018/10/russia-warns-sea-of-azov-off-limits-to-us-nato-ship-drills/

AdamG
10-26-2018, 10:11 PM
A suspicious incident occurred Friday when two armed Iranian vessels approached the USS Essex with a top U.S. general on board. Gen. Joseph Votel, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) commander, was aboard the amphibious assault ship to observe flight operations when two Iranian fast-attack boats approached – one crossing in front of the Essex and the other traveling along its side, the Associated Press reported Friday.

“I really appreciate you arranging for the Iranians to be here,” Votel said, jokingly, to crew members aboard the Essex.

The Essex was on a routine patrol mission in the southern Persian Gulf. Votel was unsurprised by the Iranians’ presence, as they noticed the Essex’s presence and questioned it over radio traffic.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2018/10/iran-attack-boats-threaten-us-warship-carrying-centcom-commander-gen-votel

AdamG
11-07-2018, 12:16 AM
Fourteen sailors from the nuclear reactor department of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan face disciplinary action in connection to LSD abuse, Navy officials confirmed this week. Two sailors are already heading to court-martial for using, possessing and distributing the hallucinogenic drug, while three are waiting to see whether they will be charged as well, according to 7th Fleet spokesman Lt. Joe Keiley.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/11/06/officials-ronald-reagan-lsd-probe-bigger-than-you-think-14-nuke-sailors-snagged/

AdamG
11-07-2018, 08:07 PM
A problem with Columbia-class submarine missile tube welds is more serious than initially thought, causing the contractor responsible to set aside $27 million to cover repair work that is expected to take nearly a year.

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/07/columbia-class-missile-tube-weld-issues-to-cost-27-million-take-year-to-fix?fbclid=IwAR0eL1wY6lD7A4-GujI5MczL2NyJRUivyB7G8X_-dsrmccaKwHEC8uP-j3E

AdamG
11-15-2018, 12:56 PM
Scary fiction thread
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?27413-How-We-Lost-the-Great-Pacific-War-PROCEEDINGS-Magazines-May-2018&p=212439#post212439

AdamG
12-01-2018, 10:02 PM
Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearney, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found dead his quarters in Bahrain on Saturday, according to a statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. “The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Bahraini Ministry of Interior are cooperating on the investigation, but at this time no foul play is suspected,” read a statement from Richardson


https://news.usni.org/2018/12/01/breaking-u-s-5th-fleet-commander-found-dead-bahrain?fbclid=IwAR38TCN-y15NtiI7RWZLRS16ennzCRg4kpX_xaxaS3JJmWWzaL1I_BQqYw 4

AdamG
12-14-2018, 01:48 PM
USN can't go some places with USCG icebreakers, so...


The Homeland Security funding bill that includes the $5 billion requested by President Trump for his proposed border wall would scrap a program to expand the U.S. icebreaker presence in the Arctic. The Senate version of the funding bill and an earlier version passed by the House Appropriations Committee both include $750 million for the program, but the current House version of the funding bill does not include money for the icebreaker program. Some lawmakers have blasted the funding being stripped out of the House bill, which includes the full amount requested by Trump for his border wall. The $750 million would restart the construction program and get the first new icebreaker in the Arctic operational.

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/421314-house-funding-bill-scraps-arctic-icebreaker-program

AdamG
12-30-2018, 03:24 AM
In November, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event in Papua New Guinea (PNG) that the United States would partner with the Oceania state and Australia to develop a joint naval base on PNG’s Manus Island. His remarks came amid talk of China extending its Belt and Road Initiative into the southern Pacific, including investing in and developing ports in PNG. Pence’s announcement sparked much activity among the geopolitical commentariat, who watch closely every move by Beijing in what many consider “debt-trap diplomacy.”

What has not been reported or written on as much, however, is the strategic military dimension of the Manus deal that could expand the island’s Lombrum Naval Base currently used by the PNG Defence Force.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-12/strategic-significance-manus-island-us-navy?fbclid=IwAR2HL29JG24WiamvpiZoMgJkiPaljJ8iuku6 ZzyHCSezss9VlcrkNx5CjuU

AdamG
01-05-2019, 12:24 AM
The U.S. Navy’s current fleet design does not match today’s conditions, much less those expected over the next 20 years. Today’s fleet—a mix of ship types that are simply evolutionary improvements and larger versions of designs from two or more decades ago—is too small, and the ships on average are too large. It is time for the Navy to make broad, significant changes in the fleet’s design.

The rapid rise of global connectedness—and the technological progress and proliferation that it has sparked—raises new challenges for designing a fleet with the capabilities required to execute its missions across the globe. The ability to detect warships at long ranges or even globally is no longer a U.S. monopoly. Commercial space sensors are burgeoning, and their data is available in the marketplace. Many nations have sophisticated military space programs, distributed networked sensor fields, and long-range unmanned aerial vehicles that can search far from shore. Sensor capability is advancing faster than the ability to elude detection. Long-range precision-guided weapons are proliferating and can be brought to bear in numbers against what these sensor systems detect. Weapon speed is increasing while weapon signature is decreasing.

The current fleet was not designed with this threat environment, where losses likely will be significant, in mind. The fleet concentrates too much capability in too few manned hulls that are too large. Not enough are forward deployed to provide sufficient firepower to achieve warfighting success. And the fleet is too expensive per unit to be able to afford enough capacity to meet global requirements and wartime resiliency.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2019-01/redesign-fleet?fbclid=IwAR1d6pdWvpq2eWhRdqfd7g0b5ewjazrV58b h_rZfhAYs3qDAgYmzonMQnn0

Bill Moore
01-05-2019, 08:14 PM
Adam,

If this article is correct, then are just pissing money away by investing in capital ships that need to be manned by thousands of sailors. Since adversary sensor and long range targeting capabilities are increasing according to the article, would be better off cutting the capital ships by at a least a third and invest in unmanned vessels that are "relatively" much less expensive (certainly less expensive overtime considering the cost of manning ships) and easy to mass reduce to replace war time losses? The services can be incredibly innovative, but they don't have the moral courage to innovate themselves out of their current molds. The proposed change, admittedly somewhat flippant coming from a ground pounder, would be a huge change that would have significant repercussions across the force. Instead of Navy Aviators dominating the top leadership positions, we would see ADMs who commanded unmanned vessels and fleets emerge to the top. Crazy talk I know.

AdamG
01-05-2019, 10:04 PM
Adam,
Crazy talk I know.

If the enemies and scenarios of the day after tomorrow aren't defined at the start, I raise an eyebrow.

AdamG
01-05-2019, 10:06 PM
Washington (CNN)The terrorist behind the 2000 attack on the USS Cole is believed to have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen on Tuesday, according to a US administration official. Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi was an al Qaeda operative who the US believes helped orchestrate the October 12, 2000, attack on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors.
The official said all intelligence indicators show al-Badawi was killed in a strike in Yemen as a result of a joint US military and intelligence operation.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/04/politics/uss-cole-al-badawi-killed/index.html?no-st=1546725552

No Quarter.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WVQeQRpACCQ/WAV7x13CGpI/AAAAAAAADTc/Zy_mvS9yS4AQGq-5qUe_6Ict6Ihp2B2OwCLcB/s1600/112.1.jpg

For those too young to remember, this was an unprovoked attack - the mess deck was driven upwards by the force of the blast and crushed many of the 17 casualties as they were sitting down to a meal.

https://www.911memorial.org/uss-cole-bombing

https://gcaptain.com/cole-ddg-tribute-crew-lost-years/

AdamG
01-08-2019, 10:03 PM
The U.S. Navy, without fanfare or notice, tested a new weapon last summer that could revolutionize surface warfare. The hyper velocity projectile (HVP) is a Mach 3 shell fired from existing guns on cruisers and destroyers. A guided projectile, HVP can drop high explosives on enemies on the ground up to three times as far as conventional ship gun ammo with a high rate of precision. It can also intercept incoming anti-ship missiles, providing an economical alternative to increasingly expensive anti-missile interceptors.

According to USNI News, the guided missile destroyer USS Dewey fired 20 new HVP projectiles during the 2018 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercises. Although the test was unclassified it was not reported at the time by the U.S. Navy. It was the first known use of HVPs at sea by a warship.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a25804867/us-navy-hvp-heavy-gun-shells-rimpac/

AdamG
01-10-2019, 02:58 PM
Bonus - OSINT via Social Media.*


The USS Fort McHenry is the first U.S. ship to enter the Black Sea since a naval standoff between Russian and Ukrainian forces near the annexed Crimea Peninsula in November. Romanian and U.S. officials say the dock-landing ship arrived at the port of Constanta on January 7 and will remain there until January 10. It will then hold joint sea maneuvers with a Romanian frigate in territorial and international waters. It wasn't immediately clear how many U.S. military personnel were involved.

https://www.rferl.org/a/us-warship-romania-black-sea/29696810.html



Ex-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst earlier called weak the Western response to Russia's November 25 attack on Ukrainian naval boats, suggesting this would give Putin a green light for further escalation. The diplomat suggested that the U.S. provide Ukraine with a number of specific weapons to bolster its coastline defenses against Russian aggression.


A warship of Russia's Northern fleet entered the Black Sea on Wednesday, January 9. The vessel in question is the Severomorsk (619) anti-submarine Udaloy-class destroyer, according to Andriy Klymenko, an expert with the Ukraine-based Maidan of Foreign Affairs Foundation. "For the first time since the start of Crimea occupation, a warship of the Russian Northern fleet – not just a landing ship of another fleet but the one that is part of the Russian navy's main strike force – has entered the Black Sea waters," * the expert wrote on Facebook, also posting the relevant photos of the destroyer.

https://www.unian.info/politics/10402719-russia-deploys-northern-fleet-s-warship-to-black-sea-photo.html

AdamG
02-11-2019, 04:20 AM
Analysis of an accident


The Fitzgerald had been steaming on a secret mission to the South China Sea when it was smashed by a cargo ship more than three times its size.The 30,000-ton MV ACX Crystal gouged an opening bigger than a semitruck in the starboard side of the destroyer. The force of the collision was so great that it sent the 8,261-ton warship spinning on a 360-degree rotation through the Pacific.

https://features.propublica.org/navy-accidents/uss-fitzgerald-destroyer-crash-crystal/

davidbfpo
02-11-2019, 09:30 AM
AdamG,

A friend forwarded the link to this accident and it is a grim reading in places. It appears that those who ordered the ship to sea will avoid any repercussions.

A RN ship, the Antarctic patrol ship, HMS Endurance had an accident and the Officer in Charge (not the Captain who was on Xmas leave) has written two articles on their experience (a third has yet to appear). There was a National Geographic documentary on their patrol, but has yet to be found (which he explains in Part Two).

Part One:https://wavellroom.com/2018/12/16/mayday-in-magellan-leadership-lessons-on-flooded-hms-endurance/

Part Two:https://wavellroom.com/2019/01/05/mayday-in-the-magellan-part-2-priorities/

AdamG
02-12-2019, 02:37 PM
Carrier Strike Group 4 Is Jamming GPS Across U.S. Southeast Coast


GPS has become increasingly important to our lives. Not only do Waze, Uber, and many other applications heavily rely on global positioning system. Our cellular networks rely on GPS clocks, banking systems, financial markets, and power grids all depend on GPS for precise time synchronization. In the finance sector, GPS-derived timing allows for ATM, credit cards transactions to be timestamped. Computer network synchronization, digital TV and radio, as well as IoT (Internet of Things) applications also rely on GPS-clock and geo-location services.

In an operational environment jamming GPS signals represents both a threat and an important capability. In addition to serving an important purpose in navigation on land, sea and in the air, GPS also provides targeting capability for precision weapons along with many other tactical and strategic purposes.

For this reason, the U.S. military frequently trains to deny or degrade GPS signals on a large-scale.
https://theaviationist.com/2019/02/08/basically-carrier-strike-group-4-is-jamming-gps-across-u-s-southeast-coast

AdamG
02-27-2019, 11:21 AM
CAPITOL HILL – The Navy is short about 6,200 sailors to meet its at-sea requirements for its current force, and that gap could grow as the service adds new ships to the fleet, the head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command told a House panel on Tuesday.

Those sailors will, in part, be used to plus-up crew numbers on each surface ship after the Navy had previously gone to a lower “optimal manning” crew size to save personnel costs, Adm. Chris Grady told a combined hearing before the House Armed Services readiness and seapower and projection forces subcommittees.

https://news.usni.org/2019/02/26/fleet-forces-navy-short-6200-at-sea-sailors-now-to-meet-new-manning-requirements

AdamG
03-08-2019, 10:33 AM
The top American officer in Europe wants two more destroyers stationed in his area of responsibility and a “better pace” of carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups moving through the region, he said during a Tuesday hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti said the two destroyers would supplement the four already forward stationed in Rota, Spain. The increased presence of large warships would send a message to allies and to Moscow that NATO is able to deter and counter “an evolving and modernizing Russian fleet.” https://news.usni.org/2019/03/05/eucom-wants-more-destroyers-expanded-aircraft-carrier-presence-to-deter-russia

AdamG
03-08-2019, 10:34 AM
(Washington, D.C.) The increasing global reach of Chinese nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines, armed with JL-2 weapons reportedly able to hit parts of the US, continues to inspire an ongoing Navy effort to accelerate production of attack submarines, prepare long-dwell drones for deployment to the Pacific and continue acquisition of torpedo-armed sub-hunting planes such as the P-8/A Poseidon.

Seeking to overcome the Pacific’s “tyranny of distance” dispersed geography, and track China’s expanding fleet of submarines, the Navy is working with Congress to produce as many as three Virginia-class submarines per year, moving beyond the current plan to build two. In the air, the Navy has been moving to place its new Triton sea drones in Guam and has recently awarded Boeing a $2.4 billion deal to produce 19 more P-8A Poseidon surveillance and attack planes.

Given the Poseidon’s role as a high-tech surveillance aircraft, known for capturing video of Chinese phony island building in the South China Sea (land reclamation) several years ago, it takes little imagination to envision ways its advanced sensors, sonobuoys and weapons could function as part of a containment strategy against Chinese expansion - - and even operate as a deterrent against China’s growing fleet of nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines (SSBN).

https://defensemaven.io/warriormaven/sea/navy-torpedo-armed-poseidon-spy-planes-track-china-s-nuclear-armed-submarines

AdamG
03-11-2019, 11:11 PM
President Donald Trump released his Fiscal Year 2020 budget priorities Monday, which includes several Navy programs he intends to fund in his $718-billion Department of Defense budget request.

The White House request includes adding a third Virginia-class attack submarine to the Navy’s planned FY 2020 purchase and a third Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. The request also steers money toward improving aviation readiness, ship readiness and recruitment and retention activities, according to the White House budget summary.

The addition of a third attack submarine to the budget was welcomed by Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.), who chairs the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee and whose district includes one of two submarine construction yards.

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/11/white-houses-navy-priorities-outlined-budget-summary

AdamG
03-11-2019, 11:14 PM
Nuclear powers rarely go to war with each other, but that doesn’t mean they don’t threaten to do so. Indeed, military posturing is an integral part of what Forrest Morgan, an analyst for the RAND Corporation, called “crisis stability.” In other words, “building and posturing forces in ways that allow a state, if confronted, to avoid war without backing down.”

*

On the other hand, the U.S. Navy’s submarine-launched cruise missiles are less effective — even counterproductive — for crisis stability … because they’re invisible most of the time. “SLCMs could contribute to the instability,” Morgan wrote. “[T]he opponent’s anxieties might be magnified by the ability of SSGNs [cruise missile subs] to posture in stealth nearby.”

But Morgan pointed out one instance when the Navy’s Ohio-class SSGNs actually did help stabilize a crisis back in 2010 — a feat mostly lost to history. “In July 2010, three SSGNs surfaced nearly simultaneously in Western Pacific and Indian Ocean waters, allegedly to signal U.S. displeasure over Chinese missile tests in the East China Sea.”

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/mic-drop-nuclear-submarine-style-us-navy-surfaced-three-these-subs-warn-china-46667

AdamG
03-11-2019, 11:15 PM
Interviews and an examination of the Navy’s publicly announced reforms raise uncertainty over whether senior leaders have fully followed through on them after the 7th Fleet disasters in 2017.
https://www.propublica.org/article/navy-accident-changes-fitzgerald-mccain-davidson

AdamG
03-12-2019, 11:31 PM
WASHINGTON—The Navy and its industry partners are “under cyber siege” by Chinese hackers and others who have stolen tranches of national security secrets in recent years, exploiting critical weaknesses that threaten the U.S.’s standing as the world’s top military power, an internal Navy review has concluded

https://www.wsj.com/articles/navy-industry-partners-are-under-cyber-siege-review-asserts-11552415553

AdamG
03-14-2019, 03:23 PM
THE PENTAGON – As the Navy faces more complex threats to its manned ships from Russia and China, the service is moving quickly to field an unmanned “Ghost Fleet” — a new breed of armed unmanned surface combatants will add more sensors and weapons to the current fleet.

In Fiscal Year 2020, the Navy has budgeted $400 million for two of the proposed large unmanned surface vehicles in its research and development budget line. The Navy plans to continue buying two a year until FY 2024, for a total of about $2.7 billion.

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/13/navy-wants-ten-ship-3b-unmanned-experimental-ghost-fleet

AdamG
03-17-2019, 05:43 PM
For the past three months, the crew of the dock landing ship Fort McHenry has been stuck at sea, avoiding port because of an outbreak of disease. But Navy officials bristle at the mention of a “quarantine.”

They point out that only 25 of more than 700 sailors and Marines have been diagnosed with viral parotitis, an infection that triggers symptoms similar to mumps, with fever, dehydration and chills reported in about 3.5 percent of the service members on board the Florida-based warship.

Instead, they say that “Fort McHenry’s operational schedule has been modified while the ship’s medical team monitors crew health,” according to a prepared statement by the 5th Fleet that was recirculated by the Navy’s Chief of Information Office at the Pentagon.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/03/14/us-warship-sails-the-arabian-sea-avoiding-port-killing-time-and-germs/

AdamG
03-20-2019, 09:23 PM
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the next two years, the Navy wants to deploy a laser aboard a guided-missile destroyer as the service learns to integrate directed energy weapon systems on warships, the Navy’s director of surface warfare said on Wednesday.

“We are going to burn the boats if you will and move forward with this technology,” Rear Adm. Ron Boxall said during the Booz, Allen, Hamilton and CSBA Directed Energy Summit 2019.

The service is targeting 2021 to install a High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with Surveillance weapon system aboard a West Coast Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA destroyer, Boxall said.

The 60-kilowatt HELIOS, much more powerful than the 20-kilowatt laser weapon system the Navy tested aboard afloat forward staging base USS Ponce five years ago, is designed to counter small attack boats small unmanned aerial vehicles.

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/20/navy-ready-burn-boats-2021-laser-installation-destroyer

AdamG
03-27-2019, 12:16 PM
CAPITOL HILL – A competition for material between submarine construction and submarine maintenance is contributing to slowdowns in both, the Navy’s acquisition chief told USNI News today.

The Navy has more submarine maintenance to conduct than its four public shipyards can accommodate. As a result, the service has been shifting maintenance availabilities of its older Los Angeles-class attack boats to General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding.

However, maintenance work at both yards has run long. Three boats in maintenance now are running behind schedule and are creating unbudgeted expenses for the Navy. The unforeseen cost overruns were included in the Navy’s unfunded priorities list released this week to supplement the official Fiscal Year 2020 budget request.

At the same time, new-build Virginia-class submarines are struggling to meet their delivery dates. Modules are being moved between co-builders Newport News Shipbuilding and Electric Boat behind schedule due to a variety of issues. One factor is late delivery of material and parts from the supply base, USNI News understands.

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/26/navy-lack-submarine-parts-slowing-maintenance-new-construction