Pax Americana, Technological Readiness and broken weapons systems

[AdamG]

MUNICH – German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen opened the Munich Security conference here today admonishing the United States, without mentioning Washington by name, for dialing back its spending on foreign development.
Her comments attempt to turn the tables somewhat on the Trump administration’s argument that European countries are freeloading on security by spending way less than the Pentagon. While von der Leyen acknowledged that Germany must increase its military expenditures, she made the case that Berlin’s budget for non-military assistance programs is an important calculus in the country’s security-policy mix.
“Germany stands by the agreement it has with NATO,” von der Leyen said, referring to the alliance’s goal that all members spend 2 percent on the military by 2025. Berlin is still far away from that objective, however, currently spending 1.25 percent.

https://www.defensenews.com/smr/muni...on-militarism/


From January 31st -

Large military contractors are indicating they’re now ready to invest in their facilities and manufacturing capacity despite so much uncertainty around the Pentagon’s spending levels this current year and into Fiscal Year 2019.
Executives from some of the largest defense contractors, in earnings calls and conversations this week with Wall Street analysts, detailed their plans to increase their planned capital expenditures this year and in the next few years.
“We will spend $1.7 billion in CapEx (capital expenditures) at Electric Boat over the next several years in anticipation of increased production on the Block V Virginia submarine and the new Columbia ballistic-missile submarine,” General Dynamics chief executive officer Phebe Novakovic told analysts last week, according to a transcript of the call provided by Seeking Alpha.

https://news.usni.org/2018/01/31/31041

[AdamG]

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/New...s-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/las...ns_usnavy_330m

[AdamG]

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...m-head-states/

[AdamG]

WASHINGTON — The Russian military has been jamming some U.S. military drones operating in the skies over Syria, seriously affecting American military operations, according to four U.S. officials.

The Russians began jamming some smaller U.S. drones several weeks ago, the officials said, after a series of suspected chemical weapons attacks on civilians in rebel-held eastern Ghouta. The Russian military was concerned the U.S. military would retaliate for the attacks and began jamming the GPS systems of drones operating in the area, the officials explained.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/militar...-syria-n863931

[AdamG]

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/...emy-ships.html

[AdamG]

For a quarter century, the U.S. and its allies owned the skies, fighting wars secure in the knowledge that no opponent could compete in the air. As tensions with Russia and China surge, that’s no longer the case.

Rapid technological progress in China’s aerospace industry, particularly air-to-air missile systems fired from an aircraft, is changing the game for Western air forces and the global arms trade. It’s also altering the picture for China’s neighbors such as India.

“In the United States we’ve been on holiday for 25 years and maybe a little bit more,” Michael Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said in a recent address to the Hudson Institute, a Washington think tank. “We failed to continue to fund the practices that had gotten us where we were, which was at the very top of the technological heap.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...r-in-the-skies

[AdamG]

Good & reasonable OPSEC or Brewster Aeronautical Corporation grade shenanigans?

The Pentagon's $928 million hypersonic weapons program is now shrouded in secrecy

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have shared limited details about their efforts in developing hypersonic weapons.
A U.S. Air Force spokesman said the service will not be making any announcements in the near future regarding its work on hypersonics.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/us-m...n-secrecy.html