Russia is close to purchasing a Mistral-class French warship and needs such a vessel to patrol waters around Pacific islands that are the subject of a long-running dispute with Japan, a top general said June 8.Read the whole thing but if Japan is thinking about scaling back defense spending this should give her pause. Wolves are lurking and territory is at stake.
Russia's plan to purchase the Mistral - capable of carrying up to 16 helicopters and a 750-strong landing force - has alarmed some of its neighbors amid expectations it would become part of its Black Sea fleet.
and then this juicy tidbit...
He said in the region around the Kuril Islands "we need mobile means so that a landing force can be rapidly sent there at the necessary time".
A new contract to Lockheed Martin marks the beginning of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program to study the feasibility of deploying an unmanned aerial vehicle from submarines, a DARPA spokeswoman said.But since then not a word, not an official update on the program. You can read the Lockheed Martin page on the program here.
The UAV, called Cormorant, after the sea bird, would "provide close air support for vessels such as the Littoral Combat Ship and SSGN," a specialized version of the Trident ballistic missile submarine, Jan Walker said. "This is the very first award ... this is the beginning of the program," she said.
Its aim, she said, is to "explore concepts that launch from both the sea surface and submarines."
"This mission systems aircraft adds a new dimension to the F-35 flight testing under way at PAX River," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration. "Now, in addition to validating the aerodynamic capabilities and flying qualities of these jets, we will have the opportunity to confirm the performance of what we expect to be a transcendent avionics capability – the most capable ever in a fighter." A fifth F-35B, along with the first Navy carrier variant, is expected to join the fleet later this year at Patuxent River.I was promised that I was on their mailing list. Time to send a nasty gram to Lockheed Martin!
The Royal Air Force Squadronaires have scored the highest ever chart position for a military band when it's album "In The Mood: The Glenn Miller Celebration" reached No.9 in the UK pop album charts, overtaking The Rolling Stones. The album also knocked Michael Bublé off his long-standing position at the top of the jazz charts.Either they have great military bands or the British public has weird taste in music.
After years of fighting side-by-side in MRAP armored vehicles, the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps are striking out in different directions.This whole issue is fascinating.
The Army is making vehicle and crew survivability its main priority in its Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program, while the Marine Corps is determined to reclaim its role as an expeditionary force that relies on lighter vehicles that can quickly be transported around the world.
The diverging paths return the two services to their definitional roles, but they also represent fundamentally different perspectives on how forces should fight - and could undercut the services' joint effort to build a replacement for tens of thousands of Humvee utility vehicles.
"We need to get lighter," Lt. Gen. George Flynn, commander of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, told reporters June 3 at the Pentagon. "And sometimes, when you look at your vehicle strategy, you have to take a look at the environment that you're going to operate in. There's a protection that comes from mobility. If you can move fast and if you can move on unpredictable routes, you can not necessarily armor up as much."
The Army, on the other hand, has set very aggressive protection requirements for its GCV, which is now expected to be tracked and weigh 50 to 70 tons.
There's really no way around 50-plus tons when a vehicle has to carry 12 soldiers, have a gun turret, and accept upgradable armor as IEDs get better, said one source familiar with the program.
Critics point out that at 70 tons, the GCV would be the heaviest infantry fighting vehicle in existence - as heavy as the Abrams tank.
Also noteworthy is the naming of the unit here. I imagine the guys at Shayetet 13 were looking for a little payback after the recent embarrassments.The spokesperson said they were heavily armed and dressed in diving gear -- and they were trying to swim to shore when a firefight erupted.An army source told Haaretz that the firefight about 4:30am (local time) was a success for the Navy's elite commando unit, Shayetet 13, and prevented a rare attempt at a seaborne attack on Israel.There were no Israeli casualties.
