US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

gelgoog said:

The thing is, Japan will never be a proper replacement for Russian titanium metal to the industry.

Like I said, a major part of the cost to get titanium metal is energy, and Japan has next to no native sources of cheap energy they can use to produce titanium metal. Typically the industry uses the Kroll process and this requires many melting steps at extremely high temperatures and a step where it goes through an electric arc furnace as well. As global energy prices go up, you will see the price of Japanese processed titanium increase dramatically, let alone all those customers competing for their supply. The idea these clients will easily switch production elsewhere is, I think, kind of naive. It takes many years to get one of these plants operational and years more to optimize the processes to get it to be efficient. The processes need to be tuned to the ore you are processing among other things. This is typically a painstakingly slow process with much trial and error. You might be looking at 5 years at least to get the production at a decent clip. I heard someone once say 8 years. So this would be like the Russians just saying they can manufacture their own semiconductors. It just isn't as simple as that. I think they will just continue buying either Russian or Kazakh titanium and pass it as something else.

I still remember a couple of decades ago there was much hype about FFC Cambridge process replacing the Kroll process and making titanium as cheap as aluminium. It did not happen. They never got it to work reliably enough in practice.

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The material costs for a project like the F-35 are always going to be a small portion of the overall cost. Most of the costs are in manpower. I read somewhere that for every dollar American spends on a top secret project, they spend $10 on security for it. That may be exaggerated but I think it

That said I think you're right. Japan will just buy Russian titanium via the Kazakhs or Mongolians and then sell it on to Boeing.

They article is referring the USS Texas, a Virginia class attack submarine (SSN) that got vandalized, NOT the old USS Texas battleship. Portmouth Naval Shipyard need to have some serious inward look of the company culture. It was also the site of a previous incident that involves another worker that started a fire aboard the USS Miami back in 2012.

KITTERY, Maine (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The US Navy still hasn't given any details about the extent of vandalism aboard the USS Texas a month after the incident took place while the submarine was undergoing maintenance at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification of a suspect.

The Navy declined to provide details beyond an earlier statement indicating "government equipment" on the submarine was damaged around March 29. The Navy vowed to "hold individuals responsible to the fullest extent of the law."

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The U.S. Air Force is asking for funds in its budget request for the 2023 Fiscal Year to build and test a prototype self-propelled gun designed to shoot down incoming cruise missiles.

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The service has presented the weapon, which could use ammunition originally developed for the U.S. Navy's abortive railgun program, primarily as a possible expeditionary base defense asset.

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The Air Force's proposed budget for the 2023 Fiscal Year asks for almost $89.1 million to support various "lifecycle prototyping" activities, including the construction of "a C-130 transportable/deployable Hypervelocity Ground Weapon System (HGWS) prototype."The Air Force's proposed budget for the 2023 Fiscal Year asks for almost $89.1 million to support various "lifecycle prototyping" activities, including the construction of "a C-130 transportable/deployable Hypervelocity Ground Weapon System (HGWS) prototype."

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Work to "integrate the system into an existing joint service battle management system, and test its effectiveness against incoming cruise missiles as part of a life [sic; live] fire experiment" are part of the Fiscal Year 2023 goals for the HGWS project, according to recently released Air Force budget documents. "The HGWS prototype will rapidly deploy to a remote location to understand the effectiveness of expeditionary operations."

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(CNN) More than 200 sailors have moved off the USS George Washington aircraft carrier among the crew, including three in less than one week in April, according to the Navy.

The sailors are moving to a local Navy installation as the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier continues to go through a years-long refueling and overhaul process at the shipyard in Newport News in Virginia. Over the past 12 months, seven members of the crew have died, including four by suicide, prompting the Navy to open an investigation into the command climate and culture on board the Nimitz-class carrier.

The commanding officer of the carrier, Capt. Brent Gaut, made the decision to allow sailors living on board the ship to move to other accommodations, according to a statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic. On the first day of the move, which began Monday, more than 200 sailors left the carrier and moved to a nearby Navy facility.

"The move plan will continue until all Sailors who wish to move off-ship have done so," the statement said. Although the carrier does not have its full complement of approximately 5,000 sailors, the ship still has about 2,700 sailors working aboard during the overhaul process. About 420 sailors live on board the ship during its overhaul.

The ship's command is working to identify sailors who could "benefit from and desire the support services and Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) programs" that are available on local Navy facilities. The Navy is in the process of setting up "temporary accommodations" for these sailors, according to an earlier statement from Naval Air Force Atlantic.

"Leadership is actively implementing these and pursuing a number of additional morale and personal well-being measures and support services to members assigned to USS George Washington."

Results from the Navy's investigation into the deaths are expected this week, Admiral John Meier, the commander of US Naval Air Force Atlantic, told reporters during a media roundtable on Tuesday.

"We've assigned an investigating officer to look into that and to really to look into the proximate cause. Was there an immediate trigger? Was there a linkage between those events? I expect that to report out this week, and I won't presuppose the outcome of that report," Meier said.

The investigation is one of two the US Navy is conducting. The second investigation has a "much broader scope" and focuses on "command climate, command culture," Meier said.

To respond to the three suicides in April, the Navy added resources to the ship, including a "ship psychologist," "resiliency counselors," and "a 13-person sprint team, which is a special intervention team for instances like this," Meier said.

The sprint team was "on board for a whole week, and they put out a report that identified some things to add to our investigative work," Meier added.

The deaths aboard the carrier prompted Rep. Elaine Luria, a 20-year Navy veteran whose district encompasses multiple military facilities, to write a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, demanding immediate action to ensure the safety of the crew.
"Each of these deaths is a tragedy, and the number of incidents within a single command, which includes as many as four sailors taking their own lives, raises significant concern that requires immediate and stringent inquiry," Luria wrote last week, noting that her office has received complaints about the quality of life aboard the ship and a toxic atmosphere.

The famous American M-16 rifle, which has been in service for many years, is becoming a thing of the past. It will be replaced by the new XM5 assault rifle of the German company Sig Sauer, which has its own branch in the United States. The M249 machine gun will also be replaced, it will be replaced by the XM250 light machine gun of the same company. One of the main reasons for the rearmament is the weak penetration characteristics of the 5.56 mm caliber cartridge, as a result of which the M249 machine gun and the M-16 rifle began to poorly penetrate modern army bulletproof vests. The characteristics of the XM5 are still unknown, however, according to experts, they largely correspond to its civilian version - the MCX Spear, that is, the rifle has a length of 80 cm and a weight of 3.8 kg. It uses a two-stage trigger and a 20-round magazine. The assault rifle will be equipped with a silencer as a base, so that future fights will be much quieter. Both models are chambered in .277 with a new 6.8mm cartridge that outperforms previous generations of 5.56 and 7.62mm rounds in terms of lethality and range. The US Army plans to purchase 250,000 XM5 and XM250 units. When entering service, they will receive the designations M5 and M250.

Soldier30 said:

The famous American M-16 rifle, which has been in service for many years, is becoming a thing of the past. It will be replaced by the new XM5 assault rifle of the German company Sig Sauer, which has its own branch in the United States. The M249 machine gun will also be replaced, it will be replaced by the XM250 light machine gun of the same company. One of the main reasons for the rearmament is the weak penetration characteristics of the 5.56 mm caliber cartridge, as a result of which the M249 machine gun and the M-16 rifle began to poorly penetrate modern army bulletproof vests. The characteristics of the XM5 are still unknown, however, according to experts, they largely correspond to its civilian version - the MCX Spear, that is, the rifle has a length of 80 cm and a weight of 3.8 kg. It uses a two-stage trigger and a 20-round magazine. The assault rifle will be equipped with a silencer as a base, so that future fights will be much quieter. Both models are chambered in .277 with a new 6.8mm cartridge that outperforms previous generations of 5.56 and 7.62mm rounds in terms of lethality and range. The US Army plans to purchase 250,000 XM5 and XM250 units. When entering service, they will receive the designations M5 and M250.

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Little behind the times.

redion said:

Breaking News we have the winner

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1516535903925293059

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Farther details and corrections.
First M16 has been on phase out for about a decade. Today M16A4 is only found in National guard units and Marine Reserves it was replaced with M4A1 in Us Army service, M27 in the Marines.
Next Sig is complicated… The US Sig Sauer Inc is not German it’s American a separate enterprise from the German Sig Sauer GmbH and co which is (or was) German or the Swiss Sig Sauer AG. The original owner of the consortium SIG Combibloc Group AG isn’t in arms production anymore they make drinks. Current owner is German L&O Holdings however all new products including the MCX and MG68 that Sig Sauer Inc put out are designed and manufactured in the US. With the larger numbers of employees and products being American. With in 2020 Sig Sauer GmbH basically closing up shop due to German legal issues where the German government was unhappy that the US sister was making sales to Columbia and Mexico without Berlin’s say so. The Swiss arm Sig Sauer AG is still active but they don’t sell or offer any of the American products and visa versa.

Next both the Machine gun and Rifle will come with a suppressor as standard. Both will use the XM157 1-8 LPVO smart scope.
On numbers all indications are that the US Army will retain M4A1 likely for non frontline service. As 250,000 is just a little over half the size of the US Army‘s active duty contingent. Mind you that’s the initial intentions as M27 proves the Army could up its numbers and shift things. That number is only for the Army too. The USMC and aspects of US Socom may choose to adopt it as well but on their own.

Soldier30 said:

The famous American M-16 rifle, which has been in service for many years, is becoming a thing of the past. It will be replaced by the new XM5 assault rifle of the German company Sig Sauer, which has its own branch in the United States. The M249 machine gun will also be replaced, it will be replaced by the XM250 light machine gun of the same company. One of the main reasons for the rearmament is the weak penetration characteristics of the 5.56 mm caliber cartridge, as a result of which the M249 machine gun and the M-16 rifle began to poorly penetrate modern army bulletproof vests. The characteristics of the XM5 are still unknown, however, according to experts, they largely correspond to its civilian version - the MCX Spear, that is, the rifle has a length of 80 cm and a weight of 3.8 kg. It uses a two-stage trigger and a 20-round magazine. The assault rifle will be equipped with a silencer as a base, so that future fights will be much quieter. Both models are chambered in .277 with a new 6.8mm cartridge that outperforms previous generations of 5.56 and 7.62mm rounds in terms of lethality and range. The US Army plans to purchase 250,000 XM5 and XM250 units. When entering service, they will receive the designations M5 and M250.

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That sounds like an advertisement.

What were the design goals of the new cartridge? That paragraph talks about increasing range and "lethality", and penetrating "modern bulletproof vests". There are different levels of protection, and round velocity (range) matters. Going by the Ukraine war it's looks like plate armour will be more common on the battlefield. Can these new rounds penetrate Level 3 armour, and if so at what range?

Europe already feeling safer

Someone managed to piece together an account of what happened the Su-27UB that crashed in Area 51. Apparently it was a series of unfortunate events and sheer bad luck, though the idea of testing the malfunctioning landing gear of foreign aircraft on a dry lake bed seems stupid all around.