US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Report: Japanese navy(JMSDF) leaked missile data.

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday May 22, 2007 9:05:19 EDT

TOKYO Classified information about a U.S.-developed missile
defense system was leaked from Japan's navy to students at a naval
academy, a news report said Tuesday, as officials investigated
security gaps in military information shared between the allies.

Investigators say the leak involved ship-to-air SM-3 interceptor
missiles that are to be deployed on Japanese ships later this year,
Kyodo News agency reported, citing unidentified officials.

Investigators are already looking into the alleged leak of
information about the U.S.-developed high-tech Aegis radar system
used in warships. That information was also shared between the U.S.
and Japan.

"There are various investigations going on and I will not comment on
individual cases," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a
regular news conference Tuesday. Shiozaki did not specify whether
investigators were looking into the SM-3 case.

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said he had not "heard anything" about
the matter.

Hiromitsu Harada, a spokesman for Japan's Maritime Self-Defense
Force, and Kanagawa police refused to comment.

Spokesmen for the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the U.S. Forces Japan
likewise declined to comment on the report, saying it was policy not
to discuss intelligence matters.

Japan and the U.S. have been accelerating plans for a joint missile
defense system to counter threats from North Korean missiles and
nuclear weapons. Deployment of the SM-3 interceptors on Japanese
Aegis-equipped ships is part of the upgrade.

Investigators have also discovered leaks regarding a data system
called "Link 16" used to share information between U.S. and Japanese
military units, Kyodo said.

The SM-3 information is believed to have been leaked to students at
a naval academy, it said.

On Saturday, naval and local police raided the naval academy over
the alleged leak of Aegis technology.

Local media said authorities believe that computer disks containing
the classified data were illegally copied and circulated among
dozens of students and instructors at the academy.

The case first surfaced in March when police found one of the disks
at the home of a Japanese naval officer in Kanagawa during a
separate investigation of his Chinese wife over her immigration
status.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern about the leak
during talks with Kyuma last month in Washington.

Earlier this month, Kyuma ordered annual interviews with all members
of the military about 250,000 of them to tighten controls on
information, the Defense Ministry said.

The leaks come amid speculation that Japan may want to buy the
newest and most expensive fighters in the Air Force, the F-22
Raptor stealth aircraft. Japan is planning to replace its aging F-4
fighters with a more advanced aircraft, but has expressed concern
over the high cost of the F-22 and possible licensing problems.

But the U.S. Congress has placed restrictions on sales, largely to
safeguard its advanced technology.

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By Lolita C. Baldor
ASSOCIATED PRESS

3:45 p.m. May 21, 2007

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army, in a rare move Monday, released a barrage of test results showing that a privately-sold flexible body armor that some families have sought for their soldiers failed extensive military testing.
Pieces of the hefty Dragon Skin armor, with ragged holes torn through its yellow inner skin, were propped up on the floor in the Pentagon, as Army officials systematically detailed the battery of ammunition and temperature testing the armor failed.

Although the tests were done nearly a year ago, the Army declined to release details until Monday, after recent NBC News reports suggested that the Dragon Skin may be better than the Army-issued Interceptor armor.
As a result of the reports, some members of Congress have asked for an investigation into the matter, and others have asked the Army for more information.

“We take this personally,” said Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, executive officer for the Army's armor testing program. “One third of the general officers in the United States Army have either a son or daughter either in theater (at war) today or (who) has been to theater.”

Holding up an armor-piercing bullet, Brown showed video of the tests, including footage of officials peering into the bullet hole in the Dragon Skin armor. “At the end of the day, this one disc has to stop this round. It didn't. Thirteen times,” he said.

In response, Murray Neal, president of Pinnacle Armor which produces Dragon Skin, suggested that the Army lied about some of the testing, and he questioned why the Army was counting shots that “were fired into the non-rifle defeating areas.”

The body armor debate has raged almost since the Afghanistan and Iraq wars began, as the Army struggled at times to get all of the needed equipment to its soldiers – both active and reserve. At times, family members around the country were raising money, having bake sales, and spending thousands of dollars of their own cash to buy armor and equipment for their loved ones going to war.

In some of those cases, families were considering buying Dragon Skin armor because they believed it would provide better protection. The Army Monday said it was releasing the test details to help prevent families from spending money on body armor that is not as good as the protection already issued to the soldiers.

Brown described “catastrophic failures” by the Dragon Skin armor, and said that in 13 of 48 shots, lethal armor-piercing rounds either shattered the discs that make up the armor, or completely penetrated the vest.

“Zero failures is the correct answer,” he said. “One failure is sudden death and you lose the game.”

Brown added that the armor failed to endure required temperatures shifts – from minus 20 degrees to 120 above zero – which weakened the adhesive holding the discs together. And he said that the Dragon Skin's heavy weight was also a problem for soldiers who need to carry a lot of gear.

The Dragon Skin, he said, weighs 47.5 pounds, compared to the Army-issued Interceptor armor, which weighs 28 pounds.

After seeing the latest television reports, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., sent a letter to Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey asking for more information and saying he's concerned that the Army may not be providing better body armor to the soldiers as quickly as possible.

And Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog agency, seeking an investigation to assess the body armor being used by the military.

Army officials said they would be going to Capitol Hill this week to talk to lawmakers about the armor issue.

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bd popeye said:

Army says civillan body armor (Dragon Skin) fails test

Of course they do..what else would they say?

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.S. Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coastline on Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 U.S. Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf.

The carrier strike groups led by the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz were joined by the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and its own strike group, which includes landing ships carrying members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The Navy said nine U.S. warships passed through the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Merchant ships passing through the busy strait carry two-fifths of the world's oil exports.

Aircraft aboard the three carriers and the Bonhomme Richard were to conduct air training while the ships ran submarine, mine and other exercises.

The maneuvers came just two months after a previous exercise in March when two U.S. carrier groups carried out two days of air and sea maneuvers off the Iranian coast.

Before the arrival of the Bonhomme Richard strike group, the Navy maintained around 20,000 U.S personnel at sea in the Gulf and neighboring waters.

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bd popeye said:

US Navy makes a show of force in the Persian Gulf

Nimitz, Stennis & Bonhomme Richard strike groups arrived off the coast of Iran in what some observers call a show of force.

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WASHINGTON: Lawmakers who say the military has kicked out 58 Arabic linguists because they were gay want the Pentagon to explain how it can afford to let the valuable language specialists go.

Seizing on the latest discharges, involving three specialists, members of the House of Representatives wrote the House Armed Services Committee chairman that the continued loss of such "capable, highly skilled Arabic linguists continues to compromise our national security during time of war."

...

He was discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law passed in 1994. The law allows gays to serve if they keep their sexual orientation private and do not engage in homosexual acts. It prohibits commanders from asking about a person's sex life and requires discharge of those who acknowledge they are gay.

Democratic Rep. Marty Meehan, who has pushed for repeal of the law, organized the letter sent to Skelton requesting a hearing into the Arab linguist issue.

"At a time when our military is stretched to the limit and our cultural knowledge of the Middle East is dangerously deficient, I just can't believe that kicking out able, competent Arabic linguists is making our country any safer," Meehan said.

...

Aaron Belkin, director of the center, said, "There is simply no commonsense reason for the military to fire Arabic linguists in the midst of a dire shortage of translators. Translating al-Qaida cables is more important than making sure that the military is free of gays."

Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department is enforcing the law.

"The Department of Defense must ensure that the standards for enlistment and appointment of members of the armed forces reflect the policies set forth by Congress," he said, adding that those dismissed can serve their nation by working as contractors or at other federal agencies.

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szbd said:

Don't worry. There are hundreds of millions of people can speak Arabian. As long as you pay enough, you can get enough linguistics.

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