US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

​

Naval Today said:

On July 19, the US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the next Independence variant littoral combat ship will be named USS Cincinnati (LCS 20).

Cincinnati will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. It will be 419 feet long and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 40 knots.

LCS 20 will be the fifth ship in naval history to be named Cincinnati with the first playing an integral part in the Civil War; the second enforcing neutrality laws during the Cuban Revolution and seeing service during the Spanish-American War; the third acting as a patrol and flagship during World War II; and the fourth, a Los Angeles class submarine, being commissioned in 1978 and serving during the Cold War.

The ship will be built with modular design incorporating mission packages that can be changed out quickly as combat needs change in a region. These mission packages are supported by detachments that deploy both manned and unmanned vehicles, and sensors in support of mine, undersea, and surface warfare missions.

Click to expand...

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Washington DC
Source: Flightglobal.com - 07:37 22 Jul 2015

A high-flying

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

U-2 spy plane has enabled a mission control station to dynamically re-target a simulated Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), using data passed from an

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

over the deserts of Southern California in a recent flight trial.

During the tests, targeting data was passed from the F-22 to a ground station via an L-3 Communications modem on the U-2, says Scott Winstead, Lockheed Martin's head of strategic development for the U-2 programme. This allowed the ground station to re-target the LRASM surrogate, essentially a cruise missile mission systems flown on a business jet.

In addition, the U-2 was able to translate and pass data between the F-22 and a

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

F-18 Hornet during the series of flights, which took place in June. The tests were designed to evaluate new US Air Force open mission system (OMS) standards using a Skunk Works product called Enterprise Open System Architecture (E-OSA).

Company officials told Flightglobal in a recent interview that the U-2 testbed was on loan from the operational fleet, and has been modified to comply with open standards the air force has been developing through an “OMS consortium” involving the top aircraft manufacturers and suppliers. ...

Click to expand...

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Washington DC

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Aerostructures of the Netherlands and Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara to develop a new composite missile body that it says is 25% cheaper to produce, compared with the current version. These advanced processes have already been brought into the manufacturing flow, beginning with production for the service’s Lot 7 contract, awarded in June 2014. ...

Click to expand...

​

Naval Today said:

US Navy’s next Independence variant littoral combat ship will carry the name of USS Kansas City (LCS 22), the Secretary of the United States Navy Ray Mabus announced.

LCS 22 will be the second commissioned naval ship to bear the name Kansas City. The first was a replenishment oiler (AOE 3) which served a 25-year career and included service during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.

A fast, agile surface combatant, the LCS provides the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute a variety of missions in areas such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare.

The ship will be built with modular design incorporating mission packages that can be changed out quickly as combat needs change in a region. These mission packages are supported by detachments that deploy both manned and unmanned vehicles, and sensors in support of mine, undersea, and surface warfare missions.

Kansas City will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. It will be 419 feet long and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 40 knots.

Click to expand...

The late Delbert Black's wife, starts a plasma cutter to officially start construction​

Naval Today said:

A ceremony at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard celebrated the start of fabrication of the future USS Delbert D. Black (DDG 119), July 21.

The future USS Delbert D. Black honors the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON).

Black, a 30-year veteran, rose from the ranks of master chief gunner to senior advisor of the Navy; the title later changed to MCPON. The MCPON is an advocate and voice of all Sailors and their families, serving as the senior enlisted advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations.

This ship will be equipped with the Navy’s Aegis combat system, the world’s foremost integrated naval weapon system. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare. The ship is part of the Navy’s latest flight of destroyers, Flight IIA, which enables power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of low intensity conflict/coastal and littoral offshore warfare as well as open ocean conflict.

DDG 119 is the third ship in the FY2013-FY2017 multi-year procurement contract to re-start fabrication. The future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) has already begun fabrication at HII. Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) is currently in production at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.

Click to expand...

The

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

plans to announce a contract award for their new stealthy long-range bomber aircraft in September of this year, service officials told Military.com.

The contract award for the aircraft was initially expected to arrive earlier this summer. In fact, this new timeline comes on the heels of a series of

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

The new Long Range Strike Bomber, or LRS-B, is slated to fly alongside and ultimately replace the existing

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

.

Senior Air Force officials told Military.com that taking extra time at the front end of the process to make sure the selection is the right one will ultimately save much more time and money throughout the longer-term acquisition process. The service plans to field the new bomber by the mid-2020s.

“It will be done when [the contract award is] done. It is fair to say we are in the closing parts of it. This is something that will be with us for 50 years. To build fast, you’ve got to go slow,” William LaPlante, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Acquisition, said at recent event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington D.C.-based think tank.

The Air Force ultimately plans to acquire as many as 80 to 100 new bombers for a price of roughly $550 million per plane, Air Force leaders have said.

Over the last two to three years, the Air Force has worked closely with defense companies as part of a classified research and technology phase. So far, the service has made a $1 billion technology investment in the bomber.

Northrop Grumman is competing against a partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the rights to build the bomber.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

ad pitching the company’s experience building Air Force bombers.

The new LRS-B is slated to replace the Air Force’s bomber fleet to include the

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

.

Although much of the details of the LRS-B development are not publically available, Air Force leaders have said the aircraft will likely be engineered to fly unmanned missions as well as manned missions.

The new aircraft will be designed to have global reach, in part by incorporating a large arsenal of long-range weapons. The LRS-B is being engineered to carry existing weapons as well as nuclear bombs and emerging and future weapons, Air Force officials explained.

In particular, the aircraft is being engineered to

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

which now use faster processors and sensors to track even stealthy aircraft at longer ranges.

Click to expand...

Jura said:

LRS-B news:
Air Force Plans Bomber Contract for September

source:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Jeff Head said:

Wow! Great news. Now we will wait on the edge of our seats to see who gets it.

I am sure with the award we will see more pics of their design strategy.

Click to expand...

​

US Navy said:

SINGAPORE (NNS) – The U.S. Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy completed the 21st annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Singapore after 11 days of comprehensive training both at sea and ashore, July 24.

CARAT Singapore featured a series of dynamic training engagements including a five-day sea phase involving ships, submarines and aircraft from both countries.

“Having arrived in Southeast Asia in 2012, this was my third time participating in CARAT Singapore and each year, the exercise gets better and better," said Capt. Fred Kacher, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 7 and co-commander of the exercise task group. "The high-end tactical and integrated warfare that was on display this week proved what a valuable training partner Singapore is and how important we view this maritime relationship."

Building on CARAT’s emphasis of increasing the complexity of combined scenarios each year, USN and RSN ships, submarines and aircraft operated together during joint torpedo and gunnery exercises, launched unmanned aerial vehicles, performed deck landing qualifications with embarked aircraft, and conducted concurrent simulated underway replenishments with fleet replenishment oiler USNS Pecos (T-AO 197).

The RSN's Formidable-class frigate RSS Supreme (73), Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) S-70B Seahawk helicopter and the USN's MH-60R Seahawk helicopter took part in the successful combined torpedo firing exercise July 22. Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, RSN Fleet Commander Rear Adm. Lew Chuen Hong, Rear Adm. Charles Williams, commander of the USN’s Logistics Group Western Pacific, and members of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs (GPC-DFA) were underway on board Supreme to observe the TORPEX.

The highlight of this year’s exercise was the inaugural use of unmanned aircraft systems. The MQ-8B Fire Scout, embarked on littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), and the RSN’s Scan Eagle UAV operated in the joint environment, demonstrating the value of unmanned platforms in providing an enhanced maritime domain awareness picture for the afloat task group.

“CARAT Singapore has increased in scope and complexity over the years. The successful conduct of the combined torpedo firing and the UAV operations underscores the high level of interoperability and trust both navies have achieved," said Col. Seah Poh Yeen, the RSN's co-commander of the exercise task group, in a Ministry of Defence press release July 22.
Additionally, Fort Worth conducted deck landing qualifications during the sea phase, landing the RSAF’s S-70B on its flight deck. The DLQs on Fort Worth marked the first time a RSAF landed on board a LCS, showcasing the versatility of the rotary wing assets.

In another first, a sortie of two RSAF F-15SG Strike Eagle jets overflew the ships, providing an opportunity for the task group to practice integrated air defense measures.
Shore-based training included visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) drills, military law enforcement expert exchanges, medical culinary and aviation exchanges, and a community service project. Sailors from the USN and RSN coastal riverine teams also conducted advanced small-boat training and boarding drills.

More than personnel from both countries participated in CARAT Singapore 2015. In addition to Fort Worth, U.S. assets included the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassen (DDG 82), a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft from Patrol Squadron 45 (VP-15), the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Houston (SSN 713), USNS Pecos (T-AO 197), U.S. Marine Corps military police, and a Navy Riverine Squadron. RSN assets included the Supreme, Victory-class missile corvettes RSS Vigour (92) and RSS Valour (89),
Fearless-class patrol vessel RSS Fearless (94), and Archer-class submarine RSS Archer.
The Republic of Singapore has been part of the CARAT exercise series since it began in 1995. After more than two decades of annual training events between the armed forces, CARAT Singapore remains a model for cooperation that has evolved in complexity and enables both navies to refine operations and tactics in response to both traditional and non-traditional maritime security challenges.

Following CARAT Singapore, additional bilateral phases of CARAT will occur from July through November 2015 with Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Timor-Leste.

Commander, Task Force 73 and DESRON 7 staff conduct advanced planning, organize resources and directly support the execution of maritime exercises such as the bilateral CARAT series, the Naval Engagement Activity (NEA) with Vietnam, and the multi-lateral Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Click to expand...

​

​

Naval Today said:

US Navy ordered two additional Mk VI Patrol Boats (Mk VI PB) from SAFE Boats International (SBI).

This brings the total number of Mk VI boats to be built by SAFE Boats to 12.

The Mk VI PB is the Navy’s next generation Patrol Boat and will become a part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s (NECC) fleet of combatant craft. NECC will utilize the Mk VI PB to provide operational commanders a capability to patrol littoral areas beyond sheltered harbors and bays, and into less sheltered open water out to the Departure Sea Area (DSA) for the purpose of force protection of friendly and coalition forces and critical infrastructure.

Click to expand...

The twenty-eighth C-5M Super Galaxy strategic transport was redelivered to the US Air Force in ceremonies at the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia on 7 July 2015. Col. Raegan Echols, the Chief, C-5 Galaxy Division, Mobility Directorate, Life Cycle Management Center, Robins AFB, Georgia, received the delivery certificate for the aircraft prior to departure. A US Air Force crew ferried the aircraft (US Air Force serial number 86-0015) from Marietta to Stewart ANGB, New York, where it will undergo internal paint restoration. Once paint restoration is completed, the aircraft will then be flown to Travis AFB, California. It will be the tenth Super Galaxy assigned to the base near Fairfield, located about halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco.

Click to expand...