US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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Naval Today said:

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has officially confirmed the October 22, 2016 date for the commissioning of the recently delivered USS Detroit.

The U.S. Navy previously accepted delivery of future USS Detroit (LCS 7) during a ceremony at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard on August 12.

Following its commissioning, the ship will make its first international port call when it sails across the Detroit River on Monday, October 24 to spend four days in Windsor, Ontario.

A Freedom-class littoral combat ship, the USS Detroit is the sixth U.S. Navy ship to bear the city’s name. The previous USS Detroit (CL 8), a light cruiser, was one of the few ships to get underway during the attack on Pearl Harbor and earned six Battle Stars during WWII. She was moored with the battleship USS Missouri during the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay in 1945.

The new USS Detroit was launched and christened on October 18, 2014 by Barbara Levin, the ship’s sponsor and wife of long serving, retired United States Senator Carl Levin, during ceremonies at the Marinette Marine Shipyard. The USS Detroit will be commissioned on the Detroit, Michigan, waterfront on October 22, 2016.

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SouthernSky said:

I'd like to see them installed on the Canberra class in the future as well Jeff.

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Jura said:

Sep 26, 2015

... it took some time but:
Navy Successfully Completes First Live Fire Test Of SeaRAM From Destroyer

The Navy successfully launched the Raytheon SeaRAM Anti-Ship Missile Defense System from an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer for the first time ever on March 4, a final step in rapidly fielding a self-defense capability on the Mediterranean-based USS Porter (DDG-78) through an unconventional acquisition process.

Porter last week went through structural test firings to ensure a shield would properly protect the ship from the SeaRAM blast, followed by tracking exercises to verify the accuracy of the detect-to-engage sequence. .... etc.

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The U.S. Navy conducted its first firing from the SeaRAM anti-ship defense system produced by Raytheon installed on the USS Carney stationed in Rota, Spain, the company announced in an Aug. 17 release.

The SeaRAM detected, tracked and engaged an inbound BQM-74E target, intercepting it with a RAM Block II missile in a mid-July test. USS Carney is the second of four guided-missile destroyers stationed near the Mediterranean Sea to receive a SeaRAM system.

“These test results are evidence of our strong partnership with the U.S. Navy that is working to rapidly deliver solutions to protect our warfighters,” Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon’s Naval Area and Mission Defense product line, said in the release. "SeaRAM adds an important layer of defense to the Rota, Spain DDG's and can provide protection to many naval ships facing today's most worrisome threats.”

Raytheon's Phalanx is a rapid-fire, computer-controlled radar and 20mm gun system that acquires, tracks and destroys enemy threats that have penetrated all other ship defense systems.
Intended to enlarge Phalanx’s keep-out range against evolving anti-ship missiles, rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft and other threats, SeaRAM anti-ship missile defense systems use advanced Phalanx Block 1B sensors and replace the gun with an 11-round Rolling Airframe Missile guide.
SeaRAM also is aboard the Independence variant of the U.S. Navy’s littoral combat ships.

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All three of the Air Force’s bombers flew simultaneously on Tuesday, flying a formation pass over Andersen AFB, Guam, before dispersing for operations across the Indo-Asia-Pacific. The bombers are deployed to US Pacific Command for a continuous bomber presence at Andersen and operations in the South China Sea and Northeast Asia,

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It is the first time B-1s, B-2s, and B-52s

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in the Pacific. The B-1s are deployed from Ellsworth AFB, S.D., to replace the B-52s from Minot AFB, N.D. Three B-2s from Whiteman AFB, Mo., also are at Andersen for a short-term deployment focusing on power projection to the Pacific

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Air Force Buys 30 More Reapers

The Air Force recently awarded General Atomics a

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for 30 more MQ-9 Reapers. The sole-source contract calls for production of the aircraft in its 2015 production configuration, with delivery expected to be completed by 2019. The contract comes as the Air Force is working to build up its remotely piloted aircraft fleet, including new operating locations. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James

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the service will release a list of candidate bases for two new RPA operating bases—one wing and a operations group—this fall. The Air Force plans to procure 75 more MQ-9s as a way to address overworked manpower and capacity issues

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Boeing has held a monopoly on the dual-mode bomb market, but the US Air Force may be gearing up to widen the playing field to other potential competitors.

The service on Aug. 5 released a "sources-sought" notification indicating its interest in finding alternate vendors for Boeing’s joint direct attack munition (JDAM) that could potentially enter the market as a second supplier of the heavily-demanded weapon.

Boeing’s JDAM kit upgrades “dumb bombs” into guided munitions that use an inertial guidance system and GPS to locate and destroy targets. Demand for the munition among Air Force, Navy and foreign governments is expected to ramp up to an expected 36,500 units per annual lot, starting with a contract expected in February 2019, the sources-sought notification indicated. That contract could include up to a decade of JDAM acquisition, valued at $400 million annually.

During an Aug. 10 briefing with reporters, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said the service released the solicitation in order to get more information about precision weapons, which have become more highly desired as the US continues a barrage of airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorist group in the Middle East.

“We're keeping our options open,” she said. “And so, information can be power here. We want to know what else is out there, and then we'll make a final judgment call after that.”

The Air Force is working with Boeing to increase the company’s production capacity, she continued. “But that's not to say that more couldn't also be helpful. And so, that's why we're at least exploring these other options.”

One of those candidates could be Lockheed Martin’s "dual-mode-plus" laser guided bomb (LGB), which the company is developing with internal funds. Like the JDAM, the weapon comprises an existing munition — in this case Lockheed’s Paveway II bomb — paired with an inertial navigation system and GPS.

Joe Serra, director of precision guided systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, declined to confirm whether Lockheed would respond to the sources-sought notice.

“In terms of overall capacity, bringing another supplier on board can only assist in dealing with reductions in overall lead times and availability of bringing more product to market sooner,” he said in an Aug. 11 interview.

“It just came out. There's a lot of information that's out there. So we're digesting the specific requirements that are laid out and trying to assess intersection with our product capabilities,” he added. “In terms of where that lies with the Air Force’s current requirements and their vision for competition in that space at this point, I'm not ready to be able to determine. We're assessing that solicitation for where we feel we might be able to compete."

Lockheed — which plans to begin producing its dual-mode-plus bomb as early as 2017 — has yet to land its first customer, but is targeting US Air Force, Navy and international customers including Canada, Australia and NATO countries, Serra said. The bombs will be manufactured at the company’s Archbald, Pa., facility, which recently quadrupled its production capacity for the Paveway II bomb made there.

“At least a quarter of that capability would scale into dual-mode-plus,” said Serra, who would not confirm whether that meant Lockheed would be able to meet the meet the 36,500 units-per-year rate specified in the sources-sought notice.

Earlier this month, the Navy successfully employed 500-pound versions of the weapon to engage fixed targets during two F/A-18E/F Super Hornet test flights at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif. The company plans to conduct additional flight tests with the F/A-18 early this fall against stationary targets, he said. After that, sometime around October or November, Lockheed will evaluate whether the bomb can hit a moving target after being dropped from an F-16 from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Boeing, for its part, is poised to boost its own production to meet the 36,500 units-per-year rate, said spokeswoman Katie Kelly. JDAM production at the company’s St. Charles, Mo., facility increased by 80 percent in July 2015 and again in 2016 after Boeing introduced a second shift. It currently manufactures more than 100 guidance kits per day after several years of growth.

“Moving forward, Boeing and our suppliers have a plan in place to exceed 36,500 JDAM guidance kits per year, and can make adjustments as needed to meet quantity, timeline and capability needs,” Kelly said. “Timing for rate increases depends on acquisition planning and timing of contract placement.”

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Air Force Brat said:

that would be a much better post if it said the Air Force was buying 30 more "Raptors"!

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The U.S. Navy conducted its first firing from the SeaRAM anti-ship defense system produced by Raytheon installed on the USS Carney (a Flight I Arleigh Burke-class Destroyer) stationed in Rota, Spain.

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Raytheon Company has received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility here. The deal ushers in U.S. manufacturing of the Norwegian-developed weapon system. Kongsberg Defence Systems awarded the initial contract for qualification units. The award follows a July announcement that Raytheon will produce NSM launchers in the U.S. The company also plans to perform final assembly, integration and test of the Naval Strike Missile...

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GE’s Marine Solutions announced that the LM2500 gas turbine Module Modernization Program (MMP) is now underway with General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and the United States Navy. The MMP will inject updated technology into the gas turbine module system and reduce enclosure weight by approximately 50% (excluding base structure).

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The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) welcomed F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Patuxent River Integrated Test Force team of test pilots, engineers and squadron Sailors and Marines aboard to complete developmental testing (DT-III), Aug. 14. The Navy’s newest strike fighter features cutting edge technology to progress from the hazardous ‘Dog Fighting’ of the past to a more technological future of warfare, emphasizing stealth.

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The global Aegis fleet will expand in the U.S., Japan and the Republic of Korea under a $490 million deal with Lockheed Martin to bring integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) capabilities to new destroyers. The ships will be equipped with Aegis Baseline 9, the latest evolution of the combat system, capable of IAMD. The Aegis system includes Lockheed Martin's SPY-1 radar, the Navy's most advanced multi-function radar system.

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AeroVironment, Inc. today announced the United States Navy has tested and deployed the RQ-20B Puma™ small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) aboard a Flight I Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG Class). Some of these exercises included the use of AeroVironment’s fully autonomous system to recover the aircraft aboard a ship. The US Navy issued a report on August 3 from the Arabian Gulf describing how Puma AE is also being utilized on Navy Patrol Craft.

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