US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
- repackaged Tomahawk cruise missiles
I thought the USA already had stealthy subsonic air launched cruise missiles
They do and are not affected by the INF. Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty only bans ground based missiles with a specific range. As such air and sea based are in effected.
Also, notice that unlike Russia, which actually kept their end of the deal and disposed of all the Plutonium in their dismantled nuclear weapon warheads, the USA dragged its feet and the Plutonium is still around despite dismantling the warheads
B-O-G-U-S!! The Russians never disposed of there material unilaunilaterally. They have been waiting for the US to. And the method chosen? Why it's the
their pathetic efforts at building a MOX fuel processing facility
That's the one!
Oh in a related story.
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!


Since the US Never disposed of its. The Russians never disposed of theirs. They took a wait for the other guy approach.
So the treaty 34 tons is sitting in Russia eating for its half life to pass.

The MOX scheme has had a number of political issues and technical ones this year it was said it would take another 48Billion US to finish.
Although the US has built reactors before we didn't adopt MOX due to concern of Proliferation. A number of other nations have. As such late in the game.
Farther issues as Metric to English conversions we needed in copying the French plans.
 
Thursday at 7:57 PM
again just the link: it's an interesting article, but with Politics inside
Will Congress really cancel US-Saudi arms deals? It’s complicated, but let us explain
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
now
US House bill would close door on Saudi arms sales
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

A bipartisan group of 21 House lawmakers have introduced a bill to immediately
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
.

The
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, led by Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., came as President Donald Trump said the killing of a Saudi journalist was a botched operation and his administration has taken its first steps in punishing the Saudis by deciding to revoke the visas of the suspects.

Halting arms sales could have repercussions for the U.S. defense industry, which considers Saudi Arabia a lucrative overseas market. Trump, who i
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
touted Saudi leaders’ claims of innocence as “credible” and opposed cutting arms sales, has played up $110 billion in prospective deals with the kingdom, which he spearheaded last year.

Among other sales, the action leaves vulnerable Lockheed Martin Corp.’s potential
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. The deal, started under the Obama administration and approved by Congress, remains under negotiation, according to U.S. officials.

On Lockheed’s earning’s call Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Turner said the THAAD order was the “largest order that we’ve been waiting,” but it “has not taken place yet,” and he was “not sure when that will take place.”

Calls in the U.S. Congress to punish Riyadh for journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s apparent death at the hands of Saudi government operatives are growing louder. American lawmakers are considering three avenues in response , including
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, stopping U.S. arms sales and cutting aid to Saudi-led military operations in Yemen.

Notable co-sponsors of McGovern’s House bill include House Armed Services Committee members, Walter Jones, R-N.C.; Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii. The libertarian leaning Reps. Justin Amash, of Michigan, and Thomas Massie, were the only other Republican co-sponsors.

“Under both Democratic and Republican Administrations, I’ve called for a serious review of our arms sales to the Saudi government,” McGovern, ranking member of the House Rules Committee, said in a statement. “With the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, it’s time for the United States to halt all weapons sales and military aid to Saudi Arabia. Our democratic values are on the line here – and we need to step up as a country and do the right thing.”

Since before the Khashoggi controversy, arms sales to Saudi Arabia have effectively been frozen as Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Robert Menendez has
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
made by the Massachusetts-based Raytheon. Menendez, of New Jersey, is among lawmakers frustrated by that airstrikes attributed to the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have resulted in significant civilian casualties

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, a Trump ally, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a lead appropriator, told CNN on Monday that he feels “completely betrayed” by Riyadh. “The relationship is important, but our values are more important,” he said.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, of Rhode Island, last week said Congress should not approve any new offensive arms sales to Riyadh, and the U.S. military should stop refueling Saudi Arabian aircraft fighting in Yemen, one of the key ways the U.S. supports the kingdom in that fight.

At the White House, Trump awaited a briefing Thursday from CIA Director Gina Haspel, who has been in Turkey.

He had told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the operation was a fiasco.

“They had a very bad original concept,” Trump said. “It was carried out poorly, and the cover-up was one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups. Somebody really messed up, and they had the worst cover-up ever.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move to revoke visas was just a first step.

Visa records are confidential and Pompeo was not more specific about who the revocations would affect, but the State Department later said 21 “Saudi suspects” would have visas revoked or would be declared ineligible to enter the U.S.

“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department.

The administration “will continue to hold those responsible accountable. We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of ruthless action to silence Mr. Khashoggi, a journalist, with violence,” he said. “Neither the president or I am happy with this situation.”

Still, Pompeo stressed the strategic importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

“We continue to view as achievable the twin imperative of protecting America and holding accountable those responsible for the killing of Mr. Khashoggi,” Pompeo said.
and I wonder what the reality will turn out to be
 
May 15, 2018
... 'low-risk, low-cost' (LOL) tanker ...
related is
Boeing adds $179M in cost overruns to KC-46 aircraft as delivery draws near
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

As Boeing inches toward delivery of the first KC-46 tanker, it will have to
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, worth $179 million before tax.

The company disclosed Oct. 24 that it
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
due to a “higher than expected effort to meet customer requirements” as well as delays to KC-46 testing and certification. The
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
is worth $140 million post taxes, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said during an earnings call Wednesday.

Boeing has now paid more than $3.5 billion out of its own pocket, as the company is responsible for any costs beyond the $4.9 billion fixed-price contract it signed with the U.S. Air Force.

“We continue to make steady progress toward final certification of the KC-46 tanker,” Muilenburg said. “We are working with our U.S. Air Force customer toward completing all the steps required to deliver the first tanker aircraft this quarter.”

Four aircraft have completed the Federal Aviation Administration ticketing process and have moved to the Boeing defense delivery center, he said.

“While there is still work ahead of us, we’re moving closer to delivering this highly mission-capable aircraft to our customer,” he added.

The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s throughout the life of the program, which is now running more than a year behind schedule. The service was originally supposed to receive its first 18 certified tankers in summer 2017, but delivery of the first tanker slipped to the end of 2017, then to October of this year, and has now been further postponed.

Last week, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson confirmed that the service will not accept the first KC-46 this month. Boeing and Air Force officials met Oct. 17 to talk over the state of the program, but no announcement has been made on when the Air Force might award a military-type certificate or downgrade five major technical deficiencies — two things seen as vital precursors to first delivery.

An Oct. 22 notice on the
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
soliciting contractor support for a ceremony celebrating the first KC-46 delivery states a notional Nov. 16 date, perhaps hinting that first delivery could come as early as next month.

But an Air Force spokeswoman told Defense News on Monday that the date is for planning use only, and that a firm delivery timeline has not been established.

Beyond the ongoing troubles with the KC-46 procurement, the earnings call allowed Boeing the chance to celebrate its recent contract wins for the MQ-25 tanker drone contract, T-X trainer jet and UH-1N helicopter replacement.

Muilenburg envisions T-X as “a franchise program for much of this century,” with sales opportunities that far
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. Boeing believes the program is potentially worth up to $40 billion, with more than 2,600 aircraft sold domestically and internationally as trainers and light-attack aircraft.

When an analyst pointed out that both T-X and MQ-25 will be developed under fixed-price contracts and could leave Boeing vulnerable to cost overruns as is the case with the KC-46 program, Muilenburg responded that T-X and MQ-25 are considerably less risk than KC-46 was at time of award.

Boeing has made investments allowing it to produce an MQ-25 prototype and two T-X aircraft that have already flown, while the KC-46 was still relegated to paper designs when the company was awarded the contract, he said.
 
the part of

An Analysis of
the Navy’s
Fiscal Year 2019
Shipbuilding Plan
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!



I found most interesting while skimming over that document now (sorry about formatting):

"Large Surface Combatants.
The 2019 shipbuilding
plan calls for buying 76 destroyers and new large surface
combatants, 10 more than the 2017 plan. Of that
number, 29 would be based on the existing Arleigh
Burke class destroyer (DDG-51) design and 47 would
be a new design. Those planned purchases, along with
the Navy’s plan to modernize its existing cruiser force,
would not be enough for the service to meet or exceed its
inventory goal of 104 large surface combatants (LSCs)
for almost the entire 30-year period.
However, the Navy’s plan to extend the service life of all
existing Arleigh Burke class destroyers to 45 years would
allow the Navy to meet its goal of 104 large surface
combatants in 2029 and stay above that number through
2048 (see the fourth panel of Figure 5 on page 12).
The 2019 plan also differs from the 2017 plan in that it
calls for extending the service life of 7 Ticonderoga class
cruisers by several years but shortening the service life of
the remaining cruisers."

here's "the fourth panel of Figure 5 on page 12" they mentioned:
chart.jpg


and a really vague description of "Future Large Surface Combatants" starts at the end of the page 23 (27 of 33 in the PDF document)
 
Monday at 3:44 PM
Oct 5, 2018
and, while LOL I go to bed now,
Here’s The Pentagon’s Initial Plan For Creating a Space Force
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
LOL getting ready to go to bed again, noticed
Pence Renews Administration Push for Space Force
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Vice President Mike Pence Tuesday made a push for the Trump administration’s proposal to set up a Space Force as the nation’s sixth military service, promoting the idea at a meeting of the National Space Council after discussing it with Washington Post reporter Robert Costa during an event sponsored by that newspaper.

Pence’s remarks come as the administration increasing its attention on the proposal, which it expects to include in next year’s defense authorization act. An internal Defense Department
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
reviewed earlier this week by Air Force Magazine, outlines a plan to create a lean new service created from staff and commands now in existing military services.

Pointing to past studies that have called for reform of US space capabilities, Pence said it is time to “stop studying the problem and start fixing it.” The administration believes, he said, the establishment of the Space Force is “central to the solution that America needs.”

“The time has come to write the next great chapter in the history of the armed forces of the United States,” he added. The Space Force will “ensure a new era of American supremacy in space, but there is much work to do.”

He warned that while other countries increasingly are able to operate in space, “not all of them share our commitment to freedom, to the rule of law, and to peace through strength.”

The remarks came as the White House
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
it had received six recommendations from the space council on how best to establish the new military service.

The recommendations are similar to those contained in a congressionally mandated report released in
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
when Pence outlined the administration’s plan to set up the new service. They include:
  • Setting up a unified US Space Command
  • Establishing the Space Force itself
  • Calling on Congress to authorize the new service and provide funding for the new command
  • Having the Space Council and the National Security Council conduct a review of current space operational authorities for meeting national security objectives “informed by DOD’s assessment of the authorities required”
  • Setting up a Space Development Agency to ensure access to “cutting-edge warfighting capabilities”
  • Working with the intelligence community to improve cooperation on space capabilities and operations.
A September internal Air Force
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
said the Space Force would cost $13 billion over the five-year Future Years Defense Program, but Pence headed off any fiscal concerns by asking, "What is the price tag that you place on security of the United States of America?" He also noted that much of the establishment of the new service would involve consolidating existing functions.

He said he thought the reason that Americans are “so enthusiastic about Space Force” is that “they understand that for us to continue to provide for the common defense, to protect America’s interest, to stand for freedom in the world, that we have to continue to extend American strength into the outer reaches of space.”
Trump's administration building its legacy in the Pentagon huh
 
oh and Mad Dog is coming to Prague on Sunday (also Macron, Merkel etc. etc., Czechoslovak 100th anniversary is the occasion)

as big military parade as they can pull, I guess

I'll go to some bunker outside town though LOL
 
Aug 6, 2018
posted Jul 29, 2018
100b-range projects are cool to watch
so,
General Dynamics Expects Columbia-Class Submarine Construction Contract In Late 2019
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

General Dynamics officials expect to sign the contract to build the first of the Navy’s next-generation ballistic missile submarine – the Columbia-class – at the end of 2019 but are already preparing the shipyard for this program.

For now and the foreseeable future, profit margins in the General Dynamics shipbuilding business are driven by Electric Boat – which builds Virginia-class attack submarines and is now doing design work and early planning for the new Columbia-class SSBN, Phebe Novakovic, chief executive of General Dynamics, said Wednesday morning during a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

General Dynamics reported third quarter revenues of $9.1 billion, compared to $7.6 billion a year ago, and third-quarter earnings of $851 million, compared to $764 million a year ago.

During the upcoming year, Novakovic told analysts General Dynamics plans to spend $1.7 billion on equipment upgrades – the vast majority of its planned shipbuilding capital expenditures budget – to prepare Electric Boat for Columbia-class production.

This spending comes even as an estimated $6.2-billion contract to build the first SSBN is about a year away. In 2017, the Navy awarded Electric Boat
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
for Columbia-class detailed design work.

“The key in any capital deployment investment is to as quickly as possible marry, in terms of time, the capital expenditure with the return,” Novakovic said.

General Dynamics is also spending an additional couple of hundred million dollars on upgrades to the company’s other two yards, National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) in San Diego and Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.

The Navy during the third quarter awarded General Dynamics $3.9 billion to
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
. Huntington Ingalls Industries won a larger contract – six ships for $5.1 billion over the same time period, from Fiscal Year 2018 through 2022 – and was given both 2018 ships. Bath Iron Works was given no new work for 2018, which may give the yard something of a reset year to make progress on its remaining Zumwalt-class destroyer and refocus on its Arleigh Burke destroyers before taking on the four ships in this new multi-year contract award.

Novakovic said she was pleased with the outcome of the DDG competition.

“It gives Bath a nice opportunity to improve its profitability,” Novakovic said. “This is a wholesome development for Bath and gets them where they need to be.”

However, Novakovic was clear, General Dynamics shipbuilding is focused for now is on Electric Boat. Initially, the Navy is expected to purchase 12 Columbia submarines, for a total program cost of about $122.3 billion, according to a Congressional Research Service estimate. The Navy now also plans to buy five
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
, which will likely have designs based on the Columbia-class, according to a recently released
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
of the Navy’s long-term shipbuilding plan.

“We’ve got to prepare for the construction of this very, very large and important Columbia-class missile boat, and that’s what we’re doing now,” Novakovic said. “I am capitalizing for the ships that I know that I’m going to compete in. We do not capitalize for programs that have yet to become programs of record and be fully funded and supported by the U.S. Congress. That’s not a wholesome business decision.”
 
Saturday at 7:58 AM
sorta:

"Saudi Arabia has confirmed the death of missing Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, claiming he died in a fist fight involving more than a dozen Saudi officials at the country's consulate in Istanbul.

...

When asked if he found the Saudi explanation credible, US President Donald Trump said he did.

..."
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
now
Khashoggi killing was premeditated, Saudi attorney general says
Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!
 
Top