Mil News USA, Canada & Caribbean Nations Military News & Discussion Thread

[BravoZulu]

USA:
The Navy conducts the first captive carry flight test of an Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) missile on an F/A-18 Super Hornet June 1 at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River test range in Maryland. (U.S. Navy photo)

The Navy's FY 2016 budget included funding for an extended range AARGM-ER that uses the existing guidance system and warhead of the AGM-88E with a solid integrated rocket-ramjet for double the range. Development funding will last to 2020

 

[Gaz]

RCAF order two Challenger 650 business jets to replace a pair of 30 year old Challenger 601s.

Canada Refreshes Its Multi-role Challenger Fleet | AIN

Having already bought three earlier generations of Challenger aircraft, the RCAF continues to support its domestic business jet manufacturer.

www.ainonline.com

 

[BravoZulu]

USA:
Wednesday 10th June 2020.
The US North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) announced that US F-22 Raptor fighter jets intercepted a large group of Russian military planes a mere 30 miles off Alaska's coast early Wednesday morning.

Though such intercepts over the Bering Sea and near Alaska have occurred on a near monthly basis recently, what makes this particular incident notable is that it included no less than eight Russian warplanes coming near Alaska.

A half dozen Su-35 fighters and a Beriev A-50 surveillance aircraft were reportedly escorting two long range Tu-95 bombers, according to multiple reports. The intercept incidents appeared to have been in two waves.

The incident was further confirmed via Russian Defense Ministry video.

NORAD also tweeted that “North American Aerospace Defense Command F-22 Raptors, supported by KC-135 Stratotankers and E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System, completed two intercepts of Russian Bomber formations entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone early this morning.”

Typically such intercepts include a couple planes on either side, but in this instance a lot of aircraft in the air and near each other at once, also surprisingly close to the Alaskan shoreline.

NORAD Commander Air Force Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy noted US force readiness at a moment Russia appears to be increasingly brazen in testing NORAD's potential vulnerabilities.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopoliti...-intercept-no-less-8-russian-warplanes-alaska

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[Fish&Chips]

Sad news. A USAF F-15C from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath has crashed into the North Sea. The pilot has been confirmed dead.

RIP

Pilot found dead after US fighter jet crashes into North Sea off Yorkshire coast

A major search-and-rescue operation was launched after the F-15 fighter jet came down near Flamborough Head on Monday morning.

news.sky.com

 

[morris]

U.S. Tests ‘Game Changing’ StormBreaker Bomb

The bomb can glide up to 45 miles to the target area, then find and attack targets without human assistance. That brings promise as well as tactical peril.

www.forbes.com

Raytheon this week announced that an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet had successfully launched its StormBreaker smart glide bomb for the first time. The Super Hornet and F-15E Eagle will carry the weapon when it becomes fully operational later this year, with integration with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter expected soon.

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[morris]

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[BravoZulu]

The Navy’s first four littoral combat ships will be headed into mothballs next March, according to a June 20 message from the chief of naval operations.

The littoral combat ships Freedom, Independence, Fort Worth and Coronado will all be inactivated on March 31, 2021, with Coronado being commissioned just six years ago.

The Navy decided to cut the ships to save money on modernization efforts as it faces a mountain of shipbuilding bills and upgrade costs.
The ships were supposed to be used as test vessels for the continued standing up of the LCS class, but LCS 1 through 4 have just about reached the end of their usefulness as test vessels and are no longer worth a deeper financial investment, according to a February briefing by Rear Adm. Randy Crites, the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget.

“Those four test ships were instrumental to wringing out the crewing, the maintenance and all the other things we needed to learn from them,” Crites told reporters. “But they’re not configured like the other LCS in the fleet, and they need significant upgrades. Everything from combat [systems], to structural, you name it. They’re expensive to upgrade.”
The ships will be put in inactive reserve status, which means they could conceivably be reactivated if needed in a crisis.

Split between two variants — a line of traditional steel monohull warships and another featuring an aluminum trimaran design — the LCS was intended to serve as a fast and nimble warship, capable of morphing into a minesweeper, anti-submarine vessel or ship killer.

The littoral combat ship Fort Worth transits the Sulu Sea. Fort Worth will be in the mothball fleet next spring

The U.S. Navy littoral combat ships Independence, left, and Coronado

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2...ource=twitter.com&utm_campaign=Socialflow+DFN

 

[BravoZulu]

Modified Bradley Fighting Vehicles known as Mission Enabling Technologies Demonstrators (MET-D) and modified M113 tracked armored personnel carriers, known as Robotic Combat Vehicles (RCVs) are being utilized in a soldier operation experimentation at Ft. Carson, Col., from June 15 – Aug. 14, 2020...pic by Kimberly Derryberry

 

[NZM305]

Fire on board USS Bonhomme Richard

Fire on US military ship docked in San Diego

Video footage of the scene showed several firefighters rushing into thick smoke billowing from the amphibious assault ship.

www.newshub.co.nz

 

[muck]

Incredible that no one died. The whole ship is toast.

 

[BravoZulu]

Incredible that no one died. The whole ship is toast.

Skeleton crew, no ring fire main and lots of combustible fuel in the lower hull......good for nothing but a SINKEX now ?

 

[muck]

"No ring fire main", what's that mean?

I suppose it was quite a large "skeleton crew", by the way. The news say they struggle to find temporary accommodation for sailors who lost all their stuff in the fire.

 

[BravoZulu]

"No ring fire main", what's that mean?

I suppose it was quite a large "skeleton crew", by the way. The news say they struggle to find temporary accommodation for sailors who lost all their stuff in the fire.

The main firemain in a warship is usually called the "Ring Fire Main" as it does just that, the fire main travels throughout the vessel in a circular fashion and kept pressurised at around 120psi. In a major refit such as the one Bonny Dick is in, the fire main is not pressurised. For all intents and purposes there is no active fire main. The skeleton crew is mainly for ship security and fire watches with first aid appliances. The fire watches are set wherever dockyard workers are welding/cutting etc.

A ship the size of Bonny Dick would still have anywhere up to 200 sailors as a crew to fulfil the fire and security watches and they appear to have been living onboard. In the RAN the ships company are always billeted ashore when in refit.

 

[muck]

I see. Thanks.

 

[primer]

Is disturbing news.

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[muck]

The Navy seems intent on repairing the vessel, but I wonder if that's actually feasible. That steel's gone through all the critical temperatures, it can't be trusted anymore. Before you could even begin to repair her you'd have to virtually strip that ship bare and run diagnostics on all essential structures to see what needs replacing and what doesn't.

Maybe it's technically possible to repair her, but I'll eat my hat if the guys on Capitol Hill want to spring the bill. It would be more affordable to just build another one.

 

[NZM305]

The Navy seems intent on repairing the vessel, but I wonder if that's actually feasible. That steel's gone through all the critical temperatures, it can't be trusted anymore. Before you could even begin to repair her you'd have to virtually strip that ship bare and run diagnostics on all essential structures to see what needs replacing and what doesn't.

Maybe it's technically possible to repair her, but I'll eat my hat if the guys on Capitol Hill want to spring the bill. It would be more affordable to just build another one.

At approx 3.4 billion for a new America class, that probably leaves them a fair bit of room to move, might be able to bring her up to the same std as USS Mankin Island for less than that if the main structure is sound.
Lots of if's but's and maybe's until the fire is out and they can do a full damage inspection.

 

[Chazman]

At approx 3.4 billion for a new America class, that probably leaves them a fair bit of room to move, might be able to bring her up to the same std as USS Mankin Island for less than that if the main structure is sound.
Lots of if's but's and maybe's until the fire is out and they can do a full damage inspection.

I posted in the other thread, that although most are calling it a complete write off, some on USNI are saying that it's not a forgone conclusion that it can't be repaired, mainly because the island is aluminum and the hull steel. Aluminum has a melting point of ~ 1200 degrees and steel is 2500 degrees. Meaning the hull is intact and the island/superstructure could be replaced as well as interior spaces down to it's main deck. Also, at todays press conference, it was announced that propulsion and machinery are undamaged. The BHR is in it's midlife, (22 years old) with an expected 40 year lifespan. Even if repairs cost up to $1 billion, it may be deemed worth it, as it is a valuable asset.

We'll see....

 

[Chazman]

USS Belknap after it's collision with the JFK.

Belknap after repair.

 

[BravoZulu]

USA:
Boeing won a $22.9 billion deal for the F-15EX system.

The delivery order provides for design, development, integration, manufacturing, test, verification, certification, delivery, sustainement and modification of F-15EX aircraft, as well as spares, support equipment, training materials, technical data and technical support.

The contract award is a big win for Boeing and gives a second life for the F-15 production line in St. Louis, Mo. After years of urging the Air Force to consider an advanced version of the F-15 as a complementary capability to Lockheed Martin’s F-35, Boeing found an ally in the Defense Department’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office, which in 2019 forced the service to purchase F-15EX planes in order to build capacity.

Work will take place in St. Louis, Missouri and at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Expected completion date is December 31, 2023.