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When my air conditioning broke in mid-July I was very nervous about the repair costs, but I remember that my real estate agent purchased a home warranty for my home. I called Nationwide Home Warranty and within a few hours my a/c was fixed for only a service call fee. My realtor really helped me out.
Last week, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned that the Hezbollah resistance movement is the greatest threat to US national security. Hezbollah is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous terror attacks against the U.S., Israel or other Western targets, and includes the 1983 suicide truck bombings in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. Marines at their barracks and 58 at the French military barracks. Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Britain believe Hezbollah cells may use their computer expertise and capabilities to launch cyber attacks.
A 2002 CIA report warned a number of terrorist groups are beginning to plan attacks on western computer networks. The report went on to say that al-Qaeda and Hezbollah were becoming more adept at using the internet and computer technologies. In more recent reports they name Sunni extremists Hezbollah and Aleph as groups believed to be developing cyber terrorism plans. For terrorist groups, cyber weapons are cheap, easy to acquire and difficult to detect or track and are quickly becoming a common weapon in their arsenal.
While Hezbollah's capabilities to launch such an attack are questionable, the intelligence community in U.S., Britain and Israeli are taking the threat seriously. Why, because Hezbollah showed its increasing technological sophistication and capabilities during its war with Israel back in 2006. Once Israel began bombing Hezbollah targets, the intelligence sources say cyber space began. While intelligence analysts are convinced conventional terror remains Hezbollah's main strategy and weapon, some believe that it could activate sleeper cells in order to open a second front in cyber space. Intelligence sources know that terrorist groups including Hezbollah, the Abu Nidal Organization, and UBL's Al-Qeida Organization are using computerized files, email, and encryption to support their operations.
Hezbollah Profile (AKA Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah)
Established In the 1980s
Home Base: Lebanon, but it also has cells in North/South America, Asia, Europe and Africa.
Support: Iran and Syria provide substantial organizational, training and financing.
Orientation: Hezbollah is a radical Iranian-backed Lebanese Islamic Shiite group
Funding: estimated at $60 million annually
Size: Hezbollah's core consists of several thousand militants and activists
Equipment: Hezbollah possesses up-to-date information technologies - broadband wireless networks and computers.
Cyber Capabilities: Global Rating in Cyber Capabilities -- Tied at Number 37
Hezbollah has been able to engage in fiber optic cable tapping, enabling data interception and the hijacking of Internet and communication connections.
Cyber Warfare Budget: $935,000 USD
Offensive Cyber Capabilities: 3.1 (1 = Low, 3 = Moderate and 5 = Significant)
Cyber Weapons Rating: Basic -- but developing intermediate capabilities
Web Site: http://www.hizbollah.org or www.hizballah.org
Ties: Hezbollah has close ties with Iran. Many believe that Hezbollah is a surrogate for the Iranian army
Fact: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared May 8, 2008 that the Shiite militant group's communications network is its most important weapon, and that the government's decision to target the network was tantamount to a declaration of war. In Hezbollah's view, its communications technology is just as essential for the group's survival as its missiles.
Hezbollah is on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations. The FBI says it now considers Hezbollah operatives more capable and robust than even Al Qaeda terrorists. With Hezbollah's interest in developing advanced cyber weapons, their capabilities will continue to increase. As we have seen, the proliferation of cyber weapons is rapidly expanding and no longer limited to nation states and organized criminal groups. The cyber arms club now includes terrorist groups. Using new hacking techniques, taking advantage of security vulnerabilities and using simple proven cyber attack methods, terrorists have the capability to attack us in way not seen before. Key infrastructure systems that include utilities, banking, media/TV systems, telecommunications and air traffic control systems have already been compromised. No one knows if cyber terrorists created trap doors and left logic bombs allowing them to easily bypass security systems and disrupt our critical infrastructure in coordination with traditional style attacks.
The first of the manned ground vehicles in Future Combat Systems will be unveiled in the week leading up to the Army's 233rd birthday, June 14.
US President George W. Bush lost a close ally in the Iraq war as Australian combat troops pulled out Monday to honour an election pledge by the new centre-left government.
The U.S. Army reported Thursday that the suicide rate among its soldiers continued to rise last year, and is now nearly double the rate recorded before the invasion of Iraq.
In an effort to modernize its aging tanker fleet, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to build the KC-45 aerial refueling aircraft in February.
Thanks to the research already carried out over the last few decades – for example, the development of three successive generations of the Fenestron tail rotor – Eurocopter now has the quietest range of ) helicopters in the world.
Rheinmetall will soon be responsible for running the GÜZ, one of the world’s most advanced combat training centres, a German Army facility located in the Altmark district of Saxony-Anhalt.
Chile officially welcomed the Almirante Condell (the former-HMS Marlborough) into the Chilean fleet at a Commissioning Ceremony yesterday, Wednesday 28 May 2008.
Germany unexpectedly announced on Thursday, May 29, that it would complete the destruction of its arsenal of cluster bombs in line with a new international treaty proposing a complete ban of the dangerous weapons.
Russia is against NATO expansion toward its borders in principle, the prime minister said in an interview with French daily Le Monde released on Saturday.
The Italian Army has successfully conducted two test firings of its Aster 30 missile as part of the operational evaluation of the SAMP/T air defence missile system.
The shaft-driven lift fan propulsion system that will enable the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighter to perform short takeoffs and vertical landings (STOVL) operated for the first time in the aircraft during ground testing on Sunday, May 25.
The Navy’s newest airborne electronic attack asset, the EA-18G Growler, will be accepted by the commander of the Electronic Attack Wing at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington, during a dedication ceremony at Whidbey June 3.
In a bid to strengthen the offensive prowess of its armed forces, Indian government has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire 22 attack helicopters.
This morning Military.com has a story on America's most famous (or infamous) private security contractor, Blackwater USA, purchasing a light attack aircraft.
Report Says Blackwater Bought Fighter (AP)
A subsidiary of U.S. military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide has purchased a fighter plane from the Brazilian aviation company Embraer, a Brazilian newspaper reported June 1.
The 314-B1 Super Tucano propeller-driven fighter - the same used by the Brazilian military - was bought for $4.5 million and delivered to EP Aviation at the end of February, according to the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper.
First of all the headline is misleading. The Tucano isn't a "fighter" unless you're a seriously third world air force. But it has been bandied around as a good answer for a "counter-insurgency" aircraft. So Blackwater has clearly done some research (and been reading DT, I have to assume) on the best plane to fight a dirty war. It's interesting, too, that the company is buying new. Seems to me there'd be a lot more surplus gear on the market for them to snap up -- and keep it low profile as well.
It was not clear if it was Embraer's first sale of a military-style aircraft to a private company. EP Aviation has 33 planes and helicopters registered with the FAA, according to the agency's Web site, only one of which is from Embraer.
Officials with Brazil's government and Embraer declined to comment on the Estado report. Phone calls to Blackwater were not returned.
The sale was apparently approved, the Estado report noted, by Brazil's president in a deal negotiated with the U.S. government.
Brazilian law prohibits the sale of arms to companies or for use in existing conflicts.
It does worry be a bit each time a company like Blackwater continues this arms build up. Sources tell me they've got a "Spectre'-like" gunship already, and they've been buzzing around Baghdad in spec-ops-style armed Little Birds. So what happens when a contract with the US Gov goes bad -- say Congress pulls funding from a contract midway through the agreement. Will Blackwater use this kind of equipment to come collect what it's owed? Seems far fetched, I know, but Blackwater officials are downplaying the Tucano buy to curb fears.
The newspaper reported that Blackwater president Gary Jackson said the plane would be used for training.
The plane sold to EP Aviation did not include the two .50-caliber machine guns normally attached to the wings.
Oh, I'm sleeping better already...
-- Christian
On May 27, 2008, in the Shonefeld (Germany) the ILA’2008 International air show started its work.
The Sokol aircraft plant, based in Nizhny Novgorod, central Russia, is to launch production of the MiG-29M/M2 Fulcrum fighter plane, the company's general director said on Friday.
The former joint head of European aerospace group EADS, Noel Forgeard, has been detained by police on suspicion of insider trading, French media reported Wednesday, May 28.
Here's some amazing footage forward to us by the man who brought DT to the masses, Chris Michel. You can imagine the order these guys were issued: "You see that mushroom cloud, boys? Go get it!" And dig those equine gas masks . . .
Nuclear war is not only survivable . . . it can be fun!
-- Ward
Last week we had exoskeletons...this week it's bionic arms. And I think this is from the guy who invented the Segway.
[Source: All Things Video]
Enjoy!
-- Christian
At my old job, we used to always joke that it wasn't news unless the Washington Post, New York Times or AP reported it -- even if we'd done the story a month earlier.
Well, here's another case of the "it ain't news" phenomenon. We've been covering the heck out of this issue for more than a year, but when the chief says something about it and the AP hears it, well, then, Stop the Presses!
From today's Military.com headlines:
The military is reviewing Soldiers' complaints that their standard ammunition isn't powerful enough for the type of fighting required in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army's highest-ranking officer said Thursday. But Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, said it was too soon to say whether the Pentagon will switch.
Current and former Soldiers interviewed by The Associated Press said the military's M855 rifle rounds are not powerful enough for close-in fighting in cities and towns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Speaking with reporters at a conference in Huntsville, Casey said leaders are constantly soliciting feedback from Soldiers in the field and were aware of complaints about the M855 ammunition.
"To effectively prepare them we have to adapt as the enemy adapts, and that is some of the feedback we have gotten," Casey said. "We'll evaluate it quickly and then we'll decide how we want to proceed."
But Casey said it would be premature to say if the Pentagon will consider a different type of ammunition.
"I can't tell you exactly what we're going to do," he said.
How much do you want to bet the answer to that question is "nothing"...? Kinda like the M-4 debate, huh?
-- Christian
The Army, unhappy that the House Armed Services Committee plans to cut $200 million from its top modernization program, plans a June 11 assault on the House side of the Capitol using elements of its Future Combat System. Relax! Its a joke.
But the Army really does want to show the Hill just how effective FCS can be and how much it is beginning to produce capabilities soldiers use in Iraq now or in the near future. And it does plan a June 11 demonstration on the Hill.
Lt. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, the Armys deputy chief of staff for programs, spoke Thursday afternoon with reporters and one of his first points was that the Army does have a vision when it comes to FCS. I asked Gen. Speakes how the Army is answering the HASC, which made a fairly compelling argument. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), chairman of the House Armed Service airland subcommittee, said he cut 5.5 percent of program funding to reduce concurrency of network and manned ground vehicle development and reduce program management costs. On top of that, the subcommittee shifted $33 million from long-term portions of the program to near-term elements that have a chance of being fielded by 2011. Abercrombie made it clear that technical reasons werent the only justification for the reduction. FCS, he said, continues to operate in violation of many major Department of Defense acquisition policies, including the basic and long-standing policy requiring full and adequate testing of equipment before production begins. If that sounds to you like the Democratic complaints about the Missile Defense Agencys approach to acquisition, you win a Kewpie doll.
Gen. Speakes very respectfully offered this justification when I asked him how the Army is answering the House criticisms: This is an integrated program. You cant break it apart and still deliver the capabilities. Also, Speakes said the service plans to show lawmakers just how much FCS is influencing the fight, citing the FRAG kit 5 armor used on Humvees, which he said is the precursor for FCS armor. The first version of the crucial FCS network, progress on which has been criticized by the Government Accountability Office in recent reports, is being tested at Fort Bliss. Most of all, Speakes said, the pressure in on us to deliver and to make the capabilities we are talking about and make them real. We think we are answering that test.
Speakes approach on all this may have been influenced by Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ), ranking member of the airland subcommittee. In a recent blog about FCS, Saxton said the Army needs to spend less time trying to save the FCS program; and more time explaining how soldiers want and need the capabilities that FCS brings to the fight.
Speakes also addressed the challenge in Defense Secretary Robert Gatess May 13 speech in Colorado, when he said the military must beware of planning to fight the next war and find itself unready for the current one.
He said that FCS, which he saw in action at Fort Bliss, must continue to demonstrate its value for the types of irregular challenges we will face, as well as for full-spectrum warfare. Speakes said FCS will be able to go anywhere and handle any fight. It is, for example, being modified to better cope with the threat from IEDs, he said.
Well see whether the House Democrats and Gates buy in. Reminder the Senate Armed Services Committee fully funded the administrations $3.6 billion request for FCS.
-- Colin Clark
The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China were unforgiving "enemies" from the mid-1950s through the end of the Cold War. True, the two communist giants did - with great caution - collaborate to arm and train the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. But politically and even ideologically they were enemies.
Indeed, after President Richard M. Nixon's visit to China in 1972 the United States and China entered a period of limited cooperation aimed against the Soviet Union. Over the past 35 years this relationship has had up and downs - in the 1980s the Reagan administration began a military relationship, which included the establishment of a U.S. "listening post" in China to intercept Soviet communications; during the Clinton administration there was considerable technology transfer to China, while U.S.-China economic ties grew precipitously.
Following the demise of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 Russia and China entered a new relationship, which soon included massive sales of Russian military equipment to China including high-performance aircraft, destroyers, submarines, and other advanced weapons. Now Russia and China have reached a new level of cooperation - some might label it collaboration.
Russia's new president, Dmitri Medvedev, has just completed a visit to Beijing. With China's President Hu Jintao, Medvedev has signed a joint statement declaring that Russia and China are ready to push forward a new level of economic cooperation between their nations. Medvedev said that his country's relationship with China is now a driving force on the world stage and can no longer be ignored - that the international community can no longer make major decisions without the participation of the two countries. He added that Russia will continue to pursue close ties with China, even if it makes other countries uneasy. "Our activity is not directed against any other country but serves to maintain an international balance," Medvedev said of Russia's new level of cooperation with China.
Among the other declarations of the two leaders during the May visit by Medvedev, they joined in criticizing plans of the United States to build a missile defense system in central Europe. From the start of that effort the Russian government believed that its purpose was to neutralize Russia's IBCM force.
Both China and Russia are veto-wielding permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, where they have coordinated positions on controversial issues such as independence for Kosovo, which both countries oppose, as well as the Iranian nuclear issue. And, unlike most Western nations, Russia has not voiced concerns about China's human rights record or its assault on the protest movement that erupted against Chinese rule in Tibet last March.
This was Medvedev's first official foreign trip since becoming Russia's president earlier in May. That action in itself is of major international significance. During their May meeting President Hu accepted an invitation from Medvedev to visit Russia in 2009.
The two leaders also signed a $1 billion agreement for Russia to build a uranium enrichment facility in China. Not publicized, their staffs also discussed an increase in military cooperation between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Russian air and ground forces are dispatching planeloads of humanitarian aid to China to help with earthquake relief efforts.
Not yet clear are the long-term implications for the United States and other Western states of the new Russia-China relationship. Prior to the recent meeting in Beijing, alarmists in the United States called attention to Russian military sales to China. These are expected to increase. Less attention has been given to the more important implications of Chinese efforts to increase influence and to obtain critical resources in Africa and the Middle East. Russian-Chinese collaboration could certainly exacerbate this situation.
Our boy Steve Trimble posted a piece this morning on a series of hover pit tests conducted by Lockheed Martin with it's F-35B prototype -- they're calling it the BF-1.
Hover pit tests completed two days ago moved the first short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the Lockheed Martin F-35 within days or weeks of its first flight.
A Lockheed spokesman confirms the propulsion system for the STOVL demonstrator named BF-1 completed a series of conversions from conventional mode to vertical landing mode.
The tests were conducted at Lockheeds hover pit, where the aircraft is tethered to the ground on top of a steel grate. The pit allows Lockheeds engineers to measure vertical thrust generated by the engine.
The hover pit is the last major stop before the first flight event for BF-1, which has been scheduled for late May or early June.
Despite the need to complete hover pit tests before first flight, the lift-fan that helps power the aircraft during STOVL mode will not be engaged in a flight test for several more months. BF-1 will fly in conventional mode throughout the first flight.
This is pretty exciting because to most observers, this is the most endangered model of the F-35 (though some could argue each has its own equal level of program risk based largely on available funds in each of the services).
But in terms of technical risk, the STOVL JSF clearly has a lot to prove. The lift fan concept is an intriguing one, and if it works, could prove far less risky for the kinds of expeditionary operations its "B" model customers intend for it.
Getting the aircraft airborne has wider implications for Lockheed. The US Department of Defense has linked the release of production funding for the first batch of six F-35B low rate initial production (LRIP) aircraft to completing the first flight event.
In addition, BF-1 is the first weight-optimized airframe produced after Lockheed re-designed all three variants in 2005 to reduce or offset weight by as much as 2,268kg (5,000lbs).
The F-35B, on order by the US Marine Corps, the UK Royal Air Force and UK Royal Navy, is the first western aircraft to combine supersonic speed with the STOVL capability.
I've had the good fortune to have observed this program from its initial stages back when it was Boeing vs Lockheed in the concept demonstrator phase. I saw the LM version in the hover pits at its Skunkworks facility out in Cali back then and have been eagerly awaiting the real thing for a long time.
The Marines are gonna be psyched when this thing gets into production since clearly the AV-8B is more than ready for retirement.
(Gouge: NC)
-- Christian
One of the least understood reforms by the House of Representatives Democratic leadership was its creation last year of a Select Intelligence Oversight Panel within the House Appropriations Committee.
In these days when the intelligence budget is one of the few still growing, this new panel is especially important. On top of that, it is considering one of the few big new classified satellite programs, known as BASIC, being considered by the Pentagon and the Director of National Intelligence.
So I wanted to make sure we all knew just what this panel actually does. We asked someone who works with the panel. First and most important to those who kniow about the tremendous battles over money and power between the military and IC -- the panel oversees all intelligence activities and it does not matter whether the funding comes from the Military Intelligence Program budget or the National Intelligence Program budget. This makes the House panel, led by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) (that's him in the photo), the only single body in the House and Senate responsible for overseeing all intelligence funding. The Senate Select Intelligence Committee only oversees the National Intelligence Program, which mostly covers so-called strategic systems, such as the NROs radar satellites.
The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee oversees both defense and intelligence spending. Traditionally, defense spending has trumped intelligence spending when it comes to the number of subcommittee staff involved and in terms of who gets what. In other words, if the Pentagon wants funding for an intelligence function and its a question of whether the military gets it or the CIA or DNI want it, the military is likely to get what it wants.
On top of being the only panel exclusively responsible for overseeing all intelligence spending, the panel makes annual recommendations to the House Appropriations defense subcommittee about classified defense appropriations. On top of that, the panel works with the senior leaders of the overall appropriations committee on all intelligence matters. So members and their staff can try to modify legislation at any point in the Houses lawmaking process, through to and including floor action.
Footnote for those who grew up with the old triptych of national intelligence, the Joint Military Intelligence Program and the Tactical Intelligence and Related Activities (known as TIARA), things have changed. Now theres just national or military intelligence money. And that is being set in legislative stone in the pending intelligence authorization and spending bills.
-- Colin Clark
The Defense Department is looking for ways to integrate a structured learning environment and gaming to train military members, a senior official said.
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) cooperated with the French Navy May 21, as French pilots landed on the flight deck to work on their carrier qualifications.
Russia and China want an international agreement to be drafted banning the deployment of weapons in space, the countries' leaders said on Friday in a joint declaration after talks in Beijing.
The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony leaves New Delhi on Sunday, on a three-day visit to Germany. Accompanied by a high-level official delegation, Shri Antony will attend the International Aerospace Exhibition and Conferences – ILA 2008...
The UN concluded in a report Monday that a Russian fighter jet shot down an unmanned Georgian spy plane last month, prompting the EU to call on Moscow and Tbilisi to "explain themselves."
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and The Boeing Co. are expanding the flight envelope for the X-48B blended wing body research aircraft.
Some of the Army's most high-tech future weapons were recently on display on Capitol Hill as part of the "Empowering Soldiers Through High Technology" exhibit sponsored by the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology.
The UN atomic watchdog has expressed serious concern that Iran is still hiding information about alleged studies into making nuclear warheads and defying UN demands to suspend uranium enrichment.
The Varyag, a Russian Slava-class missile cruiser dubbed 'the killer of aircraft carriers,' has started a series of live-firing exercises in the Pacific for the first time since a recent overhaul, a fleet spokesman said Monday.
Minister of State for the Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth MP and the RAF's most senior engineer, Air Marshal Sir Barry Thornton, have made statements following the conclusion of the Inquest into the crash of RAF Nimrod XV230
The Dutch aerospace industry is calling for its contract with the government on the development of the Joint Strike Fighter to be reopened, the NRC Handelsblad reported on Friday.
NASA has a new spacecraft operating on the surface of Mars. This afternoon, the Phoenix Mars Lander, built by Lockheed Martin, navigated a dramatic blazing descent through the planet's atmosphere, positioning Phoenix to dig down and touch the planet's subsurface ice.
The surface-to-surface Ballistic Missile Prithvi-II was successfully launched from ITR, Chandipur, Balasore off Orissa coast at 10:26 this morning.
Eurofighter Typhoon has the largest order book and series production in the fighter aircraft market. 707 weapon systems under contract is an indisputable fact that leaves the competition trailing.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced today the successful completion of an exercise held May 22 involving Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) elements participating in a routine operational test of a U.S. Air Force strategic missile from Vandenberg AFB
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations May 25, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
As grand accomplishments go, a Task Force Marne aviation brigade’s 200th combat air assault mission during their current deployment to Iraq went off with as little fanfare as possible.
I got a nice note today from a reader who asked whether exoskeleton armor was discussed at the armor conference I attended this week. It was, but it was during a session that was restricted from media.
So, in honor of the Friday before memorial day, I found an interesting video you can kill some time with before the whistle sounds. It's an inside look at the Raytheon/Sarcos prototype.
But, the thing is, I've got a little problem. See, I have a thing for my boy Troy Hurtubise...you know, that innovative body armor designer who's built the IED-survivable Ursus suit. Well, I also ran across another demo video of his new Trojan II armor and I thought I'd post it here as well for you to compare (you might remember I posted Troy's last video on this site the Friday before Memorial Day 2007).
My vote's for Troy!
Have a great memorial day folks...
-- Christian
At the end of January, Christian posted some trenchant criticisms from troops in Iraq about the Stryker system, focusing on the 105 mm Mobile Gun System built by General Dynamics Corp. He cited a litany of problems, with probably the biggest being the tropical heat generated by the system.
I got an update from Col. Jon S. Lehr, commander of 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry. Lehr told reporters today that he has signed a two-page memo to the Army leadership saying the Stryker has some warts but it is clearly a piece of equipment we need to keep. He admitted the heat problem, noting that the temperature climbs to 130 degrees in the crew compartment. In addition, the coaxial machine gun has some feeding problems. But overall, the troops told him the system works, and, with improvements, should do a decent job.
Another system that Lehrs units used was the ever-evolving Land Warrior. This one earned much higher marks from Lehr: I think its a great piece of gear. And hes sent another memo to the Army leadership recommending that it be deployed throughout the Army. There are a few warts, in particular the day optic system, which Lehr said actually made things worse for soldiers. They got rid of that and lightened the systems weight always a key factor in winning praise from always over-burdened troopers. Perhaps most importantly for the system in the long run, Lehr said Land Warrior integrates nicely to the mobile data systems carried by things like tanks and Strykers.
As to how Kehrs unit has fared during its deployment in Diyala Province, get a load of these stats:
220 high value targets captured
1,700 insurgents captured
500 insurgents killed
25,000 miles of roads cleared
2,100 IEDs cleared
Lehr's bottom line: Overall, Diyala has seen a 70 percent reduction in violence over the last year.
-- Colin Clark
The recent flurry of articles and revelations about the submarine-hiding tunnels on Hainan Island in the South China Sea has again raised questions about Chinas aircraft carrier program. Indeed, some articles have suggested that the tunnels may be large enough to "hide" an aircraft carrier -- a clear impossibility.
[Photo of 'concrete' carrier: Marc van der Chijs blog]
Articles regularly cite Chinese plans to rehabilitate the ex-Soviet carrier Varyag, now moored at the port of Dalian, or even the carrier Minsk, moored as a "theme park" at Shenzhen. Other articles cite alleged Chinese plans to build up to six aircraft carriers in the near term. A South Korean newspaper has stated that "A source close to Chinese military affairs said . . . that China has been promoting the construction of a 93,000-ton atomic-powered carrier under a plan titled 085 Project. The nation also has a plan to build a 48,000-ton non-nuclear-powered carrier under the so-called 089 Project."
The Chinese Navy is certainly interested in aircraft carriers. At the end of the Cold War a Chinese naval delegation visited the Black Sea shipyard at Nikolayev in the newly established Ukraine nation to examine the unfinished Soviet carrier Varyag. Subsequently, shortly before his retirement in 1997, Admiral Liu Huaqing wrote that it was "extremely necessary" for China to possess aircraft carriers. Liu was Commander-in-Chief of the Chinese Navy from 1982 to 1988, and the vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission from 1989 to 1997.
According to Liu, aircraft carriers are needed to protect Chinas sovereignty and maritime resources, especially with regard to Taiwan and the South China Sea; guard Chinas sea lines of communications as the country industrializes and becomes a major trading power; enable China to keep up with regional powers such as India and Japan; and give Chinas Navy a decisive edge in future naval warfare.
In the early 1990s the Chinese Navy began a large-scale modernization program, acquiring advanced submarines, destroyers, anti-ship missiles, and aircraft, primarily from Russia. Rumors surrounded those acquisitions that a carrier program was begun when China acquired the unfinished Russian Varyag and the retired carrier Minsk in the late 1990s. But both ships had been stripped of all useful aviation and electronic equipment, and their propulsion plants are inert; at best they could provide Chinese naval architects with hands-on design information.
Upon arrival in China the Minsk spent 18 months at the Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard for repairs and rehabilitation. She was then towed to Shenzen, arriving on 9 May 2000, configured as the center piece for a military a museum-theme park. She is certainly not capable of being returned to service as an operational carrier.
The Varyag is equally problematical. Since being towed to Dalian she has been painted but no other work has been observed, with the ship being readily visible from public locations.
Returning the Varyag -- designed in the 1960s -- to operational service would require new propulsion and auxiliary machinery, new electronics with the attendant wiring of the ship, structural repairs, and other work. Looking at the continued delays and increasing costs of a Russian shipyard rehabilitating and upgrading the Soviet-built carrier Admiral Gorshkov for the Indian Navy, objective analyses shows that the Varyag is highly unlikely to be returned to service. She has lain idle with no work on the ship having been observed since her arrival at Dalian on 3 March 2002.
Rather, it can be expected that in the next few years the Chinese Navy will initiate the construction of small carriers -- possibly modeled on the recent Japanese-built dock landing ships and aegis destroyers that have large flight decks. Such ships would be a reasonable step toward the eventual construction of large carriers -- to be started a decade or more from now.
All right folks, so you're probably going to need to help set me straight on this, but there were a couple of interesting presentations at the armor conference regarding nano-fibers -- particularly the construction of carbon fiber nano-tubes in a lab environment.
The impact on the body armor industry if this technology could be produced on a large scale is huge. One of my body armor buds told me if fully realized, "a big football player could flip a tank over" that's made out of the stuff.
Whoa!
The long and the short of it is that several researchers (particularly university labs) have been able to construct microscopic tubular structures out of carbon fiber and extrude them into long weaves of nanites. The stuff is incredibly lightweight, but stronger than steel. According to experts, if this stuff is wrapped around strands of aramid fibers like Kevlar, Dyneema or Spectra Shield, the ballistic resistance yield would be huge -- as would the weight reduction.
For example: I used two Level III plates during my last trip to Iraq that weighed about four pounds and were made of aramid materials like Dyneema [thank you to my bros at Protective Products who hooked me with the totally sweet set of 11014 plates. They saved my back and would have definately saved my butt if I'd needed them to]. There was no boron carbide (ceramic) plating in them at all. They could withstand a standard AK round, but not an armor piercing one.
With the nano-fibers, my understanding is that you could realize Level IV or even Level V ballistic protection with the same or less weight. If/when this technology is fully realized, imagine the applications for not just body armor, but armor for vehicles as well.
The researchers also mentioned the increased conductive properties of carbon nano-fibers, which could lead to armor and clothing with embedded telemetry, heating and cooling capability and even innovative Predator-like camouflaging.
But there's a down-side my armor expert warns. When the material is impacted, it results in emissions of carbon monoxide gas and microscopic particulates that could prove toxic if inhaled. One of the researchers presenting her work at the conference admitted this was a concern, but that research into the environmental effects of such a breakdown was so-far minimal. The Washington Post had a story on this phenomenon on Wednesday, citing a study that showed much higher cancer risk in mice injected with nano fibers.
Now this doesn't seem like much when applied to a body armor plate impact. But my buddy countered that if these things were part of vehicle armor, imagine the potentially toxic effluent if its struck by a massive IED or anti-armor round...
It's an amazing development that could revolutionize how we think about ballistic protection. But there's clearly still a long way to go before we can built that featherweight tank.
-- Christian
Earlier I gave you some notes I took on the forecasted expenditures of the services for armor products. The analyst from Vector Strategy also went into the forecasted expenditures of armored materials, including steel, ceramics and aramid fiber armors. But I thought that stuff was a bit speculative, so I won't pass it along unless any of you email me for it.
What she did talk about, however, were some "issues" that could affect her assumptions on materials and expenditures -- things that could raise or lower the amounts or contribute to the creation of a whole new category of material demands and dollars spent.
Some of those issues include:
Up next: Carbon nanotubes and their influence on the armor market.
-- Christian
Another presenter here at the armor conference was a woman who runs a business consulting company called Vector Strategy Inc. She gave a lightening fast briefing on trends in the armor business, including vehicle armor orders, body armor procurement, vehicle upgrades, new vehicle orders, etc. through like 2015.
It was a fascinating presentation if not delivered at too blistering a pace to really keep up with it, but here are some numbers she came up with:
Up next: Key issues facing the future of armor procurement...
-- Christian
Greetings folks. Just an FYI -- I've been at a military armor protection conference today getting the latest insight on body and vehicle armor, active protection systems, advanced materials and other protective equipment.
First bit of news comes from an official with the Army's combat developments directorate at Fort Benning who described some upcoming "soldier protection demonstrations" that will take a look at various new technology solutions to common problems on the battlefield. This is the same way the Army came up with its vastly-improved body armor, or IOTV.
The first initiative is a combat vehicle crewman armor suite that recognizes the tight confines of a vehicle and its various entry ports and takes advantage of the vehicles inherent armor protection. But the official, John Yancey, recognized that Humvee gunners and other vehicle gunners might need more armor for blast mitigation in an IED scenario.
It all needs to fit into a new philosophy the Army wants vendors to adhere to in armor design that calls for modularization in armor components. In other words, Yancey wants to give commanders the leeway to add or subtract armor components based on mission and threat. A door kicker only needs a plate carrier, a vehicle gunner needs arm, shoulder, face and neck protection, he said.
Another SPD going on right now at Benning is looking into hearing protection and enhancement. Kinda like "hunters ear" already on the market.
Yancey also talked about an upcoming SPD on lower extremity protection, including six vendors who've submitted products such as ballistic shorts, pants and chaps. Yancey admitted no Soldier was going to have to wear Kevlar pants on patrol, but a vehicle gunner might really appreciate them. He also mentioned that the Army was taking another look at whether the current padding system in the advanced combat helmet is making the grade.
Stay tuned for more from the Military Armor Protection conference taking place in Alexandria, Va., today and tomorrow.
-- Christian
The NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan has made significant progress in the country despite the command being “under-resourced,” the alliance’s top officer in the country said today.
The Department of the Army today joined the Department of Defense in announcing May 19 the alert of four Army National Guard Brigade Combat Teams for planned rotations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Northrop Grumman has been selected by the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) to provide the AAR-54 Missile Warning System (MWS) for its CH-47F Chinook helicopters.
A new organization dedicated to Indian Ocean regional port and maritime security has been launched. The South Asia Regional Port Security Cooperative, composed of nine nations
The Defense Department needs to worry more about what warfighters need right now than what they may need down the road, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last night.
The Pentagon notified Congress on Monday of the possible sale of 48 F-16 fighters to Romania as part of a deal valued at 4.5 billion dollars.
A House of Representatives committee has voted down attempts by Republicans to restore more than $200 million for a planned U.S. missile defense system in Europe.
Representatives of 109 countries have gathered in Dublin for a 12-day conference aimed at a global ban on cluster munitions. Supporters of the ban say it is "now or never" for a deal.
The southern African contribution to the African Standby Force (ASF) to fulfil the African Union's (AU) peacekeeping ambitions will depend heavily on South Africa, but with its army already overstretched
Northrop Grumman's Shipbuilding sector reached an important construction milestone May 18 when it completed the final hull welds of the Virginia-class submarine New Mexico (SSN 779).
A test team with the 658th Aeronautical Systems Squadron completed the first Global Positioning System guided weapons release from an MQ-9 Reaper May 13 at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake, Calif.
In practice, the requirements set by the Government for the Swedish Armed Forces imply a change of course compared with most recent defence resolution.
The Defense Department today announced force rotations for Iraq and Afghanistan, including upcoming active-duty deployments later this year and alerts to Army National Guard units to deploy in spring 2009 and 2010.
The Lower House, although reluctantly, is supporting Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop's position that the Netherlands should keep its M261 cluster-bombs.
The Boeing Company has been awarded a $5.2 million U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) contract to demonstrate the effectiveness of Guidance Integrated Fuzing (GIF) technology developed under the Seeker Integrated Target Endgame Sensor (SITES) program.
The TP400-D6 engine has achieved another programme development milestone with the successful completion of its bird strike test.
Well, it looks like Boeing has taken a step closer to making its air-to-ground laser blaster a reality with a recent test shoot from a specially-constructed C-130 sitting on the ground.
Boeing has fired a high-energy chemical laser aboard a C-130H aircraft in ground tests for the first time, achieving a key milestone for the Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program.
The successful laser firing occurred May 13 at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
"First firing of the high-energy laser aboard the ATL aircraft shows that the program continues to make good progress toward giving the warfighter an ultra-precision engagement capability that will dramatically reduce collateral damage," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.
After conducting a series of additional laser tests on the ground and in the air, the program will fire the chemical laser in-flight at mission-representative ground targets. The test team will fire the laser through a rotating turret that extends through the aircraft's belly.
We wrote about this a while back after an interview with program officials during a conference call on the airborne laser program -- a 747 equipped with a laser designed to shoot down ballistic missiles. Well, looks like Boeing made good on their prediction and the program remains on track to create a laser gunship.
"Later this year, we will fire the laser in-flight at ground targets, demonstrating the military utility of this transformational directed energy weapon," Fancher said.
Last year, the high-energy laser concluded laboratory testing at Kirtland, demonstrating reliable operations in more than 50 firings.
ATL, which Boeing is developing for the U.S. Department of Defense, will destroy, damage or disable targets with little to no collateral damage, supporting missions on the battlefield and in urban operations.
Boeing's ATL industry team includes L-3 Communications/Brashear, which made the laser turret, and HYTEC Inc., which made various structural elements of the weapon system.
-- Christian
[EDITOR: Good morning folks. I want to introduce to you a new guest blogger we're going to feature here occasionally. He's a defense insider and that's about all I can say here, but you'll recognize his post from last week on the HK416.
It's probably the jading effect of being so close to the biz that's made our new team mate boil over, so for now, we'll just call him "military curmudgeon" as he tells us how it really is.]
Earmarks are earmarks. I don't care what is being done with those earmarks right now.
That is not the case, from the perspective of American warfighting capability.
It is the DoD's responsibility to tell the President/Congress what they need, not for an individual politician to decide for himself what the military needs.
You assume that the people running the DoD actually have the best interests of the fighting man and woman at heart.
They don't. Not when it comes to funding unsexy things like trucks, amphibious ships and cargo planes over their favored toys.
The various services -- who write the requirements that DoD sends to Congress -- game the system to get the favored toys paid for, while ignoring the unglamorous and non-career enhancing.
The USAF's fascination with the F22 over everything has been much commented on here.
How the USAF shorts cargo plane and ground support plane production has been a US Army complaint for as long as there has been a separate air force. The A-10 would not exist at all were it not for legislative log rolling that over ruled the "Fighter pilot generals."
The Marines are in the same position versus the US Navy when it comes to amphibious transports with carriers, fighter planes and subs playing the "F22 role."
The US Army Generals from the "Treadhead," "Grunt," and "Gunbunnie" unions (aka Armor, Infantry and Artillery branches) always short the Army supply of trucks during peace time. (The USMC does not do separate unions, but they short trucks as well, since, hey! That is what the Army is for.)
All of the above play budget games shorting unsexy but mission critical trucks, cargo planes and troop transports for their favored projects.
There are no "white hats" in all of this.
This is the normal "clash of competing interests legislative sausage making that our founding fathers anticipated in the Constitution. It is not efficient or pretty, but it works.
The usual results when legislative reformers try and 'reduce the corruption' of normal legislative sausage making is that it empowers the permanent bureaucracy at the expense of both the troops and the general public.
Legislative sausage making has the ultimate accountability of elections.
The Permanent Bureaucracy is accountable only to itself.
-- Military Curmudgeon
Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on governments to adopt an international convention banning the use of cluster munitions, on the eve of a conference on the issue in Dublin.
A Taliban suicide bomber killed four Afghans on Sunday in the heart of a town taken from rebels five months ago and a foreign soldier in a US-led force died in another blast, officials said.
InterSense Incorporated, a market leader in precision motion technology, today announced its IS-900 motion tracking system has been installed in the U.S. Army's Soldier Battle Lab located at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Thirty years ago, on May 15, 1978, a missile defense system was placed on combat duty to protect Moscow as the capital city of the Soviet Union.
China's military said Sunday that all nuclear facilities in the country's earthquake-hit southwest were "safe and secure."
In a "remote village" west of Salt Lake City, a 2,000-pound enhanced guided bomb unit-15 slips suddenly through an open window of a 30-foot building with immaculate precision.
Air Force senior leaders are asking all Airmen for suggestions on a name for the service's newest tanker aircraft, the KC-45A.
The U.S. Air Force found Northrop Grumman Corporation's bid to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers superior to Boeing's in four of the five most important selection criteria.
Boeing has achieved six years of consecutive on-time deliveries for the Minuteman III missile program with the recent delivery of the 593rd missile guidance set (MGS) to the U.S. Air Force.
The National Training Center here has made significant progress in improving force-protection training for Army brigade combat teams as they prepare for future deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Documental Solutions, a leader in defence market analysis, has recently reviewed its analysis of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) Region's Command, Control and Communications (C3) market for the period 2008-2015.
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations May 17, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
The U.S. Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat a $38 million contract modification to perform a range of work on USS Hawaii (SSN-776) during its post-shakedown availability (PSA).
A Non Line-of-Sight-Launch System (NLOS-LS) Precision Attack Missile was successfully launched May 15 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., taking the missile system a step closer toward providing the warfighter a much-needed precision weapon system.
Pratt & Whitney Canada and Helicopters of Russia have signed today in Moscow a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to produce the PW127TS engine for Russia's new generation, twin-engine medium helicopter MI-38.
The Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC) today seeks to demonstrate to the nation the progress made by the defence industry in delivering an ethical defence sector in the UK.
The Boeing Company's Rotorcraft Systems division in Philadelphia today resumed operations on the H-47 Chinook helicopter production line.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called on Congress and the Pentagon to keep their eyes on the ball, namely the war we are fighting now, instead of the war we might face later, maybe.
It sounded rational and, perhaps, even seemed a sound reminder that the nation can't spend everything it might want to spend on the military.
Gates' message was heard loud and clear on the Hill. Today, the top defense appropriator -- read money man -- in the House of Representatives boldly stepped in front of the nation (also known as the floor of the House) and said Gates' speech was "simply a rationalization of short-term budget decisions made in the waning months of this Administration. Now when Rep. John Murtha, (D-Penn.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, says something like this, you can bet he has a larger point to deliver. And he did. Murtha said the administration is effectively waging a war without a strategy to guide it.
"We need a National Security Strategy to identify both the near-term and long-term threats to this country. We need a vigorous debate to achieve this strategy -- this hasn't happened since the Cold War," Murtha said. Then he sent a zinger that must have sent some shock waves through intelligence community budgeters: "This country spends more money on intelligence than all the nations of the world combined, and as I've observed our intelligence is about as accurate as Punxsutawney Phil -- 50 percent. 50 percent is unacceptable." Perhaps Murtha has his eyes set on at least one major cut to an IC program.
But in the longer term, Murtha said, "It is time to look beyond Iraq and focus on future threats." To that end, he claimed the emergency supplemental spending bill being introduced on the House floor "provides our military with equipment that will prepare them to face future threats under any scenario; not only to fight a war, but to prevent a war." Then he listed some of the bigger ticket items in the supplemental, including:
$3.6 billion to procure 15 C-17 aircraft
$2.5 billion to procure 34 C-130 aircraft
$750 million for National Guard and Reserve equipment
$1.5 billion for Humvees
$3 billion for Medium and Heavy Tactical Trucks
$500 million for Army and Marine Corps Facility Maintenance and Repairs (including the barracks that need repairs)
$300 million for facility maintenance and repairs at military medical facilities
$570 million for treatment and research activities within the Defense Health Program.
-- Colin Clark
Commercial satellite imagery has revealed an extensive nuclear missile site in central China with nearly sixty launch pads for medium-range missiles capable of striking Russia or India, a researcher said Thursday.
The United States has warned Beijing over reported use of Chinese weapons by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Asian giant's continued sale of arms to Iran, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said.
The U.S. Air Force today announced that a team led by Lockheed Martin has won the competition to build the next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) Space System program, known as GPS III.
Raytheon Company has entered the U.S. Navy's High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons Concept (HAAWC) competition, successfully demonstrating a new weapon system -- the Fish Hawk -- March 21 at the Eglin flight demonstration range in the Gulf of Mexico.
Algeria has asked Russia to deliver between 14 and 16 additional Su-30 Flanker fighters in exchange for the MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft it was supposed to receive under a contract that was terminated this year, a Russian business daily said.
Thanks to technology advances in small, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, service-members on the ground may be able to get an inside track on what lies ahead, literally.
The U.S. Army Joint Munition and Lethality Life Cycle Management Command has awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products a contract to develop a Lightweight .50 Caliber (12.7mm) Machine Gun (LW50MG) weapon system.
The DoD's CPI program provides methods, tools, and philosophies that can be used to improve the way the Army works through training and certifying its workforce.
May 14 marked another significant event when members of the Iraqi air force flew its first medical evacuation mission since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Nothing is official yet but Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), may throw his hat in the ring to become ranking member of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, responsible for overseeing space, missile defense and nuclear weapons programs. Two senior Pentagon officials have asked Franks to make the try.
After all, the Arizona conservative may be the GOPs most outspoken missile defense advocate remaining in the House after the election. Reps. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), former presidential candidate and the departing ranking member of the whole committee, Jim Saxton (R-NJ), current ranking member of the powerful airland subcommittee, and Terry Everett (R-Ala.), current ranking member of the strategic forces subcommittee, all plan to leave the House at the end of the year.
The ranks of missile defense advocates will be further reduced by the departure of Democrat Bud Cramer of Alabama, who is one of the few Democrats on the committee who has consistently fought for missile defense funding.
Franks told me yesterday morning at a breakfast sponsored by the National Defense University that he hasnt made up his mind about running for the subcommittee spot. He conceded that he might be interested.
-- Colin Clark