Here’s another call for higher spending. “America spent years digging the strategic hole in which it finds itself. We stopped with last year’s defense-appropriation bill. Why start again? Put the shovel away, Mr. President.”
“Navy Won’t Resurrect Decommissioned Ships for 355-Fleet Buildup, Admiral Says.” Why not use them for training or other experimental exercises?
Related: “Before Boeing even delivered a single airframe, it had built up roughly $10B in deferred costs.” Analysis on the Boeing 787 with good charts at the link.
“The US Navy is making an aggressive push toward “offensive” mine warfare designed to attack and destroy enemy ships and submarines with undersea explosives – all while preparing a complex suite of interwoven mine countermeasure technologies.” This is so silly it sounds like a joke. Navies everywhere would always like to kill the enemy ships before they can do any mischief. But you have to plan for reality, not fantasy. The reality is that the enemy will lay some mines. “Complex suite” is just a phrase to placate people from the fact there will be no dedicated ships or missions for it. The Remote Minehunting System (RMS) was cancelled a few years ago. I guess the Navy was hoping the LCS’s Mine Countermeasures (MCM) module would provide the capability, but that is appearing less realistic. And we know that when you move a function to some auxiliary part of a “complex suite,” it won’t receive much attention. Mine countermeasures I guess just aren’t high on the Navy’s priority list.
“We wrote out a training manual that used no words over 6 letters, we were told we didn’t use enough pictures,” she wrote. “By the time we submitted a manual that was approved, it was literally nothing but pictures …” That was from a hilarious article: Gun Maker Calls Marines ‘Crayon Eaters’ in Viral Facebook Post. I think that this is just one tiny example of how ridiculous it is meeting government requirements, but also, an example of the complete disdain people show for the intelligence of others.
“The Defense Department’s near-term plans will begin to balloon in cost in 2023. A new Congressional Budget Office report said DoD will need a base budget of $735 billion by 2033 to cover the costs.”
“As the Army races to modernize against the Russian threat, it’s adapting countermeasures used on aircraft to protect its armored vehicles from anti-tank missiles.” That’s from BreakingDefense. The Army appears to be really late to the EW game.
The Fighter Pilot Podcast: H-60 (Black / Sea) Hawk.
“Civilian mechanics installed the Trophy system on the hulls of tanks, Edwards said, and since it is heavy – about 5,000 pounds – the idea is to compare the tanks’ performances with and without the weight.” That’s on the Army testing out its adaptation of the Israeli firm Throphy’s Active Protection System.
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