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MQ-8C radar promises long-range ISR boost for LCS
MQ-8C radar promises long-range ISR boost for LCS - IHS Jane's 360

Key Points
  • NAVAIR plans to award the contract for a surface search radar for the MQ-8C Fire Scout UAV in March 2016
  • Draft specifications indicate that the radar will be able to track 500 targets at ranges out to 100 n miles
The US Navy (USN) is seeking a surface search radar for the MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle (UAV) in an effort to provide Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs) and other helicopter-capable vessels with an organic persistent long-range ISR capability.

Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has given industry until 5 October to submit proposals for a maritime search radar (MSR) for the Northrop Grumman-built rotary-wing platform, which merges the airframe of the Bell 407 helicopter with autonomous control systems from the smaller MQ-8B UAV.


Marines Adding Tanks, Artillery to Black Sea Rotational Force to Reassure Against Russian Threat
Marines Adding Tanks, Artillery to Black Sea Rotational Force to Reassure Against Russian Threat - USNI News

This post has been updated to correct the type of artillery the Marines are bringing to Bulgaria. The Black Sea Rotational Force’s combined arms company will use the M777 155mm field artillery piece, not the older M198.

The Marines are shaking up their force in Europe, adding a one-of-a-kind Combined Arms Company to the Black Sea Rotational Force to train with local partners and allies on anti-tank capabilities.

Four M1A1 Abrams tanks, three M777 155mm field artillery pieces and six light-armored vehicles (LAVs) LAV-25arrived in Bremerhaven, Germany, on Sunday, and will be boarded onto trains and sent to their new home in Novo Selo Training Area in Bulgaria, according to a U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe statement.

The Black Sea Rotational Force, established in 2010, is based at the Mihail Koglinceanu Air Base in Romania and consists of about 265 Marines. That force rotates semi-annually and has traveled the region doing theater security cooperation (TSC) exercises. It recently was pulled under a common headquarters with the Europe-based Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Crisis Response Africa, which provides a similar capability to U.S. Africa Command. But these forces have never had the capability to do anti-tank training – nor has any other Marine unit around the world.

With the tanks, LAVs and artillery, “combine that with CAAT (combined anti-armor team) platoons, the heavy weapons companies and those sorts of assets, and you’ve got a more comprehensive take and training on anti-armor,” U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe spokesman Capt. Richard Ulsh told USNI News.

Ulsh said the new company is the only of its kind in the Marine Corps and was created specifically for the current situation in Europe. Many close partners and allies, particularly in Eastern Europe, are concerned that Russia’s expansion won’t stop in Ukraine, where columns of tanks poured across the border last year even as Russia denied invading its neighbor.

Earlier this month, when the rotational force turned over, outgoing commander Lt. Col. David Fallon said in the transfer of authority ceremony that “this is a complicated and volatile time for this region. Russia’s aggression and influence in Ukraine is real. It has the undivided attention of all of Eastern Europe, and they look for reassurance that they do not stand alone. That is precisely what we provide – reassurance.”

The creation of the new combined arms company is “a demonstration of our resolve to our allies and our partners in the region,” Ulsh said.
“Look at it as an increased footprint in the area because that’s how serious we take the territorial integrity of our allies and our partners.”

The heavy equipment and about 160 Marines from II Marine Expeditionary Force are meant to work with European militaries’ mechanized units to improve their collective combined arms skills and anti-armor tactics, the Marine Corps statement said.

The combined arms company will be stationed in Bulgaria in part to spread out the force and create a larger footprint, and in part because the Novo Selo Training Area is optimized for the type of exercises the Marines hope to do, Ulsh said.
 
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The Navy's MQ-4C Triton Enters The Sci-Fi Realm Of The Anechoic Chamber

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The Navy’s MQ-4C Triton Broad Area Maritime Surveillance drone is seen lifted inside NAS Patuxent River’s anechoic chamber earlier this month. The test was unique as it was the first time ever that a vehicle was controlled via an external ground station while undergoing electromagnetic compatibility testing in the chamber.

The testing will take over two months to complete and will verify that all the aircraft’s subsystems can operate without interfering with each other electromagnetically. It is a process most military vehicles go through but it is especially critical to combat aircraft as their sensors and emitters are becoming more powerful and sensitive than ever before, and some can even be used as weapons themselves.

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This CV-22 Osprey is shown undergoing testing at Elgin Air Force Base’s smaller anechoic chamber. There are only a handful of such facilities scattered around the U.S.

The anechoic chamber, just one of the many exotic testing facilities that support American weapons development scattered across the U.S., gets its bizarre appearance from the thousands of cones that cover all its interior surfaces. These cones deaden electromagnetic emissions, keeping them from bouncing off walls and keeping stray external signals from interfering with tests. These sound-stage like structures are like stealth buildings on the inside, and they can be used for everything from systems integration testing, to musical recording, to radar signature testing, although the most advanced, purpose-build radar signature testing anechoic chambers can look even more exotic in nature than what you see here. (we will cover them in an upcoming post).

*I really wish there was a higher quality version of this pic:hitwall:
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The anechoic chamber at NAS Patuxent River is truly massive, but the largest in the world resides at Edwards AFB. Known as the Benefield Anechoic Facility, the chamber is large enough to accept any aircraft in the world, or multiple aircraft at once if the testing demands it. It is made up of 816,000 pyramid foam structures to deaden any radio frequency signals that careen through the massive 250 foot deep by 264 foot wide by 70 foot tall chasm. Inside engineers can hang their subjects from the ceiling using gantry cranes, or they can place them on a 160 foot wide turntable that can spin 1,000,000 pounds of machinery through 360 degrees. Aircraft as large as the B-52 and B-1 have been tested in the Benefield Anechoic Facility with plenty of room to spare and America’s next bomber, the LRS-B, will most likely be tested there as well, if a prototype has not already visited the facility.

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Here you can see the cousin of the Navy’s MQ-4C, the RQ-4B Global Hawk being tested at Edwards AFB’s huge anechoic facility.

These amazing facilities are quite literally the quietest places on earth, and the precise engineering and systems development that are accomplished within their four walls is just as interesting as their crazy, almost sinister yet futuristic appearance. They stand as just one more reminder of the incredibly shy, yet complex weapons development apparatus that supports America’s military capabilities. A good part of winning in any conflict occurs in obscure facilities like these long before the first shot is fired, where we get a edge over our competition through advanced engineering and science.
 
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@Technogaianist - Well someone was supposed to be away for the week ! :tsk:

Who says she isn't:partay:.

:wave:

Sorry I haven't got around to saying hello yet, I haven't noticed @Nihonjin1051 or yourself today (or yesterday for that matter). So hello, formally, for the first time in over two months. Unfortunately, after this week it will be many more months before I return again:(.

My ban officially ends January 1st, but I still might not be back until a few weeks later, at the earliest (this all depends on when the little one's ready).

Oh, and here's a bunny:bunny:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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Who says she isn't:partay:.

:wave:

Sorry I haven't got around to saying hello yet, I haven't noticed @Nihonjin1051 or yourself today (or yesterday for that matter). So hello, formally, for the first time in over two months. Unfortunately, after this week it will be many more months before I return again:(.

My ban officially ends January 1st, but I still might not be back until a few weeks later, at the earliest (this all depends on when the little).

Oh, and here's a bunny:bunny:

Sven ! :o:
 
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The Department of Defense awarded a contract worth more than $85 million to Textron’s Bell Helicopter division to develop updates for weapons systems for the US and Pakistani helicopter fleets, the US Navy said in a press release.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — In April 2015, the Department of State approved a $925 million foreign military sale to the Pakistan government for a fleet of attack helicopters and hellfire missiles. The principal contractors on that deal were Boeing, Bell, General Electric and Lockheed Martin.

In the meantime, Moscow has been holding talks with Islamabad on potentially selling a number of Russian combat Mi-35 helicopters to Pakistan, a Russian presidential aide said last month.
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New V-280 Valor Tiltrotor May Replace Entire US Army Helicopter Fleet
The new contract calls on Bell to develop updates for weapons systems in support of the US Navy and Pakistani government helicopter fleets.
Bell’s work on the weapons systems will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in August 2020.
In the meantime, Moscow has been holding talks with Islamabad on potentially selling a number of Russian combat Mi-35 helicopters to Pakistan, a Russian presidential aide said last month.
 
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@Technogaianist She/Him insulted me, after I protested her publishing not genuine photos and proved it, GHQ was informed . That's the reason ! You know it for sure . And it is not fair, unserious, and against the rules of PDF taking over someones IDENTITY !

LINKS are not Problem I unlinked them

So you want to detect a submarine? | Page 2
Links are as I said no problem
 
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You'll provide a link or you'll stop bothering with this thread. We aren't children here, we maintain a standard of professionalism and attribute credit to its appropriate source. If it's not your content, you offer credit via a link.

Where's the article from? I don't see any link and I know you didn't write the content.

So you want to detect a submarine? | Page 2

End of Story. You abide or your contributions will be removed.

@Technogaianist She/Him insulted me, after I protested her publishing not genuine photos and proved it, GHQ was informed .

Let me explain this in no uncertain terms:

I. Don't. Care. I don't care what your problem with her is, that's your business. Don't bother me with that garbage.

and against the rules of PDF taking over someones IDENTITY !

You're free to ask Jungibaaz, Oscar or Slav Defence, Waz or Manticore, it doesn't matter, especially considering I've also spoken to them using an account that I'm borrowing for a few days. They're fine with me using an account that isn't mine.

Whatever | Page 4043


:usflag:

Watch The Coast Guard Make The Biggest Narco Submarine Coke Bust Ever

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On July 18th, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stratton intercepted a narco sub about 200 miles south of Mexico. On board the homemade semi-submersible were 16,000 pounds of cocaine worth almost a quarter of a billion dollars. Yes, billion, with a B. The Coast Guard pulled 12,000 pounds out of the turquoise-colored sub before it sank to the seafloor


Over the last decade and a half, submarines have been increasingly popular for drug running. They range widely in capability and complexity, from semi-submersible vehicles with very low radar signatures, to fully submersible ones. They are largely built under the jungle canopy, away from the prying eyes of aerial and satellite surveillance, and are then launched on the coastline after being stuffed with drugs and sent north.

The sub caught on the 18th was classed as a “Blue Semi-Submersible” which has been a cartel favorite for years. It runs right below the waterline, with just its exhaust, air stack and tiny wheel house sticking out up from the waterline.


According to the NyTimes.com, these subs can cost well over $1M to build and are equipped with a valve in their hull that can be actuated so that the ship can be quickly flooded. This way, if the mission is compromised, the sub and its contents can be sunk while the crew bobs in the water waiting to be plucked out by the Coast Guard.

The USCG has steadily increased its technological capabilities and the deadliness of its armament when it comes to intercepting drug running in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, even working with military surveillance aircraft and nuclear fast attack submarines to hunt for targets. It’s a move that has been met with great support by some and great disdain by others who oppose what can seem to be an ever failing drug war.

Regardless of which side you stand on, the July 18th bust is remarkable in that it is said to be the Coast Guard’s largest bust of its kind. A quarter of a billion dollar loss is a large one, even for the cartels.
 
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Stop boring me with your offensive language Keep factual ! Rules are valid for all PDF !
I will inform Horus and Webmaster from GHQ, regional mods are regional mods.
And from whom should I know that you operate with covered or borrowed identity, I have no glass ball to look in !

If you would have read the articles detailed, you would have seen Washington (Sputnik)

ATR 72 ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) Aircraft - Naval Technology

US Awards Bell Helicopter $85Mln to Upgrade Navy, Pakistan Weapons Systems / Sputnik International
 
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