US military news, discussions and history

[AMDR]

USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) tailed by a Chinese frigate in the South China Sea.

USAF JTAC during the 2001 invasion designating targets with a SOFLAM.

 

[Transhumanist]

These Elite Military Helicopter Units Fly Washington's Power Players - Part 1

Washington D.C. is a fast moving place, and for those in the very top echelons of power, both time and security trump cost efficiency when it comes to transportation. The Department Of Defense has trio of helicopter squadrons ready to fly these VIPs around the region, and to safety should something catastrophic ever occur.

US Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion

When making trips within a couple hundred miles of Washington, high ups such as the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs Of Staff, the Pentagon’s civilian leadership and others will often use one of the military’s little known flying limousine fleets, the VIP converted VH-60 Black Hawks of the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion’s Executive Flight Detachment.

Located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, about 12 miles from the Pentagon, the 12th Aviation Battalion is the prime provider of airlift support for the Military District of Washington (MDW) and Joint Forces Headquarters-National Capital Region (JFHQ-NCR). It is also part of the Army Air Operation Group and the Army Priority Air Transport Command which move military executives around the world via a stunning array of aircraft.

Although the unit also flies UH-72A Lakotas and conventional UH-60 Black Hawks, their VIP fleet, known as “Gold Tops,” are some of the most luxurious helicopters under the command of the Department of Defense, even rivaling the president’s fleet of VH-60N and VH-3D “White Tops” flown my Marine Helicopter Squadron HMX-1.

The 12th Aviation Battalion also flies other government officials, agency heads and high-up DoD bosses, and even key lawmakers and visiting dignitaries under certain conditions. As such, scheduling can be challenging to say the least.

Secretary of Defense Gates can be seen riding in one of the newer interiors flown by the 12th Aviation Battalion’s VH-60s, which is installed by Sabreliner Aviation, who also provides VIP modifications for Black Hawks for foreign heads of state and royal families from around the globe.

Whizzing around Washington’s elite rulers is not the only mission of the 12th Aviation Battalion. They also provide air traffic control and facility support for landing pads around Washington, including the Pentagon, and they can still do many of the missions a standard UH-60 Army unit can.

Yet the Battalion’s most interesting and darker secondary mission is evacuating key decision makers and defense officials from Washington in a serious rush in the event of a national emergency, either man made or by nature.

One of the older interiors flown aboard the 12th Aviation Battalion’s VH-60s, some of which are being retired and sent to museums after 30 years of work and replaced by newer VH-60Ms.

If such an incident were to happen, the majority of the 26 helicopters in the 12th’s inventory would descend down onto Washington D.C. to pick up the highest ranking law makers and federal employees as part of America’s Continuity of Government plan. From there, they will be whisked away to secure underground sites like Mount Weather, Raven Rock and Camp David to provide command and control and oversee the survival, and even the possible rebuilding of the US Government under the most dire of circumstances.

This is an outcome that the 12th Aviation Battalion trains for and occasionally exercises in grand scale in front of all of Washington D.C.’s populace. Just last year, the unit put all their helicopters in the air at one time and flew a route through Washington’s highly monitored air space as if such a disaster had occurred.

The 12th’s aircraft are equipped for night vision operations, have specialized avionics for their unique mission set, and have both military tactical radios as well as civilian radios used by first responders. The UH-72 Lakotas in particular have Blue Force Trackers which provide locations of other assets in real time as well as providing connectivity to command and control units. The VH-60s have an upgraded GPS/INS navigation suite and weather radar along with enhanced communications capabilities.

While Alpha Company within the 12th Aviation Battalion is primarily tasked with VIP airlift, and Bravo Company flies the UH-72 Lakotas, Charlie Company is assigned the task of transporting the 911th Technical Rescue Engineering Company, which is a premier urban search and rescue and disaster response unit. If there were a building collapse or an attack like 9/11 on the Pentagon, this elite unit’s Initial Response Team, supported by Charlie Company helicopters, would rapidly deploy to the scene and begin the task of saving lives at almost all costs.

Because the 911th uses specialized vehicles and outsized lifesaving gear, Charlie Company crews constantly train for sling-load operations. During a real disaster, the Company’s nine Black Hawks can make rapid trips too and from their home base, building up a presence at a disaster site regardless of the conditions of the roadways and waterways leading to it.

The 12th Aviation Battalion is really kind of the Superman of Army Aviation. Their daily operations may look pretty reserved, and even luxurious in nature, but their ‘other job’ is anything but. The unit is comprised of some of the most experienced Army Aviators, all with combat time, and some of the most dedicated support personnel in the Army round out the unit. If things were to get really bad in Washington D.C., they would be America’s best bet to get our leadership out of harms way as fast as possible so that the country could survive to fight another day.

 

[Transhumanist]

These Elite Military Helicopter Units Fly Washington's Power Players - part 2

United States Air Force 1st Helicopter Squadron

Located at the northeastern tip of Andrews Air Force Base, the 1st Helicopter Squadron provides similar air taxi services as the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion, although with their nearly antique UH-1N Twin Hueys. The Squadron has a storied past, being the first helicopter unit to ever fly the president officially and has been a fixture at Andrews AFB for half a century.

The iconic form of the Huey has been seen thumping its way around Washington for 50 years, and Ronald Reagan regularly flew on HMX-1’s VH-1Ns during his presidency. Even with its age, the UH-1N is still capable. It has a relatively small footprint and can get in and out of tight places. It is also single-pilot certified, even for night-vision operations, meaning that in an emergency, the 1st Helicopter Squadron can launch as many aircraft as pilots available. Still, in comparison to the Black Hawk, which is far from a brand new design itself, the UH-1N is pretty cramped and austere.

Some of the 1st Helicopter Squadron’s Hueys are equipped with a basic VIP interior, although it closely conforms to the more stripped down stock Huey models interior, replacing their webbed-canvas seats with plusher cushions and adding more carpeting and sound insulation (click hereto see an example and check out the picture below).

As such, the 1st Helicopter Squadron’s UH-1Ns offer a somewhat utilitarian point to point service, not one of high luxury. The Huey’s basic interior also allows for rapid re-configurations so that the aircraft can perform different missions if need be, a trait that works well with the flexibility and nimbleness of the Squadron’s unique mission set.

The 1st Helicopter Squadron, which is totally unique in the Air Force, carries everyone from key lawmakers to high-up Defense Department civilian and military personnel, as well as visiting heads of state and even Executive Branch workers, but they also have the job of rapidly responding to emergencies around the capital region.

This can be a full-on evacuation of high-ranking officials, as they did during 9/11, or this can be to aid in a search and rescue or natural disaster response scenario. With this in mind, the 1st keeps at least two crews on alert at all times, ready to run out to their helicopters to help confront what could be huge unknown challenges ahead.

This is precisely what happened back in 1982 when an Air Florida 737 came crashing down onto the 14th Street Bridge in D.C. The 1st Helicopter Squadron, along with their Army and Park Service counterparts, leaped into action, ferrying first responders and divers to the crash scene and assisted U.S. Coast Guard in search and rescue operations. With events like this in the unit’s past, and seeing as there is no other Air Force unit like it (the 459th Airlift Squadron located in Yokota, Japan being the closest thing to it) creativity, adaptability and commitment are all characteristics ingrained in the high-profile unit.

The 1st Helicopter Squadron’s geriatric gloss blue and white Hueys have been a constant source of budgetary infighting over the past decade or so as a replacement is said to be badly needed. Along with their Air Force Global Strike Command’s UH-1Ns that provide security and tender duties for America’s ballistic missile sites, the 1st Squadron’s Hueys are not nearly as capable as their modern rotory-wing cousins.

In all, just over 60 of these aircraft remain in service, with less than a third of those serving with the 1st Helicopter Squadron at Andrews AFB, although debate over a replacement aircraft appears to be finally coming to an end. The Air Force now plans to replace these aircraft once and for all with a modern helicopter with enhanced cabin volume, speed and range. At this time, such a replacement looks like it may come to pass over the next decade, with old UH-60A Black Hawks being upgraded and put back into service as UH-60Ls. This would leave only the Black Hawk and CV-22 Osprey in USAF service when it comes to the vertical lift mission.

US Marine Corps HMX-1

Easily the most recognizable helicopters in the world are the “White Top” VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns that are used exclusively to transport the President Of The United States, their family and his closest advisers. When the president is on-board, these aircraft are famously referred to as Marine One. You can see all the details of what these elite aircraft look like on the inside, and their history, by clicking here.

Under such a plan, it is almost certain that Global Strike Command will be getting all their needs fulfilled before the 1st Helicopter Squadron receives any new airframes, so the venerable Huey, with its distinct ‘whomp whomp’ sound, will not be vacating the Washington DC skyline anytime soon.

Whereas the 12th Aviation Battalion and the 1st Helicopter Squadron are tasked by the Pentagon to fly around various generals, agency heads and secretaries, HMX-1 is focused on the White House and its air transportation needs. This was not always the case though, as President would fly aboard Army helicopters just a regularly (if not more so) than Marine operated ones up until 1976, when the USMC took over sole responsibility for the White House’s vertical lift mission. Still, HMX-1 has been flying the president, and innovating the mission, since the late 1950s.

The “green side” helicopters are also used for HMX-1’s secondary function that stems back to the squadron’s founding, which is test and evaluation and tactics development. New subsystems are put through their paces and new procedures are dreamed up by HMX-1 crews, which are then vetted and deployed to the fleet. As such, the same pilots that fly presidential support missions will also use their skills to build a more effective front-line Marine helicopter force.

Currently, HMX-1 has given up all its venerable “Green Top” CH-53s and CH-46s. In their place are a dozen MV-22 Ospreys. The Ospreys cost over $65M apiece but it can self deploy over long distances, which their slower and shorter-ranged conventional helicopter predecessors could not. In this function, the Osprey’s speed and range is nice, but it is a bit of a performance mismatch when flying in the presidential airlift formation, as the president still flies aboard the much slower White Top helicopters used as Marine One.

Both White Tops, the VH-3D and VH-60N are finally being replaced by a the Sikorsky S-92 Super Hawk based VH-92. This comes after one of the biggest procurement controversies of the last few decades attempted to fund and procure a EH-101 based, triple engine Marine One replacement helicopter. The program was a cost spiraling disaster (as many predicted) and the Pentagon hopes the more conservative S-92 replacement route will be much more economically viable.

The squadron, which has their own shoreline base in Quantico, Virginia, is separated into two ‘sides.’ The “white side” which handles the president’s exclusive “White Top” helicopters, and the “greens side” which handles the “Green Top” helicopters used to transport the White House Press Pool, invited guests, counter-assault teams, Secret Service, local officials and other White House aides during presidential movements. The two fleets are held to different training, security and maintenance standards, with the “White Top” fleet living within its own protective ‘cage’ within HMX-1’s hangar facilities.

When it comes to transporting VIPs aside from the president, this happens all the time during White House support missions, with key figures riding along with the President, or in the decoy VH-3D or VH-60N aircraft, or even aboard an accompanying Green Top during transits.

Yet the White Top aircraft are not often used for discreet VIP transportation without the president involved as they are an icon of the office and live their lives under tight security and maintenance standards, which makes their operation quite costly. They are also heavily tasked with the president’s travel schedule. That is not specifically to say that they will never be used to move extremely high-power dignitaries alone, although it seems to be a fairly rare occurrence and most likely comes at the orders of the White House Military Office.

Some may ask why this incredibly expensive and complex task needs to happen nearly everywhere the president visits, especially considering that there can be multiple stops by Air Force One in a single day. The answer is simple: contingency operations.

You can use your own imagination on this, but if the president were under great threat, their motorcade were attacked, or a strike against a certain area where he or she was at were imminent, being able to evacuate them on short notice to a safe site a few hundred miles away is a very attractive option to have. As such, the practice of taking a pair of White Tops nearly everywhere outside of Washington D.C. the president goes has been a popular practice at least since the Obama Administration came into power.

The crews and aircraft of HMX-1 certainly have a role in evacuating the president and their cabinet should something terrible occur in Washington D.C. The VH-3D and VH-60N’s elaborate self defense suite, the most capable on any helicopter in the world, which includesdirected infrared countermeasures and other jamming equipment, along with their extensive communications suites, makes them the absolute best candidate to pluck the president, their family and their closest staff members out of harm’s way.

In order to do so, HMX-1 would not even have to fly up the Potomac 30 miles from their home base to Washington DC, as the squadron keeps a constant presence and forward stages their missions at Naval Support Facility Anacostia right across the Potomac from Reagan International Airport and just 3 miles from the White House. Such a mission would be the highest priority air transport mission of all time if it were to ever occur and it surely is one of HMX-1 and the Secret Service’s biggest and most horrifying contingency plans.

In addition to the Squadron’s close proximity to the White House, the unit is seamlessly integrated with Secret Service operations, including the deployment of Counter Assault Teams should the president come under attack or his (or her) helicopter were to go down due to mechanical failure. These teams always travel along in Green Tops when the president is traveling abroad and using vertical lift instead of the presidential motorcade. Within the high-security confines of Washington D.C., this support is really not needed and White Tops will often be seen flying without Green Tops in the formation, although at least two or more identical White Tops will work in unison, with at least one as the decoy chopper, whenever the president flying.

Green Top aircraft on the other hand can fly Washington VIPs, although they rarely do so as the Osprey’s large footprint, expensive operating cost and large volume would be overkill for the vast majority of these types of missions. Additionally, between test and development duties and providing the White House with the missions it needs, there is very little time for ‘external’ VIP missions.

Almost everywhere the president travels a pair of White Tops goes as well, even if they never fly the president and are never even seen by the media, with the secret service using the presidential motorcade instead. Like the presidential motorcade, the White Tops arrive a few days prior to the president’s visit aboard a heavy USAF transport aircraft. They are then unpacked, assembled and have their engines ran and are checked for issues. Sometimes they are even test flown. Then they are stowed in a hangar out of site. After the president has left on Air Force One, they are dismantled and loaded aboard a heavy transport (C-17 or C-5) again to be flown to another locale ahead of an upcoming presidential visit or they will be flown back to HMX-1’s headquarters in Quantico.

Generally, HMX-1 spends the majority of its missions around the Capital Region hauling the president to and from the White House and Andrews AFB, although the helicopters are also used for retreats to Camp David and to visit other military facilities within a couple hundred miles of the White House.

Other power players that are cleared to fly have to put in requests and make their case as to why using a helicopter is a better choice than other forms of transportation, as well as what the flight is for in the first place. Only the highest priority of flights pickup and drop off direct. In other cases, passengers will have to make their way to the helicopter unit’s home base before the flight or travel to one of the helicopter landing areas around D.C.’s outskirts to board if they are not of super-high priority. In other words, unless you are at the very top of the Pentagon or Washington D.C. power structure, don’t expect your helicopter to land outside you house or atop your place of work and take you where you want to go. You may have commute a bit by land in order to commute a lot further by air.

This may seem a little trivial, but the fact of the matter is that flying through Washington DC via helicopter is a complex and elaborate affair. Special training is required to understand operations in Washington DC’s Metropolitan Air Defense Identification Zone (DC ADIZ) and the Washington DC Metropolitan Area Flight Restricted Zone. Reagan International and its air traffic are a major factor as well and crews have to stay in constant contact with Reagan Tower while transiting the area on pre-planned and highly defined helicopter routes. Then there are a bevy of other law enforcement and agency helicopters working in the area. Thus not having to fly right into the heart of Washington D.C. is a major plus. This also allows for some noise abatement for Washington DC’s citizens as well.

Simply put, there is no better executive helicopter transport service in the world than what HMX-1 offers. The attention to detail and mission focus, especially when it comes to White Top operations, is more akin to a space launch than a relatively routine point-to-point transport mission, and the squadron represents the pinnacle of VIP helicopter transport world-wide.

 

[Transhumanist]

These Elite Military Helicopter Units Fly Washington's Power Players - Part 3

Who Gets A Ride?

In a place where ambition is a life force of its own and hierarchy is as important as it is frustrating for many, using Defense Department assets as your personal aerial taxi service is a priority and importance based proposition. When it comes to HMX-1, who gets to fly aboard Green Tops or White Tops and when is generally a White House Military Desk decision and is based on the Administration’s goals and directions. How it works with the 12th Aviation Battalion and the 1st Helicopter Squadron is a whole other story.

Importance and job title, not just rank and seniority, is everything when it comes to competing for VIP helicopter mission slots. The president and the Secretary of Defense sit at the top tiers of priority, with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff falling into the next tier. Below them are the heads of various commands and civilian secretaries of the specific services and departments. Generals also have a pecking order and it is not necessarily based on rank alone but their importance at the time the request is made. For instance, if a General that is running a foreign war is in Washington D.C. for a visit they may get a higher priority ranking than a higher ranking General that is requesting airlift support for a fairly mundane event.

Keep in mind, that these three squadrons of military helicopters, all heavily focused on executive airlift in the capital region, are augmented by the many Federal Government non-military agencies that have their own fleets of privately registered helicopters. There are 550 of them in fact (as of 2011), and that number is rapidly growing, far outpacing the growth of fixed wing aircraft ownership among Federal Agencies.

The Department of State has its own air force, and the Justice Department and the Department Of Homeland Security is not too far behind, but pretty much all other major agencies have their own pocket aircraft fleets as well, many of which include helicopters.

As to who would get plucked from impending doom should an evacuation of key officials actually occur, that information remains guarded, although it is pretty apparent that the first priority would be to airlift the National Command Authority principals, along with the president’s cabinet and family, and key military leaders and agency heads, along with their inner circles. There is also the succession issue, with the Speaker Of The House being third in line after the Vice President. As such, these individuals may also have to go to separate locations from where the president is taken to for redundancy’s sake.

In the past, members of the Senate and House were also part of the Continuity of Government contingency planning, especially senior members, so if there is extra capacity and time, some of them may be taken as well. Also evacuating at least some of the Supreme Court Justices would be a priority in order to keep some semblance of checks and balances.

As you can see, this list is quite large, so the 50 mile or so trip to known secure alternative operating sites would have to be made many times if possible. As such, a priority list is sure to exist beyond just the obvious individuals.

Also complicating scheduling are the other commitments that these units have, such as flyover requests for funerals and large events. The 12th Aviation Battalion in particular is on high alert for carrying members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment’s Old Guard as well as a General Officer to Dover AFB where they will meet the arrival of fallen heroes and in some cases their grieving families. This process is called Dignified Transfer of Remains and it is taken very seriously by the unit. As such, there are a lot of competing demands and only so many helicopters to go around.

A major operation for the unit is a 24-hour standby mission to carry members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment’s “Old Guard” and a general officer to Dover AFB to meet the arrival of service members who have died while in the service of their country. Although officially known as the “Dignified Transfer of Remains,” it is called “Fallen Heroes” by the members of the 12th Aviation Battalion. Once the transfer of the remains is completed, the 12th returns the Honor Guard to Washington. They do not transport the fallen hero.

You can get better idea of how scheduling a flight works by checking out the 12th Aviation Battalions home page here for yourself.

Although many of these helicopters have specific missions and are scattered around the US and even the world, the ones that are located near Washington DC can also be used for executive transport as well as their other missions, and some are probably designated solely for the executive airlift mission alone.

What this all points to is that U.S. Government funded executive vertical airlift has exploded from a cottage industry mainly dominated by the military to a high-demand product with multiple governmental users. Just like big business executives and billionaires, Federal Government power players see a private jet as a necessary tool, but a helicopter is the ultimate time machine and luxury, taking a VIP and their cadre point to point as fast as humanly possible. Then there is also the prestige of showing up in a helicopter. It may sound petty, but it exists, trust me.

It is interesting to note that even though military budgets are under the continued threat of deep cuts, with major and critical weapon systems being retired in the vein of savings, nobody in Washington is complaining about the pocket armada of aerial limousines that zip around the Capital Region right in front of them on a daily basis.

Maybe this is because lawmakers and government insiders hope to get a taste of this awesome capability sometime in their own careers if they have not already done so, or maybe it’s the fact that these aircraft have a secondary role of rescuing D.C.’s elite should the something horrific happen. As such, anyone who seeks to cut their existence as a budgetary line item may face political retribution should an emergency ever dictate their use. Or even worse, they may be left regretting their actions if Washington D.C. is smoldering around them while they stand on the Capitol Lawn wondering where’s their ride.

@AMDR You were a bit premature, the article wasn't finished yet. It's done now though.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Watch The Navy's Hyper Velocity Projectile Rip Through These Plates

The Office of Naval Research is getting ready to deploy their electromagnetic Railgun for testing for the first time next year. But what is a gun without ammo? The Hyper Velocity Projectile is being built for not the just the Railgun alone, but also for existing 5 inch deck guns as well. And yes, it is very, very fast.

The Hyper Velocity Projectile is basically a flying hypersonic spike and is launched in a similar fashion as the sabot rounds fired by Main Battle Tanks. The super low-drag spike of a projectile whizzes through the air at hyper-velocity speeds (around 5,600mph), hence its name. Oh yeah, and it is guided.

The HVP’s sleek design allows it travel much farther than tradition naval gun shells, from 30 to over 100 miles depending on what it’s fired out of. Because of its high speed, it can arrive on target very quickly. Using different programmed trajectories, a whole swarm of HVP’s can land simultaneously, literally turning an enemy’s silent night into a hell-storm in a blink of an eye.

Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work examines the damage caused by a High Velocity Projectile

The projectile will come in a few different flavors, including an air burst, a kinetic energy penetrator and high-explosive round. Because of its high-speed and miniaturized and hardened internal guidance, it could be used against surface and a ground targets, but it could also be employed against air threats, as well. Think of it as the ultimate version of skeet shooting, where each round costs as much as an exotic car.

Although guided artillery-type shells exist, and are very effective, speed is what makes the HVP so attractive. A whole slew of new possibilities, many of which make traditional missiles less relevant, especially for short and intermediate range engagements, exist when you factor an operational HVP capability into naval warfare scenarios.

If network connectivity is added to the HVP’s design, it could be guided in-flight with command updates coming from external sensors. This means it can hit moving vehicles using a remote sensor’s data, such as from an unmanned aircraft or a ship’s radar system. Under such a scenario, a HVP could be launched from 100 miles away, toward an enemy land mass, and a loitering unmanned aircraft tracking a vehicle could provide the projectile with terminal targeting information. The whole engagement would last about one minute.

It also means that the HVP could one day become more deadly than a surface-to-air missile, as its speed makes it almost impossible to defend against. Under such a concept, a Destroyer’s AEGIS combat system, including its powerful phased-array radars, can track an enemy fighter 20 miles away, and fire off a HVP with its existing 5-inch gun. The HVP will use mid-course updates from the ship’s radar sent to it via data-link. The whole engagement would last under 15 seconds, and the projectile’s speed would make it nearly impervious to evasive maneuvers.

Seeing as such a weapon would not need to carry its own propellant (or its own sensors, for that matter), it would mean that, although clearly not cheap, the HVP could replace some missiles at a comparatively cheap price. They could also allow for precious vertical launch cells aboard US Destroyers and Cruisers to be used only for long-range weaponry, such a cruise missiles and long-range interceptors. This also gives the Navy’s primary surface combatants many more shots to fire and a whole new mission of medium and long-range persistent fire support that currently does not exist. Even a ship’s Close-In Weapons Systems defending against cruise missiles and swarming boat attacks could be augmented by the HVP’s capabilities.

What’s also cool about the HVP is that it can be dumbed down just like it can be smarted up, by removing its Inertial Navigation System (INS/GPS) along with its data-link and control mechanisms, and filled with more high-explosives instead. Such a setup would be ideal for long-range ship-to-shore area suppression and attacks on large fixed targets. In other words, great for prepping the battlefield for the Marines before a beach landing.

Another enticing aspect of the HVP is that it could give foreign allied navies a huge leap in capability without having to really modify their existing vessels, as the munition is being built in a common 5-inch gun sized format. Although this only offers a fraction of the Railgun’s range, it still is much faster, longer-ranged, and more accurate than any 5-inch shell available today. Combined with an off-the-shelf radar system, the HVP could give ships that were designed for surface warfare and hunting submarines an area air-defense capability on the cheap.

The Railgun will be tested aboard the Navy’s Joint High-Speed Vessel USS Millinocket (JHSV-3) next year.

Finally, for future ships toting a Railgun, the HVP would be fired without any explosive propellant, making the ship a safer place and less prone to horrific secondary explosions caused by battle damage or accidents. It could also mean that someday, in the not-so-distant future, we might see the return of ships packing multiple big guns. The DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class, with its two 155mm guns is a start, but even a pocket “Electronic Battleship” could be a real possibility.

@Gabriel92 @Taygibay @Nihonjin1051 @Transhumanist @AMDR @F-22Raptor @Peter C

 

[Transhumanist]

Watch The Navy's Hyper Velocity Projectile Rip Through These Plates

The Office of Naval Research is getting ready to deploy their electromagnetic Railgun for testing for the first time next year. But what is a gun without ammo? The Hyper Velocity Projectile is being built for not the just the Railgun alone, but also for existing 5 inch deck guns as well. And yes, it is very, very fast.

The Hyper Velocity Projectile is basically a flying hypersonic spike and is launched in a similar fashion as the sabot rounds fired by Main Battle Tanks. The super low-drag spike of a projectile whizzes through the air at hyper-velocity speeds (around 5,600mph), hence its name. Oh yeah, and it is guided.

The HVP’s sleek design allows it travel much farther than tradition naval gun shells, from 30 to over 100 miles depending on what it’s fired out of. Because of its high speed, it can arrive on target very quickly. Using different programmed trajectories, a whole swarm of HVP’s can land simultaneously, literally turning an enemy’s silent night into a hell-storm in a blink of an eye.

Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work examines the damage caused by a High Velocity Projectile

The projectile will come in a few different flavors, including an air burst, a kinetic energy penetrator and high-explosive round. Because of its high-speed and miniaturized and hardened internal guidance, it could be used against surface and a ground targets, but it could also be employed against air threats, as well. Think of it as the ultimate version of skeet shooting, where each round costs as much as an exotic car.

Although guided artillery-type shells exist, and are very effective, speed is what makes the HVP so attractive. A whole slew of new possibilities, many of which make traditional missiles less relevant, especially for short and intermediate range engagements, exist when you factor an operational HVP capability into naval warfare scenarios.

If network connectivity is added to the HVP’s design, it could be guided in-flight with command updates coming from external sensors. This means it can hit moving vehicles using a remote sensor’s data, such as from an unmanned aircraft or a ship’s radar system. Under such a scenario, a HVP could be launched from 100 miles away, toward an enemy land mass, and a loitering unmanned aircraft tracking a vehicle could provide the projectile with terminal targeting information. The whole engagement would last about one minute.

It also means that the HVP could one day become more deadly than a surface-to-air missile, as its speed makes it almost impossible to defend against. Under such a concept, a Destroyer’s AEGIS combat system, including its powerful phased-array radars, can track an enemy fighter 20 miles away, and fire off a HVP with its existing 5-inch gun. The HVP will use mid-course updates from the ship’s radar sent to it via data-link. The whole engagement would last under 15 seconds, and the projectile’s speed would make it nearly impervious to evasive maneuvers.

Seeing as such a weapon would not need to carry its own propellant (or its own sensors, for that matter), it would mean that, although clearly not cheap, the HVP could replace some missiles at a comparatively cheap price. They could also allow for precious vertical launch cells aboard US Destroyers and Cruisers to be used only for long-range weaponry, such a cruise missiles and long-range interceptors. This also gives the Navy’s primary surface combatants many more shots to fire and a whole new mission of medium and long-range persistent fire support that currently does not exist. Even a ship’s Close-In Weapons Systems defending against cruise missiles and swarming boat attacks could be augmented by the HVP’s capabilities.

What’s also cool about the HVP is that it can be dumbed down just like it can be smarted up, by removing its Inertial Navigation System (INS/GPS) along with its data-link and control mechanisms, and filled with more high-explosives instead. Such a setup would be ideal for long-range ship-to-shore area suppression and attacks on large fixed targets. In other words, great for prepping the battlefield for the Marines before a beach landing.

Another enticing aspect of the HVP is that it could give foreign allied navies a huge leap in capability without having to really modify their existing vessels, as the munition is being built in a common 5-inch gun sized format. Although this only offers a fraction of the Railgun’s range, it still is much faster, longer-ranged, and more accurate than any 5-inch shell available today. Combined with an off-the-shelf radar system, the HVP could give ships that were designed for surface warfare and hunting submarines an area air-defense capability on the cheap.

The Railgun will be tested aboard the Navy’s Joint High-Speed Vessel USS Millinocket (JHSV-3) next year.

Finally, for future ships toting a Railgun, the HVP would be fired without any explosive propellant, making the ship a safer place and less prone to horrific secondary explosions caused by battle damage or accidents. It could also mean that someday, in the not-so-distant future, we might see the return of ships packing multiple big guns. The DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class, with its two 155mm guns is a start, but even a pocket “Electronic Battleship” could be a real possibility.

@Gabriel92 @Taygibay @Nihonjin1051 @Transhumanist @AMDR @F-22Raptor @Peter C

Even though it was built for the US Navy - under the directions of hte Office of Naval Research, BAE Europe was one of the contractors called upon to design a railgun (the other contractor being General Atomics). Perhaps we'll soon see railguns in European arsenals as well, not the same designs (I can't image the US would be too keen on Europe using its railgun without asking), but with the general know-how, BAE can just as soon replicate one for Europe:

This isn't BAE US, it's BAE Europe (working in collaboration with a US partner).

Products - BAE Systems

 

[AMDR]

US Military's New Swarm of Mini-Drones
US Military's New Swarm of Mini-Drones

Laurent Barthelemy/AFP
A man holds a Cicada, a miniature drone invented by US military scientists, outside the Pentagon on May 14 in Arlington, Va.

WASHINGTON — US military scientists have invented a miniature drone that fits in the palm of a hand, ready to be dropped from the sky like a mobile phone with wings.

The "micro air vehicle" is named after the insect that inspired its invention, the Cicada, which spends years underground before appearing in great swarms, reproducing and then dropping to the ground dead.

"The idea was why can't we make UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) that have the same sort of profile," Aaron Kahn of the Naval Research Laboratory told AFP.

"We will put so many out there, it will be impossible for the enemy to pick them all up."

The "Cicada," short for Covert Autonomous Disposable Aircraft, was designed to be smaller, cheaper and simpler than any other robotic aircraft — but still able to carry out a mission in a remote battlefield.

The prototype cost just a thousand dollars, and the cost could come down to as little as $250 apiece, said Kahn, a flight controls engineer at the naval lab.

With no motor and only about 10 parts, the Cicada resembles a paper airplane with a circuit board.

It is designed to glide to programmed GPS coordinates after being dropped from an aircraft, a balloon or a larger drone, researchers said.

In a test about three years ago in Yuma, Arizona, Cicada drones were released from 57,600 feet (17,500 meters). The little drone flew — or fell — 11 miles, landing within 15 feet of its target.

The Cicada drone can fly at about 46 miles (74 kilometers) per hour and are virtually silent, with no engine or propulsion system.

"It looks like a bird flying down," said Daniel Edwards, an aerospace engineer at the Naval Research Laboratory. But, he said, "it's very difficult to see."

Robotic Carrier Pigeons

In the flight test, the Cicada had sensors that could send back weather readings for temperature, air pressure and humidity.

But researchers said the mini-drones could be used for a myriad of missions, and outfitted with a range of light-weight sensors, including microphones.

"They are robotic carrier pigeons. You tell them where to go, and they will go there," Edwards said.

One possible scenario could be using the drones to monitor traffic on a remote road behind enemy lines.

"You equip these with a microphone or a seismic detector, drop them on that road, and it will tell you 'I heard a truck or a car travel along that road.' You know how fast and which direction they're traveling," Kahn said.

The micro-planes could be outfitted with magnetic sensors to pick up enemy submarines, or to eavesdrop on troops or operatives.

For the moment, equipping it with a video feed poses a technical challenge, because extracting the video requires too much bandwidth, researchers said.

Although the drones have yet to be deployed, the first use may come outside the battlefield, for weather forecasters.

Meteorologists trying to predict tornadoes have to rely on temperature readings from the ground. But the Cicada drone offers the prospect of numerous temperature readings from the air, providing enough data to build a truly three-dimensional model for forecasting tornadoes.

And despite their toy-like appearance, the Cicada drones are surprisingly robust, Edwards said.

"You can thrown them out of a Cessna or a C-130," he said.

"They've flown through trees. They've hit asphalt runways. They have tumbled in gravel. They've had sand in them. They only thing that we found that killed them was desert shrubbery," he said.

Edwards had the Cicadas on display at the Pentagon's "lab day" this week, as part of a bid by US defense officials to promote technological innovation.

Academics and just about every branch of government have expressed an interest in the Cicada program, including some intelligence agencies.

"Everyone is interested. Everyone," Edwards said.

 

[SipahSalar]

The Hyper Velocity Projectile is being built for not the just the Railgun alone, but also for existing 5 inch deck guns as well.

Imagine a tank armed with HVP. It can shoot at a tank behind multiple buildings.

 

[Taygibay]

Imagine a tank armed with HVP. It can shoot at a tank behind multiple buildings.

Well, Sipah, as the article stated the sabot principle ( parts of the projectile "falling off" after ejection from gun to lighten / quicken it ) already exists for tanks. But on these platforms, chances are that power generation will be difficult to hike.
We'll have to wait a few years for credible adaption on smaller vehicles.

Thanks Sven for the update, good day all, Tay.

 

[Indus Falcon]

Navy Declares Initial Operational Capability for New Rolling Airframe Missile
Story Number: NNS150515-21Release Date: 5/15/2015

From PEO IWS Public Affairs

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy successfully achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the Block 2 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS Arlington (LPD 24) May 15.

RAM is a highly successful, 39-year U.S. cooperative program with the German government that has yielded the U.S. taxpayer more than $800 million in cost avoidance and has delivered arguably one of the most capable anti-ship cruise missile defense systems in the world. The new RAM Block 2 missile is designed to counter advanced anti-ship cruise missile threats that U.S. and Allied Navies face today.

"We're very excited about the significantly increased capability Block 2 gives our warfighters. It could not have been done without the outstanding cooperation between the U.S. and German governments," said Capt. Craig Bowden, RAM program manager. "This program has become the hallmark of transatlantic cooperation."

The IOC declaration is the culmination of cooperative developmental and operational testing events between the U.S. Navy and the German government spanning the last two years. Compared to previous configurations, Block 2 provides significantly improved kinematic performance in maneuverability and range as well as a more sophisticated radio frequency receiver. These improvements allow RAM to increase the battlespace and engage low probability of intercept threats at longer ranges.

Prior to the IOC declaration, the U.S. Navy and German government successfully demonstrated the enhanced ship self-defense effectiveness of the Block 2 RAM during testing at the Pacific Missile Range Center at Point Mugu, California, between May 2013 and March 2015.

Steven Holsworth, U.S. national deputy program manager for RAM, said, "Through cooperation, this program has continuously met all challenges and has successfully produced more than 3000 RAM missiles (Block 0, 1A, 2) and 200 launchers. The strength of the RAM community is also evident in the high success rate in our 450-plus live firing events in its history. The on-time, on-cost delivery of the first Block 2 missiles embodies the best of the U.S. and German design/production capabilities. With the completion of recent test events, we are ready to write the next chapter of the RAM success story by delivering the enhanced capability to the U.S., German, and allied warships on which RAM is deployed."

Andrea Schwarz, RAM deputy program manager from Germany concurred. "Since our inception in 1976, the U.S. and Germany have cooperatively developed, produced, and supported the RAM program through 16 international agreements/amendments. It is a testament to the program that both countries have remained steadfast in their commitment and cooperation, including 50/50 government contributions and industry work share. With the introduction of Block 2, we continue the cooperative spirit and technical excellence that has protected our Navies over the past three decades."

In 2014, the program had a highly successful test and evaluation run where it scored hits on several extremely challenging target sets. Currently, RAM protects the U.S Navy's CVN, LCS, LHA, LHD, LSD and LPD 17 class warships and twenty-two of Germany's warships.

The RAM Program Office is aligned with Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems, which manages surface ship and submarine combat technologies and systems, and coordinates Navy enterprise solutions across ship platforms.

Navy Declares Initial Operational Capability for New Rolling Airframe Missile

 

[Indus Falcon]

U.S. MV-22 Osprey aircraft down at Hawaii military base, reports say
Reports said an MV-22 Osprey was downed at Bellows Air Force Base Sunday morning, sending a dozen marines to the hospital.
By Doug G. Ware | May 17, 2015

A U.S. military MV-22 Osprey reportedly crashed at Bellows Air Force Base, Hawaii on Sunday, media reports said. File Photo: UPI/Keizo Mori
| License Photo

HONOLULU, May 17 (UPI) -- A U.S. military aircraft crashed in Hawaii on Sunday at Bellows Air Force Base, media reports said.
According to report by NBC affiliate KHNL-TV, an MV-22 Osprey from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit set down for a hard landing at the base, which is located on Oahu.

The aircraft was reportedly training in the Marine Corps Training Area with 21 people aboard the aircraft, including four crew members, when it went down about 11 a.m. local time.

A dozen marines were hospitalized following the incident, KHNL-TV reported. At least two may have been critically hurt, an NBC News report said.

Emergency crews responded to the scene and photographs showed thick, black smoke billowing from what appears to be wreckage near the base of a mountain.

It was not immediately known what caused the accident.

The crash occurred as Marine Corps and Navy are getting ready to host nearly two dozen defense leaders from nations around the Pacific for meetings in Hawaii this week, USA Today reported.

U.S. military aircraft reported down over Hawaii - UPI.com



MV-22 Osprey 'Hard Landing' in Hawaii Kills One Marine, Injures 21
Associated Press | May 17, 2015


A Marine Corps Osprey aircraft made a hard landing in Hawaii on Sunday, killing one Marine and sending 21 other people to hospitals as dark smoke from the resulting fire billowed into the sky.

The tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey, which can take off and land like a helicopter but flies like an airplane, had a "hard-landing mishap" at about 11:40 a.m., the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit said in a statement.

Officials didn't provide details about the conditions of the injured. Twenty-two people were aboard the aircraft, including 21 Marines and one Navy corpsman assigned to the unit, spokesman Capt. Brian Block said in an email.

The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is based at Camp Pendleton in California and is in Hawaii for about a week for training. The Osprey was being used for training at Bellows Air Force Station on Oahu at the time of the hard landing.

Kimberly Hynd said she was hiking the popular Lanikai Pillbox Trail and could see three Osprey aircraft performing maneuvers from her vantage point in the hills above Bellows. She noticed them kicking up dirt but then saw smoke and fire. Hynd, who estimated she was 2 to 3 miles away, didn't hear the sound of a large crash.

"It looked like they were doing some sort of maneuver or formation — and so I was taking pictures of it because usually you can't see them that close up," Hynd said.

Donald Gahit said he saw smoke rising in the air from Bellows when he looked outside his house after hearing sirens pass by.

"At first I thought it was clouds, but it was moving fast and it was pretty dark," the Waimanalo resident said.

Ospreys may be equipped with radar, lasers and a missile defense system. Each can carry 24 Marines into combat.

Built by Boeing Co. and Bell, a unit of Textron Inc., the Osprey program was nearly scrapped after a history of mechanical failures and two test crashes that killed 23 Marines in 2000.

The aircraft have since been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Some Osprey are also helping with earthquake relief efforts in Nepal.
MV-22 Osprey 'Hard Landing' in Hawaii Kills One Marine, Injures 21 | Military.com

 

[Indus Falcon]

Dillon Aero wins $14M contract for weapon systems on US Army helicopters
18 May, 15, Source: US DoD

Dillon Aero,* Scottsdale, Arizona, was awarded a $13,987,456 firm-fixed-price multi-year indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for spare parts for the M134D weapons system in support of the CH-47, UH-60, MI-17, and OH-6 helicopters. Funding and work location will be determined with each order with an estimated completion date of May 15, 2018. Bids were solicited via the Internet with one received. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-15-D-0055).

http://helihub.com/2015/05/18/dillon-aero-wins-14m-contract-for-weapon-systems-on-us-army-helicopters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed: HelihubNews (HeliHub.com » Daily News Update)

Standard M134D

The Dillon M134D Gatling Gun is the finest small caliber, defense suppression weapon available. It is a six barreled, electrically driven machine gun chambered in 7.62mm NATO and fires at a fixed rate of 3,000 shots per minute. Gatling Guns typically feed from a 3,000 or 4,000 round magazine. They are capable of long periods of continuous fire without threat or damage to the weapon making them an excellent choice for defensive suppression.
Dillon Guns are reliable. The M134D has system life in excess of 1,500,000 rounds and an average time between stoppage greater than 30,000 rounds. In the unlikely event of a stoppage the weapon can be serviced and made operational again in under one minute. The multi barrel design means that each barrel only experiences a 500 round per minute rate of fire. This allows for repeated long bursts of fire and a barrel group life of 200,000 rounds.

Dillon Gatling Guns are in service with the US and Allied Armed Forces. The standard application is as helicopter crew served and fixed forward fire installations. In addition to their more traditional roles, Dillon Gatlings are supplanting M2 50 cal. Heavy Machine Guns and M240's on a number of the US Army's vehicles. Dillon M134s are also in service with the US and British navies in the fleet protection role and Special Operations fire support role.

Dillon M134 Gatling Guns are entirely new production weapons. Dillon guns are sold as complete weapon systems or as component upgrade packages for older GE M134 systems.

Part Number: M134D

NSN: 1005-00-903-0751

Weight:

Fixed Forward Fire: 56.9 lbs
Crew Served Gun: 66.1 lbs



Standard M134D: M134 Gun Systems

 

[Indus Falcon]

Scrap War: US May Compete Nuclear Ship Disposal Deal
By Christopher P. Cavas
May 17, 2015

WASHINGTON — All nuclear-powered US Navy ships go to die at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. That's been an immutable mantra since the early 1990s, when the shipyard developed a recycling plan to dispose of old submarines and cruisers that were piling up as they reached the end of their lives.

Under the shipyard's direction, shipboard nuclear reactors are defueled, the reactor vessels and their compartments are removed, encased and barged to the federal government's Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southern Washington State, and the ships' remains are cut up for scrap and recycling. The program has successfully disposed of more than 100 nuclear submarines and eight nuclear cruisers.

As the only US-certified facility with experience recycling nuclear ships, the plan has long been that, sometime in early 2017, Puget Sound would take on its largest disposal job by far — that of the aircraft carrier Enterprise, one of the most famous ships of the Cold War era.

But now, the Navy is considering throwing open the job to commercial bidders — a clear break from prior practice that could open the nuclear ship-disposal world to more competition.

It is not clear exactly what is driving the move, which was announced in May 2014 when Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) published a request for information (RFI) soliciting ideas on how the Enterprise's "non-propulsion sections" — that is, everything but the ship's reactors and propulsion machinery — could be dismantled. A subsequent industry day in June, according to two persons who attended, was as much about the Navy listening to industry's ideas as providing further information.

The Navy refused to discuss the situation or provide further context for this report, declining repeated requests to do so. But NAVSEA, in a tersely-worded written statement, confirmed the issue is still open.

"To ensure the best use of resources, the Navy is currently looking at options for recycling of USS Enterprise (CVN 65), including the possibility of commercial recycling," NAVSEA said May 4 in the statement. "All reactor compartments and radioactive systems will be disposed of by [Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Intermediate Maintenance Facility]. No final decisions have been made."

But in discussions with non-Navy sources familiar with various aspects of the situation, it appears that two factors are driving the interest in opening the Enterprise job to commercial bidders. First and possibly foremost, several sources reported the Navy was unhappy with the high cost put forth by the naval shipyard to do the job – which includes towing the Enterprise nearly 14,000 nautical miles from Virginia around South America to Puget Sound. Reportedly, the estimated cost far exceeds funds budgeted for the move.

Another issue seems to be that of capacity at Puget Sound. The shipyard is the primary carrier overhaul facility on the northwest Pacific coast, and it's known to be quite busy tending to the fleet's active ships. The facility also has a backlog of nuclear ships on its waterfront awaiting recycling, including a dozen inactivated Los Angeles-class submarines and the cut-down hulk of the nuclear cruiser Long Beach.

Enterprise is at Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) in Newport News, Virginia — the same yard that built the Big E from 1957 to 1961. The ship was taken to the yard from nearby Norfolk Naval Base in 2013 for defueling and stripping, part of a workload carefully choreographed between Newport News and Puget Sound. Negotiations, for example, included whether the island superstructure giving the ship its famous profile would be taken off in Virginia or remain in place for the transcontinental tow. Puget Sound reportedly insisted the ship arrive at Bremerton looking as much like her old self as possible, and the island is to remain in place.

And while Newport News is primarily concerned with building and overhauling nuclear carriers and submarines, stripping and defueling the world's first nuclear carrier is a major job, with about 1,100 people across the yard working on the ship.

Newport News has said for some time that it is well-positioned to completely dispose of the Enterprise, being the only shipyard in the US that builds nuclear aircraft carriers. The company's parent corporation, Huntington Ingalls Industries, is expanding its work in the nuclear energy field, and in January formed SN3 — Stoller Newport News Nuclear — described as a "full-service nuclear operations and environmental services company combining the company's S.M. Stoller Corp. and Newport News Nuclear subsidiaries."

Newport News attended the June 2014 industry day — dubbed by NAVSEA as the "CVN 65 Ship-Shaping Industry Day" — and confirmed its continuing interest in bidding for further work on the Enterprise.

"We believe that NNS, working with our SN3 nuclear energy business in a partnership that may also include others, possesses the technical expertise and certainly a great knowledge of the ship that, when combined, may offer our Navy customer with a lower cost option and we are interested in doing this work," company spokeswoman Jerri Dickseski said in a statement.

Major Job

The aircraft carriers now being disposed of are the largest warships ever to be scrapped, anywhere. NAVSEA recently broke a longstanding logjam and began awarding recycling contracts for decommissioned conventionally-powered carriers of the Forrestal and Kitty Hawk classes, and three ships — Forrestal, Saratoga and Constellation — are in the ship channel at Brownsville, Texas, all in various stages of being broken up by three different shipbreaking companies. A fourth ship, Ranger, is in the middle of a four-month tow from Puget Sound. Now off Argentina, she is expected to arrive in Brownsville in mid-summer.

Representatives from all three shipbreaking companies in Brownsville — International Shipbreaking LLC, All-Star Metals and ESCO Marine — also attended NAVSEA's industry day. International Shipbreaking and All-Star Metals said they remain interested in the Enterprise job.

Nikhil Shah, president of All-Star Metals, confirmed his company responded to the RFI.

"I think it opened their eyes to see what else is out there," he said May 14 of the industry day. "The Navy does a very good job trying to understand what the industry has to offer, and needed to hear from industry what different options there are."

Shah felt the Navy learned "about certain items they didn't think was in issue, just because they hadn't done it in a private contract." Some of those items included asking about a contractor's nuclear waste disposal capability, and what plan they might have for transporting nuclear waste.

"The Navy has to feel comfortable with the process," Shah said. "They have to identify the process and put it in writing, probably with a request for proposal. There's a technical side to this that takes time to understand so that everyone's on the same page."

All-Star is recycling the carrier Forrestal, and is about 75 percent complete with the task, Shah said. The company is to finish the job in October.

International Shipbreaking is working on the carrier Constellation, Vice President Robert Berry said May 14, and will recycle the Ranger. Work on the Constellation, he said, is about 20 to 25 percent done, with completion expected in 2016. Berry provided some insight into what the Navy is looking for with the Enterprise.

"They were looking for ideas on how to reduce the amount of material that had to go to Bremerton — in other words, cut the ship down to size so that Bremerton wouldn't have so much to deal with."

The Navy, he said, "had a couple of scenarios. One was to cut the carrier down to the hangar deck, then put it on a semi-submersible heavy-lift ship and carry it" to Puget Sound. "The thing was to get some weight off it and reduce the width."

Another scenario discussed, Berry said, was to "take some weight off, narrow it up," then tow the cut-down Enterprise through the new Panama Canal, which is expected to open in 2016.

The original canal's 110-foot wide locks have been the most significant factor limiting the size of ships that pass through since completion in 1914. US capital ships were once designed to fit that restriction, but beginning with the Midway-class carriers in 1945 all US flattops have been too large to use the canal. The overall width of most US carriers, including Enterprise, is about 250 feet — a figure that includes the hull, projecting sponsons and the overhang of the flight deck. But the hull, with all projections cut off, is only 133 feet wide.

The new Panama Canal now under construction will have much larger lock chambers — 180 feet wide, 1,400 feet long and 60 feet in depth. Enterprise, Berry said, could be cut down to fit through those new locks.

The Navy has given no indication which way it's leaning, Berry said. "We really don't know what they're going to come up with."

The situation with the third company in Brownsville, ESCO Marine, is in doubt. The company completed about 25 percent of the recycling and remediation work on the carrier Saratoga before it suspended operations last winter in a dispute with a creditor. According to media reports, ESCO Marine laid off about 300 employees in February and is effectively closed. Phone calls and emails to ESCO were unanswered.

"The Navy is monitoring the situation at ESCO Marine, and is working closely with the company to ensure they fulfill their contractual obligations," Chris Johnson, a NAVSEA spokesman, said May 14. "The Navy retains ownership of the Saratoga until all scrapping work is completed. We are assured the vessel is being kept in a secure condition as specified in the contract."

Should Newport News secure the Enterprise work, several sources indicated, the actual job of reducing or breaking the ship would not likely be done in Virginia. No one would confirm specific talks between Newport News, All-Star Metals, International Shipbreaking or others, but it seems certain discussions have been held about potential partnerships.

"We'd do anything that makes good business sense, absolutely," Berry said.

"We're always in discussions, always looking at strategic partnerships to grow and foster the maritime business," Shah said. "The maritime world is small and getting smaller. We're always looking at alternative ways to partner with someone."

The carrier Enterprise being moved into a drydock May 2 at Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia.(Photo: Dar Deerfield-Mook/Newport News Shipbuilding)

Scrap War: US May Compete Nuclear Ship Disposal Deal

 

[Indus Falcon]

Nanosatellites could provide future battlefield communications

• By Kevin McCaney
• May 15, 2015

Dr. Travis Taylor holds a plastic rocket engine in front of the SMDC-ONE, at right, and the larger imaging satellite.

Keywords, nanosatellites, Army, situational awareness, SMDC, SMDC-ONE, imaging, satellites, C4ISR, communications, Space and Missile Defense Command, Taylor

Over-the-hill visibility is a valuable asset for troops in the field, but it’s not always available, especially in remote areas. The Army may soon be able to get around that problem by giving soldiers access to a new kind of eye in the sky—small, inexpensive nanosatellites that can provide voice, data and even visuals.

The service’s Space and Missile Defense Command - Tech Center, or SMDC, has developed and tested a nanosatellite that provides voice and data, called the SMCD-ONE (Orbital Nanosatellite Effect), and is developing an imaging satellite that would work the same way.

The first SMDC-ONE is in orbit now, and the tech center is planning to launch three more this year, with an as-yet undetermined number to be launched in 2016. "It's basically a cellphone tower in space, except it's not for cellphones, it's for Army radios," said Dr. Travis Taylor, the senior scientist in the center’s Space Division, who talked about the satellites at this week’s DOD Lab Day at the Pentagon.

The satellite, in the shape of an oblong box maybe a foot long, can connect dismounted soldiers to a forward operating base or to sensors in the area. It was designed, starting in 2008, to last a year or longer in orbit and cost no more than $350,000 each, according to Ducommun Miltec, which developed the satellite. (PDF) Miltec delivered eight of the satellites to SMDC in 2009 in advance of the current orbital tests.

SMDC-ONE nanosatellites could be joined in space by larger (but still considered nano) imaging satellites, the first of which the Army plans to launch on a test flight in February from the International Space Station. That satellite, still unnamed, will have a ground resolution of two to three meters, enough to identify a tank or truck. “This is capability the Army doesn't have right now," Taylor said.

It will require some manual work, since the imaging satellite will only be able to process one image at a time. The example Taylor gave was of a squad leader requesting an image of an area nearby from a brigade’s base, where someone would have to give the request priority. He said the satellite could process an image in about a minute.

Although still in the demonstration phase, Taylor said he hopes the tests will be successful enough to create the demand for a full constellation of them. "If we put five to 12 of these small satellites in orbit, it will cover most areas soldiers are operating, providing them real-time, all the time" communications, he said.

A key to the project is positioning the satellites, which will be in low-Earth orbit. Nanosatellites wouldn’t be launched individually, but would hitch rides with larger satellites and be deployed once in orbit. That doesn’t guarantee it will be in the right place—the host satellite has its own orbit to follow—so SMDC developed a small, plastic device that serves as an engine. "This is an actual rocket motor, made from a plastic printer," Taylor said. "Inside is liquid nitric oxide and a sparker—just like a barbeque lighter inside—so the nitric oxide combusts with the plastic" when the sparker is fired. "That's your rocket fuel. Then you have a very good rocket motor."

Taylor said if the current tests prove the values of the technology, they could be deployed for use in three to five years.

Nanosatellites could provide future battlefield communications -- Defense Systems

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Watch The Navy's Hyper Velocity Projectile Rip Through These Plates

That "dispense" part is truly key against an anti-ship missile. Get an explosive up quick to a target.