US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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The Aviationist said:

The U.S. Air Force recently announced that the repair process of the B-2 Spirit of Washington has been completed.

The plane burned in February 2010 during a take-off from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. A minor engine fire turned out to be disastrous for the airframe and all four power plants of the stealth bomber.

The process took so long mainly due to the complicated structure of the bomber that is based on a composite airframe.

The US Air Force did not publicize the cost of the repair.

Both USAF engineers and Northrop Grumman professionals were involved in the process. The repair allowed the B-2 to once again achieve full operational capability. The entire force of US Air Force B-2 aircraft was brought back to 20 Spirit bombers.

On Dec. 17, 2013, Northrop Grumman celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first B-2 delivery.

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Jura said:

Some facts you might not know (I certainly didn't :

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FoxNews said:

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - It was a big day Saturday at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile. The fourth of 10 Joint High-Speed Vessels (JHSV) contracted by the Navy was christened this morning.

Politicians, shipyard workers, Naval officers, and other dignitaries gathered at Austal to send off a ship many say highlights the dedication of hundreds of mobile-based workers.

“We have the greatest ship builders around, and we're very proud of them,” said Austal USA President, Craig Perciavalle, “it takes about 18 months to construct a Joint High Speed from the first cutting of metal through delivery, and it takes hundreds of people to make this all happen."

With three bangs of a champagne bottle against the hull, the First Lady of Massachusetts, Diane Patrick, christened the USNS Fall River (JHSV).

"It was amazing!” recalled Patrick after the christening, “I have to tell you I practiced yesterday on a wooden bottle, and I thought certainly I was going to hit it out of the ball park on the first hit, but it's hard! So when I got it on the third and champagne poured all over me, I felt it was glorious."

So what does Diane Patrick have to do with this ship?

The USNS Fall River was named after the town of Fall River, Mass., a place that First Lady Patrick said captures the spirit of this ship -- and the crew who built her.

"Fall River is a scrappy city in Massachusetts with blue collar, hard working citizens, and in so many ways this ship represents what the people of fall river represent - tenacity, hard work, and excellence in what they produce,” she said Saturday morning.

Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy, was the principal speaker at the event.

He gave Austal's craftsmanship nothing but superior marks.

"I think that Austal and the Austal workforce is doing a terrific job of building the joint high speed vessels and combat ships, and the navy is very pleased with these ships,” said Mabus.

Concerns abound that the federal government plans to cut military spending, which could take a toll on Austal production.

Newly elected congressman Bradley Byrne said he is working to ensure Austal contracts go untouched.

“I have concerns about it (cuts in military funding), but I'm confident in talking to other people in congress, I have many people to work with me to make sure we don't inappropriately downsize our defense capability,” said Byrne.

Meanwhile, Austal USA President Perciavalle said he foresees a bright future with naval partnership, citing that ships like the Fall River exemplify the capabilities of Austal workers.

"We're excited for the contracts that we already have, and we've delivered the first two joint high speeds, and since the delivery of those two ships, we've seen a pretty significant increase in the level of interest in them,” he said, “we're certainly optimistic that if we continue to perform the way we're performing, that we'll have a long future providing great ships to our navy."

Seven other Naval ships are currently under construction at Austal's shipyard in Mobile. The USNS Fall River is part of a $1.6 billion contract with the Navy.

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Lockheed Martin recently demonstrated and validated that its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) can be launched from any MK 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) by only modifying the software to existing shipboard equipment.

During the company-funded test, LRASM and Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS), MK 41 VLS and Mk-114 booster hardware with modified software executed simulated missions and provided all electrical interfaces and data transfers needed to prepare and launch LRASMs.

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Raytheon Company and L-3 Communications successfully fired Raytheon TALON laser-guided rockets from an L-3 remote weapon station using an LAU-68 launcher. The test demonstrated that the lightweight remote weapon system can provide protection for small ships by incorporating the currently fielded launcher, sensor systems and TALON missiles.

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kwaigonegin said:

Hmmmm... I could be wrong but I am pretty sure NAS Pansacola is bigger than a couple of the bases listed in the article.

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Jura said:

And what do you think about this one?

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(shows the five biggest military bases in the world; #1: Fort Bragg, NC, with the population of almost a quarter of million)

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The omnibus spending measure easily breezed to passage in the lower chamber, making $572 billion in Pentagon appropriations one step closer to becoming reality. The measure, which contains an $85 billion war-funding measure and $487 billion in baseline defense dollars, now moves to the Senate

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The 2014 defense appropriations bill would give the Pentagon $92.9 billion in total procurement funds

But it does lay out proposed program funding allocations for several major Navy shipbuilding programs, including more than $6 billion for the Virginia-class submarine program. The measure proposes around $2 billion for the DDG 51 destroyer effort (including advanced procurement funds), and another $1.8 billion for aircraft carrier refueling work

It proposes more than $900 million for the service’s carrier replacement program, and $1.8 billion for its Littoral Combat Ship program. The Joint High Speed Vessel program would get nearly $3 million

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Though it offers few other program-specific funding lines, the bill does state the Air Force would receive $10.3 billion to buy aircraft and $4.4. billion to buy missiles

The Army would get $1.6 billion for ground vehicles, $4.8 billion for aircraft, $1.5 billion for missiles and $1.4 billion for ammunition.

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The Navy is set to get more than $16 billion for new aircraft, $15 billion for shipbuilding, $3 billion for weapons, and $549 million for ammunition. The Marine Corps would receive $1.2 billion for all of its procurement accounts

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navyreco said:

Because of the SNA2013 event taking place now, there are lots of "news" being released
Lockheed Martin Successfully tests LRASM Vertical Launch System interface

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Jeff Head said:

The Harpoon would be great for this. One, four missile cannister would work and would be relativly easy to mount.

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