US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

By 2020, China could have as many as 351
submarines and missile-equipped surface ships in the Asia Pacific.
By comparison, the U.S. Navy, budget permitting, plans to have 67
submarines and surface ships stationed in or forward deployed to
region in 2020, a modest increase from 50 in 2014.

Click to expand...

Saving the Warthog to save troop lives

Reminiscing about his service in the Korean War, a veteran once remarked to me with wonder how his Army boots were so inadequate in the freezing conditions of winter combat that he and his comrades would compete for the fur-lined boots of dead Chinese soldiers and even mount dangerous trench raids for that purpose. “How was it,” he said, “that I, as a soldier of the richest nation on Earth, was having to steal the boots of soldiers from one of the poorest countries on Earth?”
The campaign against the A-10 has been ongoing for decades but has taken on new urgency as the Air Force defends its treasured F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program -

The answer was not that the U.S. military was too underfunded to buy proper boots for its men. After all, the military budget shot up to World War II levels once the war started. It was because senior commanders preferred to spend the money elsewhere, mostly on a variety of strategic nuclear bombers and other aircraft that never reached Korea.

U.S. military footwear has improved since those days, but the overall mind-set has not changed, as glaringly demonstrated by the Air Force's current efforts to junk the A-10 Warthog, the only aircraft specifically designed to support ground troops in combat. The plane is devastatingly effective in this role, thanks to its ability to maneuver close to the ground in the face of hostile fire while accurately targeting enemy positions with its lethal 30-millimeter cannon. Scores of combat veterans ascribe their survival in firefights to intervention by one or more A-10s, accolades accorded no other combat plane.....

Click to expand...

Military group enters dogfight over A-10 jet retirement

A key military group responsible for guiding fighter jets toward their battlefield targets is trying to keep the legendary A-10 "Warthog" from flying off into the sunset.

With the Pentagon set to ground the A-10, the Tactical Air Control Party Association, the group which represents battlefield spotters, wrote a letter to outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urging the Pentagon to reconsider. The letter mentioned a June incident in Afghanistan in which five U.S. service members were killed by friendly fire from one of the planes that would replace the A-10, according to The Washington Times.

“We believe that F-15s, F-16s, and B-1s cannot replicate the CAS capabilities of the A-10, and we know from combat experience that the elimination of the A-10 before a viable replacement achieves full operational capability will cost American lives,” read the letter in which the association described the unique challenges of close air support......

Click to expand...

The compromise 2015 defense bill between the House and the Senate will allow the Navy to move ahead with putting two Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruisers in mothballs but stops short of endorsing the service’s plan to layup half of the cruiser force, according to a Tuesday background briefing to reporters from House and Senate staffers.

Language in the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will allow the Navy to start the preservation and modernization process for two of the ships next year — in line with the early part of the Navy’s plan — but gives Congress flexibility to alter the deal.

“They can stand down two this year but [the bill] doesn’t address what they do in future years,” a legislative staffer told reporters.

The Navy included the so-called phased cruiser modernization plan in its FY 2015 budget proposal that would mothball 11 cruisers to reduce the crew sizes and cut maintenance costs. The service estimated the plan would result in a cost savings of $4.7 billion.

The Navy has argued that it needed the air defense commander capability inherent in the cruisers and that’s not native to the service’s Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.

“We need an air defense commander with deploying battle groups,” Sean Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (RDA), told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces in a July hearing.

“11 carriers, 11 carrier battle groups, 11 air defense commanders.”

The Navy landed on the phased modernization plan after the looming costs of the Ohio-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) program made a Flight IV Arleigh Burke destroyer — that would have included space for an air defense commander — fiscally impossible.

The bill also sets aside about $350 million for additional EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft — enough money for about 3 or so aircraft. The Navy gave Congress an unfunded request for $2.14 billion to buy 22 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft.

With the additional Growlers, the Navy would be able to expand the total numbers of aircraft in the service’s electronic attack squadrons from five to seven.

The compromise also included $800 million to start acquisition of a 12th San Antonio-class (LPD-17) amphibious warship — adding an additional hull to the 11-ship class. Marine Corps leadership has longed stumped for the additional $1.7 billion ship and the Navy recently made a decision to use the LPD-17 hull form as the basis of its LX(R) next generation amphibious warship.
Funding for three additional Littoral Combat Ships were also included in the compromise bill

The legislation is slated to reach the House floor as early as this week and the Senate next week.

The staffers indicated that the bill should easily pass the House and likely pass the Senate.

Click to expand...

Equation said:

Pentagon Worries That Russia Can Now Outshoot U.S. Stealth Jets
American fighter planes are the fastest, most maneuverable jets in the world. But their weapons are becomingly increasingly obsolete—and that has some in the U.S. Air Force spooked.

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Read it and tell me what ya think.

Click to expand...

Brumby said:

In modern air warfare, the statistics quoted I have seen is that the best PK achieved was only 0.4 and in the Korean/Vietnam war it was around 0.1. In a conflict when the F-35 armed with only 4 missiles goes up against a SU-35 carrying three times that number, the odds are not favourable regardless of the stealth story. Another example of asymmetric warfare.

Click to expand...

Sikorsky CH-53K first flight pushed at earliest to March
By: DAN PARSONSWASHINGTON DC Source: Flightglobal.com 15:36 3 Dec 2014
The US Marine Corps will have to wait until at least March for its new heavy lift helicopter, the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion, to make its maiden flight.

Originally planned for summer 2014, the King Stallion’s first flight was pushed to the end of the year when a crack was found in one of the four gear boxes of a ground test article. US Naval Air Systems Command now says the aircraft will enter flight testing “sometime between March and May next year.”

“First flight is driven by the current ground test vehicle (GTV) test events,” says Kelly Burdick, a spokesman for the navy’s programme executive office for aviation. “The GTV is currently undergoing powered ground tests to measure and verify the ability of the drive system, transmissions and engines and flight control system to safely fly the CH-53K helicopter across multiple flight scenarios.”

Engineers at NAVAIR and Sikorsky have made adjustments to the CH-53K’s main rotor gearbox to improve load distribution and have been retesting the fix “to ensure optimal performance prior to the flight test phase”, Burdick says.

“All issues discovered to this point have a technical solution and are typical of developmental programs - this is why we do this testing,” she says. “These tests, their data, and their schedule all drive the timeframe for first flight and discoveries are typical during this phase of testing.”

A Sikorsky spokesman says the static ground test article has undergone nearly 200h of testing, including subjecting the airframe to 115% of its maximum load. Sikorsky also has completed vibration and ultimate load testing on two conditions, in which the main rotors are overloaded by 150% compared to design loads.

The USMC has plans to buy 200 King Stallions to replace its entire fleet of smaller CH-53E Super Stallions. The CH-53K’s structural integrity was officially cleared for flight in April, then rolled out during a 5 May ceremony at Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach, Florida, manufacturing facility.

The King Stallion shares its designation and much of its exterior design with the Super Stallion, but is in reality a clean-sheet aircraft with new rotor, engines, transmission, cockpit, cabin and tail rotor. With a maximum takeoff weight of 39,900kg (88,000lb), the CH-53K will be the US military’s largest helicopter when it enters service. It will be capable of ferrying two Humvees at once compared to the CH-53E’s one, as well as make multiple combat drops on a single flight.

The USMC originally had plans for the King Stallion to enter service in 2015, but developmental delays have caused initial operational capability to slide at least until 2018.

Click to expand...

Boeing fixes KC-46 wiring issues, sets first flight for spring 2015
By: DAN PARSONSWASHINGTON DC Source: Flightglobal.com 21:09 3 Dec 2014
The first prototype of Boeing’s KC-46 aerial refueling tanker has been rewired to meet US Air Force standards and is being prepared for its first flight sometime in late spring 2015, the companies chief operating officer says.

“We’re doing final prep for first flight on tanker,” Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s president and COO, says on 3 December at the Credit Suisse Global Industrials Conference in Chicago. “We are feeling very good about where that program is at now that we’ve got some of those technical issues behind us. Now we’ll focus on executing the flight test program under development and then getting the programme into production.”

Boeing earlier this year alerted the air force to “anomalies” in the aircraft’s wiring, which is required to be triple redundant to meet military and US Federal Aviation Administration specifications.

The company launched a wiring audit that found about 5% of the aircraft’s 98,000 wiring bundles were installed too close to redundant counterparts. The first four engineering and manufacturing development aircraft had to be rewired before they could roll off the production line.

“Those have now been resolved and closed out,” he says. “That airplane is done. We completed factory functional test. That airplane has now rolled out of the factory.”

The aircraft is derived from Boeing’s 767 commercial jet and is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4062 turbofans.

In addition to serving as an aerial refueling tanker, KC-46As can be configured to accommodate cargo or up to 114 passengers, or to serve as an aero-medical evacuation aircraft

The first test aircraft has been fueled in preparation for flight testing and is on the flight line, Muilenburg says. The first tanker flights are scheduled for the second quarter of 2015, he says. The air force is expected to make a Milestone C decision to enter low-rate initial production within the following three months. Boeing is then on the hook to deliver the first 18 operational tankers by 2017.

“We’re very confident that we will hit the mark on all three,” he says.

A provisional test 767-2C, a freighter variant of the aircraft, and the first EMD KC-46 are scheduled to fly in the second quarter of calendar year 2015. That is a change from September, when Maj Gen John Thompson, the air force’s KC-46 programme manager, said first flight would take place before the end of March.

The US air force needs at least 179 KC-46 tankers, which gives Boeing a “long, strong production profile”, he says. Potential international demand may increase orders from Boeing to between 400 and 500 aircraft, Muilenburg says.

Click to expand...

First operational MQ-8C delivered to USN
By: BETH STEVENSONLONDON Source: Flightglobal.com 10 hours ago
The US Navy’s first operational Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned air vehicle has been delivered to the service ahead of its first ship-board flight tests, due to begin on board the USS Jason Dunham destroyer.

The testing programme for the helicopter-derived UAV will then run until the summer, George Vardoulakis, vice president for medium-range tactical systems at Northrop says, ready to be operated by the end of next year.

Out of 70 of the type required by the USN, Northrop has been contracted to build 19 of the “C” model, including two test aircraft.

The MQ-8C derives from the Bell Helicopter 407 rotorcraft, which is a larger airframe than the Schweizer 330 that the model’s MQ-8B predecessor is based on. The company says that the “C” model can fly for double the time the “B” can while carrying three times the amount of payload.

The MQ-8C has a 12h endurance, a range of 150nm (277km) and a payload capacity of some 700lb (318kg).

The MQ-8C has been undergoing a test campaign since its first flight in October 2013, including most recently precision slope landing tests; electromagnetic testing, which assured compatibility with ship-based emitters; and an initial phase of dynamic interface testing, which looked at deck handling and communications networks.

asset image
Northrop Grumman
Meanwhile, the MQ-8B was deployed on board the USN’s new USS Fort Worth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) when it embarked on its maiden voyage on 17 November with the Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 35 Detachment 1.

It was deployed alongside the Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk manned helicopter – LCS deployments are expected to operate with one of each of the rotorcraft types as part of the vessel’s surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures packages.

The Fire Scout will complement the MH-60R by extending the range and endurance to enhance maritime domain awareness, the navy says, while the deploying aviation detachment will consist of 24 personnel that are qualified to operate or perform maintenance on both the MH-60R and the MQ-8B.

USS Fort Worth will head for the 7th Fleet area of responsibility that spans from west of the international date line to the west coast of India, the navy says.

Click to expand...

Obama To Announce Defense Secretary Pick Friday
Dec. 4, 2014 - 02:50PM | By JEFF SCHOGOL |
President Obama will announce on Friday morning whom he has selected as his nominee to become the next secretary of defense, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday.

Earnest did not say who the nominee will be, but several media outlets have reported Obama has selected Ash Carter to replace current Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Although Carter has not been officially named as the nominee, Republican lawmakers have said they respect him but question how effective he could be as the next Pentagon chief given media reports that the White House has taken over responsibility for running the Defense Department.

"I hope that whoever gets the job has an understanding that he or she is going to do what's best and not be micromanaged from the White House," incoming House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Calif., told reporters on Tuesday. "He knows the Pentagon. He certainly knows some of the acquisition issues I've been dealing with. So, we'll see."

The Pentagon's spokesman recently disputed media reports about tension between Hagel and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

"The secretary has a close professional relationship with Susan Rice, the national security advisor, as you would think he would as secretary of defense," Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters at a Nov. 25 news conference. "There's not an issue of micromanagement from any other place outside the building, you know. It's not about micromanaging." ■

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Click to expand...

US Army Labs Test DARPA's Load-Lightening Exosuits
Dec. 1, 2014 - 03:45AM | By KEVIN LILLEY |
The futuristic exosuits being tested by US Army researchers won't help soldiers outrun locomotives, and it'll still take more than a single bound to clear a tall building.

But a final prototype of the device, which could cut a wearer's exertion level by 25 percent when carrying a 100-pound load and might let an unburdened soldier run a four-minute mile, could be tested in a realistic setting in less than two years, according to Maj. Christopher Orlowski, who runs the program under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's banner.

DARPA's Warrior Web initiative spans the entire military, but much of the testing for the four prototypes in the program's second phase, and the nine prototypes that made up Phase I, has been hosted by the Soldier Performance and Equipment Advanced Research facility — SPEAR, for short — at Maryland's Aberdeen Proving Ground.

"I'm exposed to a lot of really cool technology that not everyone gets to see," said Mike LaFiandra, chief of the Dismounted Warrior Branch at the Army Research Laboratory. "Big-picture, we're really at an exciting time. The technological advancements that are happening ... I can see 10 years or 15 years from now, this not only being a soldier device, but helping soldiers who are injured, once they get back."

Three years after Warrior Web's inception, soldier-testers are taking the prototypes out of the lab and onto a cross-country course, walking through the woods with an 80-pound pack. While researchers tag along, testers report any perceived benefits from the suit, as well as any problems with comfort or ease of wear — chafing, for example.

Feedback from testers has been positive, DARPA and Army officials said, especially after the soldiers have time to get used to wearing the devices. But comfort isn't the only issue under review, and the data analysis required to gauge the performance of such suits may be a heavier lift than the packs being lugged around the Aberdeen woods.

Precision performance

Rules for what the prototypes must look like are flexible to allow for innovation, but the final version likely will resemble a wet suit, only with a system attached designed to deliver the right force to the right muscle or joint at the right time to ease a soldier's workload.

The Soft Exosuit prototype, designed by a team from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard, uses a series of pulleys to simulate leg movement. It focuses on supporting the hip and ankle joints; "if you look at the biomechanics of walking," program leader Conor Walsh said, "you see that those two joints are doing most of the work."

Because of the weight and wattage limitations put on the system by DARPA, researchers must find ways to benefit the wearer without excess power.

"We're trying to understand what are the most efficient times in the walking cycle to add energy," Walsh said. "Do we really understand those moments?"

The prototype underwent testing in Aberdeen in early October. The last of the prototypes scheduled for this round of testing, an Arizona State product known as Air Legs that'll visit the lab in either December or January, uses air pressure instead of pulleys.

Makers of Air Legs told CBS News in a Nov. 11 report they had been able to reduce exertion, or "metabolic load," by 10 percent so far, and that reaching the 25 percent threshold would mean a soldier wearing the device could run a mile in four minutes.

Track times aren't part of the DARPA metrics. Walsh said the Harvard group's prototype has "seen muscle activity being reduced in the key areas, and we've seen positive effect in the metabolic areas," but couldn't put a number to the findings.

The difficulty in finding those metabolic-load data points is part of the reason soldiers shouldn't expect a rapid roll-out of these suits, according to the experts.

"The way everyone walks is slightly different," LaFiandra said. "Maybe a previous injury, maybe the amount of experience you have walking with a load. ... There's a tremendous amount of individual variability. Merely putting this device on one or two people, with or without a load, and comparing those numbers, is insufficient."

DARPA's stated goal is to build a device that can be worn under the uniform by 90 percent of the Army, so getting the variations right is critical. And even if the device can adapt to its user, researchers must determine the proper training protocol so the user can adapt to the device.

It's the kind of research that can't be done entirely in university labs.

"Standard college students aren't experienced in carrying 100 pounds in a backpack," LaFiandra said.

Making the grade

Improving performance is only one of five focus areas for the program, according to a 2013 DARPA announcement. The others:

■ Advanced controls: Suits that can "function without intervention by the wearer" and correct for when the wearer's stride changes — walking to running or kneeling to crawling, for instance.

■ Wearability: Suits that remain lightweight, cool and comfortable despite performance-enhancing add-ons, and can sense and process biometrics without external computer power.

■ Safety: Suits that lend stability to joints and help muscles with a soldier's typical burdens, both of which could limit chronic injuries.

■ Grab bag: Suits with what DARPA calls "additional assistive wearable technologies," which could be used to aid wearers undergoing rehabilitation or physical therapy, for example, or even help the elderly remain mobile.

All prototypes must tackle at least three focus areas, according to the statement, with "full-suit" entries needing to address all but the final, miscellaneous category. And the competition's end is in sight.

"DARPA plans to test the final prototype in appropriate mission profiles under realistic loads to evaluate performance," Orlowski, the program manager, said in an emailed response to questions. "These tests are currently planned for late 2016."

Once the technology is in place, which soldiers receive the exosuits and how they use them becomes the Army's problem — Orlowski said DARPA will "leave it up to the services to determine specific operational uses." Suits that pass the types of tests done in Aberdeen and meet the program's requirements would benefit most any soldier carrying any gear in any operational environment.

"Twenty or 30 years ago, it may have seemed far-fetched," LaFiandra said. "When I look at the Warrior Web prototypes, I don't think it's far-fetched. I think it's a matter of time."

Click to expand...

NDAA: US Army Apache Consolidation Blocked Until 2016
Dec. 3, 2014 - 03:11PM | By JOE GOULD |
WASHINGTON — Congress would authorize the active-duty Army to begin absorbing the Army National Guard AH-64 Apaches as part of the Army’s aviation restructuring proposal, but not until 2016, according to compromise National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) language revealed Tuesday evening.

The bill bars the transfer of the Apaches in 2015, allowing as many as 48 aircraft to be moved the following year. In effect, the language allows the Army to begin its Aviation Restructuring Initiative (ARI)in fiscal 2016 but leaves a decision on its completion to the next Congress, according to a summary of the legislation obtained by Defense News.

The move also limits any related personnel transfers and reductions of Army National Guard personnel related to the Apache before March 31, 2016.

The National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS), which has sparred with the Army over its aviation restructuring plans, released a statement on Tuesday supporting the pacing of the Apache consolidation plan, calling the language in the bill “a powerful, unmistakable message to the Pentagon: Slow down and let’s get things right.”

NGAUS president, retired Maj. Gen. Gus Hargett, said he favors the creation of a commission to study the future structure of the Army as “exactly what’s needed to move our Army beyond the current rancor and, with the actual input of all three components, other major stakeholders and Congress, create a force that truly best serves the nation.”

The agreement authorizes a National Commission on the Future of the US Army, which would assess the size and force mixture of the active and reserve components, and recommend modifications, while balancing anticipated mission requirements and risks to the nation and resources.

The NDAA compromise language includes a provision that commissions the Government Accountability Office to study the appropriate balance between the active Army and the Guard.

The bill authorizes end-strength for the active Army at 490,000 for the end of 2015, and blocks cuts for that year. Deep personnel cuts are expected in 2016, however.

Though the active component’s Aviation Restructuring Initiative faced criticism from the Guard and its supporters, both sides save face in this arrangement. The slower pace gives the Guard room to breathe, while Army will likely execute the plan it wanted eventually, an Army official said.

It is not a done deal, however. Language in the NDAA calls for the US comptroller general to assess alternatives to the Army’s aviation restructure plans submitted by the National Guard and Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office, and to submit a report to Congress.

Congress expressed “concerns” in the NDAA over planned reductions and realignments within the regular Army and reserve in order to meet legislated budget caps, and whether it will lead to fewer Army and National Guard brigades.

“Sufficient funding should be provided to retain the force structure and sustain the readiness of as much Total Army combat capability as possible,” the NDAA reads.

The Army’s aviation restructuring plan calls for the consolidation of the Guard’s Apache attack helicopters into the active force while receiving several hundred Black Hawks, and retaining its Lakota multi-use helicopters in return. The Army would team the Apaches with Army drones to perform the scout mission. Overall, the Army will divest itself of 798 helicopters.

The active component will also eliminate three of its 13 combat aviation brigades while the Guard will retain all of its 10 aviation brigades.

In its pitch, the Army said its plan would save about $12 billion over several years, beginning with $2 billion in fiscal 2015.Army officials say near-term savings will come from shedding its Kiowas and TH-67 trainers.

Already the Army announced that it will inactivate the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade this year, one of two combat aviation brigades in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. It has inactivated one Kiowa squadron, the 4-6 Attack Reconnaissance Squadron at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

In the Army Reserve, the first of two Apache units has already started its conversion into a Black Hawk unit, the 8-229 Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, of Fort Knox, Kentucky, Army Times has reported. The battalion will give up its 24 Apaches and receive 30 Black Hawks.■

Click to expand...

House Passes US Coast Guard Bill
Dec. 3, 2014 - 03:45AM | By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS |
WASHINGTON — The House voted overwhelmingly late Wednesday to approve a policy bill for the US Coast Guard, 413-3. The bill now moves to the Senate where, as of late Thursday, it has yet to be scheduled for floor action. Legislators remain hopeful, however, that the upper house will vote on the bill before it closes out this year’s session.

The House bill, formally dubbed the Howard Coble Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2014, is also known as the Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill.

Funding for the Coast Guard is included as part of the much larger Department of Homeland Security budget request. But Congress, in an effort to give the service some specific attention, crafts an annual policy bill to address specific service issues.

The bill seeks to restore the Coast Guard budget to 2014 levels, reversing $800 million in cuts in the Obama administration’s budget request. The House approved an $8.7 billion budget — the same as last year — while the administration requested $7.9 billion, plus another $220 million in supplemental funding.

The House also supports military pay raises for the Coast Guard at the same levels as the other armed services.

The bill directs the Coast Guard to submit a mission need statement (MNS) covering all its major acquisition programs each year from 2016 to 2019, and every four years thereafter. The MNS would not include force structure figures, but would include cost figures under an updated capital needs investment plan.

Hill sources indicated the current investment plan was last updated in 2005.

The MNS would also identify gaps between mission hour needs and projected mission hour expectations, and describe which missions those gaps would prevent the service from achieving.

The bill also seeks to bring the Coast Guard in line with the other armed services by submitting to Congress an annual authorization request.

“The focus would be on end strength,” said one congressional source. “The Coast Guard has failed miserably to get its legislative packages up to us in a regular manner.”

The bill grants multiyear procurement authority to buy new Offshore Patrol Cutters (OPCs), the largest Coast Guard acquisition planned in the coming decade. The service is expected to choose one contractor in 2016 to build up to 25 OPCs, which will replace two classes of medium endurance cutters (MECs).

New OPCs, however, aren’t expected to begin deploying until the mid-to-late 2020s, and Congress wants a plan for how the service will keep and maintain the existing fleet of MECs until they can be replaced. The report would also include how many OPCs are necessary to continue the service’s historical capability in sea state 5, described by the Beaufort scale as moderate waves of some length — six to nine feet — with many whitecaps.

Another provision in the bill would prevent the Coast Guard from providing North Atlantic iceberg information to foreign-flagged vessels who don’t pay for the service. The provision is aimed at third party, flag-of-convenience registrations such as Panama or Liberia who don’t reimburse the Coast Guard for the costs of the iceberg warning effort.

“The Coast Guard has spent more than $40 million over the last five years providing this service to foreign flagged vessels,” the bill notes. Such payments are required by signatories to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

With the small fleet of icebreakers sorely in need of replacement, the bill requires the Coast Guard to analyze “the cost effectiveness of acquiring or leasing new icebreaker assets,” and prohibits the service from spending for capabilities on a new icebreaker if those capabilities are requested by another federal agency. The Coast Guard would be authorized, however, to accept transfers of funds from those agencies.

Click to expand...

TerraN_EmpirE said:

If I remember last year Lockheed Martin had a conceptual missile called the CUDA. that could fit about 6 in a single F35 Missile bay

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

.
If you loaded up with full loads in both bays that would be about 12 which is were talking SU35 has about 12 hard points although some could carry multiple missiles but the numbers would be brought to a fairer fight

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...