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Scratch

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Yet more upgrades to the venerable B-52 bomber. The latest one will give it the ability to carry JDAMs, that so far were carried on external pylons, in the internal weapons bay via a new rotary launcher. Allowing a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 15%.

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Boeing upgrades B-52s with internal smart weapons
By:
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Washington DC
Source: Flightglobal.com - 2 hours ago

Sixty-one years since the type’s first flight, the US Air Force is upgrading the weapons bays of the
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B-52 to carry satellite-guided conventional munitions.

A crew of Boeing and US Air Force technicians installed a prototype of the new weapons bay launcher in a B-52 at Edwards AFB, California.

The prototype modifies a rotary launcher intended to carry nuclear weapons to carry conventional weapons, says Boeing.

The initial version will allow the B-52 to carry satellite-guided Boeing joint direct attack munitions internally.

Future upgrades should give the bomber the ability to carry stand-off munitions, such as the
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AGM-158 joint air to surface standoff missile (JASSM) and the Raytheon ADM-160 miniature air-launched decoy, Boeing says.

The B-52 carries such so-called “smart” weapons on wing-mounted pylons now. Moving the weapons into the internal bays should reduce fuel consumption by 15%, Boeing says.

It also means the B-52 can carry eight more cruise missiles inside the weapons bay.
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Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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Naval Today said:
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has officially started fabrication on the U.S. Coast Guard’s seventh National Security Cutter (NSC), Kimball (WMSL 756).

Ingalls’ NSC program manager, Jim French, said:

"We continue to increase our learning on this shipbuilding program, fully capturing the affordable benefits of serial production. While the official start fab requires 100 tons of steel to be cut for this ship, our shipbuilders have actually cut more than 474 tons so far on NSC 7. This paves the way for a successful three-year build on this ship."

Ingalls has delivered the first four ships in the class and is currently building three more NSCs, with advance procurement funding already secured for an eighth ship.

Legend-class NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet, designed to replace the 378-foot Hamilton-class High-Endurance Cutters that entered service during the 1960s. The NSCs are 418 feet long, with a 54-foot beam, displacing 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 120.
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The Coast Guard's fourth in class Hamilton, WMSL 753, started sea trials in mid-2014 and has now been commissioned.

The fifth in class, James, WMSL 754, (and shown above) entered the water on May 3, 2014 and commissioning is expected in 2015.

The sixth in class USCGC Munro, WMSL 755, commenced construction in 2013 and is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year, 2015, and commissioned in late 2016.

Now Ingalls has started the construction of Kimball (WMSL 756), the seventh NSC, which is scheduled for launch in late 2016 and commission in the first quarter of 2018.

The program is moving right along...does not seem like so long ago, that right here on SD, we announced the launching of the 1st in class!
 
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
if you want to see a railgun soon, go to D.C. :)
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The Electromagnetic Railgun—a weapon that will play a significant role in the future of the U.S. Navy—will be on display to the public for the first time on the East Coast Feb. 4-5 at the Naval Future Force Science and Technology (S&T) EXPO in Washington, D.C., officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced.
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navyreco, will you be there?
 
navyreco

navyreco

Senior Member
^ Unfortunately not. I *should* be at Sea-Air-Space in April (Wash DC too) however.

US Navy Approves F/A-18 Super Hornet Infrared Search & Track (IRST) System for Production
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The F/A-18 Super Hornet infrared search and track (IRST) system, developed and integrated by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, received approval from the U.S. Navy to enter low-rate initial production.

The IRST system consists of Lockheed Martin’s IRST21™ sensor, the GE Aviation FPU-13 Fuel Tank Assembly and the Meggitt Defense Industry Environmental Control unit. The system demonstrated its production readiness through a series of extensive assessments and reviews, including flight tests.

“This ‘see first, strike first’ capability can be used in a variety of threat environments and is a game changer for our warfighters as we combat future adversaries,” said U.S. Navy F/A-18 program manager Capt. Frank Morley. IRST is expected to deploy on the F/A-18 Super Hornet in 2017.
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
Brumby

Brumby

Major
Jura said:
an update:
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says

(General Welsh:
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)
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The Air Force basically needs to do a better job of making a case for replacing the A-10 on the basis of budget constraint to fund the F-35. Regardless of the merits of a F-35 as a replacement for CAS duties, the business case of retiring 300 A-10's to fund the acquisition of probably no more than 9 F-35 is hard to buy. This is besides the fact that the flight cost per hour is double when the F-35 is compared to the A-10. It doesn't help when CAS is basically loiter time.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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USNS-Sgt_-Matej-Kocak-Runs-Aground-off-Okinawa.jpg
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Naval Today said:
The Military Sealift Command prepositioning vessel USNS Sgt. Matej Kocak ran aground off the East Coast of Okinawa, Japan Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015, at approximately 11:30 a.m.

The vessel is located approximately six nautical miles of the coast of Uruma, Okinawa, Japan.

The U.S. Navy is working closely with Japanese authorities to assess the situation and determine the best course of action to refloat the vessel. Tugs are on scene stabilizing the vessel and assessing the situation.

No leaks from the hull have been found and no damage to the surrounding area has been reported. None of the ship’s 127 crew civilian members were injured in the grounding, and the crew is currently still on board the ship.
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also from CNN:
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CNN said:
(CNN)An American naval cargo ship has run aground off the Japanese coast, east of Okinawa, and efforts are underway to refloat it, the U.S. Navy said Thursday.

"The safety of the civilian crew members and the environment are our top priorities. So we're taking this situation very seriously and will continue to investigate the situation until it's resolved," said Cmdr. William Marks, spokesman for the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet.

The U.S. Navy identified the ship as the Military Sealift Command prepositioning vessel USNS Sgt. Matej Kocak. The Navy said it was stuck 6 nautical miles off Uruma, on the island of Okinawa.

"The ship is stable right now," Marks said. "Any water found in the ship is just from the normal tide going in and out."

Tugs were at the location, assessing the best way to free the vessel in conjunction with the Japanese.

"The U.S. Navy is working closely with Japanese authorities to assess the situation and determine the best course of action to refloat the vessel," the Navy said. "No leaks from the hull have been found and no damage to the surrounding area has been reported."

The ship carries 131 crew members -- 38 civilians and 67 Army and 26 Marine Corps personnel, the Navy said.All were unhurt and still on board, it said.

The
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operates more than 100 noncombat, civilian crew ships that service the Defense Department in specialized missions, according to its website.
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Someone's command career just ended.

These are BIG vessels (48,750 tons full load) and represent significant strategic positioning capabilities for US forces.

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Jeff Head

Jeff Head

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This is a design that is about six years old, but is gaining ground in the US Navy. it is a massive LCAC, along the lines of the Zubr, but an all new, US Navy design. The personnel working on it were just given this prestigious western scientific arawd.

Will it become an actual contract the US Navy awards and then builds? Who knows...but it is out there and the US Navy has been seriously looking at it for several years.

To give you a better idea of how big it is...look at this rendering:


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