The Indian navy error in sinking a Thai trawler in the last week shows the problem that exists with information, either too much or too little of it, in dealing with non-state actors like pirates.
The ship seems to be under pirate control and to have attacked the frigate that sank it. The issue is the death of the hostages on the ship. In former centuries, their deaths would not be well know and the removal of the pirate force on the ship would have been positive for stopping piracy. In these times, the ideal use of force must be more surgical. So, our multi-billion dollar navies are tied up by bandits with RPG's.
Link
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Blackwater beats the Navy or maybe it is Democracy
Blackwater is offering the MV MacArthur, a 183-foot vessel with a crew of 14 and a helicopter pad, as an escort for ships through the Gulf of Aden.
“We have the capability to assist” shipping companies, said Bill Mathews, Blackwater executive vice president. He and other company leaders are former Navy SEALs. Ship security “is kind of what we did for a living” before joining Blackwater, he said.
link
The company isn’t seeking new U.S. security contracts in Iraq, where a Blackwater team was involved in the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians while guarding a State Department convoy in September 2007. The deaths are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The State Department paid Blackwater more than $832 million to provide security between 2004 and 2006, about half of the money under a no-bid contract awarded in June 2004.
According to Coast Guard records, the McArthur was decommissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2003 after nearly 40 years as a research vessel. Built in 1966 by Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., now BAE Systems Norfolk Ship
Tags: MV MacArthur
Tags: Blackwater, US Navy, Samilia, Pirates
Isn't it amazing that in the picture above this ship is flying the American flag. It is another example of some American citizens having the right to wage war outside of government channels. Blackwater is a private army with land, sea and air forces operating out of the United States. That should not be allowed.
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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Russians to have Six New Aircraft Carriers by 2025
NLOS-C is the lead prototype in the Army's family of eight FCS Manned Ground Vehicles (MGVs). The new cannon implements automated ammunition loading system and improved accuracy through on-board projectile tracking coupled with the power of the FCS network and sensors. It is operated by a crew of two soldiers. "This marks the first 155mm round fired from a fully automated howitzer mounted on an FCS hybrid-electric chassis and remotely commanded through its on-board computers and controls," stated Lieutenant Colonel Robert McVay, Army Product Manager for NLOS-C.
It will be one of nine vehicles to be produced under the system development phase. As the system is approved for operational testing, more vehicles will be produced for the testing, overall, the Army's Evaluation Task Force (AETF) will receive 18 NLOS-C platforms starting in 2010. The AETF will put the NLOS-C through combat scenarios to provide lessons learned that will be used to enhance and finalize the design for the final production NLOS-Cs and the rest of the MGV family.
NLOS-C is the lead prototype in the Army's family of eight FCS Manned Ground Vehicles (MGVs). The new cannon implements automated ammunition loading system and improved accuracy through on-board projectile tracking coupled with the power of the FCS network and sensors. It is operated by a crew of two soldiers. "This marks the first 155mm round fired from a fully automated howitzer mounted on an FCS hybrid-electric chassis and remotely commanded through its on-board computers and controls," stated Lieutenant Colonel Robert McVay, Army Product Manager for NLOS-C.
It will be one of nine vehicles to be produced under the system development phase. As the system is approved for operational testing, more vehicles will be produced for the testing, overall, the Army's Evaluation Task Force (AETF) will receive 18 NLOS-C platforms starting in 2010. The AETF will put the NLOS-C through combat scenarios to provide lessons learned that will be used to enhance and finalize the design for the final production NLOS-Cs and the rest of the MGV family.
August 08, 2008: Speaking to journalists on the occasion of the Russian Navy Day celebrations, the commander of the Russian Navy, Admiral Vladimir Visotskiy confirmed the the Russian Navy is planning to deploy six aircraft-carrier groups with its Northern and Pacific fleets. They will be operated within a new, network-centric task groups, closely integrated with Russian air force and air-defense assets via Russia’s military-satellite network. (more...)
Tags: Russian Carriers
Adm. Visotskiy indicated that six new aircraft carriers and all the necessary support ships will be built to sustain this momentum. Construction of the first aircraft carrier is expected to begin in 2012. The six groups could be fully deployed by 2025.
At present, the Russians operate only a single aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov with the Northern Fleet. Moscow have yet to decide where to build these vessels, as the only facility capable of such scale of work is located in the Nikolayev Shipyard on the Black Sea in the Ukraine.
In the mid 1980s the Russian Navy launched three Type 1143.5 carriers, Admiral Kuznetsov, and Varyag which was delivered as scrap to China. The third carrier, Admiral Gorshkov is being refurbished for the Indian Navy, to be fielded by 2013. Only one aircraft carrier remained in Russian service - the Admiral Kuznetsov. The vessel, carries 12 fixed wing aircraft, including Su-33 fighters and Su-25 attack aircraft as well as various types of Ka-27 special mission helicopters (AEW, ASW, SAR).
Addressing the construction of Borei class nuclear-powered missile carrying submarines, the Admiral said the Navy plans to modernize at least one Borei-class strategic nuclear submarine which is considered to be the mainstay of the naval component of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces until 2040. Three vessels of this class are currently in construction at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, in the Arkhangelsk region. However, but their completion has been delayed by test failures of the Bulava ballistic missile, its main weapon. Adm. Visotskiy said the first three submarines would be commissioned without significant changes to the initial design, but the fourth will undergo upgrades.
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NLOS-C Fires First Round
NLOS-C is the lead prototype in the Army's family of eight FCS Manned Ground Vehicles (MGVs). The new cannon implements automated ammunition loading system and improved accuracy through on-board projectile tracking coupled with the power of the FCS network and sensors. It is operated by a crew of two soldiers. "This marks the first 155mm round fired from a fully automated howitzer mounted on an FCS hybrid-electric chassis and remotely commanded through its on-board computers and controls," stated Lieutenant Colonel Robert McVay, Army Product Manager for NLOS-C.
It will be one of nine vehicles to be produced under the system development phase. As the system is approved for operational testing, more vehicles will be produced for the testing, overall, the Army's Evaluation Task Force (AETF) will receive 18 NLOS-C platforms starting in 2010. The AETF will put the NLOS-C through combat scenarios to provide lessons learned that will be used to enhance and finalize the design for the final production NLOS-Cs and the rest of the MGV family.
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