"Sea Fighter" The X-Craft was designed to demonstrate to the US and other navies the versatility of a very high speed, high payload capability vessel which can cross oceans quickly, and operate in shallow coastal waters on missions which include mine counter measures and antisubmarine warfare. The Littoral Surface Craft-Experimental LSC(X) was developed by the Office of Naval Research and christened Fast Sea Frame Sea Fighter (FSF 1) on 5 February 2005. The X-Craft transformational program is a high-speed, aluminum catamaran consisting of an advanced hull geometry, designed to give the craft speeds of 50 knots or more. Initially, she will be used by ONR for purposes of hydrodynamic experimentation and as a test bed for Hull, Mechanical, and Electrical (HME) concepts for the Navy's new class of warship, Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). X-Craft is the first vessel that the Navy has designed specifically as a “sea frame,” decoupling hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) systems from the mission packages and allowing for a true “plug and fight” mission module capability. Mission flexibility will be demonstrated through interchangeable “mission modules” (standard twenty-foot containers) housed in the X-Craft’s large mission bay. The mission bay will hold up to twelve containers, each with its own dedicated service panel, permitting rapid reconfiguration of the vessel to support a variety of potential missions including battle force protection, mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, amphibious assault support, and logistics/humanitarian support.

 

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/images/fsf-1_x-craft_050204-n-7676w-193.jpg

Was Rummy Really Wrong? | The LA Progressive

Was Rummy Really Wrong? The LA Progressive

Is Military Transformation dead? This article says that it has uses against a conventional, major power. Somehow, I think the article misses the point. Military Transformation is not focused on specific missions alone. It is a state of mind. Iraq worked well in the initial phases. (this has nothing to do with our need to go there for the right reasons). The military simply had no plan for a successful occupation. The radical ideas of transformation could have been applied there, but the entire bullet seems to have been missed in the planning.

Winslow T. Wheeler, Director, Straus Military Reform Project, Center for Defense Information

Says real reform starts with at least three principles:

1.        No failed system can be fixed if it cannot be accurately measured.  A crash program to make Pentagon spending accountable is essential.  But just that is also insufficient.  DOD must also have an ability to predict with reasonable accuracy the cost, performance, and schedule of its future programs and policies.  The current bias, based on advocacy, is the heart and core of business as usual.

2.        The basis for competence cannot just be intelligence and hard work; it must also be objectivity and independence, ruthlessly enforced.  We currently have a fundamentally corrupt incentive system for senior Pentagon decision-makers.  The iron-clad control of the Pentagon decision process by people (in and out of uniform) who are free to then collect salaries and other emoluments from defense contractors (or other organizations, frequently lobbying firms and think tanks, funded by them) must end - without compromise.  The similar sham of members of Congress and - especially - their staff pretending to perform oversight on Capitol Hill and then accepting jobs from those they "oversee" (including the Pentagon) must also end.  

3.     If ever the above two principles are observed, President Obama can very usefully review all existing hardware programs.  We need a process where well informed, independently minded Pentagon managers can actually identify the unaffordable, the irrelevant, and the impractical hardware programs combined with an atmosphere where people appreciate that the money party in Washington is over. 

Tags: Pentagon Reform

Powered by Qumana

New Missiles in Opposition to the US Navy

Link to missle article

Some of the old names are disappearing from the list of modern missle weapons.  Read the article to see what has changed. 

Powered by Qumana

Laser Weapons on the Horizon

A megawatt laser weapon was fired from an aircraft for the first time.Although the Airborne Laser (ABL) was fired from a stationary plane at a target on the ground just a few metres away, the test marked a milestone for the weapon, developed by aerospace firms Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.The laser was 12 years in the making and cost $4.3 billion, putting it vastly over budget.

Some laser weapons are already being used by the military. In Iraq and Afghanistan a laser system called Zeus, developed by the US navy, is being tested by coalition forces for detonating the improvised explosive devices of insurgents. The 10-kilowatt laser is pointed at the device from a few hundred metres away, to heat the explosive until it detonates. It can take between 4 seconds to 15 minutes to destroy an explosive device - but the advantage is that no soldiers' lives are risked. And last month Northrop Grumman launched Firestrike, an electrically powered 15-kilowatt battlefield laser that can be multiplied in power by adding more units.

I have followed the ABL system for years.  It appears to finally be here.  I was surprised by some of the other laser weapons mentionned.

Tags: ABL, Laser Weapons, Zeus, Firestrike

Link

Powered by Qumana

The U.S. Defense Department has awarded its up to three-year, $300 million contract for "information operations" in Iraq and possibly Afghanistan. There are four lucky firms: the Lincoln Group, which was outed in 2005 for planting U.S. military-written pieces in Iraqi newspapers; Leonie Industries, a woman-owned company that promises "access to seemingly impenetrable markets" around the world; SOS International, which in 2006 won a contract to monitor foreign media for coverage of the so-called Global War on Terrorism; and MPRI, a unit of L-3 Communications that won a contract in 2003 to involve former Iraqi soldiers in public works projects. The new PR push is "seen by the [U.S.] military as a means toward 'reconciliation' of the country and a way to foster support for Iraqi Security Forces from Iraqi civilians," reports O'Dwyer's.

This is an example of the Admin function in Barnett's book, Pentagon's New Map.

Powered by Qumana

How To Start A Religion