-
Navy Unveils $14.99 (+ s/h) Strategic Planning Technology
THE PENTAGON — The Navy today announced a new contract with the Milton Bradley Company to develop a cost-efficient technology for use on the maritime battlefield. Milton Bradley will be mass-producing a new device for the Navy which will be known as the Basic Analog Terminal for Targeting and Locating Enemy Ships and Honing Incursions with Precision, or “BATTLESHIP.”
“Due to a new era of fiscal restraints, gone are the days of multibillion dollar contracts with the likes of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics,” said new Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. “Milton Bradley has agreed to provide each BATTLESHIP terminal to the Navy for the low cost of $14.99 plus shipping and handling.”
Source: Navy Unveils $14.99 (+ s/h) Strategic Planning Technology
I actually read this *before* I wrote the previous post.
-
SWO’s on the go.
CDR Salamander is writing at the USNI blog again. As usual, he’s concerned about the poor shipbuilding program that resulted in the LCS and the DDG-1000, and the lack of offensive firepower in the surface fleet.
And, as usual, he shows the conflict between the traditionalists and the transformationalists.
We have been floundering since the end of the Cold War when it comes to our ability to advance the fight from our warships. “Build a little, test a little, learn a lot” has morphed in to “Spend a lot, testify in front of Congress a lot, learn new ways to make PPT slides.”
But Sal sees a ray of hope, this one emanating from the current Director Surface Warfare (N96), Rear Admiral Pete Fanta.
Fanta is basically arguing that the current risk adverse system stifles innovation, and is not allowing existing systems and platforms to be developed to their full potential. For instance, we’ve all spent the last quarter century watching the Tomahawk missile be used as the weapon of choice for land attack from the sea. The original anti-ship version of the missile was retired because the long time of flight meant that it was quite likely its intended target would move outside the radar seeker field of view before it arrived, and the risk of attacking innocent neutral shipping was too high. It was simply assumed tactical air would handle shipping strikes at longer ranges.
But improved network capabilities and vastly more powerful electronics* mean we should be able to incorporate more modes of attack. We chatted with SWO Pro Bryan McGrath a few weeks ago, and the coming improved capabilities of the Tomahawk were to him pretty much the most exciting development in the near term for increased lethality in the surface force.
Similarly, Rear Admiral Jon Hill discussed adding offensive capabilities to the Standard Missile SM-6. SM-6 is an active radar guided air defense missile that is the primary air defense weapon of the Aegis equipped destroyers. Its primary mission is to shoot down airplanes and missiles.
But there is no fundamental reason why we can’t use it for other missions. For instance, an autopilot with INS/GPS and midcourse guidance from the Aegis system yields an incredibly efficient kinematic flight profile. Coupled with the active radar seeker and a backup imaging infrared seeker, software updates should allow an anti-surface warfare use. The warhead is hardly optimized for this role, but given the lack of armor on virtually all modern warships, it would still pose a considerable threat. A land attack role should be easily feasible. While it would be a very expensive approach for most missions, it would be quite well suited for the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role.
For instance, as we noted yesterday, the Russians have deployed the formidable S-400 SAM system in Syria. Suppressing the system is normally seen as a job for E/A-18G Growlers working with jammers and HARM missiles. But if the location of the system can be pinpointed, why not toss a couple SM-6s from over a hundred miles away? If nothing else, while the S-400 is busy dealing with that (all while being jammed by the Growler) other systems can close in to finish it off in a more traditional manner.
RADM Fanta is right, that there is enormous room for improvement at relatively low cost, that good, workable ideas are out there in the fleet, and that not every program needs to be a massive top down all up system of systems transformation. Let’s hope his style begins to catch on.
*The original Harpoon and Tomahawk ASM seekers were late sixties, early seventies technology, fielded in the early eighties. Take a look the computer or phone you’re reading this on. Do you think there might be room for improvement on Tomahawk?
-
Use the Amazon Search Button–>
The holiday season is upon us, and most of us are going to be buying gifts for coworkers, friends and family members.*
Bring the Heat is an Amazon Affiliate, and you can support the blog by beginning your Amazon shopping experience here. Simply click on the Amazon button in the right sidebar, and continue your Amazon shopping as usual. Bring the Heat** receives a commission on your purchase, at absolutely no cost to you.
As for privacy, I do see what people order, but not who. I mean, yeah, I know the wine glasses were bought by Aggiesprite, and the tools and industrial stuff by another Friend of the Blog, but I have no idea who bought the Trijicon sight. But I hope you enjoy it.
*Not me, I’m a cheapskate
**Well, me. Though I use some of the proceeds to buy the annual Christmas gift for the C0-Bloggers
-
Decision to force out Marine who sent warning ahead of insider attack upheld – The Washington Post
A senior Navy Department official decided Monday to force a Marine Corps officer out of the service for his handling of classified information, three years after he was first investigated after sending a warning to deployed colleagues about an Afghan police chief whose servant later killed three Marines.
Maj. Jason Brezler will be separated from the Marine Corps following a decision by Assistant Navy Secretary Juan M. Garcia, said Michael Bowe, Brezler’s attorney. The case grabbed attention in Congress and among highly decorated senior officers in the military, some of whom advocated on Brezler’s behalf to let him stay in the Marines. Other service officials maintained that retired Gen. James F. Amos, the Marine Corps’ top officer when the investigation began, and other generals involved handled the case well.
Source: Decision to force out Marine who sent warning ahead of insider attack upheld – The Washington Post
I’m not really much of a stickler for rules, as many rules are petty and overbroad. Having said that, information security is an area where I do take the rules seriously.
But this seems a bit much. Major Brezler was not provided the tools to properly secure information, and when he realized his breach, he immediately took steps to rectify the issue.
Unfortunately, we’ve become a country where only some people have to follow the rules about infosec. Right, Mrs. Clinton?
-
The Aviationist » Unique photo shows U.S. Navy Growler with High Value Individual cell phone-jamming kill mark
The image in this post shows the nose of a VAQ-137 EA-18G Growler aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.Interestingly, the aircraft sports a quite unique kill marking, showing a person “hit” by a lightning bolt.According to our sources, this is the kill mark applied when the Growler is used in an operation during which it jams cell comms or pick up cell comms and that person is targeted.
Coulda used them to deal with the Q-tip in front of me doing 30 in a 50 zone today.
-
How do you say “Raptor” in Chinese?
H/T to Fringe.
So, the Chinese put on a public display of their J-31 stealth fighter, their knockoff of the US F-22A Raptor.
As Fringe noted, a couple details- one, those RD-93s smoke more than I do. And the roll rate as show was pretty meh. And I would note that the typical US Raptor airshow demonstration displays much more performance in the vertical plane. This was just a zoom climb and a couple of sustained turns.
The real question is how well its avionics and stealth work, and that’s simply not something we can discern from an airshow clip.
Further, it should be noted that China has a large air force, but only a tiny percentage of it is 4th generation fighter aircraft comparable to US equipment.
-
Load HEAT- Carrie Anne Moss
Wait, latex clad hottie form The Matrix, Carrie Anne Moss has never been featured here for Load HEAT? Let’s fix that.
-
Russian S-400 in Syria: What Does it Mean for US Air Assets? — Medium
On Thanksgiving Day, Russia deployed elements of its S-400 TRIUMF surface-to-air missile (SAM) system (NATO Designator: SA-21 GROWLER) to Hmeymim Air Base near Latakia, Syria. The deployment timeline was impressive in its speed. Turkey shot down a Russian Su-24 FENCER over Syria on November 24th and a day later Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Russia would deploy the S-400 to protect its air assets. On November 26th a Russian news agency posted photos and video of S-400 equipment being unloaded and set up in Syria. US air planners were not caught completely off guard since handheld photos showing the S-400’s target acquisition radar, the 96L6 (NATO Designator: CHEESE BOARD), began appearing on the internet in early November. These photos sparked speculation the S-400 had already been deployed or would be deployed imminently. However, US and coalition pilots received very un-welcome news when they got to their operations buildings on Thanksgiving morning: many sorties over Syria would now be flown inside of an SA-21 missile engagement zone (MEZ).
Source: Russian S-400 in Syria: What Does it Mean for US Air Assets? — Medium
One suspects the first instinct of the risk adverse Obama administration would be to further impose restrictive ROEs that will hamper our efforts.
Our other Course of Action is to simply hope the Russians continue to decline to engage US aircraft. Which, that’s a pretty workable solution, right up until it isn’t.
There are ways to counter the S-400, but none of them are cheap or easy. And that presumes our air assets would actually be allowed to engage them. Which, I’m not seeing that happening any time soon.
I suppose if I sat down and tried, I could devise a more ineffectual campaign that boosted Russia and our enemies strategic position, but it would take some doing.
-
WoW request
Would the reader who reached out to me on World of Warships about Deception Pass try again? I tried to add you to my contacts, but the game crashed.
-
Chant du Départ: Jets and Sunsets
I hope you all had a nice holiday weekend. I found just enough time to put a post together. It’s a recurring theme for me, and I don’t have much to say right now, but I thought I’d share some pics- some taken, some collected.
Source: Chant du Départ: Jets and Sunsets
Go enjoy all of Tuna’s post at Old AF Sarge’s place.
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
XBradTC 