News
Korea crisis deepens; U.S. dispatches the Carl Vinson strike group to the region –
The head of all U.S. forces in the Pacific canceled a planned carrier exercises and port visits in Australia and redirected the Carl Vinson carrier strike group to the waters off the Korean Peninsula as the U.S. weighs a series of limited options for dealing with an increasingly unbalanced and dangerous North Korean regime.
Business
Elbit secures Asian ISR contract –
Elbit has been awarded an $82 million contract to provide ISR technology to an Asia-Pacific nation.
Czech Defence Ministry eyes $480 million helo deal –
The Czech Ministry of Defence may spend up to 12 billion koruna (U.S. $480 million) to acquire about a dozen new helos for the country’s armed forces.
France clears large shipbuilding industry venture with Italy –
The consolidation of Europe’s naval industry has taken a first, hesitant step with the approval of the purchase by Italy’s Fincantieri of a 48 percent stake in the French shipbuilder STX.
Swedish defense industry uneasy over proposed export controls –
A Swedish government plan to introduce a new legislative bill that would restrict arms exports to so-called non-democracies is causing disquiet within Sweden’s international sales-dependent defense sector.
FMV orders new anti-ship missile for Swedish armed forces –
Saab Dynamics has been awarded a R358.5 million contract by the Swedish Defence Material Administration for the development and production of a new, next-generation RBS15 anti-ship missile to equip the Royal Swedish Navy’s Visby-class corvettes and Swedish Air Force JAS Gripen E multi-role fighters.
Defense
Russian move halting communications could put U.S. forces at risk –
The Russian announcement April 7 that the deconfliction channel between Moscow and the U.S. military is being suspended and that Russia plans to bolster Syria’s air defense system could put U.S. pilots and ground forces at considerable risk as operations targeting the Islamic State group continue.
What is a Tomahawk missile? –
The Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles used in U.S. military strikes against Syria April 6 have been a key tool in the Defense Department’s arsenal for the last 25 years, seen as powerful statement of military force with minimal danger to U.S. personnel.
Relationship between third offset strategy, multi-domain battle –
The nature of war is not changing but rather the character of war is with social media, cyber operations, information operations and small commercially available unmanned aerial vehicles, which all lead to an increasingly lethal battlefield in which all domains will be contested and congested.
Pentagon’s play-by-play of the Syria strikes –
President Trump’s decision to launch Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base was the culmination of 48 hours of activity, one that began with what the U.S. believes was a chemical warfare attack on civilians perpetrated by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Reactive armor deflects blasts away from tank crews –
Soldiers tested installing reactive armor to beef up their tanks in Germany recently, according to the Army.
Army general says foreign tanks are increasingly competitive with the M1 Abrams –
During a recent Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Army Lt. Gen. John Murray testified that several foreign tanks are starting to match the power of America’s main battle tank, the M1 Abrams.
Syria strikes just the latest mission for the Navy’s Spain-based workhorses –
When President Trump decided to strike at the Assad regime, two names that have become familiar to commanders in Washington, to Russia and the rest of the region were mentioned: the destroyers Ross and Porter.
At last — carrier Ford tastes the sea to begin trials –
After years of delays, billions of dollars and tons of sweat, the new aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford finally got underway Saturday under her own power.
Things have gone from bad to worse at the Navy’s flight school –
The head of naval aviation has extended a three-day grounding of all the Navy’s T-45 training jets indefinitely after a group of instructor pilots refused to fly the aircraft.
Trump fuels renewed battle over Navy combat jets –
Navy officials are standing by plans to buy the F-35 joint strike fighter despite President Trump’s repeated criticism of the costly aircraft and the suggestion that the Navy should think about opting out of the program and expand its current fleet of F/A-18 Super Hornets.
U.S. Navy considers a more powerful frigate –
The U.S. Navy is taking a hard look at upgrading its future frigates to protect other ships from anti-air threats in addition to defending against undersea and surface enemies. The move would be a significant enhancement in the effort to develop a frigate from existing littoral combat ship designs.
Drones ‘a critical component’ for Marine electronic warfare tactics –
Unmanned aircraft will be a key pillar for and a major component of the Marine Corps’ electronic warfare strategy, according to the service’s 2017 Aviation Plan, released at the end of March.
Can U.S. Air Force afford to retire F-15 C/D Eagle? –
The U.S. Air Force has invested years of work and hundreds of millions of dollars in keeping Boeing’s F-15C fleet flying well into the 2040s. But Lt. Gen. Scott Rice, director of the Air National Guard, recently shocked the aerospace community when he revealed the service is now thinking seriously about sunsetting the iconic Eagle two decades early.
U.S. Navy wants 130 more Super Hornets over next five years –
The U.S. Navy wants to buy 130 additional Super Hornets over the next five years at a price of $13.6 billion.
Veterans
Post-9/11 vet unemployment up in March –
After a significant dip in February, the unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans ticked up again in March.
Filipino Bataan Death March survivors mark 75th anniversary –
Ramon Regalado was starving and sick with malaria when he slipped away from his Japanese captors during the infamous 1942 Bataan Death March in the Philippines, escaping a brutal trudge through steamy jungle that killed hundreds of Americans and thousands of Filipinos who fought for the U.S. during World War II.