In the Weeds With Eric (Gunsight Edition)

In the realm of combat shooting the standard rule of thumb is, “he who hits first wins.” Consequentially, for the last couple of hundred years, the focus in firearms training has been sight alignment -- the faster you can align the front and rear sights on your target, the faster you can put lethal fire on your target.

Unfortunately, until recently, darkness presented a significant challenge to this theory. If it’s too dark to see your sights, you can pretty well guarantee that you aren’t going to be able to align them very well and your accuracy is going to suffer. While there are a number of ways to overcome this condition (illuminate the battlefield with flares, illuminate your sights with tritium or similar material, or illuminate your fire by using tracers) none has been universally effective.

Electro-optical “reflex” sights have changed all of that. These sights are battery powered, non-magnified, single sight optics that not only allow the shooter to rapidly acquire a good sight picture and alignment in all conditions (day or night) but also provide the shooter with better situational awareness since they need not be totally focused on aligning their sights, but rather need only put the dot on the target, literally.

The first of these sights was the Aimpoint M2 which the Army designated the M68 CCO (close combat optic.) It was driven by a watch-type battery and had a single on/off rheostat on the side to adjust reticle brightness.

While the sight did perform as advertised, I had issues with it. First, the on/off knob was easy to accidentally bump, which could either cause your sight to turn off or go to max power, which not only reduced your battery life, but also produced a visible red glow out of the back of the sight. Furthermore, the aiming dot was visible, at high power, through the front of the sight, which could reveal your location to an NVG equipped enemy (I am told this has been addressed though I can’t confirm it.)

The sight I liked, and what in addition to the ACOG seems to be the one being currently issued, is the EOTech model 550. The 550 is a non-magnified EO sight which displays a 1MOA (minute of angle) dot in the center of a 65MOA circle. Reticle brightness is regulated by up/down buttons on the back of the sight, and the newer versions are equipped with a NVG direct button that automatically dims the reticle for use with night vision devices. The 550 is powered by a pair of standard AA batteries, has a reticle life of 1100 hours, and is waterproof to 1 ATM (33 feet).

What I liked about the 550 over the M68 was the battery choice (AAs are much easier to get) the fact that there is no forward projection of the beam, even on max power, and that there was more positive control of the reticle brightness. The 550 is also mil-std 1913 rail compatable and works well with weapon mounted NVGs such as the AN/PVS-10.

While I’m sure that there are certainly more modern CCOs out there with many more bells and whistles, the 550 does everything I need it to and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

(See much more "beyond standard issue" advice and tricks over at Kit Up!)

-- Eric Daniel

Is Iran This Cold War's India?

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel is looking into evidence that Russia plans to sell 250 Sukhoi-30 fighters to Iran in an "unprecedented billion-dollar deal." The deal also appears to include compatable aerial refueling tankers.

This report comes in the wake of the U.S. signing a deal to supply Saudi Arabia with thousands of Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, a move that Iran has called destabilizing to the region. (Israel didn't care much for the deal either, by the way.)

The U.S. also recently made a big show of destroying its mothballed fleet of F-14s in order to prevent Iran from refurbishing its own Tomcats with Black Market parts.

For its part, Russia is unflinching in its foreign military sales strategy. Moscow said it reserved the right to sell Iran weapons, such as the antiaircraft system supplied a few months ago, that were of a defensive nature. However, at a glance strike aircraft afforded long-range capability courtesy of tankers would appear to be of an offensive nature.

So is Iran to this Cold War what India was to the last one?

(Gouge: NC)

(Photo: Indian Su-30)

-- Ward

Israeli Navy Chief Steps Down

The commander-in-chief of the Israel Navy, Vice Admiral David Ben-Bashat, submitted his resignation on July 26, the latest of several senior Israeli military officers who have resigned or been dismissed in the aftermath of last summer's invasion of Lebanon. During operations against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon the Israeli missile corvette Hanit was struck by a guided missile and heavily damaged.

Admiral Ben-Bashat became commander-in-chief of the Israel Navy in 2004. Previously he had held senior positions ashore and afloat, including command of several surface ships. He also served as defense attaché in Singapore and attended the U.S. Naval War College at Newport, R.I.

The large missile corvette Hanit ("spear") was struck on July 21, 2006, some ten miles off the coast of Lebanon, by a C-802 missile launched from the shore. Apparently two missiles were launched, the first fired "high" to distract the ship's defensive systems and the second aimed at the Hanit.

The first missile struck a small merchant ship, reported to be a Cambodian-flag cargo ship with an Egyptian crew, steaming about 35 miles off the coast. The second missile hit the stern of the 1,275-ton Hanit. Four sailors were killed.

The Israel Navy apparently had no knowledge that there was a missile threat in the area. The C-802 missiles were probably produced in Iran, copied from a Chinese weapon, and launched by Syrian specialists.

Previously Israel's Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the Israel Defense Force chief of staff, Air Force General Dan Halutz, resigned, and other officers were dismissed in the wake of the poor Israeli military performance during the invasion of Lebanon.

(Photo: Hanit before she took a hit. The black spot on the waterline is exhaust.)

-- Norman Polmar

Pork Goes the Engine . . . JSF Style (Updated)

I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but my greatest fears about how the defense industry operates are being realized these days by developments surrounding the Joint Strike Fighter's power plant(s).

When you have an airplane that is already wrestling with a flyaway unit cost that is well above program estimates ($80 million versus $65 million), more than a year behind the developmental test schedule for the Navy variant, and increasingly overweight the notion of an "alternative engine" just reeks of - dare I say it - pork.

Aviation Week reports the following: "The House Appropriations defense subcommittee added $480 million to the Joint Strike Fighter research and development account to fund continued work on the alternate engine for the F-35. The Pentagon argued against funding the alternate engine for fear it would reduce the focus and resources necessary for the program of record. Lawmakers also add $200 million to the development account to address 'unfunded information assurance requirements' driven by Defense Dept. policy updates, the committee's report says."

Hmmmm . . . so Pentagon doesn't want the alternative engine but lawmakers are shoving down their throats anyway. How can that be? Don't congressmen get all teary-eyed when they talk about how they support the troops?

Well, let's take a look at how this particular game is played - which happens to be a nice window into how the defense game is too often played overall.

Representative Jean Schmidt, the hawkish Republican from the Ohio district that hosts a General Electric engine manufacturing plant has once again re-inserted the alternative engine funding line into the defense budget. At the same time, Rolls-Royce, the alternative engine co-manufacturer, is calling in a couple of markers on the Hill. First, Rolls-Royce is a British company run by British people who have influence over Parliament whose members want some love because of their support for the Iraq War. Second, Rolls-Royce jumped the gun and built a huge JSF engine manufacturing facility at their plant outside of Indianapolis and the company's lobby arm is executing a full court press to ensure that the American taxpayer pays for it (instead of Rolls-Royce shareholders).

And while - as a former Tomcat guy - I'm not overwhelmed by engines made by Pratt and Whitney, I have to believe that company is capable of making an engine that'll work over the JSF's service life.

The scariest part is all of this is being conducted in plain sight. Will GE and R-R get their way in an environment that is funding a war that costs $12 billion a month? Stay tuned . . .

(Photo: F-136 being tested in STOVL mode at the GE facility in Ohio.)

(Gouge: NC)

(Updated July 31 at 0016Z.) CBS News is adding Ted Kennedy to the pork list with a report that suggests he is trying to bring JSF jobs to the GE plant in Lynn, Mass. And check out our favorite editor Christian in this news clip.

-- Ward

The Sunday Paper (Sports Section)

Very soon, maybe today, Barry Bonds will tie Hank Aaron's home run record. When Bonds "goes yard" with Number 755 those who choose to celebrate the achievement will be met with a Greek chorus of sports purists who will suggest that the milestone is tainted if not irrelevant because of allegations that Bonds used steroids for part of his career.

So here's a Sunday Paper question for the learned DT audience: What should we think about Barry Bonds? And what does his quandry say about the state of baseball, professional sports, and the nation?

-- Ward

Line Up at the Pork Trough

An astute reader passed along this item to Defense Tech yesterday, and we’ve only gotten around to including it today because it’s a pretty long list.

What we got, as first reported by the premier political newspaper in Washington, DC, The Politico, is a comprehensive list of earmarks included in the House version of the 2008 Defense Appropriations Bill passed a couple days ago.

We’ve provided a link to the list, compiled by PorkBusters.org, which outlines every one of the 1,776 (nice number, huh?) earmarks and its sponsor.

DT invites its readers to dive into the (lengthy) list and pull out particularly egregious items for us to include in updated posts. Be that extra set of eyes for us!

-- Christian

Army Preps for Sandstorm Test of M4

After months of heated debate, the Army will conduct a side-by-side test shoot next month with its standard-issued carbine to see how well it can withstand extreme dust and sand environments.

The tests, which will be conducted at the Army's Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland, will include three other rifles some say are better constructed to withstand the grueling environmental conditions often found in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The service yielded to critics - particularly lawmakers in Congress - who recently ratcheted up the debate over whether the current M4 carbine, manufactured by Colt Defense, is more susceptible to jamming in dusty conditions than other weapons used by Soldiers and special operators.

"The Army agreed to conduct testing of four carbine designs in an extreme dust environment," said Lt. Col. Timothy Chyma, product manager for individual weapons with Program Executive Office Soldier, in an email to Military.com.

"The test results will inform the U.S. Army Infantry Center in the development of a potential new carbine requirement as part of their ongoing capabilities based assessment."

In April, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) insisted in a letter to then-acting Army Secretary Pete Geren that better weapons technology is available that can guard against stoppages stemming from dust and sand interfering with the firing mechanism of the M4.

The Army's carbine uses a gas system that evidence shows is susceptible to stoppages unless it is frequently cleaned.

The shoot off will test the capabilities of the M4/M16 operating system against three other rifles: the Heckler and Koch-built HK416, the FNH USA-designed Mk16 SOCOM Combat Assault Rifle and the previously-shelved, H&K-manufactured XM8 carbine.

All three competitors use a gas-piston operating system that requires less maintenance and has demonstrated in some tests that it can fire accurately even if completely fouled with sand, dust and mud.

"Considering the long standing reliability and lethality problems with the M16 design, of which the M4 is based, I am afraid that our troops in combat might not have the best weapon," Coburn wrote in April. "A number of manufacturers have researched, tested and fielded weapons which, by all accounts, appear to provide significantly improved reliability."

A December 2005 Center for Naval Analyses study commissioned by the Army indicated the M4 - when properly cleaned - exhibited few stoppages. But 20 percent of those who had complications with their M4s said they experienced bad enough jams that they had to pull out of the fight.

Many special operations units favor the HK416, due in part to its increased reliability. This month, Special Operations Command began operational tests on the Mk16 and the heavier-caliber Mk17 to eventually replace its M4 and HK416 stocks.

The sand tests will include 10 samples of each weapon through which engineers will fire 6,000 rounds. Each weapon and loaded magazine will be exposed to "extreme dust" for 30 minutes then test fired with 120 rounds, Chyma said.

"Each weapon will be wiped down and lubricated every 600 rounds with a full cleaning every 1,200 rounds," Chyma added. "The firing, collection of data and analysis of data is expected to take approximately five months."

Coburn said in his April letter to Geren that even though the M4 works, better weapons exist. He was so insistent that the Army compete new M4 contracts to outfit its expanded brigade combat teams that he placed a hold on the Geren nomination to become Army secretary until the service relented, a Coburn staffer confirmed.

The Army's willingness to hold the limited "sandstorm shoot-off" released the nomination, and Geren was confirmed by the Senate July 13.

The side-by-side sand tests "will be part of the ongoing Army assessment and requirements process - with the ultimate goal of continuing to provide the best possible weapons and equipment to our Soldiers," said Army spokesman, Lt. Col. William Wiggins.

-- Christian

I'd Rather be In Philadelphia?

Big John, in another life known as USS John F Kennedy, is show below as it is towed out of Naval Station Mayport en route first to Norfolk Naval Station for a bit to await her permanent berth to the Navy Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, PA.

We wrote about the Kennedy decommissioning here on Defense Tech as well as at the Instapinch.

She will slowly make her way up the east coast of the US, pulling into Norfolk for a bit, then will continue her last cruise of any significance farther up the coast, up the Delaware River to be tied to, for who knows how long, a pier just off Interstate 95 near downtown Philly. You used to be able to see the big "66" of the de-commed carrier America from the interstate a number of years ago, and you should be able to see the big "67" there in a few months as you drive by, just before you cross the Delaware Expressway/I-95 bridge over the Schuylkill River bridge.

I'll be in Norfolk for reserve duty in a few weeks. I'll see about getting some pics of her as she makes one last visit to the homeport where she spent most of her years of service.

MAYPORT, Fla. (July 26, 2007) - Decommissioned aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV 67) departs Naval Station Mayport en route to Norfolk, Va. Homeported at Naval Station Mayport since 1995, the ship will be towed to Hampton Roads until the ship can be transferred to the Navy Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tommy Gilligan (RELEASED)

--Pinch Paisley

Murtha Irked by CSAR-X

CSAR-X UPDATE:

A source tells Defense Tech that one of the most powerful lawmakers on Capitol Hill in defense matters, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), has problems with the way in which the CSAR-X decision was made.

Our source tells us that during a brief press conference announcing the completion of the 2008 appropriations bill yesterday, HAC-D chairman Murtha expressed his frustration with the contract process.

Murtha reportedly said: "What we were worried about was the way it was bid. They bid [CSAR-X] for one company, and we thought it should have been more open."

Our source also tells DT that Murtha read Air Force chief Moseley the riot act, threatening to pull all CSAR-X funding if the program wasn’t cleaned up. As it stands, the HAC-D removed $100 million of ’08 funds due to protest delays.

-- Christian

Pimp My Tank!

Here’s one to read over a morning cup of Joe…

When you absolutely, positively must crash that party you weren’t invited to, here’s your ride.

It’s sophisticated, yet rugged.

The white color scheme and United Nations logo stenciled on the side says “I’m willing to be reasonable about this. Someone must have forgotten to put me on the guest list.” But the smooth-bore 120 jutting from the turret says: “Though, if you’re not going to let me in, we’re gonna have a problem.”

Comfortable Corinthian leather bench seats that can accommodate all your scantily-clad groupies - and thick glass portals to keep the paparazzi at bay.

Oh, and did we forget the beverage cooler and milspec champagne bottle rack?

So when the pansies in Hollywood try to block your entrance to their post-production party in the Hills with their girlie-man Prius hybrids, just put this chick magnet in gear and drive right the hell over them.

(Gouge: CM)

-- Christian

House Cuts Major Programs

The House Appropriations Committee’s Defense panel just voted out its 2008 Pentagon budget today.

(Photo: Boeing FCS)

A release from the committee shows reductions in the Army’s Future Combat Systems program, a cut in missile defense spending and the cancellation of the Army’s Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program.

The committee boosted spending on shipbuilding, bought Stryker vehicles, F-35 Lightning II JSFs, MV and CV-22 Ospreys and F-22 Raptors.

The committee also put restrictions on the use of security contractors in combat zones, curtailed any funds for permanent bases in Iraq and enacted language that prohibits torture of detainees.

One surprise is the inclusion of $288 million in R&D funds to continue the Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle Program. This replacement for the current AAV was considered by many to be all but dead going into the budget process. But now it’s being kept on life support. The EFV is indeed a revolutionary leap over the current AAV, but its complexity has kept the program in limbo due to delays and performance issues all along.

Top Navy acquisition officials have proposed that maybe the performance specs should be reduced to match the reality experienced by engineers in testing. It’s unclear as of now if that has happened, but it looks as if House appropriators were convinced enough of the Marine Corps’ case to keep the speedy gator on track.

Click HERE to view the preliminary HAC-D report.

CORRECTION: From HAC-D..."For the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter - funding for production is zeroed out, but research and development activities will continue."

-- Christian

Anti-Missile Ship Planned

The Navy - in part due to congressional pressure - is examining the possibility of a large, 25,000-ton missile cruiser with nuclear propulsion. Details of the proposals and analyses were revealed this week by Christopher P. Cavas in Defense News and Navy Times.

Two cruiser designs are being considered. The first is a new warship based on the controversial DDG 1000 (Zumwalt class) destroyer, which features the controversial “tumblehome” hull. This design is being called an “escort cruiser” to protect aircraft carrier strike groups. It would have gas turbine propulsion, as do all other U.S. cruisers, destroyers, and frigates.

The second cruiser would be a much larger, 25,000-ton, nuclear-propelled ship with a more conventional hull featuring a flared bow. This ship would be optimized for the Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) mission.

Reportedly, five nuclear-propelled CGN(X) ships and 14 escort cruisers designated CG(X) would be built to fulfill the cruiser requirement in the Navy’s 30-year, 313-ship plan. These ships would be, in part, a replacement for the 22 remaining Ticonderoga (CG 47) missile cruisers, completed between 1986 and 1994.

These cruiser concepts are taking shape as part of an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA), due to the Navy’s leadership this fall from the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) in Arlington, Virginia. While details of the AoA have been closely held, sources confirmed to Mr. Cavas that two different designs are being considered. They also say the analysis will recommend dropping the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) from the CG(X) program.

The KEI is a large BMD missile under development by Northrop Grumman as a ground- or sea-based weapon to intercept ballistic missiles in their boost, ascent, and midcourse flight phases.

The KEI is much larger than the SM-3 Standard missile developed by Raytheon to arm Navy cruisers and destroyers for the BMD role. The 40-inch diameter KEI is nearly 39 feet long, while the 21-inch diameter SM-3 stands just over 21 feet tall. Both missiles use a kinetic energy warhead, intended to ram an enemy missile.
Sources said a missile launch tube for a KEI missile would take the place of six SM-3 launch cells in a surface ship.

The CNA team is said to be firm in its recommendation for the smaller escort cruiser. Details are less developed on the nuclear-powered variant, sources said.

-- Norman Polmar

Cross Deck Operations

USS Enterprise, the US Navy's oldest carrier, recently in-chopped into the Mediterranean while on its latest deployment. As part of its operations, cross-deck flight operations with French Rafael fighters were conducted, a rarity in these days of specialized aircraft and flight ops. Narrative comments are from an email received from a deployed Enterprise officer who participated in the events:

"We trapped two French Rafale fighters on board the Enterprise today, first time ever that they have trapped. They did touch and go's off other carriers before, but this was the first time to trap. They shut down, met with ENT heavies, French DVs (distinguished visitors), including one with 5 stars.

At the catapult, again a first, they took off with no issues. Then did a spectacular formation fly-by at deck level.

On-deck pics include side-by-side of Rafale on Cat 1 and F/A-18F Super Hornet on Cat 2. Another Rafale has just come off Cat 4 and is using afterburners on the climb-out. Their catapult procedure are a little different. They do wipeout checks before crossing the JBD; once in tension they just go straight to MIL power, salute, and launch. AB comes once down the cat. Note the moveable canards just aft of the canopy."

As a former catapult officer, I can attest how this would have generated a fair amount of interest from the air and flight-deck crews, if for nothing else than to be a break from the every-day monotony of launching flight operations. Having the French carrier Charles De Gaulle's catapult and arresting gear systems designed and installed by our NAVAIR guys and gals from Lakehurst, NJ helps in that the systems used by both French naval aircraft and our our aircraft are similar (if not almost identical).

Score a few points for combined interoperability! We've come close in recent years, at least with regards to joint aircraft naval flight operations - I've seen flight deck videos of a French F-8 Crusader do touch and go's on board USS John F Kennedy (our Landing Signal Officer call for the pilot to add a bit of power during the approach is "Power". The French call is "Moteur") and the Argentines bounced A-4 Skyhawks on the deck of USS Ronald Reagan a few years ago, but this is the first time I've seen actual traps and cats done in a long time. We scream about the aforementioned "interoperability" (or the capability of a piece of equipment/hardware/weapon/whatever to be able to function with different systems) in the halls of the Pentagon all the time - its nice to be able to see it executed on La pointe pointu du javelot again.

Photo credits TBD

--Pinch Paisley

House Wants the Dirt on CSAR-X

Now it’s time for the anti-Boeing crowd to fire back in the ongoing CSAR-X cat fight that DT is only too happy to keep tabs on.

According to an email sent to us, the House Appropriations Defense panel inserted language into the fiscal 2008 Pentagon funding bill that called into question the methodology of the CSAR-X decision in favor of Boeing’s HH-47 Chinook.

The language states:

“The Committee is concerned about the selection criteria and process by which this program has proceeded to source selection. The Committee directs the Secretary of the Air Force to submit a report to the congressional defense committees detailing the source selection criteria and how they were established. The report shall include the significant factors for the Request for Proposal (RFP) that determined the source selection, their importance, and how each of the respondents to the RFP was rated against those factors. The report shall be delivered not later than September 15, 2007.”

This is all well and good of course...But the irony is it is unlikely the Defense Appropriations bill will be passed by the report deadline. With arguments over Iraq strategy and Gen. Petraeus’ surge report coming, we doubt Congress will have the comity to pass a hotly-contested defense bill.

Even if we never get the Air Force report, at least one powerful committee in Congress is concerned about the decision and has put that concern into law. In the end, however, the debate may accomplish little other than delaying a much-needed upgrade to one of the most important missions the Air Force has.

-- Christian

AESA Gets Full Rate Production Nod

Defense News reports that the Pentagon has given the Super Hornet program the nod to take the Active Electronically Scanned Array radar into the "full rate production" phase of its development. Now Raytheon can start making as many as 72 AESA systems a year.

Early word on the AESA radar from the fleet bubbas we're in comms with suggest that it is going to be a game changer. Tomcat RIOs turned WSOs, reared on the tempermental AWG-9, absolutely love AESA. "It's an S.A. machine," one WSO said, using the Naval Aviation acronym for "situational awareness." Specifically, AESA not only tracks multiple airborne targets at long range, it also provides high-resolution ground mapping for air-to-ground tracking, even from standoff range. And it's high speed data processing and intuitive displays transform the Super Hornet into a "mini AWACS," according to several crews DT has talked to in recent months. In fact, the challenge will be for crews to effectively fuse all the information that's readily available into their airborne tactics.

And the goodness doesn't end in the cockpit. Raytheon claims AESA is three to five times more reliable than other radars in service, which will certainly make maintainers happy, especially former Tomcat tweaks.

VFA-213 based at NAS Oceana will be the first squadron to deploy with AESA-equipped Super Hornets.

(Super Hornet "vapes" photo by Robin Powney.)

-- Ward

82nd On the Hunt in Iraq

A battalion of paratroopers riding in helicopters swooped down to attack insurgents fleeing heavy fighting in Baghdad and Baqubah on July 12, killing around 30, capturing 23 and freeing three kidnapped Iraqis who had been sentenced to die by an illegitimate terrorist court. No U.S. troops were killed in the battle.

Operation Ithaca targeted the Diyala river valley 15 miles northeast of Baqubah, a former insurgent stronghold. Scouts, aerial drones and intelligence had identified the area as a likely escape route for enemy forces fleeing U.S. and Iraqi "surge" operations.

Planning for the operation began when U.S. troops conducting a raid discovered large numbers of civilian refugees. "We found through tactical questioning that people had been forced out of their village," says Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Poppas, commander of the 5th battalion of the 73rd Cavalry Regiment, a new element of the enlarged 82nd Airborne Division.

Insurgent forces - reportedly influenced by the Islamic State in Iraq group - had cleared out three villages for use as a "safe haven." They built strong points and installed a faux Islamic court that executed kidnapped Iraqis and even recorded the murders on videotape. Poppas says the displaced villagers gave his forces detailed hand-drawn maps showing the insurgent positions.

Operation Ithaca, which included air attacks by Apache gunship helicopters and Air Force fighters, marks the continued evolution of U.S. parachute formations. Despite continuing to train for massed parachute jumps deep behind enemy lines, these days the 82nd Airborne usually moves into combat in helicopters or trucks. Analyst Barry Watts from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment calls the parachute mission "a leftover consequence of the glories of the 82nd and 101st [airborne divisions] in 1944," the year paratroopers dropped en masse into Nazi-occupied France.

But paratroopers' flexibility gives them a leg up over their opponents. To keep insurgents off guard during previous operations, 5-73 has even walked cross-country into combat instead of relying on trucks that have to stick to main roads, "which surprised everyone," Poppas says. For Op Ithaca, the battalion assaulted multiple landing zones. "Anti-Iraqi forces were caught completely by surprise both in timing and the placing of our elements."

Now that the area is cleansed of insurgents, Poppas says he is planning on sending in civil affairs teams to begin the process of rebuilding the re-captured villages. "We try to do as much post-kinetic stuff as possible."

-- David Axe

Secret Squirrels in Action

According to The Washington Post's Al Kaman, an editorial in the July 10 edition of the Iranian newspaper Resalat reported the following:

"A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the country's borders. These trained squirrels, each of which weighed just over 700 grams, were released on the borders of the country for intelligence and espionage purposes. According to the announcement made by Iranian intelligence officials, alert police officials caught these squirrels before they could carry out any task.

"Fixing GPS devices, bugging instruments and advanced cameras in the bodies of trained animals like squirrels, mice, hamsters, etc, are among modern methods of collecting intelligence. Given the fast speed and the special physical features of these animals, they provide special capabilities for spying operations. Once the animals return to their place of origin, the intelligence gathered by them is then offloaded. . . ."

I'm convinced my local government has employed a similar tactic to spy on me and I will continue to counter using my English Setters to scare the varments off of my property.

(Gouge: CM)

-- Ward

Daring Trials Begin

Britain’s newest warship, the Type 45 guided missile destroyer Daring (pennant D-32), has left the BAE Systems shipyard on the Clyde to begin sea trials. The Daring is the first of a class of destroyers that, under current plans, could total 12 ships.

The construction of the Daring-class ships is highly significant for the Royal Navy in view of the recent cutbacks in surface fleet strength and the reduction in the number of nuclear-propelled submarines being planned. The Darings are to replace the aging Sheffield-class destroyers (Type 42).

According to the website Military Periscope, the multi-purpose destroyers will have a theater ballistic missile-defense capability with the U.S.-developed
Standard SM-2 (Block IVA) surface-to-air missiles. The ships will use the Principal Anti-Aircraft Missile System (PAAMS), currently in development by France and Italy. PAAMS will be a long-range air/missile defense weapon, capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets.

The Daring-class ships will also have the 4.5-inch Mark 8 Mod 1 gun for shore bombardment, a standard weapon in British surface ships, and will embark a multi-purpose large Merlin or smaller Lynx helicopter. The ships also have the Harpoon anti-ship missile and anti-submarine weapons.

The ship will have advanced electronic systems, including radars, sonars, electronic countermeasures, and data links.

Five additional ships are now on order or under construction.

The Darings will have a full load displacement of 7,450 tons with an overall length of 499 feet, making them smaller than the improved U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which displace 9,200 tons on a length of 509 feet. Also, the British ships are rated at 29 knots, about two knots slower than their U.S. contemporaries.

-- Norman Polmar

The Sunday Paper (Video Edition)

I wonder where we might be now if Robert Gates had been in place as SECDEF three years ago . . .

-- Ward

Russia Testing Brit Response?

Back in the "day" when the Cold War was cold and the western military had to maintain interceptor capabilities on short alert to escort Soviet bombers through or alongside territorial waters, it was a looked at as a fairly routine evolution.

Today, though, the below article raises some eyebrows. This sort of activity has not been seen in years. Is it an increasingly militarily-moribund Russia trying to raise some hackles? It might be instructive to remind Vladimir of what Pres Bush said a short while ago - The cold war is over! We won!

British Fighter Jets Scrambled as Russian Bombers Approach Airspace
LONDON —
Fighter planes from Britain and Norway scrambled on Friday to keep watch on Russian bombers that were approaching the countries' air space, officials said.

The incidents occurred amid high tensions between Britain and Russia, as each country ordered the expulsion of four diplomats from the other side. There was no indication that the fighter plans were connected to the row.

Norwegian military spokesman Lt. Col. John Inge Oeglaend told The Associated Press said his country's F-16s were sent into action twice: once when two Russian Tu-95 bombers headed south along the Norwegian coast in international air space. They turned around above Aberdeen on Scotland's North Sea coast.

In the second, two Tu-160 bombers were spotted flying near Norwegian air space over the Barents Sea, he said.

Oeglaend characterized the incidents as routine and but said it was a "bit unusual that the first two bombers went so far south." Aberdeen's latitude is about 50 miles below the southern tip of Norway.

Russian Air Force spokesman Col. Alexander Drobyshevsky said British and Norwegian planes approaching bombers on training flights were a "normal occurrence."

A spokesman for Britain's Royal Air Force said he had no immediate information on the reports. British media earlier reported that RAF planes had approached Russian bombers on Tuesday as they headed toward British air space.

Britain on Monday ordered four diplomats to leave as punishment for Russia's refusal to extradite the man named by Britain as the chief suspect in last year's killing in London of ex-Russian security officer-turned-Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko.

Russia on Thursday ordered four British diplomats to leave in a reciprocal move.

That response appeared to indicate that neither side wished to escalate the tensions further. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed confidence the nations would overcome their differences.

--Pinch Paisley

MRAPs Settle In - And Head to the Field

Over the last two days, the Pentagon has presented a detailed plan to the public on how it intends to equip troops in Iraq with Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. As many DT readers know, the MRAP debate is a hot topic on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers try to earn their “support the troops” stripes by thundering headlong into a massive replacement program of the Humvee with the MRAP.

Fortunately – though Pentagon chief Robert Gates claims the MRAP program is his highest priority – cooler heads have prevailed at the DoD over the fielding and use of the MRAP. The Pentagon’s top R&D official, John Young, explained that the Joint Requirements Oversight Council had finally gotten its arms around the fielding plan and decided to hold off replacing every single Humvee in the entire fleet with MRAPS – which could have questionable utility in another combat environment.

The Congress has clearly leaned forward to help us on this program. Through the end of June, the Defense Department used those funds to order 3,765 MRAPs. Approximately 2,400 of these MRAPs under contract as of the end of June are expected to deliver by 31 December of 2007. Yesterday, we asked the Congress to approve the reprogramming of an additional $1.2 billion into the program.

With all of the funds the Congress has provided and the reprogramming of an additional $1.2 billion into the MRAP program, the Defense Department, as Geoff said, can now purchase an additional 2,650 MRAPs, increasing our total on order to 6,415.

All of the 6,415 will deliver by March of 2008. Under this acceleration, DOD expects to receive an additional 1,500 MRAPs by 31 December, a 63 percent increase over that 2,400 I've told you about to a total of 3,900 MRAPs delivered from industry to the Defense Department by December, December 31st. The reprogramming is urgent because, as you all can see, the rates of production are ramping significantly. We believe 30 to 45 vehicles per day will slip into 2008 if we delay.

Under our MRAP acceleration plan, the rate of MRAP production will rise from June's production of 82 vehicles to 489 vehicles in October and roughly 1,300 per month in December that I mentioned to you earlier. So as you can see, it is important that we work with the Congress quickly to get these funds for the additional MRAPs and put these vehicles under contract. The use of available funds for the department and the reprogramming action will give the MRAP Joint Program Office $5.4 billion to immediately put on contract in 2007 for MRAPs. The level -- this level of funding makes MRAP the 3rd largest 2007 DOD acquisition program, only behind missile defense and Joint Strike Fighter.

Though Young is pushing to produce vehicles as quickly – and smartly – as he can, he and the JROC recognize that the MRAP is not the magic force field many seem to think it is. And it is not a replacement for the Humvee, says the Corps’ top money guy, Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, who’s service is only buying around 4,000 of the massive trucks...

But I've got to tell you, you know, operational requirements still trump the -- the up-armored HUMVEE will not go away. There will be operational reasons that we will want to use it in addition to the MRAP. So what this does is gives us a very important element in our operational tool bag that we'll be using along with a lot of others to ensure that our forces are protected the best they can, and also, as importantly, that they can do the job that we're asking them to do.

And Young adds…

I mean, that gets to be a tough issue about which areas really need MRAPs. I think you heard General Castellaw say up-armored HUMVEES are very effective in many areas in-theater. They're going to continue to be used. MRAPs need to go in the priority places first.

You know, this is a delicate balancing act, and I apologize. It's hard to have this discussion with you. But I'd go back to the comment I made earlier too of -- a very small fraction of attacks are underbody, underbelly IEDs, and then an even smaller fraction are EFPs right now. That may change over time. That will lead us to make adjustments.

Some of those adjustments are tactics as well as vehicles. Because a key point of this is if we're trying to protect our soldiers and Marines at the point where they IED went off, we're late. We're going to do that, because MRAP -- and MRAPs help with that significantly, and we are making that our highest priority.

But we have a number of other efforts and significant dollars going into trying to stop that IED from ever being planted, to stop it from ever being built, to stop the people that are deciding to build and plant those IEDs. And that's where a significantly greater chance of success exists to stop all those pieces of the chain. We're going to take this step because we can't afford to lose people once the detonation goes off. But we will be far more successful if we can stop the detonation from ever occurring.

And thank goodness the Pentagon is keeping its eye on the ball with regard to the development on the next-generation Humvee. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle holds great promise for increasing and tailoring protection, reducing power consumption while increasing power output, up-arming and up-armoring the military’s tactical vehicle fleet at a fraction of the weight of the MRAP.

Right now we're at -- 3,700 is our number. We got somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 plus over there now. We'll expect to have somewhere above a thousand by the end of this year, and that'll go to the units that are in the closest combat.

We are continually looking at what our future's going to be in terms of our ground mobility. We've got some assessments under way now. Surely MRAP will play a role in there. We're not exactly sure what it will be in the future. We know that such programs as JLTV will play a role. So as we continue to assist this, then we'll make resource and decisions and forward them to OSD.

And the Army’s Lt. Gen. Stephen Speakes adds…

We recognize right now that priority is protection of soldiers and Marines in combat -- that's what MRAP is designed to do. We have some important questions that we'll have to answer: How much can we pull the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle Program forward? Can we get the combination of performance, payload and protection that all of us want in a more manageable package? None of us want a vehicle that weighs between 40,000 and 60,000 pounds. So what we'd like to do is see capability provided sooner that has more flexibility and more operational capability in a variety of spectrums as you identified.

Sober heads prevail.

-- Christian

War Costs Reach Deeper Into Your Wallet

The Congressional Research Service has just sent to Congress its latest update of the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, “The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11,” dated July 16, 2007. Important elements of the new report include the following:

Assuming Congress’ approval of President George W. Bush’s request for war costs for the upcoming fiscal year 2008 (a request of $141.7 billion), total appropriations related to the wars would reach $758 billion, including $567 billion for Iraq, $157 billion for Afghanistan, $29 billion for other security operations in the US and elsewhere, and $5 billion which can be attributed to “unknown” due to the Defense Department’s inability to track its own money. (See second to last paragraph in the report’s “Summary.”)

Counting all war appropriations to date, including those for not just DOD but also the State Department and the VA, costs per month have risen from about $12 billion in FY 2006 to about $14.4 billion in FY 2007. (See p. 3)

2007 costs total $173 billion. Of that amount, $135.2 billion is for Iraq, and $36.9 billion is for Afghanistan.

In addition to the extra costs of the “surge” of troops in Iraq, the increase in costs from 2006 to 2007 is explained by a dramatic increase in procurement spending to replace warn out equipment and to move acquisition costs for routine modernization (such as for V-22s and C-17s) from the regular annual budget to the separate budget for the war. (See p. 18-19)

Current plans anticipate a reduction of spending in 2008: down to a total of $147.5 billion, of which $116.3 billion would be for Iraq. However, that plan assumes that the “surge” of US troops would terminate abruptly on September 30, 2007. (See p. 6) It would appear logical to assess that a continuation of the surge would require funding above the 2007 total if the size of the US deployment in Iraq and the tempo of operations continue at their present rate for more than six months in FY 2008.

Cost per deployed troop has increased from $320,000 for each troop in 2003 to $390,000 for each in 2006. (See p. 24)

CRS, CBO, and GAO each continue to find major discrepancies in DOD’s reporting on annual expenditures. (See p. 26) GAO’s Comptroller General reported that the continuing inability of DOD to account for its own spending “make it difficult to reliably know what the war is costing, to determine how appropriated funds are being spent, and to use historical data to predict future trends.” (See p. 28)

DOD may be “front loading” its budget requests for “reset” (repair and refurbishment of equipment and units) by requesting funds twice for both the Army and the Marine Corps for reset in 2007. (See p. 32)

While the Congressional Budget Office has made nominal estimates for the future costs of the wars (ranging from $393 billion to $840 billion [See p. 10]), the actual future costs of the wars is truly unknown, especially if one includes long term costs for the wars’ veterans as paid out over decades by the VA. Beyond federal appropriations, there are also other costs, such as to the economy, that have been measured by other studies.

-- Winslow Wheeler

F-16 Shoot-down Mystery

Well it looks like the most recent F-16 crash might not have anything to do with camel spiders, but something much more serious.

Tactical Report blog reports that there are indications the F-16 that crashed four days ago was shot down. This is a disturbing development if true, since the U.S. military had seemingly gotten its arms around the spate of crashes and shoot-downs of helicopters.

The indication that the shoot-down occurred during the aircraft’s takeoff is also alarming because it points to the possibility that MANPAD teams are able to get close enough to U.S. air bases to launch in the opening moments of an aircraft’s flight.

The Tactical Report article follows:

Another US F-16 aircraft crashed on 15/7/07 during takeoff at Balad air base, 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. This was the second F-16 aircraft crash in just a month, as a crash had taken place on 15/6/07 shortly after taking off from the same base.

While the pilot of the first crash was killed, the pilot of the second one survived. But what caused both crashes remains under investigations by the US Air Force.

Reports from Baghdad suggest that hostile fire caused both crashes.

According to these reports, it is not just a coincidence that both aircraft crashed during takeoff.

Circles close to the Iraqi Defense Ministry suspect that a shoulder-held anti-aircraft missile might have been fired at both aircraft from an area not far from the air base.

These circles add that it is too difficult for any aircraft to maneuver and avoid a missile during takeoff.

According to these circles, the Iraqi insurgency has different types of anti-aircraft missiles, including SAM-7, SAM-8 and SAM-11, which can hit an aircraft during taking off or flying at low altitude.

UPDATE: Astute readers pointed out that while the SA-7 is a MANPAD, the others listed are not. It would be pretty unlikely for the USAF to not notice a truck-mounted system parked close by its air field, which casts even more doubt on the authenticity of this report. But it's still worth keeping and eye on what MNF-I determines might have been the cause of the crashes.

(Gouge: NC)

-- Christian

New Tech for Wounded Warriors

I have a buddy who lost an arm to a mine in Vietnam and now heads the VA's prosthetics programs. While hunting deer a couple of years ago in West Virginia he explained to me that although the new body armor has saved many lives in Iraq and Afghanistan it has also caused a greater percentage of amputations across the population of wounded than previous conflicts because of the way the shock of an explosion is transferred to the extremities.

Resultantly there is a great demand for prostheses, and from demand comes innovation. Modern technology has afforded wounded warriors devices that are increasingly capable of replicating the performance of human limbs - a huge quality of life issue for these heroes.

Otto Bock HealthCare, a company that started out providing devices for German World War I veterans in 1919, has developed a prosthetic knee system that is an upgrade to its already popular C-Leg. According to an Armed Forces Press Service release "the prosthesis is for above-the-knee amputees and uses a microprocessor to control the knee's hydraulic functions and anticipate the wearer's actions and make changes in real time."

The new system has more sensors, a faster hard drive, and more memory. Engineers are also looking to improve battery life to 50 hours per charge. The release states the leg will "improve transitions between movements like level-ground walking, climbing stairs, and running."

Barring any technical problems, the new prosthesis should be available to servicemembers in 2009.

-- Ward

Chavez Orders Kilo Subs

Venezuela has placed a preliminary order for five advanced diesel-electric submarines with Rosoboronexport, Russia's arms export company. The submarines will be of the Project 877EKM or Varshavyanka series, known in the West as the Kilo class.

The announcement came during the visit of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - known for his strong anti-U.S. views - to Moscow earlier this month to discuss additional weapons purchases and wider economic ties with Russia. Upon his arrival in the Russian capital he declared, “If the United States attacks Venezuela, we are ready to die defending our sacred land."

Chavez continued, "We support Russia, we need Russia, which is becoming stronger day by day." He added that Venezuela intended to continue cooperating closely with Moscow, including in the military sphere.

After visiting Russia and meeting with President Vladimir Putin, Chavez planned to go on to Belarus and then to Iran, where both governments are portrayed by the U.S. government as outlaw regimes. Chavez had previously visited Iran. (He has also made several highly publicized trips to Cuba.)

In conjunction with Chavez’s trip to Russia, Konstantin Makiyenko, Deputy Director of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said: "Most likely, [Venezuela] will buy five. . . submarines with missile systems ... but they could end up buying nine."

The Project 636/877 submarines are advanced diesel-electric submarines, which first entered service with the Russian Navy in 1981. Similar submarines are in service with the Algerian, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Iranian, Polish, and Romanian navies. (The Venezuelan Navy now operates two German-built Type 209/1300 diesel-electric submarines.)

Reportedly, Chavez is also negotiating with Russia for the purchase of an advanced air-defense system.

Last year Chavez signed agreements for the purchase of Russian-made helicopter gunships, fighter aircraft, and small arms for a total of $3 billion.

-- Norman Polmar

The MRAP Cage Fight

Defense Tech is keeping its eye on MRAP developments and we’ll report back the take-aways of an upcoming press conference at the Pentagon this morning. But we wanted to pass along a couple things to our readers in the interim.

First, the Pentagon asked Congress yesterday for permission to shift $1.3 billion in 2007 funds to buy MRAP vehicles more quickly. The vehicle program’s manager, John Young, and the Army and Marine Corps’ top MRAP officials, Lt. Gen. Speakes and Brig. Gen. Brogan, will address the shift and program pace at the presser today.

In other MRAP news, DT received a release from BAE Systems yesterday describing a product they’ve developed for the Army and Marine Corps MRAP fleet called the Lightweight RPG Protection Kit, or LROD. I’ll leave DT readers to draw their own conclusions on this, but it seems interesting that a vehicle that is supposed to protect troops against powerful roadside bombs needs to wear a cage around it for RPG protection. But then again, so does the Stryker, which is a highly protective vehicle in its own right.

The BAE release follows:

LROD is a lightweight, modular bar-armor system composed of an aluminium alloy that provides protection against RPGs without compromising the operational capabilities of the vehicle. Weighing less than half of comparable steel designs, LROD bolts onto the vehicle without welding or cutting, and can be repaired in the field.

The Army will procure 12 additional LROD kits for delivery this year to operational units in response to an Army Operational Need Statement. The Army has expressed interest in procuring additional kits for the entire RG31 and RG31A1 fleet. The RG31 was developed by BAE Systems in South Africa.

“The LROD system provides lightweight, low-cost RPG protection that is easily adapted to virtually any armored vehicle,” said Dr. Jim Galambos, director of business development for BAE Systems’ Advanced Technologies.

LROD was developed in response to increased threats from rocket-propelled grenades in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. It also is a candidate for use on the DoD’s mine-resistant, ambush-protected family of vehicles.

BAE Systems originally developed the system as part of a fast-response Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program to provide RPG protection for high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. Army officials conducted more than 50 live-fire tests to validate the performance and optimize the engineering design. The modular design proved effective at preserving the integrity of the vehicle and safety of the crew in those tests.

Based on its success with Army and Marine Corps combat units, BAE Systems is designing LROD kits for other combat vehicles, including the Light Armored Vehicle BV-206 and the Amphibious Assault Vehicle both manufactured by the company. Small boats also could be protected by the LROD system.

LROD is standard equipment on the Army Buffalo explosive ordnance disposal vehicle. BAE Systems has delivered more than 100 LROD kits to the Army, with additional kits slated for the Marine Corps’ Buffalo vehicles. BAE Systems also is completing LROD designs for the company's RG33-series mine-protected vehicles.

Stay tuned for further MRAP updates...

-- Christian

Putting Warheads (More Accurately) on Foreheads

Raytheon’s innovative satellite-guided 155mm artillery shell was used in operations in Iraq last weekend to kill a top local al Qaeda leader south of Baghdad.

Bloomberg News’ Tony Capaccio reports a salvo of XM982 Excalibur artillery shells were targeted against Abu Jurah and 14 associates in a house near the town of Arab Jabour.

The two-shell salvo fired by Soldiers from the Army’s 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment is particularly significant because it could mean the re-emergence of field artillery as a viable weapon in the highly restrictive combat environment of an urban counterinsurgency.

The statement e-mailed from Baghdad said Abu Jurah was "the top target" in al-Qaida south of Baghdad, responsible for a terrorist cell that made improvised roadside bombs and suicide-vehicle bombs and fired mortars at U.S. troops.

The attack marked the U.S. military's first acknowledgement that the new precision-guided weapon has been used in Iraq. In combat testing before deployment, the weapon demonstrated accuracy within 20 feet (6 meters) of its target, a precision designed to minimize civilian casualties and accidental U.S. military deaths in a war that is increasingly urban.

An unguided 155mm shell can miss its target by as much as 900 feet or 280 meters. The Excalibur has a 50-pound warhead. The Army wanted a weapon with a much smaller warhead than the 200-pound charge on its only precision-guided ground-based mobile rocket system, officials said.

Abu Jurah was killed by troops from the Army's 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, who fired the two Excalibur shells, destroying the meeting house, the statement said.

For Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon, successful combat use is a milestone in a $1.4 billion program for up to 30,000 shells costing about $39,000 apiece.

Raytheon is under contract to make the first 500 rounds. The Army program office at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., says Raytheon will produce at least the first 3,000 shells and could compete to make the remaining 27,000.

The roughly 6-inch-diameter Excalibur uses a combination of Global Positioning System satellite guidance and inertial navigation to hit targets at ranges of up to 40 kilometers, or about 25 miles.

By comparison, a conventional artillery shell's range is about 20 kilometers, or about 12 miles; rocket-assisted shells can go up to 30 kilometers, or about 19 miles.

The Excalibur program went into development in the late 1990s and became a joint project of the United States and Sweden in 2002.

Over the last several years, artillery units in the Army and Marine Corps have been reshuffled and given collateral or provisional duties because commanders – fearful that the use of unguided artillery could result in civilian casualties that undercut U.S. efforts to forge a peace in Iraq – have declined to use cannon and large mortars or rockets in their AORs. Instead, artillerymen have been increasingly employed as infantrymen, civil affairs technicians or military police.

With the Excalibur, the calculation has changed. Artillery is far more responsive than air power and since it’s tied closely with the infantry, more likely to be used instead of airpower due to its familiarity with infantry fire support officers.

Clearly this is an exciting time for artillerymen who are growing tired of helping build and guard Iraqi institutions instead of blowing them up.

-- Christian

Satellite Pit Stop

Defense Tech has previously made light of space debris falling back to earth (see "Native Americans Solve Chinese Space Junk Problem" post from back in March), but of course this potential phenomenon is not funny. (We know that now.)

DARPA - an organization that has never found the issue even remotely humorous - is doing something to keep the sky from falling. Some months ago they, in partnership with Boeing and other subcontractors, launched "Orbital Express," a project designed to demonstrate the feasibility of refueling and upgrading satellites in space (rather than waiting to upgrade them once they return to earth as shards of burning metal).

According to DARPA's website "the goal of the Orbital Express Space Operations Architecture program is to validate the technical feasibility of robotic, autonomous onorbit refueling and reconfiguration of satellites to support a broad range of future U.S. national security and commercial space programs. Refueling satellites will enable frequent maneuver to improve coverage, change arrival times to counter denial and deception and improve survivability, as well as extend satellite lifetime. Electronics upgrades on-orbit can provide regular performance improvements and dramatically reduce the time to deploy new technology on-orbit."

The first robotic transfer of propellant and a battery to a client satellite happened on July 2.

-- Ward

Mega Indian Ocean Excercise Planned

Details are being revealed of what may be the largest naval exercise ever planned for the Indian Ocean. Twenty warships from five countries, including three aircraft carriers, will assemble in the Bay of Bengal in September for the major naval exercise to be hosted by India. The other countries taking part in the exercise -- code named Malabar-07 -- are Australia, Japan, Singapore, and the United States.

The aircraft carriers will be the nuclear-propelled USS Nimitz and the USS Kitty Hawk, the U.S. Navy’s last conventionally propelled large carrier. The third carrier will be the INS Viraat, the former British VSTOL carrier Hermes, which was commissioned in the Indian Navy in 1989.

Several submarines, including at least one U.S. Navy nuclear-propelled attack submarine, will also participate. An Australian official stated, "This will be the biggest multilateral maritime exercise the Indian Navy will be involved in so far. The joint interaction will have all the three dimensions -- air elements, surface warships and submarines."

The five-day Malabar-07 exercise will see land-based Jaguar strike aircraft of the Indian Air Force participating.

A June 2007 exercise involving Indian, Japanese, and U.S. warships off the Japanese coast had evoked a strong reaction from the Chinese government. Chinese officials issued a statement to the three nations demanding to know the reason they were undertaking naval exercises so close to Chinese territory. Similar questions are expected from China concerning Malabar-07. India and China, the later a supporter of Pakistan, have long been political and, at times, military enemies.

Some Indian political parties have also expressed opposition to the September exercise, claiming that such action will pull India into alliances.

Such exercises tend to build close relationship among the participating navies. And, often regional nations not participating in them will seek to do so in the future.

-- Norman Polmar

Why F-14s Must be Crushed

For months, Defense Tech has been keeping a close eye on developments over the issue of F-14 Tomcat spare parts. There’s fear that Iran could get its hands on enough aftermarket material to keep its aging Tomcats alive for years – posing a threat to U.S. naval interests in the Persian Gulf.

One of the country’s best-sourced aviation industry analysts – a man with whom I’ve worked at previous publications – has put together an informative narrative on the nefarious world of backroom deals and bureaucratic incompetence that permeates the jet parts aftermarket.

Iran's aerospace industry and intelligence services then embarked on what has become a nearly three-decade shell game of trying to find ways to covertly or illegally procure parts for the F-14. Not surprisingly, incidents of spares "disappearing" from storehouses at Subic Base in the Philippines and other Navy installations worldwide became regular occurrences.
Numerous middlemen operating from shadowy front companies ordered parts for the Iranian Tomcats.Some of these fronts have ended up in the U.S. courts over the years, but the Iranians have had far more successes than failures in getting their hands on what they need. During Iran's air show last year--27 years after the embargo was first imposed--several Iranian aerospace enterprises openly displayed overhauled components for the F-14 that they manage to keep acquiring parts for up to this day.

Rueben Johnson pulls no punches in his article, published in this week’s Weekly Standard, making the Defense Logistics Agency look particularly bad. He demonstrates that the Iranian parts rope-a-dope has had the unintended effect of hamstringing legitimate foreign weapons and parts makers wanting to do business with the United States.

In one publicized incident, the paperwork from an Iranian agent for illegally purchased F-14 parts passed under the DLA's nose, but the parts were then seized by Customs agents before they could be shipped to Iran. The spares were sent back to DLA, which, instead of putting them under guard, promptly sold them to another middleman working on behalf