Russian Navy and Agressive Actions Towards the USS Farragut

01/14/2020

On Thursday, Jan. 9, while conducting routine operations in the North Arabian Sea, USS Farragut (DDG 99) was aggressively approached by a Russian Navy ship. Farragut sounded five short blasts, the international maritime signal for danger of a collision, and requested the Russian ship alter course in accordance with international rules of the road.

The Russian ship initially refused but ultimately altered course and the two ships opened distance from one another. While the Russian ship took action, the initial delay in complying with international rules while it was making an aggressive approach increased the risk of collision.

The U.S. Navy continues to remain vigilant and is trained to act in a professional manner. We continue to encourage vessels from all nations to operate in accordance with internationally recognized maritime laws, standards and norms.

01.10.2020

Video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dawson Roth

U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet

In a USNI News piece published on January 10, 2020, Sam LaGrone added:

Ivan Khurs, assigned to the Black Sea Fleet, is one of two Russian Yury Ivanov-class Russian intelligence collection ships. According to Turkish ship spotting site Bosphorous Naval News, the ship left the Black Sea on Nov. 29 before traveling to the Middle East.

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) has been operating in the region since relieving USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as the U.S. on-station carrier in the Middle East last month.

Thursday’s incident follows a June encounter in which Russian destroyer Admiral Vinogradov came within 100 feet of a USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) operating in the Western Pacific.

In 2016, Russian Navy frigate Yaroslav Mudry (FF-777) and the guided-missile cruiser USS San Jacinto (CG-56) came close to a collision in the Mediterranean Sea. Mudry made multiple erratic maneuvers near the cruiser while coming within 150 yards of carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) during flight operations. Days earlier, the same Russian frigate had published a video edited in a way that seemed to show guided-missile destroyer USS Gravely (DDG-107) cut in front of it.

The featured photo shows Russian surveillance ship Ivar Khurs making  ‘aggressive’ move against USS Farragut (DDG-99). US Navy Image

 

Immediate Response Force Deploys to Iraq

Following up the insertion of a USMC SP-MAGTF Crisis Response Force to the US embassy in Iraq, U.S. Air Force Airmen load equipment assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, onto a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft bound for the U.S. Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, N.C. on January 4, 2020.

This deployment is a precautionary action taken to respond to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities.

The ‘Devil’ Brigade is the nucleus of the U.S. Immediate Response Force, capable of rapidly deploying anywhere in the world in response to a variety of contingency operations.

POPE ARMY AIRFIELD, NC, UNITED STATES

01.04.2020

Video by Sgt. 1st Class Jason Hull

49th Public Affairs Detachment

The photo highlights: Equipment assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division is loaded into aircraft bound for the U.S. Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, N.C. om January 4, 2020. This deployment is a precautionary action taken to respond to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities. The “Devil” Brigade is the nucleus of the U.S. Immediate Response Force, capable of rapidly deploying anywhere in the world in response to a variety of contingency operations.

FORT BRAGG, NC, UNITED STATES

01.04.2020

Photo by Spc. Justin Stafford 

49th Public Affairs Detachment

Operation Bushfire Assist: The Australian Defence Force Responds

01/13/2020

By Andrew McLaughlin

The Federal government has mobilized the ADF to support rescue and recovery operations for the ongoing bushfire crisis affecting NSW and Victoria.

Following a National Security Committee of Cabinet meeting on January 4, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Defence Minister Senator Linda Reynolds, and Chief of Defence Force GEN Angus Campbell announced the mobilization of 3,000 mostly-Army reservists, and various air, ground and maritime transport units and assets to support civilian agencies across the vast area of the fires.

The announcement comes after Navy MRH 90 helicopters had already been assisting the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) from September right through to December to conduct fire ground surveillance and mapping and transport services near Sydney and Army Tiger ARH helicopters provided similar services in northern NSW and southern Queensland using their infra-red sensor

Civilian large aerial tanker aircraft and fire-fighting vehicles have also been utilising ADF base infrastructure for several months for refueling and reloading, maintenance and other support services, while ADF geospatial intelligence has been provided for fire mapping.

Further, the ADF has been supporting RFS and other state emergency management agencies with Defence Liaison Officers, Army has provided ground transport, there have been dozens of RAAF C-17A, KC-30A, C-130J and C-27J air transport missions, Army personnel had been assisting with fire break clearing, and all services have provided catering, base and field accommodation, and other support.

Following the rapid escalation of fire activity in Victoria’s East Gippsland area on New Years Eve, the Victorian Government formally requested additional ADF support to assist with the transport of fire crews and equipment around the state, and the evacuation of residents and holiday-makers from communities isolated by fire activity.

The RAN immediately started preparing its on-call humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) vessel for the Christmas/new year period, HMAS Choules, and the training vessel MV Sycamore to sail for from Sydney. Choules was loaded with Army LARC amphibious watercraft, an MRH 90 helicopter, and containers of relief supplies. Both vessels sailed on the afternoon on January 1, arriving off Mallacoota in far eastern Victoria early the next morning.

Army’s 5 Aviation Regiment (5Avn) also generated three CH-47F Chinooks of C SQN which self-deployed from Townsville and arrived at RAAF East Sale on the evening of January 3. Two S-70B-9 Black Hawks from 6Avn self-deployed to East Sale from Holsworthy near Sydney, and a C-17A from 36SQN, a C-130J from 37SQN, and three RAAF C-27Js from 35SQN also deployed to East Sale.

With further extreme weather forecast for January 4 expected to impact fires burning along the NSW south coast and the alpine regions, the Governor General GEN David Hurley authorized the mobilisation of the reserves, and the Commonwealth committed additional assets to the effort.

The federal response has been divided into three major elements; Joint Task Force (JTF) 1111 to support operations in South Australia and Tasmania, JTF 1110 to cover the NSW and ACT areas, and JTF 646 to support operations in Victoria.

The LHD HMAS Adelaide was prepared to deploy from Sydney to Eden on the NSW far south coast, and sailed with two MH-60R helicopters, 300 tonnes of relief supplies, Navy amphibious watercraft, and augmented medical and catering crews.

An additional Chinook and four MRH 90s have self-deployed from Townsville and two more Chinooks are preparing to deploy, while Army combat engineers and aeromedical evacuation (AME) teams were also generated to support the effort across all three JTFs.

RAAF Air traffic controllers have established a flight information service at Bairnsdale Airport in Gippsland to support increased operations there, while an RAAF P-8A Poseidon has provided overhead reconnaissance between East Sale and Mallacoota for ground transport engineering requirements. Also providing aerial reconnaissance is an Army Wasp small unmanned aerial system (SUAS) element from the 20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery.

Other Army elements are spread across all three JTFs. For JTF 1111, engineers, logistics capabilities and personnel from 9th Brigade have deployed to Kangaroo Island to assist with recovery and clean-up efforts there. JTF 1110 and JTF 646 comprises some 400 personnel from 7th Brigade to support the state emergency services, while additional scoping and advice support have been provided to the ACT in case fires in the alpine region move north towards Canberra.

International military support has also been provided, with New Zealand deploying three RNZAF NH90s to RAAF Edinburgh via RAAF C-17A to bolster transport support in South Australia, and Singapore self-deploying two RSAF CH-47D Chinooks from Oakey in Queensland to East Sale.

This article was published by Australian Defence Business Review on January 7, 2020.

Also, see the following:

Operation Bushfire Assist 2019-2020

 

 

GPS 2

The U.S. Air Force and its mission partners successfully launched the first Global Positioning Systems (GPS) III satellite at 8:51 a.m. EST, Dec. 23 from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The Lockheed Martin-built satellite, known as “Vespucci,” in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer for whom the Americas were named, was carried to orbit aboard a Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) Falcon 9 Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.

CAPE CANAVERAL, CA, UNITED STATES

1/7/19

Video by Krista Knaus

Space and Missile Systems Center Public Affairs

An Update on European Defense Industrial Generated Systems: January 2020

01/12/2020

Pierre Tran

Paris

Industrial partners Airbus and Dassault Aviation last month cut an offer to between €7 billion-€8 billion ($7.8 billion-$8.9 billion) from a previous price tag of some €10 billion, to win a production contract for a European medium-altitude long-endurance drone, an industry source said Jan. 9.

The partners slashed the price of their bid to build a twin-engined unmanned aerial vehicle after the four client nations — France, Germany, Italy and Spain — made it clear the initial price tag was too high, the source said.

Airbus is prime contractor, with French Dassault and Italian Leonardo as partners.

The new price is seen as acceptable and opens the debate on who and how an announcement will be made, the source said.

The program manager, European agency OCCAR, or the French arms procurement, Direction Générale de l’Armement, could announce the deal, the source said. Another possibility was for industry to make an announcement.

The DGA declined comment.

Industry presents the UAV as one of the key cooperative projects to boost European arms capability and boost autonomy. France has made it clear that a big price cut was needed to secure the deal.

“There is a major problem on price,” said a Nov. 21 parliamentary report from French senators Cédric Perrin and Hélène Conway-Mouret.

“It appears that there is a spread of close to 30 percent between the price set by the client states, in view of the specifications set in 2017, and the price offered by industry,” said the report on the 2020 budget from the committee for foreign affairs, defense and the armed forces.

In view of a price too high, the partner nations might buy a foreign UAV off the shelf and install a national payload, the report said. That might spark opposition but the fact was that the price sparked sharp debate.

“Industry and the DGA must reach an agreement before the end of the year, otherwise the program will be compromised,” the report said.

An offer has been submitted to OCCAR, Eric Trappier, chairman of GIFAS, the French trade association for aeronautics and space, said at the new year press conference.

“This is a major contract,” which will cover research and development, production and delivery, he said. The project might interest other European nations, he added.

There had been many meetings for negotiations all through 2019, he said, adding that it was important for Europe to acquire this equipment, which he hoped would be backed by financial support from the planned European Defense Fund.

Meanwhile, there was close prospect of a contract for a technology demonstrator for a New Generation Fighter, a key element in the Future Combat Air System.

“Call me an optimist, but the contract for the first phase should be signed in the next few days,” he said.

“We are in the process of notification. There is no problem.”

That was a deal which should have been sealed in 2019, as industry had submitted an offer in June, he said.

Work started in the last quarter of last year to bring Spain into the fighter project and engineers in the three partner countries — France, Germany and Spain — should start soon, he said.

A budget for the development project had yet to be agreed, he said.

The new fighter is due to operate in 2040, with the demonstrator expected to take off in 2026.

“We are right at the beginning,” he said. That is of “fundamental” importance as there was not a program if there was not a start, he added.

Trappier said he constantly told the DGA there was need to build a demonstrator, to cut risk to the program. Such a de-risking could not be done simply on paper and required “the reality of flight” to test the technology.

Now it was time to “mobilize” the budget, energies, and agree the industrial work share, he said. Cooperation between Airbus and Dassault — the lead industrial partners — was not easy but they managed, he added.

It was also important to factor in the supply chain in France, Germany and Spain.

On a new engine for the fighter, Safran and MTU said in a Dec. 3 joint statement the partners had agreed the French company would be prime contractor. The agreement resolved an attempt by the German partner to take a leading role on the project.

The pact referred to the letter of intent signed in February 2019 which said Safran would take the lead in engine design and integration, with MTU leading in engine services.

“In the framework of the contractual scheme defined by France and Germany, Safran Aircraft Engines will be the prime contractor and MTU Aero Engines the main partner for the first phase of research and technology (Phase 1A),” the joint statement said.

The two companies will set up a 50/50 joint venture by the end of 2021 for development, production and service of the new engine.

On the proposed €13 billion for the European Defense Fund, that amount might fall as the overall multi-year budget of the European Union will shrink with the departure of the UK, Trappier said.

France and Germany said in a joint statement at the Oct. 16 bilateral summit in Toulouse, southwest France, the two nations reaffirmed their support for industrial cooperation, in particular the Next Generation Weapons System/Future Combat Air System and Main Ground Combat System programmes.

The latter refers to a system of systems comprising a new tank and a network of manned and unmanned land vehicles.

The photo is from 2018 and shows a full scale model of the proposed European medium-altitude long-endurance drone.

According to an article by Mike Ball published on April 30, 2018: “Airbus Defence and Space has announced that, in conjunction with Dassault Aviation and Leonardo, it has unveiled the first full scale model of the European Medium-Altitude Long-Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft (MALE RPAS) at the 2018 ILA Berlin Air Show.

“The unveiling of the full scale model and the reaffirmed commitment of the industrial partners to jointly develop a sovereign solution for European Defence and Security comes after a nearly two-year definition study launched in September 2016 by the four participating nations, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, and follows the Declaration of Intent to work together on a European MALE unmanned aerial system signed by the countries in May 2015.”

Also see the following report which brings together the articles by Pierre Tran, based in Paris, published in 2019 on Second Line of Defense.

A PDF Version of the report can be read below:

Updates from Pierre Tran 2019

An e-book version of the report can be read below:

 

 

B2 Bomber

01/08/2020

The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions.

A dramatic leap forward in technology, the bomber represents a major milestone in the U.S. bomber modernization program.

The B-2 brings massive firepower to bear, in a short time, anywhere on the globe through previously impenetrable defenses.

11.18.2019

Video by Staff Sgt. James Richardson

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

Perspectives on French and European Defense Policies: 2019

01/07/2020

During the past year, Pierre Tran, based in Paris, has provided our readers with insights on the evolution of French and European defense policies.

The series of articles has provided insight into how the Macron Administration has been addressing European defense policy as well, as in the case of Australia, its Pacific policy as well.

We have brought together in one report, the various articles by Pierre Tran which we have published over the past year.

The table of contents for the report can be seen below:

A PDF Version of the report can be read below:

Updates from Pierre Tran 2019

An e-book version of the report can be read below:

Also, see the following:

President Macron’s Economist Interview: Reactions and Implications