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– The United States and South Korea today announced a series of military exercises designed to send a strong, clear message to North Korea to stop its provocative and warlike acts. Video U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Republic of Korea National Defense Minister Kim Tae-young released a joint statement on the exercises following meetings here. The first in a series is a combined maritime and air readiness exercise named Invincible Spirit. About 8,000 U.S. and ROK military personnel will participate. The exercise is in response to the unprovoked attack on and sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan...

The Boeing Company successfully launched a missile from the F-15 Silent Eagle's newly designed Conformal Weapons Bay (CWB) on July 14. Demonstration aircraft departed from Point Mugu Naval Air Weapon Station, Calif., at 5:59 p.m Pacific time, launched an inert AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) from its left-side CWB, and returned to base at 6:52 p.m. The test demonstrated the CWB's flightworthiness and ability to deploy an AMRAAM in flight with no adverse effect on the performance of the aircraft or the CWB itself. "I've been flying F-15s for more than 20 years, but this flight...

Boeing yesterday revealed a number of surprising development efforts in the strike fighter market, including an external weapons bay for the F/A-18E/F and the existence of an in-production product stamped "proprietary". The briefing appeared staged to showcase Boeing's long-term commitment in the manned fighter market despite losing the Joint Strike Fighter contract nearly nine years ago to Lockheed Martin. Boeing now anticipates that production of F-15s and F/A-18E/F will continue through the mid-2020s, although both lines are scheduled for shutdown in 2012 and 2015 in the absence of new orders. After unveiling a package of radar cross-section improvements for the...

U.S. Air Force scientists have performed their own rocket propellant test without contractor assistance and eye continued in-house experimentation. The Armed Forces News Service reported that officials at the Air Force Research Laboratory said the 3-second, 15-pound Ballistic Test and Evaluation System, in which a small-scale apparatus is used to test rocket propellant and designs in a standardized rocket motor casing, yielded extraordinary amount of data due to new high-speed digital video cameras used for recording it. "What's special about this test is that it was entirely in-house," said 1st. Lt. Rob Antypas, the AFRL program manager and a developmental...

BAE Systems is starting to reconfigure its F-35 aft fuselage assembly line to speed up production, the company said Monday. The company, in a news release from the Farnborough Air Show, said first steps in the redesign project took place recently at its Samlesbury site in the United Kingdom, where the F-35's aft fuselage is built. A team from across BAE Systems' Military Air Solutions business stripped one of the six work stations to its bare floor and walls to examine the approach and techniques needed to achieve a production rate increase. Every stage of the manufacturing process – from...

The 5th generation F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter will serve as the centrepiece for 21st century global security while strengthening international political and industrial partnerships, a senior Lockheed Martin F-35 executive said Monday at the Farnborough Air Show. "As we continue to define what a next generation multirole fighter is and bring to the world a profound increase in capability over the best existing fighters, I’m most proud that we’re able to do it affordably—at about the price of fourth generation aircraft," said Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and general manager of F-35 Program Integration. "The program continues...

Although the US government last year opted to halt production of the Lockheed Martin F-22 without approving an international sale of the air superiority fighter, the Raptor is making a welcome return to the show. Deployed to the UK from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, the US Air Force's Raptor will better its brief appearance on the opening day of the last Farnborough show by flying each day this week. The service flew four of the type to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to support its appearances here and at the Royal International Air Tattoo last weekend

The United States may dispatch its high-tech F-22 Raptor stealth fighter to the Korean Peninsula for the upcoming joint military exercises with South Korea aimed at sending a warning message to North Korea for its continued provocative acts, a government source said Sunday. "Chances are high that the F-22 fighter jet will take part in the South Korea-U.S. joint drills to be held in the East Sea within July, in which a U.S. aircraft carrier will also participate," the source said on the condition of anonymity. "The U.S. is considering the F-22's participation in the training."In response to the March...

Development of the next generation of warplane is already over budget and behind schedule. Hidden in a hangar at the US Navy's Patuxent River Air Base, in Maryland, away from prying eyes and shaded from the intense sun, US and British ground crew made the final preparations before the plane took to the clear blue skies. RAF and Royal Navy personnel are already working alongside American crews as they conduct the final trials before it goes into production. There's nothing particularly unusual about the Lockheed Martin JSF's appearance. It looks like a modern jet fighter. It's what you can't see...

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), the Navy's 10th and final Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, received a visit from its namesake, former President George H.W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush, while underway July 14. Bush and Barbara were escorted on board by Adm. J.C. Harvey, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. During his two-day visit to the aircraft carrier, Bush toured the ship, observing day-to-day operations and spending time with the crew, as well as taking part in a reenlistment ceremony for nearly 60 Sailors, which he said was an honor. "I am proud of every man and woman on...

The Canadian government formally committed today to buy 65 Lockheed Martin F-35s six years ahead of first delivery in order to qualify national industry to bid for more work in the multi-national programme. Since the first aircraft will arrive in 2016, the commitment by Ottawa does not need to be sealed by a contract until at least 2013. By then, Lockheed expects the F-35 to be approaching peak production rates, with one aircraft delivered every working day. Canadian officials have valued the cost of the acquisition at C$9 billion ($8.5 billion), or about C$138 million per aircraft, including engines, weapons...

Fast jet fans in the UK are set for a real treat at this weekend’s Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire as the US Air Force’s F-22A Raptor is finally set to make its debut at the airshow after the aborted event in 2008. Major Dave "Zeke" Skalicky performed a rehearsal display this afternoon that can only be described as “stunning” – the USAF’s experience with the jet has provided an even more dynamic display than two years ago that knocks the typical F-16 and Typhoon display into a cocked hat. With the Vulcan and F/A-18F also...

Extending development by three years on two F-35 variants would not be enough to keep the restructured programme on track. But Lockheed Martin's flight-test programme gained significant new resources to reduce the risk of further delays in the overall restructuring announced on 1 February. Namely, the US Department of Defense will buy another flight-test aircraft in the fourth lot of low-rate initial production (LRIP). The US Marine Corps and US Navy also would "loan" three operational aircraft to Lockheed to participate in the flight-test programme. Doug Pearson, Lockheed vice-president for the F-35's integrated test force, explains how the new resources...

Just after the new year, DARPA put out a broad agency announcement requesting a flying car, specifically a one-to four-person, vertical takeoff and landing-capable vehicle that can negotiate off-road conditions as well as take to the skies. Today, Fort Worth-based AVX Aircraft has responded with a proposal, releasing some mock-ups of a dual-rotor, ducted-fan driven aircraft that’s also road-ready. AVX says the four-seater will be able to carry a 1,040-lb. payload 250 miles on a single tank of fuel, peaking at 80 miles per hour over land and 140 miles per hour in the air. It’s coaxial rotor design would...

B-1B Lancer achieved 10,000 flight hours here, June 12. After 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit professionals braved temperatures in excess of 110 degrees Fahrenheit preparing the aircraft for the flight, the aircrew stepped in and performed the milestone mission, despite an 18-hour duty day. "The tremendous amount of man-hours spent maintaining the B-1 and the sacrifices the maintainers endure away from their families, working extremely long hours in austere locations, has facilitated this historic event," said Master Sgt. Mathias Stewart, 34 AMU Airframe Powerplant General B-1 flight chief. "I am an extremely big fan of all maintainers, especially the crew chiefs...

The first MH-60R avionics maintenance trainer (AMT) built by CAE USA for US Navy has entered for training services at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNATTU) in Jacksonville, Florida. The MH-60 AMT avionics and electronics technicians will get demonstration, instruction and also hands-on training on maintaining the MH-60R Romeo helicopter, which is used by the US Navy for anti-submarine warfare and surface attack. “We are pleased as the US Navy has declared the first CAE-built MH-60R avionics maintenance trainer ready-for-training, the US Navy has now put into service the comprehensive MH-60R Romeo training systems from CAE that...

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 11 began carrier qualifications July 12 off the coast of Southern California. Carrier qualifications test both CVW 11 and the Nimitz crew. "The Nimitz and Air Wing 11 team did a great job of refreshing flight deck currency," said Capt. Eric Wright, Nimitz's air department head. "These operations aren't always fast or error-free, but we operated deliberately and safely. It was a great first day back." Nimitz and CVW-11 will continue to launch and recover aircraft throughout the week of July 12 to qualify and re-qualify pilots, extending...

In the last month, three of the four American SSGNs (former ballistic missile subs each now carrying 154 cruise missiles and SEAL commando teams) appeared in the Pacific and Indian oceans (the Philippines, South Korea and Diego Garcia). Some through this was a message for China, but, in fact, the SSGNs go where the potential trouble is. When questioned, U.S. Navy officials responded that, for the first time, all four SSGNs were operating at sea, in locations distant from their bases. Two years ago, the U.S. Navy completed the conversion of the last of four Ohio class ballistic missile submarines...

A Northrop Grumman-led Prime Team supported the recent test of a Minuteman III missile that struck a target near Kwajalein Atoll, the company said. The Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Prime Team delivered information regarding site selection for test assets and reviewed flight test hardware configuration before, during and after the launch for the 526th ICBM Systems Group at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "Minuteman III has been alert ready for nearly four decades (and) we help the Air Force ensure the weapon system remains a credible deterrent force now and far into the future," said Tony Spehar, vice president and program...

The military has more than enough large transport planes, and the appropriation of any more in the next budget year will force some into premature retirement, Defense Department officials told a congressional panel today. “We have enough C-17s,” Mike McCord, principal deputy undersecretary of defense (comptroller), said. “Money spent on things we don’t need takes away from those we do need.” Along with McCord, Air Force Maj. Gen. Susan Y. Desjardins, director of strategic plans for Air Mobility Command, and Alan Estevez, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for logistical and materiel readiness, repeated Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ position...

must come from the sea,” said the chief of naval operations, Adm. Gary Roughead, recently about any new U.S. Navy procurement, leaving open to interpretation the programs and projects that will be included in coming budgets. The Navy is “reimagining naval power,” he said. “With cyber-power and unmanned systems we must ask ourselves fundamental questions.” If new capabilities proposed for procurement do not “come from the sea,” Roughead is not interested. The Navy no longer has the luxury of being interested in every new program or platform. The defense budget is getting slimmer. And pressure is coming from above to...

A spot-on rotation after an 8s take-off roll should have excited - or at least relaxed - the high-ranking programme officials lining the runway at the US Navy's Patuxent River NAS in Maryland on 17 March. BAE Systems test pilot Graham Tomlinson had just proved that the Lockheed Martin F-35B can indeed take off from amphibious carriers and small runways. Checking-off the test point also would clear the way for Lockheed to stage the F-35B's first vertical landing the next day. Coming six weeks after a major restructuring caused by a $100 billion increase in cost projections, the F-35 Joint...

At a time when international partners are skittish about rising costs for the Joint Strike Fighter program and allies have complained about access to program information, the Pentagon has decided that not a single Joint Strike fighter will head to the Farnborough Air Show and no one from the JPO will attend the show. We confirmed the JSF and Joint Program Office rumors late this afternoon with a Pentagon spokeswoman. Separately, we hear that the head of Pentagon acquisition, Ash Carter, may attend the show though we have been unable to confirm this. Carter’s presence would at least give the...

Flight testing of the F-35 joint strike fighter finally seems to be gaining momentum as Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department try to show that development of the next-generation combat jet is finally on track. Lockheed flew the ninth of the initial 13 flight-testing jets recently, counting the original prototype, which has already been retired. By week's end, the test program had completed 146 flights this year compared with the 128 planned, a pace that, if, sustained, would enable the full-year goal of 394 flights to be met or exceeded. Another measure of progress is the number of specific tests...

Phantom Works offered a first glimpse of Phantom Eye, the hydrogen-powered unmanned demonstrator built to stay aloft at 65,000ft for up to four days at a time, 12 July in St. Louis. In September, Phantom Eye will move to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California, to begin a series of ground and taxi tests in preparation for its maiden flight in the first quarter of 2011. The debut flight is expected to last 4 to 8hr. We still have a ways to go," said Drew Mallow, Phantom Eye programme manager, including continuing wing testing, integration work and...

Directed-energy weapons and advanced sensors in next-generation combat aircraft will demand power and cooling beyond the capabilities of today’s technology and could prompt a fundamental change in the design of aircraft systems. Keen to avoid the thermal-management “nightmares” that confronted developers of the stealthy fifth-generation F-22 and F-35, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is launching the Energy-Optimized Aircraft program to demonstrate a new approach to generating, storing, consuming and dissipating energy on aircraft. Separately, the Air Force and Navy have begun defining their requirements for sixth-generation fighters under the label “next-generation air dominance” (NGAD). The Navy is looking...

European aerospace giant Airbus has cut its prices in a bid to win a fight with US rival Boeing for a 40-billion-dollar US Air Force contract, a German business daily reported on Monday. Airbus has cut the proposed cost for the contract to build 179 aerial refuelling tankers by at least 10 percent from the level in a previous offer in 2008, the Financial Times Deutschland (FTD) reported, citing industry sources. Last week, the two competitors submitted their offers to Washington, setting the stage for a high-stakes transatlantic trade scrap. It will be the third time the contract has been...

One year ago, a nascent F-15 Silent Eagle programme needed to be rescued from what seemed like an internal crisis of confidence given away by a stray comment made by a top Boeing executive. Tom Bell, a business development director briefing reporters at the Paris air show, pronounced as "premature" a previously announced flight-test schedule to certificate the Silent Eagle's three key technologies: conformal weapons bays; an electronic warfare upgrade; and possibly canted tails. Bell's statement also contradicted a lower-ranking Boeing official, F-15 director Brad Jones, who had only a week earlier said that its first flight was planned in...

As the USA's sole Level One partner on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the UK has a pivotal role in the Pentagon's largest ever procurement effort as a customer and as an industrial participant. Thanks to its status as one of Lockheed Martin's production partners on the Lightning II, BAE Systems is dramatically expanding its manufacturing capabilities in the north-west of England to prepare for a major ramp-up in work to occur by the middle of this decade. With its responsibilities including the production of the aft fuselage and horizontal and vertical tails for every F-35 built, BAE has a...

The US Air Force has started the countdown to the KC-X contract award after having received three bids to build 179 tankers, including a last-minute offer from a California company selling Antonov aircraft. The contest is likely to remain a face-off between the Boeing KC-767NewGen Tanker and the EADS North America KC-45, even though Antonov-bidder US Aerospace touted a possibly lower $29.5 billion price tag for its proposal.

Belgium-based firearms manufacturer FN Herstal hereby refutes the allegations recently found on the web that USSOCOM abandoned the 5.56 version of the SCAR rifle and reconfirms USSOCOM's decision to acquire the full FN SCAR family of weapons, including the 5.56mm rifle. The FN SCAR family of weapons consists of the 5.56mm SCAR rifle, 7.62mm SCAR rifle and 40mm LV Enhanced Grenade Launcher Module (respectively designated as MK 16, MK 17 and MK 13 by USSOCOM). These three components were developed by FN Herstal in close cooperation with USSOCOM and have each met all the operational and fielding tests required by...

Demonstration satellites built by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon successfully tracked a ground-based missile launch in a systems test last month. Tracking data generated by satellite sensors was transmitted to the Missile Defense Integration and Operation Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., which serves as the ground station for the two demonstration spacecraft, Northrop Grumman said in a news release "The STSS satellites operated as expected and the system generated high-quality track data during the boost phase in this first missile test of capabilities," said Gabe Watson, vice president, missile defense and missile warning programs for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, U.S. officials often had to rely on grainy satellite photos to decide whether facilities on the ground were intended for producing weapons of mass destruction. Now imagine that instead of overhead satellite imagery -- or even high-flying unmanned aircraft -- they could send in a flock of microdrones that could actually fly right over, or even inside, such facilities. Even better, these drones -- equipped with chemical sensors that could pick up possible weapons work with near certainty -- would resemble typical birds, like pigeons, making them nearly impossible to spot. This...

Boeing anticipates that changes announced recently to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme will inadvertently help its overseas campaigns for fighters. If the JSF programme slips it will affect the overseas partners in the programme "and that gives us tremendous opportunity to go in there, particularly with the Super Hornet", says Boeing Integrated Defense Systems vice-president international business development Mark Kronenberg. He says five years ago F-35 programme partners Canada and Denmark would "have been rock solid", but now there is an opportunity for Boeing to talk to them and focus on aspects such as the price and...

Two F/A-18 Hornets screamed onto the runway here, June 30, marking yet another “first,” in this historic deployment for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward): a safe landing thanks to newly-installed arresting gear to catch the fast-movers. The Hornets, flown by Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 based at Kandahar Air Field, face a rigorous and unforgiving environment, making the arresting gear a possible ‘saving grace’ should pilots need it. Afghanistan’s dynamic, rapid weather patterns and rough environment can cause increased wear on jets. Brakes failures, hydraulic system issues or even bad weather may cause aircraft to divert and take arrested...

As the venerable Tomahawk missile becomes too vulnerable for certain targets, naval observers have wondered why the Navy isn’t racing to fill the U.S. surface fleet’s 7,804 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells with a new generation of anti-ship or fast land-attack munitions. Our wait is over. The big brains at DARPA are aiming to appropriate VLS cells for the Prompt Global Strike Mission. Meet ArcLight–the weapon that will change the way the world thinks about U.S. surface combatants: “The ArcLight program will design, build, and flight test a long range (> 2,000 nm) vehicle that carries a 100–200 lb payload(s)....

The U.S. Navy selected Northrop Grumman to supply infrared missile warning systems for fleet of heavy lift helicopters. The contact is worth $80 million, the company said Thursday. Under terms of the agreement Northrop Grumman more than 450 IRMWS and 90 processors to Naval Air Systems Command beginning in May 2011 and concluding in the second quarter of 2013. The hardware, in conjunction with Northrop Grumman's Guardian laser transmitter assemblies and control indicator units delivered under the same U.S. Air Force indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, will complete the initial Department of Navy Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures installation requirements on 156 aircraft...

Boeing Co said it has applied for an export license to sell a stealthy variant of its F-15 fighter jet to South Korea, which is expected to release terms of a competition for 60 new fighters next year. Brad Jones, Boeing program manager for the F-15 "Silent Eagle" model, said South Korea has already ordered 60 K models of the F-15 fighter, and has expressed interest in the newest variant of the successful fighter, which has special coatings to help it evade enemy radar, for the next phase of its fighter procurement. Jones said Boeing had provided flight evaluation data...

F/A-18 Hornets started to take off in waves just after 5 p.m. yesterday as more than 100 crew members wearing different colored shirts—including brown for maintenance, yellow for handlers and purple for fuelers—worked the deck of the ship, mostly using hand signals in the noisy and windy environment. Fifty miles south of Oahu, a two-seater Hornet powered up with enough force to cause a vibration in the chest and launched off the deck in less than three seconds at 150 mph. With 4,500 sailors and about 60 aircraft, the aircraft carrier Reagan is the centerpiece of the "Rim of the...

Northrop Grumman has formally entered the race to win a US Army contract to deliver a new fleet of signals intelligence aircraft. The announcement adds the company to a growing list of declared rivals - including Boeing and L-3 Communications - bidding for the enhanced medium-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance system (EMARSS). The army wants a prime contractor to integrate a small but sophisticated suite of multiple SIGINT collectors on to Beechcraft King Air 350ERs. Payloads include an electro-optical camera and low-band communications interceptors. Northrop has not revealed details about the proposal submitted to the army before the 25 June deadline....

When it comes to nuclear weapons, oldies are goodies. Take, for example, the American B61 nuclear device. About the same shape as a 1,000 pound (455 kg) bomb, many NATO fighter bombers were equipped (with the electronics) to use this bomb during the Cold War (and many can still do so). Some 3,200 B61s were built since it entered service in the late 1960s, and about a third of those remain available for use. Some are to be refurbished, but politicians are still debating doing this just to keep B61s good for another two decades. Without the refurb, all these...

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he has ordered the deployment of a new missile defense system and a sophisticated tracking radar to respond to any North Korean missile launch that threatens Hawaii. Meanwhile, America's top military officer says the U.S. Navy is prepared to try to stop North Korean ships suspected of carrying weapons banned by a new United Nations Security Council resolution. Secretary Gates says the United States is watching North Korea's missile launch preparations "very closely" and he has ordered a new high-altitude missile interceptor system deployed to Hawaii, along with a floating radar system to provide...

Intercontinental ballistic missile, B-2 Spirit, B-52 Stratofortress and B-1 Lancer units are competing in the first Global Strike Challenge, showcasing the capabilities and expertise of missile, bomber and security forces Airmen. "Global Strike Challenge will help us build pride and a culture of excellence," said Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, the Air Force Global Strike Command commander. It is "the beginning of a new tradition-- the best of the past launching us into the future," he said. Global Strike Challenge pits units' top security forces, maintainers, and missile and bomber crews in head-to-head competition to be recognized as the best...

South Korean electronics maker LIG Nex1 has signed an $8 million contract with Rockwell Collins for head-up data display units for U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters. The displays will also be delivered to the air forces of three other country's that fly the jet, LIG Nex1 said in a news release. The HUD is an instrument that's placed above the cockpit instrument glare shield for viewing data. It allows a pilot to view the information through a transparent screen as the flyer continues to look forward. HUDs are specifically designed to improve pilot situational awareness. The company, in a news...

US and Japanese naval forces have successfully completed the Undersea Warfare Exercise (USWEX) in the western Pacific Ocean. The American nuclear-powered super carrier, USS George Washington (CVN 73) participated in the exercise held from June 21 to 25. The exercise was conducted by elements from Commander, Battle Force 7th Fleet (CTF 70), Commander, Patrol & Reconnaissance Force, 7th Fleet (CTF 72), Commander, Submarine Force, 7th Fleet (CTF 74), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and components from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). "This year during USWEX we continued to strengthen interoperability between the US Navy and...

Air Force leaders are working to build a new pilot culture in the service, creating a career track designed to turn officers without prior flying experience into operators of remotely piloted aircraft such as the MQ-1 Predator. Officially institutionalized in June as Undergraduate RPA Training, the new course evolved from an experiment nearly two years in the making—called a beta test—which indicated that the syllabus will likely need to continue evolving. A handful of officers have already passed the beta test to learn how to fly RPAs, and were awarded special wings recognizing their achievement. Some of those pilots are...

working my way through the new Marine Corps Operating Concepts document and wanted to highlight some of the weapons and equipment implications. To get back to its naval infantry roots, the service must shed some of the weight its gained fighting as a second land army in Iraq and Afghanistan, it says. The concept document says the imperative to significantly lighten all of the component parts of the Marine’s combined arms air ground task force (MAGTF) “will have a significant impact on research and development, programmatic budgeting, acquisitions, doctrine development, and employment of future systems.” The amount of sealift provided...

More questions than answers seem to be arising from the U.S. Navy/Air Force Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for “coordination of synergy” efforts on their respective high-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Signed June 12 by the services’ chiefs of staff, the goal is to produce operational and financial efficiencies in the Global Hawk and Broad Area Maritime Surveillance programs, both of which are in development (though the USAF Global Hawk has had the advantage of a head start of several years on its younger cousin). Shared basing, maintenance, command and control, training, logistics and data exploitation are areas that could...

U.S. Army has established a second source (General Dynamics) for 30mm cannon ammunition. This is to insure there are no interruptions in deliveries, and some competition when it comes to production quality and price. The U.S. Army is using over half a million 30mm cannon rounds a year for its AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships. Each round costs over $100. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the most accurate cannon fire comes from the 30mm autocannon on the AH-64 helicopter, and such support is very popular. This is partly because of the increased emphasis on reducing civilian casualties. During the heaviest combat in...

): USS Nimitz (CVN 68) has successfully completed its sea trials at the western Pacific Ocean. For the first time in three months Nimitz was departed from the Naval Base Coronado on June 29 and the sea trials were completed by July 2. The trials were mainly done to test and evaluate Nimitz' main engines along with other equipment (elevators, doors, catapults and high-speed power turns) after conducting a 30-day Carrier Incremental Availability. "For us, the main concern was shaking off the dust after a three month layoff making sure we had the same skill sets in place," Master Chief...