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Donald Trump once again mixed up candidates he ran against this week, this time conflating Jeb Bush with George W. Bush. But, had Trump actually run against George W. Bush, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” crew is pretty sure Trump would have been “gutted” in no time at all. During a speech in South Carolina on Monday, Trump recounted to his followers that, in 2016, “everyone thought Bush was going to win,” because he “supposedly was a military person,” but then mocked his military leadership. “He got us into the Middle East,” Trump said. “How did that work out, right? But they...

Top: Artist’s concept of Royal Australian Navy Hunter-class guided-missile frigate. Bottom: (left to right) U.K. Royal Navy Arrowhead Type 31e design, Austal USA FFG(X) design and Lockheed Martin FFG(X) design CAPITOL HILL – The U.S. Navy is in talks with Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in the hopes that all four navies will design and field frigates with common combat systems – or at least interoperable ones – the deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for ships told USNI News. Jay Stefany said the four navies have quadrilateral talks every six months, and a recent focus of those talks...

The REAL story behind Australia's $35billion warship deal: How the high-tech 'submarine killer' ships have NEVER been tested in the water - and now experts fear the project could end in 'disaster' Australian taxpayers will foot the $35billion bill to build a new fleet of 'state-of-the-art' anti-submarine warships in a mammoth project experts say could be a disaster - because they've never been tested at sea. British defence firm BAE Systems is building eight Type 26 Global Combat frigates for the British Navy and last week won the contract to construct nine of the so-called 'submarine killers' for Australia's Defence...

Eyewitness to NYC truck attack says alleged suspect “sprinted toward the group of kids” after crashing onto bike path and hitting school bus https://twitter.com/ABC/status/925478646051205120

The Navy's new stealth submarines might not be so stealthy after all. A top executive at the company building the subs has thrown doubt on whether cutting-edge pump-jet propulsion technology will be used as planned. The ultra-quiet technology was a key selling point for the French design that won the Government's competitive evaluation process to build the new submarines at a cost of $50 billion. Jean-Michel Billig, Executive Director of Naval Group, was asked at a naval conference in Sydney earlier this month whether pump-jet propulsion "remained viable" for the Australian submarine. He said it "could" be viable, but also...

Here’s a thought experiment: what if, suddenly, all the world’s submarines could no longer submerge? There they would be, on the surface of the ocean, slow, unwieldy, with no effective protection against attack. They’d be sitting ducks. Fanciful? Perhaps not. With a high probability, something very like this awaits the world’s submarines within the next couple of decades. Submarines are classic stealth predators. They have only one big trick — their invisibility — and they rely on it utterly to mount a successful attack. In that respect, they are no different from sabre-tooth tigers or trapdoor spiders. And like such...

SYDNEY, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday nine war ships set for construction in 2020 will be fitted with long-range ­anti-missile defence systems to counter the threat of rogue nations. Australia's proposed frigates will use Aegis combat systems, produced by Lockheed Martin, in conjunction with SAAB Australia technology, Turnbull said. Tensions in the region have spiked considerably in recent months as North Korea conducted a series of tests of its medium- and long-range ballistic missiles, some of which flew over Japan, as well as its sixth nuclear test on Sept. 3. Pyongyang, which ultimately...

CANBERRA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Europe's largest shipbuilder has promised to list itself on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) if given a 27 billion U.S. dollar navy frigate contract. Italy's Fincantieri on Thursday released the details of its bid for the 27.4 billion U.S. dollar Future Frigates project which will see nine new vessels built for the Australian Navy, the first of which will be launched in the late 2020s. Fincantieri is one of three international companies bidding for the contract alongside Spain's Navantia and the Britain's BAE Systems, all of which are proposing different designs. A bid by Western...

It's all smiles on deck aboard the Australian Navy's newest ship, the Hobart, and there's none bigger than that on Captain John Stavridis. "I pinch myself everyday that I'm actually in command of a guided missile destroyer," he told AAP on Thursday. But the veteran sailor, with 29 years service, says it's not just him. All 186 crew members feel "very fortunate and very blessed" to be serving on the first of Australia's three new Hobart Class destroyers. "It's a very excited crew," he said. Australia's most sophisticated warship comes into service as regional tensions reach boiling point following North...

Washington was rebuffed by the Australian government when it tried to convey strategic concerns about the $150 billion new submarine project, a former senior Pentagon official has revealed. Washington was “not able to have a serious alliance discussion” with the Turnbull government about the Americans’ preference for Japan to build the navy’s new submarines to strengthen Australia-US-Japan ties in the face of a rising China. In the first public comments by a senior Pentagon official at the time, Amy Searight has revealed hidden tensions between the Obama administration and the Australian government last year over the submarine project, which was...

Although the nine future frigates are to be optimised for anti-submarine warfare, confirmation that their armament will include SM-2 missiles means they will also be providing a valuable contribution to the Royal Australian Navy’s task group protection. The SM-2, along with the CEAFAR2 S/X/L band active phased- array radar systems under development by Canberra-based CEA, has been directed by the government to be essential rather than desirable for the $35 billion SEA 5000 Phase 1 purchasing that is expected to begin replacing the RAN’s eight Anzac-Class frigates from about 2027. Equipping the ships of the Future Frigate program with the...

PHOTO: HMAS Adelaide will no longer participate in planned Talisman Sabre exercises with the US. (ABC News: Billy Cooper) Engineers are still trying to identify what is causing problems with the "azimuth" propulsion system on board the $1.5 billion Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs) HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide. "It may well be a design issue," conceded Rear Admiral Adam Grunsell, the head of maritime systems in Defence's Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group. This week, HMAS Adelaide was placed into dry dock at the Garden Island naval base so the ship's propulsion pods could be removed for a thorough examination. The...

If you’re a robot stealing somebody’s job, it’s best to stay hidden. That’s what Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos appears to be thinking, as his Seattle-based web giant has contemplated a two-story, automated grocery store in which a staff of robots on the floor upstairs grabs and bags items for shoppers below. The ground level of the futuristic prototype — a supermarket-sized version of its recently unveiled “Amazon Go” convenience store, with a bigger layout that could span anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 square feet — would be devoted to goods that shoppers typically like to touch, sources briefed on the...

Delays with new air warfare destroyers, the navy's most complex and expensive warships, mean they will go to sea inferior to comparable US vessels. A new study by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says that's because US warships are being equipped with the latest version of the Aegis combat system, which features greatly enhanced capabilities including ballistic missile defence. ASPI analyst James Mugg said defence was aware of this shortcoming and had scheduled an upgrade for the three vessels between 2017 and 2028, at an an eye watering estimated price of $4-5 billion. That's around half the cost of building...

Australia's new air warfare destroyers could be equipped to shoot down ballistic missiles threatening the Australian mainland or deployed troops. That would require a government decision to acquire this politically controversial capability, which could then be retro-fitted to the three vessels. The 2016 Defence White Paper says the threat of missile attack on Australia is low. But more nations, such as North Korea, are acquiring ballistic and cruise missiles and that increases the risk of attack on Australian territory or on deployed forces. Most concerning, such missiles could carry nuclear or chemical warheads. The white paper says Australia and the...

It was the smallest of sounds, too soft for human ears but deemed loud enough to potentially doom an Australian submarine. Two weeks ago, behind closed doors in a shipyard in the German port of Kiel, the secrets behind Australia’s $150 billion submarine decision were finally revealed. It was a moment that left the Germans stunned. They were told for the first time that they had lost the bid because their proposed Aust­ralian submarine had an “un­acceptable’’ level of “radiated noise’’. In the world of submarines, noise equals potential detection and death, but when the Germans pressed the Australian officials...

Australia has awarded the A$50 billion ($40 billion) contract to build the country's new fleet of submarines to French naval contractor DCNS, sources said on Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Japan's nascent defence export industry. Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will officially announce on Tuesday the winner of the contract to build the country's 12 new submarines, but two sources familiar with the process told Reuters that France has secured the contract ahead of Japanese and German bidders. Another source at the French naval contractor said he was "quietly confident" of success ahead of the announcement by Turnbull. Australia...

Australia's new submarines will need the range and endurance to patrol far out into the Pacific or Indian Oceans or up into the South China Sea. For that, a nuclear boat would be ideal. Nuclear subs - nukes - can travel fast and stay submerged almost indefinitely, without the need to come to periscope depth every few days to run a diesel engine to charge batteries. Submariners refer to this periodic need to come to the surface as the 'indiscretion rate'. It's when a submarine is most vulnerable to detection. Successive Australian governments have ruled out the nuclear option for...

The navy is planning to keep all six of its Collins-class submarines in operation until enough new boats are ready to replace them, well into the 2030s. Close to $2 billion has been allocated for upgrade work. Two of the older Collins boats will require overhauls to extend their lives and the others will be modernised progressively to ensure they can match other submarines in the region. Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin told The Australian extra time was needed because the process of selecting, designing and building the new submarines could not be rushed and to ensure that Australia...

Australia will boost defence spending by almost A$30 billion (S$30.2 billion) over the next 10 years as it warns of growing regional tensions and the risk of increasing rivalry between the United States and China. An ambitious 20-year Defence White Paper released yesterday laid out A$195 billion of spending over the next decade, including plans to start buying a A$50 billion fleet of 12 submarines, as well as new frigates, combat jets and maritime surveillance aircraft. In a relatively frank assessment of Australia's defence challenges, the White Paper labelled the delicate ties between the US and China as one of...