Osprey Down: Four dead

April 9, 2010

News is sketchy, but reports say that a CV-22 went down in Afghanistan.  Four are reportedly dead, many reportedly injured.  Cause unknown. CV-22s have been the quiet, successful side of the MV-22 story.  Whenever anything looked bad for the Marines’ MV-22, the Air Force CV-22s were out there doing good things. This is, of cour […]

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The CNA “Tippy-point” report is intellectually flabby:

April 8, 2010

So a lot of people have been chatting about the Center For Naval Analyses’ new report, “The Navy at a Tipping Point: Maritime Dominance at Stake?“.  As much as I like digging into a good Navy study, the broad-brush imprecision of CNA authors worries me.  Use caution before citing this report as a decision document. […]

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In Press: Quoted In the Globe and Mail

April 6, 2010

And coverage of Iran’s small-craft acquisition continues.  Out of all the rehashing, the Globe and Mail’s Paul Koring generated a standout Bladerunner story, with some interesting info on the Bladerunner craft itself and some added background on the small boat threat: “…The Tamil Tigers attacked cargo vessels with explosives-laden launches with some success. Against Sri […]

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In Press: Quoted In the Financial Times

April 5, 2010

I recently had the pleasure of  talking to a Financial Times reporter about Iran’s appetite for small boats. The story, dealing with the saga of the “Bradstone Challenger“, a Bladerunner 51 speedboat, just hit the press today (and it got some love from Drudge (bottom middle column), so…good times). (.pdf here) I noted Iran’s interest […]

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Ex-USS Iowa (BB-61)…on death row:

April 2, 2010

With the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) agreeing to remove the 52 ships currently moored in the Suisun Bay, the ex-USS Iowa’s execution will be held by September 30, 2017. That’s the date when the last of the Suisun Bay fleet must go. This is a trade-off. MARAD is responding to a suit by […]

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Another Trident test…in Saudi Arabia?! Or..April Fools joke?

March 31, 2010

So, it seems the (estimated) 131st consecutive successful Trident test flight went off in an epic fashion! In Saudi! That’s…unprecedented. (UPDATE: Looks like the story is getting walked back a bit…the AP’s source, “A Western military official in Saudi Arabia” is being contradicted by Pentagon spokespersons–who say there was no launch of any kind.) How, […]

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Arctic meet turns frosty:

March 30, 2010

As the Arctic heats up, diplomatic meetings are getting rather frosty. You might have missed this, but Canada got a public rebuke from the U.S. yesterday over Arctic policy.  From the Voice of America: On Viagra price Monday, Canada hosted a meeting of foreign ministers from five countries with Arctic coastlines for talks on maritime […]

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Overlooked in Arms Control: Prompt Global Strike!

March 30, 2010

Yes, this is old news…but it’s something worth covering.  The Prague Treaty opens the way for research on Prompt Global Strike: No Constraints on Missile Defense and Conventional Strike: The Treaty d order viagra online oes not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or current […]

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And in April’s USNI Proceedings…

March 29, 2010

ConflictHealth.com‘s Chris Albon and I cooked up a little article on China’s Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile threat. Read it here. zp8497586rq

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EMP threat analysis returns!

March 27, 2010

Phil Ewing over at Navy Times makes an interesting catch: Navy engineers in March began looking into how the fleet should prepare for an attack by one of the most feared and controversial weapons of the modern age: an electromagnetic pulse. So, even though the U.S. is working to cut nuclear weapons, we’re also preparing […]

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