Military & War News and Discussions

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It's like that old video of soldiers in a Brazilian beach.

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F-22 Raptors Demonstrate Air Superiority in CENTCOM
Source: CENTCOM

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors deployed to U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility as part of a multifaceted show of U.S. support and capability in the wake of increasingly unsafe and unprofessional behavior by Russian aircraft in the region.

The Raptors, from Langley Air Force Base, Va.'s 94th Fighter Squadron, are demonstrating the U.S.' ability to re-posture forces and deliver overwhelming power at a moment's notice.

The F-22's combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and mission systems make it the best fifth-generation fighter in the world.

While in the CENTCOM area, the 94th Fighter Squadron will integrate with coalition forces on the ground and in the air.

"Russian Forces' unsafe and unprofessional behavior is not what we expect from a professional air force. Their regular violation of agreed upon airspace deconfliction measures increases the risk of escalation or miscalculation," said Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, commander of U.S. Central Command. "Alongside our partners and allies, we are committed to improving the security and stability in the region."

This rapid deployment and integration into coalition operations is a clear demonstration of the commitment shared by partners, allies, and the U.S. to long-term peace and stability in the region.

Read more: https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-REL ... n-centcom/

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How Contractor CEOs Get Rich Off Taxpayers
by Sam Pizzigati
June 14, 2023

Introduction:

(Other Words) Does anyone have a sweeter deal than military contractor CEOs?

The United States spent more last year on defense than the next 10 nations combined. A deal just brokered by the White House and House Republicans increases that amount even further — to $886 billion. Defense contractors will pocket about half of that.

Just eight years ago, the national defense community made do with over $300 billion less. But making do with “less” doesn’t come easy to corporate titans like Dave Calhoun, the CEO at Boeing, the nation’s second-largest defense contractor.

In March, Boeing’s annual filings revealed that Calhoun had missed his CEO performance targets and would not be receiving a $7 million bonus. As a result, Calhoun had to be content with a mere $22.5 million in 2022 — but to sweeten the deal, the Boeing board granted their CEO an extra stack of shares worth some $15 million at today’s value.

The Government Accountability Office may have had incidents just like that in mind when it urged the Pentagon to “comprehensively assess” its contract financing arrangements a few years ago.

Read more here: https://otherwords.org/how-contractor- ... xpayers/

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To Clear the Air, Cut Military Spending
by Alliyah Lusuegro
June 28, 2023

Extract:

(Other Words) Most of us understand that we urgently need to transition away from fossil fuels. But what many Americans don’t realize is that a huge share of our tax dollars are actually funding the most carbon-intensive institution on the planet: the U.S. military.

The U.S. military is the largest institutional oil consumer in the world. In fact, the Pentagon’s ships, jets, bombers, and Humvees — and its global network of over 800 bases, all with buildings to heat, cool, and maintain — produce more carbon emissions each year than entire countries like Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal.

Under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and other new laws, the U.S. is expected to spend about $50 billion per year on climate for next decade. But these welcome investments are dwarfed by much bigger spending on our polluting military.

The Biden administration requested a whopping $886 billion military budget for 2024. In the wake of the debt deal recently passed by Congress, that number may actually still increase. We’re steadily approaching an annual outlay of $1 trillion for the Pentagon alone, while other programs to regulate pollution or address its health impacts could see cuts.
…
We need to get our priorities straight by pulling away from fossil fuels and our bloated military spending. Instead, let’s put our resources towards protecting our people and the environment.

Read more here: https://otherwords.org/clear-the-air-c ... pending/

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U.S., Japan, South Korea and Australia Hold Pacific Vanguard Naval Exercises Near Guam
by Duncan DeAeth
July 7, 2023

Complete article (less photo of USS Howard):

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The 2023 Pacific Vanguard naval exercises are underway in waters near Guam this week, with vessels from South Korea once again joining Quad members Australia, Japan, and the U.S., the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said earlier this week.

The Pacific Vanguard Exercises, inaugurated in 2019, are designed for allied navies of the region to improve interoperability and practice “skills in maritime operations, anti-submarine warfare operations, air warfare operations, live-fire missile events, and advanced maneuvering scenarios,” according to a press release. This year’s exercises began on July 1 and will continue through Wednesday (July 12), reported Foreign Brief.

The primary ships taking part in this year’s exercises include the guided-missile destroyer USS Howard, Japan’s destroyer JS Shiranui, and South Korea’s destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great. This year, the Australian contingent is represented by advisors and tacticians on the watch floor of several vessels.

Although South Korea is not a member of the Quad, which also includes India, it is considered a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue Plus Member, and has a bilateral security pact with the U.S. As an important regional partner of the Quad, South Korea has participated in the Pacific Vanguard Exercises since they began five years ago.

"Cooperative engagements with our Allies during exercises like Pacific Vanguard are critical to ensuring we can stay a strong and effective interoperable force… A free and open Indo-Pacific is made possible by the relationships we build together during exercises like this one,”said the commanding officer of the USS Howard, Kenji Igawa.

Read more here: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4938645

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The Last Declared Chemical Weapons on Earth Have Been Officially Destroyed
by Mike McRae
July 19, 2023

Introduction:

(Science Alert) There was a time the US could claim to have at its disposal 30,000 tons of liquefied death, disfiguration, and agony, held at the ready in explosive metal canisters in storage facilities around the world.

Today that figure is officially zero. On July 7, 2023, one last M55 rocket containing the nerve agent Sarin was punctured, drained, and incinerated, bringing an official end to humanity's use of chemical weapons.

"This is the first time an international body has verified destruction of an entire category of declared weapons of mass destruction – reinforcing the United States' commitment to creating a world free of chemical weapons," Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William A. LaPlante stated in a media release.

It's been more than thirty years since US president George Bush and Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev bilaterally agreed to ending the production of all chemical weapons and destroying their respective stockpiles.

Perversely, it's been nearly a century since the establishment of the Geneva Protocol, a treaty banning the use of chemical and biological weapons in conflict.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-last- ... stroyed

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Lockheed Martin juices up its laser weapon to half a megawatt
By David Szondy
July 31, 2023
https://newatlas.com/military/lockheed- ... on-500-kw/

Lockheed Martin is raising the bar on its 300-kW laser weapon system, announcing it is scaling it up to 500 kW under a new contract from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering (OUSD (R&E)).

With the ability to intercept targets at the speed of light and an operating cost of a dollar a shot, lasers have been very attractive in military circles for six decades. However, getting practical laser weapons to the battlefield has been a long time coming because of the need to make such systems light enough, compact enough, robust enough, and powerful enough for the job.

As part of the second phase of the High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative (HELSI), Lockheed is pushing to increase the output of its solid-state laser weapon to 500 kW, giving it the capacity to take on larger, harder, and more maneuverable threats.

As in previous iterations, the laser is generated by coils of optical fibers doped with neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet and integrated into a system that includes a target illuminator laser (TILL) for locking onto and tracking targets and a beacon illuminator laser (BILL) for measuring atmospheric distortion that is compensated for by adaptive optics. These, with the high-energy laser, in turn, are linked to a battle management system that monitors the area, tracks and evaluates potential targets, and determines the level of threats.

[Vector]

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Air Force pulls off first AI flight in pilotless plane
Source: Stars and Stripes

Air Force researchers are touting the achievement of the first unmanned flight using artificial intelligence algorithms after a successful three-hour sortie by an XQ-58A Valkyrie.

The flight took place at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base on July 25, according to a statement issued Thursday by the Air Force Research Lab, which developed the unmanned plane in partnership with Kratos.

The AI algorithms used in the flight were created by the lab and honed through millions of hours of simulations, the statement said.

“AI will be a critical element to future warfighting and the speed at which we’re going to have to understand the operational picture and make decisions,” said Brig. Gen. Scott Cain, the research lab commander. “We need the coordinated efforts of our government, academia and industry partners to keep pace.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_fo ... 42189.html

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US Army 2040 Plans With Iron Man-like Strength Enhancing Armor
August 21, 2023 by Brian Wang

The US Army Research Lab has presented general vision for 2040 which features giving soldiers Iron Man like powered full body armor with strength enhancement capabilities and creating new lighter tanks.

The US Army has been funding powered and unpowered exoskeletons to help soldiers lift loads and enhance performance.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/08/u ... armor.html

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Pentagon Eyes JetZero Blended Wing for Next Generation Air Refueling System
August 21, 2023 by Brian Wang

Jet Zero won the US Air Force $235 million blended wing demonstrator contract. Jet Zero will build a full scale demonstrator by the first quarter of 2027.

The prototype will be aimed at demonstrating at least a 30%-plus improvement in fuel efficiency compared to the Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered Boeing KC-46, and a 30% increase in range. The project also targets a 70% increase in productivity compared to the C-17.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/08/p ... ystem.html

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China’s Navy Has a Coilgun for Launching Smart Torpedos at 435 MPH
August 27, 2023 by Brian Wang
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/08/c ... 5-mph.html

The Chinese navy is reportedly testing the planet’s most powerful coil gun which can accelerate a 124kg projectile in a firing test to a speed of 700km/h in less than 0.05 seconds. It was the heaviest known projectile to be used in a coil gun experiment. A normal torpedo move at 58 mph and have a 24 mile range. The China coilgun torpedo looks like it is 15 inches wide instead of the US coilgun system with 4 inch wide projectiles.

Above – The Chinese team developed a smart projectile equipped with sensors that are shielded from electromagnetic interference, allowing them to collect better data. Photo: Naval University of Engineering

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B-21 Superstealth Bomber First Flight in Days and It Can Beat China’s Super Radar and Defenses
September 13, 2023 by Brian Wang

The U.S. Air Force announced today the B-21 Raider has started engine runs as part of its ground test program at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, California, facility. Engine testing is an essential milestone for the program as the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft continues on the path to flight test. A first flight in the next few days keeps the B-21 for operational capability in 2027. It will be able to beat China’s super anti-stealth radar, the YLC-8E.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/09/b ... enses.html

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China’s Top Navy Scientist Designs Nuclear Aircraft Carrier With Railguns and Lasers
September 25, 2023 by Brian Wang

China’s top naval scientist, Ma Weiming, has designed a nuclear-powered warship with rail gun, laser and high-powered microwave weapons.

US aircraft carriers have been nuclear powered for many decades and the newest Ford supercarrier has electromagnetic launchers. What is new in the Weiming designs are the extensive integration of rail guns, lasers, and high-powered microwave weapons. Weiming also looks more extensively at designing around electrical power.

Here is part of multi-page Transactions of China Electrotechnical journal article.

The paper describes transforming China into a railgun, laser equiped nuclear navy and having dual use with commercial ships, new high speed rail and electromagnetic space launch.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/09/c ... asers.html

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US Navy F/A-XX Sixth Gen Stealth Fighter for the 2030s
October 2, 2023 by Brian Wang

Youtuber Pilot Photog has renderings of the likely look of the US Navy’s planned F/A-XX 6th generation stealth fighter. The reason Pilot Photog can be quite confident that the F/A-XX will look like this is that a blended wing body (BWB) design. The BWB is what will be used for the Air Force NGAD (Next Generation Air Domination) 6th generation fighter.

The BWB has more range and is better for stealth.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/10/u ... 2030s.html

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Northrop Grumman to build one-shot-one-kill shell for US Navy
By David Szondy
October 08, 2023
https://newatlas.com/military/northrop- ... l-us-navy/

As the age of the smart weapon continues, Northrop Grumman has been awarded a US Navy contract to develop a new self-guided 57-mm artillery shell for the Navy's Mk110 Naval Gun Mount medium-sized gun used on Littoral Combat Ships.

If you watch old movies or newsreels of naval combat, they tend to resemble gunpowder-besmirched storms with shot and shell blasting all over the place like steel rain. Today, things have changed as the major navies rely much more on precision rather than sheer firepower. Instead of massive salvos of giant shells packed with high explosives fired in the hopes of one of them landing close enough to the target to cause some damage, the goal nowadays is to shoot one round filled with not much explosives designed to land just where it can do the most good – or the most harm, depending on your point of view.

This one-shot-one-kill approach is behind the new 57-mm shell being developed by Northrop. Using technology similar to the kits the company makes to turn dumb iron bombs into precision munitions, the new shell uses a miniaturized and ruggedized version that incorporates seeker sensors to lock onto and home in on even a small, fast, agile target, and an aft-mounted directional system to steer it in for the final impact. In addition, the fuse can self-select for proximity or point-detonation mode for maximum effect.

The result is a round that can be fired at longer range yet still be able to engage and destroy a target no matter how many times it turns to evade. Also, the new shell can do this without any modifications to the existing deck gun.

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Revolutionary DARPA X-65 Plane With No Moving Control Surfaces
October 10, 2023 by Brian Wang
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2023/10/r ... parts.html

DARPA and Aurora, subsidiary of Boeing, are making a breakthrough X-plane without regular flights controls. The Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program aims to design, build, and flight test a novel X-plane that incorporates Active Flow Control (AFC) as a primary design consideration. Crane seeks to optimize the benefits of active flow control by maturing technologies and design tools, and incorporating them early in the design process. Active flow control could improve aircraft performance by removing jointed surfaces, which currently drive design configurations that increase weight and mechanical complexity. Demonstrating AFC for stability and control in-flight would help open the design trade space for future military and commercial applications. In 2023, the aircraft received its official designation as X-65.

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Raytheon to build revolutionary rotating detonation engine for DARPA
By David Szondy
October 12, 2023
https://newatlas.com/military/raytheon- ... for-darpa/

DARPA has contracted Raytheon to develop a practical version of a revolutionary air-breathing rotating detonation engine called Gambit, which would have no moving parts and could lead to lighter missiles with longer ranges at lower cost.

Gas turbines are remarkable power plants that have made possible modern air travel and many weapon systems, but they suffer from a number of disadvantages. They are complex machines that are heavy, have many moving parts that are costly to assemble and maintain, and they require exotic materials and special processing to handle the tremendous temperatures they operate at.

It's bad enough when such an engine is installed in an aircraft, but when it's part of a throwaway weapon like a cruise missile, this not only limits the payload, it runs into some serious money.

One alternative is the Rotating Detonation Engine (RDE), which replaces the complexities of the turbine with a peculiar property of burning fuel/air mixtures.