After having spent the better part of a day re-visiting the National Museum of Naval Aviation, located onboard NAS Pensacola, there is much to post about – most good, but some others. For background, despite spending 26 years on active duty, when I left Pensacola for the E-2C replacement squadron (RVAW-120) in Norfolk, I would…
A little something for the recce crowd out there: 1. What is it? 2. What is it used for? 3. What platform is it a part of? Hint: You’ve read about it here before…look in here. Update: What Am I? — dive brakes on the martin AM-1 Mauler:
…And then writes about it. This past week I spent a day with the “Greyhawks†of Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron ONE TWO ZERO (VAW-120) – the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for Hawkeye and Greyhound aircraft. As an FRP squadron, VAW-120 is tasked with training pilots, naval flight officers (NFOs), and aircrew and maintenance personnel…
Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words:
India announced the winners of the down-select in the $9-11B (US) competition for 126 Medium-Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) which will fill the gap between the high-end, 5th generation PAK-FA and India’s own designed and produced Light Combat Aircraft and replace older aircraft (e.g., Mirage’s) already in the inventory. Making the cut were the Eurofighter Typhoon…
We reach a critical junction this week for the future of the Naval Institute. Since February a small but determined group has sought to surface in the light of day plans undertaken to radically change the mission of the Institute and force a new direction which offers little in the way of relevance as a…
The Empty Tomb 1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to…
Couple of developments in the last week with regards to major systems in our Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) plans for the coming decades: Item: The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded concept definition contracts to three teams competing for the SM-3 Block IIB advanced interceptor (aka: Next Generation Aegis Missile (NGAM)). Designed to…
Hard on the heels of the announcement naming the floating casino aircraft carrier after a Ming dynasty admiral who conquered Taiwan, comes word that the naval jack is, well, just not big or bright enough: To match the bigger role that the PLA Navy is playing in international waters, all its vessels will receive bigger,…
 Another test of the SM-3 Blk 1A was successfully completed last night with the intercept of an IRBM-class target: The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), U.S. Navy sailors aboard the Aegis destroyer USS O’KANE (DDG 77), and Soldiers from the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command operating from the 613th Air and Space Operations…
