Not to worry — Flightdeck Friday will be up, just a wee bit later than normal (like maybe this weekend?) whilst yon not-so-patient scribe wrestles with yet another undocumented feature from the seventh circle of hades, otherwise known as Micro$oft and their late$t flaming dart inflicted on the masses – Vi$ta. We are so looking…
Lost in the turmoil these past few days of the NIE debate, the missing waterboarding tapes, Oprahpaloosa, etc. were two announcements of note out of India. The first was their claim of a successful anti-tactical ballistic missile (ATBM) test using an interceptor based on the indigenously developed-Prithvi SRBM missile, earlier this week with presumably…
Another day underway and another note from Southern Air Pirate for your consideration. Steel Jaw, Well as of a couple of days ago we entered upon Yankee Station. That isn’t what it is actually called, but it best describes it to some other people I talk to. We made the transit through the straits…
A couple of articles in the open press that reveal portions of VADM Morgan’s “Three Futures, One Navy, A Portfolio Analysis” thought piece on three different futures of what the navy might look like have spurred some pretty decent discussions – again – in the Navy blogsphere, particularly over at the usual suspects. Now we…
With the recent press of the Soviet Russian carrier group coming out of hibernation for a Med sortie, we thought it was about time for another Reflections series – this time finding our gallant scribe back at sea after his first shore tour at Naval Postgrad School. This time he is on a second sea…
Our good friend and blogger-in-arms, Mike (of NoAngstZone) has been having some connectivity problems of late (we suspect the ChiComs, but it’s likely a problem resident at Blogger HQ). In the interim, we’ve offered a temp home over here so here’s his first posting as a Guest Author. Welcome aboard Mike! – SJS Knowing…
The clock in 1987 If you are any kind of student of national security policy and haven’t familiarized yourself with George Washington University’s excellent National Security Archives project, you really need to do so. Case in point is their latest project, the release of previously secret Soviet Politburo records and declassified American transcripts of…
For those not so inclined to leap with both feet into the full Appropriations Bills (regular, continuing and sustaining minus the funds for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan), here is a Congressional Research Service study of current Defense Authorization and Appropriations bills with analysis of some of the more important parts (like shipbuilding – pg…
Crane-off an E-2. Now for the small-boys, it’s not as big a deal as they are more practiced at it given t he numbers in their squadrons, but also just because, well, they’re smaller, more compact and don’t have this big ol’ airframe feature called a dome in the middle to deal with that calls…
Quick note from Southern Air Pirate this week. Remember to drop a note or other item via the snail mail to VAQ-130 or VMM-263 this week and tell ’em how much we appreciate what they’re doing for us… – SJS Two U.S. Navy F/A-18 aircraft from the Red Rippers of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11…
