BULLHORN 35
12JAN09

ANAers!!

We hope your Christmas was grand and that the New Year has started with warmth, love and prosperity. We look forward to 2009 as a year dedicated to continuing to build our organization and advancing Naval Aviation in every possible venue at every opportunity.

There’s a lot to look forward to – first and foremost, our Sailors and Marines continue to do us proud in the War on Terror, both at home and in the AOR of Iraq and Afghanistan – and now in the war on pirates - lots to do for our Navy and for Naval Aviation.

Here at home USS BUSH (CVN-77) was commissioned Saturday, 10JAN, and we are watching USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) being built as a whole new class of carrier! …….. and we are watching the new P-8 POSIDEON and counting down to flight-test delivery of the first aircraft, the F/A-18G GROWLER roll off the production lines and working toward full integration into the Fleet, continued development on the Advanced HAWKEYE, development and delivery of a number of helicopters for Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, continued transition of the Coast Guard fixed-wing operations into the HC-144A OCEAN SENTRY, and lots more. On an “other” side, we will decommission USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63) the end of the month.

When one stacks everything up, it looks like a pretty good year – BUT not one in which we can sit back, not sit on our laurels. Like so many times before, now is the time to be active, getting our message about Naval Aviation out to everyone – friends, neighbors, strangers on the street, folks at that service group meeting held every Wednesday lunchtime at the local restaurant, or the VFW at their monthly meeting, and there’s lots more. And do not forget our government representatives, especially our Members of Congress. As we go through the coming change in administrations, this above all, will be a critical time for us to maintain support for Naval Aviation.

LOST and found - If you know of the whereabouts of these lost members, please email Dutch at svwindmills@erols.com.

LOST – Mr. Harvey L. Lively, last of Liberty, MO (MO-KAN Squadron)

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ANA WEB SITE

We are still working hard to make the ANA web site - http://www.anahq.org – as good as we can. Please stop by – and roam around our bit of the cyber world. Your thoughts, criticism, whatever are always welcome.

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SQUADRON WEB SITES

So we may have a complete listing of all squadron web sites, all the better to feature them with hyperlinks on the ANAHQ site, please email Dutch with your URLs.

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Blue Angels Schedule 2009

e Angels 20092009 Show Schedule

MARCH 2009

14
21 - 22
28 - 29

NAF El Centro, California
Punta Gorda, Florida
Tyndall AFB, Florida

APRIL 2009

04 - 05
18 - 19
25 - 26

Tuscaloosa, Alabama
NAS Corpus Christi, Texas
Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina

MAY 2009

02 - 03
16 - 17
20 & 22
23 - 24
30 - 31

NAS New Orleans, Louisiana
MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina
USNA, Annapolis, Maryland
Pax River, Maryland
Janesville, Wisconsin

JUNE 2009

06 - 07
13 - 14
20 - 21
27 - 28

Indianapolis, Indiana
Denver, Colorado
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
North Kingston, Rhode Island

JULY 2009

04 - 05
11 - 12
18
25 - 26

Binghamton, New York
Detroit Gold Cup, Michigan (pending)
Pensacola Beach, Florida (pending)
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

AUGUST   2009

01 - 02
08 - 09
22 - 23
29 - 30

Seattle, Washington
Salinas, California
Fargo, North Dakota
Offutt AFB, Nebraska

SEPTEMBER   2009

05 - 07
11
19 - 20
26 - 27

Toronto, Canada
NAS Fallon, Nevada
Reno Air Races, Nevada
Redding, California

OCTOBER   2009

02 - 04
10 - 11
17 - 18
24 - 25
31

MCAS Miramar, California
San Francisco, California
NAS Oceana, Virginia
Fort Worth, Texas
Houston, Texas

NOVEMBER   2009

01
07 - 08
13 - 14
Houston, Texas
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
NAS Pensacola, Florida

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NEWS                  NEWS             NEWS

George H.W. Bush: Carrier Honors Freedom, Sacrifice, Service

(NORFOLK VIRGINIAN-PILOT 11 JAN 09) ... Kathy Adams and Matthew Jones

NORFOLK - With a generous helping of pomp and a healthy amount of circumstance, the Navy commissioned the last of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the George H.W. Bush, on Saturday morning.

Under a blue sky and a chilling wind, a host of dignitaries assembled on one of the ship's starboard elevators, hovering above Pier 14 at Norfolk Naval Station.

Former President Bush arrived by a motorcade that crept along the pier in front of about 15,000 spectators. A Marine helicopter landing on the carrier's flight deck delivered President George W. Bush soon after.

A multi-gun salute from the starboard bow followed, and then a ceremony in which

speakers praised both men for their service to their country.

During the invocation, ship's chaplain Cmdr. Patrick McLaughlin called the senior Bush "the example of honor and commitment," adding that his namesake ship was eager to follow his lead.

"We are ready to become the George H.W. Bush."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "There is no one more worthy of having the last Nimitz-class aircraft carrier named after him than the 41st president."

He moved on to introduce President George W. Bush, who he said has "a courage and a toughness that has impressed all those who worked for him."

As for the ship and its crew, Gates continued, they embody the "leadership, power and conscience" necessary to ensure peace in the world.

The current President Bush told of his parents' early courtship as his father was flying for the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. Barbara Bush knitted socks for him. George H.W. Bush collected shells on Pacific atolls for her.

He went on to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for a raid in which his plane was shot down.

The carrier, his son said, is "a fitting tribute to the generation of men with whom my father was proud to serve."

Speaking of the modern-day military, Bush said, "Again, they are making the world safer. And again, they will come home in victory."

"I ask that God protect this ship," he concluded. "I ask God's continued blessings on this wonderful nation."

After Bush's speech, Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter put the ship into commission. The Bush was granted special commissioning status, since it still has to complete sea trials. The Navy expects to take ownership in March.

The Bush is expected to replace the conventional carrier Kitty Hawk, which is scheduled for decommissioning. Initially, it will be based in Norfolk. Both Norfolk and Mayport, Fla., are vying to permanently homeport it.

With thousands of jobs and about $650 million a year in economic activity at stake, that contest has become highly political. Virginia officials have suggested that the Navy's recommendation to shift a carrier away from Norfolk is motivated by Republican wishes (the current president's brother Jeb is a former governor of Florida), not a significant increase in safety to the East Coast fleet.

But that debate, as well as any larger questions about the current president's handling of military issues, was kept at arm's length during the commissioning festivities. Winter, who is expected to announce a final decision on Mayport before leaving office this month, offered no new information in a talk with reporters after the ceremony. President George W. Bush didn't speak to the media.

Capt. Kevin O'Flaherty officially took command of the carrier at noon from Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, who reminded him that "to take command of this ship is to take on an awesome commitment."

The ship will serve America for the next 50 years, in wartime and peace, Roughead said.

"While we do not know what the future holds," he continued, the carrier will give future commanders in chief "options to respond in a way no other nation can."

O'Flaherty then introduced George H.W. Bush, who recounted two memorable events from his early years. One was his courting of Barbara Bush, with whom he celebrates a 64th anniversary this week. The other was his reporting for duty aboard the carrier San Jacinto, which, at the time, was the largest ship he had ever seen.

He went on to speak briefly of the values of freedom, sacrifice and service and of how his namesake carrier would have dwarfed the San Jacinto.

To the crew, he said simply, "Thank you for your service."

Bush then participated in the ceremonial setting of the first watch.

It fell to his daughter and the ship's sponsor, Dorothy Bush Koch, to issue the command everyone had been awaiting for years: "Officers and crew of the USS George H.W. Bush, man our ship and prepare it to fight!"

"Aye, ma'am!" responded the crew, which stood at attention on the pier below.

Trotting off in single file, they climbed the ship's brows and disappeared into the hangar bay, re-emerging on the flight deck overhead and running to take their spots along its edge as the band played a jaunty tune below.

Once they were in place, a quartet of F/A-18 Super Hornets screamed by overhead, followed by a lone TBM Avenger, the same model of torpedo bomber that Bush flew in World War II.

O'Flaherty then reported for duty to Adm. Jonathan Greenert, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces.

Mike Petters, president of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, came next, speaking of how the company's workers "build with our hands, with our heads and with our hearts."

"May the ship be as strong, as powerful and as noble as the individual who gave it its name," he said.

In his closing remarks, O'Flaherty asked the Bush crew's family members to stand and be honored, because his sailors couldn't serve without their support.

The crew, he added, is "humbled to have been chosen for this task."

"We are here to serve," he concluded. "We are trained. We are ready to take this ship to sea."

After the ceremony, once the presidents and other dignitaries had left, the thousands of spectators began either climbing the brows to tour the ship, or filing off the pier.

Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Delzer reunited with his mother on the pier. Their favorite part of the ceremony was when the sailors ran aboard, bringing the ship to life.

"I thought a lot about him growing up; it was in the back of my mind," said Barbara Delzer, of Cleveland, Ohio. "To see them standing up there - he's a man now."

Delzer said he didn't mind standing in the cold for several hours.

"It's a tradition, an honor," he said. "The current and former presidents, the integrity that they had, it's evident in the ship and crew."

. Additional information on Nimitz-class carriers is also available online at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=200&ct=4   - Dutch

Checkmates Fly from Iraq into Sunset

By Clark Pierce, Naval Air Station Jacksonville Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- The Sailors of Sea Control Squadron (VS) 22 returned to Naval Air Station Jacksonville Dec. 15 after completing a five-month deployment to Al-Asad Air Base, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Their boots-on-the-ground and eyes-in-the-sky deployment in Iraq, required that VS-22 pilots, aircrew and maintainers operate in a very dangerous environment, substantially different from the conditions they normally encounter as a carrier-based platform.

To meet the demands of this mission, each of the 205 "Checkmates" completed anti-terrorism and desert survival training, in addition to qualifying with the M-16 rifle and M-9 pistol, prior to their deployment.

The large Al Asad Air Base (formerly Saddam Hussein's premier MiG-25 Foxbat air base) is located south of the Euphrates River in the volatile, largely Sunni, Al Anbar Province in western Iraq.

The squadron brought four S-3B Vikings to Al Asad, each equipped with the latest LANTIRN (Low Altitude Navigation Targeting Infrared for Night) navigation pod. LANTIRN is a terrain-following radar that enables pilots to maneuver and surveil at low altitudes during daylight or at night. According Lt. Jason Tarrant, the squadron flew about 80 percent of its non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (NTISR) combat missions at night.

"The Viking's LANTIRN infrared capability was invaluable for taking away the cover of darkness from enemy combatants," said Tarrant. "The Checkmates routinely detected heat signatures of vehicles, shelters, people and IEDs (improvised explosive devices) –and relayed that information to convoys and combat teams in the affected area."

The Checkmates flew an average of three sorties a day.

"Our VS-22 maintenance personnel displayed tireless dedication to keep these soon-to-be-retired birds mission ready. As far as I know, we sustained a 100 percent sortie completion record," said Tarrant.

VS-22 is the Navy's last S-3B Viking squadron. Disestablishment activities are scheduled for Jan. 28-30.

F/A-18F Super Hornets for Australia begin final assembly

Final assembly operations for the first of 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets for
the Royal Australian Air Force began Tuesday at Boeing St. Louis. The
Super Hornets will be delivered to the RAAF from the first quarter of
2010 through late 2011.

"The Super Hornet is on schedule to deliver unmatched multirole
capabilities for Australia," said Bob Gower, vice president of F/A-18
and EA-18 Programs for Global Strike Systems, Boeing Integrated Defense
Systems. "The Block II Super Hornet's next-generation technologies -
including AESA radar, fused sensors, and a network centric data-sharing
environment - will provide wide-ranging air combat solutions for
Australian Defence forces. Those capabilities will be delivered in a
date-certain and cost-certain program ."
Group Capt. Steve Roberton, head Air Combat Transition Office, RAAF,
said the Super Hornet will enable Australia to retain a regionally
superior air combat capability. "The Super Hornet will bring Australia
into a new generation of air power," Roberton said. "Its advanced,
networked weapons system will deliver unprecedented air combat
capability across the spectrum of air defense, strategic land attack and
maritime strike. It is a true multirole aircraft and there's a lot of
excitement on the ground in Air Combat Group about the arrival of the
RAAF's Super Hornet."
The Super Hornet being produced for Australia is based on the F/A-18F
operated by the U.S. Navy. The Block II Super Hornet is the first
operationally deployed strike fighter that incorporates next-generation
capabilities.
"The Super Hornet is a model acquisition program for the United States
and the U.S. Navy, one that has continued to add capability while
decreasing costs," said U.S. Navy Capt. James Kennedy, F/A-18
International Business deputy program manager. "The Super Hornet will
provide our Australian partners with a powerful new weapon system. I'm
certain they will find the unparalleled aircrew situational awareness
and seamless execution of same-time air and ground missions to be as
invaluable as our U.S. Navy aircrews do. The Super Hornet is delivering
tomorrow's capabilities today."
The Australian government announced in March 2007 that it would acquire
24 F/A-18Fs, making Australia the first international Super Hornet
customer.
To date, more than 375 Super Hornets have been delivered to the Navy,
each on or ahead of schedule.

Boeing Offers US Navy F-18s Under $50 Million

(REUTERS 17 DEC 08) ... Julie Vorman

WASHINGTON - Boeing Co highlighted the affordability and capability of its F-18 fighter jets, saying Wednesday it had offered them at less than $50 million each to cover the U.S. Navy's expected "fighter gap" until the new F-35 fighter is available.

"We continue to work on F-18 to make it more affordable, more survivable... and more capable and offer that up as an alternative to some of the other programs that might be pursued," Jim Albaugh, the head of Boeing's defense business, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington.

The twin-engine F-18, which was developed in the 1970s for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, can be used for surveillance and other missions, and could be an alternative if there are delays in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, he said.

Boeing's proposal to the Navy, submitted "last summer," would be based on a multiyear contract, he said. "We gave them several different scenarios. We would like a decision on the next multiyear for F18s sometime in 2009 calendar year."

Rolls-Royce Signs $131 Million Deal For JSF Liftsystems

(DEFENSE DAILY 18 DEC 08)

Rolls-Royce this week said it signed a $131 million contract with Pratt & Whitney [UTX] to supply LiftSystems for the first six Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft.

"STOVL technology is a huge asset for Rolls-Royce and the company has played a pioneering role in its development since the launch of the Pegasus engine for the Harrier in the late 1950s," Axel Arendt, president of Defence at Rolls-Royce, said. "With the F-35 project we are utilizing the latest technologies to power the next generation of STOVL aircraft."

The company called the order "significant" and said it and represents the first production contract for Rolls-Royce as part of its involvement in the world's biggest-ever defense procurement program.

The Rolls-Royce LiftSystem comprises a LiftFan, Roll Posts and three Bearing Swivel Module.

Rolls-Royce will provide these through the propulsion system prime contractor Pratt & Whitney, with parts deliveries beginning as early as next month. The scope of the contract also includes spare hardware, production investment and sustainment planning.

"The LiftSystem program is rapidly gaining momentum on both sides of the Atlantic and this significant step forward puts us firmly into the production phase for this game-changing aircraft," Simon Henley, program director for New Product Introduction at Rolls-Royce, added.

Orders for the LiftSystem are expected to total over 600, with leading customers including the Marine Corps, the United Kingdom Armed Forces and the Italian navy. The F-35B variant is expected to remain in service well after 2050.

Unmanned Carrier Bomber Jet Unveiled

(NAVY TIMES 17 DEC 08) ... Gidget Fuentes

PALMDALE, Calif. — The Navy’s plan for its future carrier air wing took a leap into autonomous flight on Tuesday with the unveiling here of a stealthy, bat wing-like unmanned jet.

Dubbed Air Vehicle 1, the X-47B aircraft is the first of what will be two demonstration aircraft built by Northrop Grumman Corp. It was designed to test the idea of an autonomous airplane that would launch and recover on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and conduct strike and other missions — without the hands-on controls of an onboard pilot.

Hundreds of workers joined military and company officials in a hangar at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale site Tuesday afternoon for the official “unveiling” ceremony, where guests got a close-up look at an aircraft — the Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstration, or UCAS-D — that only two months ago wasn’t yet assembled. The X-47B’s bat wing shape takes a page from the Air Force’s B-2 stealth bomber, which Northrop Grumman designed and built, then in secret, at this desert location north of Los Angeles.

“This will be the airplane we’ll be flying next year,” Scott Winship, UCAS program manager and Northrop Grumman vice president, told reporters before the ceremony.

Engineers will put the aircraft through a series of proof tests here and at nearby Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and will conduct its first flight before the aircraft heads east to Patuxent River, Md., in November 2009 for a year of additional testing and the official “roll out” ceremony. “We’ve still got a long way to go,” said Gene Fraser, deputy vice president for Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems-Western Region.

That includes the important shipboard trials, which will test the aircraft in the harsher, less forgiving and busy environment of a carrier in the open ocean. Program officials plan to conduct sea trials and the first flight aboard an aircraft carrier in November 2011, an event set to mark the 100th anniversary of naval aviation. The aircraft carrier Truman will likely get the nod as the first to host and operate the aircraft at sea, said Capt. Martin Deppe, the Navy’s UCAS program manager.

Winship said the advent of the aircraft “signals a sea change in military aviation.”

The carrier-based aircraft will provide commanders with an airplane that can be launched farther at sea, and without a pilot, the aircraft can fly distant missions and loiter over a target or combat zone much longer than what a human pilot and aircrew can safely do.

“This airplane is flying itself,” Deppe noted.

Officials said the X-47B was designed for autonomous aerial refueling by both naval tankers, which use the probe and drogue system, and Air Force tankers, which refuel with a boom and receptacle.

Northrop Grumman, which last year won the Navy’s $635.8 million contract to build the two X-47B aircraft, leads an industry team building the single-engine aircraft, which is designed with landing gear and an arresting hook for carrier catapults and launches and foldable wings for easier stowage. The jet’s twin weapons bays will hold a pair of 2,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or guided bombs, for strike missions, but it also will be outfitted with various systems and sensors that would expand its capabilities to include time-sensitive targeting and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Navy officials hope to ultimately outfit and deploy the first unmanned combat squadron by 2025, when the unmanned airplanes would operate from carrier flight decks alongside the Joint Strike Fighter jets.

The X-47B, painted in the Navy’s traditional haze gray scheme, already bears the aircraft’s bureau number of 168063 on a bomber bay hatch.

Donegan Takes Over For Wren

Ceremony Aboard GW Welcomes A New Commander To Yokosuka

(STARS AND STRIPES 19 DEC 08) ... Erik Slavin

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Rear Adm. Kevin Donegan took command of much of Yokosuka Naval Base’s battle arsenal during a ceremony Wednesday aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.

Donegan succeeded Rear Adm. Richard Wren as head of Commander Task Force 70 and 75, Battle Force 7th Fleet and Carrier Strike Group 5.

"[Donegan] will do great things with Battle Force 7th Fleet," said Wren, who has been selected to take over as Commander, Naval Forces Japan next year. As he relinquished command, Wren received a Legion of Merit award. Wren’s wife, Diane, received a meritorious public service award.

Donegan, who arrived at Yokosuka from the Pentagon’s Strategy and Policy Division, was the George Washington’s executive officer during the carrier’s 2002 Mediterranean Sea and Middle East deployment. He told the audience that the servicemembers under his command would always be "at the forefront of my thoughts and actions."

This is the second time Donegan has assumed command from Wren. He took the helm of the USS Carl Vinson from Wren in 2004. Donegan’s brother, Capt. Brian Donegan, formerly commanded the USS Essex out of Sasebo Naval Base, Japan.

After the ceremony, Wren said he thought he would take command of CNFJ in April, but that it depends on when current CNFJ commander Rear Adm. James Kelly receives orders for his next assignment.

Growler Grounded By Left Engine Fire

(NAVY TIMES 21 DEC 08) ... Andrew Tilghman

A Navy EA-18G “Growler” made an emergency landing at Nellis Air Force Base in California after its left engine caught on fire on Nov. 17, Navy officials say.

The plane landed safely and nobody was injured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, said Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces.

The aircraft was conducting “routine operational testing” and was one of three assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine based at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California, Brown said.

The incident was upgraded to a Class A mishap after a maintenance team determined that the cost of the fire exceeded $1 million, said April Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Naval Safety Center.

The engine fire marked the first Class A mishap for the Growler since the Boeing-made aircraft went into service earlier this year. The Navy plans to buy 88 Growlers, which will replace the EA-6B Prowler as the fleet’s primary electronic warfare aircraft.

The Navy has seven Growlers, which are versions of the F/A-18F Super Hornet equipped with radar jamming and other electronic warfare equipment, Brown said.

Three Growlers are assigned to Tactical Electronic Attack Squadron 129, the fleet replacement squadron at NAS Whidbey Island, Wash., Brown said.

One other Growler is at NAS Patuxent River, Md., where Navy officials continue to conduct tests on the aircraft’s capabilities, Brown said.

The first operational Growler squadron is expected to reach initial operational capacity by September 2009, Navy officials said.

From AFA on line

Monday December 29, 2008

Making Weight: Lockheed Martin rolled out the first weight-optimized F-35A test aircraft from its assembly plant at Fort Worth, Tex., on Dec. 19, the company said in a release. The new F-35A, designated AF-1, is "at its core, the same aircraft that will enter operational service with the Air Force and international customers," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed's F-35 program general manager. Unlike AA-1, the first F-35A test aircraft, AF-1 is structurally identical to the F-35s that will enter Air Force service beginning in 2010. While AA-1 has a production-representative external shape and internal systems, its internal structure was designed before a 2004 weight-savings initiative that resulted in structural revisions to all three variants of the F-35. AF-1 also incorporates evolutionary improvements and updates that have resulted from AA-1 flight tests to date, said Tom Burbage, Lockheed's general manager of F-35 program integration. AA-1 has completed 69 flights, according to the company. AF-1 is also significant since it was the first F-35 built at the full-rate production pace of 50 inches per hour on Lockheed's moving assembly line, the company said. The rollout of AF-1 came two days after the completion of AG-1, a full-scale non-flying, static F-35A test article that will be used in ground tests

INDIA   P-8 Replacing Tu-142

(STRATEGY PAGE 29 DEC 08)

India is buying eight U.S. P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft, for about $220 million each. This deal has been stalled for months, but the growing expense of maintaining their Russian Tu-142M aircraft, and the need for a more capable recon aircraft, has made the P-8 buy certain. The first P-8I will arrive in 2014.

Last year India received another Russian built Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft. Beginning in 1988, when it received three of these aircraft, India has bought more and now has a fleet of eight in service. The Tu-142, which was introduced in the 1970s, is the patrol version of the Tu-95 heavy bomber. This aircraft entered service 51 years ago, and is expected to remain in service, along with the Tu-142 variant, for another three decades. Over 500 Tu-95s were built, and it is the largest and fastest turboprop aircraft in service. Russia still maintains a force of 60 Tu-95s, but has dozens in storage, which can be restored to service as either a bomber or a Tu-142.

The 188 ton aircraft has flight crew consisting of a pilot, copilot, engineer and radioman, and an unrefueled range of 15,000 kilometers. Max speed is 925 kilometers an hour, while cruising speed is 440 kilometers an hour. Originally designed as a nuclear bomber, the Tu-142 version still carries up to ten tons of weapons (torpedoes, mines, depth charges, anti-ship missiles, sonobuoys) and a lot more sensors (naval search radar, electronic monitoring gear). There are two 23mm autocannon mounted in the rear of the aircraft. The mission crew of a Tu-142 usually consists of eight personnel, who operate the radars and other electronic equipment. Patrol flights for the Tu-142 can last twelve hours or more, especially when in-flight refueling is used. Maximum altitude is 45,000 feet, although the aircraft flies much lower when searching for submarines. India requires aircraft like these for patrolling the vast India ocean waters that surround the subcontinent. India wanted to upgrade the electronics on its Tu-142s, but has been put off by the high price, and low performance, of what the Russians have offered.

The P-8A Poseidon is based on the widely used Boeing 737 airliner. India will get a version customized for their needs. Although the Boeing 737 based P-8A is a two engine jet, compared to the four engine turboprop P-3, it is a more capable plane. Cruise speed for the 737 is 910 kilometers an hour. This makes it possible for the P-8A to get to a patrol area faster, which is a major advantage when chasing down subs first spotted by sonar arrays or satellites. The P-8 has a crew of 10-11 pilots and equipment operators, who operate the search radar and various other sensors. The 737 has hard points on the wings for torpedoes or missiles.

The B-737 is a more modern design, and has been used successfully since the 1960s by commercial aviation. The Boeing 737 first flew in 1965, and over 5,000 have been built. The P-8A will be the first 737 designed with a bomb bay and four wing racks for weapons. The U.S. P-8 costs about $275 million each.

From AFA
Wednesday December 31, 2008

USAF Says Uncle on UAVs: The Air Force will drop its long quest to be named executive agent for unmanned aerial vehicles, Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said in an interview Dec. 22. The issue of having the Air Force serve as the DOD executive agent for larger, higher-flying UAVs—an idea championed by the previous two CSAFs—has become "too emotional" and was creating hard feelings among the services that were getting in the way of developing an orderly division of labor for unmanned aircraft, Schwartz said. Instead, he said the Air Force will stick to the template of joint UAV ops, managed through the UAV Center of Excellence, to coordinate doctrine. On individual programs, Schwartz said, efficiencies are being found: The Air Force and Navy are consolidating much of their Global Hawk/broad area maritime surveillance activities, and USAF and the Army will find common ground on a Predator-like vehicle.

Newest, Most Advanced Navy Cockpit Simulator Ready For Training

(THE BAYNET (MD) 30 DEC 08)

PATUXENT RIVER - ‘Training in Progress.’ With this simple phrase atop the crew entrance door, the newest and most advanced cockpit simulator in the Navy training inventory is ‘Ready for Training.’

This effort represents a cornerstone effort between the Fleet, NAVAIR and industry to design, develop and implement the most sophisticated immersive training available for today’s aviators,” said Capt. Brian Costello, Commander Strategic Communications Wing ONE.

"The E-6B Take Charge and Move Out community and Naval Aviation have taken the next step in achieving the Naval Aviation Enterprise goal of enhanced training in a synthetic environment,” said Capt. Spike Long, Aviation Training Systems program manager (PMA205).

“L3’s commitment to build, operate and maintain currency with on-going weapons systems modifications will be one of the efforts that insures that the E-6B aircraft will continue to provide strategic communications in support of National Defense for years to come,” said Capt. Bob Roof, Airborne Strategic Command, Control and Communications program manager (PMA271).

Costello, Long and Roof all endorsed and praised the efforts of the joint NAVAIR Industry Team to deliver the capabilities that the Fleet needs. Mr. David Williams, VP L3/Link concurred with the Fleet assessment and expressed his thanks to the Navy and his team of CAE, USA and CAE, Montreal.

NAVAIR, in partnership with L3/Link Simulation and Training of Arlington, Texas has certified the newest and most advanced cockpit simulator in the Navy training inventory as ‘Ready for Training’. Now Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron SEVEN (VQ-7) can augment flight training in the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) syllabus and curriculum with simulator events using this new cutting edge simulator.

The E-6 Level 'D' Equivalent Simulator program, started by the Aviation Training Systems program office in 2004 at the direction of the Commander, Naval Air Forces and OPNAV is part of a multi-year, fee for service contract, to provide a simulator for initial pilot training for VQ-7.

After the brief ceremony, the Fleet can now start using the device for initial training and refresher qualifications for the VQ-3, VQ-4, VQ-7 and TF124 aviators.

China To Build 2 Carriers By 2015

(NAVY TIMES 03 JAN 09) ... Philip Ewing

China plans to begin building two aircraft carriers next year, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday, in what would be its first attempt at fixed-wing naval aviation and a potentially major new variable in the strategic calculus of the Pacific.

The two flattops each would be between 50,000 and 60,000 tons, be conventionally powered and patrol the South China Sea, according to the report in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which cited Chinese “shipbuilding sources.” The carriers could be in the fleet by 2015, the story said.

China is one of the world’s largest builders of commercial ships, although its biggest indigenous warship so far has been no more than about 17,000 tons. The Asahi Shimbun reported that the carriers would be built at a new shipyard outside Shanghai and include components already on order from Russia.

A Chinese naval officer told the newspaper that one of the carriers’ primary missions would be to guard the sea lanes that connect energy-ravenous China with oil and mineral resources in the Middle East and Africa.

The story is the latest in a series of reports from around the world about Chinese ambitions to field an aircraft carrier. The official People’s Liberation Army Daily newspaper reported in September that 50 pilots from the Dalian Naval Academy were training for “ship borne aircraft flight.” Official Russian press agencies reported in October that China had purchased as many as 50 Su-33 Flanker-D fighter jets, an updated version of the Su-27K carried aboard Russia’s sole aircraft carrier. Since then, British and American news agencies have quoted top Chinese officials as expressing great interest in seaborne airpower.

“The Chinese government would seriously consider ‘relevant issues’ with “factors in every aspects” on building its first ever aircraft carrier, said navy spokesman Huang Xueping,” according to a Dec. 23 report by the official Xinhua news agency. “China has a long coastline and the sacred duty of China’s armed forces is to safeguard the country’s marine safety and sovereignty over coastal areas and territorial seas,” he said.

China’s carriers — if the Japanese report is accurate — would likely be comparable to the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class ships, now just beginning construction. Slightly larger, at 65,000 tons, the Queen Elizabeth is designed for a complement of around 1,400 sailors, including its ship’s company and air wing, and designed to carry about 40 strike aircraft, plus additional helicopters, according to “Combat Fleets of the World.”

Because the Chinese carriers are smaller and shorter-ranged than their American counterparts, the U.S. shouldn’t view them as a threat, the Chinese naval official told the Asahi Shimbun.

Lawmakers Press Gates For More Super Hornets

(THE HILL 06 JAN 09) ... Roxana Tiron

Nearly two dozen lawmakers are pressing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to fund more F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets in the 2010 budget.

Boeing, which builds the fighter jets, has been eyeing the opportunity to sell more planes to the Navy for more than a year.

Now, the company is receiving intensified support from lawmakers who in December urged Gates to continue buying the battle-tested jets and consider another multi-year Navy contract with Boeing. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) and 21 other House members sent a letter to Gates in mid-December, but the letter only was made available on Tuesday. Boeing manages the F-18 Hornet program out of St. Louis, Mo., Akin’s district.

The lawmakers expressed serious concern about a projected gap of strike-ready fighter jets on aircraft carriers as the Navy is in the process of buying the next-generation fighters, Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter. Among the lawmakers signing the letter are Reps. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.)

Boeing will reach the end of a five-year contract with the Navy for Super Hornets this year. The company is also slated to deliver another 89 aircraft to the Navy beyond the multiyear agreement. Those remaining airplanes will be delivered by 2012, when the domestic requirement for the Super Hornets would end.

Navy officials, including the chief of naval operations, have said that the service will face a shortfall of at least 69 fighter jets by 2017. Some predict that number could go as high as 200. The shortfall will continue until the service completes the procurement of Lockheed Martin's F-35C Joint Strike Fighters by 2025.

The Navy bases its fighter needs on three assumptions: that older versions of the F-18 (the A through D models) will fly for another 10,000 hours and won’t need to be replaced with the Super Hornet; that the Navy’s variant of the new Lockheed Martin-built Joint Strike Fighter will be ready over the next decade and that the Navy will be able to buy 50 JSFs a year.

However, the Navy has uncovered problems with plans to extend the life of its F/A-18 Hornets that could burden efforts to mitigate a shortage of strike fighter aircraft. The Navy last summer found that keeping the A- through D-model Hornets flying longer will require additional inspections, modifications and a longer time out of service.

Meanwhile, the Super Hornet is expected to share carrier decks with the JSF until 2030.

The stakes are high for Boeing. The company fears that it could be inched out of the domestic fighter jet business if the Navy does not buy more Hornets after 2012. Boeing and Lockheed are the only two U.S. fighter assembly companies.

Lockheed beat Boeing in the competition to build the JSF and stands to see work from that win for several decades. Boeing is a subcontractor for the F-22 Raptor. It is also the prime contractor on the Air Force’s F-15, but that fighter is also slated for termination over the next several years.

Boeing officials fear that by the time the Navy or Air Force want a new strike fighter or bomber, there will be only one company with the design, engineering and production capability left to step up to the plate — and it will not be Boeing.

Gates told the lawmakers that he asked Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter to send his response to their concerns, according to congressional sources. The submission of the 2010 budget could be delayed until at least April, rather than the beginning of February, as the new Obama administration will try to leave its imprint on the Pentagon’s funding

Cherry Point Expected To Get Two Squadrons Of Joint Strike Fighter Jets

(NEW BERN (NC) SUN JOURNAL 08 JAN 09) ... Sue Book

Two squadrons of the Marine Corps version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft are expected to be assigned to Cherry Point in 2015.

Repair work by Fleet Readiness Center East on the plane's vertical lift mechanism could also be a bonus for the area economy.

The official announcement of the decision is expected later this month, but Col. Frank Bottorff, commander of the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point, and Mary Beth Fennell, operations director for Fleet Readiness Center East, confirmed on Thursday that the plan is in place.

Bottorff said the Marine Corps version of the Joint Strike Fighter will ultimately replace the Corps' Harrier aircraft, with the first planes going to bases at Yuma, Ariz., and Beaufort, S.C.

The squadrons to be based at Cherry Point are in addition to Navy FA-18 Super Hornets squadrons expected by 2010.

"The Navy is still on track for putting those squadrons here," Bottorff said Thursday. "We are still expecting them."

Fennell said the first Marine-variant Strike Fighters are expected to be produced in 2013 and "we don't have any confirmation yet but have expectations of getting at lest the MILCON (military contracts) for the lift band tests."

Jim Davis, Craven County economic development director, said the additional squadrons were good news.

"Without knowing the details," he said, "this stands to be as beneficial to this region as the placement of what is now Fleet Readiness Center East was to eastern North Carolina in the 1940s. U.S. 70 could become an aviation corridor from Newport to Goldsboro with work at the bases, the airport, and Spirit Aero at the GTP."

Fleet Readiness Center East's nearly 4,000 civilian employees do much of the military's vertical lift repair work on aircraft including the Harrier and V-22 Osprey as well as rotary wing aircraft repair on Cobra, Huey, Sea Knight and various H-53 helicopters. They also do in-service repairs on Prowlers, Sea Spite, Sea King, Seahawk and Hercules aircraft.

Fennell said they have experienced only minor cutbacks, less than 5 percent, during the current recession.

Public hearings on the F-35B aircraft basing at Cherry Point are expected to be in Havelock, Bayboro, and Emerald Isle and the dates, times, and specific locations are expected to be announced later this month.

The plane is being manufactured by Lockheed-Martin and a company official was reported to have confirmed that it is scheduled to receive the first redesigned flight test engines this month. The company's first full tests are scheduled for later this year.

USS Stennis Pulling Out Tuesday For Western Pacific Cruise

(KITSAP (BREMERTON, WA) SUN 11 JAN 09) ... Ed Friedrich

BREMERTON - The USS Stennis will pull out of Naval Base Kitsap on Tuesday morning for a deployment to the western Pacific Ocean.

The aircraft carrier has been preparing for the deployment since returning from its last one a year and a half ago.

In 2007, the Stennis spend 7½ months the Middle East, participating in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It departed Naval Base-Kitsap-Bremerton on Jan. 16 and returned on Aug. 31. After returning, it underwent $240 million worth of upgrades and maintenance at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The Navy wouldn't confirm the length of this deployment, but they're typically six to eight months.

While in dry dock at the shipyard and pierside at Naval Base Kitsap, the Stennis received upgrades in nearly every major department. Workers created an area for a new helicopter strike squadron, they covered the flight deck with a non-skid surface, altered four plane elevators and preserved the entire island — the tall structure that houses the bridge, main flight control center, and radar and communications equipment.

Other major changes included upgrading from Sea Sparrow missiles to extended-range Sea Sparrows. They use the same launchers, but the new missiles provide more accurate mid-range defense. A system was installed that allows planes to feed video back to the ship for real-time intelligence. And 850 new computers were brought in.

The ship's four propellers, with five blades and weighing more than 30 tons apiece, were replaced, as were the four main propulsion shaft seals that prevent seawater from entering the ship.

The aircraft carrier's strike group completed two months of pre-deployment training, from Sept. 23 until just before Thanksgiving, off the coast of Southern California.

The exercise tested the ability of the strike group's three main components ‘ the Stennis, Carrier Air Wing 9 and Destroyer Squadron 21 "to work together on strike warfare, anti-submarine warfare and anti-air warfare.

After the exercise, the strike group became certified as ready for major combat operations

Keeping 11 Carriers To Be 'Tough Fight'

It Could Be Rough Seas For Virginia Leaders Who Want To Maintain The Flattop Fleet's Current Size.

(NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS 10 JAN 09) ... Hugh Lessig

NORFOLK - Nearly two years ago, Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, issued a news release that expressed concern about the potential for China to build aircraft carriers.

Forget potential. Last month, the Chinese Defense Ministry said carriers were "a reflection of the nation's comprehensive power" and were needed to meet the demands of its navy.

As the United States prepares to commission a carrier today amid rising federal budget deficits and expensive government bailouts — now balanced against the specter of a rising overseas superpower — it's certain to spur renewed debate over the size of the U.S. flattop fleet.

Forbes and other Hampton Roads lawmakers are girding for battle in Congress, where money is scarce and the military is eyeing shortages on everything from maintenance projects to fighter aircraft. Maintaining an 11-carrier fleet will not be an easy sell.

"I think it's going to be an incredibly tough fight," said Forbes, a critic of recent government bailouts. "If you look at what we've done in the past year, there has been little rationality."

Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, co-chairs the Congressional Shipbuilding Caucus, and he shares Forbes' assessment that an 11-carrier fleet is required. He insisted that it wasn't Hampton Roads politicians pandering to military constituents.

"I'm looking at this from a strategic standpoint," he said. "I strongly believe we need to have 11 carriers if we're trying to project force around the world."

Wittman toured the carrier George H.W. Bush on Friday, along with newly elected Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Norfolk, and Rep. Gene Crane, D-Miss. Crane co-chairs the shipbuilding caucus with Wittman, and Nye said the tour was a chance for him to start building relationships. He was recently named to the House Armed Services Committee.

"We can't even project all of the threats we're going to face over the next decade," he said. "I support the carrier fleet at 11."

Eleven carriers are now the norm, but the USS Kitty Hawk faces decommissioning. The future of the aging USS Enterprise also is uncertain.

And though the George H.W. Bush will be commissioned today, it still faces sea trials and is months away from being combat-ready.

The threat isn't just from China, Wittman said: Russia has been more aggressive about rebuilding its navy, and India is an emerging power.

According to a recent op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal, it will take at least 10 years for China to develop its carrier project. Forming the group of ships to protect a single carrier would require most of the modern ships now in the Chinese fleet, wrote Hugo Restall, editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review.

But it's reasonable to assume that China will eventually meet its goal of multiple carriers, which would allow it to enforce disputed claims to islands in the South China Sea.

The worst-case scenario would trouble U.S. policymakers.

Restall put it this way: "The waters through which much of the world's trade now flows, from the Malacca Strait to Taiwan, would effectively become a Chinese lake."