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The waters in the Caribbean and around Latin America for a long time have provided a path for illicit drugs to flow into the United States, but the U.S. Navy has increased its patrols in the region now looking for something else – Hezbollah terrorists, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The Navy, in trolling for mini-submarines sometimes used to transport drugs, has discovered that some of them apparently are being operated by Hezbollah. The mini-subs are small semi-submersibles, made of fiberglass and capable of carrying up to four people plus a payload. They are popular with...

<p>Someday you may be invited to fly in the backseat of one of your country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have -- John Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few. If you get this opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity....</p>

080828-N-2420K-001 SAN DIEGO (Aug. 28, 2008) The conventional-powered aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) departs San Diego Harbor as she makes the voyage to her new homeport of Bremerton, Wash. At 47 years old, Kitty Hawk is the Navy's second oldest active-duty warship and was replaced this summer by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) as the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier. Kitty Hawk is expected to arrive at Bremerton's Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Sept. 2 for decommissioning in early 2009. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Kulp /Released) 080828-N-2757S-005...

MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Russia's flagship cruiser re-entered the Black Sea on Monday for weapons tests hours after the Russian military complained about the presence of U.S. and other NATO naval ships near the Georgian coast. The 'Moskva' had led a battle group of Russian naval vessels stationed off the coastline of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia during Russia's recent conflict with Georgia and sank smaller Georgian craft. "'Moskva' has today departed toward the Black Sea Fleet's naval training range to check its radio-controlled weapons and onboard communications systems," Captain Igor Dygalo was quoted as saying by Interfax. The...

USS George Washington Departs for Japan Story Number: NNS080821-05 Release Date: 8/21/2008 4:08:00 PM From USS George Washington Public Affairs SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) with her crew of approximately 5,500 Sailors departed San Diego Aug. 21, to begin her journey to Yokosuka, Japan to replace USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) as the United States' only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier. Commanded by Capt. John R. Haley, GW became the flagship for the Commander, Task Force 70 (CTF 70), Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren last week after he and his staff moved to GW...

Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier heads for Mediterranean As the West awaits Moscow’s threatened reprisal for the treaty installing American missile interceptors at Redzikowo, on Poland’s Baltic coast – signed in Warsaw Wednesday - the Kremlin is striking back in the Middle East – hence Russian president Dimitry Medvedev’s honeyed words of reassurance to Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in a call he made to Jerusalem Wednesday, Aug. 20. DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose that a powerful Russian naval contingent, led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov , left Murmansk on the Barents Sea Aug. 18 to dock at the Syrian...

FORT WORTH, Texas, August 18th, 2008 -- With one F-35 Lightning II aircraft in structural testing, two in flight test, six in final assembly and another 14 in various stages of production, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] added to the program’s momentum on Saturday by finishing assembly of the fourth F-35 aircraft, a short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B. “The completion of our fourth F-35 – and the growing line of aircraft now forming behind it – shows an emerging rhythm in our production line,” said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35 program general manager. “In just a few...

THE Rudd Government has sought US export approval for a cutting-edge electronic-warfare aircraft, the Growler, which is capable of performing escort and radar-jamming missions. Designed for the US Navy, the Growler is a carrier-based electronic warfare version of the two-seat F/A-18F Super Hornet, 24 of which Australia has ordered at a cost of $6.7 billion. Details of the approach were confirmed yesterday by the aircraft's maker, Boeing. Canberra has not formally placed an order for the advanced military jet, but wanted clarification from Washington on whether the aircraft could be purchased at a future date... ...about six Growlers would be...

The P-8A, a Boeing 737-800 ERX that is the replacement for the P-3C, is becoming increasingly less cost effective and affordable. If any are built for the fleet, the total number is likely to be far below the official goal of 108 aircraft. The P-3 fleet is disintegrating from overuse at such a high rate that Navy squadrons no longer “own” their own airplanes – what was typically nine aircraft. Instead, all flyable P-3s now belong to the Wing and are “loaned” to squadron aircrews on a mission-by-mission basis. From 288 flyable P-3Cs in 2003, the Navy has less than...

<p>SAN DIEGO - The commander of a Navy air reconnaissance squadron that provides the president and the defense secretary the airborne ability to command the nation's nuclear weapons has been relieved of duty, the Navy said Tuesday.</p> <p>Cmdr. Shawn Bentley was relieved of duty Monday by the Navy for loss of confidence in his ability to command, only three months after taking the job.</p>

A MELBOURNE woman who fell ill on the Kokoda Track is recovering in the intensive care unit of a US naval hospital ship. Lawyer Debra Paver had been hiking the legendary track in Papua New Guinea as part of the Kokoda Spirit tour group when she became ill. She was taken to Alola Village where she suffered seizures and dipped in and out of consciousness. At the request of the US embassy in Port Moresby, the crew of the USNS Mercy sent a Knighthawk helicopter to collect Ms Paver from the remote village last Friday. The crew landed on a...

Hollywood duo Josh Hartnett and Ben Affleck portrayed the American desire to avenge the infamous Pearl Harbour bombings playing two US pilots in Michael Bay's hit 2001 epic. But, the true devastation of the revenge attacks on Japanese forces in 1944 has been captured in one of the most ambitious underwater projects ever undertaken. Operation Hailstorm was two years in the making - but on February 17, 1944, American forces blitzed the Chuuk Islands, in the south western region of the Pacific Ocean, sinking 70 Japanese ships, 270 aircraft and killing close to 3,000 people - though the official death...

Operation Brimstone ended only one week ago. This was the joint US/UK/French naval war games in the Atlantic Ocean preparing for a naval blockade of Iran and the likely resulting war in the Persian Gulf area. The massive war games included a US Navy supercarrier battle group, an US Navy expeditionary carrier battle group, a Royal Navy carrier battle group, a French nuclear hunter-killer submarine plus a large number of US Navy cruisers, destroyers and frigates playing the "enemy force". The lead American ship in these war games, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN71) and its Carrier Strike Group Two (CCSG-2)...

080807-N-7883G-363 SAN DIEGO (Aug. 7, 2008) The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) moves past the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), in background, as Kitty Hawk prepares to moor at Naval Air Station North Island upon her return to San Diego Thursday, Aug. 7, 2008. Kitty Hawk will be decommissioned next year in Bremerton, Wash. The 46- year-old carrier is the oldest active-duty warship in the Navy and will be replaced this summer George Washington as the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kyle D. Gahlau/Released)...

The Kuwait Times reported on Thursday that two more US aircraft carriers are headed for the Persian Gulf. The paper did not say which two carriers they are and the US Navy refused to confirm or deny the report. The two carriers in question are believed to be USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan (pictured). Both are currently at sea (see links above). But there's much more to this report. Meanwhile, the Arabic news agency Moheet reported at the end of July that an unnamed American destroyer, accompanied by two Israeli naval vessels traveled through the Suez...

Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times. Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region. The US Navy will neither confirm nor deny that carriers are currently en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment because of what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy." While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believes are heading for the Middle East, The Media Line's defense analyst said they...

Buzz John Mishanec, 24, of Olean, N. Y., studied forestry at Syracuse University, graduated this year. Blond, moony Jack Croft, 21, of Trenton, N. J., majored in economics at Lehigh University, also took his degree this year. Albert Scaturo, 22, of Brooklyn, N. Y., started out to be a teacher, got a Columbia University degree this year. Last week Messrs. Mishanec, Croft, Scaturo and 14 other young men of similar ages, backgrounds, prospective vo cations, acquired the rating and emoluments ($114 per month, with allowances) of second-class seamen, U. S. Navy. They slept in double-decker beds, jammed to gether in...

A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter aircraft fired the newest variant of Raytheon's Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile May 22 as part of developmental testing. The AIM-120D AMRAAM passed well within lethal range of the QF-4 target drone. The missile destroyed the target and met all primary test objectives. "There is no missile in development or in any air force's inventory that can even come close to matching what the AIM-120D can do." "The AIM-120D will enable our men and women in uniform to maintain air superiority, regardless of the threat."

July 25, 2008 - At Sea, USS Bonhomme Richard The "Red Devils" of A Company, 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry gather in front of a CH-53 Delta helicopter for a group photo on the deck of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercise in the Hawaiian operating areas. The Red Devils were training alongside the U.S. Marines and are very proud to be referred to as Canadian Marines by the U.S. Marines. The Canadian Army sent a company of soldiers from Edmonton to RIMPAC to further their training for non-combatant evacuation...

PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Florida (AP) -- Ed Ellis steps across the National Naval Aviation Museum into the aircraft that was Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Chester Nimitz's flying headquarters during World War II. "If this plane could talk," said the 67-year-old retired Navy captain, longing to hear the conversations that happened aboard the vintage PB2Y Coronado. "Nearly every Navy admiral in the Pacific was in here." The Coronado -- the first U.S. plane to land in Tokyo after the war -- is the latest restoration project undertaken by the museum's mostly volunteer staff of hundreds of military retirees. Located at...

TOKYO: A U.S. nuclear-powered submarine may have leaked a small amount of radiation as it stopped by Japan in the spring and was then deployed throughout the Pacific Ocean, the Japanese government said Saturday. The Japanese government said that it was informed Friday by the U.S. Navy that the submarine, the USS Houston, may have discharged an amount of radiation that was too small to be considered harmful. The chief government spokesman, Nobutaka Machimura, said at a news conference that the radioactive amount - estimated at less than half a microcurie - was too insignificant to "affect the human body...

A Japanese foreign affairs official said Thursday the ministry was reassured by the U.S. Navy's "serious stance" after the two top officers on the USS George Washington were removed from duty in response to a May fire aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. "The government of Japan believes that stringent measures taken to relieve the two (officers) showed a serious stance from the U.S. side in regards to the fire," said Hiroshi Suzuki, assistant press secretary at Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Suzuki said ministry officials believe the removal of commanding officer Capt. David C. Dykhoff and executive officer Capt. David...

SAN DIEGO, July 31 (UPI) -- A $70 million fire on the nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington left its top two officers stripped of their duties, officials said Wednesday. Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, directed the skipper, Capt. David C. Cykhoff, and his executive officer, Capt. David M. Dober, be relieved of their command, Navy Times reported. Dykhoff was fired for "loss of confidence in his ability to command and his failure to meet mission requirements and readiness standards," Navy officials said in a statement. Dober was ousted for "substandard performance." Two months ago,...

NAVAL STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. (NNS) -- Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Adm. Robert F. Willard, issued a final endorsement to the investigation of a fire that occurred aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73) on May 22. As directed by Adm. Willard, Commander, Naval Air Forces Pacific, Vice Adm. Thomas J. Kilcline, Jr., relieved the Commanding Officer of USS George Washington (CVN 73), Capt. David C. Dykhoff, today due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command and his failure to meet mission requirements and readiness standards. As directed, Kilcline also relieved the George Washington Executive Officer, Capt. David...

<p>SAN DIEGO -- (AP) - Navy officials say smoking appears to be the cause of a fire that caused $70 million in damage to the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington.</p> <p>The announcement Wednesday by the Navy came as Adm. Robert F. Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, relieved the carrier's commanding officer and the executive officer of duty.</p>

On this day in 1967, one hundred and thirty-four men died and sixty-two were wounded in a fire on an aircraft carrier, the USS Forrestal. Among the planes waited to take off, a missile misfired and hit another plane, sparking a massive inferno. As bombs and fuel exploded, Lt. Commander John McCain jumped out of his own plane and ran toward the flames -- yes, toward the flames -- attempting to rescue another pilot. An exploding bomb then injured McCain in the chest and legs. More information here. Video at link

The P-3C that almost went into Puget Sound waters a few days ago was from NAS Whidbey. It was a CPW-10 aircraft being operated by VP-1. Squadrons don't own aircraft any more. The P-3 fleet has so deteriorated because of under-funding and over-use that there are less than 100 still flyable*. The P-3s belong to the wing and are "lent to the squadrons on an as-needed" basis. The mission was a NATOPS pilot check, with a CPW-10 pilot (LT) aboard, a VP-1 LT and LTJG, plus VP-1 aircrewmen that included two flight engineers. The word is that the crew finally...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia announced plans on Sunday to revive its once-mighty navy by building several aircraft carriers and upgrading its fleet of nuclear submarines in the coming years. Russia's power at sea is a shadow of the formidable Soviet navy which challenged U.S. military dominance in the Cold War. But, with a strong economy now from booming oil exports, it is seeking to raise its profile on the world stage by modernizing the armed forces. Russia will build five or six aircraft carrier battle groups in the near future, RIA news agency quoted Navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky as telling...

Much of the attention on PRC’s aircraft carrier programme has been previously focused on the ex-Soviet Navy Admiral Kuznetsov class carrier Varyag, which was 70% competed when its construction stopped in 1992 and later bought by a Chinese company based in Macau for commercial purpose. The 67,500t vessel has been docked at the Dalian Shipyard in northern China since 2002, reportedly to be commissioned by the PLA Navy as a training carrier after its refurbishment finished. However, despite the completion of the hull restoration and removal of the scaffolding on the ship bridge in late 2006, the installation of weapons,...

080722-N-7571S-001 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 22, 2008) A French F-2 Rafale launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during the first integrated U.S. and French carrier qualifications aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier. The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group is participating in Joint Task Force Exercise "Operation Brimstone" off the Atlantic coast. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jonathan Snyder/Released) 080721-N-7241L-009 ATLANTIC OCEAN (July 21, 2008) A French Rafale M prepares to land aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during combined French and American carrier qualifications. This event marks the first...

Why Russia lacks aircraft carriers 17:05 | 16/ 07/ 2008 MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Kislyakov) - Soviet military policies never called for building full-fledged aircraft carriers operating multi-role warplanes. Nor did Russia draft any clear carrier construction program at the turn of the century. On July 4, Admiral Viktor Kravchenko, former chief of the Russian Navy's Main Headquarters, said the country had to build a carrier fleet in the near future. This call is a reaction to reports of two aircraft carriers being built for the British Royal Navy. As before, Russia is reacting slowly to Western naval...

FARNBOROUGH 2008: Indian carrierborne MiG handover inches closer Anatoly Belov, designer general of the Russian MiG Aircraft Corporation, says the first MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB aircraft will soon be delivered to the Indian Navy, more than 12 months later than the original scheduled handover. In January 2004, MiG won a contract to supply twelve single-seat MiG-29K aircraft and four MiG-29KUB trainers, as well as simulators and spare parts. Two of the aircraft were originally due to be delivered to the Indian Navy in June 2007 and six more in November 2007, with deliveries to be completed by 2009. But the MiG-29KUB...

>font size=4>Military Superiority: China has embarked on an ambitious anti-ship missile program designed to sink American carriers. Unfortunately, due to underspending on defense, we have an anti-ship program all our own.China is developing at least three different anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBM) designed to take out American carriers coming to Taiwan's defense and may be willing to shop them around to rogue states such as Venezuela and Iran, according to Richard Fisher, a specialist on the Chinese military. Fisher, vice president of the International Assessment and Strategy Center, says two of the missiles are based on the CSS-5, also known as...

USS Abraham Lincoln in Arabian Sea to support Afghan operations By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 ARLINGTON, Va. — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has moved from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea to support operations in Afghanistan. NBC News first reported Monday night that the carrier has been moved because of the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, where a suicide bomber killed more than 40 people Monday outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul. A spokesman for 5th Fleet confirmed the move Tuesday. "Conditions are worsening on the ground in Afghanistan and commanders...

Navy Names New Amphibious Assault Ship Story Number: NNS080630-13 Release Date: 6/30/2008 4:12:00 PM From the Secretary of the Navy Public Affairs JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- The Navy's newest class of large-deck amphibious assault ship, LHA 6, will bear the name USS America, Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced June 27, while speaking at the USS America Carrier Veterans Association reunion in Jacksonville, Fla. This ship will inherit a proud tradition, explained Winter. From the American Revolution through the first Gulf War, three warships have sailed with the name America. "To serve in a ship named after our...

Department of Veterans Affairs Prepares to Strip John McCain of Vietnam Veteran Title News Release Date: 26 June, 2008 From: website, www.BlueWaterNavy.org  Note: This article refers to proposed changes to the rules defining 'Service in Vietnam' set forth by the Department of Veterans Affairs in response to the 'Haas vs. Peake' decision in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. By the implementation of changes as set forth in the Federal Register, April 16, 2008, regarding "Definition of Service in the Republic of Vietnam," for the purpose of clarifying eligibility for presumption of exposure to herbicides status, the DVA very clearly...

Lost At Sea: The Vietnam “Blue Water Navy” Vets Case By Mark Weitz For ten years, between 1965 and 1975, three million young Americans, many of them still boys, answered their country’s call and served as soldiers, sailors, airman, and marines in Vietnam. Some were drafted, but many volunteered, and at the time the cause seemed clear: stop the spread of communism. By the late 1960’s the goal became obscure. The war fell out of favor as Americans began to question our involvement in a conflict that drained both human and financial resources and seemed to bring few tangible results....

Look out for the next smear from the radical left, that McCain started the USS Forrestal fire. McCain plane was hit by an accidentally fired rocket, for Pete's sake how to you even work up a lie that he's somehow responsible.

A deal to build Britain's biggest ever aircraft carriers is expected to be sealed today. The Ministry of Defence is poised to sign contracts worth around £3 billion for two 65,000-ton ships. The Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales will be built at Govan in Glasgow and Rosyth in Fife, as well as Portsmouth and Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. Measuring more than 300 yards in length, the ships will have a flight deck the size of three football pitches and space for 40 aeroplanes. They will be similar in size to the QE2 and are more than three times the...

As The Nav Log noted back in 2004, the EB-52 “Megafortress” airplane from Dale Brown’s techno-thrillers was moving closer to becoming a reality. In July of that year, the USAF began talking about introducing a stand-off jammer (SOJ) electronic warfare version of the B-52 bomber, to enter service as soon as possible. The plan called for development and fielding of a long-range radar-jamming/radar spoofing under-wing electronics pod. An initial purchase of 12 pods, to be carried by 16 B-52Hs, was being worked into the 2005 budget. $21.6M of the FY 2005 Air Force budget had been allocated to the Airborne...

Fire damage aboard the USS George Washington will delay the swap out with USS Kitty Hawk and may push back the carrier’s arrival to Japan, the Navy announced. The Kitty Hawk, which left Yokosuka last month for eventual decommissioning in Bremerton, Wash., was to turn over duties to the George Washington this month at Pearl Harbor. The aircraft carrier transfer will now happen in San Diego in August, according to a Navy release. The George Washington is already in San Diego undergoing repairs. A May 22 fire aboard the George Washington damaged electrical cabling and components in about 80 of...

FALLON, Nev. (AP) -- Two fighter jets from the U.S. Navy's elite training school collided Friday over northern Nevada's high desert, killing one pilot and injuring two others who parachuted to safety. The pilot who died was based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, Va., said Jeffery Wells, a spokesman at Fallon Naval Air Station. He was at the controls of an F/A-18C Hornet at the time of the crash.

FALLON, Nev. — A pilot was missing after two U.S. Navy jets flying a routine training mission collided Friday over northern Nevada's high desert about 50 miles east of the Fallon Naval Air Station. Two pilots safely ejected from an F-5 Tiger and were rescued, but the pilot of an F/A-18C Hornet was missing, said Zip Upham, public affairs officer for the base. The two aircraft collided about noon Friday near the town of Middlegate, some 110 miles east of Reno, Upham said. The cause of the crash was under investigation, he said. The pilots in the two-seater F-5 Tiger...

At the link is a translated copy of the comic book the US Navy is using to sell the Japanese on stationing the nuclear powered USS Washington in Japan. It is a Pdf document for those that do not like those.

Asia's navies Into the wide blue yonder Jun 5th 2008 | SINGAPORE From The Economist print edition Asia's main powers are building up their navies. Is this the start of an arms race? IN THE 15th century China possessed a mighty navy of “treasure fleets”. They sailed as far as Africa and the Persian Gulf, spreading China's economic and political influence across several continents. Had this naval expansion continued, some scholars say, China could have dominated the world. But successive emperors turned the nation inwards on itself, seafaring was banned and the country's great shipyards were closed. In Asia as...

On this date back in 1942, one of the most decisive engagements in the history of naval warfare took place. The outnumbered and outgunned US Pacific Fleet took on the mighty Imperial Japanese Navy and came away with--as author Walter Lord would describe--an incredible victory. Although the US was outnumbered, they had the advantage of reading the Japanese code traffic and knew that Midway was the target. On the morning of June 4, Japanese aircraft inflicted great damage on the island but luckily no American aircraft were caught on the ground. Many American fighters (Wildcats and Buffaloes) defending the island...

U.S. Navy ships positioned off the coast of Myanmar will soon leave the area after the country's junta refused to give them permission to deliver aid to cyclone victims, a top U.S. commander said Wednesday. Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Essex and other ships will resume their previous operations Thursday.

1st week in May 2008, Western Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Guam, USA -- Two USN F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets intercept the low flying USAF B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber as it performs a rigging maneuver to identify the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68).Large, medium, and the above smaller photo via http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm (photo 5). The Story Navy, Air Force train together to showcase capabilities By Staff Sgt. Stephen Teel, 36th Wing Public Affairs, Andersen AFB, Guam, USA http://www.GuamPDN.com/guampublishing/pacificedge/data/EkEkEFulppeoOcKtLi.htm

Navy sees future with drones for spying but not fighting Associated Press Newswires 06/02/2008 Author: Sebastian Abbot ABOARD THE USS HARRY S TRUMAN (AP) - The Navy lags well behind the Air Force in the development of armed drones -- the unmanned aircraft now used increasingly in Iraq and Afghanistan -- insisting that its "Top Gun" fighter pilots are still smarter, better and more flexible in combat. But the contrasting visions for the next generation of America's air arsenal point to wider debates within the military about the pace of incorporating remote-control technology into future battle strategies. It also touches...

Background — CH-124 Sea King Life Extension and Carson Blades This page is background for discussions of further Sea King upgrades, the Maritime Helicopter Project and possible Afghan deployment. . . . . . . . . . . Further delays with the delivery of Sikorsky’s CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter have DND pondering about life extensions for the CF Sea King fleet beyond their planned 2012 retire- ment date. This has fueled much speculation over potential Sea King upgrades. In reality, there is not much scope for further improvements – the CH-124 fleet have already been fitted with new gearboxes...