Slitherine

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US nuclear missile submarine visits Guam for 1st time since 1980s


For the first time since the late 1980s, the US Navy has dispatched a submarine equipped with nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles to the Pacific island of Guam.

The USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) got engaged in a "scheduled port visit" to the US territory, according to a Navy press release on Monday.

The move was considered as a gesture of support for US allies in the region, including Japan and South Korea, whose delegations had been stationed Guam, awaiting a rare tour of the submarine.

"This specific visit to Guam reflects the United States' commitment to its allies in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, and complements the many exercises, training, operations, and other military cooperation activities conducted between the U.S. and its partner nations," the Navy said. "Ballistic missile submarines such as USS Pennsylvania are on patrol continuously, providing a critical, stabilizing and highly effective element of the U.S. nuclear deterrence force."

The US Navy possesses 14 Ohio-class ballistic missiles submarines like the USS Pennsylvania, which carries 24 Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, each one carrying multiple warheads programmable to be launched at various targets.

Chinese Defense Minister ​Chang Wanguan said in early October that "some countries seek absolute military superiority, ceaselessly strengthen their military alliances, and seek their own absolute security at the costs of other countries' security."

Tensions between the US and China have escalated in the wake of Washington's increased military involvement in Asia as part of President Barack Obama's "pivot" to the region.

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ORIGINAL: Hongjian

Oh man.

Pretty ironical. Werent they suppossed to be a bad idea just yesterday?

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How the Navy figured they wouldn't have to actually engage enemy navies is beyond me.

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Tracking and searching
Single/multiple targets tracking
Dogfight
Real beam mapping
Doppler beam sharpening
Synthetic aperture imaging
Identify and track moving ground targets
Sea targets searching and tracking
Meteorological mode
Missile guidance and multi targets attack mode

Merits
long detection range
High accuracy
Multi operational modes
Multi target processing ability
Excellent ECCM capability

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much suggested strategy of ringing China with a A2AD chain themselves by arming friendly states with cheap but effective A2AD systems - including these ASBMs.

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ORIGINAL: kevinkin

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How the Navy figured they wouldn't have to actually engage enemy navies is beyond me.

If I recall the idea is to use carrier aircraft to engage enemy surface ships. Now as the range and self defense capabilities of anti ship missiles improve, the Navy needs to take that into account. But the tactical paradigm will continue to be protection of carriers and any surface threat to any ship would be squashed before it knew what happened. There are only a handful of ships in the world that can threaten a fully informed and trained Navy destroyer. The Navy knows who has them and where they are. But to your point the Navy's edge is not infinite and needs to be maintained.

Maybe...but carrier aircraft to engage with what? A handful of harpoons? Slow, non stealthy and relatively short ranged. No dice. I can't believe - assuming that was their plan- that they felt single destroyers or squadrons without carriers would be fine not having any means of sinking enemy surface ships. A navy without the capability of destroying enemy navies....WTH?

I think they got cocky and figured no one would bother challenging. Now they are scrambling. They want the LRASM but are restricted to limited numbers without a competitive bid. That is the second phase. So they should get LRASM In limited numbers in 2017-2018 but have to wait until 2020 or so to get it in mass numbers.

So for now, they are limited to using the SM-6. Interesting though that the Army is even interested at all in a ASW capability. I wonder if this reflects the Army's concern over the Navy's capacity to protect Army forces from naval attack. A kind of "well if you want it done right you have to do it yourself" kind of thing

< Message edited by mikeCK -- 11/3/2016 7:21:13 PM >

(in reply to kevinkins)

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So for now, they are limited to using the SM-6. Interesting though that the Army is even interested at all in a ASW capability. I wonder if this reflects the Army's concern over the Navy's capacity to protect Army forces from naval attack. A kind of "well if you want it done right you have to do it yourself" kind of thing

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ORIGINAL: kevinkin

Hi mikeCK. I want to set up a sandbox to test USN surface ship vs surface ships from potential adversaries. Although they do not operated alone in a high threat environment, I first want to try it one-on-one. Which Russian and Chinese vessel would you recommend? Trying to learn and this is an interesting question. I have done the same with trying to take out S400s ie figuring out the firepower required. I may have to layer in carrier aircraft but the one-on-one would serve as a baseline.

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Moscow insiders say it doesn’t matter who wins on November 8. Putin has America right where he wants it.

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Northrop Grumman to build laser beam control system for future aircraft

Northrop Grumman has announced it will help the US Air Force to develop a new defensive weapon to be installed in existing and future aircraft. The contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) will see the company develop and build a beam control system for a laser weapon demonstration system that AFRL is developing under its Advanced Technology Demonstration program.

The system will be housed in a pod similar to one being developed by Lockheed Martin and be small enough to be install on a fighter aircraft. As a defensive weapon, its likely targets will be hostile incoming missiles, drones, and warplanes.

The company's part of the project will be to develop the beam control system, which is an active focusing device that not only acquires and tracks targets, but monitors the air conditions along the path of the laser beam and alters the focus to counteract any disturbances, so it strikes the target for maximum effect.

When developed, the system will be integrated with the laser, power source, and cooling systems of the weapon and the completed weapon will be tested in 2019 using a supersonic tactical weapon as an aerial test platform.

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ORIGINAL: ExNusquam

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So for now, they are limited to using the SM-6. Interesting though that the Army is even interested at all in a ASW capability. I wonder if this reflects the Army's concern over the Navy's capacity to protect Army forces from naval attack. A kind of "well if you want it done right you have to do it yourself" kind of thing

As shocking as this is, I think the US government is actually doing something efficiently for the right reasons. I suspect that the ATACMS-as-ASuW is growth from the Strategic Capabilities Office - the same office that created the ASuW mode for the SM-6. It's a DoD-wide office stood up in 2012 to provide immediate/near-term upgrades to existing systems. It would also not surprise me if there were additional seeker options under development to allow long-range, land-based precision fires- something that would be extremely useful for ground forces operating underneath an A2/AD umbrella.

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ORIGINAL: AlGrant

There is very little I can say about this that wouldn't sound like a rant!

http://www.janes.com/article/65445/uk-to-retire-gws60-harpoon-at-end-of-2018

"The retirement of Harpoon will leave RN warships without a heavyweight surface-to-surface guided weapon (SSGW), opening up a gap in over-the-horizon anti-surface warfare capability.
Furthermore, with the helicopter-launched Sea Skua missile going out of service (OSD) at the end of March 2017, the RN will be devoid of any anti-surface guided weapon for about two years pending the introduction of the Sea Venom/ANL lightweight anti-ship missile on the Wildcat HMA.2 helicopter in late 2020."

Kids think about Iran and Amateurs think about Russia, but professionals think about China

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ORIGINAL: Dysta

During the Zhuhai Airshow 2016, there's a tech-demo animation of Chinese export versions of SAM, SSuM, ASuM, UAV and Radar, with a virtual map to simulate the combat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ldl3lmgllQ

The video is involved with:

- Air Defense, with an entire weapon systems from CIC:
:Sensor: Coastal Search Radar (Unknown, Generic)
:Sensor: LD-JP (Air Search Radar, FCR. More info click here)
:LR SAM: FD-2000 (HQ-9)
:LR SAM: FK-3 (HQ-22), KS-1C (HQ-12)
:MR SAM: FM-3000 (HQ-17, PLA use tracked version vehicle like Tor)
:SR SAM: FM-90 (HQ-7)
:SR&PD SAM: FL-2000C, FK-1000 (both not in service by PLA)

(LY-80/HQ-16 does not present or use during the demonstration)

- Sea Defense, with airbase, port and coastal radar commanded by CIC, 2 jets and a fleet:
:Sensor: Coastal Search Radar (Unknown, Generic)
:UAV: WJ-600 (recon and DR)
:SLCM: CM-708UNB (290km land & surface attack variant of YJ-82/CM-708UNA, service by PLAN is unknown)
:AL ASuM: C-802A (YJ-82A)
:ASuM: CM-302 (YJ-12), C-602 (YJ-62)
:PD SAM: FL-3000N (HQ-10)

(Does not simulate PoH, or chance of interception by Blue side)