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ORIGINAL: kevinkin

A Russian Sukhoi-25 fighter jet has been shot down in a rebel-held area in Syria's north-western province of Idlib.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42932616

Cable news says the pilot ejected but resisted capture and was killed by rebels on the ground.

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The U.S. Navy’s next generation destroyer, the future USS Michael Monsoor (DDG 1001), successfully completed acceptance trials on Feb. 1. The U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey reviewed the ship and its crew during a series of demonstrations both pier side and underway, evaluating the ship’s construction and compliance with Navy specifications.

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The U.S. Navy commissioned the Austal-built Independence-class littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Omaha (LCS 12), during a ceremony Saturday, Feb. 3, in San Diego, California.
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USS Omaha is now homeported in San Diego with her fellow ships USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), USS Coronado (LCS 4), USS Jackson (LCS 6), USS Montgomery (LCS 8) and USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10).

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Russia continues to upgrade heavy nuclear cruisers the Admiral Nakhimov and the Petr Veliky of project 1144 to the 11442M level. They will become operational in the 2020s, the Izvestia daily reported.

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The French Navy (Marine Nationale) nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has received its radar upgrade. The SMART-S Mk2 radar was fitted on December 19, 2017 according to a Thales spokesperson. Charles de Gaulle is in dry dock since February 2017 for its mid-life refit following 15 years of operational deployments.
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The SMART-S Mk2 multifunction 3D radar is replacing the old DRBJ-11B surveillance radar. The SMART-S Mk2 previously replaced the DRBJ-11B aboard the two Cassard-class air defense frigates of the French Navy. According to Thales, SMART-S Mk2 is the latest 3D multibeam radar. It operates in S-band and is optimised for medium-to-long-range surveillance and target designation in littoral environments.

Compared to the DRBJ-11B, the new radar brings improved medium range surveillance as well as better detection and tracking. "The new radar brings both better detection and an increased range (about 20% increase). In addition, the SMART-S Mk2 brings a lot to the "watch" function which in turn significantly improves the handling of the 3D air tactical situation" a French Navy source told Navy Recognition in a 2014 interview about the Cassard-class radar upgrade.

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On January 26, 2018, the French Navy (Marine Nationale) Horizon-class Air Defense Frigate Chevalier Paul ended three weeks of participation in Operation Chammal* within the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group (CSG), deployed in the Arabian/Persian Gulf. During this period, the Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG 9) carried out air support missions on the Iraqi-Syrian theater, as part of the operation Inherent Resolve against Daesh....
On January 19th , Chevalier Paul took the command of the CSG's air defense.
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At the same time, Chevalier Paul assumed, as Sector Air Defense Commander

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Enfin! (At last!) France is set to launch studies on the replacement of the sole aircraft carrier of the French Navy (Marine Nationale). The Charles de Gaulle will be decommissioned by 2040, according to the 2019-2025 military planning law which will be presented tomorrow in the ministerial council.
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"We reserve the possibility of having an aircraft carrier at the same time as the Charles de Gaulle or after" a source close to the Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly told AFP.
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More recently, during the SNA 2018 tradeshow held in Washington D.C. in January, Navy Recognition learned that the French Navy has been briefed on E-2D Advanced Hawkeye by Northrop Grumman. We contacted a French Navy PAO who confirmed to us that procurement of E-2Ds is being considered as part of the 2019-2025 military planning law. The French Navy Naval Aviation currently deploys three E-2C Hawkeyes acquired in 1998, 1999 and 2004.

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Spanish shipyard Navantia announced today that the keel of the future Turkish Navy Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) has been laid at the Turkish shipyard of SEDEF (a member of TAIS Shipyards) in Tuzla, Istanbul. The vessel, which will be named TCG Anadolu, is based on Navantia's Juan Carlos I vessel already commissioned with the Spanish and Australian navies.

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According to the 2019-2025 military planning law released today, France will study the integration of Aster 30 B1NT missiles aboard Air Defense Frigates, providing them with Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) capability.
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The 2014 French military planning law has earmarked funds to launch the development of Aster Block 1 NT in cooperation with Italy. This new version of Aster will extend the antiballistic capability of the missile from a range of 600km up to 1,500km.
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The Aster 30 Block 1 NT missile evolution consists in a new seeker operating in Ka band, replacing the current Ku band seeker, as well as a new improved weapon controller. This change delivers a significant performance enhancement.

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ORIGINAL: thewood1

I was doing some research on VLS loadouts and this caught me eye.

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ORIGINAL: kevinkin

the Israeli planes faced a massive barrage of Syrian anti-aircraft fire

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ORIGINAL: kevinkin
The idea is to lower its signature to incoming missiles. Supplied by a sea base outside missile range, the barges are an interesting idea.

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/02/09/marine-corps-fears-about-enemy-missiles-prompts-top-secret-meeting-at-quantico/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ebb%202.12.18&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief