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unhappycamper
unhappycamper's Journal
unhappycamper's Journal
February 27, 2013
The $243+ million dollar F-35B.
F-35 chief Bogdan to execute, not cheerlead
Item by australianaviation.com.au at 3:55 pm, Wednesday February 27 2013
New program executive officer for the US Department of Defense’s F-35 program, Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan has told Avalon Airshow media that the aircraft’s development program should be judged on where it is heading rather than where it has been.
“The first point I’d like to make overall is: don’t expect me to be a cheerleader for the F-35 program. That’s not my job. My job is to execute this program. If I start becoming an advocate or a zealot for this program, I lose my credibility,” he said.
“One of the biggest problems I have is an awful lot of people with opinions on this program and not a lot of people with the facts. And those opinions are based on what I would call the tragic history of this program. This program is getting better and is better than what it was a few years ago.”
Outlining a range of past problems, Lt Gen Bogdan said it was easy to see how and why the program’s past led many people to be cynical. “Since we rebaselined in 2010-2011, this is a different program and it is getting better. It is not getting better nearly as fast as I would like it to, but … since 2011, we have fundamentally met every milestone. We are stable and on-track to meet that new plan.”
F-35 chief Bogdan to execute, not cheerlead
http://australianaviation.com.au/2013/02/f-35-chief-bogdan-to-execute-not-cheerlead/The $243+ million dollar F-35B.
F-35 chief Bogdan to execute, not cheerlead
Item by australianaviation.com.au at 3:55 pm, Wednesday February 27 2013
New program executive officer for the US Department of Defense’s F-35 program, Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan has told Avalon Airshow media that the aircraft’s development program should be judged on where it is heading rather than where it has been.
“The first point I’d like to make overall is: don’t expect me to be a cheerleader for the F-35 program. That’s not my job. My job is to execute this program. If I start becoming an advocate or a zealot for this program, I lose my credibility,” he said.
“One of the biggest problems I have is an awful lot of people with opinions on this program and not a lot of people with the facts. And those opinions are based on what I would call the tragic history of this program. This program is getting better and is better than what it was a few years ago.”
Outlining a range of past problems, Lt Gen Bogdan said it was easy to see how and why the program’s past led many people to be cynical. “Since we rebaselined in 2010-2011, this is a different program and it is getting better. It is not getting better nearly as fast as I would like it to, but … since 2011, we have fundamentally met every milestone. We are stable and on-track to meet that new plan.”
February 27, 2013
Australia Begins Super Hornet Study As F-35 Slide Continues
By Guy Norris
February 25, 2013
Credit: RAAF
Amid continuing uncertainty over delays to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Australian government has opened up a long-anticipated study with the U.S. into the “potential purchase” of 24 additional Boeing F/A-18E/F aircraft.
Although the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) remains officially committed to the Lockheed Martin F-35, the Australian government plans to consider doubling the size of the Super Hornet fleet, signaled in a letter of request to the U.S. government. This is expected to raise fresh questions over Australia’s level of commitment to the F-35 and the final number of aircraft it will acquire.
Confirming the request in comments made to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., Defense Minister Stephen Smith says, “We placed a letter of request (LOR) with the United States authorities to enable us to investigate the potential purchase of up to 24 more Super Hornets.” Smith adds the F-35 “has been subject to very serious scheduling delays and that’s what’s causing us to risk a gap in capability…. We’re now looking not just to the Super Hornets (covering a) gap in capability, but whether into the longer term it makes sense for Australia to have a mixed fleet — a mixed fleet of Super Hornets, Growlers and Joint Strike Fighters, which is what you essentially see the United States Navy… embarking upon.”
The last of 24 Super Hornets was delivered to the RAAF by Boeing in late 2011. In early 2012, Australia announced a A$19 million contract for long-lead items to convert 12 of the newly-delivered F/A-18Fs into EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The decision was not unexpected, as the aircraft had earlier been provisioned for the Growler role on the Boeing production line in St. Louis under a separate A$35 million deal. It is not known if the next batch, if approved, will include additional Growlers or aircraft provisioned for modification for electronic attack, though the LOR is believed to cover a mix of both single-seat ‘E’ and two-seat ‘F’ versions.
Australia Begins Super Hornet Study As F-35 Slide Continues
http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_02_25_2013_p0-552782.xmlAustralia Begins Super Hornet Study As F-35 Slide Continues
By Guy Norris
February 25, 2013
Credit: RAAF
Amid continuing uncertainty over delays to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Australian government has opened up a long-anticipated study with the U.S. into the “potential purchase” of 24 additional Boeing F/A-18E/F aircraft.
Although the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) remains officially committed to the Lockheed Martin F-35, the Australian government plans to consider doubling the size of the Super Hornet fleet, signaled in a letter of request to the U.S. government. This is expected to raise fresh questions over Australia’s level of commitment to the F-35 and the final number of aircraft it will acquire.
Confirming the request in comments made to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., Defense Minister Stephen Smith says, “We placed a letter of request (LOR) with the United States authorities to enable us to investigate the potential purchase of up to 24 more Super Hornets.” Smith adds the F-35 “has been subject to very serious scheduling delays and that’s what’s causing us to risk a gap in capability…. We’re now looking not just to the Super Hornets (covering a) gap in capability, but whether into the longer term it makes sense for Australia to have a mixed fleet — a mixed fleet of Super Hornets, Growlers and Joint Strike Fighters, which is what you essentially see the United States Navy… embarking upon.”
The last of 24 Super Hornets was delivered to the RAAF by Boeing in late 2011. In early 2012, Australia announced a A$19 million contract for long-lead items to convert 12 of the newly-delivered F/A-18Fs into EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The decision was not unexpected, as the aircraft had earlier been provisioned for the Growler role on the Boeing production line in St. Louis under a separate A$35 million deal. It is not known if the next batch, if approved, will include additional Growlers or aircraft provisioned for modification for electronic attack, though the LOR is believed to cover a mix of both single-seat ‘E’ and two-seat ‘F’ versions.
February 27, 2013
Army assault ladders — headed to Afghanistan soon
By Al Kamen
Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 02/27/2013
The U.S. footprint in Afghanistan is scheduled to wind down considerably over the next couple of years, but anti-Taliban efforts are proceeding apace.
In fact, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force — Afghanistan is looking for fast delivery of “150 lightweight assault ladders,” to be at Bagram Air Field just 30 days after a contract is signed “for immediate deployment for current missions.”
~snip~
Clearly this is a special type of ladder. Allred is the only one that makes these, the Army says. Sounds like these might be expensive items.
Well, the Army says the “total estimated value” of the contract is only $ (deleted).
unhappycamper comment: I looked at defense contracts (contracts over $6.5 million dollars - http://www.defense.gov/contracts/) for the last thirty days and did not see any contracts being awarded to Allred and Associates.
While perusing thru defense contracts, I found out the Navy is paying $25 million dollars to cut the USS guardian off Tubbataha Reef:
http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4972
FOR RELEASE AT
5 p.m. ET No. 061-13
February 05, 2013
CONTRACTS
NAVY
SMIT Salvage, Singapore, was awarded on Feb. 1, 2013, a $24,889,904 delivery order against previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-12-D-4120) to provide support for emergency response and recovery operations for the USS Guardian (MCM 5) grounding on Tubbataha Reef, Sulu Sea, Philippines. Support will include personnel, vessels and equipment required for assessment, planning, stabilization, oil removal and vessel recovery. Work will be performed in the vicinity of the Tubbataha Reef, Philippines, (72 percent); Palawan, Philippines, (15 percent); Singapore, SG, (10 percent); Washington, D.C., (1 percent); Rotterdam, The Netherlands, (1 percent); and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2013. Fiscal 2013 Operations and Maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $24,889,904 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity.
And this one:
http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4974
FOR RELEASE AT
5 p.m. ET No. 069-13
February 07, 2013
CONTRACTS
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a sole-source-cost-plus-incentive-fee/cost-plus-award-fee contract modification under contract number (HQ0276-10-C-0001). The value of this contract modification is $30,226,670, increasing the total contract value from $1,286,203,768 to $1,316,430,438. Under this modification, the contractor will conduct the installation, test, and checkout of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Baseline 4.0.1 Weapon System aboard three Navy Destroyers. The work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; San Diego, Calif., and Norfolk, Va. The performance period is from the date of award through March 15, 2015. Fiscal 2013 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund this initial effort. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Va., is the contracting activity.
.... Lockheed Martin.... $1.3 billion dollars.....
Army assault ladders — headed to Afghanistan soon
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/army-assault-ladders--headed-to-afghanistan-soon/2013/02/26/e7c83008-805d-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_blog.htmlArmy assault ladders — headed to Afghanistan soon
By Al Kamen
Posted at 07:00 AM ET, 02/27/2013
The U.S. footprint in Afghanistan is scheduled to wind down considerably over the next couple of years, but anti-Taliban efforts are proceeding apace.
In fact, the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force — Afghanistan is looking for fast delivery of “150 lightweight assault ladders,” to be at Bagram Air Field just 30 days after a contract is signed “for immediate deployment for current missions.”
~snip~
Clearly this is a special type of ladder. Allred is the only one that makes these, the Army says. Sounds like these might be expensive items.
Well, the Army says the “total estimated value” of the contract is only $ (deleted).
unhappycamper comment: I looked at defense contracts (contracts over $6.5 million dollars - http://www.defense.gov/contracts/) for the last thirty days and did not see any contracts being awarded to Allred and Associates.
While perusing thru defense contracts, I found out the Navy is paying $25 million dollars to cut the USS guardian off Tubbataha Reef:
http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4972
FOR RELEASE AT
5 p.m. ET No. 061-13
February 05, 2013
CONTRACTS
NAVY
SMIT Salvage, Singapore, was awarded on Feb. 1, 2013, a $24,889,904 delivery order against previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, cost-plus-award-fee contract (N00024-12-D-4120) to provide support for emergency response and recovery operations for the USS Guardian (MCM 5) grounding on Tubbataha Reef, Sulu Sea, Philippines. Support will include personnel, vessels and equipment required for assessment, planning, stabilization, oil removal and vessel recovery. Work will be performed in the vicinity of the Tubbataha Reef, Philippines, (72 percent); Palawan, Philippines, (15 percent); Singapore, SG, (10 percent); Washington, D.C., (1 percent); Rotterdam, The Netherlands, (1 percent); and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by December 2013. Fiscal 2013 Operations and Maintenance, Navy funds in the amount of $24,889,904 will be obligated at time of award. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity.
And this one:
http://www.defense.gov/contracts/contract.aspx?contractid=4974
FOR RELEASE AT
5 p.m. ET No. 069-13
February 07, 2013
CONTRACTS
MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, Moorestown, N.J., is being awarded a sole-source-cost-plus-incentive-fee/cost-plus-award-fee contract modification under contract number (HQ0276-10-C-0001). The value of this contract modification is $30,226,670, increasing the total contract value from $1,286,203,768 to $1,316,430,438. Under this modification, the contractor will conduct the installation, test, and checkout of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Baseline 4.0.1 Weapon System aboard three Navy Destroyers. The work will be performed in Moorestown, N.J.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; San Diego, Calif., and Norfolk, Va. The performance period is from the date of award through March 15, 2015. Fiscal 2013 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation funds will be used to incrementally fund this initial effort. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Va., is the contracting activity.
.... Lockheed Martin.... $1.3 billion dollars.....
February 27, 2013
Pentagon F-35 program chief lashes Lockheed, Pratt
By Jane Wardell
AVALON, Australia | Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:24am EST
(Reuters) - The Pentagon program chief for the F-35 warplane slammed its commercial partners Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Pratt & Whitney on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government and failing to see the long-term benefits of the project.
U.S. Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan made the comments during a visit to Australia, where he has sought to convince lawmakers and generals to stick to a plan to buy 100 of the jets, an exercise complicated by the second grounding of the plane this year and looming U.S. defense cuts.
Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N), is sole supplier of engines to the $396 billion F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin provides the body of the radar-evading jet, the most expensive combat aircraft in history.
"What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine," Bogdan told reporters at the Australian International Airshow in southern Victoria state.
Pentagon F-35 program chief lashes Lockheed, Pratt
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/27/us-lockheed-fighter-australia-idUSBRE91Q0AV20130227Pentagon F-35 program chief lashes Lockheed, Pratt
By Jane Wardell
AVALON, Australia | Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:24am EST
(Reuters) - The Pentagon program chief for the F-35 warplane slammed its commercial partners Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) and Pratt & Whitney on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government and failing to see the long-term benefits of the project.
U.S. Lieutenant-General Christopher Bogdan made the comments during a visit to Australia, where he has sought to convince lawmakers and generals to stick to a plan to buy 100 of the jets, an exercise complicated by the second grounding of the plane this year and looming U.S. defense cuts.
Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N), is sole supplier of engines to the $396 billion F-35, or Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed Martin provides the body of the radar-evading jet, the most expensive combat aircraft in history.
"What I see Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney doing today is behaving as if they are getting ready to sell me the very last F-35 and the very last engine and are trying to squeeze every nickel out of that last F-35 and that last engine," Bogdan told reporters at the Australian International Airshow in southern Victoria state.
February 27, 2013
Walling Ourselves Inside a Militarized-Police State
by Tom Engelhardt
Published on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 by TomDispatch.com
It was, in a sense, so expectable, so leave-no-child-behind. I’m talking about the arming of American schools. Think of it as the next step in the militarization of this country, which follows all-too-logically from developments since September 11, 2001. In the wake of 9/11, police departments nationwide began to militarize in a big way, and the next thing you knew, the police were looking ever less like old-style neighborhood patrollers and ever more like mini-anti-terror armies. The billy club, the simple sidearm? So Old School. So retro.
When it came to weaponry for the new, twenty-first-century version of the police, it was a matter of letting the good times roll: Tasers, flash grenades, pepper spray, incendiary tear gas, Kevlar helmets, assault rifles, bomb-detection robots, armored vehicles and tanks, special-ops-style SWAT teams, drone mini-submarines, drone aircraft, you name it. Today, even school police are being armed with assault rifles. And with it all goes a paramilitary fashion craze that anyone who observed the police in the Occupy moment is most familiar with.
In addition, the U.S. military is now offloading billions of dollars worth of its surplus equipment, some of it assumedly used in places like Iraq and Afghanistan against armed insurgents, on police forces even in small towns nationwide. This includes M-16s, helmet-mounted infrared goggles, amphibious tanks, and helicopters. And now, the same up-armoring mentality is being brought to bear on a threat worse than terror: our children. Think of it as the reductio ad absurdum of the new national security state. First, they locked down the airports, then the capital, then the borders, and finally the schools. Now, we’re ready!
But the seldom-asked question is: ready for what? After all, with a few rare exceptions (including unpredictable lone wolf attacks like the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords; the disgruntled software engineer who flew his plane into a building containing an IRS office in Austin, Texas, killing himself and an IRS manager; Major Nidal Hassan’s murderous rampage at Fort Hood, Texas; and the Newtown slaughter), just about all “terror” threats in the U.S. have essentially been FBI sting operations involving crews of “terrorists” who were, by themselves, incapable of planning their way out of the proverbial paper bag.
Walling Ourselves Inside a Militarized-Police State
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/02/27-1Walling Ourselves Inside a Militarized-Police State
by Tom Engelhardt
Published on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 by TomDispatch.com
It was, in a sense, so expectable, so leave-no-child-behind. I’m talking about the arming of American schools. Think of it as the next step in the militarization of this country, which follows all-too-logically from developments since September 11, 2001. In the wake of 9/11, police departments nationwide began to militarize in a big way, and the next thing you knew, the police were looking ever less like old-style neighborhood patrollers and ever more like mini-anti-terror armies. The billy club, the simple sidearm? So Old School. So retro.
When it came to weaponry for the new, twenty-first-century version of the police, it was a matter of letting the good times roll: Tasers, flash grenades, pepper spray, incendiary tear gas, Kevlar helmets, assault rifles, bomb-detection robots, armored vehicles and tanks, special-ops-style SWAT teams, drone mini-submarines, drone aircraft, you name it. Today, even school police are being armed with assault rifles. And with it all goes a paramilitary fashion craze that anyone who observed the police in the Occupy moment is most familiar with.
In addition, the U.S. military is now offloading billions of dollars worth of its surplus equipment, some of it assumedly used in places like Iraq and Afghanistan against armed insurgents, on police forces even in small towns nationwide. This includes M-16s, helmet-mounted infrared goggles, amphibious tanks, and helicopters. And now, the same up-armoring mentality is being brought to bear on a threat worse than terror: our children. Think of it as the reductio ad absurdum of the new national security state. First, they locked down the airports, then the capital, then the borders, and finally the schools. Now, we’re ready!
But the seldom-asked question is: ready for what? After all, with a few rare exceptions (including unpredictable lone wolf attacks like the attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords; the disgruntled software engineer who flew his plane into a building containing an IRS office in Austin, Texas, killing himself and an IRS manager; Major Nidal Hassan’s murderous rampage at Fort Hood, Texas; and the Newtown slaughter), just about all “terror” threats in the U.S. have essentially been FBI sting operations involving crews of “terrorists” who were, by themselves, incapable of planning their way out of the proverbial paper bag.
February 27, 2013
Pre-trial hearings move to a full court martial trial in June
Manning's Right to a Speedy Trial Not Violated After 1,000 Days, Judge Rules
- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
Published on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 by Common Dreams
Bradley Manning has not had his rights violated while waiting in a cell for almost three years before being granted a trial, judge Colonel Denise Lind ruled in a pre-trial hearing Tuesday.
Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, had argued that the prosecution was guilty of "extreme foot-dragging" and "shameful" lack of diligence, which violated Manning's right to a speedy trial—in a final bid that could have had the charges against Manning dismissed.
A soldier in the military has had his or her speedy trial rights violated when it takes over 120 days before an arraignment, Kevin Gosztola reports at FireDogLake, which is the case for Manning. However, Lind ruled in favor of the prosecution who said some of those days didn't actually count in the speedy trial rule, due to “excludable delays” initiated by the prosecution.
The pre-trial hearings will now be certain to move to a full court martial trial in June.
Saturday marked the 1,000th day Manning has been in military custody without trial, and protesters gathered in 70 locations around the world in solidarity with Manning.
Manning's Right to a Speedy Trial Not Violated After 1,000 Days, Judge Rules
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/02/26-7Pre-trial hearings move to a full court martial trial in June
Manning's Right to a Speedy Trial Not Violated After 1,000 Days, Judge Rules
- Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
Published on Tuesday, February 26, 2013 by Common Dreams
Bradley Manning has not had his rights violated while waiting in a cell for almost three years before being granted a trial, judge Colonel Denise Lind ruled in a pre-trial hearing Tuesday.
Manning's lawyer, David Coombs, had argued that the prosecution was guilty of "extreme foot-dragging" and "shameful" lack of diligence, which violated Manning's right to a speedy trial—in a final bid that could have had the charges against Manning dismissed.
A soldier in the military has had his or her speedy trial rights violated when it takes over 120 days before an arraignment, Kevin Gosztola reports at FireDogLake, which is the case for Manning. However, Lind ruled in favor of the prosecution who said some of those days didn't actually count in the speedy trial rule, due to “excludable delays” initiated by the prosecution.
The pre-trial hearings will now be certain to move to a full court martial trial in June.
Saturday marked the 1,000th day Manning has been in military custody without trial, and protesters gathered in 70 locations around the world in solidarity with Manning.
February 27, 2013
A soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, climbs a mountain in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, January 2012.
‘Data-Entry Error’ Led Military to Falsely Claim Taliban Attacks Are Down
By Spencer Ackerman
02.26.13 3:11 PM
The U.S. military proudly touted a 7 percent drop in Taliban violence in 2012 as a measure of progress in America’s longest war. Only one problem: The drop never happened.
Its explanation: a data-entry error.
The Associated Press’ Robert Burns discovered the mistake, which undercut a January claim by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO military command in Afghanistan. In reality, Burns reports, there was no substantive change in the level of “enemy-initiated attacks” in Afghanistan during 2012.
“During a quality control check, ISAF recently became aware that some data was incorrectly entered into the database that is used for tracking security-related incidents across Afghanistan,” ISAF spokesman Jamie Graybeal told Burns.
A soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, climbs a mountain in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, January 2012.
Oops
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/taliban-attacks/A soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, climbs a mountain in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, January 2012.
‘Data-Entry Error’ Led Military to Falsely Claim Taliban Attacks Are Down
By Spencer Ackerman
02.26.13 3:11 PM
The U.S. military proudly touted a 7 percent drop in Taliban violence in 2012 as a measure of progress in America’s longest war. Only one problem: The drop never happened.
Its explanation: a data-entry error.
The Associated Press’ Robert Burns discovered the mistake, which undercut a January claim by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the NATO military command in Afghanistan. In reality, Burns reports, there was no substantive change in the level of “enemy-initiated attacks” in Afghanistan during 2012.
“During a quality control check, ISAF recently became aware that some data was incorrectly entered into the database that is used for tracking security-related incidents across Afghanistan,” ISAF spokesman Jamie Graybeal told Burns.
A soldier from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, climbs a mountain in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, January 2012.
February 27, 2013
An F-22 ($418 million dollars) takes off on a training flight last month.
Air Force to Stealth Fighter Pilots: Get Used to Coughing Fits
By David Axe
02.25.13 12:00 PM
The Air Force has some bad news for the pilots of its F-22 Raptor stealth fighters: Your planes are going to make you feel crappy and there’s not much anyone can do about it. And the message to the maintainers of the radar-evading jet is even more depressing. Any illness they feel from working around the Raptor is apparently all in their heads, according to the Air Force.
Those admissions, buried in newly released Congressional records, represent the latest twist in the years-long saga of the F-22?s faulty oxygen system, which since at least 2008 has been choking pilots, leading to confusion, memory loss and blackouts — combined known as hypoxia — that may have contributed to at least one fatal crash. Ground crews have also reported growing sick while working around F-22s whose engines are running.
The Air Force claims its has a handle on the in-flight blackouts. All 180 or so F-22s are having faulty filters removed and new backup oxygen generators installed. There have also been changes to the G-suits pilots wear. But the Air Force says the alterations won’t do anything to fix the so-called “Raptor cough,” a chronic condition afflicting almost all F-22 pilots.
The coughing — which, to be clear, is a totally separate issue from hypoxia — is due to a condition known as “acceleration atelectasis,” Maj. Gen. Charles Lyon, who headed the Air Force’s Raptor investigation, wrote in response to questions submitted following a September testimony before a House subcommittee. “Acceleration atelectasis results from pilots breathing high concentrations of oxygen (above 60 percent) while wearing anti-G trousers, and exposure to G-forces,” Lyon explained.
Air Force to Stealth Fighter Pilots: Get Used to Coughing Fits
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/stealth-pilots-coughing/An F-22 ($418 million dollars) takes off on a training flight last month.
Air Force to Stealth Fighter Pilots: Get Used to Coughing Fits
By David Axe
02.25.13 12:00 PM
The Air Force has some bad news for the pilots of its F-22 Raptor stealth fighters: Your planes are going to make you feel crappy and there’s not much anyone can do about it. And the message to the maintainers of the radar-evading jet is even more depressing. Any illness they feel from working around the Raptor is apparently all in their heads, according to the Air Force.
Those admissions, buried in newly released Congressional records, represent the latest twist in the years-long saga of the F-22?s faulty oxygen system, which since at least 2008 has been choking pilots, leading to confusion, memory loss and blackouts — combined known as hypoxia — that may have contributed to at least one fatal crash. Ground crews have also reported growing sick while working around F-22s whose engines are running.
The Air Force claims its has a handle on the in-flight blackouts. All 180 or so F-22s are having faulty filters removed and new backup oxygen generators installed. There have also been changes to the G-suits pilots wear. But the Air Force says the alterations won’t do anything to fix the so-called “Raptor cough,” a chronic condition afflicting almost all F-22 pilots.
The coughing — which, to be clear, is a totally separate issue from hypoxia — is due to a condition known as “acceleration atelectasis,” Maj. Gen. Charles Lyon, who headed the Air Force’s Raptor investigation, wrote in response to questions submitted following a September testimony before a House subcommittee. “Acceleration atelectasis results from pilots breathing high concentrations of oxygen (above 60 percent) while wearing anti-G trousers, and exposure to G-forces,” Lyon explained.
February 26, 2013
Honeywell to test some F-35 parts after smoke incident
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON | Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:44pm EST
(Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday an F-35 test plane was involved in an incident on February 14 that caused smoke in the cockpit, and it was sending the affected parts back to their manufacturer, Honeywell International Inc, for a detailed inspection.
Kyra Hawn, spokeswoman for the $396 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, said an initial assessment of the incident at a Maryland air base showed it was isolated, software-related, and posed minimal risk. The Pentagon has made temporary changes to prevent another smoke incident, she said.
~snip~
A spokesman for enginemaker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, said the blade assembly arrived at the company's Middletown, Connecticut, facility on Sunday evening and engineering teams were examining it now.
Honeywell builds the plane's "power thermal management system," which uses a lithium-ion battery similar to those whose failures have grounded Boeing Co's entire fleet of 787 airliners, but Hawn said there was no connection between the February 14 incident and the F-35's lithium-ion batteries.
Honeywell to test some F-35 parts after smoke incident
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/25/us-lockheed-fighter-honeywell-idUSBRE91O11V20130225Honeywell to test some F-35 parts after smoke incident
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON | Mon Feb 25, 2013 4:44pm EST
(Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday an F-35 test plane was involved in an incident on February 14 that caused smoke in the cockpit, and it was sending the affected parts back to their manufacturer, Honeywell International Inc, for a detailed inspection.
Kyra Hawn, spokeswoman for the $396 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, said an initial assessment of the incident at a Maryland air base showed it was isolated, software-related, and posed minimal risk. The Pentagon has made temporary changes to prevent another smoke incident, she said.
~snip~
A spokesman for enginemaker Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp, said the blade assembly arrived at the company's Middletown, Connecticut, facility on Sunday evening and engineering teams were examining it now.
Honeywell builds the plane's "power thermal management system," which uses a lithium-ion battery similar to those whose failures have grounded Boeing Co's entire fleet of 787 airliners, but Hawn said there was no connection between the February 14 incident and the F-35's lithium-ion batteries.
February 26, 2013
U.S. military denies abducting, killing civilians in Afghan province
By SHASHANK BENGALI | Tribune Washington Bureau
Posted on Monday, February 25, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military has determined that its forces weren't involved in the alleged abduction and killing of civilians in a troubled province in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.
"In recent months, a thorough review has confirmed that no coalition forces have been involved in the alleged misconduct in Wardak province," Lt. Col. Les Carroll, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
A day earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused U.S. special forces troops and Afghans working for them of torturing civilians in Wardak, a strategic but violence-wracked province southwest of the capital, Kabul. Karzai ordered the elite U.S. troops to end operations in Wardak and to leave the province within two weeks, dealing a blow to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in an area rife with Taliban and allied insurgents.
Karzai's office, citing claims by Wardak's governor and tribal elders, alleged that a university student who was detained during a U.S. operation last year was later found with his head and fingers cut off. In another case, Afghan officials accused U.S. forces of detaining nine villagers who are still missing.
unhappycamper comment:
U.S. military denies abducting, killing civilians in Afghan province
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/02/25/184082/us-military-denies-abducting-killing.htmlU.S. military denies abducting, killing civilians in Afghan province
By SHASHANK BENGALI | Tribune Washington Bureau
Posted on Monday, February 25, 2013
KABUL, Afghanistan — The U.S. military has determined that its forces weren't involved in the alleged abduction and killing of civilians in a troubled province in eastern Afghanistan, officials said Monday.
"In recent months, a thorough review has confirmed that no coalition forces have been involved in the alleged misconduct in Wardak province," Lt. Col. Les Carroll, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
A day earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused U.S. special forces troops and Afghans working for them of torturing civilians in Wardak, a strategic but violence-wracked province southwest of the capital, Kabul. Karzai ordered the elite U.S. troops to end operations in Wardak and to leave the province within two weeks, dealing a blow to U.S. counterterrorism efforts in an area rife with Taliban and allied insurgents.
Karzai's office, citing claims by Wardak's governor and tribal elders, alleged that a university student who was detained during a U.S. operation last year was later found with his head and fingers cut off. In another case, Afghan officials accused U.S. forces of detaining nine villagers who are still missing.
unhappycamper comment:
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