Is Land Based Aegis A Consolation Prize For Lockheed Martin?

[unhappycamper]

unhappycamper note: Since the ‘Pentagon’ (Righthaven LLC?) has ‘requested’ that I only post one paragraph from articles on Army Times, and Airforce Times, I’ve decided to give ya’ll an unhappycamper summary of the article and a link to the OP. To keep in that same (new) tradition, I will also do the same for articles on Navy Times, Marine Corps Times, stripes.com and military.com.To keep in that same (new) tradition, I will also do the same for for articles on Navy Times, Marine Corps Times, stripes.com and military.com.

To read the article in the military's own words, you will need to click the link.

Read all about Fair Use here. It sure is beginning to smell like fascism.

unhappycamper summary of this article: Alright, bear with me a moment on this.

Lockheed is the contractor for the $243 million dollar F-35. There has been a lot of talk about delaying some purchases, canceling programs etc over the last few months.

This story from DoD Buzz sez:

Trade Ya My JSFs for 100 LRStrike: RUMOR
By Colin Clark Thursday, October 21st, 2010 6:50 pm
Posted in Air, International, Policy, Rumors

Air Force officials say it would probably be a mix of platforms — manned and unmanned — and some of them will almost certainly be stealthy and they will boast a range of at least 1,800 miles. And they will be expensive. Why do the Air Force and so many estimable defense analysts believe the U.S must build a replacement for the B-52s and B-2 bombers?

Be sure to read the diiscussion at the end of that thread.



The Brits had a recent downsizing of their military establishment and this Defense Tech story fell out:

Sun About to Set at GMT for British ‘Empire’

Military opinion-givers across the airwaves are already calling the Tory’s act a cautionary tale for the U.S. defense establishment.

Again, I recommend you read the links for the article.


In other F-35 news, the Air Force proclaims:




F-35 SAM Killing Mission May Have to Wait For New Jamming Technology

The Air Force says the fifth generation aircraft was designed from the bottom-up to be the air arm’s premier surface-to-air missile killer. Yet, it may be many years before the F-35 is equipped with an electronics warfare suite which allows it to penetrate the thickest SAM belts, according to AvWeek’s David Fulghum.


Again, the discussion is worth reading.


This one is also rather interesting:


Navy’s Projected Strike Fighter Shortfall in 2017 Based on Current Wars Usage Rates

On the much discussed Navy tactical strike fighter shortfall, Manazir said the worst case projections see the shortfall sitting at about 177 aircraft peaking in 2017. By tweaking “mitigation levers” — which includes how long older versions of the F-18 continue to fly, the delivery rate of new Super Hornets, how soon F-35s can begin to roll off the production line in large numbers and the demand from combatant commanders for carrier strike – that shortfall can be reduced to about 100 aircraft.


If you were to read the discussion thread at the end, you would see a comment there about LHDs and the F-35, which is kinda funny as the MV-22 Osprey is melting the deck. ( I know I posted this on DU, but I cannot find the thread.)


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Aegis may not just be for ships anymore. The administration plans to field a shore version in Europe as part of a ballistic missile defense program.


Administration eyes land-based SPY
By Philip Ewing - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Oct 23, 2010 11:20:40 EDT

The next step in the Obama administration’s plan to defend Europe, “Aegis Ashore,” will take components familiar to many surface sailors — the ships’ distinctive hexagonal SPY-1 radars and a battery of Standard Missile-3s — and park them on the ground as additional insurance against potential nuclear attacks from Iran.

[hack89]

1. Or, perhaps, because it works better than any alternative? nt

[Ghost Dog]

2. I'm sure it does.

[ensho]

3. lockheed is a neo con corp. - may they fall down

nt

[Ghost Dog]

4. So, there's a "new mission of defending Europe against Iranian ballistic missiles,

which begins next year".

I wonder if a specific date has been set, yet.

Will be reading, thanks, unhappycamper.