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Today in Naval History
July 31
1865 The East India Squadron, later known as Asiatic Squadron, is established under Commodore Henry H. Bell, USN, to operate from Sunda Strait to Japan. The squadron consists of USS Hartford, USS Wachusett, USS Wyoming and USS Relief.
1874 USS Intrepid is commissioned, the first U.S. warship equipped with torpedoes.
1941 The Japanese government reports that the bombing of USS Tutuila (PR 4), which happens the previous day during the bombing raid on Chungking, China, is just an accident, pure and simple. USS Tutuilas motor boats were badly damaged and motor sampan is cut loose when one bomb falls eight yards astern of the vessel. There were no causalities.
1943 PBM (VP 74) and Brazilian A-28 and Catalina sink German submarine U-199 off Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Small seaplane tender USS Barnegat (AVP 10) rescues the survivors.
1951 Dan A. Kimball takes office as the 50th Secretary of the Navy, serving until January 1953. His tenure is marked by the continuation of the Korean War, expansion of the Nation's defense, and technological progress in aviation, engineering and other defense-related fields.
1953 His tenure is marked by the continuation of the Korean War, expansion of the Nation's defense, and technological progress in aviation, engineering and other defense-related fields.
1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower responds to Secretary of the Navy William B. Franke's recommendation to name three SSBNs (nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarines) with these names: USS Sam Houston, USS Thomas A. Edison, and USS John Marshall. The proposed name from Secretary Franke, USS Nathan Hale, is used two years later.
2010 USS Missouri (SSN 780) is commissioned at Groton, Conn., her homeport. The seventh Virginia-class attack submarine is the fourth Navy vessel to honor the state of Missouri.
Thanks to CHINFO
Executive Summary:
•Trade press covered ASN (RD&A) James Geurts' media roundtable yesterday.
•Navy Times reported on a minor outbreak of COVID-19 among USS George H.W. Bush Sailors.
•The Associated Press reports that Chinese long-range bombers participated in drills above the South China Sea.
Today in History July 31
904 | Arabs capture Thessalonica. | |
1703 | English novelist Daniel Defoe is made to stand in the pillory as punishment for offending the government and church with his satire The Shortest Way With Dissenters. | |
1760 | Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, drives the French army back to the Rhine River. | |
1790 | The U.S. Patent Office opens. | |
1882 | Belle and Sam Starr are charged with horse stealing in the Indian territory. | |
1875 | Former president Andrew Johnson dies at the age of 66. | |
1891 | Great Britain declares territories in Southern Africa up to the Congo to be within its sphere of influence. | |
1904 | The Trans-Siberian railroad connecting the Ural mountains with Russia's Pacific coast, is completed. | |
1917 | The third Battle of Ypres commences as the British attack the German lines. | |
1932 | Adolf Hitler's Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis) doubles its strength in legislative elections. | |
1944 | The Soviet army takes Kovno, the capital of Lithuania. | |
1962 | Federation of Malaysia formally proposed. | |
1971 | Apollo 15 astronauts take a drive on the moon in their land rover. | |
1987 | An F4 tornado in Edmonton, Alberta kills 27 and causes $330 million in damages; the day is remembered as "Black Friday." | |
1988 | Bridge collapse at Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal in Butterworth, Malaysia, kills 32 and injures more than 1,600. | |
1990 | Bosnia-Herzegovina declares independence from Yugoslavia. | |
1991 | The US and the USSR sign a long-range nuclear weapons reduction pact. | |
1999 | NASA purposely crashes its Discovery Program's Lunar Prospector into the moon, ending the agency's mission to detect frozen water on Earth's moon. | |
2006 | Fidel Castro temporarily hands over power to his brother Raul Castro. | |
2007 | The British Army's longest continual operation, Operation Banner (1969-2007), ends as British troops withdraw from Northern Ireland. |
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thanks to Doctor Rich
The First Jet Pilots
https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/jump-to-jets-180969506/
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Thanks to Dale
The Revolt of the Admirals
In the United States, it was assumed that nuclear weapons would be widely employed in future conflicts, rendering conventional land armies and fleets at sea irrelevant.
(This article appeared earlier in 2019.)
In the wake of the mushroom clouds that blossomed over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it swiftly dawned on political and military leaders across the globe that warfare between superpowers would never again be the same. But what exactly were the implications of nuclear weapons when it came to planning military force structure?
In the United States, it was assumed that nuclear weapons would be widely employed in future conflicts, rendering conventional land armies and fleets at sea irrelevant. The newly formed Air Force particularly argued that carrier task forces and armored divisions were practically obsolete when (ostensibly) just a few air-dropped nuclear bombs could annihilate them in one fell swoop.
The Air Force touted it soon-to-be operational fleet of ten-thousand-mile-range B-36 Peacemaker nuclear bombers as the only vital war-winning weapon of the nuclear age. This logic resonated conveniently with the postwar political program mandating sharp cuts to U.S. defense spending and force structure—which the Air Force naturally argued should fall upon the Army and Navy.
The Army responded by devising "Pentomic Divisions" organized for nuclear battlefields, with weapons ranging from nuclear-armed howitzers and rocket artillery to bazooka-like Davy Crockett recoilless guns. The Navy, meanwhile, sought to find a way to integrate nuclear bombs into its carrier air wings. However, early nuclear bombs were simply too heavy for World War II-era carrier-based aircraft.
In 1945, the Navy began commissioning three larger forty-five-thousand-ton Midway-class carriers which incorporated armored flight decks for added survivability. The decks were swiftly modified to angular, effectively lengthened configuration for jet operations. Neptune P2V-C3 maritime patrol planes converted into nuclear bombers could take off from Midway-class carriers using rocket-pods but would have no way landing on the carrier deck.
Therefore, the Navy decided it needed huge supercarriers from which it could operate its own fifty-ton strategic bombers. These would displace over 40 percent more than the Midway at sixty-eight thousand tons, and measure 12 percent longer at 330-meters. In July 1948, Defense Secretary James Forrestal approved plans for five such carriers, the first named USS United States with hull number CVA-58.
The naval heavy bombers (which didn't exist yet) were expected to have such wide wings that naval architects decided that CVA-58 would have a completely flush deck without the standard "island" superstructure carrying a radar and flight control tower. Instead, the carrier would feature side-mounted telescoping smokestacks that could be raised should smoke impeded flight operations, and a similarly retractable wheelhouse that could be extended to observe navigation and flight operations.
The ship's air wings would include twelve to eighteen heavy bombers that would mostly remain parked on the flight deck, exposed to the elements. Four side-mounted elevators would ferry forty to fifty-four jet fighters between the hangar and flight deck to escort the bombers. Eight nuclear bombs per heavy bomber would also be stowed in the hangar. The combined ship's company and airwing would total 5,500 personnel.
The carrier's oddly-shaped deck included four steam catapults—two for use by bombers, and two axial "waist" catapults.
Because the ship would be effectively blind without an elevated radar and control tower, a separate cruiser was intended to serve as the carrier's "eyes." Nonetheless, CVA-58 still incorporated eight 5-inch guns for air defense, and dozens of rapid-fire short-range cannons.
The "Revolt of the Admirals"
Though theoretically capable of contributing to conventional strike and sea control missions, the heavy bomber-equipped CVA-58 was clearly an attempt by the Navy to duplicate the Air Force's strategic nuclear strike capabilities.
This put giant crosshairs on the program during an era of sharp defense cuts. After all, deploying strategic bombers at sea was many times more expensive than basing them on land.
Following his reelection in November 1948, President Harry Truman replaced Forrestal—a naval aviator in World War I, and former secretary of the Navy—with Louis Johnson, who had fewer qualms about enforcing defense spending cuts.
In April 1949, just five days after CVA-58's fifteen-ton keel was laid down in Newport News, Virginia, Johnson canceled the mega-carrier. He also began advocating dissolution of the Marine Corps, starting by transferring its aviation assets to the Air Force.
This upset the Navy bigwigs so much that Navy Secretary John Sullivan resigned, and numerous admirals began openly opposing the termination of a project they viewed as essential to validating their branch's existence in the nuclear age.
This "Revolt of the Admirals" developed into a crisis in civil-military relations, as the Navy's top brass defied the authority of their civilian commander-in-chief and resorted to covert methods in an attempt to influence public opinion. The Op-23 naval intelligence unit formed by Adm. Louis Denfeld secretly circulated a memo called the Worth Paper alleging that Johnson had corrupt motivations due to being a former director of Convair, manufacturer of B-36 bombers, which were also claimed to be deficient.
The bitter inter-service rivalry, and the utility of land-based bombers versus carriers, was publicly litigated in congressional hearings. The Army also piled on against the Navy, and public opinion turned against the sea-warfare branch as Op-23's activities were revealed.
As Gen. Douglas MacArthur would later discover, Truman had no qualms about squashing military leaders that questioned his authority. His new secretary of the Navy, Francis Matthews, torpedoed the career of several admirals that spoke against the CVA-58's termination despite an earlier promise that those testifying before Congress would be spared retaliation.
The irony of this tempest in a teacup, which resulted in the political martyrdom of many senior Navy leaders, was how misguided both sides swiftly proved to be.
In June 1950 the Korean War broke out, and the U.S. found itself desperately short of the necessary conventional land, air and sea forces. U.S. aircraft carriers and their onboard jet fighters soon bore the brunt of the initial fighting, and continued to play a major role until the end of the conflict.
And the Air Force's vaunted B-36s? They never dropped a single bomb in anger—fortunately, as they were only intended for use in apocalyptic nuclear conflicts.
It turned out that plenty of wars were liable to be fought without resorting to weapons of mass destruction.
However, the Navy also had cause to count itself fortunate that the CVA-58 had been canceled. That's because in just a few years the size of tactical nuclear weapons rapidly decreased, while high-thrust jet engines enabled hauling of heavier and heavier loads. By 1950, nuclear-capable AJ-1 Savage hybrid jet/turboprop bombers were operational on Midway-class carriers, starting with the USS Franklin Roosevelt.
These were soon followed by nuclear-capable capable A-3 Sky Warrior and A-5 Vigilante bombers, A-6 and A-7 attack planes, and even multirole fighters like the F-4 Phantom II. Carriers with these aircraft were far more flexible than a CVA-58 full of B-36 wannabees ever could have been. Arguably, by the 1960s the Navy's ballistic missile submarines would amount to scarier strategic nuclear weapons than any aircraft-based delivery system.The schematics for CVA-58 nonetheless informed the Navy's first supercarriers, named rather appropriately the Forrestal-class, laid down during the Korean War. But the heavy-bomber carrying United States remains notable as the supercarrier the Navy absolutely thought it needed—but which with literally just a couple years more hindsight it discovered it truly could do without.
Runt
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 31, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
31 July
1912: Navy pilot Lt Theodore G. Ellyson launched the first airplane from a catapult, designed and built by Capt W. Irving Chambers (USN). The plane lifted from its platform on the seawall at Annapolis, but immediately dove into the water. (24)
1941: The Lockheed PV-1 Ventura first flew.
1952: PROJECT HOP-A-LONG. Two MATS Sikorsky H-19 helicopters completed the first trans-atlantic helicopter flight. They touched down five times en route between Westover Field and Prestwick, Scotland. This proved the feasibility of ferrying helicopters overseas. (2) (9)
1957: The DEW Line, a distant early warning radar defense installation extending across the Canadian Arctic, reported as fully operational. (11) (24)
1958: Construction of a prototype hardened Titan I launch control facility with a silo-lift launcher and blockhouse began at Cooke AFB. (6)
1964: Alian Parker set a new, world distance-in-a-straight-line record for gliders by flying 647.17 miles from Odessa to Kimball, Neb.
1968: Two UH-1F helicopters from USAF Southern Command helped the Costa Rican government evacuate people endangered by the Mount Arenal volcano. (16) (26) COMBAT BRONCO. The first new, twin-turboprop OV-10A Bronco aircraft arrived at Bien Hoa AB to fly armed forward air controller missions with the 504th Tactical Air Support Group. (17)
1969: The Mariner space probes used infrared spectrophotometer and detectors to determine the surface temperature and atmospheric composition of Mars. (16) 1970: The first class of foreign students to graduate under the President's Vietnamization Program completed undergraduate pilot training at Keesler AFB. (16) (26)
1973: First Boeing T-43A aircraft delivered to Mather AFB. (12)
1984: The 390 SMW at Davis-Monthan AFB became the first Titan II wing to inactivate under the missile phaseout program. (1) (26)
1987: Grumman's plant in Melbourne, Fla., received the first E-8A (a modified Boeing 707-300) aircraft for upgrading to the JSTARS configuration.
1989: Through 7 August, MAC aircraft moved nearly 1,000 fire fighters, 850 tons of equipment, and medical supplies to southwestern Idaho, where a raging fire spread through thousands of acres of forest. The aircraft also sprayed 3,350 tons of fire retardant on the fire from high altitudes. (16) (26)
1995: The 351st Missile Wing, the last Minuteman II unit, inactivated at Whiteman AFB, Mo. (16)
1999: Two improved T-38C fighter training aircraft transferred from Edwards AFB to Columbus AFB, Miss., for testing. At Edwards, the T-38s completed a development test and evaluation of the aircraft's Avionics Upgrade Program, while the move to Columbus took the planes into initial operational testing and evaluation for Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training course and Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals. (AFNEWS Article 991727, 18 Sep 99)
2001: A B-2 Spirit successfully launched its first Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) at China Lake. Launched at 14,000 feet, the stealthy JASSM conducted a suite of preprogrammed maneuvers, including a full 360-degree segmented roll, and then tracked to its target. (3)
2006: AFFTC conducted a live fly exercise with pilots using a Network Centric Warfare environment for the first time. Pilots in multiple types of aircraft connected to data links of several real and simulated players over a US-wide distributed network. (3)
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This Day in U.S. Military History
July 31
1944 – On Tinian, American forces begin attacks on the last center of organized Japanese resistance, in the south of the island.
1964 – Ranger 7, an unmanned U.S. lunar probe, takes the first close-up images of the moon–4,308 in total–before it impacts with the lunar surface northwest of the Sea of the Clouds. The images were 1,000 times as clear as anything ever seen through earth-bound telescopes. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had attempted a similar mission earlier in the year–Ranger 6–but the probe's cameras had failed as it descended to the lunar surface. Ranger 7, launched from Earth on July 28, successfully activated its cameras 17 minutes, or 1,300 miles, before impact and began beaming the images back to NASA's receiving station in California. The pictures showed that the lunar surface was not excessively dusty or otherwise treacherous to a potential spacecraft landing, thus lending encouragement to the NASA plan to send astronauts to the moon. In July 1969, two Americans walked on the moon in the first Apollo Program lunar landing mission.
1964 – All-nuclear task force with USS Long Beach, USS Enterprise, and USS Bainbridge leaves Norfolk, VA to begin voyage, Operation Sea Orbit, to circle the globe without refueling. They returned on 3 October.
1971 – Apollo 15 astronauts (Dave Scott) took a drive on the moon in their land rover.
1972 – Hanoi challenges the Nixon administration on the dike controversy, claiming that since April there had been 173 raids against the dikes in North Vietnam with direct hits in 149 locations. On July 28, in response to claims by the Soviet Union that the United States had conducted an intentional two-month bombing campaign designed to destroy the dikes and dams of the Tonkin Delta in North Vietnam, a CIA report was made public by the Nixon administration. It stated that U.S. bombing at 12 locations had caused accidental minor damage to North Vietnam's dikes, but the damage was unintentional and the dikes were not the intended targets of the bombings. The nearly 2,000 miles of dikes on the Tonkin plain, and more than 2,000 miles of dikes along the sea, made civilized life possible in the Red River Delta. Had the dikes been intentionally targeted, their destruction would have destroyed centuries of patient work and caused the drowning or starvation of hundreds of thousands of peasants. Bombing the dikes had been advocated by some U.S. strategists since the beginning of U.S. involvement in the war, but had been rejected outright by U.S. presidents sitting during the war as an act of terrorism.
.Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
KISTERS, GERRY H.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant (then Sergeant), U.S. Army, 2d Armored Division. Place and date: Near Gagliano, Sicily, 31 July 1943. Entered service at: Bloomington, Ind. Birth: Salt Lake City, Utah. G.O. No.: 13, 18 February 1944. Citation: On 31 July 1943, near Gagliano, Sicily, a detachment of 1 officer and 9 enlisted men, including Sgt. Kisters, advancing ahead of the leading elements of U.S. troops to fill a large crater in the only available vehicle route through Gagliano, was taken under fire by 2 enemy machineguns. Sgt. Kisters and the officer, unaided and in the face of intense small arms fire, advanced on the nearest machinegun emplacement and succeeded in capturing the gun and its crew of 4. Although the greater part of the remaining small arms fire was now directed on the captured machinegun position, Sgt. Kisters voluntarily advanced alone toward the second gun emplacement. While creeping forward, he was struck 5 times by enemy bullets, receiving wounds in both legs and his right arm. Despite the wounds, he continued to advance on the enemy, and captured the second machinegun after killing 3 of its crew and forcing the fourth member to flee. The courage of this soldier and his unhesitating wil
RAMAGE, LAWSON PATERSON
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Parche. Place and date: Pacific, 31 July 1944. Entered service at: Vermont. Born: 19 January 1920, Monroe Bridge, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Parche in a predawn attack on a Japanese convoy, 31 July 1944. Boldly penetrating the screen of a heavily escorted convoy, Comdr. Ramage launched a perilous surface attack by delivering a crippling stern shot into a freighter and quickly following up with a series of bow and stern torpedoes to sink the leading tanker and damage the second one. Exposed by the light of bursting flares and bravely defiant of terrific shellfire passing close overhead, he struck again, sinking a transport by two forward reloads. In the mounting fury of fire from the damaged and sinking tanker, he calmly ordered his men below, remaining on the bridge to fight it out with an enemy now disorganized and confused. Swift to act as a fast transport closed in to ram, Comdr. Ramage daringly swung the stern of the speeding Parche as she crossed the bow of the onrushing ship, clearing by less than 50 feet but placing his submarine in a deadly crossfire from escorts on all sides and with the transport dead ahead. Undaunted, he sent 3 smashing "down the throat" bow shots to stop the target, then scored a killing hit as a climax to 46 minutes of violent action with the Parche and her valiant fighting company retiring victorious and unscathed.
*YOUNG, RODGER W.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division. Place and date: On New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 31 July 1943. Entered service at: Clyde, Ohio. Birth: Tiffin, Ohio. G.O. No.: 3, 6 January 1944. Citation: On 31 July 1943, the infantry company of which Pvt. Young was a member, was ordered to make a limited withdrawal from the battle line in order to adjust the battalion's position for the night. At this time, Pvt. Young's platoon was engaged with the enemy in a dense jungle where observation was very limited. The platoon suddenly was pinned down by intense fire from a Japanese machinegun concealed on higher ground only 75 yards away. The initial burst wounded Pvt. Young. As the platoon started to obey the order to withdraw, Pvt. Young called out that he could see the enemy emplacement, whereupon he started creeping toward it. Another burst from the machinegun wounded him the second time. Despite the wounds, he continued his heroic advance, attracting enemy fire and answering with rifle fire. When he was close enough to his objective, he began throwing handgrenades, and while doing so was hit again and killed. Pvt. Young's bold action in closing with this Japanese pillbox and thus diverting its fire, permitted his platoon to disengage itself, without loss, and was responsible for several enemy casualties.
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
THE OIL PATCH WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II
Thanks to Mo ...
Sue and I visited the U.S. Military Cemetery at Cambridge this Spring with a WWII Museum tour of the Allied air bases in England …. and I sent this story to the retired SEAL who currently runs the cemetery ...
THE OIL PATCH WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II
Seventy-five years ago this month, a Band of Roughnecks went abroad on a top secret mission into Robin Hood's stomping grounds to punch oil wells to help fuel England's war machines.
It's a story that should make any oilman or woman proud.
The year was 1943 and England was mired in World War II. U-boats attacked supply vessels, choking off badly needed supplies to the island nation. But oil was the commodity they needed the most as they warred with Germany.
A book "The Secret of Sherwood Forest: Oil Production in England During World War II" written by Guy Woodward and Grace Steele Woodward was published in 1973, and tells the obscure story of the American oil men who went to England to bore wells in a top secret mission in March 1943.
England had but one oil field, in Sherwood Forest of all places. Its meager output of 300 barrels a day was literally a drop in the bucket of their requirement of 150,000 barrels a day to fuel their war machines.
Then a top secret plan was devised: to send some Americans and their expertise to assist in developing the field. Oklahoma based Noble Drilling Company, along with Fain-Porter signed a one year contract to drill 100 wells for England, merely for costs and expenses.
42 drillers and roughnecks from Texas and Oklahoma, most in their teens and early twenties volunteered for the mission to go abroad. The hands embarked for England in March 1943 aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Four National 50 drilling rigs were loaded onto ships but only three of them made landfall; the Nazi U-boats sank one of the rigs enroute to the UK.
The Brits' jaws dropped as the Yanks began punching the wells in a week, compared to five to eight weeks for their British counterparts. They worked 12 hour tours, 7 days a week and within a year, the Americans had drilled 106 wells and England oil production shot up from 300 barrels a day to over 300,000
The contract fulfilled, the American oil men departed England in late March 1944. But only 41 hands were on board the return voyage. Herman Douthit, a Texan derrick-hand was killed during the operation. He was laid to rest with full military honors, and remains the only civilian to be buried at The American Military Cemetery in Cambridge.
"The Oil Patch Warrior," a seven foot bronze statue of a roughneck holding a four foot pipe wrench stands near Nottingham England to honor the American oil men's assistance and sacrifice in the war. A replica was placed in Ardmore Oklahoma in 2001
It is by no means a stretch to state that without the American mission, we might all be speaking German today.
Special thanks to the American Oil and Gas Historical Society.
"There are no noble wars, just noble warriors"
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World News thanks to MilitaryPeriscope for 31 July
USA—4 More Generals Named To Top Space Force Posts Dept. Of Defense | 07/31/2020 The Trump administration has nominated several generals for new roles at the top of Space Force, reports the Dept. of Defense. On July 28, Maj. Gen. Stephen Whiting; Maj. Gen. Chance Saltzman, Maj. Gen. William Liquori Jr.;and Maj. Gen. Nina Armagno were nominated for Senate consideration to receive a third star. The nominations will be reviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee before going to the full Senate for confirmation, noted Air Force magazine. Whiting has been nominated to lead Space Operations Command. He currently serves as the deputy commander of Space Force. Saltzman has been nominated to be deputy chief of space operations, cyber and nuclear, in the Office of the Chief of Space Operations (CSO). He has been serving as acting director of the Space Force staff and deputy commander of Air Forces Central Command. Liquori, currently the director of strategic requirements, architectures and analysis for Space Force, has been nominated for the position of deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans programs requirements in the Office of the CSO. Armagno has been nominated to serve as the director of staff in the Office of the CSO. She is currently the director of space programs in the Dept. of the Air Force. Saltzman, Liquori and Armagno would become part of the inaugural leadership team at the office of the CSO.
USA—Slowdown In Commercial Production Results In Hit To Boeing On KC-46 Tanker Program Boeing | 07/31/2020 Boeing says it has taken another charge on the KC-46 aerial refueler program due to a slowdown in commercial aircraft production. The company took a $151 million charge on the KC-46 program in the second quarter, according to quarterly results released on July 29. The charge was the result of additional costs assigned to the program due to lower production of the commercial Boeing 767 airliner as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Lower commercial production rates have led to some of the fixed costs associated with production being transferred to other programs, said Boeing officials cited by Defense News. Boeing has taken more than $4.7 billion in charges under the fixed-cost contract for the KC-46 tanker program, nearly equal to the value of the $4.9 billion deal with the Air Force.
United Kingdom—Howitzer Program Delayed At Least 2 Years Defense News | 07/31/2020 The British army's program to find a replacement for its AS90 self-propelled howitzers) has been set back by at least two years, reports Defense News. The Mobile Fires Program is being postponed to enable the defense ministry address key technical risks and meet requirements set in the government's integrated defense, security and foreign policy review, which is anticipated in late 2020. The new howitzer was previously expected to reach initial operational capability in the fourth quarter of 2026. The milestone has now been pushed back to the first quarter of 2029. As a result of the delay, the AS90 will remain in service for two more years, with the last systems set to leave service in 2032. The Mobile Fires Program was announced in April 2019, with BAE Systems, Hanwha Defense of South Korea, Soltam Systems of Israel, Nexter in France and Rheinmetall in Germany expressing interest.
France—JNIM Claims Deadly Assault On French Base Agence France-Presse | 07/31/2020 The Al-Qaida affiliate in Mali has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on French forces earlier this month, reports Agence France-Presse. On July 23, two cars packed with explosives were detonated next to a French camp in Gossi in northern Mali clearing the way for a third vehicle, which exploded after entering the base, Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) said in a statement released on Thursday. JNIM fighters also launched mortar shells at the base, supporting militants who entered the base and fought with French soldiers, said a copy of the statement translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. France has confirmed that one soldier died in the attack. The French military account, however, said that the soldier was killed during a reconnaissance patrol in Gossi, when a car bomb detonated near their vehicle, reported the Long War Journal. Two other soldiers were injured in the attack. A second suicide car bomb, which was reported by local media, was not mentioned in the French account. The Malian military says that one of its camps in the area was hit by mortars that JNIM said it fired. Two JNIM militants were also killed in the attack.
Poland—Deal Reached To Bring More U.S. Troops To Poland Stars And Stripes | 07/31/2020 The Polish government has finalized an agreement with the U.S. that will bring more American troops to Poland, reports the Stars and Stripes. The parties have completed negotiations on a new enhanced defense cooperation agreement that will strengthen the U.S. military presence in Poland, Georgette Mosbacher, the U.S. ambassador to Poland, said on Twitter on Friday. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told Jedynka public radio that the U.S. would deploy at least 1,000 troops under the agreement, reported Agence France-Presse. Poland would also host an American command to oversee forces on NATO's eastern flank, the minister said. The new initiative is expected to involve a range of rotational units, with a focus on an increased special operations presence, establishing a drone squadron and logistics. The announcement comes after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed plans to withdraw about 12,000 troops from Germany. On Wednesday, Esper said that the Army had decided that the new V Corps headquarters at Fort Knox, Ky., would send a forward unit of about 200 personnel to Poland to help U.S. Army Europe coordinate troop movements on the continent.
Russia—S-400 Deliveries To China Halted Asian News International | 07/31/2020 The Russian government says it has suspended deliveries of S-400 air defense systems ordered by China, reports the Asian News International. The Chinese newspaper Sohu reported that shipments of the S-400 air defense system have been suspended for at least five months. The newspaper cited the complexities of the acquisition process but did not indicate a reason for delaying the shipments, which began in 2018. Chinese media cited by the Asia Times indicated that Moscow was worried that deliveries could hinder Beijing's efforts to battle the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Meanwhile, the suspension comes shortly after Moscow charged a leading researcher on Arctic issues with spying on behalf of China. The Ming Pao (Hong Kong) also noted that the Chinese Embassy in Moscow has been implicated in the theft of Russian intellectual property.
Azerbaijan—Joint Exercise With Turkey Underway | 07/31/2020 Azerbaijan and Turkey have just kicked off a bilateral drill, reports the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense. On Wednesday, the large-scale tactical and flight exercises began simultaneously in Baku and Nakhchivan, reported the Daily Sabah (Istanbul). Military aviation training was scheduled to run from July 29 to Aug. 10, with ground force exercises taking place from Aug 1-5. Meanwhile, Turkish flight and flight engineering personnel arrived in Ganja on Wednesday for the drills. Video released by the ministry showed at least one T129 attack helicopter being unloaded. The training is scheduled to include simulated reconnaissance and ground attack missions. A variety of equipment, including artillery, armored vehicles, mortars, jets and helicopters, will be used.
China—PLA Ramps Up Drills In S. China Sea South China Morning Post | 07/31/2020 The Chinese military has been holding "high-intensity" air and naval exercises in the South China Sea, reports the South China Morning Post. H-6G and H-6J bombers practiced nighttime take-offs, long-range missions and striking maritime targets, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The drills were part of regularly scheduled operations to maintain readiness, said a ministry spokesman. The timing and location were not revealed. Separately, the Southern Theater Command announced that three Jiangdao-class corvettes participated in naval drills in the region earlier this month. The announcements come two weeks after two U.S. carrier strike groups conducted training in the South China Sea. The latest maneuvers come amid growing tensions between China and the U.S. in the region. China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, a matter contested by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. On July 13, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the U.S. considered most Chinese claims in the region to be illegal.
Japan—LDP Proposes Developing Strike Capability To Deter Missile Threats Nikkei Asian Review | 07/31/2020 The defense policy committee of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has proposed developing a strike capability to enable the Self-Defense Forces to attack missile launch sites in enemy territory, reports the Nikkei Asian Review. On Thursday, the committee approved a recommendation to develop strike capabilities, such as air-launched missiles and long-range cruise missiles that could be fired by Aegis-equipped destroyers. The draft proposal does not specifically mention striking hostile bases, a capability that has been discussed since Tokyo canceled plans to build two Aegis Ashore missile defense sites in June, but implicitly encourages the development of such capabilities. The document calls for "the ability to head off missiles in enemy territory," broader language than in previous recommendations. The new language encompasses threats such as mobile launchers and submarines rather than specifically bases. Former Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, who led the committee drafting the proposal, said that Japan would need to enhance its intelligence and surveillance capabilities to properly identify missile threats, reported the Wall Street Journal. Strikes against enemy bases in response to an imminent threat are considered in line with Japan's pacifist constitution if no other options are available. The government is now considering what options it has within this interpretation, experts said.
New Zealand—No Coverup In Civilian Fatality Incident In 2010, Say Investigators Radio New Zealand | 07/31/2020 An inquiry has criticized the New Zealand military for misleading the public about a 2010 operation in Afghanistan, reports Radio New Zealand. Released on Friday, the report reviewed Operation Burnham in the Tirgiran Valley in August 2010. The mission involved New Zealand, Afghan and partner forces, reported Reuters. The report found that the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) did not conspire to cover up reports of civilian casualties, as claimed in a book by investigative journalists. It also contradicted the book's assertion that the operation was poorly planned or conceived of as a revenge plot following the death of a NZDF soldier. The inquiry faulted the military for not correcting those who called reports of casualties "unfounded," despite knowledge that it was possible. The report confirmed the death of a child during the operation. Seven people were killed in the operation, with three confirmed as militants. The status of the others could not be confirmed. The inquiry also made several recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future, including creating an independent body to oversee the NZDF.
Bangladesh—5 Injured In Bomb Blast At Police Station; Police Deny Terrorist Link Dhaka Tribune | 07/31/2020 Bangladeshi police say an explosion at a police station this week was not a terrorist attack, reports the Dhaka Tribune. On Wednesday morning, police at the Pallabi station in Dhaka were awaiting the arrival of bomb disposal personnel to evaluate a device when it exploded, injuring four officers and a civilian who works at the station. Earlier, police had arrested three suspected members of a criminal group at a cemetery. The group had a weight machine with them, which officers suspected might have been a bomb. The device was taken to the station, where a member of the bomb disposal unit was awaiting the arrival of a specialist with additional tools when the bomb went off. Further analysis of the device resulted in the discovery of two more bombs, which were safely defused. The New JMB, an ISIS-linked group in Bangladesh, claimed responsibility for the explosion, reported Zee News (India). Senior police officials told the Tribune that the bomb did not appear to be like the improvised devices used by militant groups but resembled those used by local criminal groups.
Afghanistan—President Orders Release Of 500 Taliban Prisoners TOLONews | 07/31/2020 Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has ordered the release of 500 Taliban prisoners in response to the militant groups' three-day cease-fire announced earlier this week, reports the Tolo News (Kabul). The 500 prisoners are not on the list provided by the Taliban of those that the militant group wants released, Ghani said on Friday. All would be released over the next four days. Ghani said that he would convene a Loya Jirga, which brings together community leaders, to discuss the release of the last 400 prisoners on the Taliban's list. Those prisoners have been accused of serious crimes, the president said. On Wednesday, the Taliban promised to release all 1,000 government prisoners held by the group. This would complete most of the prisoner exchanges stipulated under a February agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban. The Afghan government is not a party to that deal.
Syria—Egyptian Troops Operating In Aleppo, Idlib, Says Turkish Military Anadolu News Agency | 07/31/2020 Turkish military officials say Egypt has sent scores of troops to Syria to support the regime of Bashir Assad, reports the Anadolu Agency (Ankara). Cairo may have deployed as many as 150 troops to Syria, according to unnamed Turkish military officials. The Egyptian forces were deployed in the Khan al-Asal area of western Aleppo and in the city of Saraqib in southern Idlib province in coordination with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the officials said. The troops were said to be armed with light weapons and accompanied by Iranian-backed militant groups. The deployment could not be confirmed. The report comes amid growing deployments of Iranian-backed groups and regime forces along the de-escalation zone in Idlib.
Somalia—U.S. Airstrike Hits Al-Shabaab Compound Africa Command | 07/31/2020 U.S. air assets have conducted a successful airstrike against an Al-Shabaab compound in southern Somalia, reports U.S. Africa Command. On Wednesday, AFRICOM aircraft, in coordination with the Somali government, destroyed an Al-Shabaab compound near the town of Jilib in the Middle Juba region of Somalia, the command said. One Al-Shabaab terrorist was killed, and another injured in the strike. AFRICOM assessed that there were no civilian casualties due to the attack.
Nigeria—Borno State Governor Survives Ambush This Day | 07/31/2020 The governor of Nigeria's northeastern Borno state has been ambushed while traveling in the northern part of the state, reports This Day (Lagos). On Wednesday, Gov. Babagana Zulum was traveling near the town of Baga on an undisclosed trip to dispense aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region when his convoy was ambushed by suspected Boko Haram militants, reported the Daily Trust (Abuja). Zulum visited the towns of Baga and Kukawa to meet with the IDPs. Some sources indicated that the governor was ambushed on his way to an IDP camp. Two vigilantes and a police officer were wounded in the fighting. No casualty report was given for the militants. Zulum was unharmed in the attack. He expressed displeasure about the failure of army forces in the region to prevent the Boko Haram assault.
Mozambique—9 Killed In Latest Attacks In Cabo Delgado Province Voice Of America News | 07/31/2020 At least nine civilians have been killed in attacks this week in Mozambique's northern Cabo Delgado province, reports the Voice of America News. On Tuesday, suspected Islamist militants attacked a flour mill in Mocimboa da Praia district, killing a civilian and seizing grain and livestock. The militants returned the following day to steal more food, said a resident. On Wednesday, militants raided the village of Tandacua in the Macomia district, looking for food. Residents fled into the woods for safety. When they returned, they found the bodies of eight people, all of whom were beheaded. Attacks in northern Mozambique have continued despite the deployment of additional security personnel in the area. Most violence in the region is attributed to the ISIS-linked Ahlu Sunna wa Jama, sometimes called Al-Shabaab.
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