– Der Spiegel – Berlin is unhappy about a weapons deal in which France plans to supply warships to highly indebted Greece free of charge for the first five years, and at a big discount when payment comes due. Firms and politicians in Germany say taxpayers may end up paying for part of the deal, and they want Chancellor Angela Merkel to intervene.
US Marines – US, Philippine marines begin drills near Spratlys
– Associated Press – About 3,000 U.S. and Filipino marines started two weeks of annual military drills in the Philippines on Monday that will include a hostile beach assault exercise near the disputed Spratly Islands.
Piracy – Taken By Pirates
– New York Times Magazine – One couple’s 388-day ordeal — and their unlikely saviors.
US Navy – Navy Drops Advanced Radar From Aegis Upgrade
– Aviation Week – U.S. budget woes have claimed another victim — the required integration of the U.S. Navy’s proposed Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) with its next planned Aegis combat system upgrade.
Royal Navy – Might Britain Buy the Naval Rafale?
– Defense Technology International – France’s procurement chief does not consider the idea that the UK may eventually opt for the Rafale for its new aircraft carriers completely ridiculous.
US Coast Guard – Lawmakers confronting cold reality for pricey icebreakers
– Seattle Times – The United States is running short of icebreakers, with its only pair of heavy icebreakers, Polar Sea and Polar Star, sidelined in Seattle, one with broken engines and the other undergoing an overhaul to keep it running a decade past its life span.
Royal Marines – British marines free hijacked Italian ship off coast of Somalia
– Daily Telegraph – British commandos have stormed an Italian cargo ship which was hijacked by Somalia pirates in the Indian Ocean, rescuing the crew and capturing nearly a dozen pirates.
Piracy – Netherlands Increases Number of Vessel Protection Detachments
– Defense Technology International – The Netherlands plans to deploy 50 vessel protection detachments (VPDs) to protect vulnerable ships from Somali pirates in 2012, ten times the number deployed so far this year.
Air Warfare – Flight of the drones
– The Economist – Why the future of air power belongs to unmanned systems.
US Marines – F-35B Finally Lands on the Wasp!
– Defense Technology International – The F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing Joint Strike Fighter has taken a step forward in its testing program today with the first landing onboard the USS Wasp, a Marine Corps amphibious ship, in preparation for shipboard trials.
Chinese Navy – Ares visits China, part Three
– Defense Technology International – OK, so we’ll skip a day or so (otherwise there won’t be anything left for you to read about in the next issue of DTI) and move onto the day we visited the Shanghai naval base, a first ever by journalists of any nationality apparently.
US Marines – Marine flying entering period of turbulence
– San Diego Union Tribune – As the Marines celebrate a century of shared aviation history with the Navy at the annual air show in San Diego beginning today, they are also looking to the future amid a high-stakes overhaul of their fleet.
Russian Navy – Russian Navy Tests New SLBM
– Defense Technology International – Just two days after the ICBM crash in Plesetsk, another new Russian missile has made a successful test launch. On September 29, Delta IV class Tula submarine of the Russian Northern Fleet fired a ballistic missile called Lainer (Liner) from the Barents Sea.
Royal Navy – Royal Navy sackings 'will lose aircraft carriers skills forever'
– Daily Telegraph – One of the Royal Navy’s most senior officers has expressed serious concerns over the loss of skilled aircraft carrier crew following redundancies.
US Navy – Navy explores longer sub deployments
– AP – The Navy is considering lengthening the standard deployment of attack submarines beyond six months as it faces rising demands with a fleet that has been shrinking since the end of the Cold War.
Turkish Navy – Turkish military ship raises hackles in oil and gas hunt
– Globe and Mail – The Turkish research vessel, Koka Piri Reis, continues to raise hackles among countries around the eastern Mediterranean.
Iranian Navy – Iran to deploy ships near U.S. sea borders
– UPI – An Iranian naval official said the country’s navy plans to deploy ships in the Atlantic Ocean near U.S. maritime borders.
Iranian Navy – Iran sends cruise missiles to its navy
– UPI – Cruise missiles with a range of 124 miles were delivered to the Iranian navy to bolster the country’s national defense, the Iranian military said.
South Korean Navy – S.Korea to build naval base near disputed island
– AFP – South Korea will build a naval base near an island claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo so that its warships can deploy faster than Japan’s in case of disputes.
Royal Navy – Can Britannia Rule The Waves Again?
– Defense Technology International – The UK’s new Type 26 could prove to be a radical change for Royal Navy sailors — particularly in the way that they sleep.
US Marines – US Marines find rewards in Afghanistan
– Associated Press – The dominant narrative about war in a foreign land says its practitioners yearn for home, for the families, the comforts, and the luxury of no longer worrying about imminent death or injury. It applies to young American troops in Afghan combat zones, but it’s not the whole truth.
Russian Navy – First Yasen Class Sub Is off for Sea Trials
– Defense Technology International – On Sept. 12, the first multirole attack nuclear-powered submarine, Severodvinsk, of the Yasen class (Project 885) sailed off for factory trials, reported Sevmash shipyard, where it was built. Severodvinsk’s construction lasted 17 years and the sub was officially launched in June 2010.
Indian Navy – INS Vikramaditya Carrier Is 85% Ready
– Defense Technology International – The Indian navy aircraft carrier Vikramaditya is nearing completion at Russia’s Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk. Vice Admiral Nadel Niradjan Kumar, chief manager of production and purchase of warships for the Indian navy who inspected Sevmash this week, says the ship is 85% ready and will be handed over to the navy in December 2012.
US Navy – Twenty years after Tailhook, a changed Navy
– San Diego Union Tribune – The 1991 Tailhook aviation convention, where naval aviators fresh from Operation Desert Storm grabbed women’s private parts during a drunken late-night “gauntlet” game, forced a sea change in flyboy circles.
Chinese Navy – China flexes muscles in disputed waters
– Washington Post – When China’s largest offshore petroleum producer launched a $1 billion oil rig this summer from Shanghai, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, the commander of Philippine military forces 1,500 miles away in the South China Sea, began preparing for trouble.
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