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The Living Force
The Pentagon Has Spent $51 Billion on Useless Projects (Photos - Photos and more Photos)
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/the-pentagon-has-spent-51-billion-on.html
According to the report of the Center for strategic and international studies USA, since the turn of the millennium, Washington has spent $51.2 billion in 15 projects in the field of military technology and weapons, which were then abandoned because of the sequestration of the military budget," reports the American edition of Business Insider.
As was stated to journalists by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a reduction in military spending is currently the biggest threat to American Defense.
$18.1 billion was spent on mysterious "future combat systems". They included the production of new combat vehicles, which were intended for the army, but in the end they were nothing but prototypes the troops never saw. An attempt to create an expeditionary fighting vehicle for the marine corps ended badly: the project cost $3.3 billion. The same applies to self-propelled howitzer XM2001 Crusader ($2.2 billion). In second place on the list of expenses is the helicopter RAH-66 Comanche. Its development cost 7.9 billion dollars. As in the first case, the U.S. military has not received the promised multi-purpose reconnaissance and attack machine. It ended in failure, and did the development of the presidential helicopter VH-71. In this case, 3.7 billion from the budget was wasted. $200 million was unsuccessfully spent to create the rescue helicopter and another half billion was spent on the development of helicopter reconnaissance.
National polar-orbiting operational satellite system of environmental monitoring is located in third position on the list. Its development cost $5.8 billion. Another half a billion was spent on a space-based infra-red system, designed for early detection of the launch of ballistic missiles. The creation of the onboard laser systems for aircraft of the United States from the U.S budget cost $5.2 billion. Also, the Pentagon refused to develop multi-purpose aircraft control and guidance E-10 ($1.9 billion). Another hundred million was spent on the creation of a next generation bomber.
Money from the budget was also wasted by the U.S. Navy. The project for the development of advanced underwater vehicles for the delivery of special operations forces also failed. The project cost 0.6 billion dollars. The plan to create the next generation cruiser CG (X) (0.2 billion dollars) was also not implemented. Despite the fact that the US has consistently cut funding for its own military programs, Washington agreed to provide $300 million to support the Ukrainian army. Senator John McCain, commenting on the decision, said that the Armed forces of Ukraine have nothing to oppose the military of the people's republics of Donbass, so Kiev needed additional financial support.
'Unfair': US Navy Bemoans Test That Shows Major Vessel Vulnerabilities
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160202/1034062605/us-navy-unfair-test.html
A lynchpin of US Navy strategy, the Littoral Combat Ship is intended to provide fierce firepower close to shore. But new tests find that the state-of-the-art vessels may be vulnerable to smaller, faster attack boats. A representative of the Navy responded to the findings by labelling the test "unfair."
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has seen its share of controversy. Designed for close-shore combat, the program’s development has suffered from cost overruns, as well as embarrassing setbacks. A government watchdog group found that the LCS USS Freedom showed cracks in the ship’s hull. The LCS USS Independence is allegedly susceptible to corrosion.
The tests involved a simulated exercise pitting the LCS USS Coronado with a number of attack boats who, in the course of the drill, penetrated the ship’s "keep-out" zone, according to the report. While the Coronado was ultimately able to destroy the attackers, the simulation showed that it would have received heavy damage.
Much of the problems stem from repeated failures in network communications. These errors are said to lead to multiple inaccuracies with the ship’s onboard weapons systems.
The report also cited cybersecurity failures, and even trouble with the Coronado’s generators and air-conditioning units.
Speaking to Breaking Defense on condition of anonymity, a Navy official responded to the report’s findings by calling the test "unfair," and pointing to the fact that the Navy still won the simulation.
The anonymous official also suggested that the ship had not yet received its full weapons systems outfit.
"Here’s the other thing: in the scenario, it didn’t have the missile package," he said. "We did testing with the Longbow Hellfire…[and] in the same scenario, high speed maneuverable targets…it defeated seven of eight."
The official did not explain how the eighth target managed to escape destruction.
"It just seems to me it was an unfair treatment," he added, in reference to the findings of the report.
Why the Navy would test the LCS without its complete weapons package is another question, and one that could potentially point to even more cost overruns. The program is also struggling to complete LCS mine-clearing and anti-submarine packages.
The unnamed official’s explanation fails to address onboard hardware and software network issues. The weapons that had been installed prior to the drills suffered repeated malfunctions, and it’s plausible that additional weapons packages would have fallen victim to similar problems.
The US Plans to Buy 500 Fighter Jets That Don't Work
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/us-plans-buy-500-fighter-jets-dont-work/ri12552
The F-35 is a $400 billion (and counting) flying nightmare. And the Pentagon wants to buy hundreds of them — 'tests' and 'modifications' can come later.
Feast your eyes upon this level of wholesale grift and piss-poor engineering:
Tests of how Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 will perform in combat won’t begin until at least August 2018, a year later than planned, and more than 500 of the fighter jets may be built before the assessment is complete, according to the Pentagon’s test office.
“These aircraft will require a still-to-be-determined list of modifications” to be fully capable, Michael Gilmore, the U.S. Defense Department’s top weapons tester, said in his annual report on major programs. “However, these modifications may be unaffordable for the services as they consider the cost of upgrading these early lots of aircraft while the program continues to increase production rates in a fiscally constrained environment.”
In layman's terms: "We already know this aircraft has major problems, but we will buy hundreds of them anyway. By the way, we probably can't afford the necessary modifications to make them operational. So it goes."
The F-35 "project" has already cost American taxpayers some $391 billion (other estimates put the total at nearly $1.4 trillion), and even though everyone agrees that the plane is fatally flawed, production continues without interruption — a strategy a top Pentagon official once called “acquisition malpractice.” And the malpractice is staggering. Here's a list of some of the more notable problems with the F-35, compiled by the U.S Defense Department's top weapons tester:
•A fuel system deficiency on all three models of the plane that limits their maneuverability when carrying a full load of gas.
•A diagnostic system, called “ALIS,” that continues “to demonstrate poor accuracy and a high false alarm rate.”
•Cracks in wing spars discovered in October on the Navy version of the F-35 and “damage to a significant number of fasteners and grommets” found during testing of the Marine Corps model.
•A lack of high-fidelity simulators to rehearse combat missions and specialized data for each major geographic area that pilots will use to test sensors and track enemy radar.
•A pilot escape system that could kill ejecting pilots who weigh 136 pounds or less by breaking their necks. DellaVedova said the program office plans improvements by November to fix the neck-stress issue.
It's already been widely reported that the F-35 has serious maneuvering problems, and missiles that can be easily neutralized. Heck, the F-35 can probably be shot down by old-timey MiGs — all for the low price of 23 years of free college for every American.
What's next? A "state-of-the-art" Navy fleet that doesn't float?
U.S. missile defenses rendered totally obsolete by Mach 10 hypersonic missile developed by China
http://investmentwatchblog.com/u-s-missile-defenses-rendered-totally-obsolete-by-mach-10-hypersonic-missile-developed-by-china/
China has just conducted the third flight test of a hypersonic missile which has the potential of breaching U.S. missile defense systems. The successful flight test of the Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle was carried out early in December, following two other tests which occurred earlier in 2014.
The Wu-14 is still in the developmental stage, but China plans to have it ready for deployment by 2020. The hypersonic glide vehicle has the capability of reaching speeds of Mach 10 (10 times the speed of sound) — nearly 8,000 miles per hour.
In the report, Lee Fuell, who is the technical director for force modernization and employment at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), said that if hypersonic missile attacks were “combined with more traditional ballistic missile attacks forcing a target to defend against very high aspect warheads coming in this way at the same time they have to defend against low altitude, very high speed targets coming in [another] way, it makes the defense problem orders of magnitude worse for the defender.”
In other words, U.S. missile defense systems could theoretically be overwhelmed by such an attack.
The report also stated that the Wu-14 could give China the capability to “conduct kinetic strikes anywhere in the world within minutes to hours.” Such weapons have the potential to make existing defense systems “less effective and potentially obsolete.”
Second Navy Combat Ship Goes Down Because Someone Forgot To Check The Oil
http://dailycaller.com/2016/01/22/second-navy-combat-ship-goes-down-because-someone-forgot-to-check-the-oil/
The USS Fort Worth, a Navy littoral combat ship, has suffered extensive gear damage while docked at a port in Singapore. The Navy is blaming the incident on a crew error.
According to reports, the crew failed to use sufficient lube oil, leading to excessively high temperatures on the gears. Debris also found its way into the lubrication system, which also contributed to failure, Defense News reports. The crew did not follow standard operating procedures.
Immediately following the incident, ship repair experts arrived on the scene to assess the damage. Until the investigation wraps up, the ship will remain at the Changi Naval Base in Singapore.
“We have the right resources in place to conduct the necessary inspections, determine the extent of the damage and required repairs, and return Fort Worth back to operational status,” Lt. Cmdr. Matt Knight, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, told Defense News. “USS Fort Worth has been a model of reliability for more than one year while deployed in the US 7th Fleet. We are working diligently to minimize the operational impact of this maintenance casualty.”
This marks the second incident over the last couple months that an LCS ship has been brought down due to mechanical failure. The Milwaukee broke down approximately 40 miles off the coast of Virginia. The Navy had to collect the ship and tow it back to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
Navy officials told Defense News that the problem with the USS Fort Worth and the USS Milwaukee is somewhat similar, though the actual causes are distinct. It is unknown when the problems with Fort Worth will clear up. A few weeks ago, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told Navy Secretary Ray Mabus that orders of LCS ships were to be capped at 40, rather than the original amount of 52. The Navy disputed the decision at the time and still hopes Carter will have a change of heart.
http://www.fort-russ.com/2016/02/the-pentagon-has-spent-51-billion-on.html
According to the report of the Center for strategic and international studies USA, since the turn of the millennium, Washington has spent $51.2 billion in 15 projects in the field of military technology and weapons, which were then abandoned because of the sequestration of the military budget," reports the American edition of Business Insider.
As was stated to journalists by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a reduction in military spending is currently the biggest threat to American Defense.
$18.1 billion was spent on mysterious "future combat systems". They included the production of new combat vehicles, which were intended for the army, but in the end they were nothing but prototypes the troops never saw. An attempt to create an expeditionary fighting vehicle for the marine corps ended badly: the project cost $3.3 billion. The same applies to self-propelled howitzer XM2001 Crusader ($2.2 billion). In second place on the list of expenses is the helicopter RAH-66 Comanche. Its development cost 7.9 billion dollars. As in the first case, the U.S. military has not received the promised multi-purpose reconnaissance and attack machine. It ended in failure, and did the development of the presidential helicopter VH-71. In this case, 3.7 billion from the budget was wasted. $200 million was unsuccessfully spent to create the rescue helicopter and another half billion was spent on the development of helicopter reconnaissance.
National polar-orbiting operational satellite system of environmental monitoring is located in third position on the list. Its development cost $5.8 billion. Another half a billion was spent on a space-based infra-red system, designed for early detection of the launch of ballistic missiles. The creation of the onboard laser systems for aircraft of the United States from the U.S budget cost $5.2 billion. Also, the Pentagon refused to develop multi-purpose aircraft control and guidance E-10 ($1.9 billion). Another hundred million was spent on the creation of a next generation bomber.
Money from the budget was also wasted by the U.S. Navy. The project for the development of advanced underwater vehicles for the delivery of special operations forces also failed. The project cost 0.6 billion dollars. The plan to create the next generation cruiser CG (X) (0.2 billion dollars) was also not implemented. Despite the fact that the US has consistently cut funding for its own military programs, Washington agreed to provide $300 million to support the Ukrainian army. Senator John McCain, commenting on the decision, said that the Armed forces of Ukraine have nothing to oppose the military of the people's republics of Donbass, so Kiev needed additional financial support.
'Unfair': US Navy Bemoans Test That Shows Major Vessel Vulnerabilities
http://sputniknews.com/us/20160202/1034062605/us-navy-unfair-test.html
A lynchpin of US Navy strategy, the Littoral Combat Ship is intended to provide fierce firepower close to shore. But new tests find that the state-of-the-art vessels may be vulnerable to smaller, faster attack boats. A representative of the Navy responded to the findings by labelling the test "unfair."
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) has seen its share of controversy. Designed for close-shore combat, the program’s development has suffered from cost overruns, as well as embarrassing setbacks. A government watchdog group found that the LCS USS Freedom showed cracks in the ship’s hull. The LCS USS Independence is allegedly susceptible to corrosion.
The tests involved a simulated exercise pitting the LCS USS Coronado with a number of attack boats who, in the course of the drill, penetrated the ship’s "keep-out" zone, according to the report. While the Coronado was ultimately able to destroy the attackers, the simulation showed that it would have received heavy damage.
Much of the problems stem from repeated failures in network communications. These errors are said to lead to multiple inaccuracies with the ship’s onboard weapons systems.
The report also cited cybersecurity failures, and even trouble with the Coronado’s generators and air-conditioning units.
Speaking to Breaking Defense on condition of anonymity, a Navy official responded to the report’s findings by calling the test "unfair," and pointing to the fact that the Navy still won the simulation.
The anonymous official also suggested that the ship had not yet received its full weapons systems outfit.
"Here’s the other thing: in the scenario, it didn’t have the missile package," he said. "We did testing with the Longbow Hellfire…[and] in the same scenario, high speed maneuverable targets…it defeated seven of eight."
The official did not explain how the eighth target managed to escape destruction.
"It just seems to me it was an unfair treatment," he added, in reference to the findings of the report.
Why the Navy would test the LCS without its complete weapons package is another question, and one that could potentially point to even more cost overruns. The program is also struggling to complete LCS mine-clearing and anti-submarine packages.
The unnamed official’s explanation fails to address onboard hardware and software network issues. The weapons that had been installed prior to the drills suffered repeated malfunctions, and it’s plausible that additional weapons packages would have fallen victim to similar problems.
The US Plans to Buy 500 Fighter Jets That Don't Work
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/us-plans-buy-500-fighter-jets-dont-work/ri12552
The F-35 is a $400 billion (and counting) flying nightmare. And the Pentagon wants to buy hundreds of them — 'tests' and 'modifications' can come later.
Feast your eyes upon this level of wholesale grift and piss-poor engineering:
Tests of how Lockheed Martin Corp.’s F-35 will perform in combat won’t begin until at least August 2018, a year later than planned, and more than 500 of the fighter jets may be built before the assessment is complete, according to the Pentagon’s test office.
“These aircraft will require a still-to-be-determined list of modifications” to be fully capable, Michael Gilmore, the U.S. Defense Department’s top weapons tester, said in his annual report on major programs. “However, these modifications may be unaffordable for the services as they consider the cost of upgrading these early lots of aircraft while the program continues to increase production rates in a fiscally constrained environment.”
In layman's terms: "We already know this aircraft has major problems, but we will buy hundreds of them anyway. By the way, we probably can't afford the necessary modifications to make them operational. So it goes."
The F-35 "project" has already cost American taxpayers some $391 billion (other estimates put the total at nearly $1.4 trillion), and even though everyone agrees that the plane is fatally flawed, production continues without interruption — a strategy a top Pentagon official once called “acquisition malpractice.” And the malpractice is staggering. Here's a list of some of the more notable problems with the F-35, compiled by the U.S Defense Department's top weapons tester:
•A fuel system deficiency on all three models of the plane that limits their maneuverability when carrying a full load of gas.
•A diagnostic system, called “ALIS,” that continues “to demonstrate poor accuracy and a high false alarm rate.”
•Cracks in wing spars discovered in October on the Navy version of the F-35 and “damage to a significant number of fasteners and grommets” found during testing of the Marine Corps model.
•A lack of high-fidelity simulators to rehearse combat missions and specialized data for each major geographic area that pilots will use to test sensors and track enemy radar.
•A pilot escape system that could kill ejecting pilots who weigh 136 pounds or less by breaking their necks. DellaVedova said the program office plans improvements by November to fix the neck-stress issue.
It's already been widely reported that the F-35 has serious maneuvering problems, and missiles that can be easily neutralized. Heck, the F-35 can probably be shot down by old-timey MiGs — all for the low price of 23 years of free college for every American.
What's next? A "state-of-the-art" Navy fleet that doesn't float?
U.S. missile defenses rendered totally obsolete by Mach 10 hypersonic missile developed by China
http://investmentwatchblog.com/u-s-missile-defenses-rendered-totally-obsolete-by-mach-10-hypersonic-missile-developed-by-china/
China has just conducted the third flight test of a hypersonic missile which has the potential of breaching U.S. missile defense systems. The successful flight test of the Wu-14 hypersonic glide vehicle was carried out early in December, following two other tests which occurred earlier in 2014.
The Wu-14 is still in the developmental stage, but China plans to have it ready for deployment by 2020. The hypersonic glide vehicle has the capability of reaching speeds of Mach 10 (10 times the speed of sound) — nearly 8,000 miles per hour.
In the report, Lee Fuell, who is the technical director for force modernization and employment at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), said that if hypersonic missile attacks were “combined with more traditional ballistic missile attacks forcing a target to defend against very high aspect warheads coming in this way at the same time they have to defend against low altitude, very high speed targets coming in [another] way, it makes the defense problem orders of magnitude worse for the defender.”
In other words, U.S. missile defense systems could theoretically be overwhelmed by such an attack.
The report also stated that the Wu-14 could give China the capability to “conduct kinetic strikes anywhere in the world within minutes to hours.” Such weapons have the potential to make existing defense systems “less effective and potentially obsolete.”
Second Navy Combat Ship Goes Down Because Someone Forgot To Check The Oil
http://dailycaller.com/2016/01/22/second-navy-combat-ship-goes-down-because-someone-forgot-to-check-the-oil/
The USS Fort Worth, a Navy littoral combat ship, has suffered extensive gear damage while docked at a port in Singapore. The Navy is blaming the incident on a crew error.
According to reports, the crew failed to use sufficient lube oil, leading to excessively high temperatures on the gears. Debris also found its way into the lubrication system, which also contributed to failure, Defense News reports. The crew did not follow standard operating procedures.
Immediately following the incident, ship repair experts arrived on the scene to assess the damage. Until the investigation wraps up, the ship will remain at the Changi Naval Base in Singapore.
“We have the right resources in place to conduct the necessary inspections, determine the extent of the damage and required repairs, and return Fort Worth back to operational status,” Lt. Cmdr. Matt Knight, a spokesman for the US Pacific Fleet, told Defense News. “USS Fort Worth has been a model of reliability for more than one year while deployed in the US 7th Fleet. We are working diligently to minimize the operational impact of this maintenance casualty.”
This marks the second incident over the last couple months that an LCS ship has been brought down due to mechanical failure. The Milwaukee broke down approximately 40 miles off the coast of Virginia. The Navy had to collect the ship and tow it back to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
Navy officials told Defense News that the problem with the USS Fort Worth and the USS Milwaukee is somewhat similar, though the actual causes are distinct. It is unknown when the problems with Fort Worth will clear up. A few weeks ago, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told Navy Secretary Ray Mabus that orders of LCS ships were to be capped at 40, rather than the original amount of 52. The Navy disputed the decision at the time and still hopes Carter will have a change of heart.
