Threat Axis Log

Northrup Grumman RQ-4A Global Hawk

Originally uploaded by rob-the-org

Earlier this summer – Military.com/DefenseTech.org published a story saying the Air Force was not ready to retire the U-2 in favor of the Global Hawk.

The key argument – was that the U-2 could collect more info during a single flight – due to a larger payload and more electrical power (more sensors) – than the Global Hawk.

The Pentagon has said it will not retire the U-2 at least until the Global Hawk Block 30, which will carry the Advanced Signals Intelligence Payload, is flying.

According to a Northrup-Grumman press release back in January 2008 – the first Block 40 fuselage was supposed to come off the assembly line back in September.

The fact that the Air Force transferred two early model Global Hawk’s to NASA earlier this year – seems to indicate that that some serious fuselage changes are needed for the later modifications (and that these changes cannot be retrofitted to the earlier models).

Additionally – the on again off again potential sale of the Global Hawk to Korea – maybe back on again. I bet it will only be a Block 20…..

Why is this situation not getting the attention it deserves?

As long as the pirates can keep funnelling money to support the radicals destabilizing Somalia – there will be a safe haven for terror.  There is no way that the Somali government (if one still exists) can even compete when you are talking about the radicals getting millions of dollars in ransom for each ship.

Stop the pirates and you have a chance to restore order to Somalia.

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Two things to mention;

1) Why doesn’t someone just slip a platoon of Marines on a random ship entering the hazard area – and if the pirates bite it will be a short little firefight.  And the world will be short one pirate gang.  There is a reason that the phrase ‘the Shores of Tripoli‘ is in the Marine Hymn.  Maybe it is time to remind some of that fact.

2) Why hasn’t any mainstream media picked up on this mystery Iranian ship that was seized by the pirates – that has caused the pirates that searched the ship to fall ill and die.   Because everyone realizes that the US is in no position to take on any one right now.  A detailed investigation of this ship is a long shot – and in all likelyhood – a Pandora’s box that no one wants to open.  Instead everyone is focusing on a ship full of T-72′s (that the pirates admit – they don’t want).

(this subject is near and dear to a close friend’s heart (and trigger finger) so I thought I would explain what it actually is for readers who aren’t familiar with it)

From Wikipedia;

Canister shot (or case-shot) was a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. It was similar to grapeshot in which the canister round’s effect is similar to that of a giant shotgun shell. Canister shot has been used since the advent of gunpowder-firing artillery in Western armies; however, canister (or case) shot saw particularly frequent use on land and at sea in the various wars of the 18th and 19th century.

….

The canister round is also known as a case (hence the alternative name of case shot sometimes used for canister shot) and is still used today in modern artillery, particularly in the main armament of tanks. The effect is to turn a large-calibre gun on an armoured fighting vehicle into a giant shotgun. This can be used against enemy infantry even when in proximity to friendly armoured vehicles. The most recent use has been in the 120mm main gun on the American M1 Abrams tank.

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(from the AP – and found on the SF Chronical web page)

(06-16) 23:22 PDT Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP) –

The Pentagon understated the vulnerability faced by the nation’s air and space defense command before it relocated to Colorado’s Peterson Air Force Base, a newspaper reported Monday.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command moved from its longtime cave-complex home inside Cheyenne Mountain to Peterson in May. On March 3, military leaders reported to Congress that an assessment of a building at the air base that serves as the nation’s homeland security nerve center found “several physical security problems.”

But The Gazette of Colorado Springs said it obtained a classified document that was even more critical. According to the document, the assessment found “the existing security system at Peterson AFB … would fail if attacked by even a low level threat.”

The assessment was contained in a draft report by the Government Accountability Office as part of an ongoing GAO review of the March 3 report to Congress. That report never informed Congress whether security measures could ensure a maximum level of security at Peterson, as required.

The Peterson command center where NORAD started operating on May 28 requires a Protection Level 1, reserved for “those assets whose loss, theft, destruction, misuse or compromise would result in great harm to the strategic capability of the United States,” the Gazette reported.

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