Black Sea Partnership international naval exercises over

The Black Sea Partnership 2007 international naval exercises that were held beginning April 24 ended on Saturday, May 5, the Russian Black Sea Fleet information service told Itar-Tass.

The Russian, Turkish, Romanian and Georgian navies participated in the manoeuvres. The warship Kasimov from the Novorossiisk naval base represented Russia in the exercises.

Naval forces of the four countries carried out tasks to lead ships following a mine-sweeper from a bay, fire at sea targets and repulse air attacks and conducted an operation to detain a suspicious vessel, with a group getting aboard the vessel for examination.

All the operations were planned in accordance with cooperation to maintain peace and stability in the Black Sea, prevent terrorist attacks, ensure shipping security, conduct search and rescue operation in the sea and provide aid in case of natural disasters, the information service said.

Defence analysts say we do what we do do well [New Zealand]

This is the real essence of New Zealand’s defence strategy: finding ways to make ourselves useful. And Mr Rolfe’s analysis of the NZDF for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has found that by and large we are managing to do it, despite distance, size, and lingering tensions with our two major security partners, Australia and the United States.
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The Navy, with its two frigates and soon-to-be-delivered multi-role ship and offshore and inshore patrol vessels, will soon be a more flexible and much more versatile force, although it is having trouble finding and keeping enough sailors and coping with the rapid introduction of the new fleet.

The Air Force, although losing its combat role, will have a fleet of almost new aircraft when upgrades and purchases are completed. Its Orions, for example, will be as capable as any in the world for watching the surface of the ocean, although they will be of little use in tracking the growing number of submarines in our region.

Intelligence management systems are limited, and major units cannot defend themselves. The Navy’s torpedoes are almost obsolete – with no replacement in sight before 2015 – and the frigates are becoming more vulnerable to attack from both air and sea.

Court sides with Navy over contractors

Federal court Friday upheld the U.S. Navy in a 16-year legal battle with two defense contractors over a contract for stealth attack jets.

Barring an appeal, the decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims means McDonnell Douglas and General Dynamics will have to repay the government $1.35 billion plus interest exceeding $2.6 billion, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

The case involved a 1988, $4 billion contract to develop the A-12 stealth attack aircraft. In 1991, then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney canceled the A-12 program because it was over budget and behind schedule, and the Navy eventually terminated the contract for default, the Justice Department release said.

Air Force not keen on joint base plan

Defense officials are refereeing a control-and-culture clash between the Air Force and its sister services over a requirement to create 12 joint bases out of 25.
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The mandate for joint bases is part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure plan which became law in November of that year. The Air Force is to manage six joint base sites, the Navy four and the Army two.

But the Air Force, which for decades has spent more proportionally on quality of life programs and facilities, is wringing its hands and, critics contend, dragging its feet over the prospect of giving the Army control of McChord Air Force Base in the Tacoma area and the Navy control of Hickham AFB, Hawaii; Bolling AFB, Washington D.C.; and Anderson Air Base in Guam.

Air Force officials argue, at every opportunity, that their bases alone are fighting platforms for their aircraft and thus must be maintained in top form as the Navy strives to maintain its ships and the Army and Marine Corps sustain their deployed ground forces.

The Army, Navy and Marine Corps, on the other hand, are known to defer base maintenance from time to time when dollars are needed for other priorities. The Air Force fears that might occur under joint basing arrangements, reducing the quality of life and harming readiness at bases where the Air Force has lost control

This entry was posted on Monday, May 7th, 2007 and is filed under Acquisition Policy, Air Force, Maritime Strategy News, New Zealand, Russia, Turkey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.