Naval News Today
Navy: 5 killed in Nev. helicopter crash
A Navy helicopter crashed during a training mission in Nevada and all five members of the crew were killed, the Navy said Tuesday.
The SH-60F helicopter crashed just before 9:30 p.m. Monday about 10 miles west of Austin, Nev., said a statement from Fallon Naval Air Station in Nevada.
The craft and crew were from Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron Seven based in Jacksonville, Fla., part of a carrier air wing that deploys with the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier.
British navy unveils new submarine
The Royal Navy showed off its largest and most powerful attack submarine Tuesday, a month before the over-budget, overdue vessel is to be launched.
Military officials say the HMS Astute will be able to circumnavigate the planet without surfacing, and its nuclear reactor is designed to last for the vessel’s 25-year operational life, meaning it will never need to be refueled.
The Astute is due to be launched from the BAE Systems Inc. shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, northwest England, on June 8 and to enter service in January 2009.
The sub is to be followed by two more Astute-class submarines, Ambush and Artful. Together the navy estimates they will cost about $7.2 billion, more than $2 billion over the original estimate.
Report: Speed up submarine program
The long lag between new classes of nuclear submarines is a threat to the irreplaceable corps of engineers who design the complex warships, the Navy was told yesterday in a long-awaited study.
Even though the Navy will not build a new class of submarines for more than a decade, it should act quickly to begin designing one, to protect the fragile specialty at the two remaining submarine shipyards, the Rand Corp., a California-based think tank, said a study released yesterday.
The study said the Navy should start the new design five years ahead of the current schedule, which does not call for the work to begin until 2014.
“Submarine design is a large and complex undertaking that requires skills that are developed over many years that are not readily exercised in other domains,” said the report commissioned by the Navy.
Chances slim for return of USS Pueblo
The State Department says it can’t negotiate the return of the USS Pueblo from North Korea while the United States is trying to get the communist nation to drop its nuclear ambitions.
A State Department official turned aside a suggestion by Sen. Wayne Allard (news, bio, voting record), R-Colo., that the U.S. demand the North Koreans return the Pueblo, taken in 1968. Allard suggested offering to swap a Korean flag captured in the 19th century in exchange for the ship.
Allard said his constituents are eager to see North Korean return the Pueblo, which is named for a Colorado town and is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power.
In a letter to Allard last week, assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, Jeffrey Bergner, said there are substantial barriers to getting the Pueblo back.
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Bio: I am currently a Professor of Security Studies, hold a BS in Management and an MA in National Security Studies, and am pursuing an MA in Systematic and Philosophical Theology. I've written for Navy Times, Proceedings, Armed Forces Journal and a number of blogs. As a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and Navy Reserve, I attained the rank of Commander, deployed five times for four different conflicts and served as a Foreign Area Officer and a Surface Warfare Officer. During my 7 years in the private sector, I worked in the fields of information technology and publishing, and even ran for public office once.
