US Fifth Fleet regrets killing of Egyptian in Suez

The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet expressed regret on Wednesday over an incident in which a boat chartered by the navy shot dead an Egyptian near the Suez Canal.

“We express our deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased,” said Vice Admiral Kevin J Cosgriff, commander of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet.

“We are greatly saddened by events that apparently resulted in this accidental death. This situation is tragic, and we will do our utmost to help take care of the family of the deceased,” he added in a statement.

The statement said the death occurred as “an apparent result from warning shots fired at a small boat approaching a ship chartered by the US Navy” late on Monday.

The US State Department on Wednesday also described as regrettable the incident, in which the vessel fired warning shots at a small boat plying its trade in the area and said it was under investigation.

CNO: Reducing crew sizes a top priority

In upgrading old ships and building new ones, Navy engineers must make reducing crew sizes a top priority, on par with technological additions and life-extending repairs, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead said Tuesday.

“There’s no question that crew sizes have got to come down,” he said. “We, frankly, are not aggressive enough in employing the technologies that allow us to take people off ships. It’s largely a cultural thing we’ve got to break through … and we can do it, I’m confident.”

Roughead said he thought smaller crew sizes were a top feature on the Navy’s new generation of warships, including the Zumwalt-class destroyers — which, although they’re the Navy’s largest new surface combatants since World War II, have a projected crew of 142 — and the littoral combat ships, which will be crewed by 40 sailors who’ll be given multiple jobs.

Roughead said he didn’t have specific goals yet for how much he’d like to reduce crew sizes on so-called “legacy ships” that the Navy plans to upgrade, but he said “my objective will be get it down to the number that allows us to maintain combat effectiveness and provide for the safety and security of the ship.”

“In the past, we’ve had some initiatives underway but they had a hard time taking through,” Roughead said. “In my tenure, I intend to be a little on the bold side.”

Russia bombers get NATO escort near Alaska

NATO forces sent jets to escort two Russian long-range air force bombers patrolling neutral skies near Alaska on Wednesday, Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying.

Russia’s military has resumed its Cold War practice of flying regular patrols far beyond its borders, and in the last year has also sent turbo-prop Tu-95s over U.S. naval aircraft carriers and the Pacific island of Guam.

Accompanied by two Il-78 refuelling tankers, the two Tu-95 “Bear” bombers flew for 15 hours over the Arctic and Pacific oceans, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Air Force spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky as saying.

“In the course of the air patrol, long-range aviation aircraft were escorted by NATO jets in the region of Alaska,” said Drobyshevsky.

New maritime reconnaissance and attack aircraft, Nimrod, should be scrapped, MPs say

Defence ministers should consider scrapping a maritime aircraft programme that is more than seven years late and costing £3.5 billion, a committee of MPs recommends today.

The Ministry of Defence, which is suffering the worst budgetary pressure since the 1970s, may already have to cancel projects to balance the books, the Commons Defence Select Committee says in a highly critical report.

The MPs suggest that the Nimrod MRA4 maritime reconnaissance and attack aircraft should be axed because of persistent delays and rising costs.

Delays in replacing ageing Nimrod MR2s – one of which burst into flames over Afghanistan on September 2, 2006, killing all 14 on board – total 92 months. The order for new Nimrods was reduced from 18 to 12 in 2004 to save money.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 and is filed under Egypt, Maritime Strategy News, Navy, Personnel Policy, Russia, UK. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.