The Navy has announced that USS Constitution, Old Ironsides,
will receive upgrades to its 32 pounder cannons which enable more précised fire
control as the ship pitches and rolls in battle. The wooden sailing ship is one of the Navy’s
true success stories and this upgrade will keep Old Ironsides at the forefront
of naval development.
Amazingly, the Navy has also announced yet another upgrade
for the E-2 Hawkeye, the airborne early warning and battle management aircraft
that has been around almost as long as Old Ironsides. The propeller driven aircraft with the giant
rotunda radar dome on its back that has a radar signature the size of the
Empire State Building is the Navy’s newest AEW platform, having begun
development in 1956 and first flown in 1960.
Truly now state of the art in modern aerial sensor platforms!
I know the Navy is pathologically gun shy after a couple of decades of successive program failures but, at some point, you have to move on to new technology. Perhaps a jet engine for the E-2? Whoa! I’m sorry, that’s just crazy talk! I didn’t mean it.
The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Block II upgrade passed its critical design review … [1]
I know the Navy is pathologically gun shy after a couple of decades of successive program failures but, at some point, you have to move on to new technology. Perhaps a jet engine for the E-2? Whoa! I’m sorry, that’s just crazy talk! I didn’t mean it.
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| 32 Pounder Cannon Undergoing Upgrade Tests |
https://news.usni.org/2026/08/18/e-2d-advanced-hawkeye-block-ii-passes-critical-design-review-as-navy-plans-to-expand-fleet
It is so hard to keep reading stories like this, and especially yesterday's about AAW missiles fired from submarines! Really!?! The Navy is already facing the loss of 612 vls tubes from SSGNs retiring, thousands more from the demise of 27 Ticonderoga class Cruisers, and now some crazy idea of using our precious, shrinking submarine fleet to shoot down single aircraft or helicopters!!
ReplyDeleteWhen will you begin to name the specific military individuals who come up with these ideas so they can be called out for gross stupidity or worse yet as tools of China and Russia? How about naming the dozen or so Program Office leaders who supposedly managed the F-35 multi-decade fiasco (probably a dozen names, all promoted after their 2 yr stint as director) or those who led the DDG1000, the LCS, the various Frigate program failures? They all seem to go on to various positions in the military hardware industry after their military "career", don't they? When is anyone accountable for the mess we are in.
The US Navy has the best seamen in the world, hands down. Imagine if we could put them on modern, purpose built ships and aircraft, in quantity, and let them continue to protect world-wide maritime security.
Instead, if war happens, we will lose thousands in the opening salvos because we squandered away what we were.
In the B52 community there are sons flying in Dads old airplane.
ReplyDeleteWith new engines and radar being installed in the BUFF we’ll soon have the grandkids flying grandpa’s plane.
It's only a matter of time until the Navy decides to put new engines on the Red Barron's Fokker Triplane.
Deletehttps://www.twz.com/news-features/chinas-massive-new-artificial-island-in-the-south-china-sea-emerges-primed-for-militarization
ReplyDeleteChina put all this in place in the first phase in 10 months?!?!
This would have been a great mission for SEALs. The islands are illegal according to UNCLOS so we have all the justification we needed to blow them up during construction. We lack the will to engage.
Delete