SUBJ/SUNSET OF NAVY MARINE CORPS MARS (NMCM) PROGRAM//
1. AS ANNOUNCED BY NAVY LEADERSHIP
IN MAY, THE NAVY MARINE CORPS MARS PROGRAM WILL SUNSET ALL OPERATIONS. AUTHORIZATION TO USE NMCM CALL SIGNS AND NAVY ASSIGNED FREQUENCIES ENDS
EFFECTIVE 30 SEP AT 2359 HRS Z.
2. SINCE 1962, THOUSANDS OF NMCM
MEMBERS HAVE PROUDLY PROVIDED MORAL AND WELFARE SUPPORT TO THE NAVY, MARINE
CORPS AND COAST GUARD AS WELL AS CONTINGENCY COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT TO THE
NAVY AND CIVIL AUTHORITIES. THROUGHOUT ITS 53 YEAR HISTORY, NMCM MEMBERS
PROUDLY SERVED THE NAVY AND EMBODIED THE NAVY'S SPIRIT AND
TRADITIONS THROUGH
THEIR VOLUNTEER SERVICE.
3. ARMY MARS EXPRESSES OUR SINCERE THANKS TO THE
NMCM MEMBERS FOR THEIR DEDICATION TO THE MARS PROGRAM. TO THE NMCM
MEMBERS WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO TRANSFER TO EITHER AIR FORCE OR ARMY MARS, I
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED DEDICATION TO SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
THROUGH THE MARS PROGRAM.
SIGNED
STEPHEN G. KLINEFELTER
CHIEF, ARMY
MARS
Many years ago I was a very active NMC MARS member. I fondly remember running RTTY and Phone Patch traffic out of Subase Pearl Harbor for the boomer boats based at Pearl but deployed from Guam. Truly an end of an era.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Russian Kilo Class Sub is Back in Action
 |
| Photo courtesy of Russian Defense Ministry |
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Russian Navy will accept its advanced diesel submarine into service a month ahead of schedule after extensive overhauls, a Navy spokesman said Tuesday.
Dygalo said the Vladikavkaz, a Kilo-class diesel submarine first commissioned by the Russian Navy in 1990, will return to service on Wednesday having had its military and performance characteristics significantly improved.
He cited Navy Deputy Commander Rear Adm. Viktor Bursuk as saying the overhaul included hull, equipment and other system repairs, as well as upgrades to communications, navigation, traffic control, naval combat data, propulsion control and other systems.
Vladikavkaz passed all the speed, handling, noise and many other parameters designated by the Navy during tests in early August 2015, the Navy spokesman added.
The ceremony marking the signing of the submarine’s handover is slated to take place at the Zvezdochka shipyard in north Russia in the presence of the Main Command of the Navy.
Kilo-class submarines, sometimes dubbed "Black Holes" for their ability to "disappear," are thought to be one of the quietest diesel-electric submarine classes in the world.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
America's Next Tanker is Finally Going to Fly
America's new aerial refueling tanker, the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus, is set to make its first flight from Boeing's Paine Field in Everett, WA this Friday. It's about time: America's existing airborne tanker fleet is stunningly old. Derived from Boeing's Dash 80 (the prototype of the 707 airliner), the KC-135 Stratotanker entered service with the USAF in 1957. The Air Force currently operates more than 400 of them as KC-135Rs or KC-135Ts. The newest KC-135 currently in the inventory was built in 1964, though it was upgraded along with the others to KC-135R configuration with new engines in the 1980s. Avionics and cockpit upgrades continued through 2014. The KC-135Rs are expected to remain operational until 2040, nearly a century after they were first built. But even with the upgrades, keeping a tanker flying so long inevitably presents reliability and cost problems. So gradually replacing the KC-135 with a new tanker has been an Air Force priority for more than a decade.
It just hasn't gone very well.
The long and troubled history of the tanker replacement effort stretches back to the early part of the last decade, when the Air Force announced the purchase of 80 Boeing KC-767 aircraft and the lease of 20 more. The Pentagon froze the contract in December 2003 and cancelled it in January 2006 following public revelations of corruption connected to the contract. A subsequent KC-X program selected the EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-30 (renamed the KC-45A for the U.S.) over the KC-767 in early 2008. Boeing protested that selection, leading to a new competition in 2010. This time around Northrop dropped out and the Pentagon chose Boeing's 767-based tanker design (KC-46A) in February 2011. Boeing is slated to build 179 KC-46As for the Air Force by 2027 at a unit cost of $188.5 million (in fiscal year 2015
dollars).
Boeing says the KC-46 "promises to revolutionize the air mobility mission." Setting aside that grandiose talk, what we know right now is that the airplane can refuel all U.S., allied, and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures. It also has the ability to play other roles for the military, such as carrying passengers, cargo, and patients. The KC-135R can do these things, too, but Boeing says the KC-46 offers room for three times more cargo pallets, up to twice as many passengers, and more than 30 percent more aeromedical evacuation patients compared to the KC-135R. The KC-46 can take off from shorter runways and is far more fuel efficient as well.
Of all the Pegasus's advantages, perhaps the most important is simply that it's a new airplane. The Pegasus' aircrew will enjoy improved situational awareness with a fully modern cockpit and refueling station, the former using 15-inch 787-style advanced electronic displays, redundant displays, and controls. The aircraft can refuel using both its fly-by-wire boom and wing-mounted hose-and-drogue systems. The Pegasus is designed to operate through a nuclear or biological attack, and is hardened against an electromagnetic pulse. According to Boeing, sections of the aircraft are also armored against medium-caliber gunfire though just where a KC-46 might encounter medium caliber gunfire (at low altitude/on the ground?) is an interesting question.
Those improvements come with a marginal increase in fuel delivery capacity. According to the Air Force, the KC-135R has a maximum transfer fuel load of 200,000 pounds (that's how much fuel it can give to other planes or UAVs). The KC-46's maximum transfer fuel load is 207,672 pounds-an increase of less than one percent despite the Pegasus' greater size, takeoff weight and thrust. The KC-135R can also carry more cargo (83,000 pounds) than the KC-46 (65,000 pounds) according to the Air Force.
Still, the KC-46's newness is crucial to Air Force tanker support. Boeing is required to deliver 18 operational tankers to the fleet by August 2017, a timeline that makes this Friday's first flight hugely important, particularly since Boeing was forced to postpone the first flight earlier this summer after a problem with the aircraft's refueling line during testing. It's a tense time: Boeing is under pressure to deliver on schedule or risk losing the contract. Likewise, the government risks breaching the contract with a continuing resolution because it may then not be able to buy
the contractually agreed number of airplanes in the first couple years.In an interview with Defense News Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh said, "We're at a point now where we really need to see the first flight of this tanker."
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a17421/kc-46-tanker-first-flight/
It just hasn't gone very well.
The long and troubled history of the tanker replacement effort stretches back to the early part of the last decade, when the Air Force announced the purchase of 80 Boeing KC-767 aircraft and the lease of 20 more. The Pentagon froze the contract in December 2003 and cancelled it in January 2006 following public revelations of corruption connected to the contract. A subsequent KC-X program selected the EADS/Northrop Grumman KC-30 (renamed the KC-45A for the U.S.) over the KC-767 in early 2008. Boeing protested that selection, leading to a new competition in 2010. This time around Northrop dropped out and the Pentagon chose Boeing's 767-based tanker design (KC-46A) in February 2011. Boeing is slated to build 179 KC-46As for the Air Force by 2027 at a unit cost of $188.5 million (in fiscal year 2015
dollars).
Boeing says the KC-46 "promises to revolutionize the air mobility mission." Setting aside that grandiose talk, what we know right now is that the airplane can refuel all U.S., allied, and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures. It also has the ability to play other roles for the military, such as carrying passengers, cargo, and patients. The KC-135R can do these things, too, but Boeing says the KC-46 offers room for three times more cargo pallets, up to twice as many passengers, and more than 30 percent more aeromedical evacuation patients compared to the KC-135R. The KC-46 can take off from shorter runways and is far more fuel efficient as well.
Of all the Pegasus's advantages, perhaps the most important is simply that it's a new airplane. The Pegasus' aircrew will enjoy improved situational awareness with a fully modern cockpit and refueling station, the former using 15-inch 787-style advanced electronic displays, redundant displays, and controls. The aircraft can refuel using both its fly-by-wire boom and wing-mounted hose-and-drogue systems. The Pegasus is designed to operate through a nuclear or biological attack, and is hardened against an electromagnetic pulse. According to Boeing, sections of the aircraft are also armored against medium-caliber gunfire though just where a KC-46 might encounter medium caliber gunfire (at low altitude/on the ground?) is an interesting question.
Those improvements come with a marginal increase in fuel delivery capacity. According to the Air Force, the KC-135R has a maximum transfer fuel load of 200,000 pounds (that's how much fuel it can give to other planes or UAVs). The KC-46's maximum transfer fuel load is 207,672 pounds-an increase of less than one percent despite the Pegasus' greater size, takeoff weight and thrust. The KC-135R can also carry more cargo (83,000 pounds) than the KC-46 (65,000 pounds) according to the Air Force.
Still, the KC-46's newness is crucial to Air Force tanker support. Boeing is required to deliver 18 operational tankers to the fleet by August 2017, a timeline that makes this Friday's first flight hugely important, particularly since Boeing was forced to postpone the first flight earlier this summer after a problem with the aircraft's refueling line during testing. It's a tense time: Boeing is under pressure to deliver on schedule or risk losing the contract. Likewise, the government risks breaching the contract with a continuing resolution because it may then not be able to buy
the contractually agreed number of airplanes in the first couple years.In an interview with Defense News Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh said, "We're at a point now where we really need to see the first flight of this tanker."
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a17421/kc-46-tanker-first-flight/
Milcom/Btown/Shortwave Central Radio Audio Libraries
As a new service to our blog readers, the Milcom Monitoring Post Blog, Btown Monitoring Post Blog and the Shortwave Central Blog are now uploading audio clips of selected radio intercepts we have heard. You will be able to see them in selected file list to the right of this post. Here is a sample of a recent longwave intercept made by Gayle W4GVH and posted to her AudioBoom account. You can follow both N5FPW and W4GVH AudioBoom post by clicking on one of the audio files in our library and when on our AudioBoom pages click follow. Good hunting de Chief.
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