July 30, 2018 | International, Naval
WASHINGTON ― When it comes to minesweeping at the 2018 Rim of the Pacific exercises, the top sonar for the job isn't located on any of the 46 ships and five subs sailing in the maneuvers.
Instead, the Navy relies on dolphins.
The highly-trained creatures “search for and mark the location of undersea mines” according to a description by the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, which also deploys sea lions to recover suspicious objects at deep depths.
The dolphins “possess the most sophisticated sonar known to science,” allowing them to find mines in any depth or light when mechanical equipment is often less reliable, the Navy says.
That skill proves especially useful in crowded coastal waters or on murky sea floors. Navy RIMPAC footage released to the public shows dolphins, overseen by human trainers, finding practice mines and placing markers near them.
Their reward? A steady stream of fish treats.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/2018/07/27/navy-practices-with-key-anti-mine-asset-dolphins/
April 8, 2024 | International, Land
Unveiled on Monday, the long-awaited defence policy update projects Canada’s military spending to increase to 1.76 per cent of the national GDP by the end of the decade.
May 1, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. A light scout and a mid-size transport remain Army aviation's top two priorities, Secretary Mark Esper said, but industry needs to start thinking about the next heavy-lift aircraft and stop fighting against cuts to the venerable CH-47. WASHINGTON: “I'm asking industry is to think about heavy future vertical lift,” Army Secretary Mark Esper told reporters today. “Where I need their heads to be is thinking about future heavy vertical lift, not about how do we maintain what we have now and make upgrades here or there.” Translation: Boeing and Pennsylvania legislators, stop fighting me to restore funding for the latest upgrade to the venerable CH-47 Chinook — built outside Philadelphia — and join me in brainstorming a radically better aircraft for future great-power wars with Russia or China. “I really want to think aggressively, boldly about what the future may hold, how it can be different,” Esper said. Is that just your advice to industry, I asked, or is there some kind of preliminary study planned that companies could actually get government money for? It's premature to talk dollars, Esper replied. “Whether we help fund that at some point, I don't know, I'm not going to talk about that right now,” he said. “My comment was only we need aircraft in the future that can do that heavy vertical lift movement, but can ... survive in a very contested airspace and keep up with the FARAs and FLRAAs.” That's the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft — a light scout to fill the gap left by the retired OH-58 Kiowa — and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft — a mid-size transport to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. Both are intended to be high-speed, long-range aircraft.The solution probably will be turboprop/helicopter hybrids, rather than conventional helicopters, that can operate on fast-paced, far-flung future battlefields where precision-guided missiles can kill the forward fuel depots and maintenance bases on which today's shorter-ranged helicopters rely. FARA is the Army's top-priority aircraft program, Esper reiterated here at the Brookings Institution today, and FLRAA is No. 2. But once the light scout and the mid-size transport programs are further along, Esper said for the first time today, his no. 3 priority will be a new heavy hauler. “We're not there yet, right, obviously we need to get FARA and FLRAA moving,” Esper said. “No. 3 is I need to eventually think about what's the future of heavy vertical lift,” Esper told the audience at Brookings. “What's the future replacement for the Chinook” with the greater speed, range, payload, and survivability required for future battlefields? Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2019/04/beyond-chinook-army-secretary-challenges-industry-to-revolutionize-heavy-lift
September 5, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
U.S. seizes 32 Russian propaganda domains influencing U.S. elections, targets Kremlin-backed disinformation efforts.