USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Sept. 14, 2020

These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of Sept. 14, 2020, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.

Total U.S. Navy Battle Force: 296

Ships Underway

Deployed Ships Underway 71

Non-deployed Ships Underway 20

Total Ships Underway 91

https://news.usni.org/2020/09/14/usni-news-fleet-and-marine-tracker-sept-14-2020

Navy to commission new destroyer USS Delbert D. Black at Port Canaveral

Port Canaveral on Sept. 26 will host the commissioning of the U.S. Navy's newest guided-missile destroyer, the USS Delbert D. Black.

Following commissioning, the Delbert D. Black will be home-ported in Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, with sister ships the USS The Sullivans, USS Lassen, USS Farragut, USS Thomas Hudner and USS Paul Ignatius.

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered the Arleigh Burke-class USS Delbert D. Black to the Navy in April.

In announcing that milestone, the company said guided missile destroyers "are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century."

The ship is scheduled to arrive at Port Canaveral's Cruise Terminal 1 several days before the private commissioning ceremony. No public events are scheduled aboard the ship while it is at Port Canaveral.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/2020/09/18/navy-commission-new-destroyer-uss-delbert-d-black-port-canaveral/5826185002/

General Atomics nets $7.4B MQ-9 Reaper contract with U.S. Air Force

Sept. 18 (UPI) – A $7.4 billion contract between the U.S. Air Force and General Atomics, announced this week, will field MQ-9 Reaper drones faster, the Air Force said.

The five-year Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution contract for the unmanned surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance and strike-capability aircraft was awarded on Thursday.

It calls for delivery of up to 36 aircraft per year from the San Diego-based company. With a $7.4 billion ceiling, it is expected to reduce the time to deliver operational MQ-9s to operational units by 35%.

The Air Force regards it as one of its most in-demand weapons, an Air Force Life Cycle Management Center statement said on Thursday.

The ARES contract has a pre-negotiated $3.3 billion price-quantity-curve, allowing the Air Force and foreign military sales partners to order between from four to 36 aircraft in a single year.

Foreign Military Sales partners will be allowed to purchase the Dash 21 variant, which is the NATO-exportable version of the MQ-9A.

"ARES is a big deal because it answers the 'mail' as far as how do we deal with hard-to-predict demand signals from our international partners and enable increased responsiveness to U.S. budget dynamics," said Alicia Morales, aircraft production manager with the Medium Altitude Unmanned Aerial System Program Office.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/09/18/General-Atomics-nets-74B-MQ-9-Reaper-contract-with-US-Air-Force/7611600455794/

now move along reddit is waiting

US Military Working Dogs Should Be American-Born, Senator Says

A Democratic lawmaker wants the Pentagon to buy American when it comes to its Military Working Dog program.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut included an amendment in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that would require the U.S. Air Force, which oversees the Pentagon's program, to conduct a business case study on what it would take to purchase dogs from U.S. breeders instead of European sources.

"I was surprised to learn from the Air Force that the vast majority of our working dogs are actually born and bred in Europe, which raises costs and puts us in competition with other countries," Blumenthal said in a statement to Military.com on Wednesday. Bloomberg News was first to report the story.

"I wanted to do what I could to help establish a strong program to breed working dogs here at home, where we already have an expert training program. Our provision in this year's NDAA takes the first step toward that goal by assessing what resources are necessary for the Department of Defense to meet increasing demands for military working dogs by supporting American breeders," he said.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/09/18/us-military-working-dogs-should-be-american-born-senator-says.html

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/09/18/us-military-working-dogs-should-be-american-born-senator-says.html

>>10696423

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>>10696386

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Climate Change Overtakes Antifa In Facebook Traffic Weeks Before Election Day

TOPLINE President Trump has made law and order a central part of his campaign, but data shows climate change has overtaken antifa — a far-left network that Trump has tried to designate a terrorist organization — in engagement on Facebook weeks before Election Day.

KEY FACTS

Data from CrowdTangle, an analytics tool owned by Facebook, shows interest surged in May and June for antifa, as protests erupted across the country over the death of George Floyd and conservatives blamed the loosely-defined network for rioting and looting.

During a one-week period from May 31-June 6, there were 20 million interactions on posts about antifa on Facebook, according to CrowdTangle data.

The Trump campaign quickly capitalized on the online interest during that period, running several ads on Facebook warning about antifa and “dangerous mobs” that were “running through our streets.”

Since then, Facebook traffic on posts about antifa has decreased, even as far-right groups on the platform attempted to spread false rumors that antifa was behind the wildfires on the West Coast and the Trump campaign tried to tie Joe Biden to the left wing network, without showing evidence.

This week, climate change overtook antifa in Facebook engagement, as hurricanes slam the Southeast and devastating wildfires rip through towns across the West Coast.

From September 13-September 18, there've been 5.7 million interactions on posts about climate change on Facebook, according to CrowdTangle, while posts about antifa have garnered just 2.9 million interactions during the same period.

CrowdTangle does not track all public Facebook accounts, and limits its search to “public Pages, public Facebook Groups, Verified Profiles” of a certain size following.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/09/18/climate-change-overtakes-antifa-in-facebook-traffic-weeks-before-election-day/#7db8a62f5aa4

'Go ahead and build' another Chinese aircraft carrier, U.S. admiral says

Sept. 18 (UPI) – China's construction of its third aircraft carrier validates the U.S. Navy's plans to builds more carriers of its own, Adm. Christopher Grady said.

Grady, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces, responded to photographic evidence published this week that the building of China's newest aircraft carrier is proceeding in a shipyard near Shanghai.

"Good on 'em. It makes the argument that carriers are important," Adm. Grady said on Thursday during a symposium of the American Society of Naval Engineers. "We have them. They want them and they're building them."

"To me that makes all the sense. They're a maritime power and they understand the great value that comes from carrier aviation and how that can shape the international environment. It's taken us over 100 years to get that right.

"We've got a huge lead and one that will continue to expand into the future. Go ahead and build that big ship, but to build the ecosystem that is naval aviation that brings that ship to life – that's going to take a lot of hard work and time," Grady said.

Grady's comments came after satellite photos were released by the non-governmental Center for Strategic and International Studies showing sections of an aircraft carrier under assembly.

One of China's currently operating carriers, the Liaoning, is a converted Soviet-era warship, and the other, the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, is similarly outmoded.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/09/18/Go-ahead-and-build-another-Chinese-aircraft-carrier-US-admiral-says/1291600453542/