The Freedom Class Litoral Combat Ship may be Fundamentally Flawed

After only a month after the USS Milwaukee suffered from a mechanical failure, the USS Fort Worth, deployed in Singapore, has suffered an engine problem as well.  

There has been some speculation the Freedom class is fundamentally flawed; though, the US Navy is saying the problems between the USS Milwaukee and the USS Fort Worth suffered are not related.  I think a lot of people are wondering about that.

I would not want to be Lockheed right now, given that the Navy has been directed to down select to a single LCS class and build the frigate from a single of the two classes.  Additionally, the Independence class received IOC today and Austal received a contract (paywall) to do the work to produce a design for a frigate based on the Independence class.

Soyuz Launched Satellite Failed to Separate From Upper Stage

One of the satellites launched on December 5 by a Russian Soyuz-2.1b rocket did not separate from the upper block, and may be sunk, a source in the space industry said Sunday.

On Saturday, a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket laden with two defense satellites was launched from the Russian Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

"One of the space apparatuses of the military designation is experiencing issues. According to the preliminary data, it did not separate from the Volga upper stage. At the moment, there are discussions taking place on the removal from orbit and subsequent sinking of the Volga upper stage and the satellite in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry," the source told RIA Novosti.

link.

more info.

US Army's Cruise Missile Tracking JLENS Blimp has Broken Loose, Being Chased by two F-16s

One of two tethered US Army aerostats that can be seen floating above Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, has broken free from its tether and is moving in a northeast trajectory.

The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) consists of both a fire control system aerostat and a surveillance aerostat and is undergoing operational exercises at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The surveillance aerostat detached from its mooring station at 12:20 p.m. EST today, NORAD spokesman Michael Kucharek told Defense News.

The aerostat was last seen traveling over Pennsylvania and is being trailed by two F-16 fighter jets from Atlantic City, New Jersey, Kucharek said.

link.

China's Amusing Background for its Yutu (Jade Rabbit) Exhibit

The exhibitors must have something against Europe, I suppose.  ;)

link.

Reportedly Late Triassic Bird-like Tracks are Actually From the Eocene

A Late Eocene date for Late Triassic bird tracks

Authors:

1. Ricardo N. Melchor (a)
2. Robert Buchwaldt (b)
3. Samuel Bowring (b)

Affiliations:

a. INCITAP (CONICET-UNLPam), Av. Uruguay 151, 6300 Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina

b. Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139-4307, USA

Abstract:

Bird-like tracks from northwest Argentina have been reported as being of Late Triassic age1. They were attributed to an unknown group of theropods showing some avian characters. However, we believe that these tracks are of Late Eocene age on the basis of a new weighted mean 206Pb/238U date (isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry method) on zircons from a tuff bed in the sedimentary succession containing the fossil tracks. In consequence, the mentioned tracks are assigned to birds and its occurrence matches the known fossil record of Aves.

Was There Ever a YF-24?

Was there ever a YF-24? The US Air Force says no. "Our historians said there is no record of there ever having been a YF-24," says Lt Col Max Despain, an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon. "Perhaps it's being mistaken for an X-24 which wasn't a fighter?"

That said, this old bio for a former test pilot, Colonel Joseph A. Lanni lists such an aircraft--which is curious. So there remains a small possibility a YF-24 might have been squirreled away somewhere out in the desert in Nevada. I say that because Lanni, according to his bio, commanded a classified flight test unit between July 1995 and June 1997.

While the entry in the bio might be a typo, it was certainly not the X-24 that Lanni flew. The Martin Marietta X-24A flew during 1963 to 1975, which was well before Lanni became an Air Force pilot. It's also not likely that Lanni flew the Northrop YF-23 either since he was assigned to Eglin AFB in Florida during the time those jets were flying.

So, what exactly the YF-24 is or was is still kind of a mystery. Your guess is as good as mine.

Intriguing. Not sure I buy it, but the link included in the article is most likely a typo.  Still an interesting idea that some group attempted to get something built that was a fighter prototype.  It'd also explain why Boeing beat out McDAC for the JSF prototype contract.

Pelosi in Trouble? Or Just Going to Blow Over?

Republicans opposing efforts to pursue legal action against government lawyers who signed off on waterboarding and other controversial interrogation techniques used in the wake of 9/11 have settled on a high profile target - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In the latest game of "What did she know and when?", Republicans claim Democrats' outrage is hypocritical because Pelosi and other Democrats were briefed on waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" back in 2002 and 2003 and did not raise objections.

In an April 23, 2009 press conference, Pelosi was asked if, during the fall of 2002, she and other key members of the Intelligence Committee, were briefed on interrogation methods, including waterboarding.

[...]

At PolitiFact, we normally would be reluctant to make a Truth-O-Meter ruling in a he-said, she-said situation, but in this case, the evidence goes beyond the competing accounts from Pelosi and Goss. We are persuaded by the CIA timeline, which the agency says is based on "an extensive review of (the CIA's) electronic and hardcopy files."

It's also important to note that the timeline that contradicts Pelosi was put together at the behest of an administration controlled by her own party. That document provides compelling -- albeit sparsely worded -- evidence that Pelosi's recollection is incorrect. There may be further evidence on this that emerges in the future. Rep, Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has asked Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and CIA Director Leon Panetta to release the CIA briefing notes that the timeline is based on. We reserve the right to change our ruling if new information emerges that contradicts the CIA timeline, but for now, we rule Pelosi's statement False.

Will this actually blow up on Pelosi or is it just some hot air? I've not heard much in the Bay about it either way except on TV...and not on any local channels. Not that I watch local news much.