Oldest U.S. Carrier Makes Last Voyage

Oldest U.S. Carrier Makes Last Voyage
Associated Press | May 23, 2007
TOKYO - The USS Kitty Hawk, the U.S. Navy's oldest ship in full active service, embarked on its last major maneuvers Wednesday before being decommissioned next year.

The 46-year-old vessel - the only American aircraft carrier permanently deployed abroad - eased out of its berth at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka, just south of Tokyo, escorted by a carrier strike group of cruisers and guided missile destroyers, Naval spokesman John Nylander said.

The voyage, to last several months in the western and central Pacific Ocean, was expected to be the last major mission for the ship before it is replaced next year by the USS George Washington and sent back to the United States for decommissioning, said Rear Adm. Richard B. Wren, commander of the Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group.

"This is the last trip for USS Kitty Hawk," Wren told reporters.

The Kitty Hawk, with a crew of more than 5,500, was commissioned in 1961 and has served in Vietnam and Iraq.

The diesel-powered ship was deployed to Yokosuka in 1998, and will be replaced with the nuclear-powered George Washington as part of the U.S. military's effort to modernize its forces in East Asia - an area of potential flashpoints with North Korea or China.

But the vessel's replacement sparked a backlash in Japan, where critics oppose the basing of a nuclear-powered warship in domestic waters. Japan's government backed the idea, however, saying the George Washington would boost regional stability.

Nuclear-powered warships have visited Japanese ports hundreds of times since 1964, and the United States has provided firm commitments to Tokyo regarding the safe use of Japanese harbors by the nuclear-powered vessels.

Laser System Targets Friendly Fire

Military.com May 16, 2007

It's a deadly problem that has plagued U.S. forces in every conflict. And though military officials have been highlighting it for years, they still haven't found a solution everyone can agree on.

Friendly fire accounts for enough U.S. and allied casualties that it's a cause of grave concern among commanders in the field - with ever-more lethal and precise weaponry sitting in the U.S. arsenal, mistaken targeting carries with it a lethal guarantee.

One company that's trying the lift the cloud of doubt has developed an innovative way to identify friendly forces in a fraction of a second.

Brought to you by the same folks who make the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System - or "MILES" gear - used in field exercises, the new Optical Combat Identification System developed by Cubic Defense Systems presents a simple solution to a nagging problem.

"A few years ago we got to thinking about other applications of laser technology and that led us to do research in other wavelengths unrelated to MILES," said Steve Sampson, VP in charge of advanced programs at Cubic Defense. "The nature of warfare has changed and it's required that out whole application of technology has had to refocus."

Cubic has developed and tested a system that works both on vehicles and, more importantly, can be placed within the gear of dismounted troops. The way it works on a dismounted Soldier is through a laser "interrogator" mounted on his rifle and "smart reflector" embedded in the target Soldier's gear. When a trooper targets a potential enemy, he presses a button that activates an eye-safe laser beam that shoots to a man-sized target as far as one kilometer away.

The smart reflectors mounted in the Soldier's equipment - which are matchbook-sized devices placed to allow 360-degree coverage - absorb the laser beam, remodulate it, and send back a signal that tells the shooter he's a friendly. The answer can be displayed in the Soldier's rifle sight.

And it all happens in less than a tenth of a second.

"For years the Army focused on combat ID on the high-value, big armored platforms - but we're not having big armored tank battles in downtown Baghdad anymore; it's dismounted, urban warfare," Sampson said. "Only in the last few years has laser technology gotten to the point where we can field something that is practical in size, weight and power for a dismounted Soldier or Marine."

The man-portable OCIdS gear includes batteries that can run for "thousands of interrogations" on the gun-mounted laser and "tens of thousands" of replies on the reflector, which uses a watch battery-sized power supply, Sampson explained. Vehicle-mounted interrogators can send and receive the laser signal over several miles using much greater onboard power generation.

Engineers at Cubic are still working to refine the system, spending about $20 million since 2005 to test the new combat ID technology. Another round of Army field tests are scheduled for this summer. Though Sampson doesn't expect a formal Army requirement for a system like his until around 2009, Cubic hopes to offer the man-portable system for less than $2,000 per soldier and around $20,000 per vehicle.

Sampson also said the technology in his OCIdS gear can be adapted for long-range communications - not just combat ID - but he was cagey about revealing the details.

"What we are able to accomplish today, physically wasn't possible a few years ago," Sampson said.

First SEAL Tapped to Head SOCOM

Vice Adm. Eric Olson, President Bush's pick to lead U.S. Special Operations Command, will achieve two notable firsts if he is confirmed by the Senate: He will be the first Navy officer to lead the command since it was formed two decades ago and the first SEAL to earn four stars.

Olson, 55, has been nominated to replace Army Gen. Bryan "Doug" Brown, the Defense Department announced Thursday. Brown, who has been the Tampa-based SOCom commander since September 2003, is planning to retire in July after 40 years in uniform.

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