So remember how Chief of Naval Operations Adm. jonathan Greenert announced in March that he was sending four Avenger-class minesweepers (technically they’re called mine countermeasures ships) to the Persian Gulf, just to “be sure … that we are ready” in case Iran tried anything weird aimed at cutting off a massive quantity of the world’s oil shipments.
One question we didn’t ask was; how will the 224-foot long minesweepers get there to the Gulf from their homeport of San Diego?
Like many I assumed they’d steam there. Nope, the Avengers (like that reference?) are being shipped there from the Port of Long Beach, Calif., aboard the massive ship, Tern; a semi-submersible transport vessel that is designed to haul mammoth pieces of oceangoing gear, like ships or parts of offshore oil rigs, around the world. The Tern, operated by a company called Dockwise, looks like a cross between a cargo freighter and a barge and, as you can see in the pic above, she’s carrying the four minesweepers to the Gulf.
Ok, time for a random question; what’s the coolest feature of the Avengers class ships? They’re wooden hulled. Seriously, the ships have wooden hulls that are coated in fiberglass, this reduced the likelihood that they’ll set off magnetic mines and gives them the ability to absorb the energy of a nearby explosion. Pretty damn cool.
Click through the jump for more pics.
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May 18th, 2012 | Around the Globe, Iran, Navy, Sea Services, Ships and Subs | 39 Comments
China’s second J-20 stealth fighter has officially taken to the skies, making China the third nation after the United States and Russia to operate multiple stealth aircraft (to be fair, only the U.S. has an operational fleet of stealth jets, China and Russia have only two prototypes apiece).
May 17th, 2012 | Air, Around the Globe, Balance of Power, China Rising, Fast Movers, Planes, Copters, Blimps | 87 Comments
That’s right, someone recorded an F-22 Raptor pilot using the callsign Rocket 04 declaring an emergency after suffering hypocia-like symptoms while flying in the famous Red Flag combat excercises at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada earlier this year.
Listen to the tape to hear Rocket 04 report his situation and request an immediate descent to 18,000 feet so that he can breather easier and asses his situation. Rocket 04 left the battlespace and was escorted home by another F-22, Rocket 03.
As David Cenciotti points out, this pilot was likely from the 27th Fighter Squadron, a unit of the Langley AFB-based 1st Fighter Wing, the same wing that those Air Guard pilots who refused the Raptor belong to. Those Virginia guardsmen refused to fly the jet due to concerns about Raptor pilots suffering from hypoxia-like symptoms with alarming frequency.
Click through the jump to listen.
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May 17th, 2012 | Air, Air Force, Fast Movers, Planes, Copters, Blimps, Raptor Watch | 59 Comments
Yup, the ceiling-mounted fire suppression system at this Eglin Air Force Base hangar was set off by a welders spark; submerging an A-10 Warthog, an F-16 Viper and an F-15 Eagle sitting inside the massive hangar in foam in a matter of minutes, according to the guy who posted it on Reddit.
Hope they had fun cleaning that up.
May 16th, 2012 | Air, Air Force, Bizarro, Fast Movers | 70 Comments
Just a quick update on China’s stealth fighter program. We’ve all seen the pictures that emerged recently of second J-20 stealth fighter, dubbed 2002, sitting alongside the first J-20, 2001, on the flight line at Chengdu — something that indicates a test flight imminent. Well, here are some pics showing good ole 2002 making a very high-speed taxi run. As you can see, she reached a high enough speed that her nose wheel lifted off the ground and had to use the drogue parachute to come to a halt.
Enjoy.
H/t to David.
May 16th, 2012 | Air, Around the Globe, Balance of Power, China Rising, Fast Movers, Planes, Copters, Blimps | 76 Comments
