An explanation of what those aircraft are doing on deck.

http://www.informationdissemination.net/2010/06/about-those-fixed-wing-aircraft-on.html

The amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), en route to participate in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2010, is carrying unique cargo for training evolutions during the international maritime exercise. Bonhomme Richard left San Diego June 14 with two Czechoslovakian-built 1964 and 1965 Aero-Vodochody airplanes, modified with U.S. standard small turbojet J60 engines. These planes will simulate air to surface missile attacks for training purposes, during RIMPAC.

Traveling aboard with the embarked aircraft is retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Gerry Gallop, who is Chief Operating Officer for Tactical Air Support Inc. The company, that owns and operates the aircraft, provides consulting services, tactics development and test and evaluation services to U.S. THIRD Fleet.

“Our company’s main goal is to increase readiness through quality training with affordable platforms,” Gallop explained. “It adds realism and training value, because we can do a pretty-good job simulating a profile a missile would fly.”

Gallop said that he and three other retired military pilots will fly the Aero Vodochody airplanes during the RIMPAC exercise.

“We all happened to retire from the military, but we weren’t done contributing,” reflected Gallop. ”So we came together and found a way to continue doing what we are passionate about and continue to contribute to training and readiness of the U.S. military.”

Gallop said the modified Aero-Vodochody airplanes reach top speeds of approximately 420 knots or approximately 500 miles per hour. Tomahawk cruise missiles move at speeds of approximately 550 miles per hour. The ability to use the contracted aircraft in training simulations provides a more realistic and time-sensitive approach to the detection and countermeasures used to combat an inbound threat.

“They (Aero-Vodochody) are a particularly reliable, simpler airplane, which we have modified extensively to give us more power and performance,” explained Gallop. “We’re not as fast as an actual missile, but we’re pretty close.”

Report: U.S., Israeli warships cross Suez Canal toward Red Sea

Egypt opposition angered at government for allowing the fleet of more than 12 ships to cross Egyptian manned waterway, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reports.

More than twelve United States Naval warships and at least one Israeli ship crossed the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea on Friday, British Arabic Language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported Saturday.

According to the report, thousands of Egyptian soldiers were deployed along the Suez Canal guarding the ships’ passage, which included a U.S. aircraft carrier.
Full Story

The only thing odd about this is the Israeli ship, the rest is just the Truman group which is on a routine deployment.

http://www.ausairpower.net/DT-SuperBug-vs-Flanker.html

APA is run by a group that wants to modernize the F-111’s and acquire F-22’s. They glorify the Flanker series and do nothing but publish rubbish about the Hornet and the F-35. They do not have access to any classified material for any thing they write (the “calculations they did on the RCS of the F-35 is laughable) and most people who work with in the industry or watch what goes on do not take anything they say seriously.

Don’t get me wrong, the Flanker series is a good aircraft but APA has an agenda publish biased articles to help that agenda.

A few initial thoughts….
Response 4. VL Asroc is still an important weapons system aboard USN escorts I thought?

Well put response.

MK-41 VLS is a wonderful thing, you can load up any mix of compatible weapons and then change it out at any pier side as needed (if the ship still has a crane you can do it at sea but by all accounts it isn’t worth while). The usual mix on Burkes at the moment seems to be 6-8 VLA depending on if it is deploying with the carrier or if it is steaming independent of the group.

I’d say they are important but not as important as SM-2’s or Tomahawks at the moment (especially if the group has a sufficient number of SH-60’s).

http://www.southcom.mil/AppsSC/factFiles.php?id=138

A very good read of what the US has in Haiti now and what will be there within a couple days.

The USNS 1ST LT Jack Lummus, a container and roll-on/roll-off ship capable of offloading cargo without a port, will depart Jacksonville, Fla., Jan. 18 and will arrive at Port au Prince Jan. 21.

I think this ship is going to be almost as important as the Comfort.

Am I the only one who thinks that things are moving too slow? Understand that everything has to come from outside. An AWACS station 24/7 to replace the demolished ATC, a couple of UAV as com-relay for the relieve teams and security assistance troops and to back-up ground based ad-hoc com networks (the question is how long the remaining cellular system will stay online, as their batteries only last so long), another couple of UAV to get an overview of the situation. Till the ship with heavy engineering equipment, &c &c arrive from up north it takes time. Understood. But where are the air drops? The helicopter detachment on Vinson is just a drop of water onto a hot stone. Are there any air drops done by C-130 as primary response? Water, food, bivvies, medicine? Things don’t seem to go fast enough.

Things will be going slow until the Amphibs, the Comfort (which is on a 5 day standby and should be leaving Monday) and the other USNS preposition ships arrive.
There only seems to be one small airport and you can only bring in so much at a time and for awhile no one seemed to be in charge. The roads are damned near unusable and the Haitian government seems to be even more useless than usual.

Buh bye then. :rolleyes: I wonder what your contribution to the thread was? Let’s see, threats to throw a tantrum and when that didn’t work “I’ll tell mom!” Somehow I don’t think you’ll be missed.

He’s been on my ignore list for quite awhile now.

Then I can’t see why there would be a “deck melting” problem. The Harrier’s never suffered from it.

I’ve heard of “deck melting” being an issue if a V-22 is left idling too long (either over 10 minutes or over 30 depending on the source and even then the USN has already developed and issued heat shields for the amphibs) but this is the first I’ve time I’ve ever heard of this being an issue for F-35B.