Philippine leader denies asking for US spy planes

Philippine President Benigno Aquino on Thursday denied reports he had asked the United States for spy planes to monitor a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea.

Aquino told reporters that his country had its own ships and aircraft to keep an eye on the disputed Scarborough Shoal and that he had merely mentioned in an interview that US aircraft could be called upon for help if needed.

"If you will go through the transcript of the interview, I said 'We might' (ask for US help)," he said.

"That is where (the interviewers) suddenly introduced the supposed request for overflights, which wasn't what I stated."

Aides said Aquino had made the remarks during an interview with a foreign news agency on Monday.

Subsequent reports of the president's alleged requests for US spy planes raised concerns within China, with the country warning the Philippines against provocation over the three-month stand-off between the two countries.

"Let us correct that. America is a treaty ally. Where we are lacking in capacity, I think we can go to them and ask that they increase (our) situational awareness," Aquino said Thursday.

The shoal stand-off began in April when Chinese vessels prevented the Philippine Navy from arresting Chinese fishermen encroaching on what the Filipinos claim is a part of their country's territory.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters close to the coasts of neighbouring countries.

In addition to the whole of the Scarborough Shoal the Philippines also claims parts of the Spratlys archipelago. It says the shoal is well within its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

Both countries have been pressing their respective claims to the area, with the poorly-equipped Philippines seeking the support of its main defence ally, the United States.

Aquino remarked Thursday that the Philippines had withdrawn its own ships from the shoal almost three weeks ago, but Chinese ships were still in the area.

"If their vessels had also gone home... there would be no more issue. So who is prolonging the issue?" he said.

"There are a lot of things being said by the other side. Maybe they need to balance their statements with the truth," he said.

Meanwhile, the Philippines announced Thursday it had filed a diplomatic protest with China over Beijing's establishment of a new prefecture called "Sansha" to administer disputed territories in the South China Sea.

Philippine foreign ministry spokesman Raul Hernandez said Sansha's establishment violated Manila's claim to the Scarborough Shoal and parts of the Spratly islands, as well as other areas within the South China Sea.

He told reporters the ministry was awaiting the Chinese government's response to the protest.

Stealth: Not-So-Secret Secrets

If major international war really is obsolete, it is mainly due to America's military superiority: it makes adversaries reluctant to take us on.

We are now seeing Russian and Chinese "stealth" aircraft appear, at least in prototype form. The Chinese have prototypes of the J-20 large fighter bomber, which looks as if it may enter service with the Chinese Air Force in 2018. In a recently published report on Chinese military power, the US Department of Defense wrote that the J-20 shows "China's ambition to produce a fighter aircraft that incorporates stealth attributes, advanced avionics and supercruise capable engines." Supercruise in this context means that the aircraft can fly at supersonic speeds for sustained periods of time. This has only been achieved by the now grounded US SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance jet and the F-22.

Americans should get used to the idea that today's military technological breakthrough will be commonplace on tomorrow's battlefield. It costs a lot to develop and build the best military in the world.

If the pundits are right, and if major international war really is obsolete, it is largely due to America's overwhelming military superiority: it makes adversaries reluctant to take us on. Maintaining this U.S. superiority is what keeps the world more or less at peace.

Russia, meanwhile, is working on the Sukhoi T-80, also known as the PAK-FA -- a supposedly stealthy version of the SU-27 family of fighter bombers. The Russians have negotiated a co-development deal for this aircraft with India, which plans to buy around 200 copies.

Sukhoi has three T-80 test aircraft in operation, and hopes to have 11 more test aircraft flying before the first production model is delivered in 2013. The Russian air force is planning to have the T-80 in service sometime in 2015 or 2016, but its arrival in the Russian Air Force will probably be delayed. How effective the T-80 will be is open to question. Russia has developed some excellent combat airplanes over the years, but it has also built large numbers of fighters that have proven to be less than reliable, such as the 1970s' MiG 23.

Meanwhile, the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, which originated in 1993, grinds ahead. It has already cost US taxpayers more than $400 billion. By the time the last F-35 leaves the production line sometime in the 2030s, the whole program will have cost more than one-and-a-half trillion dollars.

The F-35 was supposed to be the final manned fighter airplane built by the US; after that, all combat flying would be done by drones -- but things may not turn out that way. The US Navy has started preliminary work on a new manned fighter attack aircraft called the FA-XX.

The F-35 was also supposed to be a fine example of multinational cooperation. Certainly the US's European partners, including the British, the Dutch, the Norwegians, the Italians and the Danes, all had memories of successful collaboration with the US Defense Department on projects in the past. America's foreign partners are already suffering from "sticker shock," but as they have already invested considerable sums in the program, probably few of these partners will choose to walk away.

Any real stealth secrets inherent in the F-35 will almost certainly leak out through these foreign partners. They may have already leaked. However since the classified technology dates from the mid-1990s, it can hardly be considered truly "cutting edge."

Many Americans believe that Stealth technology is still an exclusive US military advantage and that the "Secrets of Stealth" must be preserved at all costs. Stealth, or as it is sometimes called, Low Observable Technology, has acquired an almost mythical significance. This myth tends to blind both political leaders in Washington and many media commentators to the true value of what is misleadingly referred to as invisibility. During the 1980 Presidential campaign, the Carter administration announced that it was working on an invisible bomber, which turned out to be the very expensive B-2 bomber, of which the US Air Force managed to buy a grand total of 21.

In the late 1970s, the US Air Force was working on a smaller Stealth aircraft, the F-117 Nighthawk, which secretly entered into service in 1982. Publicly unveiled in 1989, the US Air Force hailed it as a giant breakthrough in its military technology. That was nearly quarter of a century ago, it is hard to see why anyone expects that the secrets of stealth are still secret.

The US had been working on radar-evading and heat-signature-suppressing technologies since the late 1950s. There is nothing either very secret or surprising about this. All military forces try to hide their forces and are willing to spend a lot of money and effort on various forms of camouflage and concealment.

Stealth technology as we know it came into being in the 1970s, thanks in part to work by a Russian mathematician, but mostly thanks to advances in US computer technology. Lockheed was able to build a technology demonstration aircraft for the air force called the "Have Blue," which showed that an aircraft with the new radar-evading technology could penetrate Soviet-style 1970s integrated air defense systems.

"Have Blue" was followed in the early 1980s by the secret F-117 Stealth "Fighter," which was never actually a fighter but, as it was roughly the size of a fighter, the Air Force choose to call it a fighter, even though it would have been more accurate to call it a light reconnaissance bomber.

Although the F-117 was first used during the overthrow of the Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989, it proved itself during the 1991 Gulf War. The Iraq air defense system, which at the time was the best that Saddam's oil wealth could buy, was unable to shoot down a single F-117, even though they flew dozens of missions over the most heavily defended parts of Iraq, especially over Baghdad. The F-117s were able repeatedly to hit Iraqi headquarters and other critical targets such as bridges and industrial facilities. It was this that crippled Saddam's ability to continue the war.

At the same time in the early 1990s, the Air Force was introducing its new strategic bomber, the B-2. This was, and is, an extraordinary aircraft that combines stealth with a long range. The B-2 can fly more than 5000 miles on a single fuel load, as well as anywhere in the world with air-to-air refueling, even with a heavy payload. This bomber was first used against targets in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001.

Since its existence was revealed during the 1980 Presidential campaign, "stealth" has become surrounded by an aura of mystery and invincibility that tends to obscure its value in being able to defeat the most advanced air defense systems. Although talk about invisible and invulnerable airplanes was hogwash, normally skeptical journalists and media commentators bought into the myth, and sometimes used it to propagate a dangerously sterile vision of modern war, especially the idea that wars can be fought with no friendly casualties and almost no casualties on the enemies' side.

In 1999, during the Kosovo operation, an F-117 was shot down over Serbia by an old Soviet SA-3 surface-to-air missile. This seems to have been done by a Serb missile battalion commander who, using basic intelligence methods, analyzed US air operations. Specifically, Serbian intelligence had informers with cell phones around US bases; the informers would phone in the departure times of US aircraft. Using this data the Serbs were able to make educated guesses when and where US aircraft would appear in the skies over their missile launchers.

The pilot ejected and was rescued, but the wreckage of the plane was recovered by the Serbs; it is believed they gave the debris to Russia as a "thank you" for Moscow's political support.

Whatever the next military technological breakthrough is, if it keeps American troops alive and victorious in war and globally respected in peacetime, it will be worth every penny.

Top secret spy satellite roars to life using world’s most powerful rocket

A Delta IV rocket launched Friday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Complex 37 carrying a top secret NRO satellite.

Using the world’s most powerful rocket, U.S. space agency officials launched a top secret spy satellite early Friday.

 An unmanned Delta IV-Heavy rocket lifted off Friday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It carried a satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.

“And the RS-68A engines roar to life!” a launch commentator said just after liftoff. “The NRO systems continue to ensure vigilance from above.”

           

Details of the launch are being kept under wraps for obvious reasons.  The NRO is the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites.  It was the second rocket launch for the NRO in the last two weeks, and could be an indication that the U.S. is increasing its presence in space.

Liftoff from Launch Complex 37 came after three aborted attempts earlier in the morning, the first at 6:13 a.m., due to a faulty battery voltage reading and issues with two propellant valves.  The 232-foot rocket blasted blasted off with upgraded main engines beneath three first-stage boosters, each providing an extra 39,000 pounds of thrust over the earlier version.

Built by Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne, the new RS-68A engines are each capable of generating 702,000 pounds of thrust and are more efficient than a previous design, the rocket engine builders say. The engine is considered the most powerful rocket in use today. The Saturn V, launched  from 1967 until 1973m, remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever brought to operational status, according to NASA.

“This is a stamp of approval for the RS-68A engine and major milestone for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, our United Launch Alliance customer and, most importantly, the nation,” said Dan Adamski, RS-68 program manager, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. “The hard work and determination that everyone dedicated to the RS-68A program over the years brings a new large, liquid hydrogen-fueled engine to market – one capable of lifting heavy payloads into orbit and possibly beyond.”

The team notes that the improvements to the rocket actually represent a massive increase in fuel efficiency.

“We’re getting more miles per gallon and more thrust overall due to these improvements,” said Steve Bouley, vice president of launch vehicle and hypersonic systems for engine maker Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

While questions over the payload remain, at least one theory holds that the payload could be the last of a Cold War-era program of stealth imaging satellites designed to disguise their location, and could include a decoy sent to a different orbit. That said, some analysts seem to disagree, saying congressional action has left little funding for decoy programs.

The Delta 4-Heavy rocket is currently the largest and most powerful rocket in service. The booster features three core rocket boosters and is topped with a second stage to place payloads into orbit. It is 235 feet tall (72 meters) and can carry payloads of up to 24 tons into low-Earth orbit and 11 tons to geosynchronous orbits.

The mission comes just one week after a top secret spy plane return from low-Earth orbit. The top secret spy plane operated by the U.S. Air Force reportedly returned to Earth after spending an impressive 469 days in orbit, say mission commanders. The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle 2, or OTV-2, was launched in March 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Lockheed Martin receives $241 Million Contract for JASSM® Lot 10 Production

The U.S. Air Force recently awarded Lockheed Martin  a $241.6 million contract for Lot 10 production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and Extended Range (ER) variant.  

The JASSM Lot 10 contract is for 191 baseline missiles, 30 ER missiles, Test Instrumentation Kits and systems engineering support. Produced at the company’s award-winning manufacturing facility in Troy, Ala., Lockheed Martin has assembled more than 1,100 JASSMs for testing and operational use toward a total objective of 4,900 JASSM and JASSM-ER missiles.

While this is the tenth production lot for the JASSM baseline missile, it is only the second lot for JASSM-ER. In January 2011, JASSM-ER was authorized for Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). The LRIP decision followed impressive integration test flights in which JASSM-ER went 10 of 11 against a variety of targets and mission objectives. JASSM-ER LRIP missile production will begin in third quarter 2012.

“Lockheed Martin’s JASSM baseline missile and ER variant provide the warfighter with critical capabilities and a wide range of mission options not available with any other system,” said Alan Jackson, JASSM program director in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business. “Our ongoing focus is to ensure our customers receive a highly reliable and sustainable weapon system at an affordable price to meet their requirements.”

The Lot 10 contract award follows several recent JASSM program milestones including January certification of JASSM on the Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 and successful integration on the U.S. Air Force F-15E.

Armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-ER cruise autonomously day or night in all weather conditions. Both missiles share the same powerful capabilities and stealthy characteristics, though JASSM-ER has more than two-and-a-half times the range of baseline JASSM for greater standoff range. These 2,000-pound cruise missiles employ an infrared seeker and Global Positioning System receiver to dial into specific target aimpoints.

JASSM and JASSM-ER are critical weapons for the U.S. Air Force.  Highly effective against high-value, well-fortified, fixed and relocateable targets, the stealthy JASSM is integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-15E. JASSM-ER is integrated on the B-1. Internationally, JASSM is certified on the Royal Australian Air Force’s F/A-18. Future integration efforts will focus on the U.S. and international versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and other international platforms.

Lawmakers to Panetta: Stop AF attacks on faith

Sixty-six members of Congress sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Friday urging him to issue guidance to counter an “alarming pattern of attacks on faith in the Air Force.”

In their letter, the lawmakers blame Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz for cultivating a crackdown on religion within the service.

The letter blasts the Air Force for removing Latin references to God in a unit patch, removing religious references in missile training, removing bibles from Air Force Inn checklists and barring commanders from telling airmen about Chaplain Corps programs.

“When our sons and daughters join the military, they are not signing away their First Amendment right to religious liberty,” the letter states. “Unfortunately it seems that some parts of the military are intent on prohibiting religious expressions rather than protecting it.”

The 66 signatures are led by a trio of lawmakers: Reps. Randy Forbes, R-Va.; Diane Black, R-Tenn.; and Todd Akin, R-Mo.

“The Air Force has repeatedly capitulated to demands from groups that seek to remove all traces of faith from the military and the public square. … Those who sacrifice so much for our nation must be assured that they need not leave their faith at home when they volunteer to serve,” Forbes said in a statement.

In the letter, the lawmakers say Schwartz is most responsible for what they say is a continuing pattern of anti-religious bias. They said a Sept. 1, 2011, memo issued by Schwartz imposed a “stringent policy with regards to religion”

“The memo stated that Gen. Schwartz expected ‘chaplains, not commanders, to notify Airmen of Chaplain Corps programs,’ suggesting that the mere mention of these programs is impermissible,” the congressmen’s letter stated.

“We believe this statement exemplifies the troubling ‘complete separation’ approach that is creating a chilling effect down the chain of command as airmen attempt to comply.”

Individual moves taken within Air Force circles since Schwartz’s guidance go beyond the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, lawmakers wrote. “The changes lend credence to the notion that the Air Force will remove any references to God or faith that an outside organization brings to its attention.”

Attempts to reach Schwartz’s office on Friday morning for comment were unsuccessful.

F-22's oxygen-deprivation problem worse than previously reported

Two members of Congress said Thursday that new information provided by the Air Force shows that an oxygen-deficit problem on F-22 fighter jets is worse than previously disclosed.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said the Air Force reported about 26 incidents of apparent oxygen deprivation per 100,000 flight hours through May 31. That's a rate at least 10 times higher than that involving any other Air Force aircraft, they said.

Warner and Kinzinger said that as recently as this week, the Air Force maintained that the rate of F-22 oxygen-related problems was "relatively low."

"I don't want to say they're hiding anything, and I don't believe there's a cover-up or anything like that," Kinzinger, a former Air Force pilot, said in a teleconference with journalists. But he said he would like to see the Air Force "just be very open with the American people" about the seriousness of the problem and plans for fixing it.

An Air Force spokesman did not immediately respond to a voice message seeking comment.

The Air Force grounded its F-22s for about four months last year because of the oxygen-deficit problem.

In May, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered new flight restrictions on the F-22 and directed the Air Force to enlist the help of Navy and NASA experts to determine why some pilots continue to experience dizziness and other symptoms while flying.

Warner and Kinzinger said the new information came from the Air Force in response to questions they submitted last month after a CBS 60 Minutes report featured two F-22 pilots from the Virginia Air National Guard who said that they and other pilots had experienced oxygen deprivation, disorientation and other problems during some flights.

The lawmakers said they are concerned that disciplinary measures are still pending against one of the pilots for going public.

"They should not be penalized for expressing those kinds of concerns," Kinzinger said. He said 10 others have since come forward to talk about the hypoxialike symptoms they experienced aboard the F-22.

Warner and Kinzinger also said that in response to one of their questions, the Air Force said an early 2011 survey found that a majority of F-22 pilots did not feel confident with the aircraft's oxygen system.

The Air Force ordered installation of new charcoal filters before returning the F-22 to full operations in September 2011, but that seemed to make matters worse -- an outcome verified in testing by the Boeing Co., which recommended discontinuing their use. The Air Force complied.

Now, attention is directed to an upper pressure vest -- part of the survival gear worn by F-22 pilots. Navy tests have shown a high failure rate for the vests, Warner said. But he said it's too early to pin the blame entirely on that equipment.

Kinzinger and Warner said they will continue pressing the Air Force to correct the problem.

The lawmakers stopped short of saying the F-22 fleet should be temporarily grounded again and praised Panetta for last month's directive, which said F-22 flights must remain "within proximity of potential landing locations" so pilots can land quickly if they experience an oxygen-deficit problem.

The F-22 was manufactured by Lockheed Martin, with the midfuselage built in Fort Worth. Production of all F-22 aircraft has been completed.

Special Report ! - U.S. braces for action in Persian Gulf

The U.S. Navy has sent four additional mine countermeasures ships to the region to oppose an Iranian threat to close the vital oil artery.

Amid dimming expectations that next week's talks in Moscow will defuse the U.S.-Iranian confrontation in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy has sent four additional mine countermeasures ships to the region to oppose an Iranian threat to close the vital oil artery.

The deployment doubles the number of mine-hunting warships the U.S. 5th Fleet, which has headquarters in Bahrain, will have operating in the region, through which one-fifth of the world's oil supplies pass.

The U.S. Navy has identified the mine-hunters as the Avenger class USS Sentry, USS Devastator, USS Pioneer and USS Warrior out of San Diego.

These slow-moving 1,379-ton ships, all transported to the gulf aboard heavy-lift vessels, will join their forward-deployed sister ships USS Scout, USS Gladiator, USS Ardent and USS Dextrous.

The British navy also has four mine countermeasures vessels in the gulf.

The Americans plan to deploy at least four mine-sweeping MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters to the gulf as well.

The Iranians have threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, the only way in and out of the gulf, if its vital oil exports are cut off or if it is attacked.

They are reputed to have in excess of 5,000 mines, many of them advanced Russian-built variants that are hard to detect and disarm. They also have batteries of Chinese-designed cruise missiles along the waterway's eastern shore.

Iran's air force has strike aircraft, although these are largely outdated U.S.-built F-14 Tomcats bought during the days of the shah. They have some Russian-made MiG-29s as well.

If a shooting war does break out, the U.S. Central Command believes it's capable of destroying or seriously degrading Iran's forces within three weeks, U.S military sources say.

This would be achieved largely through air and sea strikes using aircraft and missiles, the sources say.

The Americans have two navy carrier battle groups in the region.

In April, the Pentagon deployed an unspecified number of Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor strike jets, the most advanced operational fighter in the world, to Al-Dhafra airbase near Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Al Dhafra is being used by U.S. Air Force KC-10 aerial tankers along with U.S. surveillance aircraft, including the venerable U-2 and the unmanned Global Hawk.

At about the same time, the Air Force deployed 20 upgraded F-15C Eagles of the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard to an undisclosed base in the Central Command area of operations.

Military sources say the Boeing F-15s are either at Al Dhafra or the large U.S. air base at Al Udaid in the Gulf emirate of Qatar. Al Udaid also houses Central Command's forward headquarters.

The F-22s and the 104th's F-15s are believed to have been training to operate together in the air-to-air fighting role, tasked with eliminating the Iranian air force's fighter squadrons.

"The Raptor-Eagle team has been honing special tactics for clearing the skies of Iranian fighters in the event of war," reported David Axe of Wired.com, which specializes in military weapons systems.

Axe noted that the "U.S. dogfighting armada" assembling in the Arab monarchies on the gulf's western shore that face Iran would likely operate in small groups, using silent electronic exchanges of data to "wipe out the antiquated but determined Iranian air force" with state-of-the-art missiles systems.

The U.S. air assets would provide a "significant dogfighting presence" in the gulf, Axe noted.

The F-22 has been deployed to the Pacific theater several times but has yet to make its combat debut since it was declared operational in 2005. But for all its vaunted combat capabilities, the aircraft's been plagued a serious flaw in its oxygen generating system that has caused some pilots to lose consciousness.

U.S. forces also have a heavy air component aboard the carrier battle groups headed by the USS Enterprise and the USS Abraham Lincoln in the region. Between them they can muster more than 100 combat F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet strike aircraft.

But former CIA officer Philip Giraldi has warned that U.S. Internal Look war games conducted in March indicated that the Navy "would have considerable problems dealing with Iranian offensive operations" in the narrow waters of the strait.

The games "revealed that there is a high probability that Americans vessels will be sunk, with considerable loss of life," Giraldi observed.