Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Torpedo Video

The blog The Stupid Shall be Punished has a post with a video of a retired American warship being sunk by a torpedo fired from an Australian submarine.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

More on CF high tech soldier equipment

Danger Room has an article about the Canadian Forces' plans to buy high tech gear for soldiers.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

MP tries a sailor's life

The Lookout has an article about Canadian Member of Parliament Mark Holland who lived aboard HMCS Winnipeg for several weeks. Holland wrote about the experience on his blog.

Monday, July 21, 2008

RIMPAC wrapup

The Torch has a nice writeup of the recent RIMPAC exercise.

The Lookout Newspaper also has an article which includes a picture of a Harpoon missile being fired.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The US Army at the Olympics

The New York Times has an article abut the US Army sharpshooting unit that trains to participate in the Olympics.
The unit, established in 1956 to serve as a symbol of America’s military prowess during the cold war, continues today as a public-relations and recruiting tool. Its members have won 21 Olympic medals.

Saturday, July 05, 2008

Advances in MREs

The Christian Science Monitor has an article about the effort that goes into developing new Meal-Ready to Eat (the US military's rations).
Meals can't just taste good; they've got to last ... for three years stored at 80 degrees F., be capable of withstanding chemical or biological attacks, and survive a 10-story free fall (when packed in a crate of 12).

Thursday, July 03, 2008

CF to do live firing at RIMPAC

Canada.com has an article about the Canadian Forces involvement in the RIMPAC exercise which is held every other year off Hawaii.
Canada has sent frigates HMCS Regina and HMCS Ottawa, along with 150 soldiers, six CF-18 jets, two Aurora patrol planes, a refuelling tanker and a Sea King helicopter to the exercise.
A big feature of the exercise will be live firing of weapons.

For some of Canada's newest CF-18 Hornet fighter pilots, it means their first chance to fire live missiles and fly in skies with more than 50 to 60 other airplanes at a time.

"Being able to shoot a missile is a big deal," said Canadian air force Brig.-Gen. Yvan Blondin, who will be deputy force air commander of the exercise, and who is Deputy Commander Force Generation at 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg.

US removes last of its nuclear weapons from UK

The Telegraph reports that the US has removed the last of their nuclear weapons from British soil. Interestingly there was no public announcement.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Rules for riding in a LAV

The CBC has a story from one of their reporters in Afghanistan with some observations about the various issues involved in living there. I like the rules for riding in a LAV:
Here's the "To Take" checklist: shatterproof glasses ($50 US at the American PX), a long-sleeved shirt (preferably cotton, which is less likely than other fabrics to melt into your skin if there's an explosion), leather gloves (fire-resistant), earplugs (in case of a loud blast), and of course helmet and flack-jacket. If you don't have any of the above, you're not getting on. No exceptions. Water is also a good idea, albeit technically optional.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

CF members march in Toronto Gay Pride Parade

The Toronto Star reports that for the first time members of the Canadian Forces will be allowed to march in the Toronto Gay Pride Parade in uniform.

There were also articles in the CBC and the CTV websites.