Please note the highlights from the new report from CRS below on the Ford-class carrier fiasco speaks to “welding issues”, call me Captain Obvious but in shipbuilding or the building of any exquisite platforms, the identification of welding issues infers a complete welding inspection of the entire ship. That ain’t cheap but then again when you build these future fish apartments on the taxpayer’s dime, the pursuit of excellence is always optional.

Procuring more of the incredibly poorly designed and executed new nuclear super-carriers is not only martial malpractice but a death warrant for the thousands of sailors assigned to these if employed during a peer conflict in this century.

The U.S. Navy Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 4 June 2020, marking the first time a Gerald R. Ford-class and a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier operated together underway. Gerald R. Ford is underway conducting integrated air wing operations, and the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group remained at sea in the Atlantic as a certified carrier strike group force ready for tasking in order to protect the crew from the risks posed by COVID-19, following their successful deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation.

Read the full report at your own peril of bubbling anger issues and remove all sharp objects from the room.

Oversight issues for Congress for the CVN-78 program include the following:

– faulty welds on certain new Navy ships, including Ford-class carriers, that were first reported in late September 2024;

– whether to procure CVN-82 in FY2030 (as proposed in the Navy’s FY2025 budget submission), in FY2028 (as scheduled in prior-year Navy budget submissions), or in FY2029;

– whether to procure CVN-82 and a subsequent aircraft carrier (which would be CVN-83) as a two-ship buy that would similar to the two-ship buy that was used for procuring CVN-80 and CVN-81;

-the future aircraft carrier force level;

-CVN-78 program issues that were raised in a January 2024 report from the Department of Defense’s (DOD’s) Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) and a June 2023 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on DOD weapon systems; and

-the procurement of aircraft carriers after CVN-81 or CVN-82.

https://news.usni.org/2025/01/17/report-to-congress-on-ford-class-aircraft-carrier-program

Stop building these things!

In this episode of the Kyle Anone Show, we dive deep into Trump’s recent interview with Sean Hannity, where he reveals his bold and controversial views on foreign policy. We’ll unpack the rhetoric surrounding Trump’s stance on Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran while highlighting key details that shape his approach.

Additionally, we explore Trump’s policies regarding Gaza. Initially seen as a peacemaker who brokered a ceasefire deal before taking office, recent statements suggest a troubling shift towards endorsing ethnic cleansing in the region. Join us as we analyze these critical developments and their implications for peace in the Middle East.

Aiviq

The US has 1.5 icebreakers because it has had to cannibalize one of its ancient and sclerotic icebreakers to make the remaining heavy work.But for all this, the same Coast Guard bought the Aiviq for $125 million late last year. And don’t expect them to get this right. The ship was built to operate in the Arctic, but it has a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice. 

…a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice.

…a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice.

…a type of propulsion system susceptible to failure in ice.

Former Coast Guard icebreaker captains were reluctant to criticize the purchase of the Aiviq when contacted by ProPublica, in part because it has taken impossibly long for the service to build the new heavy icebreakers it says it needs.

“Is the Coast Guard getting the Aiviq a bad thing? No,” said Rear Adm. Jeff Garrett, a former captain of the Healy icebreaker. But “is it the ideal resource? No.”

To reach the Arctic from Juneau, Garrett noted, the Aiviq will have to regularly cross the same storm-swept stretch of the Gulf of Alaska where it once lost the Kulluk.

Lawson Brigham said he had questions about the Aiviq “since it’s our tax dollars at work,” but he granted that “it’s bringing some capability into the Coast Guard at a time when we’re awaiting whenever the shipbuilder can get the first ship out, which is still unknown.”

Zukunft, who retired in 2018, stands by his past opposition to the Aiviq.

“I remain unconvinced,” he wrote in response to questions from ProPublica, that it “meets the operational requirements and design of a polar icebreaker that have been thoroughly documented by the Coast Guard.” By acquiring the Aiviq, “the Coast Guard runs the risk that those requirements can be compromised.”

The American acquisition system is broken. In case you haven’t noticed.

https://news.usni.org/2025/01/20/report-to-congress-on-u-s-air-force-next-generation-air-dominance-fighter

Sandboxx does a terrific overview of the problems inherent in this. While I have beaten the drum on the inherent challenges of emerging problems in Revolutions in Military Affairs throughout the 21st century, no one at the Pentagon is paying attention as they leap onto an acquisition merry-go-round that creates more problems than solutions.

NGAD is Next Generation Air Dominance.

Here’s the bottom line: in this era, the time of the manned combat aircraft has ended.

Hollings makes a compelling case.

CW Lemoine does a terrific overview of these problems also.

Per Mr. Lemoine’s observation, “clean sheet designs” have become impossible under the US defense acquisition regime.

More of the same.

U.S. Air Force officials paused a planned contract award for the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) to rethink the aircraft’s requirements. NGAD is an advanced fighter jet intended to replace the stealthy F-22 Raptor (see Figure 1). According to the Air Force, NGAD is also a “family of systems,” enabling air superiority, defined as the ability to operate without threat of attack, even in highly contested environments. The NGAD family or system of systems includes the NGAD fighter program, as well as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program to develop variants of uncrewed, semiautonomous aircraft that could fly as “loyal wingmen” with the NGAD fighter or other fighter aircraft. (See CRS In Focus IF12740, U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).) The Biden Administration requested $2.75 billion for research and development for an Air Force NGAD platform and $557 million for CCA in FY2025. Congress may decide to accept, reject, or modify this request.

https://news.usni.org/2025/01/20/report-to-congress-on-u-s-air-force-next-generation-air-dominance-fighter

Dear France,

America will officially recognize that the French Channel is consistent with the identity of the Irish Sea.

PS: Thanks for helping America defeat the English bastards from 1775-1783.

For those interested in how the French and Spanish made American independence possible, please read:

Larrie D. Ferreiro Brothers at Arms: American Independence and the Men of France and Spain Who Saved It

Ferreiro notes that “in the space of just one year, Britain had gone from fighting what it thought was a minor civil war in a distant colony, to waging a full-scale world war against its two mightiest adversaries” and French naval support “would change the fundamental nature of the war” by undermining British naval supremacy along the North American coast.

Again, heartfelt thanks to France.

Cordially,

America

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Email me at cgpodcast@pm.me

There is talk of taking the war to the cartels in Mexico and I have questions:

So how successful have drug interdiction efforts by the DEA and associated agencies and bureaucracies been so far?

We’ll just go back to 1972 to make the history simpler.

Once you eliminate the foreign importers (I am suspending my disbelief), how will this stop domestic production for a very hungry market segment? Will it involve anything that affects everyone’s liberties like surveillance, asset forfeiture & seizure and the militarization of police even further.

Will it require an even deeper surveillance of everyone’s financial transactions? Will it involve the elimination of cash to make surveillance and tracking easier? Will it result in many more SWAT and no-knock raids and the commensurate wrong addresses and and innocents maimed and killed? Do you think there will be no response or blow-back from the cartels once the kinetic war begins on the cartels which are intimately connected to the Mexican government?

Is the assumption that the contiguous border between the two countries is non-porous and there are no action cells sleeping this side of the MX border that can be activated? Is the assumption there is zero relationship between jihadist sleeper cells in America and the coyote/courier railroad that got them in the US undetected? Does the same apply to Chinese national sleepers?

Last, is the US assuming that American provision of advanced weapons to Ukraine will not incentivize Russian provision of weapons and technology to the Mexican government and the cartels?

Is anyone in government red teaming these questions left of bang?

SGM Vining would cast doubt too.

Discuss.

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Email me at cgpodcast@pm.me