The Navy League of the United States will hold its annual Sea-Air-Space Exposition April 11-13, 2011 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. To coincide with the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition, the Defense, Spring 2011 edition will debut at the exposition, and concentrates on today’s naval issues and subjects.
In this edition:
J.R. Wilson interviews Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, commander of USCG District 13, formerly the Coast Guard’s chief acquisition officer and also its 22nd Ancient Albatross, the Coast Guard’s longest-serving aviator.
As budget battles continue on Capitol Hill and a defense budget has yet to be settled, major changes in the security climate are beginning, and the shape of the Navy is being determined. George Galdorisi’s “The Tipping Point and the Future U.S. Navy Fleet” looks at the seminal study and makes predictions about what fleet composition the Navy will likely have.
Otto Kreisher looks at another influential study, the AirSea Battle Concept, and examines what sorts of resources and investments will be needed to make the concept a reality in “Resourcing the AirSea Battle Concept.”
Along with advances in existing weapon systems, such as the SM-6 SAM and Advanced Gun System, the U.S. Navy is working to develop revolutionary new weapons, including electromagnetic railguns and free electron lasers. Edward H. Lundquist looks at ONR’s advances in these areas.
Lundquist also summarizes the Office of Naval Research’s initiatives to explore and develop alternative energy sources, a subject that will be explored in depth in a panel discussion on Tuesday April 12 during the exposition.
Norman Friedman addresses what could be two major “game-changers” in naval warfare: the X-47B UCAS-D demonstrator, and China’s claims to have developed an operational ship-killing ballistic missile.
The Navy’s announcement at the end of 2010 that it had decided to procure both variants of the littoral combat ship took many by surprise. Joe North, vice president, Littoral Ships and Systems at Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors, discusses the company’s variant with J.R. Wilson.
Faircount Media Group, publishers of Defense Media Network, will be at Sea-Air-Space for its fourteenth year. Please stop by Booth #500 to pick up your copy of Defense, Spring 2011.