Strategy Page (1)

choi

(1) Saved By The Danes. Apr 22, 2012
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/articles/20120422.aspx
("The U.S. Coast Guard recently commissioned the first of 58 "Fast Response Cutters." These are 46.8 meter (154 feet) long, 353 ton vessels equipped with a 8 meter (25 foot) rigid hull boat launched and recovered internally from a ramp in the stern (rear) of the ship")

My comment:
(a) Please read paragraph 1 only.
(b) I did not udnerstand what the quotation meant. It turns out that the "8 meter" refers to length also, not depth of height. See the video clip, and you will realize what it is saying.

Fast Response Cutter, Bernard C. Webber and RHIB. YOuTube.com, uploaded by BollingerShip on Dec 29, 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3iVLg4k7eI
(c) For Fast Response Cutter, see Sentinel class cutter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinel_class_cutter
(previously known as the Fast Response Cutter; to be built by the Louisiana based firm Bollinger shipyards; would deploy the Rigid-hulled inflatable (RHIB) for rescues and interceptions; the first (and only so far) cutter,  USCGC Bernard C Webber, was commissioned Apr 14, 2012, with Miami as home port)

(i) USCGC: United States Coast Guard Cutter
(ii) Bernard C Webber, USCG[;] 1928-2009
http://www.uscg.mil/history/peop ... bberBernardCbio.asp
(iii) rigid-hulled inflatable boat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigid-hulled_inflatable_boat
(The inflatable collar allows the vessel to maintain buoyancy even if a large quantity of water is shipped aboard due to bad sea conditions)


(2) Leaving Kazakhstan Behind. Apr 21, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htspace/articles/20120421.aspx

Note:
(a) Baikonur Cosmodrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome
(world's first and largest operational space launch facility; section 2 Name)

Here lies the launchpad for the world's first human spaceflight made by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1 in 1961 (vostok is Russian for "east").
(b) Vostochny Cosmodrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostochny_Cosmodrome
(Russian for "Eastern Spaceport"; in the Amur Oblast, in the Russian Far East; Construction began in 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2018)
(c) Plesetsk Cosmodrome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plesetsk_Cosmodrome
(located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow)

(3) Viper Strike Gets Work. Apr 20, 2012
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htairw/articles/20120420.aspx
("The US Army now uses Viper Strike on its' Hunter UAVs. The 727 kg (1600 pound) Hunter can only carry up to 91 kg (200 pounds) of sensors and weapons. That makes it marginal for using the 47 kg Hellfire but perfect for the 20 kg Viper Strike")

Note:
(a) IAI RQ-5 Hunter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_RQ-5_Hunter
(The RQ-5 is based on the Hunter UAV that was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries)
(b) GBU-44/B Viper Strike. Northrop Grumman, undated.
http://www.es.northropgrumman.com/solutions/viperstrike/

Please watch the video clip.


(4) An Honorable Death. Apr 18, 2012.
http://strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/articles/20120418.aspx

Quote:

"More of these attacks, and declining combat casualties, means that nearly 20 percent of [NATO] combat deaths are now from attacks by men in Afghan police and army uniforms

"Most of these killings have occurred in the last two years. * * * Most of the incidents where Afghan police or soldiers shoot NATO personnel are not about Taliban infiltration but rather a recent argument, often over something trivial (at least to the Westerners).