Page 4 - Aerotech News and Review, Aug. 4 2017

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The Thunderbolt was taking part in an exercise with American and other coalition vessels in international waters when the Iranian patrol boat approached it, 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Ian McCon- naughey said. The Iranian ship did not respond to radio calls, flares and horn blasts as it came within 150 yards (137 meters) of the Thunderbolt, forcing the U.S. sailors aboard to fire the warning shots, McConnaughey said.
“After the warning shots were fired, the Iranian vessel halted its unsafe approach,” the lieutenant said in a statement, adding that the Iranian vessel created “a risk for collision.” Large ships can’t stop immediately on the water, meaning getting close to each other risks a collision.
Video released by the Navy included a sailor giving a position off the eastern coast of Kuwait as the Iranian vessel sat directly in front of an American warship’s bow. Another video included images of the Iranian ship off the Thunderbolt as its horn blared. The sound of machine gun fire followed.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard instead blamed the Thunderbolt for the incident in a statement, saying the American vessel moved toward one of its patrol boats. It said the Thunderbolt fired into the air “with the intention to provoke and create fear.” AP
Russia, China hold naval exercise in Baltic
Ships of the Russian and Chinese navies have begun exercises in the Baltic Sea, watched from afar by neighboring NATO countries uneasy about Russia’s growing military assertiveness.
Russia and China have conducted joint exercises for several years, but the maneuvers that began Tuesday were the first in the Baltic, whose shores include Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, coun- tries that expressed concern about Russia in the wake of the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The exercises include a Chinese destroyer, frigate and supply ship and will include live-fire practice at surface and air targets, the state news agency Tass reported.
“Lithuania constantly observes the exercises taking place in our neighborhood,” that country’s vice-defense minister Vytautas Um- brasas told the Baltic News Service. AP
Pentagon cites unsafe Chinese intercept of U.S. plane
action to avoid possible collision with a Chinese fighter jet during an encounter off the Korean peninsula, a Pentagon spokesman said July 24.
The spokesman, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said two Chinese J-10 fighters intercepted the U.S. plane Sunday in international airspace between the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, in an area he de- scribed as west of the Korean peninsula.
Davis said one of the Chinese planes approached at a high rate of speed from beneath the American plane, then slowed and pulled up, prompting the EP-3 pilot to take evasive action. He called the Chinese pilot’s action unsafe.
“This is uncharacteristic of the normal safe behavior we see from the Chinese military,” Davis said. “There are intercepts that occur in international airspace regularly, and the vast majority of them are conducted in a safe manner. This was the exception, not the norm.”
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matt Knight, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, said the American plane was on a routine mission.
“While we are still investigating the incident, initial reports from the U.S. aircrew characterized the intercept as unsafe,” Knight said in an email response to questions. “The issue is being addressed with China through appropriate diplomatic and military channels.” AP
12 U.S. paratroopers hospitalized after night jump in Romania
Officials say 12 U.S. paratroopers were hospitalized after they sustained minor injuries during a nighttime parachute jump in Ro- mania.
Brent M. William, a spokesman for the “Atlantic Resolve” mili- tary exercises, told Romania’s Agerpres news agency the accident occurred early July 22 at the Campia Turzii air base in northwest Romania. He said 500 troops jumped from C-130 Hercules planes during “a very rigorous exercise, which carries a certain level of risk.”
The Cluj Military Hospital spokeswoman, Doina Baltaru, said 11 soldiers were discharged July 23 from the hospital. She said one other soldier suffered a bruised spine and would remain hospitalized up to two more days.
The soldiers were participating in Saber Guardian 17, a U.S. Army Europe-led exercise, which aims to increase coordination
between the U.S., Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. AP
Two women looking to join elite Navy units once closed to them
Two women are endeavoring to join elite special warfare units in the Navy that were previously closed to females.
Lt. Cmdr. Mark Walton said in an email that a female midship- man has indicated her interest in the Navy SEALs. She will train in a course this summer that’s required of officers who want to be selected for SEAL training.
Another woman has set her sights on becoming a Special Warfare Combatant Crewman. They often support the SEALs but also con- duct missions of their own using state-of-the art, high-performance boats. She has started the long process of going through various evaluations and months of standard Navy training.
But Walton said it would be premature to speculate when that Navy will see its first female SEAL or Special Warfare Combatant Crewman. AP
Trump nominates top Raytheon lobbyist to be Army secretary
The White House says President Donald Trump is nominating Raytheon lobbyist Mark Esper to be the next secretary of the Army. Esper has been the top lobbyist for major defense contractor Ray- theon since 2010. He also has experience working in the House and Senate, at the Pentagon and at the Heritage Foundation, a conserva-
tive think tank.
The White House says Esper served in the Army, including dur-
ing the first Gulf War. He has also worked for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and on former presidential candidate Fred Thompson’s 2008 campaign.
The Senate must confirm Esper’s nomination. Trump’s earlier two picks for Army secretary dropped out.
Trump’s critics have raised questions about the number of lob- byists serving in his administration despite his pledge to “drain the swamp.” AP
The pilot of a U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance plane took evasive
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