Page 2 - Aerotech News and Review, June 16 2017

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Briefs
DOD identifies Army casualties
The Department of Defense announced June 12 the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.
They died June 10 in Peka Valley, Nan- garhar Province, Afghanistan, of gunshot wounds sustained in Peka Valley, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The incident is under investigation.
The Soldiers were assigned to Headquar- ters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 101st Air- borne Division (Air Assault) and Company D, 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, KY.
Killed were:
Sgt. Eric M. Houck, 25, of Baltimore, Md.;
Sgt. William M. Bays, 29 of Barstow, Ca- lif.; and
Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge, 22 of Youngs- ville, N.C.
Search ends for Navy sailor who fell off cruiser in Atlantic
Authorities say they have stopped their search for a sailor who fell overboard from a Navy cruiser off the coast of North Carolina.
Navy officials said in a news release that Fire Controlman 2nd Class Christopher Clavin fell off the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy the afternoon of June 6 about 80 miles (130 ki- lometers) out to sea.
Authorities say the Navy and Coast Guard searched for Clavin for 76 hours until sunset Friday. At least six ships and a half-dozen heli- copters and planes helped in the search.
Officials say the crew of the USS Normandy is planning a memorial service for Clavin. AP
Warship USS Gabrielle Giffords com- missioned in Texas
The Navy’s newest combat ship was put into active service following a commissioning cer- emony June 10, named after former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who was injured during a 2011 shooting.
Giffords told a crowd at the ceremony in the Texas Gulf Coast city of Galveston that she was honored the 421-foot-long ship will carry her name and the vessel is “strong and tough, just like her crew.”
“I thought of you in my darkest days, the sol- diers, sailors, airmen and Marines of the United States of America ... You make me proud. You make America proud,” Giffords said as she stood next to her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who was in the Navy. Kelly lived in Galveston County when he was stationed at Johnson Space Center in suburban Houston dur- ing his NASA service.
Speakers including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said Giffords’ strength and courage made her worthy of being the name- sake of the ship, the USS Gabrielle Giffords.
“Nothing gives me greater joy and honor than seeing this great ship named for someone whose strength and resilience is a great lesson to us all,” Clinton said.
Others who attended the ceremony included House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, who served as the ship’s sponsor.
The Navy has said it named the ship after Gif- fords because of the perseverance she showed after the shooting.
Giffords was shot in the head at a meet-and- greet event outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona, in 2011. Six people died and Giffords was among 13 injured. The killer, Jared Lough-
2
ner, was sentenced to life in prison. Giffords suffers from a language disorder and is partially paralyzed as a result of the shooting.
Giffords helped christen the $475 million ship in 2015. It’s the ninth in a series of high-speed vessels designed to navigate in shallow coastal regions known as littoral waters.
It is the 13th Navy ship named after a living person since 1850 and the 16th ship named for a woman.
The ship will be based in San Diego.
“I will never forget this day or the crew of the USS Gabrielle Giffords. Fair winds and follow- ing seas,” Giffords said. AP
Iran company finalizes deal with Boe- ing to buy 60 planes
Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that the country’s Aseman Airlines has finalized a deal to purchase 60 planes from the American company Boeing.
The June 10 report said that the planes will be delivered in two batches and the first batch will consist of 30 737 passenger planes to be delivered in 2019.
This is the second deal between the Chicago- based Boeing and an Iranian airliner since a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers went into practice in 2016.
In December Iran Air, the country’s flag car- rier, finalized a $16.6 billion deal with Boeing to purchase 80 passenger planes.
In September, Washington granted permission to Boeing and its European competitor Airbus to sell billions of dollars-worth of aircraft to Iran. AP
Canada to increase military spending 70 percent in 10 years
Canada’s defense chief announced June 7 the country plans a sharp increase in military spending.
Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said the bud- get will grow by 70 percent to reach $32.7 bil- lion Canadian ($24.1 billion) in a decade.
That means Canada would spend about 1.4 percent of gross domestic product on defense by 2026-27, up from about 1.2 percent now.
U.S. President Trump has demanded that other NATO countries raise spending. The U.S. accounts for more than 70 percent of all NATO defense spending. Only Britain, Estonia, Greece and Poland now meet the NATO member goal
to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense. Sajjan said the money is designed to make
sure Canada is a reliable and credible partner. The plan calls for 5,000 additional troops, 15 new warships and 88 new fighter jets, up from the planned 65 announced by the previous
government.
“If we’re serious about our role in the world,
we must be serious about funding our military,” Sajjan said. “And we are.”
Canada has about 800 military personnel in the international mission against the Islamic State group, but removed its fighter jets after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal gov- ernment was elected in late 2015. Canada also has about 200 troops in the Ukraine and 220 in Poland. AP
Beijing lashes out over Pentagon re- port on Chinese military
Beijing says it is :firmly opposed” to a Penta- gon report that highlighted China’s construction of military facilities on man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea and speculated that Beijing would likely build more bases overseas.
The annual report made “irresponsible re- marks on China’s national defense develop- ment and reasonable actions in defending our territorial sovereignty and security interests in disregard of the facts,” foreign ministry spokes- woman Hua Chunying told reporters June 7.
“China is firmly opposed to that,” Hua said, adding that her government was a force for safeguarding peace and stability in the Asia- Pacific region and the world.
While Hua declined to comment on possible overseas bases, she said China and Pakistan — one of the countries considered most likely to host a Chinese military presence — were close friends that conduct mutually beneficial coop- eration in a variety of fields.
China is now building its first overseas base in Djibouti, which it says will help facilitate its participation in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and U.N. peacekeeping operations in the region. The base is near Camp Lemonnier, the U.S. base in the Horn of Africa nation, al- though American military leaders have said they don’t see it as threatening U.S. operations.
“China most likely will seek to establish ad- ditional military bases in countries with which
See BRIEFS, Page 4
Road construction delayed
Construction on South Lancaster Blvd. at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is delayed due to unforeseen conditions on the base course layers below the old pavement.
The purpose of this project is to replace failed pavement on 2.1 miles of South Lancaster Blvd., from the South Gate to the base perimeter. Once the contractor removed the old pave- ment, they found material that is not suitable for compaction to create a proper base for the new pavement.
While an estimated completion date hasn’t been set, the 412th Civil Engineer Group, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the construction contractor are working as quickly as possible to develop an affordable solution that will provide Edwards a safe and structurally sound road that will last several years.
Aerotech News and Review
June 16, 2017
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