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Imperial Japan's emperor claimed to be an incarnate divinity who was to be obeyed completely. It was forbidden for his subjects to criticize him. The Imperial Japanese Empire he inherited grew into one of the largest maritime empires in history, becoming the 3rd largest naval power and having the 9th largest economy in the world. In 1910, Imperial Japan annexed Korea, and in 1918 took control of Russian ports in Siberia. In 1937, Imperial Japan's Army killed an estimated 200,000 in Nanking, China. In 1941, over 3,000 Americans died when Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In 1942, over 20,000 Americans...

Dieter Dengler (May 22, 1938 – February 7, 2001) was a German-born United States Navy aviator during the Vietnam War and later a private aircraft test pilot and commercial airline pilot. He was one of two survivors, the other being Phisit Intharathat, out of seven prisoners of war (POWs) who escaped from a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos. He was rescued after 23 days on the run[1] following six months of torture and imprisonment and was the first captured U.S. airman to escape enemy captivity during the Vietnam war.[2][3]

Did You Know that American advanced F-14 Tom Cat Fighter Jets, helped to keep Ayatollah Khomeini in Power during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s? When Iran was under the pro-American Shah of Iran, America sold 79 F-14 Tom Cats to Iran in 1974-1978. The world's most experienced combat pilots in the F-14 are Iranians. According to Wikipedia: "...In 1980, an Iranian F-14 shot down an Iraqi Mil Mi-25 helicopter for its first air-to-air kill during the Iran–Iraq War. According to research by Tom Cooper, within the first six months of the war Iranian F-14s scored over 50 air-to-air victories,...

flight decks that once thundered and boomed with jet aircraft are silent. The passageways and compartments where thousands of sailors worked, ate and slept are empty. The once meticulously swept and kept decks are worn and torn, some covered in bird droppings. The names of the Navy’s seven decommissioned non-nuclear aircraft carriers conjure up well-earned reputations as Cold War bulwarks. And while at least some are the objects of preservation efforts, chances are slim more than one will survive as a museum ship. The rest are taking up valuable pier space, and the only thing the Navy wants now is...

The U.S. Navy announced today the award of a $1.6 billion contract to Boeing for P-8A Poseidon aircraft Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of six aircraft. This first LRIP contract also includes spares, logistics and training devices. Production of the first LRIP aircraft will begin this summer at Boeing’s Renton, Wash. facility. “In 2004, the U.S. Navy and the Boeing Company made a commitment to deliver the next generation maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft to support a 2013 Initial Operational Capability (IOC),” said Capt. Mike Moran, PMA 290 Program Manager. “This contract and these aircraft keep that commitment on track.” Three...

Supreme Court justices seemed in general agreement Tuesday that the best way to resolve a long-running, billion-dollar dispute between the government and two big defense contractors is to say, in Justice Antonin Scalia's words, "Go away."... That was the apparent sentiment of the court toward a contract dispute over the A-12 Avenger attack plane, canceled by the Pentagon in 1991 when Richard Cheney was defense secretary...

One hundred years ago Tuesday, Eugene Ely, a 26-year-old automobile racer-turned-aviator, landed a fragile-looking biplane on the deck of the Navy cruiser Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay and made flying history. It was the first time an airplane had landed on a warship, and it marked the start of naval aviation. Ely, a civilian the newspapers called "a daring birdman," kissed his wife, saluted the officer of the deck, shook hands with the ship's captain, had a glass of nonalcoholic punch and took off again, bound for a landing field at what is now the Tanforan Shopping Center in San...

The U.S. Navy took delivery in January of 10 newly configured P-3C Orions installed with an upgraded acoustic system — the Acoustic Receiver Technology Refresh (ARTR) — that enhances the aircraft’s ability tenfold to receive and analyze sonobuoy data, a basic P-3C mission requirement. The upgrades will help bridge the technology gap between the Orion and the service’s next generation maritime patrol and anti-sub warfare (ASW) aircraft, the P-8A Poseidon, creating a more common and efficient fleet. The Navy also is establishing common signal processing code and hardware for the two fleets. The acoustic technology upgrades are vital for the...

The Navy made history Saturday when it launched the first aircraft from the Naval Air Systems Command, Lakehurst, N.J., test site using the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, technology. The Navy has been using steam for more than 50 years to launch aircraft from carriers. Saturday, the Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) program launched an F/A-18E Super Hornet using the EMALS technology that will replace steam catapults on future aircraft carriers. “This is a tremendous achievement not just for the ALRE team, but for the entire Navy,” said Capt. James Donnelly, ALRE program manager. “Saturday’s EMALS launch demonstrates...

China has officially admitted for the first time that it has embarked on an aircraft carrier building program, part of a grand strategy to "build itself up as a maritime power." A report published by the State Oceanic Administration says the country's leaders decided last year to back plans to build China's first aircraft carrier. The Chinese government and military had kept the program under wraps until now. The annual national ocean development report says that asserting China's power at sea is "indispensible to accomplishing the great resurgence of the Chinese people." Chinese military sources said initial plans had called...

South Korea and the United States plan to stage maritime interdiction and aerial interception drills Tuesday on the third day of major naval exercises in the Yellow Sea aimed at warning North Korea against any future provocations, military officials here said. About 10 warships, including a nuclear-powered U.S. supercarrier, scores of aircraft and 7,300 military personnel, launched the four-day maneuvers Sunday in response to North Korea's bombardment on a South Korean island near the tense Yellow Sea border, killing two marines and as many civilians. "Today, we plan to hold maritime interdiction and defensive counter air drills as a key...

Wednesday saw a Harrier jump jet depart for the final time from the British Ark Royal aircraft carrier. The aircraft was piloted by Flight Commander James Blackmore, who guided the last one of four Harrier jets safely from the flight deck of the HMS Ark Royal into the sky. The vessel was sailing in the North Sea on its way to Hamburg, Germany after departing from North Shields, North Tyneside. 35 year-old Flight Commander Blackmore said before taking off that it was a privilege and that he was immensely proud to be the final pilot to take off from the...

Work is picking up on what appears to be China's first aircraft carrier, the Shi Lang. For eight years now, China has been tinkering with a half finished Russian aircraft carrier. Two years ago, this ex-Russian aircraft carrier, Varyag, was renamed the Shi Lang (after the Chinese general who took possession of Taiwan in 1681, the first time China ever paid any attention to the island) and given the pennant number 83. Until last year, progress was slow. But there has been a lot of work lately. Early in 2009, China moved the Shi Lang into dry dock, where work...

The U.S. Navy is buying 19 AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar systems from the Raytheon Co. Space and Airborne Systems segment in El Segundo, Calif., to retrofit F/A-18E/F Super Hornet carrier-based jet fighter-bombers. Raytheon is buying the AESA radars under terms of a $52.3 million contract modification announced Tuesday from Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. The new AN/APG-79 AESA radar systems, which will replace the Super Hornets' ageing Raytheon AN/APG-73 radars, will increase the F/A-18E/F's air-to-air detection and track range, as well as its air-to-ground targeting capabilities, Navy officials say. The new...

Naval Aviation Training Systems program office (PMA-205) delivered two Super Hornet Integrated Visual Environment Maintenance Trainers (IVEMT) to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) at Amberley Air Force Base, Ipswich, Australia in October. The IVEMT is a 3-D visual trainer which allows military personnel to virtually navigate through multiple aircraft systems. It provides maintainers training on ground operation, maintenance, and testing. It also offers troubleshooting procedures for the F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft including avionics, environmental control, electrical, flight control, fuel, engines, landing gear, and hydraulic systems. The IVEMT was designed exclusively for RAAF and is the first Super Hornet maintenance...

Two airborne electronic attack aircraft, EA-18G "Growler," recently began validation with Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center's newest training department, the Airborne Electronic Attack Weapons School (AEAWS) Nov. 12. NSAWC's AEAWS department will provide training to the fleets electronic attack squadrons with the techniques, tactics and procedures to ensure aviation superiority in the electronic attack and air-to-air arena. "NSAWC has been working closely with Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island, Wash., and Commander Electronic Attack Wing Pacific (COMVAQWINGPAC) toward the goal of establishing a training center here in Fallon since 2006," said Cmdr. Peter Fey. "Commander Chris Bieber spearheaded most of...

The S-3 parked recently in a hangar at Jacksonville Naval Air Station looked like it just returned from the 1942 Battle of Midway. Very odd, given that the Viking is a two-engine jet that served as a sub hunter, tanker and much more during its 33-year career beginning in 1975. But the plane's newly applied retro paint job was actually meant to evoke the epic sea battle that turned the World War II Pacific campaign in America's favor. "We were going for a Midway effect," said Don Lockwood, a Navy employee helping return three S-3Bs, including the newly painted one,...

Russian naval aviation is facing a crisis, in that within the next five years, few of the navy's aircraft will be flyable. It's not that no one saw this coming, it's just that there were larger calamities to deal with. The collapse of the Soviet armed forces after 1991 (when the Soviet Union dissolved) was a catastrophic event, with the largest military establishment on the planet quickly losing 80 percent of its manpower. A lot more equipment stayed on the books, in theory. But over 100,000 tanks and aircraft were allowed to quietly fall apart in the 1990s, because there...

Russian naval aviation is in critical condition, particularly the aviation units of the Black Sea Fleet, which may lose most of their fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters in the next five to six years. This problem demands a rapid solution. Otherwise the new warships ordered under the 2011-2020 state rearmament program will be useless. So far there are no official plans for equipping the navy with new fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. There have been no public reports or official statements regarding the purchase of new aircraft for the navy citing specific figured or parameters, except for the announcement of the purchase...

The United States Navy and Marine Corps operate a fleet of more than 1,100 tactical fighter aircraft that provide air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities. Those aircraft include Hornets (F/A-18A, B, C, and D), Super Hornets (F/A-18E and F), and Harriers (AV-8B); within the next few years, a new and more advanced aircraft—the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)—will start being added to the fleet. Although current plans call for the purchase of about 700 new fighter aircraft over the next 15 years, the Department of the Navy is projecting that purchases planned for the next 5 to 10 years will be...