Raytheon Technologies Moving Global Headquarters To Northern Virginia - Aviation Today

Raytheon Technologies Moving Global Headquarters To Northern Virginia - Aviation Today: Raytheon Technologies on Tuesday said it will establish its global headquarters in Northern Virginia, close to many of its government customers in the Washington, D.C., area, a move that follows Boeing’s decision a month ago to relocate its corporate headquarters to the region. Raytheon said it will be moving to Rosslyn, an area of Arlington Virginia …

A symbol of freedom, unity and hope - Flag Day

A symbol of freedom, unity and hope: On Flag Day, June 14, we stand together to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and commemorate the adoption of the first official flag.

Major NATO Maritime Drills Commence:BALTOPS 22

On 5 June 2022,NATO exercise BALTOPS 22 begins in the Baltic Sea Region.The drills will run through 17 June.According to U.S. Naval Forces Europe,BALTOPS 22 will strengthen the combined response capability that is crtitical to preserving freedom of navigation and security in the region.Those participating include:Belgium,Bulgaria,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,France,Germany,Latvia,Lithuania,the Netherlands,Norway,Poland,Sweden,Turkey,the UK and the US.A myriad of capabilities will demonstrate the inherent flexibility of maritme forces,to include:amphibious operations;gunnery;anti-submarine and air defence drills;mine clearance operations;explosive ordnance disposal;unmanned underwater vehicles;and medical response.Sweden is the host nation.* The scenario builds on BALTOPS 21 story lines and continues the incorporation of the space domain in coordination with the NATO Space Centre.The team of international forces will be tasked with responding rapidly in a time of crisis.Over 45 ships;75 aircraft;and some 7,000 service members will execute the manoeuvres.US Navy warships taking part include:the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3),dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44),guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) and command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20).* Strategically,Finland and Sweden's penchant for employing small missile-armed surface combatants and shore-based aircraft with Sweden's stealthy submarines in the context of Nordic geography creates significant Anti-Access/Area Denial capabilties.This could be used to block Russian transit of the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean.The exercise will take place in the Central and Southern Baltic Sea and include drills in the Stockholm archipelago near Uto;on land and sea outside Visby and Faro;on Ravlunda Exercise Field;on Osterlen and in Hano Bay.Sweden will contribute a submarine;two Visby corvettes;two minesweepers;four fighter aircraft;two helicopters and more than 500 troops.There will also be drills on riparian land ranges in Germany,Poland,Sweden and the Baltic States.Warfighting simulation will include maritime interdiction and personnel recovery,strengthening the cohesion and skillsets of NATO Allies and Partners.Personnel recovery is the recovery and reintegration of isolated military personnel,those who must survive,evade,resist or escape because they became separated from their units during combat operations.The Warrior's Ethos states:I will never leave a fallen comrade.An adversary may influence military strategy and national will by exploiting the intelligence and propaganda value of isolated personnel,according to the United States Army Combined Arms Centers.*

NATO, Croatia. US Army Airborne troops during a live fire exercise.

NATO Secretary General with 🇺🇸 US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, 02 JUNE 2022

NATO Secretary General remarks at the 🇺🇸 White House, 02 JUN 2022

Pacific Perspective:Meet Pine Gap,the Crucial Joint Intelligence Base in the Australian Outback

Joint Defence Facility Pine Gap (JDFPG) is an ultra-secret intelligence base near the town of Alice Springs in Australia's Northern Territory.Its existence is not acknowledged,but over the years academics,photographers and a few former staff members have uncovered and/or shared a fair amount of information about one of the most critical national security facilities in the Indo-Pacific Region.US tenants at the facility nestled in a desert ecosystem with jagged hills include the CIA,National Security Agency (NSA),National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).NSA's signals intelligence (SIGINT) work here is code-named RAINFALL;while NRO operates the Australian Mission Ground Station (AMGS). Among the assets at JDFPG are 38 radomes covering dish antennae and a vast computer complex in the operations centre,which is staffed 24/7/365.The total base staff,including US servicemembers,numbers at least 800.JDFPG is,among other missions,a control station for geosynchronous US spy satellites which pass over China,Eastern Russia,and the Middle East.It is a ground control and processing station for SIGINT satellites,to include those intercepting advanced weapons telemetry;anti-missile and anti-aircraft radar signals;communications satellite traffic;and microwave transmission (for instance,long-distance telephone calls).The base's departments include a Satellite Station Keeping Sector;Signals Processing Station;and Signals Analysis Station.* Every morning,the US-Australian Joint Reconnaissance Schedule Committee chooses the spy satellite tasking for a 24-hour period.Formerly the US Air Force,but now possibly the US Space Force,maintains the control station for missile heat and emission-detecting satellites.JDFPG monitors Chinese and North Korean weapons and communications.It also plays a key role in gathering geolocation data and supports military operations such as air strikes.It was involved in the Afghan War.Additionally,Pine Gap controls spy satellites that gather intelligence over Eurasia,Africa,Southeast Asia,Eastern Europe and Atlantic Ocean nations.With an elevation of 589 m/1932 ft,the facility plays a role in US missile defence,early warning and drone strikes.It is a Commonwealth of Australia Restricted Area under the Defence (Special Undertaking) Act 1952.No Trespassing,No Photography,No Firearms.Maximum Penalty Imprisonment Seven Years,a sign proclaims.Security personnel patrol the base every ten minutes.* Pine Gap has about twenty support buildings and what appears to this blog to be a tunnel entrance.An unconfirmed report mentions nine underground levels built to withstand three simultaneous nuclear strikes.The Australian Government believes it derives a lot of useful intelligence from the joint operation conducted in 20,000 square meters of operations space.Most of the Chiefs of Facility were senior CIA officials,but,in recent years,the NSA has had its share of COFs.The Deputy COF is always an Australian Government official.* In 2015,there were 55 US civilian operations personnel and 105 US military operations personnel at Pine Gap.The Australian Government had 50 operations personnel and there were 45 contractor personnel,bringing the total of operations centre staff to 255.The remaining two-thirds of the base staff were engaged in support and maintenance activities.This information was garnered by Australian academics Desmond Ball,Bill Robinson and Richard Tanter in their report "Management of Operations at Pine Gap (2015)".* The NGA manages imagery (IMINT) and geospatial intelligence functions involving foreign satellite/communications satellite interception systems,missile launch detection and tracking data.The Mission Ground Center (MGC) of the NRO at Pine Gap is an integrated data centre where IMINT and SIGINT is fused in a format providing ready integration of intel collected by other air and ground systems,as well as human intelligence (HUMINT).* America supports you,our military men and women and Intelligence Community.*