Whatever Floats Your Tank: the USN’s Improved Navy Lighterage System

Whatever Floats Your Tank: the USN’s Improved Navy Lighterage System

Lighterage from USS Seay(click to view full) Lighterage is about loading or unloading ships using lighters (barges) that can form a sort of ad-hoc ramp or shuttle from ships at anchor; they are often used when a port’s dockside is too shallow for the ship, or...
Whatever Floats Your Tank: the USN’s Improved Navy Lighterage System

Along Came A Spider: The XM-7 RED Mine

XM-7 Spider System(click to view full) The 2004 National Landmine Policy directed the Pentagon to end the use of persistent landmines after 2010, and introduce self-destructing and self-deactivating alternatives. The XM-7 Spider is the successor to the Matrix system...
Whatever Floats Your Tank: the USN’s Improved Navy Lighterage System

US Weather Satellites: From NPOESS’ Hairy Crises, to DWSS/ JPSS Split Ends

NPOESS (click to view full) The National Polar-orbiting Observing Satellite System (NPOESS) was a joint program of the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and NASA to replace less sophisticated weather satellites that are expected to fail over the next...