SeaWaves Naval News October 6, 2006

Lockheed Martin Receives $19M Award for Paveway II LGTR Contract

Archbald PA October 5, 2006 - Lockheed Martin has received a contract valued at $19 million to deliver an enhanced version of the Paveway II Laser Guided Training Round (LGTR) to the U.S. Navy next year. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) award includes four one-year options for LGTRs each year through March 2009, totaling $114 million if all options are exercised.

"Lockheed Martin offered the Paveway II LGTR warfighter training solution to the U.S. Navy in 1990 and we have delivered over 50,000 units to date," said Cynthia Sailar, vice president and general manager - Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Archbald, PA. "We are pleased to continue offering the only solution for real-time combat training where warfighters can reap the benefits of performing actual pilot maneuvers, laser positioning and weapons release."

"Lockheed Martin continues to be the sole source provider of live-fire training for our warfighters," said U.S. Representative Don Sherwood, (R-PA). "It continues to save millions of tax dollars while sustaining jobs in Northeast Pennsylvania as well as provide a valuable training tool for our nation's warfighters."

Paveway II LGTRs are used in place of the U.S. Navy's current inventory of munitions to train aircrews in live-fire training and weapons delivery proficiency without the high cost of using real assets during exercises. LGTRs are fully compatible with F-16, F-18, AV-8 and multiple international platforms.

The enhanced version of the Paveway II LGTR is a direct result of a joint Lockheed Martin-U.S. Navy continuous product improvement program to increase warfighter training versatility and enhance performance in airborne lasing in tactical target environments.

In addition to the Paveway II LGTR, Lockheed Martin's 350,000-square foot facility, located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, designs and manufactures Paveway Laser Guided Bomb (LGB) kits, Paveway Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb (DMLGB) kits, specialized instrumentation and control systems, and provides manufacturing services such as state-of-the-art metal crafting and Electro-mechanical assemblies.

Paveway is a generic term, developed by the Air Force, for a family of laser guided weapon systems. Lockheed Martin is a fully qualified provider of Paveway laser guided bomb (LGB) kits and has delivered/and is delivering these systems to the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and international customers. Lockheed Martin supports the entire family of Paveway weapon systems, including being the sole source provider of both the Paveway II Dual Mode Laser Guided Bomb (DMLGB) kit and the Paveway laser guided training round (LGTR).

Saab to Provoide Surface-to-Surface Missile System RBS15 Mk3 to Polish Navy

October 5, 2006 - Today the procurement contract for the heavyweight Surface-to-Surface Missile System RBS15 Mk3 was signed by Saab Bofors Dynamics and the Polish companies MESKO and BUMAR. MESKO and BUMAR are procuring the RBS15 Mk3 on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Defense. The value of the contract for Saab Bofors Dynamics is ME 110.

Poland is the 2nd NATO-nation to order the new generation RBS15 Mk3. Germany placed an order with the prime contractor Diehl BGT Defense in September 2005.

"The Polish Navy is going through a major transformation in order to adapt to the new requirements of the future and the acquisition of the RBS15 Mk3 system is a very important milestone in this process", says Fleet Admiral Roman Krzyzelewski, Commander in chief of the Polish Navy.

The ordered missiles will arm Poland's ORKAN-class corvettes, which are currently under modernization. This contract is follow-on to the ship integration contract signed in 2001 with Thales Naval Netherlands for the supply of ship equipment.

"This is another proof of the RBS15 Mk3, and we are naturally both pleased and proud that the Polish Navy has chosen us and our business partner," says Tomas Samuelsson, President of Saab Bofors Dynamics.

The RBS15 Mk3 is a powerful, versatile Surface-to-Surface Missile system with a range of more than 200 km and the added capability to combat land targets.

Saab Bofors Dynamics has a co-operation agreement with Diehl BGT Defense, Germany, encompassing development, production and marketing of the RBS15 Mk3.

The contract will become effective when a separate offset agreement has been signed with the Polish Ministry of Economy, which is planned to be signed later today.

Raytheon receives $112.9 million production contract for AMRAAM

Tucson October 6, 2006 - Raytheon Company has received its first production award in the amount of $112.9 million for the AIM-120D configuration of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

This contract supplements the Lot 20A effort awarded in February 2006 and, in addition to funding AIM-120C7 missiles, it also includes the first production deliveries of AIM-120D missiles from December 2007 through January 2009. The two Lot 20 contracts combined total $168 million. Production and delivery will support the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Army. Contract work will be done primarily at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz.

AIM-120D is an enhanced capability missile that includes enhanced data link, improved kinematics and GPS Inertial Measurement Unit capability, developed to meet the changing technology and battlespace requirements of the warfighter.

Raytheon is the sole provider of the AMRAAM family of precision-guided missiles. AMRAAM is the most carried air-to-air missile in the U.S. arsenal. Deployed in 32 countries, AMRAAM continues to set the standard for air dominance.

Raytheon Team Qualifies for 2007 DARPA Robotic Vehicle Competition

Tucson October 5, 2006 - "Team Scorpion," a group of engineers led by Raytheon Missile Systems and its partners Tucson Embedded Systems, Preferred Chassis Fabrication, iRobot and the University of Arizona, has been officially qualified as an "A-track" participant in next year's DARPA Grand Challenge, a robotic vehicle competition conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The DARPA Grand Challenge is a field test competition aimed at encouraging the development of autonomous ground vehicle technology that could eventually be used to save American lives on battlefields.

Unlike past Grand Challenge events, which were held in remote desert locations, the 2007 event -- the DARPA Urban Challenge -- calls for robotic vehicles to conduct military-type missions in a mock urban area completing a 60-mile course through traffic in less than six hours. The vehicles must also navigate themselves entirely with on-board technology, using no human- or remote control.

"Raytheon's sponsorship of this key technology development is an effort to promote advancement of autonomous vehicles for the battlefield," said Russell Mikesell, program manager for Missile System's Urban Challenge. "Raytheon is committed to developing solutions for minimizing casualties, whether on the battlefield or in complex urban environments."

The fully integrated Team Scorpion vehicle will be built from Preferred Chassis Fabrication's rock-crawling Scorpion vehicle and powered with a variety of electronic and digital controls that can be used in military and homeland security applications as well as a variety of industrial commercial markets.

The Scorpion vehicle will be built using "best-in-class" products and components from each partner. Raytheon Company will provide sensor technology and Tucson Embedded Systems will provide the vehicle management system. iRobot, based in Burlington, Mass., will equip the Scorpion's vehicle management system with navigation and control logic, and the on-board modeling and simulation will be outfitted by the University of Arizona.

Raytheon Awarded Navy Contract to Increase SHARP System Capability

Indianapolis October 4, 2006 - Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC (RTSC), a subsidiary of Raytheon Company, has been awarded a $5.6 million contract by the U.S. Navy to conduct the Shared Reconnaissance Pod (SHARP) Target Cuing System (TCS) program. The enhanced

capability provided through this effort will significantly increase the mission effectiveness of the SHARP system and reduce the workload of image analysts.

SHARP provides U.S. Navy carrier-based air wings with high-resolution, digital tactical air reconnaissance that features advanced day/night and all-weather capability. With the TCS upgrade, the system's tactical imaging sensor will deliver more refined information to the image analyst. By reducing the amount of manual labor required of the analyst to make identifications, specific targets can be more quickly located and action taken.

Under the contract, RTSC will manage all aspects of the TCS program, including selection and acquisition of the sensors, design integration, manufacture of an upgraded pod design, and coordination of flight testing for the system on an F/A-18E/F aircraft. The principal work will be performed at RTSC's Indianapolis facility, with support from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, and the Space Dynamics Laboratory in Logan, Utah. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

"Over the life of the SHARP program, Raytheon's responsibilities have evolved to becoming the sole-source producer of the SHARP pod and the integrator of the SHARP system," said John Balaguer, RTSC vice president and general manager of RTSC's Indianapolis-based business unit. "Increasing that role to include the management of the TCS program enables Raytheon to further focus on ensuring F/A-18E/F mission success through the enhanced capabilities that will result from this SHARP upgrade. We will continue to work with the Navy and the SHARP team to proactively provide additional capability and advanced solutions that will ensure the system is prepared to meet the challenges of the future."

RTSC provides technology solutions for defense, federal and commercial customers worldwide. It specializes in Mission Support, counter-proliferation and counter-terrorism, base and range operations and customized engineering services. Mission Support-Raytheon's integrated approach to providing total life-cycle support, predicting customer needs, sensing problems and proactively applying solutions-enables Raytheon to maintain readiness and deliver operational capability on demand, enhancing customer mission success.

ST Engineering Grows US Electronics Business Through Acquisition of MÄK Technologies

Singapore October 4, 2006 - Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) today announced that its US company, Vision Technologies Kinetics, Inc (VTK), has entered into an agreement to acquire 80% of US-based MÄK Technologies, Inc. (MÄK) for US$20m (about $31.7m) or an enterprise valuation of US$25m (about $39.6m). The stake is being acquired from MÄK's two founding shareholders, Mr Warren Katz and Mr John Morrison, and other employees of the company. The founders, Katz and Morrison, will retain the remaining 20% of MÄK. VTK is a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems, Inc (VTS), the US headquarters of ST Engineering. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions.

These investment terms were arrived at between VTK and MÄK on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, after negotiations between the parties, taking into account MÄK's past performance, current profitability and future prospects. This transaction will be financed by internal cash resources and debt.

The acquisition is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year. With the acquisition of MÄK, the consolidated net tangible assets per share of ST Engineering is expected to be reduced from 32 cents, as at end June 2006, to 31 cents (Singapore currency).

MÄK is a world leader in simulation software to link, simulate and visualise the virtual worlds in a networked synthetic environment. The company builds commercial-off-the-shelf simulation tools and toolkits that are used in developing trainers and simulators, from sophisticated networked mission training simulators to desk-top training simulations. MÄK also uses its expertise to provide customized simulation solutions, and researches and develops the latest simulation technologies. Its customer base includes industry leading companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, BAE and Thales. For fiscal year ended 2005, MÄK reported audited EBITDA of US$2.5m (about $4m).

MÄK will continue to actively develop and support its best-in-class commercial-off-the-shelf toolkits for distributed simulation under the leadership of its founders, with its headquarters remaining in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a US-based company under VTK, MÄK will retain its current security status.

The acquisition will enable ST Engineering's electronics arm, Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics), to combine the expertise and capabilities of the two companies to create more sophisticated simulation products. Both companies have different areas of expertise that complement each other. In addition, the acquisition will provide a channel for ST Electronics to commercialize and distribute its complementary simulation intellectual property.

Rapid technology advancement is accelerating the convergence of simulation and digital media technologies. ST Electronics has identified this trend as a n opportunity to expand beyond its simulation business into new domains, such as computer video games and animation. MÄK, as a frontrunner in incorporating games technologies into simulation technologies, will further spur ST Electronics' thrust into the digital media business.

"We're pleased to become a part of the ST Engineering Group because they recognize the value of our business model and understand our corporate philosophy. In addition, ST Engineering has significant intellectual property in the simulation space that we intend to commercialize and make available to our over 400 customers. This will both help our company grow faster, as well as provide a wider selection of more fully featured products, all bolstered by our renowned technical support." ~ Warren KATZ, CEO, MÄK Technologies, Inc. and John MORRISON, CTO, MÄK Technologies, Inc.

"MÄK Technologies will augment ST Electronics' simulation capabilities. This will enhance our development capabilities in more sophisticated simulation engines and technologies to provide us with a comprehensive suite of simulation solutions for both the commercial and defense industries internationally." ~ SEAH Moon Ming, President, ST Electronics, Dy CEO (Electronics and Land Systems) & President (International Business), ST Engineering

"The acquisition of MÄK moves us up the value chain in the simulation world and strengthens our position to capture growth in the convergence of digital media and simulation technologies. This acquisition also further expands our electronics presence in the US and global market and is another step in our long-term strategy to grow through acquisitions." ~ TAN Pheng Hock, President & CEO, ST Engineering

Boeing Scores Direct Hit in SLAM-ER Land Moving Target Test

St Louis October 5, 2006 - Boeing's Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response (SLAM-ER) weapon system scored a direct hit against a moving, remotely-controlled land target during a recent flight test at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, Calif.

The test occurred on Sept. 13 as part of the U.S. Navy's SLAM-ER developmental/operational flight test program. The launch followed a successful developmental test flight on June 1 that used simulated command and control aircraft targeting data to engage a remotely controlled Shahab 3 missile launcher mock-up.

"SLAM-ER now has the flexibility to engage both fixed and moving land targets," said Boeing Naval Weapons Director Jan Browne. "This demonstrated capability greatly enhances the Navy's ability to engage high-interest mobile targets in today's varied threat environment."

For the test, a Littoral Surveillance Radar System-equipped aircraft sent real-time targeting data to the Boeing-built F/A-18 aircraft, which relayed the data to the SLAM-ER after the weapon's launch. The SLAM-ER acquired and impacted a simulated SA-10 missile launcher in a desert environment. A follow-on test will launch the SLAM-ER against a simulated SA-3 missile launcher that will maneuver and change speeds like an operational target.

SLAM-ER is a highly adaptable day/night, all-weather, over-the-horizon precision strike missile capable of hitting stationary or moving targets on land or at sea. The Navy recognizes SLAM-ER as the most accurate weapon in its inventory.

The Navy will complete its operational testing of SLAM-ER's moving target capability later this year.

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HMAS Geraldton to Decommission in Traditional Navy Ceremony in Darwin

Canberra October 7, 2006 - In a centuries old tradition, the Royal Australian Navy's Fremantle Class Patrol Boat (FCPB), HMAS Geraldton lowered her Australian White Ensign for the last time as the ship was decommissioned in a traditional ceremony in her homeport of Darwin. Geraldton has contributed 23 years of valuable service to the Navy.

Geraldton is the eleventh FCPB to be decommissioned with the introduction of the Navy's 14 state-of-the-art Armidale Class Patrol Boats (ACPB). The first ACPB, HMAS Armidale, was commissioned in June 2005.

Mr David Tollner MP, the Federal Member for Solomon, representing the Minister for Defense was joined by the Deputy Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Russ Crane AO, CSC, RAN and the Deputy Maritime Commander Australia, Commodore Ray Griggs, CSC, RAN at the Ceremony. At the decommissioning ceremony the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Aaron Nye, RAN, was the last to depart his ship as he marched ashore and formally presented his Australian White Ensign to Commodore Griggs.

"Geraldton will be fondly remembered by ship's company, past and present, as well as by the Naval and Darwin communities. Similarly, this ship will also be missed by the people of Geraldton and the city for which the ship was named. Geraldton gave outstanding service over the years and her role will be continued with the introduction of the next generation Armidale Class Patrol Boats," Commodore Griggs said.

Also attending the event were veterans from the first Royal Australian Navy ship to bear the name Geraldton, a Bathurst Class Corvette which saw active service in World War II.

High Court to Subpoena Defense Minister

Taipei October 4, 2006 - A panel of judges at the Taiwan High Court decided on Tuesday to summon Minister of National Defense Lee Jye to court in December in a lawsuit involving President Chen Shui-bian and two opposition party leaders.

"The court will subpoena Lee in the next court hearing slated for 11:30 on December 5," said presiding judge Cheng San-yuan of the High Court panel at the end of Tuesday's hearing of the case.

The suit was brought by former Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong in 2004 against Chen after the president charged that the opposition had attempted to stage a "soft coup" to unseat him.

The High Court panel, which is reviewing an appeal filed by President Chen following a lower court ruling against him last December, said the defense minister would have to appear in court to answer questions in connection with a classified document presented by Chen's lawyer.

The document in question was a confidential report written by Lee and submitted to Chen stating that a former presidential adviser on military strategy had suggested to Lee in 2004 a strategy for helping to stage what Chen later called a "soft coup."

Tsao Wen-shen, a military adviser under the former Kuomintang government, had visited Lee's office on March 24, 2004 and advised him to feign sickness and step aside temporarily while a 24-hour demonstration was being held by pan-blue supporters in front of the Presidential Office in protest against the results of 2004 presidential election, Lee claimed in the report.

Lee stated that later the same day, he received a call from a former chief of the general staff Lo Pen-li who made a similar suggestion. Lee stated in the report that the two former military officers told him his cooperation would create considerable pressure for Chen, whose slim election victory was being questioned by his opponents following an election eve shooting that left the president and his running mate slightly wounded.

Lee reported that he turned down the proposition on grounds that soldiers must remain neutral in any political controversy.

Chen's lawyer Lin Chih-hao argued that this was the information on which the president had based his "soft coup" accusation on November 16, 2004.

Lin further said that Chen never specified Lien and Soong as the masterminds behind that so-called coup attempt.

The president stated that certain retired military officers had planned a soft coup, but did not name Lien and Soong, Lin told the court.

According to Lin, Lien and Soong's lawyer had omitted this fact.

Lee Fu-dien, the attorney representing Lien and Soong, countered that he was not surprised to see a report from Lee that supported President Chen's claim. He however challenged the authenticity of the classified document, saying that the signature on it was not really Lee's.

The attorney further argued that although the president did not name Lien and Soong in his comments in November 2004, he had mentioned the pan-blue alliance in his speech that made it easy for the public to link them to the alleged conspiracy.

Opposition lawmakers had grilled Lee Jye in March this year after Chen's lawyer submitted the confidential report to the High Court as fresh evidence in case.

The minister however at the time refused to disclose the names the two retired generals, leading to heavy criticism from opposition lawmakers such as Lin Yu-fang (???) of the KMT who accused the defense minister of "hurting the reputation of innocent generals."

By Bob Bergen

The Canadian military's management and censorship of the news media in Afghanistan is the proverbial elephant in the room that few Canadians talk about, but should.

No where is the military's news management more apparent than in an article in the Summer Edition of the Canadian Military Journal entitled "Reporting Live From Kandahar" (available on line).

It demonstrates the highly-sophisticated degree to which Canadian Forces public affairs officers study the successes and failures of the Forces' news media embedding program in Afghanistan with the express purpose of better managing the war news in the future.

"Embedding" means that news media members are able to travel with and report on front line units - living, eating and sleeping with them - for extended periods of time.

In order to do that, they must sign a ground-rules agreement that restricts them from reporting 19 specific types of military information or any other information the Force Commander requires in the interest of "operational security."

"Operational security" is the principle of safeguarding the integrity of a military operation or activity and the safety of Canadian Forces members or other involved personnel.

The topic of the Military Journal article is the lessons learned by military public affairs officers in the first two weeks of the Kandahar region operations in late February regarding injuries and fatalities.

Quite appropriately, the Forces immediately shut down the media's communications when Canadian soldiers are killed or wounded until relatives are officially notified.

The concern for the media managers is "unilateral" journalists who haven't signed the embed agreement, who operate outside the military umbrella and who are armed with their own sophisticated communications equipment.

They can learn of such news independently, break the story, scoop the locked-up embeds, but unfortunately sometimes get it wrong.

It is a set of media management concerns, which are really no more controversial than a local police force withholding the names of a deceased motor vehicle accident or shooting victims from the news media until next of kin are notified.

However, just one example of information that the embedded media must not report upon under any circumstances will illustrate the far reaching political and military issues involved.

Category six of the ground rules agreement which came into effect in March 2006 forbids the news media from reporting on Rules of Engagement or ROEs.

ROEs dictate when, where and how much force soldiers can bring force to bear on perceived or apparent enemies in a number of scenarios that can include, for example, pre-emptive self-defense.

Ostensibly, ROEs cannot be reported upon because enemies might learn of them from media reports in far away lands and adjust their tactics accordingly.

It is worth noting that Omar Samad, Afghanistan's Ambassador to Canada, recently wrote in FrontLine Defense magazine that in order for the public, policy analysts, media commentators and political decision makers to understand the Canadian mission in Afghanistan they deserve "the highest level of openness and transparency about strategy, rules, multilateral agreements and rules of engagement (my emphasis)..."

The Canadian rules of engagement are simply not open and transparent to the public.

The important censorship issue here is not whether insurgents in Afghanistan might be able to adjust their tactics as a result of what appeared in the news.

Rather, a recent Royal Canadian Armored Corps Association digest of military news revealed that NATO commanders are unhappy with the more than 70 ROE restrictions imposed on them by politicians which determine how much danger troops can be exposed to, where troops may be used and how.

What and whose restrictions those are is not discussed, but it is known that German soldiers are only to be used around Kabul, setting up the argument that commanders could do more with available troops with less risk if they were not limited by ROEs designed to win political points at home.

Given that Canada moved out of Kabul in November last year and is sustaining growing numbers of fatalities in the most dangerous fighting in Afghanistan, that is no small political issue.

One can accept that, in war, there are going to be military matters that ought to be subject to discretion and secrecy.

Although there has been no war declaration, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has admitted Canada is now at war, but the military's media management and hidden-in-plain-sight censorship limits what Canadians can know about it.

In the end, there is an inherent clash of competing interests between a military at war and a free press, which favors unfettered access to information.

Ordinary Canadians who pay for that war - with their taxes, their sons, their daughters, their husbands and their wives - are caught in the middle.

In the public interest, the boundaries of that information no-man's land ought to be constantly negotiated between the military and the news media industry.

Canadians need to fully understand and appreciate why we are at war and the challenges the military faces in combat in pursuit of the government's foreign policy objectives.

Democracy demands no less.

Bob Bergen, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow with the Canadian Defense & Foreign Affairs Institute (CDFAI) in Calgary. The opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and not necessarily those of CDFAI, its Board of Directors, Advisory Council, Fellows or donors. Bergen's column appears bi-weekly. Learn more about the CDFAI and its research on the Internet at www.cdfai.org

Australian Navy Ships Visit Manila

Canberra October 6, 2006 - The Royal Australian Navy is in the Philippines this week to undertake a port visit and participate in a joint maritime training activity.

HMA Ships Darwin and Newcastle are berthed in Manila Bay for several days, while personnel from the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Customs Service conduct LUMBAS, a biennial maritime training activity, with the Philippine Navy.

LUMBAS will also, for the first time, include participation from the Philippine Coast Guard.

The Commanding Officers and crew of HMA Ships Darwin and Newcastle are excited to be experiencing the culture of the Philippines.

They are looking forward to meeting the people of the Philippines, sampling the local cuisine, shopping in the market-places, buying souvenirs and taking in some of the local sights.

Australia's Maritime Commander, Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas AM, CSC, RAN, is also visiting this week to observe the joint maritime training activity, and to meet with senior Philippine Navy and Coast Guard officials.

Australia and the Philippines are working closely together to address the maritime security concerns of the Philippines, with both countries facing similar issues, including lengthy coastlines, and the challenges of inter-agency coordination of maritime security.

HMA Ships Darwin and Newcastle are long-range escort frigates that undertake roles including area air defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction. Both ships are capable of countering simultaneous threats from the air, surface and sub-surface.

Healy Commander's Relief Made Permanent

Alameda CA September 29, 2006 - Rear Adm. Clifford I. Pearson, the Coast Guard's assistant commandant for human resources in Washington, today concurred with and approved the recommendation of the Pacific Area commander to permanently relieve Capt. Douglas G. Russell of command of the Coast Guard cutter Healy due to a loss of confidence in Russell's continued ability to command.

Russell has been assigned to administrative duties since Vice Adm. Charles D. Wurster temporarily relieved him Aug. 30. The temporary relief followed the Aug. 17 deaths of crewmembers Lt. Jessica Hill, 31, of St. Augustine, Fla., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque, 22, of Miami, during an ice training dive 60 feet off the cutter's bow. Cutter Healy was in the Arctic Ocean approximately 500 miles north of Barrow, Alaska at the time of the dive accident, which remains under investigation.

Capt. Tedric R. Lindström, chief of response with the Thirteenth Coast Guard District in Seattle, has been ordered to cutter Healy as the new commanding officer.

The 420-foot cutter Healy is primarily used for Arctic science operations and is currently at its homeport in Seattle.

Japan's Government Approves Extension of Afghan Naval Mission

Tokyo October 6, 2006 (VOA News) - Japan's Cabinet has approved a one-year extension of the country's naval mission to support U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan.

The measure will next be voted on by parliament.

Japan's maritime self-defense forces were sent to the Indian Ocean in 2001 to provide fuel for coalition warships. The current mission was set to expire November first.

Under former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Tokyo also sent about 600 non-combat troops to participate in reconstruction work in southern Iraq. That mission ended in July, and was the country's first deployment of troops to a combat zone since World War Two.

Critics in Japan say both operations violate the country's pacifist constitution.

Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has promised to strengthen ties with the United States and work toward revising the constitution's "no war" clause.

The "Article Nine" clause in the 1947 constitution bars the use of military force to settle international disputes, and only allows armed forces for self-defense.