NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The amphibious transport dock ship USS Trenton (LPD 14), was decommissioned Jan. 17 in a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. Immediately following the decommissioning, Trenton was recommissioned and transferred to the Indian Navy, bearing the name INS Jalashwa. The event marks the first time a U.S. Navy vessel has been transferred to the Indian navy. In recent months, the crew of Trenton has been working alongside Indian sailors, training them to operate the ship efficiently and safely.
Trenton will continue to serve all the free nations of the world, just as she served the United States, as we expand the 1,000-ship navy, said Rear Adm. Garry Hall, Commander, Amphibious Group 2.
The commanding officer of Jalashwa, Indian Navy Capt. B.S. Ahluwalia, expressed his gratitude to the crew of Trenton, and praised their professionalism. Todays transfer is a significant event in the growing relationship between our two countries and our two navies, said Ahluwalia.
Commissioned in March 1971, Trenton took part in numerous humanitarian operations, including the evacuations of American civilians from Liberia in 1996 and from Lebanon in 2006. In addition, in 1991, Trenton was responsible for evacuating the U.S. and Soviet ambassadors and 193 foreign nationals from Somalia. During Trentons final deployment, the ship took part in maritime security operations off the Somali coast of eastern Africa.
Trentons commanding officer, Cmdr. Samuel Norton, spoke proudly and fondly of his crew and time aboard the ship, saying that without such an outstanding crew, Trenton would not have been the same. Its people that have made Trenton what she is today, and its people that will keep the memory of Trenton alive, Norton said.
Trenton employed a crew of approximately 415 Sailors and could embark nearly 1,000 Marines.
The ship was a member of the Austin-class amphibious transport dock ship. The ship is 570 feet in length and displaces approximately 17,000 tons when fully loaded. The Austin-class currently is being replaced by the newer, more-modern San Antonio-class LPD.
More from Wiki: The Indian Navy has renamed the USS Trenton as the INS Jalashva (river horse, or hippopotamus) and plans to keep it at Norfolk Naval Base for refitting until May 2007. Six H-3 Sea King maritime utility transport helicopters will be operated from the ship. The ship likely to be based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command.
Posted by: john ||
01/20/2007 06:53 ||
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#1
India is earning its place as a major world power with the three ingredients: a strong economy, a strong military, and a willingness to project that military, not just for their own ends, but for international goals as well.
The last goal is not as meeching as it sounds. By force projecting when you don't have to, or when it is not in your vital interest to do so, you both create useful alliances and open the door to trade.
#2
Though the Trenton is old, and has had a fair number of problems, the IN was eager to get their hands on her.
They want to study the design and actually learn how to operate a LPD for a few years before building their own.
Posted by: john ||
01/20/2007 11:23 Comments ||
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#3
Considering all the problems that the Indians have had with aircraft production, it seems more probable that over the next 10-15 years, the US will be decommissioning this class of ship and it will be immediately recommissioned into the Indian Navy. The Austin and follow-on classes are very complicated ships to build, and if you do it wrong, you get a ship like the De Gaulle - where the propeller keeps falling off.
Besides which, the Indians have several advantages with the buy it used approach - for the last year of US operations, the Indians can have a secondary crew assigned, learning the ship and its problems; immediately after the ship is transfered, they can have SLEP done to it to correct all known issues; the ships in question have already had their shakedown cruises and had all the issues discovered then fixed; and no nasty surprises like failed welds or non-functional electronics, which Indian tank and aircraft production have been prone to.
#2
The possession of nukes, an enormous population and the jihadi mindset makes it of special interest.
Posted by: john ||
01/20/2007 7:43 Comments ||
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#3
So, is there any Muslem country which isn't?
Morocco.
Malaysia.
Turkey.
Let's not ignore reality: you have a few Muslim states that are managing in the real world today. Only a few.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/20/2007 11:57 Comments ||
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#4
Of course Pakland is a failed state. Paks are a failed humanity. Can't make silk purses out of sows ears. And, worse, if you're Muzzie, you ain't got any pigs to start with.
#5
Doc Steve, I'd add (parts) of Indonesia. Also, I'd add that Egypt and Jordan seem to be doing (comparatively speaking) well vs. other Muslim nations. Heck, you could even somewhat consider Kuwait and Bahrain as successful (in terms of wealth and commerce) nations. Even to the worldly eye (looking at wealth and infrastructure), Saudi looks advanced. BUT, all these nations have either dictatorships, ruling families, and/or the jihadi undertow (w/in the gov'ts) enough to worry about them.
Other failed states? France, Spain is quickly heading that way, and pretty much 1/2 or more of Africa.
Posted by: BA ||
01/20/2007 17:36 Comments ||
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BA, agreed about Kuwait and Bahrain, and I suppose I could add Qatar and Oman. Not sure about Jordan, I think it could blow at any seam. And Egypt is going to blow the day after Mubarak dies and Sonny Boy tries to take over.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/20/2007 18:41 Comments ||
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#3 Check out Moroccan emigration/Islamic activity.
Malaysia began oppressing its Chinese minority = coming economic collapse.
Turkey, marely takes longer than other Muslim countries, but all the signs are there.
#8
(parts) of Indonesia aren't Muslim. Bali is Buddist, I think. The Suhartos, who used to run the place, were not Muslim, if the niece that I was friends with in Germany was a proper sample. Smart lady, last I heard she was a department head at Bell Labs, and looking higher.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq expressed disappointment at the United Nations failure to resolve the Kashmir issue and urged Pakistan and India to take more initiatives. Addressing a press conference with Azad Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique on Friday, he rejected a solution that did not involve Kashmiri people. He said there was a complete consensus between the APHC and the Azad Kashmir government and both agreed that war was not a solution. Farooq said he was not a traitor to the Kashmir cause and all his efforts were aimed at freeing the Kashmiri people from Indian oppression. To a question, he said he wanted militant groups to support the peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This is the muslim sense of entitlement at work.
Posted by: john ||
01/20/2007 6:58 Comments ||
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Pakistan used laser-guided precision missiles in Tuesdays pre-dawn airstrike on three houses in which eight people were killed, as bereaved families rejected the governments claim that the presence of foreign militants had led to the attack. The residents of Kot Kalay in northeast South Waziristan showed a group of journalists on Friday an unexploded 500-pound missile that had pierced through a rooftop and went four feet into the ground. The provenance of the missiles wasnt clear.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan told Daily Times over the telephone from Islamabad that laser-guided precision missiles had been used in the attack. We fired the missiles from fighter aircraft. This is not the first time we have used this weapon, he said. However, it is the first time the military has acknowledged using laser-guided precision weapons against militants in Waziristan. Sultan said that three out of five missiles had failed to explode because of possible technical malfunction. He said the military would make efforts at some stage to recover the unexploded missiles. Another case of Inshallah Maintenance™?
Five missiles were fired from the north and then four helicopters appeared from the same direction and opened fire on the people, Muhammad Sharif, a medical technician, told reporters. Sharif, who said he had witnessed the entire incident, said the helicopters kept firing on people who were running towards the forest for cover. The three houses one completely destroyed and the other two partially damaged are situated at a considerable distance from Kot Kalay, near the forest. Residents said that woodcutters used the houses. Pro-Taliban militants led by Baitullah Mehsud had organised the journalists visit to the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Safe guess these are Chinese missiles?
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/20/2007 0:59 Comments ||
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good thing that Medical Technician was there to witness the whole thing. Was his wife Morgan Fairchild there with him?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/20/2007 1:16 Comments ||
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60% failure rate? Jeez, where did the Pakis get these missiles from, Wiley Coyote's garage sale? The US switched a major weapons contract due to one manufacturer having a 2% failure rate on cluster munitions, and the Pakis can live with 60%?
#6
The residents of Kot Kalay in northeast South Waziristan showed a group of journalists on Friday an unexploded 500-pound missile that had pierced through a rooftop and went four feet into the ground. The provenance of the missiles wasnt clear.
No, they didn't. Let's see if we can figure out what was really dropped there, shall we?
First of all, we can pretty much rule out that the press has identified this thing properly at all. Missiles explode on impact- if the fuze doesn't work, unburned rocket fuel DOES. They are also fairly lightly built, so they don't survive an impact and then four feet of penetration into the Earth.
Bombs are another matter entirely. Even the most basic 500 pounders have a thick steel case that, if the fuze doesn't explode, will allow the weapon to survive impact and bury itself fairly deep - and I believe what we're seeing here is a Pakistani laser guided bomb, probably a Chinese LT series. We've never given the Pakis LGB technology for fear they'd use it on the Indians.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/20/2007 8:27 Comments ||
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#7
Rantburg U rulez! Just wait 'til I drop that little tidbit into a dinner party conversation! ;-)
Here's the untouched picture, grabbed from Pak Daily Times, with the "missile." Assuming it's not just a file foto of a generic incident:
It's not a "500 lb missile." It's a bomb, and not 500 lb.
The bomb didn't go off. It's what's known in the trade as a "dud."
The village is populated by turban-wearing geniuses who tied a rope around one end of the dud and hauled it out of the hole to have a look at it.
The turban-wearing geniuses aren't aware of the fact that just because a dud didn't go off that doesn't mean it won't go off. So they're all posing for a nice group foto.
The next step is to try and pry the fuze out of the nose to present to the local satrap or holy man as a souvenir. These things go on pretty tight, so they'll probably have to use a cold chisel and a claw hammer to get if off.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 10:45 Comments ||
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#9
:-) Darwin's law - demonstrated just so!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/20/2007 10:47 Comments ||
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#10
They're Muslims, so nobody will say "Here, hold my beer!"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 10:49 Comments ||
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#11
they'll probably have to use a cold chisel and a claw hammer to get it (the fuse) off.
Quicker to use a cutting torch, Ima thinking. Inshallah!
Thanks for the pic! Looks very much indeed like a Mk82 500lb GP bomb, an old and beloved companion of my misspent youth, but the Chinese have long produced -82 and Mk84 clones. From the looks of it, the weapon is tail fuzed, which is often the case with PGMs. A point that 'Burgers may find interesting and that may have some bearing on this is that for many years, the Soviets Russians and Chinese made many of their weapons and assorted fittings/parts to fit US weapons. One of the more unusual things I saw in my career was while examining a MiG-27 with fuselage racks made in the USSR - but that could quickly and easily be adjusted to carry US weapons. I was told at the time that that this was how the bird had come from its source. Given that the Pakis (like most Third World countries) often want the firepower without the expense, they may have just bought the LGB guidance and fuzing kits and MADE them fit. OTOH, if that's a Chinese weapon and/or guidance/fuzing, their QC has always sucked rather badly - it's income first, reliability second because they know that if the stuff doesn't work, the users will blame their own troops first.
And yes, the deely-boppers in the pic have NO idea what they're messing with. I'm guessing a work accident is imminent.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/20/2007 12:18 Comments ||
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Further to Mike's point, I recall a discussion long ago about Russian artillery. The Russians waited until US/NATO finalised their caliber then set there own caliber at 1 millimeter larger. So a Russian gun could fire captured Western shells, although with a loose fit, but not the other way around. A major selling point for third party arms sales. I always wondered if this was true.
#15
That has got to be horrible for the life of the barrel.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/20/2007 14:07 Comments ||
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Grunter - it's true. What's not well-known is that NATO didn't want to use Russian equipment because so much of it killed its operators. Rather something in limited supply that worked CONSISTENTLY than something available in plenty but that worked, but not well.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/20/2007 15:23 Comments ||
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Pakistan is not listed as current user of the GBU-12 or any of the other US LBGs that I could find, but their F-16s have the French ATLIS Laser designator that is compatible with US LBGs. Can't really tell from that angle the size but it has the shape of the Mk-82 500 pounder (or clone) but not the 1000 and 2000 lb US Mk-83&84 nor the Chinese LT-2. Could be the Pakistanis received some early deliveries of GBU-12 units from the latest US arms package or illegally by other means and mated it with an old Mk-82 bomb body.
In Oct 2006, Pakistan's buy of new F-16s was finalized. Included in that was:
500 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) Guidance Kits: GBU-31/38 Guided Bomb Unit (GBU) kits
1,600 Enhanced-GBU-12/24 GBUs
800 MK-82 500 pound General Purpose (GP) and MK-84 2,000 pound GP bombs
700 BLU-109 2,000 pound bunker-buster bombs with the FMU-143 Fuse
Posted by: ed ||
01/20/2007 15:32 Comments ||
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#18
As the story goes, the Soviets anticipated using captured NATO ammo after surging through Fulda, which is why so many of their systems are compatible.
#19
Are y'all sure about that tailo fuse thingy? That end closest to those of us a safe distance away looks to my like a nose fuse prpeller thingy. I am not an Ordy, but have seen enough to know that when the bomb is released the arming wire stays with the airplane and then the little prop starts spinning, and when it reaches the right number of revolutions its live.
Regarding the NATO / USSR comments: compatibilty was not limited to just ordanance: a lot of aircraft ground support equipment and a/c fuel pressure nozzles / receptacles were also designed by the Russians to utilize captured NATO . US stuff, but not the other way around.
Reports in the American press, based on the claims of so-called Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif, that Mullah Omar is hiding in Quetta refuse to go away.
Another one appeared in the Christian Science Monitor on Friday, filed by its correspondent David Montero from Islamabad, who claimed that the naming of Quetta as the refuge of the former head of the Taliban regime was creating an international uproar. Hanif has said that the Taliban leader is under ISI protection. Abul Haq Haqiq, also known as Dr Mohammad Hanif, made the statements in a videotaped interrogation released by Afghan intelligence on Wednesday, following his alleged arrest while crossing from Pakistan into the Afghan province of Nangarhar.
The Monitor report noted that Hanifs claims were the latest in a stream of international criticism of Pakistan. Afghanistan officials, including President Karzai, have accused Pakistan of harbouring Omar, and news of his whereabouts was amplifying questions about Pakistans commitment to the war on terror, the report quoted unnamed analysts as saying.
Hanif also told his Afghan interrogators that the Taliban, with help from the ISI, were responsible for more than 100 suicide attacks that killed 270 civilians and 17 international soldiers. The Monitor quoted Prof Rasul Bahksh Rais from Lahore as saying, Its extremely important news. When we add all these accusations together, they pose a real problem for Pakistans credibility, that it is playing a double game.
Hanif told the Monitor in mid-December that Omar remained a central pillar in Taliban operations. He was not always present at meetings of the upper leadership, but all decisions were conveyed to him for approval, claimed Hanif. Without Mullah Omar, we would not be able to reorganise and have this intensity of our attacks. He was speaking by telephone last December from an undisclosed location. The newspaper said, If true, Hanifs taped confession would constitute the highest level official statement from the Taliban that Omar is in Quetta. It would also verify that the operational centre of the movement is in Pakistan. Many have long claimed this, chief among them Karzai, who last February delivered a series of dossiers to Islamabad detailing the addresses of Taliban leaders in Quetta.
Pakistan rejected the validity of those files, just as they immediately rejected Hanifs claims, calling it another salvo in Afghanistans escalating blame game. This is the most absurd statement that can come out, said Maj Gen Shaukut Sultan, a spokesman for the Pakistani military. Pakistan is fully committed to fighting terrorism. Hanifs accusations against Afghan intelligence officials may have been coerced, some observers say.
The Monitor report noted that Hanifs new claim contradicted what he had said earlier to the newspaper. Mullah Omar is in Afghanistan and all (Taliban) leaders too. There is no Taliban in Quetta, he said at the time. In his conversation with the American newspaper last month, Hanif dismissed reports that Pakistan was providing aid to the Taliban. Pakistan is not helping. Basically the Afghan people help, themselves, he said. However, he contradicted himself again in Thursdays taped interrogation, claiming that a former ISI chief, Gen Hamid Gul, was providing financial and logistical support to the Taliban. Hamid Gul has dismissed the charge as nonsense.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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As long as the UN keeps up the subsidy for phony Afghan "refugees" in Pakistan, bin Laden and company will have a safe harbor.
#2
If I was Blinky, I'd be getting pretty nervous.
Sounds like he's becoming a liability to Pakistan who is, of course, our ally in the War on Terror...
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will use all options available, including parliamentary resignations, if President Pervez Musharraf tries to get himself re-elected through the current assemblies, PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervez Ashraf said on Friday. The current assemblies cannot elect the president for another term just as they cannot present the 2008 budget, he said. The president has come into power by force and has taken the country hostage.
He was talking to reporters at a ceremony to announce that two union council naib nazims from Attock had joined the PPP. The naib nazims said they would continue their struggle for the restoration of democracy under Benazir Bhutto.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Two sectarian groups clashed over the construction of the wall of an imambargah in Landhi Friday following which tension spread as protestors set two buildings and the town nazims vehicle on fire. An imambargah is a Shiite mosque. Naturally, the Sunnis wouldn't want to see a new one. They're trying to blow up the old ones.
The violence broke out in Landhis Sector 36B after three days of tensions over the construction of a boundary wall for Masjid Asna-e-Ashri. The construction of the masjids wall was started on Tuesday but as people from the area tried to demolish it, the police were called in, an officer said. More police and rangers arrived after reports of skirmishes between some members of the Sunni Tehreek and young Shia men from the neighbourhood. On Friday evening, after Maghrib prayers tempers rose between the two groups again, according to reports from the area. Members from both sides set up temporarily pickets and an exchange of fire ensued. Residents claimed that the problem flared up on Friday as there had been inflammatory sermons in some mosques of the area against this particular one. The masjid administration wanted to build its boundary wall but this was being opposed by Bengalis of the area, claimed resident Rizwan, adding that the area is predominantly Bengali. The Sunni Tehreek was backing the Bengali residents, he added. There are only 20 to 30 Shia houses in the neighbourhood.
The exchange of fire spread panic in the area and some people set fire to material in the storage room of the nearby Murtaza Marriage Hall, owned by a Shia. The house next to the wedding hall, which belongs to a man identified as Shamim (also a Shia), was also attacked. According to reports from the area, Landhi Town Nazim Ismail Sitaras hi-roof van was also torched when he arrived on the scene to attempt to negotiate with the angry men. The police resorted to tear gas shelling to control the mob, however, tensions could not be diffused by late Friday night when this report was filed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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This is certainly provocative. I would bring out all the grenades and big guns poste haste. Let the best men remain standing. No burkas allowed.
The Senate was told on Friday that 1,264 Pakistanis had been detained over the last three years in various countries for carrying fake documents and visas. Replying to a question by Senator Talha Mahmood, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that of the detained people, 428 were arrested in the UK, 311 in Saudi Arabia, 88 in Germany, 87 in Singapore, 52 in France, 38 in Japan, 28 each in Italy and Poland, 24 in Austria, 16 in the US, 25 in Canada, 12 in Hong Kong, 19 in Norway, 18 in Croatia and 17 in Denmark. He said that a small number of Pakistanis detentions had also been reported in other countries.
Responding to the senators questions, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar said Pakistani missions abroad had approached these Pakistanis. Our embassy officials visit detention centres regularly to provide legal services to detained Pakistanis, he added. He said the missions also helped detained people by providing them services of volunteers from the Pakistani community who knew about legal systems. Emergency passports are issued to Pakistanis whose cases of immigration, asylum and overstay are decided by courts of host countries, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"It's in our blood!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/20/2007 10:06 Comments ||
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Only 16 in the U.S. is disappointing. I demand that ICE up their quotas to surpass all of the other countries combined. America will not finish in last place!
Posted by: ed ||
01/20/2007 14:11 Comments ||
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#6
Remeber after 9/11 when it was announced that all adult Muslim males would have to register with the government? Big exodus via all exits (lots to Canada, lots and lots went back home), especially of Indians and Pakistanis. Had this question been asked 9/10, I'm sure US numbers would have been significantly higher.
Opposition leader Kachkol Ali Baloch on Friday accused the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) of misleading the masses and being involved in political hypocrisies. Talking to Daily Times, the Baloch took exception to recent comments by Balochistan JUI chief Maulana Sherani that Baloch nationalists were misleading the people of Balochistan. Baloch said it was the JUI that was getting innocent people to vote for them in the name of Islam. Following the elections, Maulana Sherani initially sought the release of his two former provincial ministers who were convicted of massive corruption and cheating the provincial exchequer, he said, adding that Sherani later joined the Balochistan government and retained all major portfolios, forgetting an accord with the PML to enforce shariah laws in Balochistan.
He also talked about the drama of boycotting Balochistan Assembly sessions last year by MMA ministers, who said that Balochistan was being mistreated by the centre in financial affairs. In fact, Maulana Sherani and his followers blackmailed the government and stopped it from disqualifying JUI nazims who had been issued unrecognised degrees by seminaries, said Baloch.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/20/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Pakistan used laser-guided precision missiles in Tuesdays pre-dawn airstrike on three houses in which eight people were killed, as bereaved families rejected the governments claim that the presence of foreign militants had led to the attack. The residents of Kot Kalay in northeast South Waziristan showed a group of journalists on Friday an unexploded 500-pound missile that had pierced through a rooftop and went four feet into the ground. The provenance of the missiles wasnt clear.
Reports in the American press, based on the claims of so-called Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif, that Mullah Omar is hiding in Quetta refuse to go away. 
Two sectarian groups clashed over the construction of the wall of an imambargah in Landhi Friday following which tension spread as protestors set two buildings and the town nazims vehicle on fire.
The Senate was told on Friday that 1,264 Pakistanis had been detained over the last three years in various countries for carrying fake documents and visas. Replying to a question by Senator Talha Mahmood, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said that of the detained people, 428 were arrested in the UK, 311 in Saudi Arabia, 88 in Germany, 87 in Singapore, 52 in France, 38 in Japan, 28 each in Italy and Poland, 24 in Austria, 16 in the US, 25 in Canada, 12 in Hong Kong, 19 in Norway, 18 in Croatia and 17 in Denmark. He said that a small number of Pakistanis detentions had also been reported in other countries. 
