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26 Sept 24. Pentagon makes early pick for hypersonic interceptor developer. The Missile Defense Agency has chosen Northrop Grumman to design an interceptor capable of defeating hypersonic weapons in the glide phase of flight, the agency announced Wednesday.
MDA director Lt. Gen. Heath Collins revealed earlier this summer that the agency would soon choose between Raytheon and Northrop who were competing to design the Glide Phase Interceptor, or GPI.
Lockheed Martin was one of three original companies picked to work on design concepts for GPI in November 2021 but by June 2022, MDA had chosen to proceed with only Northrop and Raytheon.
MDA made the decision in favor of Northrop together with the Japanese government, which is signed on to co-develop the capability.
The company’s win comes after it recently lost another big MDA competition to develop the Next-Generation Interceptor that will replace interceptors that make up the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System. That system is designed to defend the continental U.S. from intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran. Lockheed Martin was chosen earlier this year in another early downselect.
The decision to move to just a single vendor prior to reaching preliminary design review is out of the ordinary, but Collins told Defense News last month that MDA, like the rest of the Defense Department, had “to make really tough prioritization and resource-informed decisions. … We were no exception, so we had to take a look at how we balance and make decisions on the capability we bring.”
MDA will “have to assess the risk of that design, any corrective actions … or mitigation activities we want to take,” Collins said, discussing next steps after MDA chooses a single vendor. “And then we would re-baseline the program based on that with an updated, independent cost estimate.”
Northrop Grumman said in a statement that during the next phase of GPI development, it will continue to refine its preliminary design intended to fire from the U.S. Navy’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense destroyers and Aegis Ashore using the standard Vertical Launch System.
The company will move quickly by using digital engineering. It plans to demonstrate system performance in hypersonic environments before the preliminary design review and complete flight experiments early, according to the statement.
“Today’s decision represents a turning point for hypersonic glide phase defense,” Collins, the MDA director, said in the statement.
While the U.S. has some capability to track and counter hypersonic threats regionally in the terminal phase, the ability to defeat hypersonic missile threats during the glide phase of flight is difficult because of the nature of a hypersonic missile’s ability to maneuver in unpredictable ways at high speeds.
But while GPI is a necessary capability, fielding is not planned until the 2035 timeframe. Tom Karako, a defense analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted that “something else is going to be needed in the meantime — a future terminal interceptor of some kind.”
Congress wants MDA to move more quickly. Lawmakers mandated in the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act that the agency reach full operational capability by the end of 2032 and provide no fewer than 12 GPIs for tests by the end of 2029. (Source: Defense News)
27 Sept 24. CT40 gains NATO Type Approval, it’s been a long time coming and cost a lot! CTAI told BATTLESPACE at DVD that the company has received NATO Type Approval for its range of CT40 Case telescoped ammunition. This will enable the company to licence production to other manufacturers outside BAE Systems. The company also told BATTLESPACE that approval has been gained for its airburst round which is crucial for infantry support and C-UAS roles. However the cost of a round, believed to be a minimum of £1000 for a Training Round remains a blocker for exports.
26 Sep 24. ADEX 2024: CSG upgrading Azerbaijani Shilka SPAAGs. The Czechoslovak Group (CSG) is in the process of upgrading 23 of Azerbaijan’s ZSU-23-4 Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft guns (SPAAGs) in collaboration with local company Sumgait Technologies Park (STP), a CSG representative told Janes at the Azerbaijan International Defence Exhibition 2024 (ADEX 2024) held in Baku from 24 to 26 September.
One of the upgraded Shilkas was displayed at the show fitted with a new rotating radar that CSG says can detect targets with a 1 m 2 radar cross-section at 20 km, a 0.1 m 2 cross-section at 10 km, and a 0.01 m 2 cross-section at 7 km. The radar can simultaneously track up to 100 targets at ranges of up to 15 km for ones with a 1 m 2 cross-section, 7 km for 0.1 m 2 , and up to 4 km for 0.01 m 2 . A new digital fire-control system is being installed to calculate the deflection needed to hit the targets.
The upgrade also includes the Elbit Systems COAPS-L electro-optical system, which is used to verify targets, and Elbit’s VRC-950 radio. Three antennas for forward-facing directional radio frequency jamming have been fitted on the left side of the Shilka’s turret, with an omni-directional jammer antenna positioned behind them.
The gas turbine engine that was originally used to power the Shilka’s turret is being replaced with a Lombardini LDW1404 liquid-cooled diesel engine, and all the SPAAG’s other machinery is being refurbished.
A surface-to-air missile from a manportable air-defence system (MANPADS) will be integrated with the modernised Shilka, with the product poster identifying it as the Verba, the latest Russian MANPADS. However, the CSG representative told Janes
(Source: Janes)
25 Sep 24. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) will proceed with Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) for the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI) program, the first-of-its-kind defensive countermeasure against hypersonic missile threats. Working in close partnership with MDA, the three-year developmental effort produced a purpose-built, innovative design capable of defeating existing and emerging hypersonic threats.
During this next phase of development, Northrop Grumman will:
- Continue to refine the preliminary design of the GPI, which will fire from the U.S. Navy’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense destroyers and Aegis Ashore using the standard Vertical Launch System
- Demonstrate system performance in hypersonic environments prior to conducting its Preliminary Design Review
- Complete flight experiments ahead of schedule leveraging the company’s own flight-proven systems
- Use digital engineering practices to connect the entire GPI program to accelerate design processes and develop interceptor capabilities faster and more efficiently
Expert: Wendy Williams, vice president and general manager, launch and missile defense systems, Northrop Grumman: “GPI adds mission critical standoff to warfighters in scenarios where distance creates an advantage. Tailorable to a multitude of mission requirements, Northrop Grumman’s revolutionary solution is designed to perform in the evolving threat landscape.”
Details: Northrop Grumman’s design includes advanced technologies, such as a seeker for threat tracking and hit-to-kill accuracy, a re-ignitable upper stage engine used for threat containment and a dual engagement mode to engage threats across a wide range of altitudes.
Northrop Grumman will work closely with the United States in support of its role under the GPI Cooperative Development program with the Japan Ministry of Defense to deliver interceptors to the MDA.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our employees define possible every day.
24 Sep 24. European navies chase the white whale of torpedo-busting torpedoes. The technology promises to be a game changer: a torpedo-seeking torpedo fired by surface vessels for head-on intercepts, missile-defense style.
Yet after more than a decade of research, lead nations Germany and the Netherlands are still years away from fitting their navies with a hard-kill torpedo countermeasure.
Germany’s navy has been toying with a product called SeaSpider, developed by Atlas Elektronik, for several years. Work on the sole technology option under consideration in Europe goes back even further, with engineers studying it for at least 15 years, according to the firm’s website.
But while Atlas has tried to market the system as ready for combat, no navy has yet taken the bait, and the Dutch Ministry of Defence has repeatedly pushed back the start of a formal purchasing program based on SeaSpider.
The German sea service did tests some years ago, but decided against adopting the system. And the Canadian navy, deemed a prospective SeaSpider launch customer due to the timing of its large-scale surface combatant program, made no mention of the capability in its initial lineup of technologies for the future fleet.
A spokesman for Atlas’ parent company, Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems, declined to discuss SeaSpider, pointing to previous requests by the German navy to keep details under wraps. A spokeswoman for the German Ministry of Defense said the technology’s classification and contractual status prohibit the disclosure of details.
Still, officials in Berlin believe that a capability to intercept torpedoes with torpedoes is a critical force-protection technology in principle, the spokeswoman told Defense News.
Torpedoes have historically been one of the main threats to surface vessels, with the weapon involved in more than half of sinkings of U.S. Navy ships during World War II, according to U.S. Coast Guard data cited by Dutch researchers at TNO, a government-linked research organization.
Defense against torpedoes remains essentially a losing proposition, according to experts, leaving surface ships relatively vulnerable once such a weapon is headed their way. The main defensive measures consist of maneuvering, or launching decoys to confuse incoming torpedoes. Yet the latter is ineffective against so-called wake-homing variants, which align their travel path to hit ships in a straight line from behind, their sonar signature buried in the acoustic noise of a ship’s own propulsion system.
The U.S. Navy experimented with an anti-torpedo interceptor installed on three of its aircraft carriers in 2017, before uninstalling the system in 2018, saying that while the hard-kill measure showed “some capability to defeat an incoming torpedo,” reliability was uncertain and lethality of the system was untested.
SeaSpider can intercept all types of torpedoes, combining data from sensors installed on the carrier ship and the interceptor torpedo to compute collision paths with the inbound weapon, the manufacturer promises on its website.
The package has been in play again since last year for further development under the auspices of a European Union program, led by Germany and the Netherlands, labeled simply “Anti-torpedo Torpedo,” or ATT.
A one-sentence description for the project on an EU website describes a desire for “bringing a developed anti-torpedo torpedo demonstrator to the production-ready design, with a qualified effector and a proven functional chain,” an apparent reference to the Atlas product that only the Dutch Ministry of Defence would confirm to Defense News.
A spokesperson there said the SeaSpider technology is still too immature to warrant setting up a formal program, though Dutch defense officials have planned to take such a step, which requires parliamentary notification, since 2022. If it all comes to pass, perhaps in 2025, budget analysts have slotted a torpedo-killing torpedo capability into a category of programs consuming anywhere between €250 m and €1 bn, according to the Dutch MOD.
That is in addition to a related effort, led by TNO and estimated at €50m to €100m, to sharpen the technology for torpedo detection that would go into an eventual anti-torpedo torpedo suite, a spokesperson told Defense News.
Notably, the German MOD declined to disclose even the industry team of Atlas and TNO as lead companies of the European Union program, set up under the bloc’s defense-cooperation push known as PESCO. A spokeswoman in Berlin said no contracts had been signed in the matter.
Also unanswered were questions about the shortcomings that the German navy sees in SeaSpider. Defense News has learned that the depth of the envisioned intercept sequence is at issue, with the Atlas system currently limited to hits around the water surface.
In the end, the timing of a European anti-torpedo torpedo program could line up with Dutch Navy plans for new anti-submarine warfare frigates, the first of which is expected to become operational in 2029. That is because German officials expect the PESCO program to yield a production-ready system that passes all regulatory requirements by the end of the decade, with a prototype built in 2028. In the meantime, other European nations also have taken an interest, including Sweden, Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain, according to issue experts.
24 Sept 24. Saab announces new munitions facility in Grayling, Michigan.
By partnering with the state of Michigan and the local community, Saab will create high-quality jobs, increase domestic manufacturing and strengthen U.S. national defense.
Saab is moving quickly to increase U.S. munitions production capacity and meet the urgent needs of our customers, building on our decades-long relationship with the U.S. military. Once open, the facility will be used for final assembly and integration of shoulder-fired munitions and precision fire systems. Groundbreaking will take place in Q4 2024, with initial manufacturing starting in early 2026.
“Given current global security challenges, it is critical the United States strengthens its national defense capacity. Saab is proud to partner with the state of Michigan and the local community to establish a world-class facility that, with our range of products, will increase and modernize the domestic production of munition systems,” said Erik Smith, President and CEO of Saab in the U.S. “We are making a long-term commitment not only to the U.S. defense industrial base, but to the local community as well. Saab plays a positive role in the communities where we live and work, creating jobs and investing in the local community, and we look forward to joining the Grayling community.”
“Saab’s transformative investment in Grayling will create 70 jobs and contribute to Michigan’s proud legacy and leadership in the defense industry,” said Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “We will continue pursuing our comprehensive economic development strategy to secure projects, invest in people, and uplift places across Michigan. With Saab’s decision to ‘Make It in Michigan,’ we are building on our economic momentum and strong reputation as a leader in advanced manufacturing. We built the arsenal of democracy to win WWII and will keep rolling up our sleeves to protect our national defense. Let’s get it done.”
The facility in Grayling will mark the 10th facility in the United States for Saab, Inc. Our other facilities include advanced manufacturing within aerospace in West Lafayette, Indiana, radar and sensor systems in Syracuse, New York, training and simulation in Orlando, Florida, autonomous and undersea systems in Cranston, Rhode Island and Quincy, Massachusetts and most recently a new operationally focused incubator in San Diego, California.
20 Sep 24. German industry confirms delivery of naval laser weapon by 2030. Confident in their skills in the laser weapon sector, the two suppliers concluded a corresponding cooperation agreement. Since then, Rheinmetall has revealed that the system will be on the market by the end of the decade.
Two German armament manufacturers, MBDA Deutschland and Rheinmetall, through a collaborative working group called ARGE, will bring their joint naval product, a High-Energy Laser (HEL) weapon system, to market in the next five to ten years.
Confident in their respective skills in the field of laser technology, both companies have concluded a corresponding cooperation agreement to develop a military HEL weapon.
This announcement comes after the system’s 15-month trial onboard the German Navy frigate, FGS Sachsen (F219), between June 2022 and September 2023.
A month after the successful test, in which the demonstrator was fired more than 100 times, Naval Technology was invited to MBDA Deutschland, where the company discussed its plans to deploy the weapon in the coming years.
What does the HEL weapon do?
HEL systems engage targets at the speed of light, with very low optical detectability, while operating with the highest possible precision and minimal collateral damage.
Crucially, the low cost per engagement will certainly balance the net cost of conventional missile systems throughout their lifecycle – accounting for supplementary equipment and projectiles.
This is significant given the rate at which missiles and projectiles are being spent by the two sides amid the two-and-a-half-year Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rate is high enough for Russian forces to resort to using more sophisticated weaponry, such as the Kh-101 missile – a supposedly ‘hypersonic’ missile that is, in actuality, an air-launched ballistic missile.
Deploying the HEL weapon
Although the technology is ready, the German Armed Forces require a smaller, integrated and modular system as opposed to the 20-foot, six-and-a-half tonne container unit that the German Navy deployed on the Sachsen frigate last year.
Likewise, Germany wants a HEL system that is more powerful than the current demonstrator, along with the ability to engage more difficult targets such as drone swarms.
Currently, the demonstrator’s beam operates at 50-100kw, which requires a three-to-five-second engagement time to destroy a target.
During the October 2023 update, Doris Laarmann, head of laser business development, MBDA Deutschland, suggested the company expects to fulfill these additional developments by 2027+. Though, now, after Rheinmetall’s announcement on 20 September 2024, this will be sometime between 2029-30. (Source: naval-technology.com)
11 Sept 24. New DFNDR body armour makes Land Forces debut. Australian Defence Apparel has unveiled new DFNDR body armour and load carriage systems at Land Forces Expo 2024.
The new brand of protective solutions for Defence personnel will be launched at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 11 to 13 September.
The new systems are designed to be highly adaptable and customisable, making them suitable for a wide range of users, missions, and environments, according to the company.
With a strong emphasis on human factors engineering and informed by data-driven insights on soldier systems, the DFNDR series provides soldiers the ability to easily adjust their wearables to meet the unique demands of any situation.
DFNDR systems provide unparalleled flexibility with seamless transition from a lightweight plate carrier to a fully up-armoured tactical system without requiring soldiers to carry excessive or complex equipment, minimising cognitive burden.
“DFNDR represents a significant leap forward in tactical gear design,” said Chris Dixon, CEO of Australian Defence Apparel (ADA).
“We’ve combined over a century of battlefield experience with cutting-edge materials, rigorous testing, and data-driven intelligence to create a system that empowers soldiers to perform at their best in any environment.”
DFNDR is the result of ADA’s unwavering commitment to innovation and soldier-centric design. By pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in tactical gear, ADA equips the modern soldier with the tools they need to face the challenges of the 21st-century battlefield.
(Source: Defence Connect)
02 Sept 24. EF88 commercial variant could bump up civilian familiarity, says industry expert. The creation of commercially available variant of the Australian Defence Force’s enhanced F88 Austeyr rifle could assist defence recruiting and national civilian training, according to Australian defence and security consultant Malcolm Catchpole.
The Australian-made Enhanced F88 service rifles are used extensively by the Australian Defence Force and produced by Thales Australia. The EF88 is a modified version of the original Austrian Steyr AUG.
“In the short term, it appears the Australian Defence Force will continue to use the EF88 in all its various forms,” Catchpole, a Queensland Police Minister’s Firearms Advisory committee member, said.
“That being the case, Australia has a long tradition of making versions of its service rifle available for licensed and regulated civilian use.
“The thinking being that it was in the national interest to have a pool of citizens with basic skill-at-arms with the in-service system.
“When the Martini-Henry rifle was in service, there was a Martini Cadet version. When the .303 SMLE (short magazine Lee–Enfield) was in service, there were Morris Tube sub-calibre training system. There was even a single shot target rifle version of the SLR (Australian L1A1 rifle) developed.
“Thales needs to make a single shot version of the EF88 and release it on the civilian market. There are independent Australian firearms manufacturers making these kinds of single shot systems now. There is an addressable market.”
A commercial variant of the EF88 rifle could still use a .223 calibre munition which is commonly available to members of the public but would likely need to be modified into a legal single-shot, straight-pull or push-button variant that adheres to a minimum overall length of 80cm (current ADF length 80.2cm) and likely maximum civilian magazine capacity of 10 rounds (as opposed to the current ADF capacity of 30 rounds). (Source: Defence Connect)
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About Galvion:
Galvion designs, develops, and delivers mission critical head, face, and torso protective solutions as well as intelligent power and data management systems for the world’s most demanding military and tactical teams. Founded in 2002 as Revision Military, a foundational belief in calculated investment and capability expansion led to a strategic refocus, resulting in the divestiture of the protective eyewear business, along with the Revision name, in 2019. Rebranded as Galvion, the company’s products and technology continue to evolve beyond purely passive protection, focusing instead on active systems that enhance performance and survivability, with an eye to the ever-changing demands of the modern battlefield. Through advanced design, keen end-user insight and intelligent integration, Galvion engineers uniquely customized solutions that go beyond what was once thought possible.
Privately owned with ISO 9001:2015 certified facilities in Vermont, Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the US, Montreal in Canada and Bristol in the UK, Galvion’s team of 400+ employees work proactively to solve the problems left unsolved by others.
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