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30 Dec 20. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Northrop Grumman demonstrate large scale scramjet technologies. Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman have demonstrated large scale scramjet technologies by testing engines with thrust levels exceeding 5,897kg as part of the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) Medium Scale Critical Components (MSCC) test programme.
USAF spokesman Bryan Ripple said on 29 December that the service will move forward with larger scale, multi-mission platforms at speeds greater than Mach 5 because both propulsion systems met the service’s performance expectations. The MSCC sets the foundation for the design of hypersonic propulsion systems across a broad range of vehicle scale and Mach operability.
The USAF in November 2020 completed a series of advanced air-breathing hypersonic engine tests on a 5.5 m Aerojet Rocketdyne scramjet engine, according to a company statement. Ripple said on 16 December that the tests were conducted at Mach 4 and greater speeds.
Northrop Grumman achieved over 5,897 kg of thrust with its own scramjet engine, the USAF announced in August 2019. The company’s engine, also 5.5m long, endured 30 minutes of accumulated combustion time during nine months of testing. Pat Nolan, Northrop Grumman vice president for missile products, was quoted by the USAF in August 2019 as saying that these 5.5m scramjets are fighter-engine sized.
Ripple said that both Aerojet Rocketdyne and Northrop Grumman, to make testing more affordable, made compromises to their designs to use common flow path hardware. This provided a demonstration of large-scale scramjet technologies, he said, but did not provide for absolute best performance by either team. This is why the USAF is not comparing them against each other, Ripple said. (Source: Jane’s)
06 Jan 21. US Strategic Command chief defends ICBM replacement program. The U.S. Defense Department must be allowed to press forward with replacing its Cold War-era Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Tuesday.
“You cannot life-extend Minuteman III,” said Adm. Charles Richard, who spoke with reporters during a Defense Writers Group event. “It is getting past the point of [where] it’s not cost-effective to life-extend Minuteman III. You’re quickly getting to the point [where] you can’t do it at all.”
Richard’s comments come about two weeks before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who is expected to review the nation’s nuclear arsenal and could possibly roll back changes made under the Trump administration.
Although the next-generation ICBM program — known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent — was supported by the Obama administration, arms control groups have urged lawmakers to consider delaying the GBSD effort to save money.
Richard told reporters that is not an option, given the age and obsolescence of the system of the LGM-30G Minuteman III.
“That thing is so old that in some cases the [technical] drawings don’t exist anymore, or where we do have drawings, they’re like six generations behind the industry standard,” he said. “And there’s not only [no one] working that can understand them — they’re not alive anymore.”
The Air Force chose Northrop Grumman to build GBSD in September, awarding the company a $13.3bn contract for the engineering and manufacturing development stage of the program. Boeing, the only other competitor for the program, opted not to bid for the contract over concerns that Northrop’s acquisition of Orbital ATK — a key propulsion supplier — had tilted the competition in Northrop’s favor.
GBSD is set to begin replacing the Minuteman III in 2029.
The Air Force has touted GBSD as more accurate and reliable than its predecessor. Another important characteristic is its enhanced security, said Richard, who contrasted the “60-year-old … circuit switch system” of the Minuteman III to the modern and resilient cyber architecture that GBSD will have.
“This nation has never before had to face the prospect of two peer, nuclear-capable adversaries who have to be deterred differently,” he said, referring to Russia and China. “Actions done to deter one [country] have an impact on the other. This is way more complicated than it used to be. [GBSD] is an example of a capability we’re going to have to have to address threats like that.”
Defense experts anticipate that — like most other new presidential administrations — the Biden administration will likely conduct a nuclear posture review to reassess the United States’ nuclear capabilities and ensure the military is poised to deter Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and other actors with nuclear weapons.
Richards said he would “welcome” that review, as U.S. adversaries may have fielded new capabilities since the last review was published in 2018. However, an assessment that focuses only on the nuclear arsenal may be too narrowly defined, he added.
“We face global threats. And then to parse our examination of those [threats] into a nuclear posture review or missile defense review, a space review, a cyber review, kind of misses the totality of what the strategic threat to this nation and our allies are,” he said. “I would recommend a broader-base strategic review, as opposed to parsing it out in pieces.” (Source: Defense News)
06 Jan 21. Final Trophy Active Protection Systems Delivered to U.S. Army. Leonardo DRS, Inc. and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. of Israel (Rafael) announced today that they have completed the delivery of Trophy Active Protection Systems (APS) ordered by the U.S. Army for installation on Abrams main battle tanks. This marks a major milestone in the Army’s efforts to outfit multiple brigades of tanks with APS to protect soldiers’ lives against increasing anti-armor threats.
Under contracts awarded on an urgent need basis by the Army’s Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems, the companies delivered the first APS systems in September 2019 for both the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. A joint team of government and industry from both the U.S. and Israel worked together to adapt and integrate Trophy for the two services’ Abrams variants. This delivery culminates a multi-year effort by the Army to study and rapidly field active protection due to the urgency of the threat and the growing need for improved ground vehicle survivability.
“It has been an honor to deliver these advanced defensive protection systems for our front-line tanks to give our warfighters a needed layer of survivability against real and emerging battlefield threats,” said Aaron Hankins, senior vice president and general manager of the Leonardo DRS Land Systems business unit. “Together with our Rafael partners, we worked tirelessly to ensure we met our customers’ needs while delivering ahead of schedule, and we look forward to supporting them with APS in the future.” he said.
“Rafael is a leader in providing protection capabilities, both reactive armor and active protection. The threat of anti-armor weapons is growing and we were grateful to bring this life-saving technology to the U.S. to meet an urgent need,” said Michael Lurie, VP, head of Rafael’s Land Survivability and Maneuverability directorate. “While COVID created challenges for on-time deliveries, we used our resources and capabilities to facilitate on-schedule deliveries. With our partner Leonardo DRS, we remain committed to supporting the Army and providing increased protection to U.S. forces on a timely basis.”
Developed by Rafael in response to successful anti-armor attacks and the ongoing proliferation of those threats, Trophy APS provides mature, combat-proven protection against rockets and missiles while simultaneously locating and reporting the origin of the hostile fire for immediate response.
Trophy is the only fully integrated, combat-proven APS in the world. In addition to the U.S. Abrams tanks, Trophy is currently installed on the Israel Defense Forces’ Merkava Main Battle Tanks and Namer APCs. It has made numerous combat interceptions with no injuries to crews, dismounted troops or damage to platforms since its first operational interception in 2011. Having undergone over 5,000 successful field tests, Trophy has accrued over 1,000,000 operating hours, and is now under contract for serial production of over 1,800 systems.
While Leonardo DRS and Rafael have completed these initial Trophy system deliveries to the U.S. Army, the partnership is also under contract for additional support and development work for future U.S. Abrams tanks. The U.S. Army is also assessing the next generation “Trophy VPS,” a smaller, lighter, equally-capable variant of Trophy that will provide protection to a broader range of U.S. ground combat vehicles.
06 Jan 21. SPEAR3 F-35 missile contract signed. A £550m contract for new surface-attack missiles will secure hundreds of UK jobs and provide unrivalled lethality for the UK’s F-35B Lightning jets, Defence Minister Jeremy Quin announced today.
Known as SPEAR3, the next-generation missile can travel long distances at high-subsonic speed and over the next decade will become the F-35’s primary air-to-ground weapon.
At 1.8 metres long, the missile system has a range of more than 140-kilometres and, powered by a turbojet engine, can operate across land and sea, day or night, to overpower enemy air defence systems, while the pilot and aircraft remains a safe distance away.
Its ability to attack moving targets will enhance the UK’s future combat air capability and provide immense lethal capability to the Queen Elizabeth class carrier strike group.
Defence Minister Jeremy Quin said, “The development of this next-generation missile will allow us to protect our personnel and assets on the ground, from thousands of metres in the sky above. Our commitment to this system will secure hundreds of highly skilled jobs across the UK and showcase British technology and weapon expertise on the world stage.”
Following a successful development phase, the new seven-year demonstration and manufacture contract with MBDA will support more than 700 UK jobs, including the creation of 190 highly skilled technology jobs in system design, guidance control and navigation and software engineering.
At the peak of the contract, 570 people will work on various aspects of the system’s development in Bristol, Stevenage and Bolton. Another 200 jobs are expected to be sustained along the supply chain that includes L3/Harris, Roband, Collins, EPS and MSB.
Colonel Martin French, DE&S’ Lightweight and Medium Attack Systems (LMAS) team leader, said, “The placement of this contract marks the next major stage of the SPEAR3 weapon system’s development and is a result of months of detailed negotiations between MBDA and the LMAS project team. Building on the successes and technology achievements of the previous four years’ work with MBDA, we now enter the exciting and challenging demonstration phase where we start to prove the system against the UK’s requirements and ramp up activities to integrate this highly-capable weapon system onto the F-35B aircraft.”
With its unique combination of stealth, cutting-edge radar, sensor technology, and armed with SPEAR3, the F-35 will protect aircraft carriers from enemy ships, submarines, aircraft and missiles.
The UK currently has 21 fifth-generation F-35Bs, having received three new jets on 30 November. The platform’s Initial Operating Capability (Maritime) was recently declared and, later this year, F-35 jets will sail with HMS Queen Elizabeth on her maiden Global Carrier Strike Group ‘21 deployment.
The initial demonstration phase will assess the weapon system against the UK military’s requirement through, testing, simulation and trials, which will include controlled firings from a Typhoon aircraft.
The contract forms part of the Complex Weapons portfolio with MBDA, which is on track to deliver £1.2bn saving to UK defence. It also allows the MOD and MBDA to maximise the export potential of complex weapons, including the first-in-class SPEAR3, which supports UK prosperity and the international agenda. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
06 Jan 21. MBDA has received a contract valued at £550m for production of the SPEAR missile system from the UK Ministry of Defence. SPEAR (known in UK service as SPEAR3) is a first-of-class network enabled miniature cruise missile.
SPEAR will be the main medium-to-long-range strike weapon of the UK F-35 combat aircraft, enabling them to defeat challenging targets such as mobile long-range air defence systems at over-the-horizon ranges in all weathers and in highly contested environments.
Guided firings of SPEAR will start within 18 months from a Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft, with missile and launcher production beginning in 2023. The new contract follows the successful implementation of the weapon development phase contract for SPEAR placed in 2016 and the contracting of integration of SPEAR onto F-35 in 2019.
Éric Béranger, CEO of MBDA, said: “MBDA is delighted to receive this contract, it is the result of many years of hard work by our dedicated and highly skilled engineering team. Stand-off, network enabled and swarming weapons are a key part of MBDA’s vision – SPEAR is leading the way with these technologies and is the most technically advanced weapon of its type.”
The contract for SPEAR will employ a peak of 570 people at MBDA plus a further 200 in the Tier 1 supply chain. This will see the creation of 190 highly skilled technology jobs at MBDA in areas including system design, software engineering, seekers, and guidance control & navigation in Stevenage, Bristol and Bolton. It forms part of the Portfolio Management Agreement (PMA), a partnership initiated in 2010 between the UK MoD and MBDA on sovereign complex weapons design and production. The PMA delivers world-beating military equipment for the UK Armed Forces and has secured over 4,000 UK jobs at MBDA while generating savings worth over £1.2bn.
05 Jan 21. Israel and India test MRSAM air defense system. Israel Aerospace Industries and the Indian government’s Defence Research and Development Organisation conducted a successful test of the MRSAM, a medium-range surface-to-air missile system.
MRSAM was jointly developed by IAI and DRDO over the last several years, and they tested the system in India during the last week of December, the Israeli company said.
The system was developed in the wake of one of the largest defense deals in Israel’s history. In April 2017, IAI and India signed a $1.6bn contract for the MRSAM system for India’s ground forces. The development involved several Indian companies such as Bharat Electronics Limited, Larsen & Toubro, and Bharat Dynamics Limited as well as Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
The effort is one of the joint ventures that underpins India’s economic policy “Make in India” for defense development, which has seen several decades of contracts with Israeli companies to modernize India’s military.
“MRSAM Air and Missile Defense System is a cutting edge innovative system, that once again has proven its advanced capabilities against a variety of threats,” said IAI President and CEO Boaz Levy, who was appointed to the top job in November and has been closely involved in the development of the Barak 8 air defense system. (MRSAM is part of the Barak family.)
“Every trial in an air defense system is a complex operational event and the COVID-19 limitations significantly increase the complexity. This trial is yet another testimonial to the strong partnership between IAI and India and the two nations,” Levy added.
IAI’s Barak family of air defense systems encapsulates several different levels of ranges, from 35 kilometers to 150 kilometers, and incudes the Barak MX, which the company is marketing globally as a single, integrated solution against multiple simultaneous aerial threats. The MRSAM fills a medium-range gap (70 kilometers) in India.
The current test “validated all components of the weapon system,” according to IAI.
“Israeli specialists and Indian scientists and officers participated in and witnessed the test,” the company added. “The flight test demonstrated different extreme reference scenarios, validating various system capabilities.”
The test involved a mobile launcher and multimode radar. IAI subsidiary Elta Systems makes multimode radar, the same type of radar used by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. Travel to and from the test site in India, and then back to Israel, was challenging due to the pandemic, requiring participants to quarantine and work in capsules.
MRSAM is used by India’s Air Force and Navy. The naval version, called LRSAM, is based on the Barak 8 and was sold as part of a $777m contract with India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited in 2018 for seven ships for the Navy. The Barak 8 had its first sea-based operational intercept in 2015 and was proven effective on land in 2016. It can be used against threats at sea such as the Russian Yakhont missile, and IAI says the land-based system can confront a variety of threats, including warplanes, missiles and UAVs.
The Israeli company would not say how many systems the multibillion-dollar deal from 2017 will involve. The size of India’s Army, the country’s landmass and recent clashes have led to accelerated weapons purchases. Israel’s Barak sales to India’s Navy began with one ship, followed by seven and then five more. (Source: Google/Defense News)
04 Jan 21. Raytheon readies for initial flight test of baseline AMRAAM-ER design. Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD) is expected to conduct the first flight test of its baseline surface-launched variant Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile-Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER) surface-to-air missile solution at the Andøya Test Center, Norway in the second quarter (Q2) of 2121.
Intended as the principal extended-range interceptor for the Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA)/Raytheon National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), AMRAAM-ER is set to expand the NASAMS engagement envelope with a 50% increase in maximum range, and 70% increase in maximum altitude.
The baseline AMRAAM-ER design is a hybrid interceptor concept which marries the front end (radar homing guidance section, warhead) of an AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM with the back end (rocket motor and control section) of a RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM). This configuration was successfully demonstrated at the Andøya Test Center, Norway, in August 2016 – using the ESSM rocket motor – to prove the design concept.
“While valuable information was gleaned from the 2016 shot, the demonstration in 2016 was a more of a ‘concept demonstration’ rather than a flight test. There was no telemetry used in 2016 and the transition section utilised was a prototype, using pre-production hardware. The test successfully demonstrated that the design concept was feasible and worth pursuing,” a Raytheon spokesperson told Janes. (Source: Google/Jane’s)
05 Jan 21. LMS to Develop Fuel Gauging for Stratolaunch Talon-A Hypersonic Test Vehicle. Liquid Measurement Systems, Inc. (LMS) has been awarded a contract to design, develop, qualify, and deliver the fuel quantity indicating system (FQIS) for Stratolaunch’s Talon-A hypersonic flying testbed.
Stratolaunch designs, manufactures, and launches aerospace vehicles and technologies to fulfill several important national needs, including the need to significantly advance US hypersonic flight test capabilities and help improve the nation’s ability to design and operate cutting edge hypersonic vehicles.
Now, the company is developing Talon-A as a flexible, fully reusable, autonomous vehicle that, flying at speeds up to Mach 6, will provide a reliable test environment for hypersonic research, experiments, and enabling operational missions. Talon A will be capable of take-off and landing on a traditional runway, or via mid-air launch from the Stratolaunch Carrier plane. It is currently planned to begin operation 2022.
LMS’ system will interface with Talon-A’s fuel and avionics systems. It consists of a super-lightweight and durable carbon-composite fuel probe and a signal conditioner unit that will communicate fuel quantity to the
aircraft avionics over an ARINC 429 bus, utilizing software developed by LMS in accordance with the guidelines of DO-178C DAL-C.
LMS will deliver production hardware in May 2021. The company has also developed and delivered the fuel quantity indicating system for the Stratolaunch Carrier aircraft.
Operating at speeds approaching Mach 6 (6 times the speed of sound), this aircraft and its components will be exposed to extraordinary levels of heat, vibration, and shock. These conditions demand extraordinary ruggedness and reliability from electro-mechanical equipment like the FQIS.
LMS President Scott Fewell said, “We are pleased that Stratolaunch has selected LMS again to be a part of their pioneering work on the hypersonic frontier, supporting applications that will advance work in government, commercial and academic sectors.” (Source: ASD Network)
04 Jan 21. Japan to begin mass production of new ASM-3A supersonic anti-ship missile. The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) has announced plans to begin mass production of an extended-range version of the domestically developed ASM-3 supersonic, air-launched, anti-ship missile (ASM).
The MoD said on 25 December 2020 that the new missile, which is called ASM-3A, features some of the technologies used in the under-development ASM-3 (Kai) – an upgraded version of the ASM-3 – but did not reveal its range.
The ASM-3, which has an estimated top speed of Mach 3 and a maximum range of 200 km, was jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the MoD as a successor to Japan’s Type 93 series of missiles.
The MoD in Tokyo announced on 25 December 2020 that it plans to begin mass production of the extended-range ASM-3A air-launched, anti-ship missile (a CGI of which is shown here). (Japanese MoD)
However, the ASM-3 has not entered service and Janes understands that the missile will now give way to the more modern ASM-3A and ASM-3 (Kai) variants, both of which are expected to be deployed with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s (JASDF’s) F-2 multirole fighters and the service’s future F-X fighter aircraft.
The MoD said it has secured funds from the budget for fiscal year 2021 (FY 2021) to procure an unspecified number of ASM-3As.
Tokyo plans to use the ASM-3A – and to continue developing the ASM-3 (Kai) – to bolster the defence capabilities of the country’s remote southwestern islands in response to China’s growing military capabilities and increased assertiveness in the region. (Source: Jane’s)
04 Jan 21. Israel Ministry of Defense Completes Delivery of Rafael’s Iron Dome to the U.S. Army. Over the weekend, the Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), in the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) of the Israel Ministry of Defense, delivered the second of two Iron Dome Defense System batteries to the U.S. Army. The Iron Dome system is developed and produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.
Defense Minister, Benny Gantz: “The delivery of the Iron Dome to the U.S. Army once again demonstrates the close relations between the Israel Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, the effectiveness of the system against various threats, and the excellent technological capabilities of Israeli industries. I am confident that the system will assist the U.S. Army in protecting American troops from ballistic and airborne threats as well as from developing threats in the areas where U.S. troops are deployed on various missions.”
In August 2019, the United States and Israel signed an agreement for the procurement of two Iron Dome Defense System batteries (IDDS-A). The first battery was delivered in September and is already undergoing a process of implementation in the U.S. The second battery was delivered in accordance with the agreement and project schedule.
These batteries will be employed in the defense of U.S. troops against a variety of ballistic and aerial threats.
Iron Dome was developed and manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. The MMR radar is developed by ELTA, a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the command and control system (BMC), is developed by mPrest. The Iron Dome is an integral part of Israel’s multi-layered defense array developed by the IMDO. The defense array includes the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow-2 and Arrow-3 weapon systems.
31 Dec 20. New in 2021: Why the Corps may see fewer M777s next year. In 2020 the Marine Corps released its Force Design 2030 plan in hopes of transforming the Marine Corps for a future fight against China.
Part of the plan calls for a massive reduction in the number of M777 tube artillery batteries in favor of more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS.
The Corps currently has 21 active duty M777 batteries and plans to reduce that number to five, essentially a reinforced battalion worth of artillery by 2030.
In its place the Corps will see a “300 percent increase in rocket artillery capacity,” a brief about the force design changes said.
The Corps hopes to eventually have a rocket system capable of sinking ships. The increased firepower is meant to force enemy ships to stay in port, while allowing the U.S. Navy to operate freely in any future battlefield.
The Corps hopes to have 36 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles capable of firing a Naval Strike Missile by 2022.
The Marine Corps is currently in the experimental phase of force design and is still unsure exactly which batteries will be switched over to rockets, Teresa Ovalle, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Combat Development and Integration told Marine Corps Times. (Source: Marine Times)
31 Dec 20. Not quite the Terminator, but ‘muscle-bound’ robots are coming for the US Army, USMC. Army researchers are looking to add muscle tissue to robot platforms, giving them “never before seen mobility and agility.”
The effort by scientists with the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, Army Research Laboratory and Duke University and the University of North Carolina is looking first at adding muscle to legged robot joints rather than using actuators, according to an Army Research Laboratory statement.
The combined muscle and robot echoes a line from the 1991 film, “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” when the T-1000 character explains what he is to the young protagonist John Connor shortly after they meet.
Connor: You are a Terminator, right?
T-1000: Yes, Cyberdyne Systems Model 101.
Connor: …You’re really real. I mean, like a machine underneath but sort of alive outside?
T-1000: I’m a cybernetic organism, living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.
While the early Army research makes no mention of cyborgs, scientists do note the advantages of muscle tissue as compared to robotics components currently in use.
“Though impressive in their own right, today’s robots are deployed to serve a limited purpose then are retrieved some minutes later,” said Dean Culver, a research scientist at the laboratory. “ARL wants robots to be versatile teammates capable of going anywhere Soldiers can and more, adapting to the needs of any given situation.”
Those first, legged applications are likely to include platforms similar to the existing Army “Legged Locomotion and Movement Adaptation” robot, or LLAMA and the Marine Corps’ Legged Squad Support System, or LS3, according to the statement.
They main goal is to get legged robots, which have certain utilities in rough terrain, better stability in on uneven, cluttered surfaces.
For example, one criticism that soldiers testing a wheeled robotic combat vehicle in rifle platoon maneuvers at Fort Benning, Georgia, in November had was its difficulty in working alongside soldiers in dense vegetation during dismounted operations.
“One obstacle that faces ground-based robots today is an inability to instantly adjust or adapt to unstable terrain,” Culver said. “Muscle actuation, though certainly not solely responsible for it, is a big contributor to animals’ ability to navigate uneven and unreliable terrain.”
The same is true for winged creatures who can reconfigure their shape to move in tight spaces, such as among tree branches, Culver said.
The research isn’t without precedent. In 2014, teams at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign built the first self-propelled, microscopic, biohybrid robots powered by beating cardiac muscle cells that were derived from rats, according to the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center.
Similarly, Army scientists look to grow muscle cells and tissue for the robots for the robot biohybrid work instead of extracting it from living organisms.
“Muscle tissue is outstanding at producing a specific amount of mechanical power at a given moment, and its versatility is unrivaled in robotic actuation today,” Culver said.
To make the muscles work with various sizes of joints, existing methods include creating a sort of type of gel with the muscle cells inside, Ritu Raman, a mechanical engineer who works in biohybrid design, told Science Focus Magazine in October.
That gel is then molded to the shape needed for the muscular action on the robot.
“Then, because the cells are alive, when they go through this process, they’re sensing and responding to their environment,” Raman said.
(Source: Army Times)
31 Dec 20. NRC Issues Updates and Clarifications on the Export of Nuclear Material to the UK. (85 Fed. Reg. 86793) – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its export and import regulations to maintain the regulatory status quo for nuclear exports to the United Kingdom (U.K.), upon the entry into force of a new civil nuclear cooperation agreement between the United States (U.S.) and the U.K. (the U.S.-U.K. 123 Agreement). The amendment will add the United Kingdom to the list of countries eligible to receive certain small quantities of special nuclear material under a general license, and to the list of countries whose export license applications do not require Executive Branch or Commission level reviews for certain exports of source material or low-enriched uranium. This amendment is necessary to bring the NRC’s regulations into conformity with U.S. Government foreign policy and preserve existing provisions for nuclear exports to the United Kingdom. This final rule is effective on December 31, 2020. (Source: glstrade.com)
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Arnold Defense has manufactured more than 1.25 million 2.75-inch rocket launchers since 1961 for the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and many NATO customers. They are the world’s largest supplier of rocket launchers for military aircraft, vessels and vehicles. Core products include the 7-round M260 and 19-round M261 commonly used by helicopters; the thermal coated 7-round LAU-68 variants and LAU-61 Digital Rocket Launcher used by the U.S. Navy and Marines; and the 7-round LAU-131 and SUU-25 flare dispenser used by the U.S. Air Force and worldwide.
Today’s rocket launchers now include the ultra-light LWL-12 that weighs just over 60 pounds (27 kg.) empty and the new Fletcher (4) round launcher. Arnold Defense designs and manufactures various rocket launchers that can be customized for any capacity or form factor for platforms in the air, on the ground or even at sea.
Arnold Defense maintains the highest standards of production quality by using extensive testing, calibration and inspection processes.
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