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12 Aug 21. Vice Admiral Discusses Potential of AI in Missile Defense Testing, Operations. Mountains of data are generated when the U.S. military conducts missile testing, and not all of that data is even used, simply because there’s more information to be processed than there are people to process it, the director of the Missile Defense Agency said.
“When you look at the amount of data we pull from a test, let’s just pick a [ground-based midcourse defense] test — terabytes of data,” Navy Vice Adm. Jon A. Hill said during a presentation at the Space & Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. “Are we assessing all that data? The answer is no.”
Hill said that following such a test, even one that has been by all measures successful, engineers might come back later, after looking at portions of the data that resulted from the experiment and find things that reveal important facts about what happened — things that wouldn’t otherwise be readily apparent.
“It’s not unusual for one of our great engineers to come back later and say you know in this telemetry stream I found something really interesting here. This valve did not do what we thought it was going to do,” Hill said.
That’s just one engineer looking at a portion of a stack of data that he couldn’t possibly get through on his own. Processing all that information is a good task for artificial intelligence, Hill said.
“With machine learning and artificial intelligence, you can go into that whole vast amount of data and you can start to see interesting attributes rise and we’re seeing that now once we start to institute artificial intelligence and machine learning,” Hill said.
But in the world of missile defense, there’s much more than just the testing and assessing of systems. There’s also actual operations: the detection of threats, command and control of systems and engagement with a threat.
Those areas can also be enhanced by artificial intelligence, Hill said, “and this is the challenge to industry.”
A big priority for MDA, Hill said, is making life easier for the operators of the complex systems used to protect the U.S. from missile threats. AI can help make their job easier, he said — and put their attention on things that matter.
“The more artificial intelligence capability/machine learning that comes in to make the load easier — to get rid of some of these tedious tasks in the planning thing — that takes advantage of the brain of our sailors, our soldiers, our airmen, our guardians — that allows them to think about fighting the battle, not fighting the system,” he said.
Right now, Hill said, MDA is starting to look at places where AI can be used to detect, track and discriminate targets, conduct command and control operations, and engage targets.
“How does that translate into some of these major functions of the system? That’s what we’re going after now. You start to see areas where you can improve algorithms and how you do that detect-control-engage sequence,” he said. “I’m pretty excited about this. But I want to get it into an area to where we can start having more discussions about how we take what is in now primarily in the science and technology world and port that right into [the] No. 1 priority in my mind: making the operator’s life easier, so we can get weapons on target.” (Source: US DoD)
12 Aug 21. Australia, US to collaborate for precision missile project. The Commonwealth government has announced a multim-dollar investment in a US-led precision missile program. The ADF will collaborate with the US Armed Forces as part of a new initiative aimed at developing new precision missile capability to support military modernisation and further bolster interoperability.
According to Minister for Defence Peter Dutton, the government has committed $70m to the $907m Precision Strike Missile program (PrSM), which is expected to fund the development of long-range, surface-to-surface, all weather, precision-strike guided missiles.
The missiles will be designed to destroy, neutralise and suppress diverse targets at ranges from 70 to over 400 kilometres.
This forms part of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Australian Army and the US Military, which seeks to increase the lethality, range and target engagement of the baseline missile in development.
The MOU is expected to present local industry with opportunities to provide domestic component manufacture, maintenance, repair, weapon surveillance and research support.
The US Army’s Defense Exports and Cooperation, Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Wilson described the agreement as one of the US military’s largest co-operative acquisition programs entered into with a partner nation.
“Australia’s cooperation with the PrSM compliments the US presence in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility; reinforces our dedication to allies in the Indo-Pacific; and sets a path forward for US Army Long Range Precision Fires in the region,” she said.
The Australian Army’s Head of Land Capability Major General Simon Stuart, noted the potential benefits of the new initiative, set to evolve to incorporate the development of technology for other warfighting domains.
“Increment 2 of the program, committed under the MOU, will seek to incorporate technology that allows ships and air-defence systems to be engaged,” MAJGEN Stuart said.
Australia’s contribution to the program is expected to support broader strategic objectives highlighted in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update.
The $70 m investment is in addition to the approximately $1 bn committed as part of a push to establish a Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEOE) capability for the ADF.
Defence recently published a request for information on AusTender, seeking input from defence industry and academia regarding capacity and interest in supporting the GWEOE.
The initiative aims to address gaps by providing stakeholders, both SMEs and established primes, with opportunities in advanced manufacturing through the establishment of industry partnerships.
Defence is currently in the process of defining key requirements for the enterprise.
Electro Optic Systems (EOS) and Nova Systems are the latest to express interest in the program, jointly establishing the Sovereign Missile Alliance (SMA).
SMA is competing with local munitions company NIOA, which recently set up the Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) as part of its bid.
A number of firms have joined the AMC consortium, including Quickstep, Moog Australia, Black Sky Aerospace and Thomas Global Systems.
Lockheed Martin Australia and Thales Australia have also finalised a teaming agreement to facilitate co-operation in the design, development and production of Lockheed Martin’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile – Surface Launch variant. (Source: Defence Connect)
11 Aug 21. Next flight test of hypersonic glide body expected by year’s end. A second, more challenging flight test of the Common-Hypersonic Glide Body is expected to take place in the final quarter of the calendar year, according to both Army and industry officials involved in the program. The Defense Department has been jointly developing the C-HGB that will serve as the base of its offensive hypersonic missile. The test marks a major step forward in accomplishing that mission amid mounting criticism that the United States is behind China and Russia in hypersonic weapons development.
The C-HGB will be made up of the weapon’s warhead, guidance system, cabling and thermal protection shield. Each service will use the C-HGB as the base while developing individual weapon systems such as launchers capable of firing the weapons from land or sea.
Hypersonic weapons are capable of flying faster than the speed of sound — Mach 5 — and can maneuver between varying altitudes and azimuths, making it harder to detect.
The Army plans to field the ground-launched version of the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon by the end of fiscal 2023, and the Navy wants its ship-launched capability fielded in 2023 followed by a submarine-launched missile in 2024. The Air Force wants to field its air-launched version in 2022.
It’s been well over a year since the first hypersonic glide body test, which took place in March 2020 at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. The glide body launched and flew at hypersonic speed and made impact within 6 inches of the target. The test was a joint effort between the Army and Navy.
The second test was expected to take place in the third quarter of FY21, but the time frame quietly passed by.
“It’s been re-planned, so we have a date in mind … for the fourth quarter of this calendar year, but any narrower than that it becomes classified,” Eric Scherff, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of hypersonic strike programs, told Defense News in an interview at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium. “It’s coming up soon.”
Lockheed Martin won the contract to integrate the hypersonic weapon onto a ground-launched mobile platform for the Army and is part of a Huntsville, Alabama-based Dynetics team to build the glide body prototype.
The reason for the government’s decision to delay the test was unrelated to readiness of the glide body, Scherff said.
“The decision not to conduct the test did not involve technical issues,” the RCCTO confirmed to Defense News in an Aug. 11 statement. “For security reasons, additional details are not releasable.”
In an interview with Defense News late last year, Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, director of the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, said the Army planned to follow up with more flight tests in FY22: one in the first quarter followed by two more flight tests in the third quarter.
Included in that test series will be flights with the new 34.5-inch booster that is being built for the weapon system, Scherff said.
“The Army, Navy and Missile Defense Agency (MDA) will continue to execute tests of offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies in support of expanding these capabilities,” the RCCTO statement said. “While additional tests are planned, test dates and event details are not announced in advance.”
The Army is on track to deliver to the first unit — in 41 days — all the equipment needed to begin training as the service completes building live rounds, Thurgood said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium on Aug. 11.
Training will officially begin on Oct. 18, Thurgood noted.
“Our soldiers have an opportunity to train on that equipment, begin to write the doctrine, and develop all the [tactics, techniques and procedures] associated with it,” he said. “We’ll give them about 18 months to train, and by the end of ‘23, they’ll have all of their combat rounds, which they’re required to do to go to combat.”
The Air Force has seen two test failures with its AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, in recent months and is working to determine the root causes. Most recently, the missile’s engine failed to ignite after the weapon was launched from a B-52 bomber.
The service still needs to successfully complete flight testing of the ARRW booster and all-up round before the service awards a contract to manufacturer Lockheed Martin and begins production of the weapon, which is currently targeted for FY22.
Noting there is not a full understanding yet of what happened with the ARRW test failures, “from a technical perspective, there’s no direct linkage between the two programs,” Scherff said, and therefore the same issues in the ARRW program would not necessarily crop up in the LRHW program. (Source: Defense News)
11 Aug 21. Belarus negotiates purchase of S-400 air defence systems. Minsk has opened negotiations with Russia to buy S-400 air defence systems, according to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. During an eight-hour-long press conference on 9 August, Lukashenko revealed he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to approve the sale of the system, to be paid for with money left over from a loan previously approved by Moscow to fund the building of a nuclear power plant.
“Such a question was put before the president of Russia – that at a reasonable price, for a loan – because we do not have that kind of money now, but we are conducting a dialogue with the president of the Russian Federation about delivering the S-400 to the Republic of Belarus,” Lukashenko was reported as having said by the Russian Interfax news agency. “The S-400 is of great interest to us, and I am sure that we will receive these systems.”
“USD300m to USD500m will remain [from the loan to build the nuclear power plant] – a decent amount, we will send for the purchase of military-technical equipment, including the S-400 systems,” Lukashenko said.
(Source: Jane’s)
11 Aug 21. LIG Nex1 completes Sea Sword 3 USV trials. South Korean defence company LIG Nex1 announced in late July that it has successfully completed sea trials of its Haegum-3 (Sea Sword 3) unmanned surface vehicle (USV).
Development work had been carried out under a two-year public-private joint venture, called ‘The Coastal Security and the Rapid Response Unmanned Surface Vehicle Civil-Military Technology Commercialization Support Program’, between 2019 and 2021.
The USV has been optimised for coastal operations and can be used to perform various types of missions with the appropriate mission equipment, including a surveillance and reconnaissance suite. It will also incorporate artificial intelligence (AI)-driven autonomous navigation/obstacle avoidance technology.
It was put through a seaworthiness trial in May, proving its ability to operate without supervisory personnel aboard in conditions of up to Sea State 4.
The displacement and physical characteristics of the Sea Sword 3 USV are understood to be comparable with that of the Sea Sword 2. Janes had earlier reported that the latter – which features a displacement of 11 tonnes – has an overall length of 12 m and a 3.5 m beam.
However, Sea Sword 3 can optionally carry up to eight personnel, while Sea Sword 2 can only accommodate up to two personnel.
In terms of weapons, Sea Sword 3 can be equipped with a remote-controlled weapon station (RCWS) armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and a 2.75-inch calibre-guided rocket launcher towards the stern, unlike the preceding Sea Sword 1 and 2 designs. (Source: Jane’s)
09 Aug 21. Russia to start flight tests of Sarmat ICBM this year. Sarmat ICBM has a range of 18,000km and is slated to replace the older R-36M2 Voevoda missiles. Russia is set to start flight tests of Sarmat advanced silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this year.
The move was announced by the Russian Minister of Defence general of the army Sergey Shoigu during a visit to Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant (Krasmash).
He added that the flight tests will commence this year and will complete in 2022. Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces is also expected to start receiving the missiles next year. According to local news agency Tass, Sarmat is slated to replace the R-36M2 Voevoda missiles, which has been operational since the 1970s. The new missile is expected to weigh around 208.1t and will have a range of 18,000km. Sarmat is powered by liquid fuel and can carry a payload of nearly 10t.
Separately, Minister Shoigu announced that Krasmash is prepared to implement a long-term contract for supplying the armed forces with the new missile. In a meeting with the Krasmash employees, Minister Shoigu said: “We have just reviewed all the issues related to the new types of armament.
“We have examined the readiness of the ‘Krasmash’ to implement the long-term contract for one of the most formidable armaments that our country has to possess. It is the missile ‘Sarmat’. We are totally confident that the ‘Krasmash’ will complete the assigned tasks.”
In May, Russian manufacturer Kalashnikov conducted flight trials of Vikhr long-range anti-tank guided missiles. These Vikhr missiles are designed to destroy moving armoured vehicles, enemy fortifications and low-speed air targets. (Source: army-technology.com)
10 Aug 21. Lockheed Martin tests PAC-3 MSE interceptor’s new upgrades. During the flight tests, a PAC-3 MSE intercepted a tactical ballistic missile target. Lockheed Martin has conducted US Army-led flight tests of its PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor and PAC-3 cost reduction initiative (CRI) interceptor. The flight tests demonstrated the upgrades to its PAC-3 MSE interceptor and confirmed the reliability of PAC-3 CRI.
During testing, a PAC-3 MSE intercepted a tactical ballistic missile target. This validated missile and launcher software and hardware component upgrades.
According to the company, the upgrades enable the future performance of the PAC-3 MSE interceptor by providing protection from evolving threats.
The upgrades will be moved into production next year.
Lockheed Martin PAC-3 Programs vice-president Brenda Davidson said: “Flight tests like these demonstrate how we continue to evolve PAC-3 to ensure we remain ready for the 21st-century battlefield while also showcasing our record of reliability in the field.
“The warfighter needs to know that the PAC-3 missiles protecting them are going to work, every time.”
In addition, two PAC-3 CRI missiles each intercepted a tactical ballistic missile target. This was carried out in support of the US Army’s Field Surveillance Program (FSP).
Lockheed noted that these tests marked the 17th and 18th successful PAC-3 CRI FSP intercepts.
The first PAC-3 MSE FSP flight test is expected to be conducted later this year.
Featuring ‘hit-to-kill’ technology, the PAC-3 family of missiles defend against incoming threats, including tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and aircraft.
Building on the combat-proven PAC-3 CRI, the PAC-3 MSE expands the ‘lethal battlespace’ with a two-pulse solid rocket motor.
Currently, 14 nations have selected PAC-3 CRI and PAC-3 MSE to provide missile defence capabilities.
Last June, the PAC-3 MSE interceptor completed testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, US. In April last year, Lockheed secured a $6.07bn contract to produce PAC-3 MSE interceptors and associated equipment for the US Army. (Source: army-technology.com)
10 Aug 21. The U.S. Army Contracting Command – Detroit Arsenal (ACC- DTA) announced that it has awarded Oshkosh Defense, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK), a $99m order to upgrade an additional Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) with the 30 mm Medium Caliber Weapon System (MCWS). In June 2021, the U.S. Army selected Oshkosh Defense and partners Pratt Miller Defense and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to integrate the 30 mm MCWS onto the Stryker Double V Hull Infantry Carrier Vehicle (ICVVA1). The six-year requirements contract is for the production and fielding of the Oshkosh Defense MCWS for up to six Stryker brigades. The first delivery order covered 91 vehicles valued at $130m. This latest award calls for an additional 83 vehicles.
The Oshkosh Defense team combined their best-in-class capabilities to deliver an MCWS that provides increased lethality, accuracy, and range while maintaining the mobility and survivability of the Stryker ICVVA1. “The Oshkosh Defense MCWS is a highly capable weapon that meets all requirements,” said Pat Williams, Vice President and General Manager of U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Programs for Oshkosh Defense. “We are proud that the U.S. Army has ordered additional MCWS to outfit a second Stryker brigade.”
Since receiving the initial award, Oshkosh Defense’s Production Representative System Sample (PRSS) began government Risk Mitigation Testing, a planned component of the MCWS program schedule. “As part of the Risk Mitigation Testing, Soldiers have had the opportunity to interact with the Oshkosh Defense MCWS. The feedback from the first Soldier touchpoint has been very positive and reaffirms our Soldier-centric design,” Williams concluded.
09 Aug 21. How will the Pentagon close the homeland missile defense gap? The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is examining the possibility of building a layered ballistic missile defense architecture for the homeland that would bolster the current ground-based system in Alaska, all while a next-generation capability is developed and fielded. The MDA featured its plan in its fiscal 2021 budget request, but there isn’t much of a strategy laid out in its fiscal 2022 funding picture. And so lawmakers want answers before turning on the funding spigot. Developing such an architecture, even though it would use mostly proven systems, has many hurdles, as MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill said last year. The plan would include establishing layers of defensive capability relying on the Aegis Weapon System, particularly the SM-3 Block IIA missiles used in the system, and a possible Aegis Ashore system in Hawaii. The underlay would also include the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. The layered approach would buy time while the Pentagon scrambles to field a new interceptor to replace older Ground-Based Interceptors — after canceling its effort to redesign the kill vehicle for the GBIs — in its Ground-based Midcourse Defense system located at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The agency cleared one hurdle in November 2020 with the successful test of the SM-3 Block IIA missile after several failed tests. The test stressed the system, putting it up against a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, but the MDA wants to conduct another yet-to-be-scheduled test against a more complex ICBM target with separation debris and countermeasures.
However, the validation of a possible underlay doesn’t stop with a few tests. Upgrades will be required based on threats; combat system certifications will need to be conducted; and work must be performed with the Navy to determine where Aegis ships should deploy, Hill said. The agency will also have to determine how quickly it can ramp up its production line for SM-3 Block IIA missiles. Hill said last fall that if the agency succeeds with Aegis, it could go down the path with THAAD, then work on engagement coordination between layers.
When the FY22 budget request came out at the end of May, Hill said funding would focus on looking at how the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications system could incorporate Aegis and THAAD capabilities for the homeland, and how those systems would be linked to give options to combatant commanders.
But, he added, “those decision have not been made to date.”
When asked if the agency was cooling on a layered homeland defense, Hill said: “I wouldn’t say it’s no longer a priority since we do have investment in the budget, but there are some very serious policy implications, and so we want to make sure that we get the policy angles right.”
The agency also wants to make sure it’s still a need for U.S. Northern Command in light of a now-established service life extension program for the GMD’s Ground-Based Interceptors already emplaced, Hill noted. The command did not include layered homeland defense in its list of unfunded requirements sent to Congress in June.
“The big concern, back when layered homeland defense was first discussed, was the concern that the existing fleet would start to lose its reliability over time while we also had this timeline for the Next-Generation Interceptor off to the right,” Hill said.
Plans for the Next-Generation Interceptor are moving forward with a competition between Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, and there’s talk the timeline for first emplacement could be earlier than anticipated.
Yet, Congress is getting impatient over a lack of answers regarding progress toward an architecture that could shore up any gap in capability now and into the future.
During a June 14 hearing with the House Armed Services Committee’s strategic forces subpanel, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., asked for an update on the report on the layered homeland defense system, which was required in the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act. She noted that the deadline of March 1, 2021, had passed.
Hill responded that, while there are no technical barriers to an underlay, “it’s really a policy question” that “we need to come through.”
Without offering a timeline for delivering a report to Congress, Leonor Tomero, the Pentagon’s assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, said at the same hearing: “I can assure you that we are looking at what investments we make for a layered homeland defense, what priorities are the subject of studies again in consultation with the Missile Defense Agency and the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation.”
The Defense Department made an initial investment in FY22, Tomero added, and studies will inform further investments in FY23.
The Strategic Forces Subcommittee followed up in its markup of the FY22 authorization bill with a renewed push for a detailed report. The committee would direct the Pentagon to submit a report by the end of 2021 on development and deployment plans for using Aegis with SM-3 Block IIA interceptors as part of a layered missile defense system.
The report should include how Fort Drum, New York, previously identified as an East Coast location for Ground-Based Interceptors, might be used for future layered defense. Stefanik’s district includes Fort Drum.
An analysis of how deploying Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers for homeland defense would affect Navy readiness and global force management would also be required, and the report should contain an applicable manning strategy should land-based Aegis systems be deployed as part of the architecture.
The House Appropriations Committee’s defense subpanel, in its markup of the FY22 spending bill, took hacks at Defense Department funding applied to the layered homeland defense totaling $203.7m.
The committee zeroed out Aegis BMD layered homeland missile defense development, cutting all $98.96m for which the MDA had budgeted, and a total of $64.56m to work on similar development for THAAD.
According to the MDA’s FY22 budget justification documents, the plan for developing Aegis for homeland defense includes refining system-level requirements and development to expand threat and mission space and to increase performance against moderate threats.
The committee noted the funding cut is due to a lack of validated requirements and acquisition strategy.
The Senate Armed Services Committee released a summary of its FY22 authorization bill, but aside from supporting the MDA’s pursuit of the NGI, there is nothing else signaling its intentions.
The Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subpanel has yet to release its markup of the FY22 spending bill as of press time on Aug. 2.
Software and hardware improvements needed to evolve both THAAD and Aegis systems, “will be important to proceed irrespective of whether or not they end up deployed to support a thick defense of the continental United States,” Tom Karako, senior fellow with the International Security Program and the direct of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told Defense News.
“The non-recurring engineering planned for the ‘layered defense’ program elements would be very useful to complete to support regional applications,” he added. “These systems began as regional defenses, and their continued evolution will benefit regional protection, such as for bases in Guam, Japan, and the like.” (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
09 Aug 21. UK RAF’s Poseidon achieves first torpedo release milestone. The P-8A aircraft dropped a recoverable exercise variant of the Mark 54 torpedo. The UK Royal Air Force’s (RAF) multi-role Poseidon MRA1 (P-8A) aircraft has achieved a new milestone with the successful release of a torpedo for the first time. The P-8A aircraft, operated by RAF Lossiemouth-based 120 Squadron, released a recoverable exercise variant of the Mark 54 Lightweight Torpedo. Poseidon was conducting a training flight over the Moray Firth and dropped the weapon to simulate an attack on a submarine. The RAF noted that the Mk 54 torpedo, which is 3m in length and has a diameter of 32cm, can fit in the Poseidon aircraft’s internal weapons bay.
The high-explosive warheads equipped on the live torpedoes are capable of destroying enemy submarines, which the Poseidon crew can detect and track using advanced equipment.
Torpedo project lead and squadron leader Higgins said: “It’s been a great privilege to witness the hard work of so many talented individuals across the Royal Air Force, civil service and industry partners come together to enable us to launch and recover this torpedo.
“This exercise has proved everything is in place for our weapon technicians to rapidly get these torpedoes onto our aircraft, so we can deliver them wherever and whenever they are needed.”
In 2016, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) awarded a contract to Boeing for nine P-8As under a foreign military sale programme of the US Government.
Currently, five Poseidon MRA1s are based at RAF Lossiemouth and the remaining four are set to be delivered this year-end.
The Poseidon is equipped with advanced anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare sensors to provide global protection to British and allied submarines and ships. The RAF received its fifth Poseidon, named Fulmar, from Boeing in February. The service received the third aircraft in October last year and the fourth unit a month later in November. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
07 Aug 21. Turkey’s Baykar preparing shipborne fleet of combat drones. Turkish drone maker Baykar has released new details about its newest armed drone, designed to launch from ships packed with unmanned aircraft.
“The Bayraktar TB-3, which is still in development, will be a larger and more capable model in the same family as the TB-2,” the company’s chief technology officer, Selcuk Bayraktar, said during an Aug. 4 online presentation sponsored by Gebze Technology University.
“When we began this project, no fixed-wing UAV could take off from LHD-class, short-runway ships,” he explained, using shorthand for unmanned aerial vehicles and landing helicopter dock naval vessels. “We believe that the TB-3, which can stay in the air for an extended period and is equipped with ammunition, will fill a gap in this field,” Bayraktar said.
The new TB-3 drones are slated to ride aboard Turkey’s future Landing Helicopter Dock Anadolu.
Bayraktar also noted that the ship doesn’t need sophisticated launch and trap systems, adding: “A simple roller system and rescue nets would be enough for secure takeoff and landing, and it can even land without a rescue net.”
According to TurDef, a Turkish online defense website, the roller system will be powered by an electric motor. During landing, the drone will be secured with nets. Because the propellers are located at the back of the platform, no moving parts would be damaged during this process, the thinking goes.
The new armed drone will have a takeoff weight of 1450 kilograms and will be able to fly 24 hours a day, according to an infographic in the presentation. In addition, the TB-3 will be able to fly at high altitudes, and its wings will fold when on the ship. It is scheduled to take to the skies for the first time in 2022.
Selcuk Bayraktar also stated that MIUS, an unmanned combat aircraft currently in concept design, would operate alongside the TB-3 on the LHD Anadolu. A MIUS prototype is planned to fly in 2023. LHD Anadolu would deploy two types of fixed-wing unmanned air assets once trials were completed.
As previously reported by Defense News, the Turkish government hopes to convert its landing helicopter dock Anadolu into a carrier ship for attack drones because the Turkish navy lost the ability to launch a fixed-wing aircraft from Anadolu after the United States removed Turkey from the F-35 project. After the project is completed, at least ten armed drones could be used in operations simultaneously and integrated into a command-and-control center on the ship.
Anadolu will be capable to deploy between 30 and 50 Bayraktar TB3 folding-wing drones. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/Defense News)
06 Aug 21. Austal Australia joins industry partners consortium to support AMC. Quickstep, Black Sky Aerospace, Thomas Global Systems and Moog Australia are the other companies in the AMC consortium. Austal Australia has announced it is joining a consortium comprising Australian defence industry partners, academia, and government organisations.
Under the consortium, Austal Australia will support a new collaboration platform known as the Australian Missile Corporation (AMC).
AMC is a fully owned subsidiary of Australian-owned weapons and munitions supplier NIOA.
In March, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the government’s plan to create a new enterprise to support missile and guided weapons manufacturing in the country for use across the Australian Defence Force (ADF).
Last month, the government issued a request for information (RFI) for expressions of interest to support a A$1bn Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEOE).
The other companies that are part of the AMC consortium are Quickstep, Black Sky Aerospace, Thomas Global Systems, and Moog Australia.
Austal CEO Paddy Gregg said that the company’s partnership with AMC shows its commitment to developing a sovereign capability in Australia. (Source: naval-technology.com)
09 Aug 21. Purdue to build $41m hypersonic research facility. Purdue University is set to construct facilities that will help engineers to conduct advanced hypersonic research. Students work during the summer with Purdue’s Mach 6 quiet wind tunnel. A more advanced Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel will be part of the new hypersonics research building to be constructed at Purdue. (Purdue University/John Underwood)
The planned $41m Hypersonic Applied Research Facility (HARF) will house two wind tunnels, including the only Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel in the world as well as a hypersonic pulse (HYPULSE) shock tunnel. According to Purdue, the tunnels recreate different scenarios such as spacecraft re-entry or missile flight through the atmosphere as well as replicating engine conditions for extremely high-speed propulsion.
“Purdue’s rich hypersonics program includes both a broad bench of more than 40 experts and unique capabilities that allow the university to play an important role in the security of our nation,” said Theresa Mayer, Purdue’s executive vice president for research and partnerships. “This first-of-its-kind facility will further Purdue’s capacity to conduct research including tests and evaluations under real-world conditions for faculty, industry partners, federal agencies and other stakeholders.”
The Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel and the HYPULSE tunnel will offer controlled environments to research several facets of high-speed flight. The new Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel more closely simulates flight and provides more accurate data than conventional hypersonic wind tunnels.
The HYPULSE tunnel will use a shock wave of high-temperature air to recreate specific hypersonic flight conditions. It will allow flight simulations at speeds ranging from Mach 5 to as high as Mach 40. Purdue – which already offers one of only two working Mach 6 quiet tunnels in the US – will be only the second university nationally to offer HYPULSE test capabilities.
Construction on the hypersonic building is scheduled to begin in September. The building will be located in Purdue’s Aerospace District, a university-affiliated aerospace business hub for public and private research collaborations on research and commerce. Tenants in the district already include Rolls-Royce, Saab Defense and Security, and SEL Purdue (Schweitzer Engineering Labs).
In addition to the HYPULSE and the quiet wind tunnel, the building also will feature advanced facilities that will enable the study of high-temperature materials applications. Hypersonic flight can create air friction above 1,000oC, requiring unique processes and materials to withstand such conditions. The research facility offers the chance to design and test these new materials. It also will create space for Purdue researchers to further capabilities to design, build and test hypersonic systems.
Scott Meyer, managing director of Purdue’s Maurice J. Zucrow Laboratories, said the facility would enable faculty to use advanced laser-based optical diagnostic measurement techniques as part of the quiet wind tunnel and HYPULSE testing.
“The diagnostic measurement techniques are almost going to make the Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel and HYPULSE like brand new tools to investigate the physics of what is happening in these conditions,” Meyer said in a statement. “Researchers will be applying the techniques at the same conditions that would occur on real systems in flight and enable measurements that have never been made before under these extreme testing conditions.” (Source: News Now/https://www.theengineer.co.uk/)
04 Aug 21. First Sadral installation for modernised La Fayette-class frigate. FS Courbet has become the first of three French Navy La Fayette-class frigates to be refitted with MBDA’s Sadral ship self-defence missile system. The ship has received two Sadral launchers in place of the Thales Crotale CN2 point defence missile system fitted from build. As part of the upgrade, the Sadral system has been integrated with the SENIT FLF combat management system also introduced in the scope of the La Fayette upgrade programme.
The Direction générale de l’armement in May 2017 contracted Naval Group for the modernisation of three of the French Navy’s five La Fayette-class frigates. The programme, which implements a series of platform and combat system upgrades, is designed to maintain a 15-ship frigate force ahead of the full introduction of the five new Frégate de défense et d’intervention frigates.
As part of the upgrade, the existing Crotale CN2 system will be removed and reconditioned Sadral launchers removed from previously decommissioned F70 frigates will be installed. Sadral is an automated six-round trainable launcher designed to fire the Mistral infrared guided missile for very short range defence against air and sea targets: the systems being retrofitted to the La Fayette-class ships are adapted to fire the latest Mistral 3 variant.
Mistral 3, as the latest evolution of the Mistral family, is equipped with an infrared imaging seeker and advanced image processing. According to MBDA, this enables engagement of low thermal signature targets such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and fast inshore attack craft (FIACs) while at the same time providing good resistance against countermeasures. (Source: Jane’s)
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Arnold Defense has manufactured more than 1.25 m 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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