NEWS IN BRIEF FROM AUSA PART II
05 Oct 08. The Army may add 5-ton M939 trucks to a vast program to upgrade vehicles and aircraft as they come home from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The $18bn-per-year reset effort is already modernizing Abrams tanks, Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles and Black Hawk helicopters. The envisioned upgrade to the 12,000 six-wheel-drive M939 Army National Guard
trucks would extend their lives several decades, ensuring that they can serve until enough Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles are produced to replace them. A new engine, transmission and cooking package are needed to keep the truck on track for its expected lifespan, which goes to 2035. The 240-horsepower engine can be upgraded to a 340-horsepower engine to handle the weight of its add-on armor kit, said David Hare, Oshkosh Defense senior marketing manager. The Army expects reset and recapitalization to continue for several years after major combat ends in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army is upgrading its 1970s-era UH-60A Black Hawks to L-models with improved diagnostics for overheating and transmission problems. A redesigned electronics panel features light-emitting diodes, which are more durable than the incandescent bulbs they replace. Overall, about 20 parts have been targeted for improvement, Nolan said. As of September, 600 Black Hawk A and L models have been outfitted with the new items. Battelle also is working on upgrading the Black Hawk navigation system from a Doppler-based Global Positioning System to a GPS-inertial measurement unit system. “This relieves the requirement for an antenna, saving $300m for the entire fleet,” Nolan said. (Source: Defense News)
09 Oct 08. U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Charles Cartwright says there are currently 20 Honeywell-made Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) deployed with a Stryker brigade combat team in Iraq, with plans to have a total of 32 there by the end of November. Cartwright made the announcement during an Army briefing on the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington on Oct. 8. Lt. Gen. Michael Vane, director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, added that there are also plans for the Land Warrior system, which is about to deploy to Iraq for a second time with a Stryker Brigade Combat Team, to be “connected to FCS … to help the dismounted soldier be connected to the network.” He stressed that this is still conceptual, but it is part of “where we’re going with our Future Combat Systems-enabled Army.” Vane was responding to a question about where FCS is headed and how it will link up its communications suite to other Army communications programs. (Source: AvWeek)
08 Oct 08. Raytheon and Oshkosh have teamed up to build a prototype defensive system by placing a rapid-fire, area-defense Phalanx gun on the back of a diesel-electric, 14-ton Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT). The Raytheon-Oshkosh prototype of the Mobile Centurion mounted Phalanx gun. The U.S. Army now has 22 Phalanx guns protecting soldiers and forward bases in Iraq, Raytheon officials said. Developed to protect Navy ships, the Phalanx spits out up to 4,500 rounds of 20mm tungsten bullets per minute, shooting down missiles, rockets, and mortar and artillery rounds. A version called the Centurion, mounted on a flat-bed trailer, is currently being used in Iraq. (Source: Defense News)
08 Oct 08. Northrop Grumman has unveiled early prototypes of a new, high-speed, next-generation Blue Force Tracking 2 (BFT) system able to move information up to 45 times faster than the current BFT rate, refresh information at 30 times the current rate and perform functions previously not possible on BFT, such as sending e-mail attachments, pictures — even Word documents across a satellite network in seconds, Northrop engineers said. The BFT2 system was brought to AUSA following a successful demonstration last month to Army pr