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19 May 16. The USS JOHN PAUL JONES, supported by the U.S. Navy, Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), used Aegis Baseline 9 terminal engagement capability to detect and track a Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) target. This exercise marked the first demonstration of Aegis’s ability to conduct a complicated tracking exercise against a MRBM during its endo phase of flight.
The test, called Flight Test Other – 21 (FTX-21), serves to reduce risks for future test events. The test demonstrated the integrated capabilities of the Aegis Weapon System and how it has been continually upgraded to counter ever evolving threat systems.
“This complex test demonstrates the continuing evolution of Aegis and builds further confidence in our ability to detect and maintain tracking on these types of threats,” says Paul Klammer, Director, Aegis BMD at Lockheed Martin. “The Navy and MDA, along with our engineers, build on the lessons learned from every test to ensure Aegis is keeping pace with dynamic threats.”
This test builds on 2015’s successful tests, when Aegis demonstrated its advanced Integrated Air and Missile Defense capabilities and three variants of Aegis Baseline 9 (for cruisers, destroyers and on shore with Aegis Ashore) were certified by the U.S. Navy and Missile Defense Agency. As the targets and threats have become more advanced, Aegis BMD has evolved over the last 20 years from a tracking experiment to today’s capability in which it can detect, track and engage targets.
The central component of the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis BMD Combat System is the SPY-1 radar; the most widely-fielded naval phased array radar in the world. The Aegis system and SPY-1 radar provide the U.S. and allied nations with advanced surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense capabilities.
19 May 16. Navy League 2016: Cobham’s newest GaN radars offer improvements over solid-state systems. Cobham is introducing a new line of scalable gallium nitride (GaN)-based solid-state transmitter solutions for ground, maritime, and airborne applications.
SOLSTx offers a number of advantages over traditional solid-state radars, such as increased Mean Time Between Critical Failure (MTBCF), reduced operation and sustainment costs, and significantly lower out-of-band emission, which reduces interference with adjacent radars and communication signals,” Jeff Hassannia, senior vice-president of business development and technology for Cobham Advanced Electronic Solutions, said in a statement.
“MTBCF is a better measure of the failure rate for the radar system since radars can operate at a lower power level threshold, while providing full functionality,” Hassannia told IHS Jane’s on 17 May at the annual Navy League Sea-Air-Space symposium in National Harbor, Maryland. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
19 May 16. KADDB readies sighting system upgrade for Al Hussein MBT. Jordan’s King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) has built and tested an upgraded thermal imaging system for the Al Hussein main battle tank (MBT) in service with the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF).
The Al Hussein is the locally named version of the British Army Challenger 1 MBT. More than 400 of these were transferred to the JAF after the introduction of the Challenger 2 platform.
The tanks are fitted with a then Barr & Stroud (now Thales Optronics) Thermal Imaging and Gunnery Sight (TOGS), which is mounted externally on the right side of the turret and moves in elevation with the Royal Ordnance 120 mm L11A5 rifled gun.
But as this has a low reliability factor, according to KADDB, the company has replaced the original sensor and scanner, modified the camera housing, and fitted a new cooled thermal imager from an undisclosed source. The associated electronics and mechanical parts have also been replaced.
This upgrade is cl