Military and Aviation News Thread (NO DISCUSSION)

F-35B cleared to resume test flights.

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130213/DEFREG02/302130016/Pentagon-Clears-F-35B-Resume-Test-Flights

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-24/issue-02/special-report/intelligent-avionics.html

 

F-35 and Typhoon avionics news

 

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-24/issue-02/special-report/intelligent-avionics.html

 

(Lot of it so won't paste.)

Interesting!

F-35 - the most expensive weapon ever

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136312-1,00.html

There's always this sexual drive for a new airplane on the part of each service," says Tom Christie, the Pentagon's chief weapons tester from 2001 to 2005. "Persistent, urgent and natural."

 

The resulting bastard child was a compromise, not optimum for any one service but good enough for all three. Neither the Air Force nor the Navy liked its stubby design

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/news/press-releases/2013/february/MFC-021413-JASSMLot6.html

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 14, 2013 – Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM®) recently completed Reliability Assessment Program (RAP) Lot 6 testing with two final flights.The tests met success criteria and demonstrated the effectiveness of hardware enhancements to Lot 6 missiles.

 

In the first test, a B-52 at the Utah Test and Training Range released a JASSM from 35,000 feet traveling at Mach 0.71. In the second test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., a B-1B released JASSM from 25,000 feet traveling at Mach 0.85. Both 2,000-pound cruise missiles navigated through preplanned routes before destroying their intended fixed targets.

 

“These flight tests validate our ongoing efforts to enhance JASSM’s capability, dependability and affordability,” said Dave Melvin, long range strike systems senior program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The JASSMs used in these tests are identical to the missiles that would be used on the battlefield, with the exception of some additional instrumentation to measure performance.”

 

The successful RAP tests follow several JASSM program milestones, including contract awards for U.S. Air Force Lot 10 missiles, integration into the Finnish F/A-18 fleet and integration into the U.S. Air Force F-15E fleet.

 

JASSM is an autonomous, air-to-ground, precision-guided standoff missile designed to meet the needs of U.S. and allied warfighters. Armed with a penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, JASSM cruises autonomously, day or night, in all weather conditions. The missile employs an infrared seeker and enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to find specific points on targets.

 

JASSM is integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-15E. Internationally, JASSM is integrated on the F/A-18A/B for the Royal Australian Air Force. Future integration efforts will focus on the U.S. and international versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and other international platforms.

 

Produced at the company’s manufacturing facility in Troy, Ala., Lockheed Martin has assembled more than 1,200 JASSMs for testing and operational use toward a total objective of 4,900 JASSM missiles.

F-35 - the most expensive weapon ever

 

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2136312-1,00.html

Yes, but remember that other tri-service aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II ? We heard all the same criticisms when it was introduced. But it emerged to be the all-time classic strike fighter. So there is hope for F-35!

^People said that the F-4 flew so badly that it didn't really matter if you flew it sideways.

http://www.xairforces.net/newsd.asp?newsid=2057&newst=8#.USDxLKWSIso

Facing an uncertain budget environment in the coming months, the U.S. Air Force will nevertheless continue developing a new long-range strike bomber (LRS-B) capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear weapons.

“Long term, we’re committed to the long-range strike bomber. We’re going to try to keep programs like that on track,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said.

 

Donley briefly discussed the secret LRS-B program during a “state of the service” briefing at the Pentagon on January 11. He was accompanied by Gen. Mark Welsh III, recently appointed Air Force chief of staff upon the retirement of Gen. Norton Schwartz last fall. Donley said he would issue guidance to the major Air Force commands to prepare for threatened “sequestration” budget cuts that would reduce the service’s operations and maintenance spending by 20 percent unless Congress acts to stop sequestration by March 1. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has advised Air Force leaders to plan “reversible and recoverable” cuts for the balance of Fiscal Year 2013, which ends September 30.

 

Sequestration would affect every program, including the new bomber, Donley said. But the service intends to preserve its core missions. “We’re going to continue to do global ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance]. We’re going to continue to do global precision attack,” he said. “You can see now what the Air Force will look like in 2020 in terms of new capabilities coming on board. The [KC-46A] tanker will be fielded. The F-35 will be fielded. We’ll be well along in the development of the bomber program. … But the underlying issue is size [and] overall capacity of the armed forces.”

 

The LRS-B was initiated in Fiscal Year 2012 as a successor program to the cancelled next-generation bomber effort. Major contractors interested in the program were instructed not to discuss their proposals in public. The LRS-B will be a “family of systems,” an optionally manned platform incorporating already proven subsystems, including engines, radars and avionics, according to the Air Force.

 

In its Fiscal Year 2013 budget submission, the service said the LRS-B average procurement unit cost is expected to be $550 million for 80 to 100 aircraft. Planned funding for the program from Fiscal Years 2013 through 2017 is $6.3 billion, with $300 million programmed in the current year.

 

The Fiscal Year 2013 defense authorization bill Congress passed last month directs the Air Force to ensure that the LRS-B is capable of carrying strategic nuclear weapons from the date on which it achieves initial operating capability.

 

 

Source: by Bill Carey (ainonline.com) News - 18 January 2013

 

Photo: The U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin long-range strike (LRS) Aircraft. Lockheed Martin produced this impression of a long-range strike (LRS) design for the U.S. Air Force in 2007, before a secrecy clampdown banned contractors from discussing the program in public (Photo by hitechweb.genezis.eu).

Mark Welsh? Same guy as Mark 'Boomer' Welsh from Viper in the storm?

EDIT: Yep, same guy.

IDEX 2013 Exhibition

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1678703&postcount=11256

Drones with Decoys and Jammers

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Raytheon_to_integrate_Miniature_Air_Launched_Decoy_on_Remotely_Piloted_Aircraft_platform_999.html

Raytheon Integrates Miniature Air Launched Decoy With UAV Platform

by Staff Writers

Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 19, 2013

 

File image.

 

Raytheon and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. are working together to develop a highly autonomous, unmanned electronic warfare capability based on equipping GA-ASI's Predator B/MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) with Raytheon's Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD).

With the Ground Verification Test phase completed November 2012 at GA-ASI's Gray Butte Flight Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., integration of MALD on the aircraft is estimated to conclude in 2013.

"This new offering provides unprecedented electronic warfare capability enabling remote, unmanned suppression of enemy air defenses," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Air Warfare Systems for Raytheon Missile Systems.

"Integrating MALD weaponry on remotely piloted aircraft systems is integral to maintaining air superiority in today's and tomorrow's conflicts."

When employed, MALD confuses the target integrated air defense system (IADS), and then kinetic weaponry is selectively employed to permanently disable IADS nodes, dramatically increasing electronic attack persistence in the battlespace.

MALD and MALD-J

MALD is a state-of-the-art, low-cost flight vehicle that is modular, air-launched and programmable. It weighs less than 300 pounds and has a range of approximately 500 nautical miles.

MALD protects aircraft and their crews by duplicating the combat flight profiles and signatures of U.S. and allied aircraft. MALD-J adds radar-jamming capability to the basic MALD platform.

+ MALD confuses enemy air defenses by duplicating friendly aircraft flight profiles and radar signatures.

+ MALD-J encompasses all capabilities of MALD and adds jamming capabilities.

+ Raytheon began delivery of MALD-Js in the fall of 2012.

 

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SM_3_takes_out_medium_range_ballistic_missile_target_999.html

SM-3 takes out medium-range ballistic missile target

by Staff Writers

Kauai HI (SPX) Feb 19, 2013

 

The SM-3 guided missile is designed to destroy incoming short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats by colliding with them in space, a concept sometimes described as "hitting a bullet with a bullet." The missile does not contain an explosive warhead, but instead destroys the threats using sheer impact, equivalent to a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph.

A Raytheon Standard Missile-3 Block IA fired from the USS Lake Erie destroyed a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target using tracking data from a remote Raytheon sensor payload on the Space Tracking and Surveillance System-Demonstrator (STSS-D) satellites.

"This test further expands our confidence in the SM-3's ability to engage targets using remote, netted sensor targeting," said Wes Kremer, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Air and Missile Defense Systems.

"Launching on remote is important because it extends the engagement range of the missile, allowing ships with the SM-3 to expand the battlespace and eliminate threats sooner."

The MRBM target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility. As it rose above the horizon, the target was acquired and tracked by STSS-D. Threat data was then relayed through the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system to the ship. The ship's crew fired the SM-3 based on STSS track data and before the ship's radar acquired the target.

"STSS-D's unique vantage point in space allows the sensor payload to see the threat early in its trajectory and provide launch quality data sooner than nearly any other option," said Bill Hart, vice president of Space Systems for Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business.

"We can give our naval warfighters extra time to analyze and respond, by providing target data before the ship can track the threat. That's a tremendous advantage."

The test proves the "launch on remote" concept, which was first demonstrated during testing in April 2011 when a U.S. Navy destroyer used track data provided by a Raytheon-made AN/TPY-2 radar deployed on Wake Island to engage and destroy an intermediate-range ballistic missile target using an SM-3 Block IA.

Standard Missile-3

The SM-3 guided missile is designed to destroy incoming short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missile threats by colliding with them in space, a concept sometimes described as "hitting a bullet with a bullet." The missile does not contain an explosive warhead, but instead destroys the threats using sheer impact, equivalent to a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph.

+ More than 135 SM-3s have been delivered to U.S.

and Japanese navies ahead of schedule and under cost.

+ Raytheon is on track to deliver the next-generation SM-3 Block IB guided missile in 2014.

+ SM-3 Block IB guided missile will be deployed in both afloat and ashore weapons systems.

+ The test marks the 22nd successful intercept for the SM-3 program.

Space Tracking and Surveillance System-Demonstrator Satellites

STSS-D is a research and development capability for the Ballistic Missile Defense System that can detect and track ballistic missiles and other cold objects in space.

Raytheon sensors used on the payloads were developed under contract to Northrop Grumman, prime contractor for the STSS-D program.

+ STSS-D consists of two satellites carrying sensor payloads in a low-Earth orbit. + The satellites demonstrate the value of space-based sensors to missile defense. + The STSS-D payloads are able to detect infrared and visible light.

 

.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Raytheon_USAF_complete_Small_Diameter_Bomb_II_fit_check_on_F_35_aircraft_999.html

Raytheon, USAF complete Small Diameter Bomb II fit check on F-35 aircraft

by Staff Writers

Eglin AFB FL (SPX) Jan 23, 2013

 

File image: GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II.

 

The U.S. Air Force and Raytheon have completed a fit check of the GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. During the test, four SDB II shapes were loaded into an F-35 weapon bay alongside an Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile. Sweeps of the inboard and outboard bay doors verified there was adequate clearance between the two weapons.

"Completion of the fit check is critical because it further validates SDB II's compatibility with the F-35 and keeps SDB II on track for a smooth transition to production," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Air Warfare Systems.

"Once fielded, SDB II will provide the warfighter with an unprecedented capability to precisely strike moving targets in adverse weather conditions and through battlefield obscurants."

SDB II is designed to be carried by a host of 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft, including the U.S. Air Force F-15E; the U.S. Marine Corps variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, F-35B; and the U.S. Navy F-35C. The GBU-53/B is also compatible with the Air Force F-35A, F/A-22 and F-16C/D, as well as the Navy F/A-18E/F.

SDB II can hit targets from a range of greater than 40 nautical miles. It has a powerful warhead capable of destroying armored targets, yet keeps collateral damage to a minimum through a small explosive footprint. It is highly accurate and offers warfighters the flexibility to change targets, due to a datalink that passes mid-flight updates to the weapon.

SDB II's integrated tri-mode seeker, which is built in Raytheon's automated tri-mode seeker factory, fuses millimeter-wave radar, uncooled imaging infrared and semiactive laser sensors on a single gimbal, which enables the weapon to seek and destroy targets, despite weather conditions.

+ The Department of Defense has validated SDB II as a weapon that meets a critical warfighter need.

+ SDB II will hit moving targets in adverse weather from standoff ranges.

+ SDB II employs an uncooled tri-mode seeker. + The DOD has invested more than $700 million in the SDB II program.

SpaceWar is a treasure trove of info if you guys are into any countries military info and systems, there's too much news to post lol.

SDB II promises to be awesome

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Reports/2010/August%202010/Day25/SDBII_factsheet_0810.pdf

Yes, but remember that other tri-service aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II ? We heard all the same criticisms when it was introduced. But it emerged to be the all-time classic strike fighter. So there is hope for F-35!

yeah and they ended up replacing it with f-14, f-15, f-16, f-18

yeah and they ended up replacing it with f-14, f-15, f-16, f-18

True, but the F4 nearly outlived the F14 in operational use in the US, and did outlive the F14 overall since Turkey is still flying their Phantoms as far as I know, and will most likely serve longer than the last three.

Russia Rolls Out Last Soviet-Era Tu-154 Airliner

http://en.rian.ru/business/20130219/179566443.html

Still try to get funding for that Death Star, now renamed DE-STAR.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/California_Scientists_Propose_System_To_Vaporize_Asteroids_That_Threaten_Earth_999.html

Scientists Want To Vaporize Asteroids That Threaten Earth

 

As an asteroid roughly half as large as a football field -- and with energy equal to a large hydrogen bomb -- readies for a fly-by of Earth on Friday, two California scientists are unveiling their proposal for a system that could eliminate a threat of this size in an hour. The same system could destroy asteroids 10 times larger than the one known as 2012 DA14 in about a year, with evaporation starting at a distance as far away as the Sun.

 

UC Santa Barbara physicist and professor Philip M. Lubin, and Gary B. Hughes, a researcher and professor from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, conceived DE-STAR, or Directed Energy Solar Targeting of Asteroids and exploRation, as a realistic means of mitigating potential threats posed to the Earth by asteroids and comets.

 

"We have to come to grips with discussing these issues in a logical and rational way," said Lubin, who began work on DE-STAR a year ago. "We need to be proactive rather than reactive in dealing with threats. Duck and cover is not an option. We can actually do something about it and it's credible to do something. So let's begin along this path. Let's start small and work our way up. There is no need to break the bank to start."

 

Described as a "directed energy orbital defense system," DE-STAR is designed to harness some of the power of the Sun and convert it into a massive phased array of laser beams that can destroy, or evaporate, asteroids posing a potential threat to Earth.

 

It is equally capable of changing an asteroid's orbit -- deflecting it away from Earth, or into the Sun -- and may also prove to be a valuable tool for assessing an asteroid's composition, enabling lucrative, rare-element mining. And it's entirely based on current essential technology.

 

"This system is not some far-out idea from Star Trek," Hughes said. "All the components of this system pretty much exist today. Maybe not quite at the scale that we'd need -- scaling up would be the challenge -- but the basic elements are all there and ready to go. We just need to put them into a larger system to be effective, and once the system is there, it can do so many things."

 

The same system has a number of other uses, including aiding in planetary exploration.

 

In developing the proposal, Lubin and Hughes calculated the requirements and possibilities for DE-STAR systems of several sizes, ranging from a desktop device to one measuring 10 kilometers, or six miles, in diameter. Larger systems were also considered. The larger the system, the greater its capabilities.

 

For instance, DE-STAR 2 -- at 100 meters in diameter, about the size of the International Space Station -- "could start nudging comets or asteroids out of their orbits," Hughes said. But DE-STAR 4 -- at 10 kilometers in diameter, about 100 times the size of the ISS -- could deliver 1.4 megatons of energy per day to its target, said Lubin, obliterating an asteroid 500 meters across in one year.

 

The speed of interplanetary travel -- far beyond what is possible with chemical propellant rockets used today -- could be increased with this sized system, according to Lubin.

 

It could also power advanced ion drive systems for deep space travel, he said. Able to engage multiple targets and missions at once, DE-STAR 4 "could simultaneously evaporate an asteroid, determine the composition of another, and propel a spacecraft."

 

Larger still, DE-STAR 6 could enable interstellar travel by functioning as a massive, orbiting power source and propulsion system for spacecraft. It could propel a 10-ton spacecraft at near the speed of light, allowing interstellar exploration to become a reality without waiting for science fiction technology such as "warp drive" to come along, Lubin said.

 

"Our proposal assumes a combination of baseline technology -- where we are today -- and where we almost certainly will be in the future, without asking for any miracles," he explained. "We've really tried to temper this with a realistic view of what we can do, and we approached it from that point of view. It does require very careful attention to a number of details, and it does require a will to do so, but it does not require a miracle."

 

Recent and rapid developments in highly efficient conversion of electrical power to light allow such a scenario now, Lubin said, when just 20 years ago it would not have been realistic to consider.

 

"These are not just back-of-the-envelope numbers," Hughes concurred. "They are actually based on detailed analysis, through solid calculations, justifying what is possible. And it's all available under current theory and current technology.

 

"There are large asteroids and comets that cross the Earth's orbit, and some very dangerous ones going to hit the Earth eventually," he added. "Many have hit in the past and many will hit in the future. We should feel compelled to do something about the risk. Realistic solutions need to be considered, and this is definitely one of those."

True, but the F4 nearly outlived the F14 in operational use in the US, and did outlive the F14 overall since Turkey is still flying their Phantoms as far as I know, and will most likely serve longer than the last three.

Iran still has F-14.:)

http://news.yahoo.com/source-boeing-propose-787-battery-212339000.html

Source: Boeing to propose 787 battery fix to FAA

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Boeing has developed a plan that it intends to propose to federal regulators to temporarily fix problems with the 787 Dreamliner's batteries that have kept the planes on the ground for more than a month, a congressional official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner is expected to present the plan to Michael Huerta, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, in a meeting on Friday, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

Boeing Co. spokesman Marc Birtel said the company doesn't talk in advance about meetings with federal officials.

 

"Everyone is working to get to the answer as quickly as possible, and good progress is being made," Birtel said.

 

The FAA and overseas aviation authorities grounded all 50 of the planes in service worldwide after a lithium ion battery caught fire on a plane parked in Boston and a smoking battery led to an emergency landing by another plane in Japan. The 787 is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced plane. It was supposed to exemplify the future of commercial aviation, but the groundings have been a major public black eye and financial drain for Boeing, which vies with Airbus for the position as the world's largest commercial aircraft maker.

 

The plane is also the first airliner to make extensive use of lithium ion batteries to help power its electrical systems. Lithium ion batteries weigh less, charge faster and hold more energy than other batteries of comparable size. But they are also more susceptible to short-circuiting that can cause fires if they are damaged, have manufacturing flaws, are exposed to excessive heat or are overcharged.

 

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the battery fire in a Japan Airlines 787 that was discovered shortly after the plane landed at Boston's Logan International Airport on Jan. 7. Japanese authorities are investigating a battery failure in an All Nippon Airways 787 that made an emergency landing nine days after the fire. Investigators have said the batteries experienced short-circuiting and thermal runaway, a chemical reaction that causes progressively hotter temperatures, but they haven't found the root cause of the incidents.

 

Japan's Transport Ministry said Wednesday its investigation has uncovered a new problem: The aircraft's auxiliary power unit, which contains a lithium ion battery, was improperly connected to the main battery that overheated.

 

NTSB investigators found the Boston fire started with multiple short-circuits in one of the battery's eight cells. That created an uncontrolled chemical reaction known as "thermal runaway," which is characterized by progressively hotter temperatures. That spread the short-circuiting to the rest of the cells and caused the fire.

 

The board's findings are at odds with Boeing's initial battery testing before FAA's safety certification of the plane, which concluded that any short-circuiting could be contained within a single cell, preventing thermal runaway and fire from spreading.

 

Among the measures being discussed to make the batteries safe enough to return the 787 to the skies are adding more ceramic spacers between battery cells to contain any short-circuiting and fire within that cell. That would be in line with Boeing's initial test results.

More ceramic spacers would make the battery larger, which would require a bigger box to contain the battery cells. A more robust box lined with material to prevent any fire from spreading is also under discussion.

 

"What Boeing is trying to do is fix the battery so that (its initial testing) assumption is now valid," said Jon Hansman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics professor and a member of the FAA's Research and Development Advisory Committee.

"So if you can fix this part, the rest should be ok," he said.

 

Boeing hasn't said how much the 787 grounding will cost it. Imperial Capital analyst Ken Herbert estimated last week that it could cost Boeing $25 million a month in direct costs, with the total price tag climbing past $1 billion, including spending to fix the problem and expenses for delayed deliveries.

 

Boeing is still building five 787s each month, and has said it still wants to speed up to 10 a month by the end of the year. The company had orders for 800 of the planes at the time they were grounded.

 

It would take a delay of more than a couple of months for Boeing to back away from its speed-up plan, UBS analyst David Strauss wrote in a note on Wednesday.

Eight airlines in seven countries have 787s in their fleets. United Airlines, the only U.S. carrier with 787s, has cut its five 787s out of its schedule through the end of March. The grounding has been the most disruptive for Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has 17 of the planes.

 

LOT Polish Airlines is losing $50,000 a day due to the grounding of its two Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes, according to information made public by the Polish government on Wednesday. One of LOT Polish Airlines' 787s was stranded in Chicago by the grounding. LOT is still waiting for six more 787s to be delivered, several of them early this year.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/First_Flight_of_nEUROn_Unmanned_Combat_Aerial_Vehicle_Demonstrator_Conducted_999.html

First Flight of nEUROn UAV Demonstrator Conducted

by Staff Writers

Freiburg, Germany (SPX) Feb 22, 2013

 

The nEUROn is an experimental UCAV being developed with international cooperation, led by France, and includes government and industry partners from Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

 

Northrop Grumman, in cooperation with Saab Aerosystems, has provided the attitude and heading reference system (AHRS) for the nEUROn Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator, which recently completed a successful first flight.

Northrop Grumman's German navigation systems subsidiary, Northrop Grumman LITEF, supplied the fibre-optic, gyrocompassing LCR-100 AHRS for the European UCAV demonstrator.

The LCR-100 AHRS provides navigation information relating to the aircraft's position, heading and attitude. The north-finding gyrocompass feature eliminates the need for a magnetic sensing unit, similar to an inertial reference system.

Additionally, the system's precise inertial measurement unit enables extended coasting performance for the aircraft to continue providing accurate navigation information in the event of GPS signal loss. The LCR-100 is certified to civil standards for commercial off-the-shelf equipment in military platforms.

"The LCR-100 has proven that it is an efficient, cost-effective solution for unmanned aerial vehicles, particularly because of its small size and light weight," said Eckehardt Keip, managing director for Northrop Grumman LITEF.

"The system performed to our high standards and played a critical role in the nEUROn's major milestone achievement."

The nEUROn is an experimental UCAV being developed with international cooperation, led by France, and includes government and industry partners from Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

It is the first large stealth platform to be designed in Europe. The programme aims to develop, test and sustain key technologies for use by European manufacturers in the next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles and combat aircraft.

The demonstrator will not enter serial production. However, additional flight testing, including a flight in Sweden during 2014, is expected.

 

JLENS demonstrates tactical ballistic missile defense capability

by Staff Writers

White Sands NM (SPX) Feb 22, 2013

 

Ballistic Missile Detection - Raytheon's JLENS recently demonstrated the capability to detect ballistic missiles shortly after launch. A JLENS system, referred to as an orbit, consists of two tethered, 74-meter aerostats connected to mobile mooring stations, and communications and processing groups. (PRNewsFoto/Raytheon Company).

 

Enemy tactical ballistic missiles may soon be easier to detect and track. During a series of recent tests, a Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) JLENS demonstrated tactical ballistic missile defense (TBMD) capability when it detected and tracked a total of four ballistic-missile surrogates during their ascent (boost) phase.

During the test, the JLENS X-Band radar tracked two ripple-fired and two individually fired ballistic-missile surrogates. The missiles flew flight profiles similar to the profiles enemy tactical ballistic missiles might fly in high-threat regions of the globe.

"Along with other systems in Raytheon's family of X-Band radars, JLENS can provide a robust early warning and tracking capability against ballistic missiles," said David Gulla, vice president of Global Integrated Sensors for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "This TBMD demonstration and JLENS' other recent successes prove that the system is ready to deploy for a combatant commander operational evaluation."

JLENS demonstrated its capability against cruise missiles when it enabled Patriot and Standard Missile-6 intercepts of cruise-missile surrogates during separate tests. JLENS also completed two developmental tests and demonstrated its ability to stay aloft for long durations.

"JLENS' TBMD capability gives combatant commands another tool they can use to help protect the U.S., deployed forces, our allies and friends from the growing ballistic missile threat," said Dean Barten, the U.S. Army's JLENS program manager.

"JLENS' TBMD capability, when coupled with its ability to conduct 360-degree long-range surveillance capability and simultaneously detect and engage threats like swarming boats and anti-ship cruise missiles from up to 340 miles away, gives commanders a powerful proven capability."

JLENS, an elevated, persistent over-the-horizon sensor system, uses a powerful integrated radar system to detect, track and target a variety of threats. This capability better enables commanders to defend against threats including hostile cruise missiles; low-flying manned and unmanned aircraft; and moving surface vehicles such as boats, automobiles and trucks; and to provide ascent-phase detection of tactical ballistic missiles and large caliber rockets.

JLENS

+ A JLENS system, referred to as an orbit, consists of two tethered, 74-meter aerostats connected to mobile mooring stations and communications and processing groups.

+ The aerostats fly as high as 10,000 feet and can remain aloft and operational for up to 30 days.

+ One aerostat carries surveillance radar with 360-degree surveillance capability; the other aerostat carries a fire control radar.

+ According to research conducted by the U.S. Army's JLENS Product office, the cost of operating large, fixed-wing surveillance aircraft is 5-7 times greater than the cost of operating JLENS.

+ The JLENS surveillance radar can simultaneously track hundreds of threats; the fire control radar can simultaneously target dozens of threats.

 

Turkish jets strike Kurd rebels in Iraq: military source

by Staff Writers

Diyarbakir, Turkey (AFP) Feb 21, 2013

 

 

 

Turkey sent jets across its border with Iraq to strike separatists from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a local military source said Thursday.

The jets bombed 12 targets in the Kandil Mountains in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq on Wednesday, the source told AFP without providing any casualty figures.

Pro-Kurdish Firat News Agency confirmed the raid, saying it targeted two villages and destroyed many farms and orchards.

The raid comes amid nascent peace talks between Ankara and PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in prison.

Turkey hopes the talks will yield a ceasefire and eventually bring an end to the almost three-decade Kurdish insurgency for self-rule in the southeast.

Last month, the Turkish army said it killed 14 rebels in the southeastern city of Hakkari as they were preparing to ambush a border post. A Turkish soldier was also killed in the ensuing shootout.

Ankara says the rebels use their hideouts in northern Iraq, where the PKK command is also located, to infiltrate Turkey for hit-and-run attacks on security forces.

Around 45,000 people are believed to have been killed in 29 years of fighting between Turkish security forces and the PKK, which took up arms in 1984.

 

I wonder if anyone will complain about Turkey bombing its citizens.

Actually, since I've used that site for my military news for years I'm really surprised what kind of stuff goes on in a regular day that I don't see on CNN or other news agencies. Once you keep up with it you you'll start to see how these defense companies are tied together, and how militaries are moving their equipment and where.

I mean in the article above, who knew that Northrop Grumman was working on part of the system for a European designed stealth drone?

Actually, since I've used that site for my military news for years I'm really surprised what kind of stuff goes on in a regular day that I don't see on CNN or other news agencies. Once you keep up with it you you'll start to see how these defense companies are tied together, and how militaries are moving their equipment and where.

 

I mean in the article above, who knew that Northrop Grumman was working on part of the system for a European designed stealth drone?

I did.:D

FWIW most of the high tech equipment on the F-35 is also Northrop Grumman. AN/APG-81 Radar, AN/AAQ-37, EODAS, EOTS etc.

Yea, your correct marcos, there's a lot of defense companies that work with many other's and overseas with allied defense companies, as well as a whole slew of defense subcontractors to get a project done. It's never as black and white as a single company name being the sole creator of a large military project anymore.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/details-emerge-about-lockheeds-cuda-missile-382670/

More details are emerging about Lockheed Martin's prospective Cuda hit-to-kill missile system.

 

According to a company product card being distributed at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida, the weapon is a medium range air-to-air missile with a multi-mode seeker.

 

"Cuda is a highly lethal interceptor that defeats targets by direct body-to-body impact," Lockheed says. "At impact, Cuda sweeps its mass directly through the target at a selected point of vulnerability."

 

The company claims the Cuda will be a low cost weapon that will support "360° coverage", expand beyond visual range engagement zones and improve within visual range no-escape zones. It will also have extremely high-g maneuverability, Lockheed claims.

 

The company says the weapon will be effective against enemy warplanes, unmanned aircraft and other air threats. The Lockheed product card seems to indicate that the weapon might have some air-to-surface and anti-ship applications in addition to its air combat role.

 

With a length of 70 inches (1.78m), fifth-generation fighters like the Lockheed F-22 Raptor or F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would be able to potentially double or triple their air-to-air missile load-outs. That means, Lockheed claims, US and allied forces would be able to achieve air superiority "at a substantially lower cost per sortie."

 

F-22 pilots in particular have been asking for greater beyond visual range weapons capacity since the Raptor first entered operational testing about a decade ago.

A-Tenor