US Armed Forces

[Khafee]

Lockheed Martin's Modernized Turret Adds Performance, Operational Capabilities to the AH-64E Apache Helicopter

Lockheed Martin Modernized Turret Apache
The new design increases turret reliability by 40 percent and drastically improves aircraft availability through a variety of flight line maintenance enhancements.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Army recently awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a $40.6 million contract to produce Modernized Turrets (M-TUR) for the AH-64E Apache helicopter, an upgrade to the Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight and Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) system with enhanced operational and performance capabilities.

"Our primary objective with the Modernized Turret is to improve system performance, increase reliability, and reduce required maintenance and support costs," said Tom Eldredge, director of Apache Fire Control programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "The M-TUR demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced, affordable capabilities and innovative solutions to our nation's warfighters, enabling increased readiness, reliability and survivability in battle."

In addition to performance improvements that provide greater rates and acceleration of sensors in azimuth and elevation, M-TUR's new modular design improves turret reliability by 40 percent and reduces operation and support costs with a dramatic decrease in time required to conduct flight line maintenance. The design also allows for subassembly replacement on the flight line and includes higher reliability components that will improve aircraft availability.

M-TADS/PNVS provides Apache helicopter pilots with long-range, precision engagement and pilotage capabilities for mission success and flight safety during day and night, and in adverse weather conditions.

Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 1,400 M-TADS/PNVS systems and spares to the U.S. Army and 16 international customers in 15 nations over the last 14 years. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/mturret.

 

[Khafee]

Boeing Wants to Field Upgraded Compound Apache by 2028

Boeing has conducted wind tunnel testing of a 30 percent scale model of an AH-64E Block II compound helicopter, which the company believes it could field by 2028 to serve as a gap filler in a U.S. Army Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program.

"Boeing seeks to provide an affordable means to keep the current U.S. Army medium attack helicopter, the AH-64 Apache, capable on the highly complex multi-domain battlefield of the future through 2060," the company said in written response to questions from Rotor & Wing International. "Boeing’s objective is to offer and field new technologies which make up the advanced Apache in the late 2028 timeframe."

The AH-64E production line is set to end in 2026.

Unveiled last October at the Vertical Flight Society's Helicopter Military Operations Technology (HELMOT) conference in Hampton Roads, Virginia, the AH-64E Block II compound helicopter would feature a wing and a rear propulsor, increase aircraft speed to 185 kts, increase payload to 5,900 pounds hover-out of ground effect (HOGE) on takeoff, and increase range to 460 nm.

At the HELMOT conference in Philadelphia this May, Boeing is to present its drag computation and validation of the compound helicopter and an overview of the wind tunnel testing.

Boeing said that it is working with the Apache program office and the Army Training and Doctrine Command capability manager "to understand future requirements."

"The U.S. Army has committed no funding to the advanced Apache but continues to follow the Boeing IRAD (internal research and development) program," according to the company's written response to R&WI.

The Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) — FVL Capability Set 1 — is the farthest along in the Army acquisition process. The Army kicked off the FARA competition last October — a solicitation that lays out a four-phase competitive prototyping effort that should yield operational, experimental aircraft flying by November 2022.

FARA is to replace the AH-64 Apache gunships currently filling in for the retired OH-58D Kiowa Warrior on scout reconnaissance duty in the Army’s 11 heavy attack recon squadrons.

For FARA, Airbus said that it is offering a concept based on the company's Rapid and Cost-Effective Rotorcraft (RACER) that should fly 50 percent faster than a traditional helicopter while burning 25 percent less fuel. Sikorsky is likely offering its S-97 Raider or some variant of the compound helicopter, while Bell's offering is likely one based on its V-280 advanced tiltrotor. A joint proposal from L3 and AVX Aircraft is also under wraps. In addition, MD Helicopters is developing "Swift,” a new, all-composite, winged version of its 969 twin-engine attack aircraft. The company said that “Swift” will use MD’s no-tail-rotor (NOTAR) technology and will fly at up to 200 knots, which is within the Army's desired capability range for FARA.

The AH-64E Block II compound helicopter "is an intriguing idea, and if they keep development costs low and commonality with the current AH-64E high, they might succeed," said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group. "But the problem is that of all the FVL cape sets, FARA is the furthest along. That means a scout/attack model might come first, perhaps as early as service entrance around 2030. If that happens, this Boeing proposal won't have a very big window, and the Army might decide to stick with the current model. Still, this is an interesting concept, and this architecture has been tested for many years, giving it a relatively high level of maturity."

Last October, in a visit to Boeing's Mesa, Arizona, Apache plant, Shane Openshaw, Boeing's director of Apache programs — a former Army Apache and Black Hawk pilot — told R&WI that "even using the most aggressive plan they have to replace that fleet with something of the Future Vertical Lift family, there will have to be another evolution of some sort to keep the [AH-64E] aircraft sustainable, ready and relevant to support the warfight out to that time frame."

Can the Army maintain military superiority at a lower cost to taxpayers through upgrading its fleet of Black Hawks, Apaches and Chinooks, or will the military service need a new start FVL program?

"That’s the big question," Aboulafia said. "But of course there are different cape sets. It seems prudent to do one at a time, to mitigate risk to the other categories. It sounds like the scout/light attack cape set will be first, but that puts a big question over whether medium and large transport recapitalization can wait until they are reinvented under a different FVL category."

The Army has conducted an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) on FVL Capability Set 3 — the future long-range assault aircraft (FLRAA) — by using the Black Hawk and various UH-60 upgrades, including the Improved Turbine Engine Program and main rotor and tail rotor enhancements, as a baseline, and Army leaders are scheduled to finalize the results of the AoA by this summer. The military service has not yet disclosed the results of the AoA, but service officials have said that they want to start the FLRAA competition this year.

The Army has budgeted $4.7 billion over the next five years, including $800 million in fiscal 2020, for FVL, which includes FLRAA and the Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System and FARA, both of which are in source selection.

 

[Khafee]

Air Force F-35 squadrons improve readiness capability amid deployments
The Air Force said that a focus on readiness and capability has allowed deployed squadrons of the fifth generation fighter aircraft to complete missions and surpass goals set by the Pentagon.
Oct. 15, 2019
By Ed Adamczyk
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Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A concentration on mission readiness has improved the capabilities of F-35 Lightning II fighter planes and pilots, the U.S. Air Force said Tuesday.

Officials said all three squadrons of the 388th Fighter Wing were involved in missions and exercises away from home this summer, operating in nine countries, meeting goals set out by now-former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis.

Col. Michael Miles, 388th Maintenance Group commander said the group has seen remarkable improvements since Mattis told Air Force and Navy fighter squadrons to improve their mission-capable readiness rate to 80 percent. Officials called the goal "lofty," considering the requirements and constrains of the military.

But on a single day in September, two of the squadrons were at a 90 percent capability rate while the third was above 80 percent, the Air Force said.

"This is a reflection of processes that are on the right track. It took hard work and there will be a lot of naysayers, and many people don't understand the trajectory the program is on," Miles said in a press release.

One squadron was involved in the European Theater Support Package with deployment to Germany, and another conducted off-station operations at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, while runways at its home base of Hill Air Force Base, Utah, were under construction. The third is currently involved in the first F-35A combat deployment in the Middle East.

In total, nearly 70 F-35As of the three squadrons have been operating away from their home bases, with commanders saying the wing met all requirements.

"It was a team effort, and I'm proud of our folks," said Col. Steven Behmer, 388th Fighter Wing commander. "We're focused on maintaining and improving every aspect of readiness -- training, manning and developing our people and tactics to meet current threats. Our maintainers are doing a great job providing the sorties we need to do just that."

The successes of the summer are an improvement over training, maintenance and supply chain issues of the recent past.

A report in April by the government's General Accounting Office cited spare parts shortages and limited repair capabilities, making F-35 planes throughout the U.S. military "unable to fly nearly 30 percent of the May-November 2018 time period."

Also, the Department of Defense had a repair backlog of about 4,300 F-35 parts." It referred to the planes' readiness rate as "abysmal," which prompted Mattis to demand the capability rate of 80 percent.

Current Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in July, however, that the fleet of F-35s of the Army, Navy and Marines "is not expected" to meet Mattis's goal of readiness -- though it appears they're working to meet the goal anyway.

"We're not seeing the same problem parts and issues that we did in the past," Miles said of newer aircraft completed by manufacturer Lockheed Martin. "Problems sent in from the field are being addressed, and solutions are woven into the production line. I like the trajectory we're currently on. There have been some valleys, but our overall experience shows we're on a readiness incline."

 

[Khafee]

The U.S. Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle Must Be Revolutionary
October 15, 2019
Oh, and they want it like now.
by Kris Osborn

While the particular state of the Army’s Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle competition may seem somewhat tangled and uncertain, there does appear to be an unambiguous, aggressive Army intention to field a new infantry fighting vehicle that breaks new ground -- when it comes to lethality, protection, deployability, speed, firepower and AI-enabled sensing. Of equal significance, the Army seeks a vehicle “soon,” which can be upgraded effectively.

Some are raising the question as to whether the clarity or focus of this vision could be impaired by the apparent disqualification of the Raytheon-Rheinmetall Lynx vehicle. If, according to reports, the Army disqualified the Lynx for missing the delivery deadline, then only General Dynamics Land Systems remains as the sole bidder. Some are raising the question about having just one vendor initially bidding and submitting early prototypes for the program will compromise its success. This criticism, however valid, merits further exploration given the significance of the program for Army modernization.

Initially, there are several pressing or self-evident elements to this. First, competition for the program will not disappear. The Army plans a full and open production competition for 2023, so no vendors will be discouraged or limited when it comes to evolving, testing and maturing a vehicle. Secondly, the Army asked industry to invest, innovate and engage in dialogue -- something which may have been done to varying degrees. It introduces a pertinent question: should Army or industry progress be stalled or complicated in some way when there might not be full clarity regarding vendor participation may change?

Furthermore, timing on the program, per Army strategy, is very significant; remember, this program was initially envisioned as an effort to deliver vehicles as far away as the early 2030s. However, the speed and danger of emerging threats inspired the Army to move up the timeframe for operational status by as much as a decade. Executing this accelerated vision of course hinges upon leveraging promising new innovations and commercial off-the-shelf available technologies -- in the near term.

The strategy, as refined by the Army, seeks to both introduce unprecedented combat capability while also bringing many “available now” and “ready to be produced” technologies. With this in mind, many vendors such as General Dynamics and Raytheon-Rheinmetall have "dug deep" to leverage innovations. For instance, General Dynamics innovators, engineers and weapons developers have been spending recent years building prototype Griffin vehicles and other combat subsystems to engage in dialogue with the Army about what they would most like to see. Much of this GD strategy was aimed a soliciting and incorporating the Army’s vision for the new platform. The service has conducted a clear and open competition, and, for their offering, GD developers sought to emphasize the key priorities outlined by the Army, to include 3rd-gen FLIR, Lethality, Optics, Growth Potential, Protection and Transportability.

There are many merits to an approach of this kind, not the least of which are the efforts to demo, test and refine promising near-term technologies. Secondly, a nearer term, produceable vehicle such as the offering General Dynamics and R&R have evolved makes a lot of sense for several reasons. Essentially, many of the most impactful and yet-to-exist combat vehicle technologies are already here in some respects…. and, of even greater relevance, many of the anticipated future breakthroughs such as new AI-empowered algorithms, advanced sensors, autonomy, EW and cyber weapons developments and other weapons adaptations - “can” be added quickly as part of an evolving modernization trajectory for vehicle that is built “now.”

Many of the more immediate technological breakthroughs are expected to come in the form of algorithms, software, networking and sensing - not to mention EW and cyber. This means the best and soonest upgrades may not be hardware intensive, something which enables an existing platform to be brought to paradigm-changing levels of combat capability quickly without huge amounts of “bending” new metal. This bears upon GDs recent experience of prototyping, testing and demonstrating state-of-the-art and emerging combat vehicle weapons technologies. Any vehicle built now, in short, could become almost entirely new in some respects with new weapons and hardened networking creating a combat-web of nodes connecting with drones, helicopters, tanks, dismounted soldiers and even ships and aircraft in multi-domain operations.

Fast-progressing AI-enabled autonomy will likely enable the vehicle to simultaneously control a small fleet of attack-sensor drones increasingly capable of performing key functions independently. This is a combat multiplier as it will ease the “cognitive” burden upon crews while also bringing new weapons and hardware. Information itself is expected to become a larger “weapon of war,” further reinforcing the merits of a GD strategy aimed at moving quickly and refining the most cutting edge technologies on demo vehicles over the course of several years.

GD has much experience with this, as one need only to look at its 1980s era Abrams tank. Today’s Abrams, by even the most cursory examination, is not your tank of the 80s. Upgrades and adaptations have made it an entirely new vehicle. For instance, over the years the Army and GD have added - 3rd-Gen FLIR, Active Protection, Auxiliary Power Units, Multi-Purpose 120mm rounds, digital ammunition loading, ammunition data links, additional underbelly armor protections, massive amounts of electronics, thermal imaging, targeting sensors, computing and C4ISR systems - to cite a few.

Interestingly, while the Abrams naturally has ultimate size, weight, power and mobility limits, much of the current thinking is that -- with continued modernization -- it may not go anywhere soon. Although unable to deploy easily or travel over some bridges, the protection, power and combat effectiveness of the Abrams is, according to many … “here to stay” for a while.

Finally, many kinds of promising lightweight composites are already being engineered into new vehicles and showing great progress; AI-enabled drone autonomy is not only already here but easily upgradeable on current systems; new sensors can integrate quickly into existing chassis’; and advanced “networking” technologies between air, ground and maritime assets are fast emerging and able to integrate. While some elements or infrastructure of a vehicle chassis built now or over the next few years may not easily be removed, it will still be possible to integrate effective lightweight composites in future years. They could be added as extra protection or blended with new weapons systems. In effect, there is also hardware which can continue to upgrade.

The Army will benefit from staying on course with its current path, regardless of which vendors continue - as it is an auspicious and much needed one.

 

[Khafee]

Swarm Hell: Can the U.S. Army Stop Hundreds of Drones Armed with Explosives?
October 15, 2019
The threat is real--and Army has plans to stay ahead of the curve.
by Kris Osborn

(Washington, D.C.) They can form swarms of hundreds of mini, precision-guided explosives, overwhelm radar or simply blanket an area with targeting sensors. They can paint or light up air, ground or sea targets for enemy fighters, missiles or armored vehicles, massively increasing warzone vulnerability. The can instantly emerge from behind mountains to fire missiles at Army convoys, infantry on the move or even mechanized armored columns.

They can increasingly operate with less and less human intervention and be programmed to enter enemy airspace, crossing into well-defended areas with decreased risk. Finally, perhaps of greatest significance, many of them can now fire weapons with little human intervention.

They --- are commercial and military attack drones now proliferating at alarming rates around the world.

Not only are attack drones easily purchasable on the commercial market, but they are rapidly becoming more and more advanced given the lightning speed at which technology is now advancing. Video can be gathered with much higher fidelity at longer ranges, navigational systems can more accurately merge with sensors and targeting technologies and larger numbers of drones can increasingly operate in tandem - in a more coordinated fashion. Battery technology, to cite another example, is progressing so quickly that drones are increasing dwell time over targets, complicating any effort to defend against them.

Overall, the Army is fast-tracking what could be called an entire sphere of counter-drone weapons; these include Electronic Warfare innovations to jam enemy drone signals, Stryker-mounted Hellfire missiles to shoot drones out of the sky and -- in a Raytheon effort with the Army -- create an integrated “sense-track-hit” counter-drone kill chain.

Called the Howler, Raytheon’s Counter Unmanned Systems (C-UAS) could be described in terms of a three-pronged approach; mobile or ground fixed radar uses Ku band radio to detect enemy drones before the signals are analyzed by computerized fire control, leading to the firing of an armed tube-launched interceptor drone called Coyote.

“This operates throughout the kill chain. We start with sense and detect using our radars, then we use Command and Control which is the brains...and then our effectors,” Cliff Johnson, business development director for tactical radars, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, told Warrior.

The effectors, as referred to by Johnson, can come in the form of Raytheon’s Coyote 1 and Coyote 2 mini attack drones. Equipped with an advanced seeker and small warhead, Coyotes can launch from a range of locations, including fixed locations and armored vehicles on-the-move.
“It can be mounted on a vehicle where it has the radar and the Coyote launch tube, with a separate vehicle that has command and control. It can also be in fixed locations where everything is taken off the vehicle,” Johnson said.

For instance, in the event that an Infantry Brigade Combat Team, with armored vehicle support, were maneuvering through mountainous terrain, they could easily be vulnerable to sudden drone attacks. The Raytheon-Army Howler program, operational and ready for war, exists for exactly this reason. By sending electromagnetic “pings” forward at the speed of light, the Howler’s radar can bounce signals off enemy drones and then analyze the return signal. This process is engineered to produce a rendering of the size, shape and even speed of an enemy drone. This information is then processed through fire control technology, intended to target the enemy and guide the interceptor. Therefore, it seems almost too self-evident to say, speed is of the essence. This is why Johnson emphasized the rapid sensor-to-shooter coordination needed to complete the kill chain.
The pace of technical change, and its implications for attack drones, is well captured in a 2017 Essay in an Air and Space Power Journal called “AIR MINES: Countering the Drone Threat to Aircraft.”

“Moore’s Law states that the processing power of electronic devices doubles every 18 months. By 2025 the currently widely proliferated “quadcopter” drones and their successors will have the capability to fly autonomously—at much higher altitudes, with longer flights—and be capable of complex formation maneuvers. These advances may happen soon since drones are already making strides in these areas,” the essay states. (Lt Col Leslie F. Hauck III, USAF & Dr. John P. Geis II, Colonel, USAF, Retired .. as of 2017).


Interestingly, this move to accelerate sensor processing and fire control, as discussed by Johnson, aligns with current Army technical thinking when it comes to increasing the speed of fire control technology. Much of this naturally hinges upon computer processing speed and an ability to gather and organize vast pools of incoming sensor data. Therefore, it is no surprise that quickening the detection and processing functions has the attention of Army Futures Command’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force.

“Fire control is about enabling and speeding-up what you can recognize in the battlefield to help a soldier who might normally have to sift through intelligence data and look for cues to get the right targeting information,” Lt. Col. Chris Lowrance, autonomous systems lead, Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force, told reporters at the Association of the United States Army annual symposium.

All of this generates a compelling need to keep pace with technological change, surge advancement of weapons able to detect and destroy drones and pursue initiatives to better understand the technical mechanisms of drones themselves. These efforts, underway by both industry and the military services, represent the pursuit of technologies engineered to mirror, replicate and even acquire the types of commercial drones available around the world. Naturally, understanding the components and functions of enemy drones are the prerequisite or precursor to the development of technologies able to track and destroy them. Simply put, before a drone can be “jammed,” “intercepted” or “destroyed” by weapons, its technical mechanisms and functionality must first be understood.

“There are systems now that can take down UAS with little collateral damage, and these systems are becoming more autonomous in the short term,” Brig. Gen. Matt Easley, director of the Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force, told reporters at the Association of the United States Army Annual Symposium.

The challenges of taking out attacking drones, which Howler and other systems are engineered to meet, is now being addressed across the services. The Army’s Rapid Equipping Force has been fast-tracking electronic-warfare based weapons to “jam” enemy drones, the Navy has been tailoring shipboard sensors to enable interceptor weapons to knock out medium and low-flying drones in maritime combat and the Air Force has been working to upgrade fighter-based Active Electronically Scanned Arrays to find enemy drones at greater distances.
“How do we see attacks coming in and sift through those attacks faster? We want to see attacks in real time,” Easley said.

 

[Khafee]

U.S. Army to deploy hypersonic missiles by 2023
Oct. 15, 2019
By Ed Adamczyk

A U.S. Air Force X-51A WaveRider hypersonic test missile is seen beneath the wing of a B-52 bomber. Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force

Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Deployment of a long-range hypersonic weapon system by the U.S. Army is expected by 2023, the Association of the United States Army was told at its annual convention.

Robert Strider, deputy director of Army hypersonic programs on Monday told attendees of the AUSA convention that an experimental prototype, "with residual combat capability," will be fielded by 2023, as announced by the Army last month.

"Those words are tattooed on every one of us within the rapid capability and critical technologies office," Strider said. "The booster that we'll use to launch it will be absolutely common with the Navy. In fact, there's a [memorandum of agreement] in place that put the Navy in charge of design and the Army in charge of production."

Strider added that a battery of eight missiles launched from a mobile ground platform will be capable of breaking speeds of Mach 5 -- about 3,800 mph on land -- and that the hypersonic weapons system leads the Army's list of priorities.

In June, the Army announced it plans to test a prototype in 2020.

Hypersonic missiles will be capable of reaching the top of the Earth's atmosphere, remaining beyond the range of air and missile defense systems, until they are ready to strike. They will be designed for accuracy, speed, survivability and maneuverability, according to the Army, and can strike anywhere in the world within minutes.

Design of the missiles and the launching platforms is overseen by the Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office, whose focus has been on hypersonic devices since 2018.

The missile's construction includes a Common Hypersonic Glide Body, modified trucks and trailers and existing command-and-control technology. Dynetics Technical Solutions of Huntsville, Ala., has been contracted to manufacture C-HGB prototypes.

Lockheed, Raytheon and Boeing also have contracts with the Missile Defense Agency to design a hypersonic missile defense system.

There are two possible impediments to execution of the program, Eric Sherff, Lockheed's vice president for hypersonic programs, told the convention.

The first is the supply chain, he said. Although no current weaknesses have been reported, he said that Lockheed is doing all it can to ensure a steady flow of parts and personnel for the program.

The second, Sherff added, is that that the House Appropriations Committee's decision to lower the hypersonics' budget request would be "devastating to our schedule."

The U.S. military is currently funded by continuing resolution and not by a budget, which remains to be approved, passed and signed into law. Sherff said maintaining that funding status would delay "critical long lead purchases, putting planned delivery at risk, adversely impacting the ability to deter and defeat near-peer adversaries," a reference to China and Russia, which have begun hypersonic missile programs of their own.

Our Hypersonic Thread:

Hypersonic Weapons

Hypersonic weapons, by definition, travel five or more times than the speed of sound. Hypersonic cruise missiles which are powered by scramjet are restricted to less than 100,000 feet. Hypersonic glide vehicles on the other hand, can travel higher. In comparison to a ballistic i.e. parabolic...

world-defense.com

 

[Khafee]

This Picture Is the U.S. Military's Worst China Nightmare (Thanks to Russia)
October 15, 2019

View attachment 10898
These jets could do some serious damage in a war over Taiwan--and they come from Russia.
by TNI Staff

Key Point: The Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E has entered service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) according to the Chinese Ministry of Defense last year. The advanced Russian-built fourth generation fighter is a significant boost to the PLAAF and could be used to good effect by Beijing in over the South China Sea.

“The Su-35 is a multi-purpose fighter jet capable of air combat and precision strike against land and surface targets,” Senior Colonel Wu Qian, Director General of the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense, said during a April 26, 2018 press conference. “Currently, the aviation troop units of the PLA Air Force have been armed with the Su-35 fighters.”

With the jets now in service, the Su-35 would significantly bolster Chinese forces operating over the South China Sea or the Taiwan Straits. Indeed, Beijing has in recent days been conducting exercises in the region near Taiwan, which it considers to be a breakaway province. “Recently, the PLA Air Force dispatched multiple types of warplanes to carry out real combat training exercises in the airspace over the sea to further enhance the capability of safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wu said. “The island the PLA warplanes patrolled around is, of course, China’s Taiwan Island.”.

Wu promised that China would take action if Taiwan were to attempt to formally declare independence. “The series of actions we have taken are targeting the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces and their activities, and are to protect the well-being of the people in Taiwan from being undermined by the ‘Taiwan independence’ conspiracy,” Wu said. “If the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces continue to act recklessly, we will take further actions.”
If push comes to shove, the Su-35 could feature prominently in any Chinese attempt to subdue Taiwan. The Flanker-E is arguably the PLAAF’s most capable fighter apart from the Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter, which is not likely to fully operational yet even if it has achieved some level of operational capability. Particularly, if the Su-35 is armed with long-range air-to-air missiles such as the very long range PL-15, it could be used to attack American aerial refueling tankers and other support aircraft such the E-3 AWACS that are crucial for conducting air operations over the vastness of the Pacific.

“The PL-15, could enter service during the course of 2018, and has already been cited by senior U.S. Air Force personnel as a significant concern, including remarks by Gen. Hawk Carlisle, then head of U.S. Air Combat Command, in 2015,” IISS military analyst Doug Barrie wrote for War on the Rocks. “The PL-15 may have a maximum range in the order of 200 kilometers and is thought to be fitted with an advanced seeker using an active electronically scanned radar. The maximum range describes how far the missile could reach with an optimized trajectory requiring no maneuvering and with little energy left at the end of the flight. But given that a missile in the class of the PL-15 would often be used to engage a combat aircraft of a similar class, its actual maximum engagement range against a maneuvering target would be considerably less, though likely still in excess of the present Western generation of solid-rocket medium-range missiles. One of the limitations of several of the current generation of beyond-visual- range AAMs is that the probability of a successful engagement is reduced significantly against a maneuvering target. This is because the missile rapidly bleeds off energy as it turns to try to close with the threat aircraft.”

An even more dangerous missile has already been spotted being carried onboard China’s own domestically developed J-16 advanced Flanker derivative, which is in some ways comparable to the Su-35 in capability. However, the Su-35 probably still has an overall edge over the Chinese Flanker knockoff. “An even longer-range AAM is also in the later stages of development,” Barrie wrote. “In late 2016, images appeared on the Internet of a Shenyang J-16 Flanker carrying two large missiles. The missile configuration suggested the design was intended to provide a very-long-range air-to-air capability, at up to around 400 kilometers, and intended to be used against tankers, airborne early warning and control aircraft, and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, at extended engagement ranges.”

Thus, the introduction of the Su-35 significantly boosts Chinese capability and increases the headaches for U.S. forces in the event of a war.

 

[Khafee]

AvMC aviation development team preps for new CH-47 engine ground run
By Kerensa Crum

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center's Aviation Development Directorate-Eustis is working with The Boeing Company and GE Aviation to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of higher-power engines while assessing and reducing the technical risks of integrating advanced engines in a Chinook aircraft.
(Photo Credit: File Army photo by Sgt. Sarah Sangster)

Members of industry are partnering with the U.S. Army to test high-powered engines on a CH-47 Chinook.

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center routinely incorporates innovative technology solutions, cutting-edge science and technology, and partnerships with academia and industry to provide rapid, cost-effective solutions to complex aviation and missile challenges.

As part of a cooperative research and development agreement, CCDC AvMC's Aviation Development Directorate-Eustis is working with The Boeing Company and GE Aviation to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of higher-power engines while assessing and reducing the technical risks of integrating advanced engines in a Chinook aircraft.

Currently, no Army engine-upgrade programs exist for the H-47 series aircraft, neither does this effort indicate selection of the T408-GE-400 as a future engine for the aircraft.

To some degree, all AvMC ADD's efforts support the lines of effort related to the Future Vertical Lift modernization priority.

The five-year project, which began in 2015 and will conclude in FY20, aims to identify and reduce cargo-class engine integration risks in support of potential future capability and to evaluate engine integration and performance through a flight demonstration on a modified NCH-47D testbed aircraft. NCH refers to a permanently modified test article.

Until about a year ago, the ADD-E team has been in the technical development phase with industry partners to determine how to integrate the T408-GE-400 on a legacy Boeing NCH-47D airframe and take it safely to flight using the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command-delegated ADD-E local experimental test flight airworthiness release authority.

"Throughout the effort, we've been able to leverage the whole ADD-E team's local capability," said Maj. Zachariah Morford, AvMC ADD-E T408 project manager and experimental test pilot. Included in that team is the engines and platforms science and technology division; technical support division, including the engineering design and analysis, fabrication, and instrumentation branches, and the flight test division with its experimental flight support.

"This will be the first time in decades that Army aviation has put a new engine with a different footprint onto a legacy aircraft," Morford said. "There's also several first-to-fly technologies that are going on to this aircraft. We are going to fly with some load-bearing additively manufactured parts, which will be the first time that's happened for aviation." He added that this demonstration will also feature the first off-engine torque measurement system, which means rotational force will not be measured by a part within the engine itself. The torques will be measured by a connected drive shaft with a system provided by LORD Corporation.

"This is has been a great collaboration with our industry partners, and is right in line with our aviation development core competencies here at ADD-E," said Col. Malcolm Cornish, AvMC ADD-E director. "This effort is not solely focused on current fleet impacts, but informs the Army aviation community on potential requirements and limitations for the Future Vertical Lift efforts."

Ground testing is scheduled to begin in October and run for six weeks with 25 hours of flight tests planned immediately afterward.

--
The CCDC Aviation & Missile Center, formerly known as the Aviation & Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC), is part of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, which conducts responsive research, development and life cycle engineering to deliver the aviation and missile capabilities the Army depends on to ensure victory on the battlefield today and tomorrow. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win our nation's wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command.

 

[Khafee]

Karem unveils FARA design for US Army
16 October, 2019

Karem Aircraft has unveiled its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) design, as it pursues a development deal with the US Army.

The company is pitching a rigid main rotor helicopter with a rotating wing and a pivoting tail rotor, called the AR40. The design also has a three-blade main rotor that uses Karem’s Optimum Speed Rotor technology, which was initially developed using US Army research funds to create optimal efficiency for tiltrotors in vertical or horizontal flight.

On the AR40 helicopter, the system would be used to control each individual blade as it rotates, instead of forcing the blades to move in unison as is the case with a traditional swashplate system, says Thomas Berger, director of the FARA programme at Karem.

“You're able to shape the trajectory of the blade path around the azimuth,” he says. “Being able to shape the trajectory gives you the possibility to get better performance, better acoustics, better reliability, automatic tracking.”

Karem AR40 rendering
Karem Aircraft

The AR40 aircraft has a 12.2m (40ft) wingspan – wider than the helicopter’s 11m main rotor diameter. The wing can provide the majority of the aircraft’s lift and tilts upwards during the helicopter’s descent or ascent in order to make its vertical flight more aerodynamic.

The AR40 also has a swiveling tail rotor, which in forward flight is angled backwards to be used as a pusher propeller. The company says in forward flight the aircraft’s vertical stabiliser compensates for torque from the main rotor blades. The swiveling tail rotor should allow for the aircraft “to manoeuvre aggressively at low speeds,” says Karem.

Karem believes the AR40 should be able to exceed the US Army’s 180kt (333km/h) maximum speed requirement by 40kt.

The aircraft is single engined and designed around the US Army’s Improved Turbine Engine Programme selection, the GE Aviation T901.
The AR40’s cockpit has room for two pilots sitting side-by-side. It also has a small cabin directly behind the cockpit with room for four passengers, such as special operations troops. Behind the cabin is the rotorcraft’s internal weapons bay.

Karem is partnering with Northrop Grumman and Raytheon on the AR40. Karem is contributing its rotor and drive technologies, and is leading the design and prototyping process. Northrop is providing production and product support, as well as avionics expertise. Raytheon is the mission systems integrator and modular open systems architect.

 

[Khafee]

Northrop Grumman unveils 50mm chain gun for Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle
October 16, 2019

U.S. weapons maker Northrop Grumman has displayed fo the first time the XM913 50mm Bushmaster chain gun at the annual Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference in Washington, D.C.

The new 50mm Bushmaster chain gun being developed by Northrop Grumman is designed for the U.S. Army’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle.

The Northrop-built 50mm Bushmaster Chain Gun can hit ranges more than twice as far as the roughly 2-kilometer range of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s existing M242 25mm cannon. The 50mm is being engineered to address this potential disparity, by hitting ranges well over 4km.

“Dozens of countries have either parity or overmatch to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle’s M242,” a Northrop statement says.

The 50mm cannon can blend a variety of emerging, high-tech armored vehicle attack technologies into a single system — to include advanced fire-control, automated targeting sensors, next-gen ammunition, new computer processing speed and longer-range medium caliber attack options.

Currently, the 50mm Bushmaster is one of the most powerful medium-caliber weapon systems ever created for an armored vehicle.

Firepower from Next Generation Combat Vehicle’s 50-millimeter cannon will bring a longer-range, more-lethal measure of firepower to medium caliber armored vehicle attack.

The Next Generation of Combat Vehicles, or NGCV, allows the Army to achieve combat vehicle overmatch in close combat against the pacing threat. It delivers decisive lethality with manned and unmanned teaming as part of a combined arms team in the future operating environment.

 

[Khafee]

Gray Eagle ER to carry glide munitions and air launched effects
BY: Garrett Reim
Washington DC

MQ-1C Gray Eagle ER with loitering munitions. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is upgrading its MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range (ER) unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to be able to carry and launch the Dynetics GBU-69/B Small Glide Munition, as well as so-called future air-launched effects.

Improvements in the aircraft’s external capacity – which is being increased to 680kg (1,500lb) across hardpoints on both wings, as well as on its centreline – will allow the UAV to carry more payload than before.

Air-launched effects are UAVs that are carried and deployed from aircraft to be used in a variety of roles, such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), loitering munition or electronic warfare applications. The US Army wants its Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft, as well as legacy platforms the Gray Eagle ER and Boeing AH-64 attack helicopter to be able to deploy and control such systems.

“What it allows is for the Gray Eagle to be stand-off,” says Chris MacFarland, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ director of US Army programmes. “In other words, behind the friendly side of the flock, and have stand-in capabilities to either stimulate or disintegrate the enemy’s air defence."

A General Atomics rendering shows the MQ-1C carrying 20 loitering munitions in five pods beneath its wings and centreline.

General Atomics declines to comment on the glide munition capability, but in September the US Army Special Operations Aviation Command conducted a drop test of the GBU-69/B from a Gray Eagle ER. During that test the UAV also carried a Raytheon X-Net radio, which redirected the munition during flight to a target position over a nautical mile away from the initial target location. The GBU-69/B has a maximum range of 20nm (37km).

The ability to launch connected weapons and UAVs is enabled by the Gray Eagle ER’s larger airframe, which was expanded originally to allow the aircraft to carry more fuel. The extra space allows for about 272kg of internal payload, which can be used to carry additional processors, communications, command and control or ISR equipment, the company says.

Those internal payloads are powered by electricity generated from a larger piston engine. General Atomics says it is moving from a 180hp (134kW) engine to a 200hp Heavy Fuel Engine 2.0, which is turbocharged and has a better cooling system.

 

[Khafee]

16th Air Force established as cyberwarfare unit
OCT. 16, 2019
By Ed Adamczyk

Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh R, assumes command of Sixteenth Air Force from Gen. Mike Holmes, Air Combat Command commander, L, in a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, on Oct. 11. Photo by TSgt. R.J. Biermann

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The newest numbered air force, the 16th Air Force, dedicated to cyberwarfare, has been established in a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas.

Lt. Gen. Timothy Haugh assumed command in a ceremony on Oct.11. The 24th and 25th Air Forces were inactivated and integrated into the new force, the Air Force announced this week.

The "16th Air Force (Air Forces Cyber)," created in March by the U.S. Air Force, is now the single headquarters for global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, cyber, electronic warfare and information operations.

It encompasses wings dedicated to reconnaissance, aircraft, cyberspace and intelligence, as well as the Air Force Technical Applications Center, and the involvement of 32,000 Air Force personnel and civilians.

"This is an important and historic day for our Air Force... the stand-up of the 16th Air Force as an information warfare-focused numbered air force," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein. "Today's ceremony isn't just about pulling organizations together, it is creating opportunity for new operational art to compete against transregional, all-domain and multifunctional challenges and conduct operations in the information environment."

As a "numbered air force," the new organization takes the name of the group involved with the Strategic Air Command in the 1950s and inactivated in 2014.

The 16th Air Force is charged with operating, maintaining and defending the branch's information networks, as well as direction mission critical cyber terrain, provides multisource intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance products. The command will also serve as the service cryptologic component working with the National Security Agency and Central Security Service for other Air Force-related cryptologic activities.

 

[Khafee]

BAE Systems to manage open source data for U.S. Army in $437M contract
OCT. 16, 2019
By Ed Adamczyk

BAE Systems announced a $437 million contract on Tuesday to provide open source intelligence support to the U.S. Army. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- BAE Systems will provide intelligence support to the U.S. Army in a $437 million task order, the company announced.

BAE Systems will deliver open source capabilities to the Army from publicly available sources, and will provide the Army's Intelligence and Security Command with training, policy and governance recommendations, assessments and implementation of emerging capabilities.

A secure cloud hosting environment will also be established by the company to accomplish the work.

The task order, announced on Tuesday, is an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract awarded under the U.S. General Services Administration's One Acquisition Solution program. The acquisition was managed by GSA's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center on behalf of the Army.

"We're proud to continue to partner with the U.S. Army and support their critical national security missions with this new capability," said Peder Jungck of BAE Systems.

"Our open source solution is designed to deliver timely, objective, and cogent information to mission-critical programs in the face of evolving threats and the continuous increase in the volume and sources of open source data," Jungck said.

The company, headquartered in London, is Europe's largest defense contractor and has 83,000 employees worldwide. In July, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded BAE Systems a contract worth up to $4.7 million to integrate machine learning into intelligence gathering involving radio frequency signals.

 

[Khafee]

U.S. Army has no plans to purchase more Iron Dome systems
OCT. 16, 2019
By Ed Adamczyk

The U.S. Army intends to build its own urban missile defense system and not purchase any more Iron Dome systems, pictured, from Israel. File Photo by Jim Hollander/EPA-EFE

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army does not intend to purchase additional Israeli-made Iron Dome missile defense systems, but may have to, the officer leading a missile group said.

The purchase of the interim system in the summer of 2019 was a stopgap measure, officials said, meant to meet Congress's 2023 deadline on missile defense in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act for the Army to develop its own system, or buy more Iron Domes, developed by the Israeli defense company Rafael and Raytheon Co. of the United States.

"We had nothing else out there," Brig. Gen. Brian Gibson, director of the Army's Air and Missile Defense Cross Functional Team, said of the Iron Dome purchase at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington on Tuesday. "We needed some immediate capability above the tactical level. It was developed for a very specific threat and it does incredible things."

The Army has said it will purchase more of the Israeli systems only if it has to.

"As a long-term enduring solution, absolutely not," Gibson said of the Iron Dome, calling an additional purchase "fundamentally wrong" and opposing "everything we're trying to achieve."

The system uses ground-based, non-moving installations around Israeli cities to shoot down short-range missiles.

"We intend to operate it differently," Gibson added of the Army's defense plans. "We intend to operate it in support of an Army on the move. It's not just going to be static."

The Army has concentrated its primary missile defense program, the Indirect Fire Protection Capability, on cruise missiles and similar larger threats at the expense of defense against shorter-range missiles similar to those defended against by the Iron Dome system.

The Army built prototypes of its own multimission launcher, which uses AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles to destroy incoming targets, but decided not to advance the research.

The branch prefers to build its own system of new and existing equipment in the Integrated Battle Command System. Instead of countering the small rockets and missiles plaguing Israeli cities, the system would be a platform to shoot down rockets, artillery, mortars, unmanned aircraft systems and cruise missiles.

It also requires a timeline of development, officials say.

"I see that more as a near-term decision and recommendation that we're going to seek to achieve this year," Gibson said.

 

[Khafee]

AeroVironment targets FTUAS return with Puma LE
BY: Garrett Reim
Washington DC

Puma LE
AeroVironment

Despite missing out on the prototyping contract phase of the US Army’s Future Tactical Unmanned Aerial System (FTUAS) programme – the effort to replace the Textron RQ-7 Shadow – AeroVironment is pitching a long-range variant of its hand-launched Puma for the service’s requirement.
The company is calling its new unmanned air vehicle offering the Puma LE (Long Endurance).

AeroVironment originally pitched for the FTUAS competition via a joint bid with Aerovel, a company that has a tail-sitting, vertical take-off and landing UAV. However, in March, it failed to move on to the next phase of the competition. Arcturus UAV, L3 Technologies, Martin UAV and Textron are now working to advance the capabilities of their offerings with development financed by the US Army.

AeroVironment is trying to nudge its way back into the competition by boosting the endurance of its Puma by 120%, to 5.5h. The company says range is also increased through a better battery, longer wing and improved electric motor.

“For the FTUAS opportunity, it could be one of the solutions – not the only solution that we offer,” says Wahid Nawabi, chief executive of AeroVironment. “We believe that our solution with Puma LE will meet the vast majority of the requirements in terms of its missions, and with a radically different price point, footprint, ease of operations, than any other Group Two [UAV] that's actually pursuing that opportunity.”

The Puma LE weighs 10.4kg (22.5lb) and could be carried by two people in two ruggedised Pelican cases, AeroVironment says. The manufacturer says it is already test-flying the UAV regularly.

AeroVironment says it is now accepting orders for the Puma LE, with deliveries expected to start “in spring 2020”.