Weapons of Mass Defection

Russian Bulava missile test fails again

Reference: Telegraph

Image: Defense Threat Information Group

Another test of Russia's intercontinental Bulava missile has failed, the defence ministry said on Thursday, with the missile blowing up in mid-flight, following a similar failed test in December. The missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, veered off course after the first stage of the rocket malfunctioned, said the ministry, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency. It was launched by Russia's Dmitri Donskoi submarine in the White Sea on Wednesday.

MBDA and BUMAR to modernise Poland’s ground based air defences

MBDA and BUMAR sign Framework Agreement for future Polish Air Defence System

Reference: MBDA

Image: MBDA

On 1st July 2009, Antoine Bouvier and Edward Nowak, the Chief Executive Officers of MBDA and the BUMAR group of Poland respectively, met in France to sign a framework agreement between their two organisations. The full details of the final agreement will be established and formalised during the next two months in readiness for its signature this autumn.

This agreement will see MBDA and BUMAR jointly involved in a project to modernise Poland’s ground based air defences. Long term co-operation will permit significant exchanges of technology between the two partners and the optimisation of investments already made. In this respect the new system will draw on elements of MBDA’s short-range VL MICA and medium-range Aster 30 missiles with other major subsystems such as the radars and the command and control systems developed by PIT (the Warsaw-based telecommunications research institute - Przemysłowy Instytut Telekomunikacji) and RADWAR (one of several companies within the BUMAR group which is Poland’s largest defence equipment manufacturer).

The agreement, covering the development, production, delivery and marketing of the future air defence missile system, confirms and advances MBDA’s relationship with BUMAR. In September 2007, MBDA signed an agreement with the leading elements of the Polish defence industry including PIT and RADWAR. This earlier agreement, aimed at establishing the means of meeting the country’s national air defence requirements as well as its NATO and European commitments over the next two decades, recognised MBDA’s leading position in the area of air defence systems designed to counter current and future proliferating threats.

Royal Air Force Tornados to integrate Pawevay bombs

RAF Tornados lock on latest guided munition

Reference: UK MoD

Image: Raytheon

The latest in a series of Paveway guided bombs is ready to see service with the RAF's Tornado fleet following six successful months with the Harrier GR9 on operations in Afghanistan.

Defence Equipment and Support staff have been working on integration of Paveway IV to the Tornado GR4. Paveway IV went into service in November 2008 and has become the freefall weapon of choice among pilots flying missions from Kandahar. The weapon is to continue its success story with the RAF's Tornado GR4 aircraft which have taken over from the Harrier GR9s in the fight against insurgents:

"A number of front line pilots have said they have been very impressed with the weapon and it was the envy of the coalition air forces operating out of Kandahar," said Squadron Leader Ian McKeown, the weapon's requirements manager with Defence Equipment and Support's [DE&S] Freefall Team. "Harriers have dropped a significant number of weapons in support of ground operations against all manner of ground targets and in all modes of operation. Accuracy has been highly impressive and the weapon has not failed to find its target. It does what it needs to do."

Raytheon Systems Ltd (RSL), a UK subsidiary of the American company, won the competition to design the bomb in 2003. Technology for the Enhanced Computer Control Group (ECCG) is provided by Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson and Thales Missile Electronics in Basingstoke supplied the all electronic in line fuze. The warhead case is made by General Dynamics in the US, with the explosive fill added by SEI in Sardinia.

Raytheon to develop the MAINGATE (Mobile Ad-Hoc Interoperability GATEway)

Defense Agency Awards Raytheon Up to $155 Million Contract to Develop an Interoperable Network Gateway

Reference: Raytheon

Image: Mercury

Raytheon Company has been awarded a contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to provide a cost-effective, highly capable military wireless network interoperable gateway. The contract provides Raytheon $24.4 million for one year. Options would extend the contract to 2012 and bring the potential value to $155 million.

The Mobile Ad-Hoc Interoperability GATEway, or MAINGATE, will integrate any combination of heterogeneous military, civil or coalition radios into a single network to facilitate communication among disparate systems.

"Our MAINGATE solution enables legacy analog and digital communication systems to be networked. It includes an affordable, two-channel, high data rate, next- generation network-centric radio system," said Jerry Powlen, vice president, Network Centric Systems Integrated Communications Systems. "We continue to build on our Internet Protocol-based networking experience to deliver the most advanced systems to our troops at a much lower cost than other systems in development today."

The unique architecture of the MAINGATE system overcomes the limits of most networking systems in use today. It allows for many more users to join the network at the same time and enables more than 30 different military and civil radios to communicate with one another while concurrently providing a high-capacity, mobile network.

One of the key technologies used in the system's development is Raytheon's Mobile Ad-Hoc Networking protocols. These MANET protocols enable the MAINGATE system to be mobile, allow nodes to join or leave the network and scale to a very large numbers of systems. Other technologies incorporated into the MAINGATE system include disruption-tolerant networking, which is designed to overcome disruptions inherent in wireless, line-of-sight communications systems; dynamic spectrum access to establish and maintain communication in congested radio frequency or noisy environments; and multi-input, multi-output technology to improve performance in urban environments.

From DARPA's webiste:

The Mobile Ad hoc Interoperability Network GATEway (MAINGATE) program will develop the next generation Network Centric Radio System (NCRS) with additional capabilities and an assured affordable unit price to the user. MAINGATE will create a radio gateway that enables legacy analog and digital communications systems to be internetworked and integrated into a heterogeneous network tolerant to high latency and packet loss. The technologies developed for the program will permit affordable, tactical, real-time, high fidelity video, data, and voice services to be deployed in a networked environment to support tactical operations in maneuver or dismounted operations for line-of-site and beyond-line-of-site communications on the move and at the halt. A unique characteristic of the MAINGATE program is the integration of a "default" IP radio network as part of the gateway. The network will include the integration of adaptive communications architecture, flexible routing architecture, and heterogeneous application services.

General Dynamics to provide support for U.S. Air Force centers

General Dynamics Awarded $68 Million Contract to Support the U.S. Air Force’s Air Defense Mission

Reference: General Dynamics

Image: 505ccw

General Dynamics Information Technology, a business unit of General Dynamics, has been awarded a contract by the Defense Information Technology Contracting Office to support the U.S. Air Force Air Defense Communications Service 2 program (ADCS2). The contract covers one base year with four option years and has a total potential value of $67.7 million if all options are exercised.

General Dynamics will provide around-the-clock operations and maintenance support for three Battle Control Centers and an Air Operations Center located in Rome, N.Y.; Panama City, Fla.; Tacoma, Wash.; and Anchorage, Alaska; and program management and engineering services for associated facilities worldwide. In addition, General Dynamics will serve as the single system manager for communications systems supporting the North American Aerospace Defense Command’s air sovereignty mission by developing, integrating and maintaining mission systems at the control centers and more than 150 remote site locations.

“General Dynamics will continue to support the U.S. Air Force by maintaining existing systems and through integration of current technology solutions for the United States’ air defense network,” said Charlie Plummer, vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Information Technology’s Air Force IT Solutions sector. “General Dynamics’ successful 25-year relationship with the customer and the program will allow us to provide comprehensive support on the extremely critical mission of securing the United States from potential threats.”

Lockheed Martin Drama in New Delhi

Lockheed Martin India head takes off in a hurry

Reference: Business Standard

Image: Indian Aerospace

Ambassador Douglas A Hartwick, Lockheed Martin India’s CEO, who was spearheading the world’s largest defence manufacturer’s campaign to sell India the F-16 IN medium fighter aircraft, was withdrawn from India in an unusual hurry. Sources describe Hartwick as “having barely enough time to pack” before catching his flight out of Delhi.

Defence ministry sources say Hartwick was removed as CEO after Lockheed Martin was found in possession of two folders containing classified information relating to defence purchases.

[keep on reading]

Northrop Grumman to provide real-time EO/IR imagery from UAVs

Northrop Grumman Fire Scout Aircraft Provided a Real-time Video Feed

Reference: Northrop Grumman

Image: RTAF HQ

A Northrop Grumman Corporation developed MQ-8B Fire Scout Vertical Takeoff and Landing Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (VTUAV) testing in the U.S. provided a real-time video feed of electro-optical/ infrared sensor (EO/IR) imagery to participants at the Paris Air Show recently.

The video feed was provided by a U.S. Navy aircraft flying from the Webster Annex of NAS Patuxent River, Md. The aircraft operated in a maritime training area the week of June 15 and was able to provide real-time, continuous streaming imagery of selected areas on the Chesapeake Bay and on the shoreline of Southern Maryland. Additionally, as a test of Fire Scout's communications relay capability, the U.S. Coast Guard operated a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) as a primary target on the water and the Air Vehicle Operator (AVO) communicated directly to the RHIB via Fire Scout. The air vehicle was commanded to "Clear Voice Relay" with one radio on an approved unused UHF frequency and the other radio was set to the Maritime Band. This configuration allowed direct communication between the AVO ashore and the RHIB operating on the water.

Utilizing a FLIR Systems Inc. BriteStar II that includes EO/IR with laser rangefinder/designator, the MQ-8B Fire Scout can find and identify tactical targets, track and designate targets, accurately provide targeting data to strike platforms and perform battle damage assessment.

"Fire Scout's ability to provide real-time EO/IR imagery in this demonstration is significant because it shows the impressive capability of the sensor and the ability to move data and imagery to remote sites in support of warfighters in the field. Fire Scout has once again proven its versatility and capability, and we experienced very good feedback from potential customers who observed this demo," said Mike Fuqua, Business Development Manager at Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

The U.S. Navy Fire Scout will complete Operational Evaluation this summer and is slated to deploy aboard USS McInerney (FFG-8).

Update about Space Fence

Update of "Northropp Grumman to support net-centric space situational awareness" (Tuesday, July 14, 2009)


Raytheon Awarded $30 Million for Space Fence System Design and Prototyping


Reference: Raytheon
Image: Defense Tech


Raytheon Company was awarded one of three $30 million contracts for Phase A system design and prototype of the Space Fence system. Space Fence will provide the U.S. Air Force enhanced space surveillance capability to detect and report space objects.

"Space Fence is the future of space situational awareness," said Pete Franklin, vice president for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems' National & Theater Security Programs. "This sensor will have the capability to detect and track very small objects in low Earth orbit."

The Space Fence program is a multi-phase acquisition leading to the delivery of up to three globally positioned S-band radars capable of interoperation with the Space Surveillance Network. The system will ensure there is no gap in capability as the current systems in the network reach the end of their life spans. Delivery of the first radar system is expected in 2015.