WORLD DEFENCE

Monday, 29 April 2013

AFFORDABILITY REMAINS PRIORITY FOR JOINT STRIKE FIGHTER PROGRAM

Affordability remains the priority for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, the Pentagon’s program executive officer for the Defense Department’s most expensive procurement told Congress yesterday.

Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s airland subcommittee that the program has made progress, but he acknowledged it is enormously complicated and has a ways to go.

Sequestration complicates the acquisition as well, the general said.

“We must use all our energy finishing development within the time and money we have, we must continue to drive the cost of producing F-35s down, and we must start today to attack the long-term life cycle costs of the F-35 weapon system,” Bogdan said in prepared testimony.

The F-35 comes in three variants and is being used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. In addition, it will form the backbone of allied nations’ airpower for decades to come, the general said. He called it a “dominant, multirole, fifth-generation aircraft.”

The fiscal year 2014 budget request includes $8.4 billion for continued system development, testing and procurement of 29 F-35 aircraft.

Twenty-nine F-35s are deployed in operational and training squadrons at three locations. The program is shifting from development to production and long-term sustainment.

F-35s flew 1,984 sorties for a total of 3,118 hours in 2012. Officials tested launching weapons from two of the variants last year and stood up the first operational F-35B Marine Corps squadron in Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, Ariz.

Sequestration has the potential either to stretch the development program out or reduce the capabilities warfighters can get, he said. Sequestration cuts funds for the program meaning development will be stretched out, causing the program to cost more in the long run. This will have impacts on international partners, he said.

“The increases may result in reduction of their aircraft quantities, which would, in turn, increase unit costs even more and cause them to relook their commitment to the program,” Bogdan said.

Furloughs of civilian workers “will have immediate negative consequences,” he added. It would cause a reduction in testing and could reduce productivity by a third, he explained.

Bogdan stressed that the basic aircraft design is sound.

“While there is still risk to the program, I have confidence in the resilience of the plan to absorb expected further learning and discovery, and stay on track, so long as it remains properly resourced,” he said.

CHINA MILITARY PLANES FLEW CLOSE TO DISPUTED ISlANDS

Chinese military planes, mostly fighter jets, made more than 40 flights close to Tokyo-controlled islands at the center of a territorial dispute on a single day this week, a press report said Saturday.

The flights took place on Tuesday, when eight Chinese marine surveillance ships entered the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone off the islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyus, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported.

The conservative daily, citing senior government officials, said F-15 fighter planes from an airbase on the Japanese island of Okinawa scrambled to intercept the Chinese aircraft which flew in waves towards the skies over the islands.

“It was an unprecedented threat,” one of the officials was quoted as saying.

Another said: “If such a show of force continues, it is feared it could lead to a situation where the (Japanese) air defence force may not be able to cope.”

The report said the military planes included updated Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 fighter aircraft.

The report, which did not say whether the planes intruded into Japan’s airspace, could not be immediately confirmed by Japan’s Defence Ministry.

Chinese government ships have frequently sailed around the five Tokyo-controlled islands in recent months sparking diplomatic clashes.

But Tuesday’s flotilla was the biggest to sail into the disputed waters in a single day since Tokyo nationalized part of the island chain in September.

On December 13, a Y-12 turbo-prop plane from China’s State Oceanic Administration breached airspace over the disputed islands, prompting the launch of Japanese F-15s.

It was the first known incursion ever by a Chinese plane into Japanese airspace, the government said at the time.

SEA AVENGER UAS COMPLETES KEY WIND TUNNEL TEST

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI), a leading manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), tactical reconnaissance radars, and sensor systems, today announced that it has successfully completed a key wind tunnel test on a model of its Sea Avenger UAS. Sea Avenger supports the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program by providing a long-endurance, survivable, carrier-based UAS for the U.S. Navy.

The wind tunnel test validated the low-speed characteristics of a new wing, resulting in higher endurance and lower approach speeds. The new wing is also designed to increase aircraft dash speeds, decreasing the time to respond to potential threats.

“GA-ASI is committed to providing the Navy with swift delivery of a robust and versatile aircraft carrier-based UAS that meets or exceeds known requirements, provides measurable manpower savings, and assures best value,” said Frank W. Pace, president, Aircraft Systems Group, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. “Reducing risk is a key component of this process, and our company has repeatedly designed and delivered low-cost, high-quality UAS, in part, because of our recurring commitment to invest in early development, as evidenced by this recent wind tunnel test.”

The 90-hour, eight-day test was conducted at the San Diego Air & Space Technology Center. The goal of the test, which was completed ahead of schedule, was to validate the low-speed characteristics of an updated wing in the approach, launch, and cruise configurations. The advanced design utilizes proprietary wing technology that enables high-speed flight, while also supporting excellent low-speed handling qualities desired for aircraft carrier landings.

The testing enabled GA-ASI to evaluate a specific set of configuration changes both quickly and economically. Wind tunnel testing also helps reduce program risk by providing empirical data to complement computational analyses. In addition, it provides the opportunity to correlate key performance data to analytical tools, such as computational fluid dynamics, and to validate various analytical methods.

Designed for fully autonomous launch and recovery from both USS Nimitz and USS Ford class carriers, Sea Avenger provides unmanned, autonomous, and long-endurance Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities responsive to the multi-mission requirements of carrier-based aircraft. The aircraft will provide for planning, control, tasking, collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of actionable information in support of Navy missions.

An evolution of the combat-proven Predator UAS series with high-performance maritime payloads, Sea Avenger provides the highest operational value while being the only affordable system capable of meeting the Navy’s aggressive program schedule.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., an affiliate of General Atomics, delivers situational awareness by providing unmanned aircraft, radar, and electro-optic solutions for military and commercial applications worldwide. The company’s Aircraft Systems Group is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable unmanned aircraft systems, including Predator A, Predator B, Gray Eagle, and the new Predator C Avenger.

LASERS BRING NEW URGENCY TO ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH

In the wake of the recent announcement that laser weapons will be put on U.S. Navy ships, the need for reliable, high-voltage shipboard power has become a matter of national security, officials said at this week’s Electric Ship Technologies Symposium outside Washington, D.C.

The Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored event featured some of the world’s top scientists and engineers in power systems, who agree that a new era in electric power is within sight.

“The work being done in this area is vital,” said Dr. Thomas Killion, who heads ONR’s Office of Transition. “As the upcoming deployment of a shipboard laser weapon reminds us, we need power generation and power management systems with greater-than-ever capabilities, but from devices that are smaller than ever.”

Earlier this month, Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert announced that for the first time a laser weapon system (LaWS) will be placed onboard a deployed ship, USS Ponce, for testing in the Persian Gulf in 2014. The announcement underscored the need for accessible high-power electric generation, capable of meeting the substantial demands that will be needed to power laser systems and other high-power weapon systems.

As the technology advances, and faced with rising and unpredictable fossil fuel costs, the Navy’s next-generation surface combatant ship will leverage electric ship technologies in its design.

While electric ships already exist, design characteristics of a combatant ship are more complex with regard to weight, speed, maneuverability-and now, directed energy weapons.

ONR-supported scientists are focused on cutting-edge technologies that include silicon carbide (SiC)-based transistors, transformers and power converters.

“SiC is important because it improves power quality and reduces size and weight of components by as much as 90 percent,” said Sharon Beerman-Curtin, ONR’s power and energy science and technology lead. “This is a critical technology enabler for future Navy combatant ships that require massive amounts of highly controlled electricity to power advanced sensors, propulsion and weapons such as lasers and the electromagnetic railgun.”

Killion said that a lighter, smaller footprint on ships will contribute to the substantial increase in energy efficiency that is predicted from breakthroughs in electric power research.

“The enhanced capabilities and potential cost savings of increased power at reduced size cannot be overemphasized,” he said. “This is the future.”

Improved power systems could have enormous impact in both military and civilian sectors. Concerns by engineers over an aging power grid in the United States and elsewhere, for instance, have grown in recent years.

The Navy’s power and engineering efforts that will further naval power hold similar promise for civilian benefit. ONR sponsors the Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium (ESRDC), composed of eight leading universities. The ESRDC is focused on afloat power systems, and leads efforts to address a national shortage of electric power engineers, and ensure U.S. superiority in electric systems.

Some of the critical technologies ONR is working on include power-dense electronics; new power conversion capabilities; energy storage; and sensors, weapons and protection. Killion said all of these areas deserve support because they are of naval and national importance.

“A key challenge in designing an all-electric future naval combatant ship is enabling technologies that can provide power agility with minimal energy storage needs,” said Beermann-Curtin. “We are making truly noteworthy progress toward those goals.”

At the symposium, Killion also announced the pending Fiscal Year 2013 Small Business Innovation Research solicitation opportunities in the power and energy area, including continued development of automated methods for design of cooling systems; alternative power supplies; ship energy use monitoring and analysis methods; compact connectors; and compact power for radio frequency sources.

US Navy Wants Lasers on Marines’ Trucks to Shoot Down Drones

If there was any doubt that the military has new confidence in its forthcoming laser arsenal, the Navy’s top geeks want to outfit Marines with a laser cannon to shoot small drones out of the sky.

Specifically, the Office of Naval Research thinks that Marine air-ground task forces are too vulnerable to adversaries flying cheap, small spy drones overhead, like the four-pound Raven the Marines themselves used in Iraq. Its answer: outfit Marine ground vehicles with laser guns.

It’s all part of a new Office of Naval Research program, formally unveiled Thursday, with the clunky name of Ground-Based Air Defense Directed Energy on the Move. For the time being, it’s just a research effort, but the office expects to award grants and contracts for it worth up to $400,000. And it’s doable.

So, the specs. The idea is to get a laser cannon weighing less than 2500 pounds mounted onto a Marine Humvee or comparable truck. The cannon needs to provide a “minimum optical output power” of 25 kilowatts, with an eye toward scaling up to 50 kilowatts, for a two-minute full-power blast. Hardware that can adjust for all “environmental conditions” Marines operate in — from a muggy beach to the arid climes of Helmand Province — is encouraged; the Office is agnostic on how researchers get there.

Is the effort realistic? Yes, but it’s also ambitious.

The Navy is making a big push during 2013 to get its laser arsenal finally out of the lab and into the fleet. The first task anticipated for the laser arsenal is exactly the one envisioned here for Marine trucks — shooting down small drones hovering too close for comfort. The Navy’s had solid-state lasers capable of burning through a boat’s outboard motor at sea for two years, and those models generated 15 kilowatts worth of power. In tests three years ago, an MK-15 Phalanx cannon tricked out to host a laser successfully shot down small drones.

BOEING UNVEILS UPDATED F/A-XX SIXTH GENERATION FIGHTER CONCEPT

The Boeing concept also features canards, which is somewhat of a surprise because the motion of those forward mounted control surfaces is generally assumed to compromise a stealth aircraft's frontal radar cross-section. But the lack of vertical tail surfaces suggests the aircraft would be optimized for all-aspect broadband stealth, which would be needed for operations in the most challenging anti-access/area denial environments.

Also of note in the manned version of the company's F/A-XX concept is the placement of the cockpit-rearward visibility appears to be restricted without the aid of a sensor apparatus similar to the F-35's distributed aperture system of six infrared cameras.

The Boeing F/A-XX concept is a response to a USN request for information (RFI) from April 2012 soliciting data for a replacement for the service's Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler fleets in the 2030s. The Super Hornet fleet is expected to start reaching the end of the jet's 9000h useful lifespan during that time period.

"The intent of this research is to solicit industry inputs on candidate solutions for CVN [nuclear-powered aircraft carrier] based aircraft to provide air supremacy with a multi-role strike capability in an anti-access/area denied (A2AD) operational environment," the navy RFI stated. "Primary missions include, but are not limited to, air warfare (AW), strike warfare (STW), surface warfare (SUW), and close air support (CAS)."

Navy leaders had said at the time that they expect any new F/A-XX design to have greatly increased range and offer far superior kinematic performance compared to existing tactical aircraft.

Sunday, 28 April 2013

NEW T-50 FIGHTER JET TO ENTER SERVICE IN 2016:PUTIN

Russia’s fifth-generation T-50 fighter jet will enter service with the country’s armed forces in 2016, and not 2015 as was previously announced, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

“The T-50 fifth generation jet should go into serial production and enter service in 2016,” Putin said at a live Q&A session with the Russian public.

The Defense Ministry had earlier said the jet would be ready in 2015.

Russia will start state flight tests of the T-50 in 2014, United Aircraft Corporation’s President Mikhail Pogosyan said on Tuesday.

The T-50, also known as PAK-FA (future tactical fighter aircraft), first flew in January 2010 and was presented to the public at the Moscow Air Show in 2011.

The T-50, which will be the core of Russia’s future fighter fleet, is a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft featuring elements of “stealth” technology,” super-maneuverability, super-cruise capability (supersonic flight without use of afterburner), and an advanced avionics suite including an X-band active phased-array radar.

India will also buy a fighter aircraft based on the T-50, known as the FGFA (fifth-generation fighter aircraft).

United Aircraft Corporation is the state holding company uniting Russia’s aircraft building industry including Sukhoi, a military and civil aircraft manufacturer.