21 août 2013 LockheedMartinVideos

July 25, 2013. David Pugliese - Defence Watch

News release from Sikorsky:

Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX), has delivered the 400th MH-60 SEAHAWK helicopter to the U.S. Navy. The milestone consists of 166 MH-60R anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare helicopters, and 234 MH-60S utility/armed helicopters. The Navy took possession of the 400th, an MH-60R aircraft, on June 24.

“MH-60 multi-mission aircraft are among the most reliable and sophisticated maritime helicopters in the world,” said Capt. James Glass, Navy Program Manager, H-60 Programs. “The Navy intends to continue flying these helicopters well into the 2030s.”

MH-60S (“Sierra”) helicopters carry supplies and sailors between ships, and protect U.S. ships from surface threats in an armed configuration. Sierra aircraft are expected to take on an airborne mine countermeasures role starting in 2014.

MH-60R (“Romeo”) helicopters employ radar, acoustic sonar, communications links, torpedoes and air-to-surface missiles for the anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare roles.

Sierra aircraft, which entered U.S. Navy service in 2002, will remain in full rate production through 2015 as part of a currently planned production run of 275 aircraft. Romeo helicopters, operational since 2006, are currently scheduled to remain in production through 2017 to meet the Navy’s 291 intended aircraft buy. The two aircraft models have accumulated a combined 660,000 flight hours to date.

“Mission success in the harsh maritime environment is a testament to the men and women of the U.S. Navy who fly and maintain these SEAHAWK aircraft,” said Dave Zack, Sikorsky Maritime Programs Director. “The skilled workforce at Sikorsky, and our supplier teammates, remains committed to building and supporting the world’s most reliable, durable and operationally effective maritime helicopter.”

All but two of the 400 MH-60 SEAHAWK aircraft delivered to date are operated by the U.S. Navy. In 2011, the Royal Thai Navy took delivery of two MH-60S helicopters via the U.S. Government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

The U.S. Navy has acquired all MH-60 SEAHAWK aircraft since 2002 via five-year contracts. The current 2012-2017 contract funds 193 MH-60R/S SEAHAWK helicopters, plus another 24 Romeo helicopters for the Royal Australian Navy. Actual production quantities will be determined year-by-year over the life of the program based on funding allocations set by Congress and Pentagon acquisition priorities.

Sikorsky will deliver the first four RAN aircraft (before mission systems integration) during 2013. Additionally, Sikorsky will deliver the first two (of nine) Romeo aircraft for the Royal Danish Navy during 2014.

Sikorsky produces the MH-60R/S SEAHAWK aircraft models on separate production lines at its final assembly facility in Stratford, Conn. Avionics prime contractor Lockheed Martin performs all mission systems integration for Romeo aircraft at its Mission Systems and Training facility in Owego, N.Y., and also produces the digital cockpit common to both Romeo and Sierra models.

18/07/2013 Sources : EMA

Les 15 et 17 juillet 2013, le groupe de guerre des mines (GGDM) et les bâtiments de la mission Jeanne d’Arc achevaient respectivement leur participation à l’opération Enduring Freedom(OEF). Composé de deux chasseurs de mines tripartites (CMT) de la Marine nationale, le Pégase et le Sagittaire, le GGDM avait pour mission première de sécuriser les voies maritimes ainsi que les approches des ports, et contribuer ainsi à la sûreté de nos approvisionnements.

Le GGDM avait également comme mission de mettre à jour notre connaissance des fonds marins et des routes maritimes. Cette mission permet d’être en mesure de comparer, à tout moment, les cartes préalablement établies et les levées de fonds plus récentes des CMT.

Régulièrement intégré à l’opération Enduring Freedom durant son déploiement, le GGDM a amplement contribué à la connaissance approfondie de la zone permettant à la force d’entretenir un suivi précis dans la zone d’opération.

Les deux bâtiments qui composent la mission Jeanne d’Arc, le bâtiment de projection et de commandement (BPC) Tonnerre et la frégate anti-sous-marine (FASM)Georges Leygues,ont été intégrés dans l’opération Enduring Freedom depuis le 5 juillet dernier, offrant ainsi des moyens significatifs au profit de la TF150.

Actuellement, un bâtiment français est engagé dans OEF : il s’agit du bâtiment de commandement et de ravitaillement (BCR) Somme, qui accueille l’état-major de la TF150, sous commandement français. C’est la huitième fois que la France occupe cette responsabilité depuis le début de l’opération.

La France participe à la composante aéromaritime de l’opération Enduring Freedom(Task force150) qui a pour missions de dissuader et de lutter contre le terrorisme et ses réseaux de soutien, principalement les trafics d’armes et de drogue dans l’océan indien, la mer rouge et le détroit d’Ormuz. Cette zone, qui représente un intérêt majeur, voit la majorité du trafic maritime mondial y transiter. La présence permanente de bâtiments de la coalition contribue ainsi à la libre navigation des personnes et des biens.

July 12, 2013: Strategy Page

The U.S. Navy has asked missile manufacturers to quickly design and build them a target drone that will simulate sub-sonic Chinese anti-ship missiles. Previously the U.S. Navy had spent a lot of effort developing and building similar drones to simulate super-sonic anti-ship missiles. Apparently someone did the math and realized that the most likely near-term opponents (China, North Korea or Iran) all had a lot of Chinese sub-sonic missiles.  China sells a lot of these C-801 and C-802 anti-ship missiles. The C-801 is 5.81 meters (18 feet) long, 360mm in diameter, has a max range of 42 kilometers and weighs 636 kg (1,400 pounds) each. The C-801 is similar to the French Exocet, and is believed to have been based on that missile. An improved C0801 is the C802A which is a 6.8m (21 foot) long, 360mm diameter, 682kg (1,500 pound) missile, with a 165kg (360 pound) warhead. The C802 has a max range of 120 kilometers, and moves along at about 250 meters a second.

The French Exocet missile is the same size and performance of the Chinese missiles, but costs twice as much (over a million dollars each, but the manufacturer is known to be flexible on pricing.) The new Exocet MM Block 3 has greater range (180 kilometers) because of their turbojet engine. Exocet is a 670 kg (1,500 pound) missile that has been around for over three decades, has been proven in combat and is known to be reliable. The C802 is known to be less capable than the Exocet, but it looks similar and the Chinese continue to improve their Exocet clones.

The U.S. Navy asked for someone to build a sub-sonic reusable target drone that has a top speed of about 900 kilometers an hour, comes in about a meter above the water, can maneuver (pull 8 Gs) and have a max range of 700 kilometers. The target drone must float, last about for about 20 flights and cost less than $200,000. This missile would carry electronics to enable it to be maneuvered by a remote operator and monitor jamming efforts and all sorts of flight information.

The navy hopes to repeat an earlier success Three years ago, after nearly a decade of development effort, the U.S. Navy put its high-speed anti-ship missile simulator into service. This was the GQM-163A Coyote SSST (Supersonic Sea-Skimming Target), which  is a 31 foot long, 800 kg (1700 pound) missile with a combination solid fuel rocket and ramjet propulsion. It has a range of 110 kilometers and, because of the ramjet, a top speed of over 2,600 kilometers an hour. The Coyote is meant to give U.S. warships a realistic simulation of an attack by similar Russian cruise missiles (like the Klub.) At least 39 GQM-163As are to be built, at a cost of $515,000 each. The GQM-163A is the first U.S. missile to successfully use ramjet engines, and this technology can be now used in other missiles.

Coyote came to be in response to more countries arming themselves with high speed anti-ship missiles. In particular, there is fear that the Russian 3M54 (also known as the SS-N-27, Sizzler or Klub) anti-ship missiles used on Chinese subs, are unstoppable. But maybe not. India, (another major customer for the Klub) has feuded with the Russians over repeated failures of the Klub during six test firings three years ago. The missiles were fired off the Russian coast, using an Indian Kilo class submarines, INS Sindhuvijay. That boat went to Russia in 2006 for upgrades. India refused to pay for the upgrades, or take back the sub, until Russia fixed the problems with the missiles (which it eventually did).

Weighing two tons, and fired from a 533mm (21 inch) torpedo tube on a Kilo class sub, the 3M54 has a 200 kg (440 pound) warhead. The anti-ship version has a range of 300 kilometers, but speeds up to 3,000 kilometers an hour during its last minute or so of flight. There is also an air launched and ship launched version. A land attack version does away with the high speed final approach feature, and has an 880 pound warhead. What makes the 3M54 particularly dangerous is its final approach, which begins when the missile is about 15 kilometers from its target. Up to that point, the missile travels at an altitude of about a hundred feet. This makes the missile more difficult to detect. The high speed approach means that it covers that last fifteen kilometers in less than twenty seconds. This makes it difficult for current anti-missile weapons to take it down.

The 3M54 is similar to earlier, Cold War era Russian anti-ship missiles, like the 3M80 ("Sunburn"), which has a larger warhead (300 kg/660 pounds) and shorter range (120 kilometers.) The 3M80 was still in development at the end of the Cold War, and was finally put into service about a decade ago. Even older is the P700 ("Shipwreck"), with a 550 kilometers range and 750 kg (1,650 pound) warhead. This missile entered service in the 1980s.

These missiles are considered "carrier killers," but it's not known how many of them would have to hit a carrier to knock it out of action, much less sink it. Moreover, Russian missiles have little combat experience, and a reputation for erratic performance. Quality control was never a Soviet strength, but the Russians are getting better, at least in the civilian sector. The military manufacturers appear to have been slower to adapt.

It is feared that the navy has no defense against missile like Klub. Or, it may have developed defenses, but does not want to let potential enemies know how those defenses work (lest the enemy develop ways to get around those defenses.)

Jul 12, 2013 ASDNews Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] recently completed a series of Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) captive carry flight tests at the Sea Range in Point Mugu, Calif., advancing the research program toward its first missile release and free flight test later this year.

The captive carry missions were flown aboard a U.S. Air Force B-1B from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The primary mission objectives were to collect telemetry for post-flight analysis, verify proper control room telemetry displays and simulate all the test activities that will occur in later air-launched flight tests. All test objectives were met.

“Collecting telemetry data while flying in the B-1B bomb bay significantly reduces risk ahead of the first launch,” said Mike Fleming, LRASM air launch program manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Initial assessments indicate the missile performed as expected.”

The LRASM program is in development with the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and the Office of Naval Research. After a competition in 2009, Lockheed Martin’s LRASM was selected to demonstrate air- and surface-launched capability to defeat emerging sea-based threats at significant standoff ranges.

LRASM is an autonomous, precision-guided anti-ship standoff missile leveraging the successful Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) heritage, and is designed to meet the needs of U.S. Navy and Air Force warfighters in a robust anti-access/area-denial threat environment.

Armed with a proven 1,000-lb. penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, LRASM employs a multi-mode sensor, weapon data link and an enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to detect and destroy specific targets within a group of ships.

11 July 2013 naval-technology.com

The US Navy's Lockheed Martin-built 155mm long-range, land-attack projectile (LRLAP) has successfully completed four engineering verification flight trials at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, US.

Conducted as part of the US Navy's system design and development programme, the testing involved four rocket-assisted guided projectiles being launched and successfully destroying various hard and soft targets located 45nm away.

Engineers collected data and assessed warhead performance, which also provided the opportunity for the US Navy to develop new employment scenarios.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control LRLAP programme manager Richard Benton said the LRLAP would greatly enhance the US Navy's ability to respond to fire support requests by deployed troops onshore.

"These tests bring us closer to completing the 35 tests required by the US Navy to demonstrate the maturity and performance of the system," Benton said.

Designed to provide precision offshore fire support from a safe standoff distance to US Marine Corps, army and coalition forces, the LRLAP supports expeditionary assaults or urban operations in coastal cities with minimal collateral damage.

Expected to achieve initial operational capability in 2016, the LRLAP will also be deployed onboard the US Navy's DDG 1000 Zumwalt-class guided missile vessels.

Each of the DDG 1000's two advanced gun systems (AGS) can fire more than ten LRLAP rounds in a minute to support land-attack operations, while providing three times more effective than traditional 5in naval ballistic rounds at a lower cost.

The accurate and longest-range system features a GPS-based guidance system and a unitary warhead with an adjustable height-of-burst or point-detonation fuse and will serve as an affordable, ship-launched alternative to currently used missiles for expeditionary forces.

A BORD DE L'USS HW BUSH (Etats-Unis), 10 juil 2013 marine-oceans.com  (AFP)

Le X-47B, un prototype de drone furtif, a apponté sur le porte-avions américain USS George HW Bush mercredi, une première ouvrant un nouveau chapitre dans l'histoire de l'aéronavale, a annoncé l'US Navy.

L'appareil, contrôlé à distance mais plus autonome que les drones actuels comme le Reaper ou le Predator, avait décollé quelques dizaines de minutes auparavant de la base aéronavale de Patuxent River, dans le Maryland (est), pour rejoindre le porte-avions croisant au large des côtes de Virginie (est).

Le X-47B "opère de façon autonome lors de son vol et lors de l'approche du navire mais l'officier d'appontage a un contrôle numérique direct grâce à un bouton" d'interruption en cas de problème, a expliqué le capitaine de vaisseau Jaime Engdahl, responsable du programme.

Le démonstrateur, destiné à développer les technologies pour les futurs drones de l'US Navy, avait déjà été catapulté du pont du George Bush le 14 mai.

Le X-47B, qui n'a pas d'empennage arrière, est doté d'un moteur à réaction, et a une forme dite en "aile de chauve-souris" pour accroître ses capacités furtives. Il a été conçu depuis 2007 par la firme américaine Northrop Grumman, qui construit également le drone d'observation Global Hawk.

L'appareil a une envergure de 19 mètres pour une longueur de 12 mètres. Ce n'est à ce stade qu'un démonstrateur et il faudra de nombreuses années de mise au point avant l'entrée en service opérationnelle de drones dans l'US Navy.

Sa portée de 2.100 miles nautiques (3.900 kilomètres) en fait un potentiel bombardier à long rayon d'action.

July 10, 2013: Strategy Page

American fighter pilots (air force, navy and marine) are largely in agreement that, while the F-22 is a superior air-to-air fighter, the new F-35 is a better, if still flawed, all-round combat aircraft. A lot of this has to do with technology. The F-35 is a more recent aircraft, entering service a dozen years later than the F-22. Fighter pilots, who tend to be keen connoisseurs of aviation technology (many being university trained in aviation tech) note that the F-35 is actually using a new generation of tech as much of the F-22 stuff dates back to the 1980s and 1990s. This accounts for some of the tech updates the F-22 has received since it entered service in 2005. But the basic design and composition of the F-35 is a generation ahead of the F-22. As a result the F-35 is cheaper, more effective (in terms of tech), easier to maintain and designed as a fighter-bomber.

This last item is important for combat pilots, because they note there has been little air-to-air combat in the last few decades, but smart bombs (especially the GPS variety) have become cheaper, more effective and reliable and that has meant more calls for air support from ground troops. The F-22 is strictly air-to-air and despite heavily publicized efforts to give F-22s ground attack capability, the F-22 has not yet experienced combat. The smart bomb revolution also means that far fewer aircraft are needed and the air force can’t justify sending in the F-22 when there are so many available aircraft that can do the job a lot cheaper. So fighter pilots looking forward to a hot new ride tend to favor the F-35 rather than the F-22.

American fighter pilots do see downsides with the F-35. They believe the manufacturer and proponents promised too much and that the F-35 will never be able to deliver. There is a lot of doubt that stealth will work as promised and the shape restrictions on the F-35 (to make stealth possible) limit what the F-35 can do.

There are some attractive aspects of the F-35, especially because it comes in three distinct flavors. The vertical take-off F-35B is a 27 ton aircraft that can carry six tons of weapons and will enter service in two or three years. In vertical takeoff mode the F-35B has a range of 800 kilometers. The U.S. Air Force will get its 31 ton F-35A in 2016 or 2017. This is the cheapest version, costing about $154 million each. The U.S. Navy version (the F-35C) will arrive in late 2019 and cost about $200 million each (same as the F-35B). This version has a stronger landing gear to handle carrier landings and components that are more resistant to corrosion from constant exposure to salt water.

The F-35 has been delayed many times in the last decade and there is growing talk of cancellation. Orders have already been cut and the manufacturer is under a lot of pressure to get this new stealth aircraft into service. It’s still being debated how many F-35s will actually be produced. The U.S. Air Force assumes 3,162, but the Department of Defense is not so sure that many will eventually be built. Worst case, there will be more than ten times as many F-35s as F-22s. Most (about 60 percent) of the F-35s built will be used by foreign nations.

Last year the 187th, and last, F-22 fighter was completed. This last aircraft was sent to a squadron in Alaska which lost one in an accident two years ago. The manufacturer is not going to scrap or sell off the tools and equipment used to produce the F-22, but will store the stuff for a while in the hope that production may resume eventually.

That is unlikely as Congress passed a law forbidding the export of the F-22 fighter. Three nations (Australia, Japan, and Israel) sought to buy some. Efforts to change the law have failed. At one time there was a similar prohibition to the export of the F-16 and that law was changed. One reason for the law was the fear that F-22 technical and operational secrets would fall into the hands of a hostile power that would then build more than 200 of them.

The F-22 has performance that is far superior to that of any other aircraft in service, which is why several foreign air forces would like some. The combination of speed, advanced electronics, and stealth technology has created such a decisive advantage that F-22s are often matched up against as many as six F-15s to ensure their pilots face a challenge during training. So why is the F-35, with somewhat lower performance, getting all the export orders?

The first reason is price. The F-22 costs up to $200 million each (without even counting the huge R&D costs). The F-35 costs up to half as much (although that edge is eroding). This is one reason the U.S. is pushing exports of the F-35. This is why many more F-16s were exported, compared to the F-15. In any event, the F-35 will outclass a Rafale, F-15E, or Eurofighter, but not the F-22. The U.S. Air Force intended the F-22 to be part of a high-end/low-end mix with the F-35, much like the F-15 and F-16 were the combination in the 1990s, only the F-22/F-35 combination will be much harder to detect and defend against.

The U.S. Air Force saw export sales as a way to keep the F-22 production line active, giving it more time to persuade Congress to allow more to be built for the U.S. That did not work. Despite the high cost of the F-22, Russia is developing the similar T-50, and China the similar J-20. But neither of these aircraft is as capable, or as expensive, as the F-22. Neither of these aircraft is in service. The F-22 began development in the late 1980s, first flew in 1997, and entered service in 2005. The F-22 is expected to remain in service for at least 30 years. And for much of that time the F-22 will be the best, if also the least numerous, jet fighter on the planet. During that time many American fighter pilots believe the stealth advantage will be lost due to new technology. China, Russia and the Europeans will continue developing new combat aircraft designs and the appearance of unmanned fighters would change the situation most dramatically of all.

Jul 10, 2013 (SPX)

El Segundo CA - Raytheon report it has been awarded a $279.4 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract by the U.S. Navy to conduct the Technology Development phase of the Navy's Next Generation Jammer program.

"We believe the Navy's choice validates Raytheon's leadership in advanced electronic attack systems and technologies," said Rick Yuse, president of Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business.

"Raytheon looks forward to building on our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Navy as we provide the warfighter with innovative and reliable Next Generation Jammer solutions now and for many years to come."

Raytheon leveraged knowledge and experience as a leading tactical weapon systems integrator to provide an affordable, low-risk, comprehensive NGJ solution to the U.S. Navy. Raytheon also leveraged its Gallium nitride (GaN) based AESA technologies to provide warfighters with enhanced electronic attack capabilities.

"Raytheon provided the U.S. Navy with an innovative and efficient design capable of jamming current and future threats," said Yuse.

"Our technology approach met the program requirements and leveraged our industry team's extensive experience in combat-proven, high-reliability agile-beam RF systems designed for demanding carrier-based aircraft environments."

NGJ will replace the ALQ-99 tactical jamming system currently on the Navy's EA-18G Growler tactical airborne electronic attack aircraft.

Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems business, based in McKinney, Texas, will lead the Technology Development phase of the NGJ program with collaboration from Raytheon facilities in El Segundo, Calif.; Forest, Miss.; Dallas, Texas; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Largo, Fla.; and Andover, Mass

7/5/2013 Strategy Page

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class William Neason, left, and U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Stephen T. Desmond, right, patrol through the ruins of a 200-year-old castle during Operation Northern Lion in Mohammad Abad village in Helmand province, Afghanistan, June 24, 2013. Neason, a hospital corpsman, and Desmond are assigned to Georgian Liaison Team-9. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Ezekiel R. Kitandwe