Nov 17, 2011 By Jim Wolf/Reuters - AviationWeek.com

The command responsible for U.S. military space operations lacks enough data to determine who interfered with two U.S. government satellites, anomalies behind perhaps the most explosive charge in a report on China sent to the U.S. Congress on Wednesday.

“What I have seen is inconclusive,” General Robert Kehler, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, said in a teleconference from Omaha, Nebraska, home to the military outfit that conducts U.S. space and cyberspace operations.

The congressionally created U.S.-China Economic Security and Review Commission said in its 2011 annual report that at least two U.S. environment-monitoring satellites were interfered with four or more times in 2007 and 2008 via a ground station in Norway.

China’s military is a prime suspect, the bipartisan, 12-member commission made clear, though it added that the events in question had not actually been traced to China.

The techniques “appear consistent with authoritative Chinese military writings” that have advocated disabling a foe’s satellite control facilities on the ground in a conflict, the commission said.

Kehler spoke to reporters during a conference hosted by his command on cyber and space issues. He was asked by Reuters whether he could assign blame for the possible efforts to take control of the Landsat-7 and Terra AM-1 satellites, as reported by the commission.

“First of all, I am familiar with the two incidents,” he replied. “The best information that I have is that we cannot attribute those two occurrences.”

“I guess I would agree that we don’t have sufficient detail,” Kehler added.

The commission in its report said an attacker could use access to a satellite’s controls to damage or destroy spacecraft with more sensitive functions, such as military communications or intelligence-gathering.

It accused Beijing of responsibility for mounting malicious cyber-activities, including to facilitate industrial espionage and to compromise U.S. and foreign government computer systems.

China’s embassy in Washington said in response that it was “obvious that the commission is entrusted with the mission of vilifying China’s image and spreading China threat theory by patching up unwarranted allegations against China.”

“We urge the commission to stop issuing such reports for the good of increasing mutual trust between our two countries while China will continue to play a responsible role in both the realistic and the virtual worlds,” Wang Baodong, the embassy spokesman, said by email.

17 Nov 2011 | Ref. 216/2011 BAE Systems

ST. INIGOES, Maryland – BAE Systems has received a $132 million U.S. Navy task order to provide C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) technical services for military operations around the world. The company will conduct maintenance, upgrades, logistics, training and sustainment support for various equipment, sensors and systems. These services will be performed on military structures, vehicles, ships and small boats.

The award, from the Navy’s Special Communications Requirements Division, is a continuation of work BAE Systems has been performing for more than 25 years. In many cases, employees deploy overseas and are embedded with Special Operations Forces or other military units to ensure their readiness. To date, about 90 BAE Systems employees have served these missions, many volunteering for multiple deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations.

“After 25 years, we are proud to have the opportunity to continue providing these critical services across the globe,” said Dave Herr, president of BAE Systems Support Solutions. “The strong relationship we have with our customer allows our entire team to meet and exceed the specialized C4ISR needs of the military’s men and women in the field.”

The three-year task order under the Seaport-e contract includes a one-year base term plus two option years. If all of the options are exercised, the total value could reach approximately $132 million. The work will be conducted at government sites around the world and managed at BAE Systems offices in Southern Maryland and Chesapeake, Va.

BAE Systems Support Solutions, based in Rockville, Md., provides a range of services to meet needs in readiness and sustainment and operational support across the land, aviation, maritime and C4ISR domains, supporting the U.S. Department of Defense and federal agencies. Support Solutions is also a leading non-nuclear ship repair, modernization and conversion company, serving the U.S. Navy and other maritime customers.

photo US Army

17 November 2011 army-technology.com

The US Missile Defence Agency (MDA) has completed an integrated flight test of the terminal high-altitude area defence (THAAD) radar weapon system at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, US.

A THAAD interceptor missile successfully intercepted a medium-range target (MRT) launched from a C-17 cargo aircraft and a short-range target (SRT) launched from a mobile platform.

During the flight test, the space tracking and surveillance system (STSS) demonstration satellites' sensors tracked two different missile targets, displaying the system's precision, real-time missile-tracking capability.

Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems missile defence and warning vice-president Doug Young said that the STSS satellitesdemonstrated hard-body detection and post-boost-phase tracking capabilities.

The STSS sensors tracked and delivered missile target data to the US MDA's command, control, battle management and communications system.

November 17, 2011 defpro.com

WASHINGTON | The U.S. Air Force updated its two capstone doctrine documents.

In October, the Air Force released Air Force Doctrine Document 1, Air Force Basic Doctrine, Organization, and Command. In early November, a revised AFDD 1-1, Leadership and Force Development, was approved and is expected to be available online later in November.

"Much has transpired in the world since the previous edition of AFDD 1 was published in 2003," writes Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz in the foreword to AFDD 1. "While we cannot accurately predict where and how we'll next be engaged, doctrine provides a leg up, outlining the basics of organization and command, providing guidance on how to think about and plan for different types of operations and missions. These foundational basics allow us to respond more quickly, freeing commanders and planners to think about larger issues, such as strategy, operational art and objectives."

Maj. Gen. Thomas K. Andersen, the commander of the Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education, added that AFDD 1 thoroughly discusses the concepts of airpower, airmindedness, and what Airmen provide to the joint force and the nation.

Andersen said the discussion of "airpower" merits special attention.

"Senior leaders discussed whether the overarching construct should be unitary or whether it should explicitly delineate the air, space and cyberspace domains in which the Air Force operates," Andersen said. "We ultimately decided on an inclusive definition of airpower."

That definition defines airpower as "the ability to project military power or influence through the control and exploitation of air, space and cyberspace to achieve strategic, operational or tactical objectives."

AFDD 1 also adds discussions absent in previous versions, such as cyberspace operations, integration of nuclear support, and an expanded discussion of Guard and Reserve integration, especially in a homeland context.

Additionally, AFDD 1 now includes the organizational discussion previously found in AFDD 2, Operations and Organization. AFDD 2 will be rescinded upon publication of a new AFDD 3-0, Operations and Planning, which greatly expands upon AFDD 2's planning discussion.

Other changes to AFDD 1 include distinguishing between traditional and irregular war and the role culture plays in war; replacing the three core competencies and six distinctive capabilities with 12 new core functions; expanding on centralized control/decentralized execution to provide more clarity to the concept; and including an expanded discussion on force presentation that reflects recent experience in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Following closely behind AFDD 1, Schwartz approved AFDD 1-1, the second of the Air Force's capstone doctrine documents. In addition to laying out the Air Force's best practices for creating leaders and applying leadership, Andersen highlighted the expanded definition of "Airman" contained in AFDD 1-1: "When addressing a larger audience within the Service, the term Airman now includes all uniformed members of the Air Force (including active, Reserve and Guard), as well as Department of the Air Force civilians."

AFDDs are available from the Air Force Portal homepage (Doctrine tab) as well as the Air Force's electronic publishing, or e-publishing, website. AFDD 1 can be downloaded at http://goo.gl/Duz3q (PDF 1.41MB, 144 pages).

AFDD 1-1 is expected to be posted to the Air Force e-publishing website later in November.

For the memorandum regarding the new documents from Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley, Schwartz and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Roy, go to http://goo.gl/GiLEJ (PDF 294KB, 1 page)

17.11.2011 par P. CHAPLEAU Lignes de Défense

2 MOP par B2, ça fait 27,2 tonnes de plus par bombardier stratégique américain. Lancé en janvier 2007, le programme de la "massive ordonance penetrator" s'est concrétisé avec la commande en avril puis en août dernier de deux fois huit de ces engins dotés d'un pouvoir pénétrant suffisant pour détruire des installations profondément enterrées. Coûts de ces GBU-57B (c'est leur autre nom): 28,2 millions de $ en avril et 32,1 millions de dollars en août, une paille pour Boeing, 1er fournisseur des armées US (avec déjà 197 milliards de dollars facturés au Pentagone en 2011).

Objectif de cette bombe guidée par GPS, équipée de 2,3 tonnes d'explosifs: "atteindre et détruire les armes de destruction massive profondément enfouies de nos adversaires" précise le Pentagone qui ne pousse pas l'effort de communication à donner la liste de ces adversaires.

Selon ses concepteurs, la MOP est capable de pénétrer 200 pieds de béton, soit 60,96 mètres! Dix fois plus que la BLU-109, la bombe anti-abris souterrains (Bunker buster), en service depuis 1985 (voir l'infographie ci-dessous).

On peut toutefois s'interroger sur lefficacité de telles munitions. Les "daisy cutters" (BLU-82B) larguées au-dessus des grottes de Tora Bora (Afghanistan) en 2002 n'ont pas eu l'effet escompté. Mais, comme le stock de BLU-82B est épuisé depuis 2008, il fallait regarnir l'arsenal...

La MOP ne détrône la MOAB, pour Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb  ou plus communément: Mother Of All Bombs.

Nov 17, 2011 Tucson AZ (SPX)

The U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon a $24 million contract for Paveway II laser-guided bomb components, the majority share of the Air Force's laser-guided bomb buy for overseas contingency operations.

The contract was competitively awarded because Raytheon offered the government the lowest price system that met all requirements.

"Numerous tests have demonstrated that Raytheon's combat-proven Paveway has unbeatable accuracy and unmatched standoff distance; this contract validates that our weapon also has the best price," said Harry Schulte, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Air Warfare Systems.

"Because Paveway is approved for direct commercial sales, we look forward to offering customers around the globe the same competitive pricing."

The combat-proven Paveway is a kit that transforms "dumb" bombs into precision-guided weapons. Paveway II and Paveway III are laser-guidance kits, while the Enhanced Paveway II, Enhanced Paveway III and Paveway IV use both laser- and GPS-guidance.

Paveway Highlights

+ More than 300,000 Paveways are in the inventory of 43 nations.

+ The Paveway family of weapons is integrated on 25 aircraft.

+ Thousands of Paveways have been used in combat.

16 Nov 2011 DefenseNews AFP

OTTAWA - Canada and Israel's defense ministers Nov. 16 they hammered out details of "deepening" military cooperation amid growing volatility in the Middle East and North Africa.

Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay said he was finalizing with his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak "successor memorandums of understanding" that build on an umbrella agreement signed in January.

Details of the pact were unclear.

MacKay would only say it would involve sharing information and military technologies.

"Israel needs strong reliable partners, of which Canada is certainly one. I would argue they could not find a more supportive country on the planet and partner in efforts to bring about stability in the region," he said.

MacKay pointed to "much more volatility... throughout the Arab Spring and Summer and now Arab Fall and the cascading effects" of the pro-democracy uprisings roiling the region, with effects felt in Israel.

"And so this is a very unique and valued opportunity to find the ground in which Canada can support (Israel) in a meaningful way," MacKay said.

Barak said a defense pact along with details of what it will entail could be announced within days, adding: "We are proud of the deepening defense" cooperation

16 November 2011 by Tony Osborne – Shepard Group

Dubai, UAE - The pilot of an MV-22 Osprey who recovered a crewmember from a downed US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle in Libya has spoken publicly about the operation.

Maj BJ Debendeleben, a pilot with US Marine Corps (USMC) tilt-rotor squadron VMM-266 told Shephard that the rescue mission highlighted the advantages of the tilt-rotor over the traditional rotary-wing aircraft it is replacing. Debendeleben was the lead pilot on the mission, which took place during the early hours of 21 March 2011.

The F-15E Strike Eagle, based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK, reportedly suffered a mechanical failure whilst during a mission to enforce the Libyan no-fly zone forcing the crew to bale out. While the weapon systems officer (WSO) was quickly picked up by friendly anti-Gadaffi forces following the incident, the pilot found himself using the skills he had learnt in survival school until help could arrive.

Off the coast of Libya, Major Debendeleben of USMC tilt-rotor squadron VMM-266 was flying an MV-22 Osprey on deck landing training on the assault ship USS Kearsarge when the emergency call came through.

'We were immediately told to land and prepare for an operational mission,' said Debendeleben, speaking at the Dubai Airshow.

The pilot, who has 1,300 hours on the type, was chosen to lead the flight of two Ospreys into Libya and retrieve the pilot. Planning for the mission was completed in a short time. The Ospreys on the Kearsarge were assigned to the Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP) mission in case a coalition aircraft was came down.

'I couldn't have asked for better conditions for a TRAP mission,' said Debendeleben, 'It was just another calm Mediterranean night.' The bright moon and little or no cloud cover made for ideal NVG operations.

In the cabin of each aircraft were 12 marines who would secure the crash site.

The Ospreys lifted from the deck of the Kearsarge not long after 1.30am, they flew low over the sea and made landfall east of Benghazi. Debendeleben then manoeuvred the flight around the city and at low-level through a canyon before contact was made with downed pilot on the radio.

'The situation was constantly evolving and we had no idea of the threat, and of course we had all had seen SA-24s and AAA on the news,' said Debendeleben.

With the location of the pilot known, the two aircraft pressed on and within minutes the aircraft were landing in a grass field south of Benghazi the F-15 pilot running onto the back of the second Osprey.

'We were on the ground for a minute,' said Debendeleben.

The pilot had been evading Libyans for nearly four miles and was relieved to be in the back of the Osprey. After take off, the flight aircraft immediately returned to the Kearsarge landing back onboard roughly 90 minutes after take-off. The recovery was completed so fast that a pair of CH-53s carrying a quick reaction force (QRF) of Marines was stood down and sent back to the ship before they reached the crash site.

'The aircraft performed flawlessly, all the systems worked really well and I think it convinced commanders that the Osprey was the aircraft for the task,' added Debendeleben.

Once VMM-266 received extra aircraft from Afghanistan, the unit was transferred to NAS Sigonella in Sicily to provide TRAP cover for coalition aircraft. Despite being based further from Libya, its likely that the Osprey's could have reached downed crews faster than ship-based HH-60s tasked for CSAR missions.

16 November 2011 - by the Shephard News Team

Goodrich has been selected by Boeing to provide landing gear system maintenance services in support of the United States Air Force fleet of Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. Under the contract, Goodrich also will provide training to Hill Air Force Base (HAFB) in Ogden, Utah who will perform overhaul of C-17 landing gear systems as a Goodrich supplier.

A company statement made the announcement on 16 November 2011. The contract covers 17 complete landing gear ship sets which are operated by the United States Air Force and foreign customers. Goodrich is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the Globemaster III landing gear system. It is also one of the largest landing gear overhaul maintenance suppliers in the industry.

November 16th, 2011DEFENCETALK AFP

The US Air Force has a new 30,000-pound bomb in its arsenal designed to penetrate targets buried deep underground, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The Air Force started taking delivery of the giant bomb, the "Massive Ordnance Penetrator," in September, said Lieutenant Colonel Jack Miller.

Under an August 2 contract worth $32 million, the aerospace firm Boeing is due to produce eight of the giant MOP bombs to fulfil the Air Force's "operational needs," according to Miller.

The Air Force could not say how many of the conventional bombs have been delivered so far, but the MOP is seen as a weapon made for going after underground bunkers and tunnels in North Korea or Iran.

The MOP bomb, with more than 5,000 pounds (or nearly 2.5 tons) of explosives, is supposed to fit on a B-2 stealth bomber to strike at underground sites hiding weapons of mass destruction.

About 20 feet (six meters) long, the GPS-guided bomb "will defeat our adversaries’ WMD before they leave the ground," according to an official description posted on the website of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and US Strategic Command.

The United States, which suspects Iran and North Korea have built nuclear facilities deep underground to thwart any possible air raids, has been developing the MOP bomb since about 2007.

The weapon, made to penetrate up to 200 feet of reinforced concrete before exploding, is ten times more powerful than its predecessor, the BLU-109.

The new MOP is also twice as heavy as the "daisy cutter" bomb employed in Vietnam and in Tora Bora at the outset of the war in Afghanistan.

The "daisy cutter" has since been retired and replaced with the MOAB, the Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb or "the Mother of All Bombs," which weighs less than the MOP bomb but contains more explosive power.

November 16th, 2011 By Raytheon  - DEFENCE TALK

Raytheon has completed testing and development of a new wireless method of integrating its combat-proven Enhanced Paveway precision-guided bomb on aircraft. The new integration tool, called WiPak, uses wireless technology similar to what is being used in many consumer wireless devices such as tablet computers.

WiPak consists of a small wireless transmitter and pilot interface in the aircraft cockpit, and a small receiver affixed to the Paveway weapon.

"WiPak enables integration of Paveway on a variety of aircraft previously unable to carry the weapon, and WiPak does so without modifying aircraft wiring or changing flight and stores management software," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Air Warfare Systems.

"With WiPak, aviators can easily and quickly employ Paveway for a small fraction of what it would cost to integrate Paveway through traditional means."

Raytheon has integrated WiPak on the Embraer Super Tucano counterinsurgency aircraft and is in the process of testing and deploying the system on similar aircraft.

About the Paveway Family of Weapons

The combat-proven Paveway is a kit that transforms "dumb" bombs into precision-guided weapons. Paveway II and Paveway III are laser-guidance kits, while the Enhanced Paveway II, Enhanced Paveway III and Paveway IV use both laser and GPS guidance.

Paveway Highlights

    * More than 300,000 Paveways are in the inventory of 43 nations.

    * The Paveway family of weapons is integrated on 25 aircraft.

    * Thousands of Paveways have been used in combat.

15.11.2011 DEFENSETECH

Rogue states with nascent nuclear weapon programs (cough, Iran, cough), consider yourselves on notice. The Air Force has started taking delivery of Massive Ordnance Penetrators. Yup, the 30,000-pound bunker busters, known as MOPs, designed to penetrate 30 stories of reinforced concrete.

(Oh, and the massive bomb’s name is almost as charged as the term, Pre-Dawn Vertical Insertion, if you get what I’m sayin.)

The service apparently got its first production MOP in September and has been stockpiling them ever since. That’s a decent turnaround since April when the Air Force gave Boeing a $28 million contract to deliver eight MOPs and their associated loading equipment. The service gave Boeing a follow-on $32 million contract for eight more MOPs in August. No word on why that deal cost an extra $4 million when it appears otherwise identical to the April contract.

The Air Force has modified several B-2 stealth bombers to carry two of the GPS-guided bombs, apiece. This pretty much tells you all you need to know about the type of mission the MOP will be used for; a super bunker-buster carried by our most survivable heavy bomber. It’s meant to threaten nations like Iran and North Korea with the prospect of an air strike that can take out their most hardened targets.

I’ve got to say, this is pretty timely, given the recent flood of publicity surrounding Iran’s alleged progress toward building a nuclear weapon. While the MOP is big and costly, the West may have more subtle ways of putting kinetic pressure on states like Iran.

photo USMC

16.11.2011 General Dynamics - army-guide.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, a business unit of General Dynamics, was awarded a $6.9 million contract by the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command to produce approximately 600 M2 heavy barrel (M2HB) machine guns.

This is the seventh delivery order awarded to General Dynamics since the company received an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract from the Army in 2009. "Fielded with military forces worldwide, the M2 machine gun has a well-deserved reputation as a highly accurate, effective weapon," said Steve Elgin, vice president and general manager of armament systems for General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products. "These new M2s will continue to serve U.S. warfighters well into the future." Production work will be completed at the General Dynamics facility in Saco, Maine, which employs over 400 people and has manufactured M2 machine guns since 1979. The production work for the new delivery order will be completed in the spring of 2012. Program management will be performed at General Dynamics' Williston Technology Center in Williston, Vt.