Lockheed HAA Concept

DARPA’s ISIS program is developing a stratospheric airship with sensor antennas that will include a radar nearly as large as the airship. This would create a battlefield surveillance platform with extreme endurance, and equally extreme resolution for its air and battlefield scans via radar and other carried sensors. This project is associated with Lockheed’s High Altitude Airship program, which is intended to soar at over 65,000 feet for over 30 days at a time, and ISIS could even play a significant role in ballistic missile and cruise missile defense.

Like all DARPA projects, HAA and ISIS pushed the limits of technology, as they work to field a capability set that could revolutionize the US Air Force. If they succeed, these airships could serve as a future substitute for an array of platforms, from UAVs to high-end jets like the E-8 JSTARS and E-3 AWACS. Critical technology areas include low aerial-density advanced airship hull material, bonding systems that will keep the radar attached in a hostile environment, extremely low-power transmit-receive modules for the radars, and novel power systems for long-endurance stratospheric airship operation. HAA has become a US Army program, but ISIS remains with DARPA – for now:

• HAA & ISIS: Capabilities & Objectives [updated]
• HAA: Challenges
• ISIS: Challenges [updated]
• HAA & ISIS: Programs [updated]
• HAA & ISIS: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  Continue Reading… »

• Brookings Institution and University of Maryland scholars tell the National Bureau of Asian Research that the United States and India should co-develop weapons technology to overcome technology transfer restrictions. They also argue that India’s rejection of US bids for its Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) requirement was based upon worries over supply reliability.

• The UK Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) announces the development of the National Training Estate Prime (NTEP) contract. The contract value may reach £900 million ($1.4 billion).

• The US Marines have doubled their AV8-B Harriers’ weapons loads in Afghanistan, by moving the planes’ LITENING target pod.

• The first 4 of 24 new F-16 C/D Block 52 fighter jets have left Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, TX, on a ferry flight to Morocco.

• Turkey’s BMC is rumored to have orders for its blast-resistant Kirpi vehicle from Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Russia is planning to buy up to 120 Iskander-M (SS-26 Stone) tactical missile systems. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry is reportedly putting the final touches to technical specifications for the replacement of its Voevoda (SS-18 Satan) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

• The Czech Defense Ministry is to impose sanctions on Omnipol because defects on its new EADS CASA C-295 turboprop transport aircraft have not been repaired on time.

• South Africa’s Hawk trainers are receiving upgrades; now they can also use GPS-guided Umbani glide bombs, with a 40km/24 mile range.

• A photograph emerges reportedly showing changes to China’s fifth J-10B prototype multirole fighter.

• Northrop-Grumman reports second quarter 2011 sales of $6.56 billion compared with $7.26B for the previous year’s period. Lower US Department of Defense (DoD) outlays among the factors identified as contributing to reduced quarter sales.

• Meanwhile, General Dynamics’ Second Quarter 2011 Results saw revenues totaling $7.9 billion, a decline from 2010’s figure of $8.1 billion. Orders for defense materiel contributed to a total backlog of $57.1 billion across all the company’s products.

• Following Beijing’s recent confirmation of its aircraft carrier program, a number of Asian countries reiterate their concerns over China’s naval buildup. Australia’s Minister of Defence uses his visit to the United States to re-emphasize the importance of India to the wider region.

• Lockheed Martin announces the launch of its High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator (HALE-D) airship from the Airdock in Akron, Ohio. Despite a successful launch, a technical anomaly eventually forced the flight to be abandoned.

• Rolls-Royce’s Half-Yearly 2011 Results reveal that underlying profit before tax is up by 28% to £595 million ($973 million). The engine-maker also benefited from one-off contract termination settlements resulting from the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).

• BAE Systems is also confident that it has delivered a robust set of half year results in the face of challenging market conditions. The company reports headline sales of £9.2 billion ($15 billion), down from £10.6 billion ($17 billion) in 2010, and underlying earnings of £968 million ($1.6 billion).

• Thales’ 2011 first half results show a 48% increase in underlying earnings in comparison with last year’s figures. However, defense and security orders declined by 3% over the same time period.

• Russia test fires a RSM-54 Sineva submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in the Barents Sea. The SLBM was launched from the Yekaterinburg nuclear powered submarine.

• A Filipino man is expected to plead guilty to trying to sell a US Government-owned RQ11-A/B Raven UAV for $13,000 on eBay.

• As the UK announces its recognition of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) as the ’legitimate governing authority’, pictures show the ‘Free Libyan Air Force’s’ MiG-21 fighters seemingly contravening the NATO no-fly zone.

• The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) publishes its analysis of the 2012 defense budget [PDF]. The report suggests that while defense expenditure increased by $300 billion between FY2001 and FY2011, almost half of the spending was unrelated to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

• UK Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP announces that the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) equipment budget will be increased by £3 billion ($4.8 billion) after 2015. The funding will allow the MoD to order equipment including 14 Chinook helicopters as well as converting the first Queen Elizabeth Class carrier to include catapult and arrestor gear.

• Meanwhile the UK Government’s Defence and Security Organisation (DSO) reveals that British defense exports for 2010 totalled £8 billion ($12.9 billion). Despite a decline in defense sales, the DSO further revealed that the UK’s share of the export market had increased by 4% throughout the same time period.

• Taiwan publishes its biennial national defense report. Despite outlining that China’s defense budget is 21 times higher and its military force levels are 10 times higher than Taiwan, the report says the island will not enter into an arms race with its neighbor. Instead Taiwan will focus upon putting its ‘limited defense resources to its utmost effective use’.

• The next Lockheed Martin Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship will be named USS Little Rock.

• The Indian Air Force is set to ignore requests from rival bidders and maintain its preference for the Pilatus PC-7 turboprop for its training aircraft requirement.

• Codan wins a sole source contract [PDF] to deliver its MRX-I Interoperability Gateway and NGT high power high frequency radios to the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) J6 Directorate.

• Ukraine exported almost $1 billion worth of defense products in 2010. The majority of exports involved African countries, including sales of T-55 and T-72 main battle tanks (MBT) to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo respectively. However, a former director of the state-run arms exporter, Ukrspetexport, disputes the figures.

• The Department of Defense (DoD) releases [PDF] its strategy for operating in cyberspace. Speaking at its launch, Assistant Defense Secretary William J Lynn III said the strategy rested upon five pillars that aim to harden defenses and reduce incentives for cyber attacks.

• The DoD also announces that a comprehensive review found only 20 out of 249 renewable projects impacted upon US military missions. The findings help clear the way for the future production of more than 10 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity.

• As NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen calls on alliance members to send more planes to Libya,  the UK Ministry of Defence announces that it is deploy four additional Tornado GR4s to assist in reconnaissance.

• The EA18-G Growler electronic warfare fighter’s 1st combat deployment returns, as 1st carrier-based deployment is out. And where’s that 3rd operational squadron?

• Israel expects to issue a request for proposals for an advanced jet trainer by the first week of August. Alenia-Aermacchi’s M-346 and Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin’s T-50 are expected to be among the contenders.

• The European Union (EU) criticizes China’s latest export quota for rare earth products for not bringing about any ‘noticeable change’.

• Russia’s Deputy Defense Secretary says that the overpricing of military equipment is caused by too many subcontractors within the domestic defense sector. Mikhail Mokretsov also claimed that contractors have more to do with logistics rather than production. Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev has sacked a number of generals, including the head of the electronic warfare branch.

• China’s Chief of General Staff, General Chen Bingde, uses the visit of South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin to continue his criticism of the United States. Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, praised South Korea for showing restraint in the face of recent provocations from North Korea.

• While the final Space Shuttle mission temporarily brings an end to manned spaceflight, the United States remains dominant in terms of covert- and not so covert - military satellites and space-based systems.

LEMV concept

The rise of modern terrorism, sharply increasing costs to recruit and equip professional soldiers, and issues of energy security, are forcing 2 imperatives on modern armies. Modern militaries need to be able to watch wide areas for very long periods of time. Not just minutes, or even hours any more, but days if necessary. The second imperative, beyond the need for that persistent, unblinking stare up high in the air, is the need to field aerial platforms whose operating costs won’t bankrupt the budget.

These pressures are forcing an eventual convergence toward very long endurance, low operating cost platforms. Many are lighter-than-air vehicles or hybrid airships, whose technologies have advanced to make them safe and militarily useful again. On the ground near military bases, Raytheon’s RAID program fielded aerostats, and then surveillance towers. Lockheed Martin has also fielded tethered aerostats: TARS along the USA’s southern border, and PTDS aerostats on the front lines. The same trend can be observed in places like Thailand and in Israel; and Israeli experience has led to export orders in Mexico and India. At a higher technical level, Raytheon’s large JLENS aerostats are set to play a major role in American aerial awareness and cruise missile defense, and its ground and air scanning ISIS radar was developed under a DARPA project, to pair with Lockheed Martin’s fully mobile High Altitude Airship.

The Army’s LEMV project fits in between RAID and HAA/ISIS, in order to give that service mobile, affordable, very long term surveillance in uncontested airspace. Its technologies may also wind up playing a role in other projects:

• The Army’s LEMV
• Surveillance Options, and the Rise of the LTAs
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• Northrop Grumman and Selex Galileo announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding to jointly pursue opportunities in the directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) international market.

• Goodrich’s Actuation Systems has been selected by Boeing to work on the US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (ARFL) Integrated Vehicle Energy Technology program (INVENT). The company will design and test energy, power and thermal management technologies for the next generation of tactical fighters and mobility transport systems.

• Sikorsky Aerospace Services (SAS) signs an agreement with Rheinmetall to provide logistics and training support to the German Armed Forces should their government select the MH148 Cyclone multi-mission helicopter. The MH148 Cyclone is the marine derivative of the S-92 helicopter.

• At Le Bourget 2011, Dassault’s executive chairman underlines why Rafale fighter exports are so critical for France. Still looking for their 1st, though…

• Flight International reports from the Paris Air Show on the growing interest in Moog’s Air Truck AT-802u single-engined civil/COIN turboprop.

• There’s also potential interest in a commercial cargo version of Northrop Grumman’s LEMV ISR airship. Boeing has its own Skyhook effort, and then there’s Lockheed Martin’s Skytug.

• Thales Australia and Nammo sign a ten year strategic teaming agreement to cooperate and boost export potential in the global ordnance market.

• Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander calls upon the UK Government to listen to recent criticisms from senior military staff and to reopen the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) [PDF].  The call came several hours after David Cameron revealed at Prime Minister’s questions that the National Security Council had reviewed the SDSR over the past year.

• Research and Markets publishes the United Arab Emirates Defense and Security Report Q3 2011.

• Danger Room analyzes an officer’s assertion that the US Navy should look to reducing its small number of large aircraft carriers for more smaller flattops.

• More UK defense cuts this year, says Defence Equipment Minister Peter Luff.

• North Korea attacks South Korean government computers.

• The Pentagon’s quasi-decoy blimps idea is a good one.
  Continue Reading… »

• Ignoring pleas from the DoD and defense companies, the House plans to fund the government through the rest of the fiscal year with a continuing resolution, which will include $74 billion in spending cuts.

• Joint Chiefs of Staff releases first update to its National Military Strategy [PDF] in 7 years, with an emphasis on a “whole-of-nation” approach. Not everyone is impressed.

• See all of India Defence’s Aero India 2011 coverage.

• A team led by Kratos Defense & Security has secured a contract, with a potential value of more than $1 billion, to provide C4ISR equipment and systems to an undisclosed national security customer.

• 1st radar light-up at altitude for Raytheon’s JLENS aerostat. One small step toward much better cruise missile defense, and aerial surveillance.

• EADS Cassidian completes flight tests of Spain’s 1st upgraded “EA-8B” Harrier jet.

• While the initial test flight went well for India’s MiG-29 upgrades, the program will still be late.

• Re-engining of the E-8C JSTARS ground surveillance & control aircraft inches forward, with a successful Preliminary Design Review for the bleed air sub-system.

• Four companies – ThalesRaytheon Systems, General Dynamics, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman – have won contracts totaling approximately $20 million ($5 million each) for Phase 2 development of the USMC Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S).

• MOD’s Defence Estate announces a tender worth up to GBP 3.9 million to provide all housing-related services to the UK armed forces and families over the next 5 to 10 years.

• New UK in-theater repair and maintenance shop, capable of servicing 26 armored vehicles, is opened at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

• US Aerospace’s latest collaboration announcement is China’s AVIC. The J-20 stealth fighter manufacturer would reportedly collaborate to offer their L-15 Falcon trainer for the USA’s T-X competition, and possibly their Hongdu subsidiary’s AV313 helicopter for the US Presidential Helicopter competition. Uh-huh. Question is, is US Aerospace trying to snag contracts – or investors?

• DoD report to Congress on contracting fraud [PDF] details civil and criminal fraud committed by over 100 contractors, many of whom continued to receive funds from the department.

• General Dynamics’ 10 million share buyback would be worth $757 million based on the closing stock price on Feb 3/11.

• Lockheed Martin freezes CEO Robert Stevens’ salary at $1.8 million for 3rd year in a row.

• Taiwan has inducted 2 more “frigates” to help deal with aggressive, illegal Chinese fishing vessels. Their 1,850-2,500t size and low armament suggest long-range Coast Guard Cutters, and indeed The Tainan and “Patrol Boat No. 7” are both serving in the new ROC Coast Guard Administration.

• Burmese junta deploying SA-3/S-125 Pechora anti-aircraft missiles, after spotting UAVs in its air space. Whether they’d be effective at finding and hitting UAVs, is another question.

• One thing we do know… the UAVs sure weren’t from the US Coast Guard. And won’t be any time soon, either. If they do decide to add anti-submarine responsibilities back to the USCG, that gap will really hurt.

• An official video explains the role of Singapore’s Searcher UAVs in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan, and looks at their challenges. Note the protective containerized quarters – and that high-engined plane landing behind them is an AN-72/74, probably chartered for its short takeoff capabilities.

• New E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carrier AWACS aircraft makes its 1st carrier takeoff and landing.

• LEMV surveillance blimp completes Critical Design Review.

• 2nd and 3rd Swiftship patrol boats arrive in Iraq. Iraq has ordered 12 of the 35 meter vessels.

• Raytheon announces a contract from Boeing for 6 AN/APY-10 maritime and ground surveillance radars. They’ll equip the US Navy’s first 6 P-8A Poseidon sea control aircraft.

• ITT’s 2010 financial results were boosted by sale of CAS, a defense systems engineering firm, to Wyle for $235 million.

• Up to $80.6 million to CAS to provide program support to the project manager’s office for US Army’s Utility Helicopters.