Klubs No-Trump: the USA’s MSST Supersonic Target

MSST concept

In order to defend against a threat, you have to be able to simulate it for realistic training and evaluation. Navy ships are increasingly threatened by supersonic anti-ship missiles, which can leave defenders as little as 45 seconds from the moment they break the horizon to impact with the ship. The USA’s GQM-163 Coyote target was developed to simulate those, but the Russians also sell an interesting hybrid threat. The 3M54E “SS-N-27 Sizzler” variant of the Klub missile uses the usual sub-sonic, sea-skimming approach in order to extend its range, until it gets within 60 km/ 36 miles of its target. Then it boosts to supersonic speed, and performs evasive maneuvers to confuse defenses.

It’s a deadly threat. Which is why the USA has been funding the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target Program since 2008, in order to develop a target that can bring the same kind of sizzle to defensive exercises.

Rapid Fire 2011-12-02: NAVAIR Procurement Management System

• JSF PEO Vice Admiral David J. Venlet said in an interview with AOL Defense that ramping up production quickly while completing tests was a “miscalculation” but he has to live with concurrency, though he questions the delivery pace.

• Northrop Grumman’s 3-year, $8.9M Microscale Power Conversion contract could lead to higher-power radars with wider frequency ranges, without increasing their size. It’s an outgrowth of DARPA’s R&D into Gallium Nitride (GaN) circuits, and is one of several GaN-related contracts Northrop has received.

• MASTERing the CHIRP. What goes with the USAF’s ground-breaking Commercial Hosted Infrared Payload? Why, a MASTER ground control architecture that can expand to hosted payloads on other commercial satellites.

InTop: Sorting out Ships’ Topside Mess

USS Philippine Sea

A quick look at almost any modern warship shows a bewildering array of gear on its mast and upper surfaces. These “topside apertures” serve an array of functions, from communications, to data transmission, to electronic listening and defense. Not only do they disrupt ship smoothness, and hence radar profiles, when installed, but they can also be extremely difficult to integrate together so that object A’s transmissions aren’t interfering with critical service B. While firms like Thales in Europe pursue “integrated modular mast” technologies, the US Navy is aiming to go one step beyond. They’re funding “Integrated Topside” R&D to go beyond just a pre-packaged array, and turn all of these little bolt-ons into one common, smooth-running, and upgradeable basic architecture.

InTop for surface ships will be based on AESA radar technology, and aims to become an innovative, scalable suite of electronic warfare, information operations, and line-of-sight communications hardware and software. Its performance goals are to improve ships’ anti-radar profiles, increase communications bandwidth, and resolve electromagnetic interference and compatibility issues…

Incoming & Hostile: The USN’s JATAS Aircraft Warning System

AH-1Z: Hellfire test

The US military has been conducting a pair of competitions for defensive warning systems to equip its helicopters and transports. The Army’s CIRCM remains a hot competition as of July 2011, but the US Navy and Marines have picked their winner for the Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (JATAS).

This missile and gunfire warning system will equip the services’ MV-22B Osprey, MH-60R/S Seahawk, AH-1Z Viper, UH-1Y Venom and CH-53K HLR platforms, replacing ATK’s AN/AAR-47 Missile Approach Warning System.

Next-Gen 120mm Tank Killer: ATK’s M829E4 AKE

APFSDS in flight

ATK recently announced a $77 million, 3-year contract, exercising an option to develop and qualify the USA’s new 120mm tank-killing round for use in the U.S. Army’s M1A2 SEP Abrams tanks. The M829E4 is called the Advanced Kinetic Energy round, and belongs to a class known as APFSDS-T: Armor Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot with Tracer. As the picture shows, the shell casing releases a penetrator sabot dart, which flies at extreme velocity to punch through enemy tank armor. The tracer element makes it easy to see the round in flight.

While manufacturers like Rheinmetall use tungsten alloys for the APFSDS dart, American rounds use alloys of similarly-dense depleted uranium (DU)…

USA Spends up to $1.1B for Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Targets

Orbital MRT launch

March 8/11: The US Missile Defense Agency’s issues Orbital Sciences Corp. a $217.1 million firm-fixed-price contract with provisions for fixed-price incentive, cost-plus-award-fee, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, and cost-reimbursement clauses. In exchange, Orbital and subcontractors that include ATK and Honeywell will supply fully ready intermediate range ballistic missile targets, associated objects; and support services that include inventory storage and maintenance management, pre- and post-mission analysis, launch preparation and execution, engineering services, and modeling and simulation. If all options are exercised, the contract’s total value could rise to $1.1 billion. The total contract period of performance is from March 2011 to January 2018 (HQ0147-11-C-0006).

Orbital’s Multi-Mode Medium Range Target (MRT) system is frequently used to test SM-3/Aegis BMD and THAAD missile defense systems. It’s an innovative design that can be launched from land, sea, or even out the back of a C-17 heavy transport, using a parachute extraction and descent system. Orbital confirms to DID that the IRBM-T will be a new design, however, which they are not yet at liberty to discuss.

This purchase, and the push for a new design, fits into an important modern trend…

Israel’s Arrow Theater Missile Defense

Arrow test concept

In a dawning age of rogue states, ballistic missile defenses are steadily become a widely accepted necessity. Iran is widely believed to be developing nuclear capabilities, and Israeli concerns were heightened after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged that Israel be “wiped off the map” (the fact that America was also placed in that category went largely uncovered).

Because missile defenses are so important, states like India and Israel have taken steps to ensure that they have the ability to build many of the key pieces. The Arrow project is a collaboration between Boeing and IAI to produce the missile interceptors that accompany the required radars, satellites, command and control systems.

NOTE: Article capped and coverage suspended in 2011.

Jordan’s Pocket Gunships: Converted CN-235s

AC-235 concept

In February 2011, with unrest engulfing the Middle East, ATK announced a project with Jordan to turn 2 Jordanian CN-235 light transport aircraft into small aerial gunships.

The aircraft would pack electro-optical targeting systems that include a laser designator, aircraft self-protection equipment, and a weapons suite of Hellfire laser-guided missiles, 70mm/2.75 inch rockets (which could include laser guided rockets), and the same M230 link-fed 30mm chain gun that equips AH-64 Apache helicopters. The weapons are all controlled by ATK’s STAR mission system, turning the CN-235s into lethal but relatively inexpensive counter-insurgency platforms…

Rapid Fire: 2010-11-2

• Up to $1.7 billion to CSC, Sparta, and General Dynamics for infrastructure and deployment services for the US Ballistic Missile Defense System under the MDA’s Engineering and Support Services (MiDAESS) program.

• Bolivia signs agreement with Iran to buy Fajr F.3 and S-68 training aircraft, 52-seat Iran-140 aircraft, and 4-seat helicopters.

• Debt Buyback: Northrop Grumman to purchase $2.1 billion in debt securities of its Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. subsidiaries.

• A Flare for Flares: ATK snags $71 million contract to supply aircraft-deployed LUU-2D/B visible light illumination flares and LUU-19B/B infrared energy illumination flares for battlefield operations.

• Can you hear me now?: ManTech receives a $68 million contract to build and deploy an expeditionary cell phone system for the US Army’s forward bases in Afghanistan.

• Midwest Research Institute gets $35.5 million order to supply a test system for chemical weapon contamination at the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.

$77.7M to NGC for Helicopter DIRCM

AAQ-24 on AH-64

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. in Rolling Meadows, IL recently receive an unfinalized contract estimated at $77.7 million for 121 AN/AAQ-24v25 Guardian laser transmitter assemblies for installation on US Navy and USMC CH-53D Sea Stallion, CH-53E Super Stallion, and CH-46E Sea Knight helicopters, including associated technical data. The AAQ-24 Guardian/Nemesis is a next-generation directable laser-based countermeasures system, based on the LAIRCM system for larger aircraft. The idea behind such Directional InfraRed Counter-Measures (DIRCM) systems is to aim appropriately coded laser pulses at an incoming missile’s seeker, decoying it away.

Work will be performed in Rolling Meadows, IL (39%); Edinburgh, Scotland (16.8%); Goleta, CA (10%); Blacksburg, VA (9.4%); Boulder, CO (7.1%); Dallas, TX (5.5%); Lewisburg, TN (2%); Apopka, FL (1.8%); Woodland Hills, CA (1.3%); Tampa, FL (1%); Santa Clara, CA (1%); Melbourne, FL (1%); Wheeling, WVA (1%); and various locations throughout the U.S. (3.1%), and is expected to be completed in August 2012. This contract was not competitively procured by the US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River MD (N00019-10-C-0080).