Link 16 Display
(click to see situation)

Jam-resistant Link-16 radios automatically exchange battlefield information – particularly locations of friendly and enemy aircraft, ships and ground forces – among themselves in a long-range, line-of-sight network. For example, air surveillance tracking data from an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft can be instantly shared with fighter aircraft and air defense units. More than a dozen countries have installed Link 16 terminals on over 19 different land, sea, and air platforms, making it an interoperability success story.

While recent advancements may make AESA radars the future transmitters of choice, Link 16 is the current standard. The Multifunctional Information Distribution System-Low Volume Terminals (MIDS LVTs) were developed by a multinational consortium to provide Link 16 capability at a lower weight, volume, and cost than the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS). This free-to-view DID Spotlight article throws a spotlight on the program, explaining Link 16, and covering associated contracts around the world.

• The MIDS-LVT Program
  • Into the Future: FAST & MIDS JTRS/ MIDS-J [updated]
• MIDS/ Link 16 Contracts & Key Events, 2004-2012 [updated]
• Additional Readings
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JLENS Concept

Experiences in Operation Iraqi Freedom demonstrated that even conventional cruise missiles with limited reach could have disruptive tactical effects, in the hands of a determined enemy. Meanwhile, the proliferation of cruise missiles and associated components, combined with a falling technology curve for biological, chemical, or even nuclear agents, is creating longer-term hazards on a whole new scale. Intelligence agencies and analysts believe that the threat of U.S. cities coming under cruise missile attack from ships off the coast is real, and evolving.

Aerial sensors are the best defense against low-flying cruise missiles, because they offer far better detection and tracking range than ground-based systems. The bad news is that keeping planes in the air all the time is very expensive, and so are the aircraft themselves. As cruise missile defense becomes a more prominent political issue, the primary challenge becomes the development of a reliable, affordable, long-flying, look-down platform. One that can detect, track and identify incoming missiles, then support over-the-horizon engagements in a timely manner. The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS) certainly looked like that system, but the Pentagon has decided to end it.

• The JLENS System: This is Not Your Grandpa’s Barrage Balloon
• JLENS Program [updated]
• JLENS: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
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• The Philippines, whose appeal for international arbitration of territorial disputes with China has been rejected by Chinese authorities, wants to develop a “minimum credible defense posture”, gets closer to the US.

• Rory Medcalf from the Lowy Institute for International Policy gives his Australian perspective on US rebalancing toward Asia [PDF]:

”[I]t’s not only or principally China’s navy that been involved in incidents at sea, but in fact more often Chinese civilian and paramilitary agencies, whether they are fisheries, the oceanic administration, or any number of auxiliary actors. In some ways, confrontation with these groups can be more dangerous because civilian agencies probably have less discipline regarding rules of engagement than their military counterparts.”

• The latest DoD Report on progress toward security and stability in Afghanistan [PDF] is out:
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P-8A: Sonobuoy drop

Sonobuoys are used to detect and identify moving underwater objects by either listening for the sounds produced by propellers and machinery (passive detection), or by bouncing a sonar “ping” off the surface of a submarine (active detection). They usually float, or have at least some part of them that does. Specialized sonobuoys can also detect electric fields, magnetic anomalies, and bioluminescence (light emitted by microscopic organisms disturbed by a passing submarine); as well as measuring environmental parameters like water temperature versus depth, air temperature, barometric pressure, and wave height.

Sonobuoys are generally dropped from aircraft or helicopters that are equipped with a means to launch them, and electronic equipment to receive and process data sent by the sonobuoy. They can also be launched from ships. This entry will discuss some of the new sonobuoys in use, and cover related contracts:

• Sonobuoy Types [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events, 2006 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
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C-212, hot & high

Presidential Airways, Inc. of Moyock, NC (now AAR Airlift) uses EADS-CASA 212 and Dash-8 transport aircraft for its work, which is short-haul supply flights in and out of remote locations – including combat zones. It also fields helicopters and other assets. The US military hoped that Presidential would be able to address some of the issues US combat commanders have raised with the need for transport aircraft that can use smaller runways, and land closer to zones of operations. Accordingly, the firm received several contracts from the US government for these services, covering a number of Central Asian countries.

They remain a major provider of fixed-wing, in-theater contract transport – but are no longer the only option, as the USA turns to contractors for both helicopters and fixed-wing support. This article chronicles fixed-wing contracts from 2004 – 2012.

RQ-11: higher, faster…

In 2005 the RQ-11 Raven mini-UAV was enjoying positive field reports from Iraq. In November 2005, StrategyPage reported that the RQ-11 Raven was also turning heads in what it calls “the commando Olympics” of Afghanistan:

“In addition to all the cooperation, there’s also a lot comparing notes. One thing everyone has noted is the large number of useful gadgets American Special Forces troops have. The most envied item is the American Raven UAV.”

It’s an apt phrase. This Spotlight article looks at Special Forces related mini-UAV buys from a number of countries, spurred by requests from special operations troops in theater…

• RQ-11: Drawing Raves
• The Commando Olympics: Other Teams are Competing [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
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• The US is considering extending joint operations with its allies to military space and cyberspace.

• The Economist is giddy about the convergence of new materials, online collaboration, 3D printing and more effective robots leading to another manufacturing revolution. To see to what extent these combined trends will play out in the defense sector, one project to watch is DARPA’s Vehicleforge set in motion last year by a $4M award to Vanderbilt University. They recently posted a presolicitation for Component, Context, and Manufacturing Model Library 2 (C2M2L-2) or “the second round of domain-specific models needed to enable the design, verification, and fabrication of the chassis and survivability subsystems.” One significant constraint is DARPA’s goal of remaining within an open source model, while there might be valuable inputs out there that may remain out of reach for legal reasons (ITAR for instance).

• David Van Buren left his position as chief of US Air Force acquisition to join L-3 as senior vice president of business strategy. Buren started his career as an Air Force officer in the seventies, then worked in the private sector for almost three decades, to return to the USAF in 2008.
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• The Pentagon released a report [PDF] on space export control policy after it reviewed, in cooperation with the Department of State, whether satellites and their components could be taken off the United States Munitions List (USML). They found that other countries have less restrictive rules and recommend loosening US legislation as well as giving more authority to the executive branch in such decisions. “Higher fences around fewer items” is how the Administration describes its policy. Early expressions of support or opposition in Congress seemed to follow party lines. Will this eventually make life easier for Thales Alenia?

• The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) loves directed-energy weapons [PDF]. Cost asymmetry – imposed by or to the enemy – has a lot to with it:
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MWMIK Jackal

Britain is part of the general push by western countries to field heavier, mine-protected vehicles, via orders for the Mastiff Cougar variant and its smaller 4×4 Ridgback companion. UK forces are also fielding vehicles like the Land Rover WMIK (Weapons Mounted Installation Kit) that have a very different core concept: firepower and visibility over protection. When deployed in mixed groups with more protected vehicles, and used on open terrain like the plains of southern Afghanistan, ‘the porcupine’ (WMIK) has earned enemy respect and commander requests.

The British sought to build on the WMIK’s strengths, in order to create a vehicle that offered both greater firepower, and off-road mobility. In response, Supacat’s HMT was adapted, then adopted, by the British (“Jackal”) and by Australia’s SAS commandos (“Nary”). Success led to more British orders for Jackal 2 and HMT 600 “Coyote” designs, and now Australian Special Forces seem set to add the new Extenda vehicle to their fleet…

• Supacat’s MWMIK/ “Jackal”: Origins and Program [updated]
  • Supacat’s HMTs: The Vehicles [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
• Appendix A: How Land Rover Lacunae Left Britain Looking
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• US Navy Vice Adm. Mark Harnitchek, Director of the Defense Logistics Agency since November 2011, published his revised 2012 guidance [PDF] that conveniently highlights where the changes are. Among them, improved support for reset and force drawdown processes in Afghanistan starts with optimized use of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a necessity pointed out on DID just two days ago. Airlift through the NDN (dubbed Northern Distribution Nightmare by Foreign Policy – see also this WaPo map which was drawn before options like use of the Ulyanovsk Russian airport were discussed) is way more expensive than using Pakistan’s GLOC (Ground Lines of Communication) and Karachi port. As in, as much as 3 to 5 times more expensive to ship out about 50,000 vehicles.

• As a side note, when USMC Lieutenant General Frank A. Panter, Jr. discussed options at a recent HASC hearing, he never said Indian but rather NDN, contrarily to bad transcripts floated in the Indian press. How would India even make sense if you glance at a map? It beats us too.

• The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report [PDF] on indigenous weapons development in China’s military modernization. They conclude that many analysts have let themselves being misled and blindsided by trends from past decades that no longer apply. “U.S. analysts and policymakers should expect to see continued advancements in the ability of the PRC to produce modern weapons platforms, and an attendant increase in the operational capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army.”
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