EL/M-2032

In February 2012, IAI revealed that it has secured a $150 million contract for its EL/M-2032 fighter radar, from an unnamed customer. A Globes report places the customer within Asia.

The EL/M-2032 can be delivered in different sizes, and equips a number of different aircraft. It has been fitted to F-16s, including Israel’s own fleet. It has also been used to upgrade V/STOL Sea Harriers, F-5E/F Tiger light fighters, and F-4 Phantom, Kfir C10s, and Jaguar strike fighters around the world; and was recently picked for South Korea’s TA-50 and India Tejas lightweight fighters. So the question is, who’s the customer?

Latest update (Feb 3/12)

LVSR comes ashore

Why are trucks a big deal? Because they are the unglamorous but very necessary backbone of any mobile military force. The US Marines certainly fit the description of a mobile force, and Oshkosh Defense supplies their MTVR medium trucks. In 2006, the Marines took the next step, and chose a winner to replace a worn-down Oshkosh LVS heavy truck fleet that has served since 1985.

Like their predecessors, these new “Logistic Vehicle System Replacement” (LVSR) heavy trucks will usually find themselves transporting heavy equipment, or basic supplies such as ammunition, fuel, and water. The LVSR winner was also an Oshkosh design.

• Oshkosh’s LVSR Truck Family [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
  Continue Reading… »

Latest update (Feb 5/12)

SSK Dolphin Class

In November 2005, reports surfaced that that Germany would sell Israel 2 AIP-equipped Dolphin submarines, to join its existing fleet of 3 conventional diesel-electric Dolphin Class boats. In 2006, the deal for 2 Dolphin AIP boats was finalized at a total of $1.27 billion, with the German government picking up 1/3 of the cost. The new boats are built at the Howaldtswerke-Deutche Werft AG (HDW) shipyard, in the Baltic Sea coastal city of Kiel, with deliveries originally scheduled to begin in 2010. Those have been delayed, and have not begun as of yet.

Reports that an additional sale may be in the offing have now been confirmed, but just absorbing these 3 new boats will be no small challenge for Israel’s “3rd service”:

• The Dolphin Class, and Its Improvements
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

Ultra APV demonstrator

DOTE testing reveals vehicle & requirements flaws; Budget commitment to JLTVs; JLTV EMD RFP. (Jan 30/12)

In an age of non-linear warfare, where front lines are nebulous at best and non-existent at worst, one of the biggest casualties is… the concept of unprotected rear echelon vehicles, designed with the idea that they’d never see serious combat. That imperative is being driven home on 2 fronts. One front is operational. The other front is buying trends.

These trends, and their design imperatives, found their way into the USA’s Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, which aims to replace many of the US military’s 120,000 or so Humvees. The US military’s goal is a 7-10 ton vehicle that’s lighter than its MRAPs and easier to transport aboard ship, while offering substantially better protection ad durability than existing up-armored Humvees. They’d also like a vehicle that can address front-line issues like power generation, in order to recharge all of the batteries troops require for electronic gadgets like night sights, GPS devices, etc.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. JLTV certainly qualifies, though its future remains cloudy. That’s partly due to expected spending cutbacks, and partly due to the possible presence of “good enough” substitutes…

• JLTV: Program & Risks
  • The JLTV Family of Vehicles
  • JLTV: Goals and Constraints
  • JLTV: To Be, or Not to Be?
• JLTV: Participants and Platforms [updated]
• JLTV: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
• Appendix A: Phase 1 Technology Development’s Losing Teams
  Continue Reading… »

AIM-120C from F-22A
(click for test missile zoom)

SLAMRAAM updates; AIM-120D contract; AIM-120D testing & status; 2013 budget may be good news for AIM-120D. (Jan 26/12)

Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced, Medium-Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) has become the world market leader for medium range air-to-air missiles, and is also beginning to make inroads within land-based defense systems. It was designed with the lessons of Vietnam in mind, and of local air combat exercises like ACEVAL and Red Flag. This DID FOCUS article covers successive generations of AMRAAM missiles, international contracts and key events from 2006 onward, and even some of its emerging competitors.

One of the key lessons learned from Vietnam was that a fighter would be likely to encounter multiple enemies, and would need to launch and guide several missiles at once in order to ensure its survival. This had not been possible with the AIM-7 Sparrow, a “semi-active radar homing” missile that required a constant radar lock on one target. To make matters worse, enemy fighters were capable of launching missiles of their own. Pilots who weren’t free to maneuver after launch would often be forced to “break lock,” or be killed – sometimes even by a short-range missile fired during the last phases of their enemy’s approach. Since fighters that could carry radar-guided missiles like the AIM-7 tended to be larger and more expensive, and the Soviets were known to have far more fighters overall, this was not a good trade…

• Some MRAAM History, and AMRAAM’s Design Approach
• AMRAAM: Versions & Derivatives [updated]
• AMRAAM’s International Competitors
• AMRAAM: Program [updated]
• AMRAAM: Contracts & Key Events, FY 2006-Present [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  Continue Reading… »

Patriot system
(click for explanation)

Contract & error. (Jan 17/12)

The USA’s MIM-104 Phased Array Tracking Radar Intercept On Target (PATRIOT) anti-air missile system offers an advanced backbone for medium-range air defense, and short-range ballistic missile defense, to America and its allies. This article covers domestic and foreign purchase requests and contracts for Patriot systems. It also compiles information about the engineering service contracts that upgrade these systems, ensure that they continue to work, and integrate them with wider command and defense systems.

The Patriot missile franchise’s future appears assured. At present, 12 nations have chosen it as a key component of their air and missile defense systems: the USA, Germany, Greece, Japan, Israel, Kuwait, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and the UAE. Poland, Qatar, and Turkey have all indicated varying levels of interest, and some existing customers are looking to upgrade their systems.

• The Patriot Missile Family
• Patriot Engineering Services Contracts, FY 2004 – Present
• The USA’s Patriot Programs
• Other Patriot-Related Contracts & Events, FY 2006 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

3BCT-101st, Iraq-
no Chavis turrets?

650 more independent suspension retrofit kits; Dash ISS does well, but MRV variant has some issues. (Jan 24/12)

Navistar subsidiary International Military and Government LLC (IMG) in, Warrenville, IL has won billions of dollars in MRAP program contracts, to produce several variants of its blast-resistant vehicles. The Category I MRUV vehicle’s role is similar to a Hummer’s, albeit with more carrying capacity and much more protection. That has become a staple for IMG’s entry, dubbed the “MaxxPro” by its manufacturer. Their collaboration with an Israeli firm who provides up-armored vehicles for the Marines successfully overcame lukewarm initial interest, but even successful survivors of Aberdeen’s tests where challenged to offer enough protection against the ERP class of land mines that began to appear in Iraq.

Nevertheless, the MRAP program became a production race – and Navistar did very well under those competitive terms. In the end the military’s desire for standardization of its fleets exerted something of a gravitation pull on the competition. A July 2007 order vaulted Navistar into 1st place for initial MRAP Program vehicles ordered. A position they kept…

• MRAP Competitors, Navistar Totals [updated]
• MaxxPro Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
• Appendix A: Appendix A: The MRAP Story, and the MaxxPro Story
• Appendix B: MPV or APC to Face EFPs? (June 2007)
  Continue Reading… »

• Defense Secretary Panetta removes the F-35B STOVL (Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing) from its 2-year probation, just 1 year in. Rolls Royce is very happy. James Hasik adds some thoughts about the timing.

• Panetta also stated the US will keep 11 aircraft carriers.

• The US Army responds to complaints that their policy of refusing to arm MEDEVAC helicopters, in a war against illegal combatants, has led to delayed response and extra casualties.

• Fresh from its UAV pact with Alenia, EADS signs an agreement with Rheinmetall for a joint venture in the UAV field. Rheinmetall makes the KZO tactical UAV, which has been fielded in Afghanistan alongside Germany’s longer-range, Rheinmetall-operated, leased Heron-1 UAVs.

• Looks like Colombia was the country that recently joined Israel and Chile as Hermes 900 MALE UAV customers. The Hermes 900 is a Predator-size UAV, from the firm that makes Britain’s new MK450B Watchkeeper system.

• Australia’s Army has temporarily suspended S-70A Black Hawk helicopter flights, due to fractured bolts. The RAN’s S-70B Seahawk naval helicopters are different enough that they remain unaffected.

• The Navy thinks a small heli-UAV is just the thing to keep tabs on agricultural data at its Maui (Hawaii) experimental biofuel farm.

• US House Armed Service Committee (HASC) Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ-8) is resigning from Congress.

• Forthcoming HASC hearings: Getting Innovative Solutions from Concept to the Hands of the Warfighter (this afternoon); episode XXXVIII of Perspectives on Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness Efforts (tomorrow morning).

• According to Reuters the “activist” hedge fund MMI Investments LP is liquidating, after having taken positions in several defense and aerospace companies in the past couple of years.

• Latest on JSF: Reuters and Bloomberg report that Leon Panetta is about to announce that the F-35-B is off probation; Canadian industrial participation; 1st night flight; 3rd F-35B delivered; F-35C tail hook redesign.

• Israel’s IDF now believes that unrest in Syria has allowed Hezbollah to seize SA-8/ 9K33 vehicle-mounted surface-air missiles. They’re worried that Syria’s large chemical arsenal could also be vulnerable.

• K-Street Washington lobbyists see promise in the 2012 retirees, but how’s this for a blunt assessment? “Republicans are bonds. Dems are the options you play with the last 20 percent of your money…”

• The US Coast Guard is getting more and more interested in underwater inspection & surveillance. Their Research & Development Center is currently evaluating an advanced Underwater Imaging System (UIS) from CodaOctopus.

• Meanwhile, WSG has finished the initial demonstrations of their Argus One platform to the U.S. Department of Defense at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site. Yes, this is our unmanned blimp, and yes, we are happy to see you.

• Could the same gas hydrates that caused the BP Deepwater Horizon’s blowup become a stable, low-energy input energy storage medium for hydrogen?

• Algorithms matter. Researchers have developed one that offers up to 10x improvement on the fast Fourier transform, widely used for tasks like image compression.

• Did the US Army’s policy of refusing to arm MEDEVAC helicopters, in a war against illegal combatants, cause the death of a US service member? Rep. Tom Akin [R-MO-2] is upset. The US Army responds.

• Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy’s principal deputy Dr. James N. Miller will replace her when she leaves next month according to Yahoo News.

• Memo from the Pentagon: “Multiple U.S. Army Public Health Command studies of basic trainees have demonstrated that shoe selection based on arch type does not reduce injuries.” They do have a lot of soldiers running, so they ought to know a thing or 2. What follows are tips and cautions re: using new “minimalist” running shoes like the New Balance Minimus.

• It’s hard to call people who pay farmers 1/1,000th of their crop’s value Marxists, but FARC tries to wear the mask. Turns out they’re under pressure on the cocaine front, so they’re switching to… cattle rustling.

• President Obama’s campaign donors at Lightsquared still have a big problem with GPS interference, according to the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee, and the American FAA. The company didn’t mince words in its reaction: “the process used [...] was rigged by manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results”. Yeah, those evil FAA types, who want to be able to use GPS for civil aviation.

• France successfully launches [in French] its 4 Elisa project SIGINT/ESM micro-satellites, as a Soyuz rocket lifts of from French Guiana to place them in their 700 km orbit.

• Israel signs defense cooperation accords with Bulgaria. They’ve had military relations for some time, and Israel is an important defense supplier, but their record isn’t perfect.

• French naval personnel recently got an up-close evaluation of the MV-22 Osprey, aboard USS Bataan [LHD 5]. Even if they don’t buy it, it’s a step toward possible joint operations involving French ships.

• EADS’ executive succession is predictably political; CEO Gallois is asking for patience. Meanwhile, they’re still looking to the USA for possible defense growth.

• Russia gets another A-50U AWACS aircraft. It’s based on the same IL-76 airframe as India’s new A-50EI AWACS, but uses Russian radars and systems instead of Israeli technology. It will go well with their planned modernization of 60 MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor and C2 planes to MiG-31BM status.

• The Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff released the Joint Operational Access Concept (JOAC) [PDF] to describe how to gain operational access against modern Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) means.

• US Congressman Maurice Hinchey [D-NY-22] who sits on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense will retire at the end of this Congress.

• Lockheed Martin is shedding 90 electronics systems jobs in Maryland while CSC will lay off 114 people in Ohio.

• Adm. John C. Harvey, Jr. Commander, Fleet Forces Command in the US Navy wants his officers to know their ships and how they evolve: recommended video from last week’s SNA National Symposium.

• Construction of a solar farm has started at the Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) on the huge China Lake site in California.

• Lack of sleep makes you hungry. Something that serving military members had long suspected, now has scientific backing.

• Researchers at the San Antonio Military Medical Center think they have an E-75 vaccine targeting HER2/neu, that can reduce recurrence of breast & prostrate cancers. Big breakthrough? “Let’s test a vaccine for early-stage cancer on non-terminal patients!”