ROKS King Sejong the Great
(click to view full)

KDX (Korean Destroyer eXperimental) is the Republic of Korea’s big surface combatant shipbuilding program. This 3-phased program involves 3 individual classes of ships. The 3 KDX-I Gwanggaeto the Great Class ships are called destroyers, but a 3,800 tons their size and armament more properly rank them as small frigates. The last ship of class was commissioned in 2000. The next 6 KDX-II Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin Class ships are indeed destroyers at 6,085 tons full load, with a hull design licensed from Germany’s IABG and more advanced systems that include SM-2 air defense missiles. They were commissioned between 2003-2008.

With that experience under their belts, Korea has now launched into the 3rd phase of the program. The KDX-III King Sejong the Great destroyers are by far the largest, at 8,500 tons standard displacement and 11,000 tons full load. They carry the AEGIS combat system, along with a wide array of American, European, and Korean weapons and missiles.

DID’s article offers details regarding the class, as well as some of the relevant contracts. The latest item is a $41.1 million award to Lockheed Martin for combat systems engineering, installation, and testing aboard the 2nd ship being built in the KDX-III class…

• The KDX III Sejongdaewang-Ham Class
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
  Continue Reading… »

SU-35 flight test, 2009
(click to view full)

As one of our readers noted, DID’s articles from 2005-2007 seem to describe 2 different SU-35s. One is a mid-life modernized SU-27 Flanker, but there’s also a much more re-engineered “SU-35” variant with canards, thrust vectoring, etc. which has been confused with (and possibly redesignated between) the SU-37. So… what do we mean by “SU-35”?

This article explains the sources of the widespread confusion regarding the SU-35’s layout and key characteristics, reviews what is now known about the platform, and tracks its development. Those developments are likely to have broad consequences. The aircraft has a home customer in the Russian Air Force, and the SU-35 is being positioned to succeed most SU-30MK variants as Russia’s fighter export of choice within the coming decade.

The latest news involves the possibility that France’s Rafale may be about to lose another fighter competition, in Libya…

• Which Sukhoi? The SU-35 Platform
• SU-35: Export Prospects
• SU-35: Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

TIGR system screenshot
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Ascend Intelligence in Arlington, VA received a $14 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract from the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to supply the tactical ground reporting (TIGR) system for US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First tested in Iraq in 2007, TIGR is a multimedia reporting system for US troops at the patrol level, allowing users to collect and share information to improve situational awareness and to facilitate collaboration and information analysis among junior officers. TIGR complements existing reporting systems that focus on the needs of users at battalion or brigade level and above.

TIGR has a map-based user interface and supports multimedia and GPS input, as well as distributed search and caching capability. It uses software that runs on a laptop and taps into multiple databases containing intelligence about a particular area…

Continue Reading… »

IRST: B-2, ICU
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The F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet Block IIs are just beginning to enter service, with significantly improved AN/APG-79 AESA radars and other electronic upgrades. Recent years have seen another spreading improvement within global fighter fleets, however: Infa-Red Search & Track (IRST) systems that provide long range thermal imaging against air and ground targets. Most of these deployments have been on Russian (MiG-29 family, SU-30 family) and European (Eurofighter, Rafale) fighters, or special American exports (UAE’s F-16E/F Block 60s, F-15K/SG).

That absence puts American fighters behind an important curve. This IRST approach can defeat radar stealth in some instances, by focusing on engine exhaust or on the friction of the aircraft as it powers through the atmosphere. As F-14 pilots will recall, long range electro-optics also offer positive identification, conferring the ability to use a plane’s missiles to their full ranges, without creating friendly fire concerns. Best of all, IRST offers a passive way to locate and target enemy aircraft – one that won’t trigger radar warning receivers. When coupled with medium-range IR missiles like some Russian AA-10 variants, France’s MICA-IR, or even future versions of AMRAAM NCADE, an IRST system offers a fighter both an extra set of medium-range eyes, and a stealthy air-to-air combat weapon.

A program is beginning that would give American “teen series” fighters this capability, albeit in a somewhat unusual way…

• Tanks for the View: The IRST + Fuel Solution
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

The US Army Tank-Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) awarded 16 omnibus contracts to support its research and development (R&D) efforts encompassing the life cycle of military manned and unmanned ground vehicles. The contracts have a total potential value of $430 million.

TARDEC is the Army’s laboratory for military automotive technology and the lead agency for simulation and testing, demonstration, development and full life cycle engineering for ground vehicle survivability, robotics, power and energy, mobility, maneuver and sustainment, and condition-based maintenance.

The 5-year indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts were awarded for TARDEC omnibus services under multiple award task order (MATO) arrangements to the following companies:

Continue Reading… »

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

Raytheon’s AMRAAM has become the world market leader for medium range air-to-air missiles. It was designed with the lessons of Vietnam in mind, and of local air combat exercises like ACEVAL and Red Flag.

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 which 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.

Enter AMRAAM – the AIM-120 Advanced, Medium-Range Air to Air Missile. 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. New materials will be highlighted in green type. The most recent additions involve US government approval for 3 Middle East allies to buy AMRAAMs, as well as a request by Chile to buy $145 million worth of AMRAAMs and accessories…

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

RG-31, before
(click to view full)

Russian-designed RPG shoulder-fired rockets are a widespread threat in many parts of the world, including the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. At present, the most common threats involve RPG-7 single warhead variants, which are also produced in quantity by China (to Iran for use abroad) and by Iran (direct shipment to Iraq and Afghanistan).

There are 3 standard approaches for protecting vehicles against incoming RPGs: (1) Heavy or layered armor the warhead can’t penetrate; (2) Reactive armor tiles that explode outward when hit, deflecting, disabling, and/or disrupting the rocket and its blast; and (3) “Cage armor” or similar add-ons that can prevent detonation, or prevent the shaped charge jet from forming, at least some of the time.* The bad news is that providing enough steel cage armor can add a couple of tons to vehicle weight.

Enter BAE Systems’ LROD, developed under a fast-response Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program to provide RPG protection for Hummers and MRAP mine-resistant vehicles. The project led BAE to ask if steel was really necessary – and the answer was: no…

• Nearer My LROD to Thee
• Updates and Contracts [updated]
• Appendix A: How RPG-7s Work (*)
• Appendix B: Additional Readings and Sources [NEW]
  
  Continue Reading… »

Tornado refuels M346
(click for full picture)

At the 2009 Le Bourget air show, Alenia Aeronautica announced a long-awaited contract to sell its new M346 Master advanced trainer jet to the Italian Air Force. This initial agreement covers 6 jets and an integrated training service, with an option for another 9 aircraft.

Alenia’s M346 advanced trainer and light attack jet began life in 1993, as a collaboration with Russia. It was also something of a breakthrough for Alenia Aermacchi, confirming that the Finmeccanica subsidiary could autonomously design and manufacture advanced aircraft with full authority quadriplex Fly-by-Wire controls. Those controls, the aircraft’s design for vortex lift aerodynamics, and a thrust:weight ratio of nearly 1:1 from its Fiat Avio/Honeywell ITEC F124-GA-200 turbofans, allow it to remain fully controllable even at angles of attack over 35 degrees. This is useful for simulating the capabilities of advanced 4+ generation fighters like the F/A-18 Super Hornet, Eurofighter, and Rafale. Not to mention Sukhoi’s SU-30 family, which has made a name for itself at international air shows with remarkable nose-high maneuvers.

The Russian collaboration didn’t last. For a while, it looked like the Italian jet might not last, either. Now, it finally has its first confirmed contract…

Continue Reading… »

67% of the fleet
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The prime missions of the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt Class destroyer are to provide naval gunfire support and next-generation air defense in near-shore areas where other large ships hesitate to tread, possibly even as the anchor for an action group of stealthy Littoral Combat Ships and submarines. The estimated 14,500t (cruiser sized) Zumwalt Class will be fully multi-role, however, with undersea warfare, anti-ship, and long-range surface attack roles.

That makes the DDG-1000 suitable or another role – as a “hidden ace card,” using its overall stealth to create uncertainty for enemy forces. At over $3 billion per ship for construction alone, however, the program faced significant obstacles if it wanted to avoid fulfilling former Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter’s fears for the fleet.

True, or False?
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DID’s FOCUS Article for the DDG-1000 program covers the new ships’ capabilities and technologies, key controversies, associated contracts and costs, and related background resources. From the outset, DID has noted that the Zumwalt Class might face the same fate as the ultra-sophisticated, ultra-expensive SSN-21 Seawolf Class submarines. That appears to have come true, with news of the program’s cancellation at 3 ships. Or will it be 2?

The latest news involves more funds to finish the ship’s computing backbone, which has been identified as a concern in recent GAO reports…

• Zumwalt Class: Program and Participants (i.e. “Continue reading…”)
• DDG-1000 Key Technologies and Features
• DDG-1000 Issues and Controversies
• Zumwalt Class: Contracts and Key Events
  • FY 2009 [updated]
  • FY 2008
  • FY 2007
  • FY 2006
  • FY 2005
  • FY 1998 through 2004
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

Barak launch
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Despite a development timeline measured in decades, India’s indigenous “Akash” and “Trishul” programs for surface to air missiles have failed to inspire full confidence. Trishul was eventually cancelled entirely, and Akash is now slated for limited deployment only. India still needed advanced SAMs to equip its navy and army, however, and decided to try to duplicate the success of the Russian partnership that had fielded the excellent PJ-10 BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

In February 2006, therefore, Israel and India signed a joint development agreement to create a new Barak-NG medium shipborne air defense missile, as an evolution of the Barak-1 system in service with both navies. In July 2007 the counterpart MR-SAM project began moving forward, aiming to develop a medium range SAM for use with India’s land forces. Both missiles would now be called Barak-8. In between, “India to Buy Israeli “SPYDER” Mobile Air Defense System” covered India’s move to begin buying mobile, short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems for its army, based on the Python and Derby air-to-air missiles in service with its air force and naval aircraft.

These projects offer India a way forward to address its critical air defense weaknesses, and upgrade “protection of vital and strategic ground assets and area air defence.” In Israel, the Barak-8 is slated to equip its next-generation frigates, and may find its way to other roles. Beyond those 2 countries, export prospects beckon for a missile that may offer a value-priced alternative to the popular Standard-2 and Aster-15. This DID FOCUS article will cover the Barak-8 pograms in India, Israel, and beyond. The latest development involves additional reports that a firm $1+ billion contract has been signed…

• The Barak, and Barak-8 [NEW]
• India’s Barak Programs [updated]
• Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »