Daring Class
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The 5,200t Type 42 Sheffield Class destroyers were designed in the late 1960s to provide fleet area air-defence for Britain’s Royal Navy, after the proposed the Type 82 air defence cruisers were canceled by the Labour Government of 1966. Britain built 14 of the Type 42s, but these old ships are reaching the limits of their operational lives and effectiveness.

To replace them, the Royal Navy planned to induct 12 Type 45 Daring Class destroyers. The Daring class would be built to deal with a new age of threats: from saturation attacks with supersonic ship-killing missiles that fly from the ship’s radar horizon to impact in 45 seconds or less, to the reality of future threats from ballistic missiles and WMD proliferation. Overall, the Type 45s promise to be one of the world’s most capable air defense ships.

This feature will become a DID FOCUS article in due course. Meanwhile, a reduced 6-ship program continues to move forward. Several ships have been built, but full capability is still several years away. The latest development is a half billion dollar maintenance contract for the fleet…

• The Type 45 Destroyer Program [updated]
• The Daring Class
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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AARGM Concept
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The AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) is a medium range, supersonic, air-launched tactical missile whose primary job is to attack and kill enemy radars. The Italian Air Force is expected to buy up to 250 of these successors to the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), and AARGM is also a US Navy major acquisition program with around 1,750 expected orders from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Now Germany looks set to join, too.

So, why is that such a big deal? Perhaps the story of how a Serbian unit using an antiquated SA-3 battery managed to survive the 1999 NATO air campaign – and shoot down an F-117 Nighthawk stealth plane – will help put things into perspective. DID recounts those events, explains the new weapon, and offers updates re: contracts and key milestones.

The latest developments includes a failed congressional attempt to kill the program, and the final developmental test, as the missile begins production and prepares for Navy operational evaluation tests and hoped-for introduction into the fleet…

• Showdown Over Serbia: Demise of an F-117
• AGM-88E AARGM: Addressing the Gaps [updated]
• AARGM Contracts & Events [updated]
  
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Sting Ray onto EH101
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The UK Ministry of Defence has signed a GBP 369.5 million (about $615 million), 10-year contract with BAE Systems Insyte to support and maintain the Royal Navy’s light Sting Ray and heavy Spearfish torpedoes. The availability-based Torpedoes Capability Contract consolidates 11 separate contracts into one, and will see BAE Systems and the MOD’s DE&S Weapons Operating Centre working together as “Team Torpedoes.” It covers all aspects of support and maintenance, as well as Spearfish development and upgrade work. BAE says that they expect this partnering approach to lead to savings of about GBP 65 million, or 20% over the traditional support approach.

The TCC agreement will directly secure around 120 posts at BAES Insyte in Portsmouth, as well as subcontractors who will receive about 33% of the contract’s total value. Sub-contractors and torpedo details follow:

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MEADS: air view
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The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS program aims to replace Patriot missiles in the United States, the older Hawk system in Germany, and Italy’s even older Nike Hercules missiles. MEADS will be designed to kill enemy aircraft, cruise missiles and UAVs within its reach, while providing next-generation point defense capabilities against ballistic missiles. MBDA’s SAMP/T project would be its main competitor, but MEADS aims to offer improved mobility and wider compatibility with other air defense systems, in order to create an linchpin for its customers’ next-generation air defense arrays.

The German government finally gave their clearance in April 2005, and in June 2005 MEADS International (MI) formally signed a contract worth approximately $3.4 billion to design and develop the tri-national MEADS system. This DID FOCUS Article covers that program, which is about to add a second missile to the mix…

• MEADS: The System
• MEADS: Mobility and Employment
• MEADS: The Program
• Contracts & Key Events, 2004 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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IAF Mirage 2000TH takeoff
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In an effort to offset the growing number of combat aircraft retirements due to age, India is engaged in a round of fighter fleet upgrades. In December 2006, India Defence reported that the Indian Air Force was “close to finalizing” a EUR 1.5 billion (about $2 billion) deal to upgrade its fleet of 51 Mirage-2000 ‘Vajra’ fighter jets.

The aim was to give the aircraft, inaugurated into IAF service in 1985-1988, another 20-25 years of service life. Of course, “close” means something very different in Indian defense circles than it does in other countries. Almost 3 years later, the deal remains undone – and recent reports indicate that India may abandon the upgrade in favor of alternatives…

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Finnish Buk M1
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Control of the air isn’t a cornerstone of Finland’s defense, as it is for a country like Australia. Instead, Finland needs to make its airspace dangerous enough to deny enemies full air dominance, while its difficult terrain and mobile land forces bleed any Russian invasion until it quits. That thinking feeds into Finland’s recent decision to upgrade its medium and long-range air defenses, replacing existing radars and Russian 9K37-M1 Buk (SA-11 ‘Gadfly’) intermediate range anti-aircraft missiles with NATO-compliant solutions. The move will be Finland’s largest single defense purchase since it bought its current fighter fleet of over 60 F/A-18C/D Hornets.

The SA-11s were given to Finland in 2006, contributing $300 million toward the settlement of Soviet-era debts. The Buk is a successor to the SA-6 systems that featured prominently in several Mideast wars, and is also combat-proven. Russian forces used them to shoot down several Georgian drones, while Georgian forces reportedly used them to down at least 4 SU-25 close air support aircraft and a TU-22 bomber during Russia’s 2008 invasion. Upgrading Finland’s systems to 9K37-M2/M3 status was seen as a lower-cost option, but Finland decided to go with more advanced NATO systems for its Medium Range Air Defense Missile System (MRADMS) competition.

The finalists came down to 2 choices. On one side was Kongsberg’s NASAMS, which uses the same AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles that equip the Finnish Air Force. On the other side was MBDA’s SAMP/T, a land-based version of the advanced naval systems that equip Britain, France, and Italy’s top-line air defense ships. And the winner is – Kongsberg’s NASAMS. Complete with a recently-signed EUR 300+ million contract…

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Giraffe AMB radar
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In recent years, the Baltic States have made efforts to implement short-range air defense programs, though to date these have mostly been efforts to defend vital targets within their countries as opposed to any effort at national air defense. While Latvia and Lithuania opted for Sweden’s unjammable laser-guided RBS-70, Estonia went in a different direction.

After narrowing the competition to Raytheon’s FIM-92 Stinger and MBDA’s Mistral, the Estonian government announced the winner of a 1 billion Kroon (currently about $84.5 million) contract on Feb 28/07 for Mistral missiles, networked via Saab’s Giraffe 3D radars. Now the first systems are being delivered, and a Finnish decision will also help deliver complementary long-range radars to Estonia…

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Spanish EF-18 w. Taurus
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In 2007, Finland wanted Lockheed Martin’s stealthy AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles, in order to arm its F/A-18C/D Hornet fighters. Despite a history of good relations, the US State Department said no. Fast forward to 2008. The Russian invasion of Georgia, and Germany’s response, upset more than a few calculations in the region. As NATO weakens, the Nordic nations appear to be moving toward an informal defense compact of their own. Finland, whose memories of Russian invasion are still vivid, is repeating its request for stealthy cruise missiles – and if America says no this time, an alternative buy waits in the wings.

April 1/09: Finnish media report that the government’s financial affairs committee has given the go-ahead for EUR 200 million in upgrades and new equipment for the nation’s 67 F/A-18 C/D Hornets, as part of a EUR 1 billion plan to update the entire fleet by 2016. That approval includes a second request for American JASSM missiles, with Finland’s Patria Oyj acting as the integrator under associated industrial cooperation deals.

Finnish officials are reportedly optimistic that this request will be approved. If not, however, papers obtained by YLE indicated that KEPD’s Taurus 350 would be Finland’s secondary choice. KEPD is a partnership of EADS LFK, MBDA, and Saab Bofors Dynamics, and the Taurus missile has already been integrated with Spanish F/A-18 Hornets.

FC-1/ JF-17, armed
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Back in January 2007, DID wrote:

“The military world has no shortage of irony. The defense industry has its moments too, as Pakistan just discovered. An aircraft whose development was driven by military sanctions from the US and Europe is now derailed by military sanctions. This leaves the Pakistani Air Force dependent on an alternative from… America. Meanwhile, the Chinese are left with no export launch customer for a plane they may now have to reluctantly buy themselves, instead of the favoured and more capable J-10. Somewhere in Delhi, champagne is pouring – but first, a bit of background.”

The arms market also features no shortage of change. The agreement India thought it had, was reversed by Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. Now Pakistan has begun to take delivery of the new fighters, and is reportedly seeking additional agreements with Western firms for avionics and weapons upgrades. India’s competing Tejas fighter is overcoming project delays by looking to foreign component sources, but Pakistan and China remain out front with their offering.

The 2 countries have set up a joint JF-17 marketing agency with China to promote export sales, and signed an agreement for the first 42 operational PAF aircraft. DID has also added technical information and program history…

• The JF-17 Thunder, aka. FC-1 Fierce Dragon [updated]
• JF-17/FC-1: The Program [NEW]
• Stuck in Sichuan: The Saga
• Updates and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [NEW]
  
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ASRAAM on RAAF F/A-18A
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Past DID articles have discussed key advances in short-range air-to-air missiles, especially when combined with helmet-mounted sights. The combination of new wide-angle ‘staring’ seekers, exponential growth in onboard computer processing, 2-way data links, and the ability to lock onto a target anywhere within the pilot’s field of view, makes modern missiles like the Vympel R73/AA-11 Archer, Python 4/5, AIM-9X Sidewinder, and AIM-132 ASRAAM qualitatively different from their predecessors.

MBDA’s ASRAAM has taken a somewhat unique approach to these developments, optimizing itself for longer ranges that begin to overlap medium range missiles like MBDA’s own MICA, Raytheon’s AMRAAM, etc. Like the Israeli Python 5, the missile also leverages its sensitive seeker (shared with the AIM-9X) and Lock-On After Launch capabilities to give it the ability to engage nearly any target in view, without requiring extensive maneuvers by the launching fighter. If other aircraft sensors can cue the missile to fly to a specific location, which places the enemy within ASRAAM’s target acquisition cone, the missile’s engagement radius can even be extended to a 360 degree circle around the fighter.

Those capabilities were recently demonstrated by the Royal Australian Air Force, which purchased AIM-132 ASRAAM missiles for use on its F/A-18s. Their Air Combat Group recently as carried out the first in-service ‘Lock After Launch’ firing of an ASRAAM at a target located more than 5 km away, and behind the wing-line of the ‘shooter’ aircraft. The firing was conducted from an F/A-18 fighter aircraft, flying at low level and typical fighter speed. The result was a direct hit on the target. Your Industry News.