XM-7 Spider System

44 more. (March 21/11)

The XM-7 Spider program was established to develop alternatives to persistent antipersonnel landmine in Korea along the de-militarized zone. Spider is more of a “remote explosive device” than a typical fire-and-forget land mine. It is detonated by soldier command, and that soldier can even use non-lethal canisters if those have been loaded.

Unlike conventional land mines, the XM-7 Spider always has a known location, and can be safely recovered with ease and and readied for a new deployment if it has not been fired. If that isn’t possible for some reason, the units will deactivate after a set time period so they won’t become a future threat. The XM-7 is the successor to the Matrix system deployed in Iraq, and part of the USA’s Non-Self-Destructing Anti-Personnel Landmine Alternatives (NSD-A) program.

• Anatomy of a Spider
• The XM-7 Spider Program [updated]
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  Continue Reading… »

• 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.

• Australia details of A$ 1.1 billion in multi-year plans for equipment to protect deployed soldiers.

• Frost & Sullivan: Military demand for satellite capacity contributes to industry’s resurgence.

• As the military and intelligence turn to the web and wikis, scientists wonder: what effect does that have on brain activity and comprehension?

• HMAS Dechaineux returns to service, doubling Australia’s operational submarine fleet.

• Australian troops to get new “Tiered Body Armour System” soon.

• Software glitch highlights US military’s heavy reliance on GPS-based navigation systems used in weapons and vehicles, a reliance that could make these systems vulnerable to disruption, warns defense expert.

• A murder of CROWS: EOS, Northrop Grumman look to dethrone Kongsberg in coming CROWS-3 competition.

• US Marines train with Romanian troops using non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray and Tasers.

• USJFCOM meeting grapples with radiofrequency spectrum management issues posed by proliferation of UAVs.

• US Senate is unlikely to take up the House-passed IMPROVE Act, which would reform the US defense acquisition process.

• USAF C-130Hs dispatched to spray dispensants on the growing Gulf of Mexico oil slick, as it approaches critical shorelines. Too little, too late?

• A US federal grand jury indicts 6 people and 3 companies with conspiring to defraud the US government of $40 million by supplying aircraft countermeasure flares that included banned Chinese magnesium. US DoJ release | Associated Press | Buffalo News

• From the “yeah, we’ve noticed” department: Chinese defense industrial ramp-up, penchant for unauthorized knock-offs, turning it from major Russian arms client to minor/non-client and competitor.

• Can computer aggregated probability modeling help US Intelligence agencies to avoid ther long history of filtering out dissenting opinions, and blowing big calls?

• Clould computing, biometrics, and major network programs are featured in the US Army’s 2010 modernization plan.

• Shock and Awe: General Dynamics, ATK get USMC contract to demonstrate Medusa 66mm flash-bang grenade and launcher.

• Having 20% of its Eisenhower-era KC-135 aerial tankers in depot at any one time makes it hard to meet 2 of 3 USAF MCRS scenarios.

• Back to the Future: Canadian Navy reinstates 1910 “executive curl” on naval officers’ rank insignia.

• Oppenheimer analyst boosts Boeing’s rating, cuts Lockheed Martin’s.

• Australia’s first 3 F/A-18F Block II Super Hornets begin their flight to Australia.

• Helibras breaks ground on new manufacturing facility for Brazil’s EC725 medium helicopters.

• Carafano: US Army needs to keep experimental units.

• Lund, developer of Tickle Me Elmo dolls, develops less lethal rifle.

• US, Canada discuss beefing up NORAD, expanding Hemispheric defense.

• Canada issues another search & rescue aircraft competition backgrounder. Any RFP yet? No.

• KOR Electronics gets $44.4 million to develop and deliver advanced RF jammers.

• USTRANSCOM awards SAIC $18 million order for improved business processes.

Celebrate Good Times…
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Bulova Technologies in Tampa, FL received a contract worth up to $41.2 million to supply pyrotechnics to the US Army.

The word pyrotechnics comes from the Greek for fireworks. The US military, however, uses pyrotechnics not for celebration but for illumination, marking, and signaling.

Pyrotechnics, ranging from flares to signals, provide important military capabilities, such as communication, illumination, training and protection…

(click to download)

Defense was an issue in the last Australian election. The center-left Labor Party attacked the center-right Liberal Party by citing mismanaged projects, and accusing the Howard government of making poor choices on key defense platforms like the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Joint Strike fighters. That sniping continued even after Labor won the election, and has been evident in more than a few Defence Ministry releases.

The new government made some program changes, such as canceling the SH-2G Seasprite contract. Yet it has been more notable for the programs it has not changed: problematic upgrades of Australia’s Oliver Hazard Perry frigates were continued, the late purchase of F/A-18F Super Hornets was ratified rather than canceled, and observers waited for the real shoe to drop: the government’s promised 2009 Defence White Paper, which would lay out Australia’s long-term strategic assessments, and procurement plans.

On May 2/09, Australia’s government released “Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030.” DID has reviewed that document, and the reaction to date including a new ASPI roundup of reactions from around Asia.

• Fast Incoming
• The Highlight Reel
• Additional Readings & Assessments
  Continue Reading… »

ADS mounted on Hummer

Airmen of the 820th Security Forces Group are busy these days. Not only are they conducting the user trial and training for the GSAT ShotSpotter + ScanEagle anti-sniper system, they’re also the first unit selected to conduct the extended user evaluation portion of the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) process for “Project Sherrif,” otherwise known as the Active Denial System. ADS won Popular Science magazine’s “Best of What’s New Award” in general technology back in 2001, and DID has been covering this system since May 2005; despite funding and requests from combat commanders, however, the system continues to move toward approval at a very slow pace.

ADS uses invisible, focused microwave beams at a frequency that that can’t penetrate human skin, but does stimulate nerves within it, producing an imaginary but painful burning sensation that instinctively forces people to move away. Past Project Sheriff reports also describe an escalating series of measures, from a “Long Range Acoustic Device” (sonic blaster), up to a Laser Dazzler, then on to the ADS pain ray before things escalate to live ammunition. Tech. Sgt. John DeLaCerda, the NCO in charge of the 820th SFG advanced technologies section, put it this way:

HPM E-Bomb concept

Detachment 8 Air Force Research Laboratory/PKDP at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM is researching new opportunities in all aspects of high-power electromagnetic weaponry. Their research supports missions such as survivability of U.S. Department of Defense equipment against high-power microwave emissions, the development of high-power microwave (HPM) weapons, and the refinement of high-power microwave-predictive modeling for inclusion into engagement and campaign-level models.

HPM actually encompasses a variety of devices. HERF (High Energy Radio Frequency) and EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) “electronics killer e-bombs” effects are HPM weapons, and this field has received the bulk for research dollars. So too, however, is “Project Sheriff,” also known as the “pain ray” that does no significant damage to its human target other than causing pain. Other nations believed to be conducting research in the area of HPM weapons generally include China, Great Britain and France.

The Air Force is awarding a $24 million to be split among these eight companies. DID lists the companies involved in the current contract, and also notes previous contracts along similar lines that extend back to 1994:

Not certified for lawyers

There’s a lot to be said for timing. Eagle Eye Body Armor sent us a release today noting that “Hunting accidents can be prevented carrying special hunting body armor... The Eagle Eye hunter’s jacket that allows free movement with light weight is specially designed for the protection of individuals during the hunt.”

Meanwhile, DefenseTech had a feature noting Taser International’s Less Lethal Shotgun. As of yesterday, Taser announced that it had “successfully completed a live-fire demonstration of the TASER XREP (eXtended Range Electro-Muscular Projectile), completing a research and development program for the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Multiple rounds were fired from a 12-gauge shotgun, one of the most prevalent shoulder fired launchers in use today, at ranges up to 30 meters demonstrating a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 (system prototype demonstration in relevant environment).” No word on what it does to quail, though if the answer is “instant barbecue prep” and there’s some possibility of hitting one, we’d consider it.