• Will Middle East unrest prompt governments to boost defense spending? Or kill/ delay existing arms deals, as has already happened in Iraq?

• Meanwhile, Japan is considering its acquisition path for new fighters. The F-2 program didn’t go quite as hoped, but Japan is still looking at a collaborative F-X project to field an advanced fighter, and possibly an engine project as well.

• Well, this is clever. Sentient, whose Kestrel MTI software helps Australian Heron and ScanEagle operators detect small moving targets, has developed an add-on that’s especially good at finding lifejackets in the ocean. A task that’s much harder than you’d think…

• Raytheon gets $42.8 million contract to train Afghan air force pilots in an undisclosed Arab Gulf country. UAE is a good bet.

• Ukraine is investing UAH 3.5 billion ($440 million) to build the Sapsan multiple-rocket launch system with a range of up to 280 kilometers (174 miles) that is expected to enter service in 2015.

• MBDA has an initial customer for their drop-in MPCV, which uses the Mistral short-range air defense missile, and for the accompanying IMCP/PCP local air defense command system.

• Navy’s free-electron laser reaches key developmental milestone ahead of schedule.

• Military vehicle electronics market increasingly opts for COTS-based technologies, says Frost & Sullivan.

• Also, BAE completes purchase of L-1’s intelligence services business for $297 million – part of a larger deal for France’s Safran to acquire L-1 Identity Solutions.

• The Pentagon must buy American-made solar panels, according to the FY 2011 defense authorization law; many of Nellis Air Force Base solar panels are Chinese made.

• Doling out justice: US DoJ charges former NASA employee with illegally exporting military infrared technology to South Korea without an export license; Army staff sergeant gets 7.5 years for aiding a government contractor in stealing $1.5 million in fuel from FOB Shank in eastern Afghanistan.

• South Korea installing underwater sensors near its border with North Korea. Better late than never, we suppose.

• BAE Systems thinks they’ve developed a viable anti-piracy laser weapon.

• Edwards AFB prepares to test the next generation of UAVs: Aerovironment’s Global Observer, Boeing’s X-45C Phantom Ray, and Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Pegasus N-UCAS.

• Boeing’s 787 and Airbus A380. What does their past decade teach us about requirements setting and engineering choices in other aerospace projects?

• Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance, which joined forces following the Air France KLM merger, announce a contract with Boeing to install the French E-3F AWACS fleet’s modification kits.

• Lockheed Martin participates in joint US Navy-Royal Navy ARTIST research program to develop advanced naval radar systems.

• Up to $47 million to URS to provide software engineering services support to the US Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgen Division.

• Sweden receives Parliamentary approval for a 2010 buy of 2 next-generation Type A26 fast-attack submarines; an initial design contract was issued in February 2010.

• Eye in the Sky: Israel’s recently launched spy satellite Ofeq 9, the latest in a series of Ofeq satellites built by Israel Aerospace Industries, began transmitting June 23.

• Truckin’: A report [pdf] by the Democratic staff of a US House Committee on Oversight and Government Report subcommittee criticizes DoD for lax oversight of the $2.16 billion Afghan Host Nation Trucking contract.

• Laser Shows: Northrop Grumman secures phase 2 contract from DARPA for development of fiber laser technology for weapons.

• No left turn: Boeing consolidates its 747 Airborne Laser and directed energy work in Albuquerque, NM.

• Lockheed Martin, Alaska Aerospace partner to bid for GMD missile interceptor support contract.

• Full of Holes: DoD grants $1.2 million to New England School of Acupunture to test effectiveness of acupuncture in treating Gulf War illnesses.

• New President: Raytheon names Thomas Kennedy to head Integrated Defense Systems unit, which supplies the Patriot air defense system and other defense systems.

• New Commander: Lt Gen Peter Devlin takes over command of the Canadian Army from Lt Gen Andrew Leslie. What, you thought we meant some other new commander?

• Information Dissemination on 2008 at-sea usage data and implications for various US Navy ship types.

• India to issue a new defense procurement policy, hopes to reduce delays in purchasing weapons, and to increase domestic production.

• India’s Mahindra Group is lobbying the government to lift foreign ownership cap for defense firms to 49%. The firm is involved in a joint venture with BAE systems, among others.

• Pakistan gets its new guns in just over 3 years; India is still dithering after more than 6 years…

• Britain’s maritime replenishment options: From Rover/Leaf to… MARS? Aegir? JSS?

• Chile commissions former American Kaiser Class oiler/ station support ship Andrew J. Higgins [T-AO 190], as the Almirante Montt.

• South Korea, Japan and China mull tripartite security framework.

• Denmark plans to decide sooner re: its future fighter jet. F-35, JAS-39NG Gripen, F/A-18 Super Hornet competing.

• US Missile Defense Agency shoots down ballistic missile with airborne laser.

• Former Hawaii superferries delivering supplies to Haiti. A JHSV preview?

• US Secretary of State Clinton says US would extend security umbrella to Persian Gulf allies to protect them from an increasingly militaristic Iran.

• General Dynamics gets contract worth up to $387 million to support US Army’s constructive training systems.

• Sikorsky, Terma to collaborate if Danish government buys MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.

• Raytheon’s AGM-154C-1 passes communications test with JSTARS aircraft.

• Northrop Grumman demonstrates Fire Scout’s resupply capability during the US Army high-tech exercise.

• California State University program that trains linguists for the US DoD gets FY 2010 funding.

• Littoral Combat Ship: program updates.

• A British green paper calls for enhanced military cooperation between the UK and France. Industry says: what about R&D?

• India orders BEL’s Akash medium range surface-to-air missile systems.

• India issues turboprop trainer RFP, after instructors reportedly refused to fly HPT-32s.

• Up to 8 UAVs reported operating in Waziristan, Pakistan strike.

• Indian P-8i sea control aircraft may add air-air surveillance.

• Frost & Sullivan: Traditional defense contractors will lose market share to “disruptive companies” that offer “good enough” products at cheaper prices.

• China is threatening to sanction US companies that are involved in the US $6.45 billion weapons sale to Taiwan. Real, or a bluff?

• US Defense Secretary Gates warns Congress that if it makes substantial cuts to the administration’s budget request, the US military will have to “sacrifice” force structure and capabilities.

• USA’s coming rotorcraft crunch?

• US DISA awards Unisys a $187 million contract to provide mainframe computer capacity for USAF logistics.

• Who’s right on the US carrier fighter gap? Defense Secretary Gates or the Navy?

• Raytheon receives a $170 million foreign military sales order to produce AGM-65D and AGM-65G2 infrared-guided Maverick air-to-surface missiles for the UAE.

• Maritime laser clears 2 US design reviews.

• Thales wins 5-year training support sub-contract for Australia’s E-737 Wedgetail AWACS {DII}, 5-year avionics support sub-contract for France’s Rafale fighters.

• The US Navy stands up its new Fleet Cyber Command to oversee the service’s cyberspace operations. Google attacks termed a “wake up call” by DNI.

• Draper Lab gets $131.1 million contract to upgrade the guidance systems on the Trident II D5 missile.

UK Phalanx at night

The Mk15 Phalanx system was originally developed as a ship’s final hope against incoming missiles: a radar-guided 20mm gatling gun would would fire up to 6,000 rounds per minute, throwing up a last-ditch wall of lead. Phalanx has become a popular naval weapon that’s also effective against helicopters, UAVs, and even small boats. It has even migrated onto land, where its “Centurion” version can protect a 1.2 km square area against incoming mortars and rockets.

In September 2007, Jane’s reported from the British DSEi exhibition that Raytheon is working on a Phalanx variant that can fire lasers. Kevin Peppe, Raytheon’s Phalanx program director, said that:

“The Centurion system has provided a near-term C-RAM (Counter-Rocket, Artillery and Mortars) solution for our deployed forces. But we know that our customers would like a larger defended footprint beyond the kinematics of a gunbased system. A missile is too expensive, so we are looking instead at a solution based on the adaptation of a robust but relatively lowpower, low beam-quality commercial laser…. By using clever optics to focus the laser beam at range, we demonstrated that we could achieve sufficient energy on target to deflagrate a 60mm mortar round.”

The concept has promise – but it also has substantial obstacles to overcome before it can become militarily useful…

F-22: HPM emitter?

Nov 5/08: SAIC Technology Services Co., of San Diego, CA received an indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for $16 million for R&D under a Broad Agency Announcement entitled “Electro Magnetic Effects Research and Development.” This research will examine aspects of high power EM lethality, with missions that include survivability of military equipment high power microwave (HPM) environments, the development of HPM weapons, and the refinement of HPM-predictive modeling for inclusion into engagement and campaign-level models. The military woul like SAIC to make optimum use of available AFRL/RDH capital assets and to augment or complement AFRL/RDH capabilities, rather than pursuing its research alone. The Air Force Research Laboratory/RDKP, Det 8 Directorate of Contracting at Kirtland AFB, NM manages this contract (FA9451-06-D-0222, P00009).

EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) is a side-effect of intense radiation bursts, usually from a nuclear weapon. Its effect is to fry most semiconductor-based electronics within its effective range, which is to say most electronics these days. This gives EMP a potential offensive use via strategically placed nuclear airbursts. Rep Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD] has led the charge on this issue in Congress, working to establish an EMP Commission that has reported on the USA’s general vulnerability to such attacks, and further research continues. HPM includes EMP, but it can also be much less dramatic. As one example, there are claims that some modern AESA radars might be able to focus their arrays, in order to produce a very localized HPM effect that could impair or even disable enemy radars. With AESA radars set to deploy in Russian and European fighters over the next decade, a better understanding of the applied physics involved makes sense for both defensive and offensive reasons.

On June 6/08, Applied Energetics, Inc. in Tucson, AZ received a $9.3 million cost plus fixed fee contract for the continued development and production of 10 anti-mine systems, plus spares, operator training and technical support for an overseas operational assessment. Work will be performed in Tucson, AZ, and is expected to be complete by June 3/09. One bid was solicited on April 3/08 by the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (ARDEC) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (W91CRB-08-C-0080). See also the corporate release.

LIPC demonstrator

Applied Energetics used to be known as Ionatron, and DID has covered Ionatron-related contracts since May 2005, when the firm was also the subject of scrutiny by Defense Tech regarding its legitimacy. The firm saw its Joint IED Neutralizer (JIN) anti-mine vehicle denied deployment to the front lines in 2006, and in May 2006 they signed a cooperation agreement with DRS to help integrate their energy-beam weapons into a different set of vehicles, and make them more robust. Additional research funds to develop its Laser-Guided Energy (LGE)/ Laser-Induced, Plasma-Channel (LIPC) weapons were provided in April 2007, and this contract appears to be the final development phase before initial fielding.

THEL/Skyguard concept

Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, MA recently received an initial $3.17 million increment of a $21.3 million “other transaction”. They’ll provide protoypes for phase 2 of the High Energy Liquid Laser (HELL) Area Defense System. Work will be performed in Wilmington, MA (66%), Cambridge, MA (13%), Vienna, VA (9%), Bridgeton, MA (9%), Albuquerque, NM, (1%), and Charlestown, MA (less than 1%), and is expected to be complete in August 2009. This is a sole source award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., (HR0011-08-9-0006).

Lasers have a number of obvious benefits if used as an air defense system, especially against targets like the terrorist rocket attacks that featured so prominently in Israel’s 2006 war, and which continue from the Palestinian territories to this day. The technical obtsacles remain daunting, however, and include rate of fire, sufficient power to burn through a target almost immediately, number of shots per power source, battlefield fragility, and in some cases the toxicity of the chemicals involved. A system called THEL/M-THEL has been tested, and is even marketed by Northrop Grumman as Skyguard, but lasers have yet to be bought in numbers or deployed under battle conditions. Research continues.

RBS-70, Australian Navy

In June 2006, Australia’s former Minister of Defence Brendan Nelson released the Defence Capability Plan (DCP) 2006-16, which outlined more than A$ 51 billion of planned capital equipment proposals. At the time, one of the projects slated for likely investment after 2016 was the Australian Army’s A$ 750 million – 1 billion Ground Based Air Defence capability project to replace the country’s current force, which relies on man-portable RBS-70 anti-aircraft missiles.

On July 9/08, the Australian Department of Defence issued a global solicitation to industry to be part of a preliminary capability study for “Ground-Based Air and Missile Defence (GBAMD) systems and technologies” under Project LAND 19, Phase 7.

At this stage, the range of threats is very wide, from rockets/ artillery/ mortars to UAVs, enemy aircraft and cruise missiles; ballistic missiles are not included. Responses would outline potential air defense system capabilities that may be considered, including information about indicative performance; systems integration; strategic and tactical mobility; supportability; manning and training; simulation; and indicative pricing…