• Russia’s revised official military doctrine to include preemptive nuclear strikes.

• France expects to decide in the coming weeks whether to sell 3 additional Mistral class amphibious assault ships to Russia.

• Russia’s PAK-FA stealth fighter: more than 1 development aircraft flying?

• US defense appropriations subcommittee chair John Murtha [D-PA] dies.

• BAE Systems agrees to pay $450 million in fines to settle misconduct cases in the UK & USA.

• France says “non” to financing deadline for A400M military airlift program.

• USA to make surplus MRAP mine-resistant vehicles available to allies as quickly as possible.

• US SOCOM putting portable ultrasound machines on the front lines.

• The Pentagon is studying ways to sustain the rocket motor industrial base after planned cancellation of Constellation program.

• Iran has launched UAV production lines and plans to deploy a missile air defense system comparable to the Russian S-300 system, according to the Iranian defense minister.

• Lockheed Martin and Kaman Corp. demonstrate an unmanned resupply helicopter for use in Afghanistan. The helicopter is competing against Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird.

• Bell Helicopter Textron secures $50.4 million contract from the USMC for long lead materials for new and remanufactured AH1Z and new UH-1Y helicopters.

• BAE gets $32 million order to RESET 417 M113 armored personnel carriers.

• Irvine Sensors snags subcontract to supply clip-on thermal imagers under $37.8 million US Navy special ops night vision contract.

PJ-10 BrahMos
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Major Akash order by India, additional background. (Feb 2/10)

Back in November 2005, The Hindu newspaper reported that India’s government has given the go-ahead for exporting missiles, and that India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is looking to market several of its products internationally. The DRDO will participate in international expos as part of its marketing strategy, and government officials have claimed interest from African, Gulf and South-East Asian countries. They have also noted, however, that India’s government would be required to approve any foreign sales to specific countries. The missile systems in question included:

• The canceled Trishul (“trident”) short-range surface-air missile (SAM)
• Akash (“sky”) medium-range SAM
• Nag (“cobra”) vehicle-mounted anti-armor missile; and the
• Indo-Russian PJ-10 BrahMos medium-range supersonic cruise missile, which is primarily designed as an anti-ship weapon but can also perform land attack.

• The Missiles: IGMP set, and BrahMos [updated]
• Program Updates [updated]
• Appendix A: India’s Export Prospects – DID Op/Ed Analysis (Dec 1/05)
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources – Related Reports & News [updated]
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources – The Missiles
  
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• 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.

MK 41s in action
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US Navy and 8 countries place orders worth up to $104.9 million for MK 41 electrical design agent. (Feb 1/10)

The naval MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) hides missiles below decks in vertical slots, with key electronics and venting systems built in. A deck and hatch assembly at the top of the module protects the missile canisters from the elements, and from other hazards during storage. Once the firing sequence begins, the hatches open to permit missile launches of various types.

Lockheed Martin is the system’s prime contractor, and BAE Systems Land & Armaments also makes components and canisters for the MK 41 system. The latest addition involves a FY 2009 production contract for 3 nations…

• A Naval Swiss Army Knife: The MK 41 VLS
• MK 41 VLS Contracts [updated]
  
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RBS-70, Australian Navy
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The domain of man-portable air defense missile systems (MANPADS) has 4 major competitors around the world. Saab’s RBS-70 is used by 18 countries, and Finland continues to raise its order. Sweden’s Nordic next-door neighbor uses the RBS-70 in 2 modes: as a dispersed, soldier-carried system, and as a vehicle-mounted VSHORAD system.

A 2009 purchase will complement these dispersed, short-range RBS-70 systems with a wider air defense net based on Sentinel radars, and ground-launched AMRAAM missiles. This combination is intended to make Finland’s airspace dangerous enough to deny enemies full air dominance, while its difficult terrain and mobile land forces bleed any future invasion until it quits. If that strategy sounds improbable, recall that Finland forced Stalin’s Russia to settle for a qualified draw in the 1939 Winter War, when Hitler’s ally attacked Finland per the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

• The RBS-70
• Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
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Patriot PAC-2
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Nearly $45 million in PAC-3 upgrades for UAE. (Jan 26/10)

A 2007 US National Intelligence Assessment [redacted NIE summary] believes Iran’s nuclear program has stopped, but others, including the United Nations and Israel are more skeptical. Intelligence is always a very uncertain and ambiguous exercise, and occasionally features assessments like the infamous NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) whose 1962 judgment was that there were no Soviet missiles in Cuba [1]. Uncertainty creates perceptions of risk, and perceptions of risk lead to behaviors aimed at reducing that risk. Iraq is no longer a missile/WMD threat, Iran’s regular and Revolutionary Guards air forces remain relatively weak, and Iran’s ballistic missiles based on North Korean designs lack accuracy. Still, even a lucky conventional missile could create havoc in some Gulf states if it hit important oil-related infrastructure, or hit the larger and more nebulous target of business confidence.

Arms spending is an incomplete but very concrete way of tracking a state’s real assessment of threats and priorities. It’s becoming clear that Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have stepped up their defense spending in recent years. Those expenditures cover a range of equipment, but anti-ballistic missile capabilities appear to be rising to the top of the priority list.

Continue Reading… »

SM-2 Launch w. AEGIS
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BAE wins a multinational support contract. (Feb 2/10)

Variants of the SM-2 Standard missile are the USA’s primary fleet defense anti-air weapon, and serve with 13 navies worldwide. The most common variant is the RIM-66K-L/ SM-2 Standard Block IIIB, which entered service in 1998. The Standard family extends far beyond the SM-2 missile, however; several nations still use the SM-1, the SM-3 is rising to international prominence as a missile defense weapon, and the SM-6 program is on track to supplement the SM-2. These missiles are designed to be paired with the AEGIS radar and combat system, but can be employed independently by ships with older or newer radar systems.

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. This article covers each variant in the Standard missile family, several years worth of American and Foreign Military Sales requests and contracts, key events, and the budgetary and technical background that can help put all that in context. New material is indicated in green type.

The latest additions involve an SM-6 test firing, and an Australian SM-2 test firing that could pave the way for refits in other countries…

• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: Missiles and Plans (SM-1 to SM-6)
• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: Budgets [updated]
• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: US Contracts & Events
  • FY 2010 [updated]
  • FY 2009
  • FY 2008
  • FY 2007
  • FY 2006
• The Standard Missile Naval Defense Family: Exports & Related Key Events
  • CY 2009
  • CY 2008
  • CY 2007
  • CY 2006
  • CY 2005
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
  Continue Reading… »

Army IBCS Concept
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The US Army awarded a Northrop Grumman-led team a $577 million, 5-year, cost-plus-incentive-fee/ cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to develop the Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS).

Northrop Grumman beat out a team led by Raytheon. The two teams competed in the preliminary design phase of the program.

IBCS is intended to transform the Army’s disparate air and missile defense systems — each with independent sensing, command-and-control and launching capabilities — into an integrated defense capability. The system will enable the Army to manages all of its air and missile defense systems from 1 command-and-control center.

Northrop Grumman’s winning IBCS design is based on a non-proprietary, open architecture approach…

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RIM-162: sections
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The RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) is used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft, and is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. Compared to the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, ESSM is effectively a new missile with a larger, more powerful rocket motor for increased range, a different aerodynamic layout for improved agility, and the latest missile guidance technology. Testing has even shown the ESSM to be effective against fast surface craft, an option that greatly expands the missile’s utility. As a further bonus, the RIM-162 ESSM has the ability to be “quad-packed” in the Mk 41 vertical launching system, allowing 4 missiles to be carried per launch cell instead of loading one larger SM-2 Standard missile or similar equipment.

The Sea Sparrow was widely used aboard NATO warships, so it isn’t surprising that the ESSM is an international program. The NATO Sea Sparrow Consortium includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, and the USA – as well as non-NATO Australia. Foreign Military Sales customers outside this consortium include Japan, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates.

This is DID’s FOCUS article for the program, containing details about the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missile family, and contracts placed under this program since 1999. The latest addition is a production support contract…

• ESSM: The Missiles and the Program
• ESSM-Related Contracts & Key Events (1999 – Present) [updated]
• Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »

F100 visits Sydney
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The Royal Australian Navy took a pair of giant steps in June 2007, when it selected winning designs for its keystone naval programs: Canberra Class LHD amphibious operations vessels, and Hobart Class “air warfare destroyers.”

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. Under the SEA 4000 Air Warfare Destroyer program, Australia plans to replace its retired air defense destroyers with a modern system that can provide significantly better protection from air attack, integrate with the US Navy and other Coalition partners, offer long-range air warfare defense for Royal Australian Navy task groups, and help provide a coordinated air picture for fighter and surveillance aircraft. Despite their name and focus, the ships are multi-role designs with a “sea control” mission that also includes advanced anti-submarine and surface warfare capabilities.

Spain’s Navantia made an A$ 11 billion clean sweep, winning both the A$ 3 billion Canberra Class LHD and the A$ 8 billion Hobart Class Air Warfare Destroyer contracts. The new AWD ships were scheduled to begin entering service with the Royal Australian Navy in 2013, but that date has now slipped to 2014-2015. Recent updates involves readiness of the 1st Australian AEGIS system, contracts for secondary radars, and a Harpoon-related contract…

• SEA 4000: The Design Competition
• SEA 4000: The Program
• SEA 4000: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: SEA 4000 Program Phase Organization
• Appendix B: Additional Readings & Sources
  
  Continue Reading… »