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In “Hydra-70 Rockets: From Cutbacks to the Future of Warfare,” Sen. Leahy’s [D-VT] work to keep the Hydra 70mm rocket family alive through special appropriations was discussed, just in time for the Hydras’ potential on the battlefield to rise again. The key was the addition of low-cost precision guidance, which would expand the number of precision weapons carried by helicopters, aircraft, and even UAVs. “APKWS II… Hydra Rockets Enter SDD Phase,” discussed a laser-guided version from BAE, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman that appeared to have the inside track as a precision weapon of choice for helicopters, UAVs, and aircraft. This proved true, and the team won that contract in April 2006.

A lot can change in a year or two. A lot has. This second attempt at APKWS has seen its program status change, even as private development efforts from Lockheed Martin, international agreements with Korea and the UAE, and a Canadian/Norwegian partnership are introducing new competitors in the precision-guided 70mm rocket space…

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Hydra-70 is a family of unguided rockets offering a variety of warhead configurations, from smoke and illumination rounds, to flechettes (hundreds of anti-personnel darts), submunition carriers, and unitary warheads up to 317 pounds. These versatile and relatively inexpensive rockets can be fired from a variety of aircraft, from attack helicopters to jet fighters to light helicopters like the OH-6 Little Bird, the new Bell 407 ARH, et. al. Hydra-70s have seen use in Afghanistan and Iraq, and they are arguably the world’s most widely used helicopter-launched weapon system. Magellan’s 70mm CRV-7 rockets and Thales’ 68mm SNEB system are its main Western competitors, while countries using Russian equipment have a variety of choices that begin with the 57mm S-5 family, extending through the 80mm S-8 family, and continuing up to the 266mm S-25.

While 70mm Hydra rockets are low cost weapons, and easy to carry in numbers, they are not a very accurate weapons system by modern standards. This makes them problematic choices for urban warfare if limitations exist on the use of force, and sharply limits their value to platforms like UAVs. The US Army intended to scale back production of the rocket system in 2003, but Congress, led by Senator Leahy’s [D-VT] efforts, reversed the decision with a $900 million contract.

Production continues under that contract, even as technology developments promise to make Hydra rockets a multi-headed battlefield threat once again…

• Leahy’s Leverage
• Hydra Rockets: Contracts
• Hydra Precision: APKWS et. al.
• Additional Readings
  
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Tiger HAP & HAC
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A formal contract concerning an HAD version of Eurocopter’s Tiger scout/ attack helicopter was recently signed in Bonn, Germany between Eurocopter Tiger and OCCAR, a French/European organization for armament cooperation. This agreement supersedes the official launch ITP for the multi-role HAD (Helicoptere Appui Destruction) version of the Tiger, signed on December 8th, 2004 by France and Spain. It also set out initial procurement numbers for Spain. This was followed by the French DGA’s official announcement re: the restructuring of its own 80 helicopter order.

Eurocopter’s Tiger had always had a very odd setup in that it came in two seemingly incomplete versions (HAP and HAC/UHT), severely limiting its flexibility. The new Tiger HAD variant helps to rectify this, and has entered a new stage thanks to testing, and ancillary weapons orders from France and Spain…

• Tiger Species: HAP, HAC-UHT, ARH, and HAD [updated]
• Contracts & Related Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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M299 launcher
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Lockheed Martin recently announced a $51.3 million U.S. Army contract to supply an additional 430 M299 helicopter-mounted missile launchers (402 USA, 38 foreign military sales) and 376 launcher electronic assemblies for U.S. and international forces. The contract from the US Army’s Aviation and Missile Command, at Redstone Arsenal, AL also includes multiple spares, engineering services and depot support.

Lockheed Martin produces the electronics for the M299 launcher at its facility in Ocala, FL, and Marvin Engineering in Inglewood, CA performs final assembly and test. This order will extend M299 production activity in Ocala and in Inglewood until late 2011, as Deliveries are scheduled to run through the 3rd quarter of 2011.

DAGRs & Hellfires
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The M299 launcher weighs 145 pounds and supports 4 Hellfire II laser-guided anti-armor missiles, or up to 4 Longbow Hellfire dual guidance (laser/radar) fire-and-forget missiles, or up to 16 of Locklheed Martin’s new laser-guided DAGR 70mm rockets. The M299 launcher is integrated on the AH-64D Apache Longbow, Britain’s WAH-64 MK1 Apache helicopters, the USMC’s new AH-1Z Viper (Cobra family) attack helicopter, Eurocopter’s Tiger scout/attack helicopter, and the SH-60B Seahawk.

WAH-64Ds
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When the USA and the Netherlands deployed their AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters to Afghanistan, the Longbow millimeter-wave radar that sits atop the rotor didn’t accompany them. The Dutch helicopters didn’t have that option due to budget pressures, and the Americans decided that the mast-mounted radar would just compromise performance against an opponent that had no armored vehicles to track, and no weapons that made fire-and-forget missile tactics necessary.

The British thought about it, and decided to take a different tack. Their WAH-64s were equipped with RTM322 Mk250 engines [PDF], giving them commonalities with the EH101 Merlin fleet and 2,260 shp – a 19% boost over the 1,890 shp GE T701Cs that power most other Apaches. With power to spare and additional internal fuel tanks, they kept the radars on and focused on finding ways to use them in theater…

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A Swedish rocket
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Saab Bofors Dynamics AB in Karlskoga, Sweden received a $7.1 million firm fixed priced requirements contract for the production, testing, and delivery of M136 (AT4) portable anti-armor rockets, which weigh 15 pounds each (see also Army inspection guide | effectiveness guidelines). The base year orders a maximum quantity of 3,500 production units, and associated technical data. This contract includes options, however, which would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $40.3 million if exercised.

Work will be performed in Karlskoga, Sweden, and is expected to be complete by May 2008. This contract was a sole source procurement by the Marine Corps Systems Command, Program Manager for Ammunition, Quantico, VA (M67854-07-D-1005). Now, aren’t we glad we decided not to complicate the relationship by selling to Venezuela on the side?

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V-22 With M777
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The V-22 Osprey has attracted both praise and criticism during its long journey through development toward front-line deployment. Its characteristics have also had an impact on other weapons programs being developed for use with the aircraft. This article deals with two of those programs being developed to help strengthen the USMC’s badly eroded artillery capabilities.

One is the $74 million Internally Transported Vehicle (ITV) program; the United States Marine Corps says testing on American Growler, Inc’s vehicle is on track. The ITV – often incorrectly identified as the “Growler” – fits in the narrow belly of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. The Marine Corps eventually expects to field about 600 to 700 of the two-ton, $120,000-a-copy tow trucks if they are accepted for fielding. ITVs will be delivered in two basic configurations: a Light Strike Variant (LSV), designed for Marine Corps infantry and reconnaissance battalions; and, the Expeditionary Fire Support System (EFSS) Prime Mover (PM), designed to tow the EFSS 120mm rifled mortar and the EFSS ammunition trailer. A decision to field them should be made by October 2007, a Marine Corps spokesman said. With respect to EFSS and other programs…

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DRS TWS: Light, Hvy., Med.

DRS Technologies, Inc. announced that it has received approximately $76 million in new orders to produce next-generation advanced uncooled Thermal Weapon Sights II (TWS II) for U.S. Army soldiers. DRS makes thermal imaging night vision sights that currently support the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Special Operations forces, and the order was issued on behalf of US Army Program Executive Office Soldier by the Army’s Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) acquisition center in Fort Monmouth, NJ. It is is part of a competitively secured 5-year contract awarded to DRS in March 2004, with a total potential value of $375 million if all options are exercised.

The specific quantities, capabilities, and compatibile weapons for the thermal sights ordered are described below. We’ve also included links that explain how thermal sights work, and offer industry forecasts for the larger electro-optical market.

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From the movie…

NATO reports that they’ve moved a step closer to providing their helicopters with added protection from rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) thanks to the successful demonstration of prototype technology in Bulgaria. While countermeasures exist for shoulder-fired infared missiles, the simple ballistic flight and fuzes on RPGs are a different challenge. Helicopters are very difficult to hit with RPGs, but it is not impossible – “Black Hawk Down” in Mogadishu, Somalia was one example, and the 2005 downing of a MH-47G Special Forces helicopter in Afghanistan was another. With known terrorist suppliers producing a surfeit of RPGs, and NATO countries facing future operations in Afghanistan and urban terrains, this kind of work is timely. See also this US Army CALL report re: RPG-7s in Iraq.

RPG-7

Early testing has been promising, with important improvements made over the past year. More testing must be conducted, and the next stage is to demonstrate practical application by fitting the technology to a helicopter so the RPG debris impact and the influence of different weights and shapes can be measured. More active measures that destroy incoming RPGs rather than just preventing them from exploding are also under investigation.

Bulgaria is the lead country in the development of helicopter protection technology under NATO’s Defence Against Terrorism program, with Greece and Poland also involved. Poland is currently conducting a parallel programme of testing. Read the entire NATO article.

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USMC LCpl & SMAW, Iraq…
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Talley Defense Systems, Inc. in Mesa, AZ received a $14.1 million firm-fixed-price contract for the manufacture and delivery of 3,000 Mk.80 shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon – novel explosive (SMAW-NE) encased assault rockets. These are the cylinder-shaped all up rounds that clip into the Mk. 153 SMAW shoulder-launch unit. Work will be performed in Columbus, MS (75%) and Mesa, AZ (25%), and is expected to be complete by January 2008. This contract was a sole source from The Marine Corps Systems Command Program Manager for Ammunition at Quantico, VA.

GlobalSecurity.org describes SMAW-NEs as thermobaric weapons, which were very successful at defeating Islamist death squads and reducing Marine casualties during the high-intensity Second battle of Fallujah in November 2004. A July 2005 Marine Corps Gazette article added that: ”... Due to the lack of penetrating power of the NE round, we found that our assaultmen had to first fire a dual-purpose [HEDP] rocket in order to create a hole in the wall or building. This blast was immediately followed by an NE round that would incinerate the target or literally level the structure.”

One reader wrote to us to note that this one-two punch sounded somewhat familiar. Different, but familiar:

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