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Cheap boost
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It’s a threat that makes modern defense planners shiver. Small turbojets are not uncommon, even as basic GPS receiver technology has become cheap, and guidance systems sophisticated enough to fly unmanned aerial vehicles are being developed all over the world. If fuel efficiency, speed, range, and pinpoint accuracy aren’t driving concerns, they wonder, how hard and how cheap could it really be to slap together a cruise missile from nearly off-the-shelf parts, then fire it from a container ship offshore, flying 200 miles or more to its designated target area? And in an age of falling technology curves, what cargoes might such a weapon contain?

Radar: height matters.
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Just as anti-ballistic missile technology is developing itself for the coming age of the rogue state, America’s nets are slowly being drawn up against the cruise missile threat from those states… and one day, of less-than-states. Persistent surveillance is reaching beyond the limitations of aircraft, and into constant surveillance using lighter-then-air platforms like JLENS tethered aerostats, HAA airships with huge flexible IRIS radars, and even Navy blimps. Fighters are being fitted with AESA radars as their cost of manufacture drops and new generations are bought, and interlocking land and naval defenses that include SM-2/3 missiles, mobile SLAMRAAM and MEADS missile launchers, and longer-range systems like THAAD that can be used against air-breathing threats in a pinch. All this is being networked into a single net via developments like Cooperative Engagement Capability, and more. In time, logic will also demand investments like very long-range supersonic ramjet air-air missiles to extend the intercept circle of patrolling aerial platforms, or threaten key enemy assets like AWACS and tankers behind the front lines. All this and more lies ahead, born of necessity in America – and beyond.

The scope of this threat makes for a daunting scenario when one considers the long coastlines of nations like the USA/Canada, India, Australia, Britain, et. al. Beyond the threat, however, some American military planners looked into this crystal ball and saw something more – an opportunity…

• Deep Strike, and the One Punch Syndrome
• Affordable Weapon: Contracts & Key Events
• Additional Readings
  
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Tiger HAP & HAC
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In December 2005, Eurocopter Tiger and the French/European OCCAR organization for armament cooperation signed a formal contract in Bonn, Germany, to create a HAD version of Eurocopter’s Tiger scout/ attack helicopter . This agreement superseded 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. The latest tests involve RAFAEL’s Spike air-ground missile…

• Tiger Species: HAP, HAC-UHT, ARH, and HAD [updated]
• Contracts & Related Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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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…

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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 eventually shot 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.

Te latest developments include successful tests, just ahead of a critical Milestone C production decision…

• Showdown Over Serbia: Demise of an F-117
• AGM-88E AARGM: Addressing the Gaps
• AARGM Contracts & Events
  
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VL Seawolf
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The Seawolf air defense missile was originally tested and fielded in the 1970s, and saw action in the 1982 Falklands War. It performed well in that conflict in a short range defense role, and was credited with several kills. Upgraded versions corrected many of the remaining issues with the system, and these still equip the Type 22 and Type 23 Class frigates in service with Britain, Chile and Brazil, and slated for Romania. It is also fitted to Malaysia’s newer Lekiu Class frigates. The Seawolf Mid-Life Update/ VL Seawolf Block 2 missile system was recently installed on the Duke Class frigate HMS Sutherland, and it will equip other ships of class as they, too, are upgraded.

Britain is slowly turning many of its defense support contracts into through-life “contracts for availability” that feature long term fixed costs and performance guarantee. Now Seawolf missiles have joined the list. In July 2008, BAE Systems announced the GBP 141 million SWISS (Seawolf In Service Support) Contract for Availability (CfA), which will sustain all of Britain’s Seawolf missiles in conjunction with a complementary contract to missile manufacturer MBDA. The contracts will last until the end of 2017, at which point the Seawolf system is expected to be phased out in favor of some of the systems being developed by Britain’s government-anointed “complex weapons team.”

BAE Systems has been providing in service support for the Seawolf radars and command and control systems since 1979. With the new contract, they are charged with ensuring that availability, as measured by successful firings, is maintained. They will also be responsible for refit activities in cooperation with MBDA, which can be used to insert new technologies that improve performance and/or reliability. BAE release.

Daring Class
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The 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. A total of 14 were built for the Royal Navy, and 8 remain: HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry were sunk in the Falklands War, and Birmingham, Newscastle, Glasgow, and Cardiff are no longer in service. The others are still receiving upgrades, though 2 of the ships have been downgraded by removing their defensive Sea Dart missiles as an ‘economy’ measure.

No ship lasts forever, and the last Type 42 ship was delivered in 1985. To replace them, the Royal Navy planned the Type 45 Daring Class. The Type 45s were built to deal with a new age of threats, from saturation attacks with supersonic ship-killing missiles that can fly from the ship’s radar horizon to impact in 45 seconds, to the reality of future threats including ballistic missiles and WMD proliferation. Designed with stealth in mind and equipped with BAE’s Sampson active array targeting radar, a long-range X-band search radar, and the PAAMS Aster missile system developed in conjunction with France and Italy (Horizon Class and FREMM frigates), the Type 45 destroyers promise to be one of the world’s most capable air defense ships when deployed.

Plans originally called for 12 of the 7,350t Type 45s. They would restore Britain’s anti-air capability by replacing the 14 Type 42 5,200t destroyers, and supplement Britain’s remaining Type 23 frigates given the Duke Class’ limited ability to cope with the newest threats. That number was cut to 8 Type 45s in 2004, however, and Britain’s 2008 Defence Equipment Report listed the overall program as 36 months behind schedule and GBP 989 million (almost $2 billion) over budget.

Now the British government has declined its option on Daring Class ships #7 and 8. A navy that has already seen its number of surface combatants sink below the level of the French fleet for the first time since the 17th century will view this as a bitter blow, but the budgetary math is remorseless…

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HMS Sutherland
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Brtiain’s Type 23 Duke Class frigates were originally envisioned as pure anti-submarine vessels, to the extent of being planned with no other armament. The 1982 Falklands War quickly put paid to that idea, however, and the Type 23s would end up being commissioned from 1989-2001 and fitted with a main gun, Sea Wolf short range anti-air missiles, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles to accompany her torpedoes, decoys, et. al. These changes turned the frigates from specialized sub-hunters into versatile multi-role combatants that play a key role in the British fleet. The Royal Navy is set to continue shrinking in size (see esp. diagram) due to rising ship costs, and even though key platforms like aircraft carriers and amphibious ships may be more capable, the mid-tier combat role filled by frigates is not slated for new construction any time soon. As such, upgrading the Navy’s 13 remaining Type 23s to keep them in service is vitally important to Britain’s future force.

As part of those upgrade efforts, the Type 23 frigates will receive: Sonar 2087 towed sonars, the Royal Navy’s latest and most sophisticated submarine hunting system (Thales UK, GBP 166 million for machines that go ‘ping!’); Upgraded vertical-launch Sea Wolf Block 2 air defence missiles to help counter supersonic anti-ship missiles (BAE Systems Insyte with MBDA, GBP 300 million); an improved 114mm Vickers Mk 8 Mod 1 main gun, capable of firing long-range ammunition; and a reshaped stern to cut fuel use. Upgrades are also being performed during maintenance periods, some of which are significant to the ship’s overall capabilities.

The latest news is HMS St Albans completion of her refit, alongside the handover of the last Type 23 frigate to Chile…

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Scorpene cutaway
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India’s submarne fleet currently consists of 16 submarines, about 13 of which are operational. Its Foxtrot Class boats can no longer be counted on, and its U209 derivatives from HDW are unlikely to last beyond 2015. With Pakistan acquiring modern submarines, and Chinese submarine building exploding, serious thought to India’s future submarine fleet became an obvious priority. In 2005, Indian Prime Minister and chairman of India’s Cabinet Committee on Security Manoham Singh confirmed is country’s decision. India would buy 6 Franco-Spanish Scorpene diesel submarines, with an option for 6 more and extensive technology transfer agreements. This is one of the biggest military deals India has entered into with France, and is intended to both modernize India’s submarine fleet and re-start India’s own industrial capabilities.

The Scorpene deal simmered on the back-burner for several years. DID reported that a deal was “close” back in December 2004, but nothing was finalized until late 2005. The cost had been subject to varying estimates over the life of those multi-year negotiations, but the final figure for the first 6 boats is now generally accepted as being about $3.5 billion. DID can offer some additional information about…

• The Deal: Plans & Costs
• The Deal: Contractors & Roles
• The Scorpene Class
• Scorpene Project: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Appendix A: India’s Current Submarine Force, and Rival Navies
• Appendix B: A Final, Nuclear Note
• Appendix C: Additional Readings & Sources
  
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FC-1/ JF-17
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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. In addition, a joint marketing agency has been set up in conjunction with China…

• The JF-17 Thunder, aka. FC-1 Fierce Dragon
• Stuck in Sichuan: The Saga
• Updates and Key Events [updated]
  
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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 has just progressed to detailed design. The system will use a slightly different main missile than originally forecast, and a minor contract associated with that has been issued…

• MEADS: The System
• MEADS: Mobility and Employment
• MEADS: The Program
• Contracts & Key Events, 2004 – Present [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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