Raytheon To Supply APG/79 Spare Parts | Nigeria Buys Damen Ship | Germany Receives First H145

Americas

Raytheon won a $45.1 million delivery order for APG-79 Radar System spare parts. The AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar is an airborne radar made for F/A-18 E/F aircrafts. It is comprised of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules to practically eliminate the possibility of mechanical breakdown. With a range of 150 km, the AN/APG-79 provides instantaneous track updates and multi-target tracking capabilities. The AN/APG-79 is strategically valuable because of its active electronic beam scanning. This feature allows the radar beam to be steered at nearly the speed of light, optimizing situational awareness and providing superior air-to-air and air-to-surface capabilities. Performance location will be California. Estimated completion date is December 30, 2022.

Boeing won a $9.5 million delivery order, which provides Harpoon/SLAM-ER missile system and Harpoon launch systems follow-on integrated logistics and engineering services support for the Navy and various Foreign Military Sales customers. The A/U/RGM-84 Harpoon is an anti-ship missile system capable of being launched by aircraft, surface ships, submarines and shore batteries. The Harpoon is a subsonic missile with a range of over 70 miles and a 488-pound blast/fragmentation warhead. It has been in use with upgrades since 1977 and is a standard anti-ship weapon with 28 countries. The AGM-84K Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response is a longer ranged upgraded version of the original SLAM, which is itself a development of the Harpoon. Work will take place in Missouri and Virginia. Expected completion is February 2022.

Middle East & Africa

The Nigerian Navy ordered a landing ship from Damen. This was confirmed when a ceremony was held at the Albwardy Damen Shipyard in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to mark the start of construction. The Nigerian Navy released photographs of its commander, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, attending the keel-laying ceremony for an LST 100 and said the ship is expected to be completed in May 2020. The new vessel will replace the landing ships NNS Ambe and NNS Ofiom, which were decommissioned ten years ago. They were Type 502 amphibious vessels built by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Germany in 1978. The LST 100 is the 100 m-long version of a new range of landing ships offered by Damen, which says the model has a deadweight displacement of 1,000-1,300 tonnes, a range of 4,000 n miles, and an endurance of 15 days.

Indonesia’s PT Pindad and Ghana’s Ministry of Defense have signed a Letter of Intent as part of efforts exploring the procurement of weapons and equipment. The Letter of Intent was signed in Jakarta, Indonesia, on November 22 by the Managing Director of PT Pindad Abraham Mose with the Ghana Ministry of Defense represented by its Chief Director, Dr Evans A Dzikum. PT Pindad says Ghana “is very interested in defense and industrial products produced by PT Pindad. Ghana’s Defense Minister Dominic BA Nitiwul said he was very interested and committed to buying defense and industrial products produced by Pindad as well as collaborating on joint development of defense products.” Ghana is apparently interested in procuring items including firearms, tactical military vehicles and amphibious vehicles as well as engineering vehicles such as excavators.

Europe

The German Army received its first of seven new Airbus Helicopters H145 rotorcraft on December 10. The H145 Light Utility Helicopter (LUH), one of a batch ordered in late 2018, was handed over some months ahead of schedule. The remaining six will be delivered through to early 2021. The new helicopters will enable the Bundeswehr to begin the process of replacing its aging Bell UH-1D Huey rotorcraft in the domestic search-and-rescue role. The H145 SAR helicopters are equipped with high-performance cameras, searchlights, emergency beacon locator systems, a full suite of medical equipment, and rescue winches and load hooks that can be used for fire-extinguishing buckets.

Asia-Pacific

South Korea is expected to declare initial operating capability (IOC) for its F-35A on December 17. Media reports say the ceremony will be held at 17th Fighter Wing base. So far, 12 aircraft have been delivered. South Korea has so far brought in 10 F-35As, beginning with two in late March, under a plan to deploy a total of 40 fifth-generation jets through 2021. Last month, the Air Force showcased the next-generation fighters to the public for the first time during the Armed Forces Day event. The fighters can fly at a top speed of Mach 1.8 and carry top-of-the-line weapons systems, such as joint direct attack munitions.

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Raytheon’s APG-79 AESA Radars

The AN/APG-79 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar began life as a replacement. Initial F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet production batches installed Raytheon’s all-weather, multimode AN/APG-73, but the APG-79 has intrinsic technical features that offered revolutionary increases in capability, reliability, image resolution, and range.

Unlike the APG-73 that equipped the first Super Hornets, the APG-79’s AESA array is composed of numerous solid-state transmit and receive modules that are fixed in place, eliminating a common cause of breakdowns. To move their beams, they rely on electronic changes in each module’s transmissions, creating useful interference patterns in order to aim, focus and shape their output. Other system components include an advanced receiver/exciter, ruggedized commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) processor, and power supplies. With its open systems architecture and compact COTS parts, it changes what both aircrews and maintenance staff can do with a fighter radar – and does so in a smaller, lighter package.

Ships Ahoy! The Harpoon Missile Family

The sub-sonic, wave-skimming GM-84 Harpoon is the US Navy’s sole anti-shipping missile, with the minor exception of small helicopter-borne AGM-119B Penguin missiles. The Harpoon has been adapted into several variants, and exported to many navies around the world. At present, the Harpoon family includes AGM-84 air, RGM-84 sea/land, and UGM-84 submarine-launched versions. Variants such as the Joint Standoff Land Attack Missiles and the upgraded AGM-84K SLAM – Expanded Response will also be covered in this DID FOCUS Article. It describes the missiles themselves, and covers global contracts involving this family.

The Harpoon family’s best known competitor is the French/MBDA M38/39/40 Exocet, but recent years have witnessed a growing competitive roster at both the subsonic (Israel’s >Gabriel family, Russia’s SS-N-27 Klub family, Saab’s RBS15, Kongsberg’s stealthy NSM, China’s YJ-82/C-802 used by Hezbollah in Lebanon), and supersonic (Russia’s SS-N-22 Sunburn/Moskit, SS-N-26 Yakhont, and some SS-N-27 Klub variants, India’s SS-N-26 derived PJ-10 BrahMos) tiers.