USMC To Bring Containerized Anti-Ship Missiles To San Antonio Class | Escribano Develops Multiplatform Swarm System | Philippine Navy Interested in C-12

Americas

Haight Bey & Associates won a $35.9 million deal for for AN/TMQ-53 Tactical Meteorological Observing System contractor logistics support. The TMQ-53 is a portable, automated weather station that can take observations in up to one minute intervals, enabling flying missions around the world. The AN/TMQ-53 collects weather data, that includes wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, cloud height, precipitation and lightning. The data it produces can be utilized by a weather observer in the field or by the Air Force Weather community using satellite communications. Work will take place in West Haven, Utah and is expected to be finished by July 2027.

The director of expeditionary warfare in the Office of the Chief of US Naval Operations has disclosed a plan to bring a containerized anti-ship missile system to the San Antonio Class amphibious transport dock. Maj. Gen. Tracy W. King said one system will be deployed to a ship within 12 months to let the Navy and Marines “play around with it” before deciding how to field it. He added that the RGM-184 Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is a leading contender.

Middle East & Africa

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said that it has completed shipment of several hundred WindGuard radar systems to Leonardo DRS Land Systems for the US Army’s Abrams tanks. Nearly 400 of the ELM-2133 systems are to be integrated into the US Army’s Abrams tanks as part of the Trophy active protective system. In Israel, the combat-proven radars are installed in the IDF’s Merkava tanks and Namer armored personnel carriers. The WindGuard is a state-of-the-art, phased array radar which continuously scans the surrounding area in search of anti-tank threats, including rockets, guided missiles and anti-tank shells. Once a threat is detected, the system tracks it and instructs the countermeasure system to intercept and neutralize the threat before the platform is hit. The WindGuard has proved its effectiveness in multiple combat operations after becoming operational in 2009 as part of the Trophy system, IAI said.

Europe

Spanish company Escribano Mechanical and Engineering has been awarded a contract to further develop a swarming system for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications that will enable these vehicles to autonomously carry out most tasks. The main role of the Long Range Intelligence and Security System (LISS) will be intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) missions. The system under development by the company based in Alcalá de Henares is made of the swarm architecture and of a series of unmanned air vehicles of different types, two of them already flying.

Asia-Pacific

Raytheon Missiles and Defense won an $8.5 million contract for procurement of long lead material in support of Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Foreign Military Sales production requirements to include all up rounds, instrumental kits, engineering services and spares.  This contract involves FMS to Korea, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan and Japan. The Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) is a fleet-area air defense weapon that provides anti-air warfare and limited anti-surface warfare capability against today’s advanced anti-ship missiles and aircraft. With a range of 90 nautical miles and an altitude of 65,000 feet, the SM-2 is an integral part of layered defense that protects naval assets, giving warfighters greater operational flexibility. Work will take place in the Netherlands, Texas, Arizona and is expected to be finished by March 2023.

A Philippine Navy team will be heading to the United States this quarter to inspect the C-12 transport aircraft that the service intends to buy. PN public affairs office chief Lt. Commander Maria Christina Roxas made this remark when sought for comment on reports that the Navy is planning to acquire the aircraft from the United States via its Excess Defense Articles (EDA) Program for the NAW. It was reported earlier that the Naval Air Wing intends to buy up to eight aircraft that the US is selling off as Excess Defense Articles.

Today’s Video

Watch: Exercise Black Stratus- Marines train to operate AN/TMQ-56 tactical meteorological support system

The US Military’s King Air 350ER Aircraft: Quietly Effective

Despite all of the high-tech fighter hours flown in theater, Hawker Beechcraft’s twin-propeller King Air 350 continues to gain traction as an affordable, long-endurance option for light cargo delivery in remote areas – and effective manned battlefield surveillance and attack. Iraq’s Air Force was the first to order them, and an initial 6-plane UC-12W order from the US Marines/Navy followed in July 2008.

Former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pushed hard to improve ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance) capabilities on the front lines, and one of those planned purchases involved about 30 King Air 350/ C-12 aircraft for the Army. These “MC-12s” have proven to be very useful as a component of the Army’s Task Force ODIN, which has combined the respective advantages of UAVs and manned aircraft to improve aerial surveillance and response over Iraq. ODIN is credited with a number of successes on the ground, and the concept is being exported to Afghanistan. Part of that process involves buying new, updated aircraft, and the US military continues to buy KA350 turboprops for use in different configurations.