Americas
* The Navy is contracting BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair to conduct some work on one of its vessels. The $36 million contract provides for a combination of maintenance, modernization and repair on the DDG 67 designated ship. BAE will provide the facilities and human resources capable of completing, coordinating and integrating multiple areas of ship maintenance, repair and modernization. DDG 67, or USS Cole is an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer. On October 12, 2000, suicide terrorists exploded a small boat alongside the USS Cole as it was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden. The blast ripped a 40-foot-wide hole near the waterline of the Cole, killing 17 American sailors and injuring many more. An extensive FBI investigation of the incident ultimately determined that members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network planned and carried out the bombing. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $96 million. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by July 2019.
* The Air Force’s 99th Contracting Squadron is tapping Draken International for the provision of adversary air aggressor services in support of the 57th Adversary Tactics Group. ADAIR services essentially are tactical fighter jet aircraft flight operations conducted by contractor-owned and contractor-operated aircraft to simulate air combat against a non-western aggressor. Draken, under the $280 million deal, will furnish, operate, equip, support and maintain tactically-relevant aircraft for air-to-air tracking, targeting, and ADAIR operations. Draken is operator of the largest privately-owned fleet of ex-military aircraft in the world. Draken first debuted the company’s L-159 fighter jets in January 2017. The jet, affectionately named the “Honey Badger”, is equipped with the sophisticated GRIFO radar simulating advanced threat aircraft and missiles. The L-159s are capable aircraft. They can be fitted with targeting pods and Paveway laser-guided bombs, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, and the usual assortment of guns, rockets, and conventional bombs. They can even operate from austere bases and are easy to maintain. Fighter pilots will train tactical air combat profiles, which include beyond-visual-range engagements, dissimilar air combat maneuvers, both offensive and defensive within-visual-range maneuvers and multi-ship tactics. Work will be performed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and is expected to be complete by December 2023.
* The US Navy is set to upgrade its inventory of over-the-horizon anti-ship missiles. The Norwegian Strike Missile was a joint submission between Kongsberg and Raytheon and successfully competed against Boeing’s extended range Harpoon and Lockheed Martin’s Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile. At a length of 13 feet and weighting 900 pounds, the stealth-enhanced Naval Strike Missile aims to be a generation beyond Boeing’s GM-84 Harpoon. A rocket booster and turbojet engine power it to a 100 nautical mile operational range. A Global Positioning System and Inertial Navigation System guidance, aided by terrain profile matching, steer these missiles towards their target. The included software is designed to create an unpredictable, maneuvering flight path that makes targeting difficult. During the final attack phase, an imaging infrared seeker paired with an automatic target recogniser is used to refine the final approach targeting process, which can reportedly include the recognition of specific ship features. Once NSM locks on, it strikes ships or land targets with a 265-pound titanium warhead and a programmable fuse. The initial contract is listed at about $14 million but it could grow to as much as $848 million over the life of the contract. The missiles are set to deployed on the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships.
Middle East & Africa
* Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Canada’s L3 MAS will offer their jointly developed Artemis UAS for the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) program. The Artemis is based on IAI’s Heron TP, a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAS with a proven operational track record. The Heron TPs are IAI’s most advanced UAVs with 40-hour endurance, maximum take-off weight of 11 thousand pounds and a payload of 2,2 thousand pounds. They can be used for both reconnaissance as well as combat and support roles and can carry air-to-ground missiles to take out hostile targets. The platform will be equipped with a wide variety of sensors and other payloads designed specifically to meet Canada’s requirements. Under the RPAS program, Canada’s Department of National Defense will procure a number of MALE UAS aircraft, with associated ground control stations, sensor suites and support equipment to conduct surveillance operations of its vast northern regions as well as a weaponized variant in support of its abroad deployed troops. The contract is scheduled to be awarded in 2021-2022 and will include the acquisition of the equipment and the full spectrum of In-Service Support for 20 years.
* Tensions between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are heating up again after the Saudi King Salman threatened to take military action if Qatar takes delivery of the Russian made S-400 air defense system. Qatar and Russia signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation last year. One S-400 system can comprise up to 8 divisions, capable of controlling up to 72 launchers, with a maximum of 384 missiles. The missiles are fired by a gas system from the launch tubes up to 30 meters into the air before the rocket motor ignites. The anti-aircraft missile system is designed to destroy aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, and can also be used against ground objectives. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been on a collision course since 2017 after Egypt, the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia accused Qatar of supporting terrorism. As a result, the countries severed all diplomatic ties with Qatar and suspended air, land, and sea travel to and from the country.
Europe
* Germany may soon join the list of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense deployed countries. The US reportedly held preliminary discussions about moving the powerful missile defense system to Germany to boost European defenses against potential aggressions. The THAAD system is a long-range, land-based theater defense weapon that acts as the upper tier of a basic 2-tiered defense against ballistic missiles. It’s designed to intercept missiles during late mid-course or final stage flight, flying at high altitudes within and even outside the atmosphere. This allows it to provide broad area coverage against threats to critical assets such as population centers and industrial resources as well as military forces, hence its previous “theater (of operations) high altitude area defense” designation. The tentative proposal to send the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to Europe predates US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord and comes amid a broader push to strengthen Europe’s air and missile defenses. Moving THAAD to Germany could plug a radar gap caused by a two-year delay in completion of a second Aegis Ashore missile defense site in Poland that was initially due to open this year.
Asia-Pacific
* Russia has unveiled its new rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle. The Katran UAV is designed for fire support and reconnaissance missions in support of special operation forces. The platform can be equipped with different sets of cameras, or a thermal imager. It further features a co-axial rotor scheme, which provides for high maneuverability, and allows it to operate from unprepared sites of small sizes in any weather. Katran’s fuselage is approximately 20 feet long and 3.3 feet wide. The UAV has a gross weight of 992 pounds; is able to lift a 265-pound payload and can gain a top speed of 70 kt at an altitude of 6,600 ft. The Katran can also make kinetic strikes using unguided and guided munitions. The air vehicle surpasses foreign analogs in thrust-to-weight ratio, flight duration and payload capability. The Katran is twice as big as the Ka-37, using the more powerful Rotax 912 in place of older piston engines to boost performance. In service, the new type would supplement the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 which has been license-built in Russia as the Horizon G-Air S-100.
Today’s Video
* China’s fifth generation stealth fighter J-20 conducts coordinated tactical training
