Developed by Germany as an antitank weapon in World War II, the Panzerfaust shoulder-launched weapon (SLW), manufactured by Dynamit Nobel Defense, is becoming increasingly effective against a range of targets, both in its traditional role as a portable weapon and mounted on platforms on land and at sea.
As the Libyan regime of Moammar Gadhafi withered and died after months of combat with rebel forces, the weapons that the dictator stockpiled in his 42-year reign came up for grabs.
David Walsh (Bethesda, Md.), Neelam Mathews (New Delhi)
Militaries are redoubling efforts to improve the realism of training, while reducing the potential for injury or death to trainees, and cutting costs. An important way of doing this is by using commercial gaming technology in advanced multiplayer (MP) mission-simulation systems. The result is simulators with high data fidelity that give personnel—whether recruits or seasoned operators—exposure to realistic battle scenarios. The axiom that soldiers should train as they fight and fight as they train is becoming as true in virtual reality as in real life.
A subject of increasing sensitivity in the fighter world is the information that emerges from multinational exercises. Stories from several operations have leaked over the past few years and flashed around the world, indicating that one side left the other for dead. The first problem when such stories break is that it makes air forces wary of engaging in exercises. Another is that combat exercise loss-exchange-ratio numbers are scenario-dependent.
The U.S. Army isn't shy about promoting its efforts to revolutionize the way it buys communications gear, sensors and ground robotics, while at the same time refocusing doctrine to push tactical decision-making down to its rifle squads as much as possible. The two efforts go hand-in-hand.
The U.S. Army last month rolled out the latest upgrade to Boeing's iconic Apache attack helicopter—the AH-64D Longbow Block III. The version includes at least 25 technology upgrades and, importantly, interoperability with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) that permits a pilot in flight to control a drone, tap into its streaming video and use its sensors for target engagement. The AH-64D Block III will reportedly be the only aircraft with such a capability.
The Italian army expects to continue with its modernization program called Forza NEC (network-enabled capability force) despite the looming budget crunch that is going to affect almost every aspect of procurement. Forza NEC, which started in 2007, seeks to build a digitally integrated ground force (Forza Integrata Terrestre, or FIT) by 2025.
The fog of disinformation that surrounds British cybersecurity policy was not dispersed by the government's latest high-profile initiative. The London Cyberspace Conference, brainchild of Foreign Secretary William Hague, saw 700 delegates from more than 60 nations converge last month to discuss a range of issues, although more questions were raised than answered.
Reviewed By Pat Toensmeier Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men By Mara Hvistendahl PublicAffairs, 2011 314 pp., $26.00 Unnatural Selection documents the sex imbalance between boys and girls at birth in developing nations and its social impact. The book should be on the reading lists of policy makers and military planners, since the problems it highlights have global consequences.
“When we went out on Herrick 14 in April, we characterized our tour as sitting on the seam,” says Royal Marines Brig. Gen. Ed Davis, commander of Task Force Helmand (TFH), referring to the U.K.'s six-month deployment of troops to the Afghan province, which ended in October. “And that's exactly how it played out.”
Operational testing and evaluation has started on a method of dynamically balancing aircraft propellers that works continuously during flight and reduces direct operating and lifecycle costs. Developed by Lord Corp., the In-Flight Propeller Balancing System (IPBS) is being evaluated by the U.S. Air Force for its 500-plus fleet of Lockheed Martin C-130H transports, which are equipped with Hamilton Sundstrand 54H60-91 propeller systems.
Piezoelectrics are used in sensitive applications, among them ultrasonic transducers, noise-suppression systems, vibration controls and sensors (photo shows submarine sonar). The most effective materials are crystals and ceramics, which are polar. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee and Technical University Aachen in Germany identified non-polar polymer combinations with 10 times the measured electro-active response of the strongest conventional piezoelectrics. Scientists believe that only polar materials can be piezoelectric.
` We talk a lot about cost overruns in defense acquisition. A new report by Barry Watts and Todd Harrison of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (see p. 4) casts historical perspective on the defense industry's failure to meet schedules and budgets.
A $35 rubber vibration damper is part of a maintenance procedure that could save the U.S. Air Force $40 million in engine component costs. The Propulsion Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) developed the damper, called “snubber,” to prevent cracks in the J-seal of the F119 jet engine inlet case from expanding. (The F119 is used in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.) When a crack is discovered in an inlet case, the maintenance procedure calls for technicians to pull the engine and drill the end of the crack to prevent it from spreading.
Oto Melara is working on two projects that could increase the firepower of Italian land and sea forces without generating high procurement costs. As a result, the work may become a standard for defense technology among militaries that seek advanced capabilities in a period of budget cuts.
In biomechanical energy harvesting, electricity is generated through a device by body motion. The current powers portable electronics, replacing batteries. One development in this area is the Soldier Power Regeneration Kit, or Spark, developed by Army Col. Joseph Hitt, an engineering professor at West Point, and SpringActive Inc. of Tempe, Ariz., and tested by the Army Natick Soldier Center. Spark is a 1.4-kg (3.08-lb.) device that attaches to a boot.
Smartphone apps are getting the attention of the Pentagon for the benefits they provide in situational awareness. The Army wants to develop combat apps for smartphones (DTI October, p. 27), and now the Navy is testing a wireless technology for an app. Called Passion—Precise At-Sea Ship System for Indoor-Outdoor Navigation—the app is initially for Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, where it will track several thousand sailors and marines and high-value assets in real time.
India's defense establishment has ambitious plans for modernization of the armed forces, procurement of advanced weapons and systems, and establishment of a world-class defense manufacturing base. It must, however, cope with rules that can stymie procurement, deal with complaints over offsets and issues of technology transfer that occasionally impede foreign investment, and walk the fine line between guarding its own intellectual property and developing a viable export business. Involved in many decisions related to these issues is Minister of State for Defense M.
One point made clear by recent wars, humanitarian missions and other operations, is that U.S. and coalition forces are likely to end up using primitive or damaged airfields for supply and transport. The U.S. Air Force wants to overcome one aspect of this through development of the Deployable Instrument Landing System (ILS). USAF awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. an initial $8.8 million contract to design an ILS that is easy to transport and assemble, and able to guide aircraft on final approach in low visibility or poor weather conditions.
German officials say the country's newest unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) will work like a “vacuum cleaner” in terms of its ability to gather intelligence while airborne. The military unveiled the Euro Hawk UAV last month, which is based on the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk and built by that company and EADS. Euro Hawk is equipped with German-designed sensors and surveillance gear that simultaneously detect ground targets and listen in on conversations and other signals from a range of electronic devices. Real-time data will be transmitted to a ground station in Germany.
The latest test of India's medium-range, surface-to-surface Shourya missile on Sept. 24 was successful, and production of the two-stage weapon will begin, according to the Defense Research and Development Organization. The test, the third in three years, was conducted at Chandipur Integrated Test Range. The missile was fired from a 35-ft. underground silo, and reached an altitude of 40 km (25 mi.). It performed terminal maneuvers to achieve impact-point accuracy.
India has released a request for information for high-speed expendable aerial targets (HEAT) that the air force will use in combat training. Specs include a maximum speed of 400 kph (250 mph.), endurance over 30 min. and 2g turns. HEAT should be capable of imitating cruise missiles and fixed-wing combat platforms, and be detected by airborne interceptor radars. The vendor will need to guarantee 30% offsets. Delivery will be within three years of a contract.
