The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are integrating high-capacity Internet protocol data networking in Merkava armored battalions with the WIN Battle Management Systems (BMS), developed by Elbit Systems. The new wireless communication channel employs a low-power, stand-alone encrypted radio operating in the S-band range. The radio is designed for short-range communications. The unit augments the tactical network radio in the tank, which remains the primary voice channel.
Initial lessons learned from air operations over Libya have been both encouraging and embarrassing for European air forces. The Royal Air Force has found itself dependent on capabilities that the U.K. government plans to cancel, and France found itself with the wrong weapons.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and Air Force want to deploy wide-angle digital telescopes to monitor the 100,000-plus objects of orbiting debris larger than 1 cm (0.4 in.), which could damage satellites. The telescopes, in development, will use sensitive imaging chips that reduce the optics train needed for big mirrors on conventional telescopes. This would reduce the size of the telescopes, making them easier to reposition. The primary mirror on the telescopes will be 3.5 meters (11.5 ft.) in diameter.
Swarming fast-attack boats are an evolving littoral threat. Dozens of such craft could overwhelm a warship's defenses and inflict considerable damage, even sinking the vessel. The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) has a response: a helicopter-mounted, fire-and-forget missile-guidance system called LCITS—Low-Cost Imaging Terminal Seeker. Designed especially for the AH-1 Cobra and MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, LCITS is described as a low-cost guidance system for the Hydra-70 2.75-in. rocket.
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have heightened a need for helicopters to overcome “brownouts,” low-visibility landings caused by clouds of sand and dust generated by rotor wash. One technique for this comes from the U.K. Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and industry partners. At a recent demonstration in London, DSTL showed a helmet-mounted display that combines input from aircraft sensors with 3-D conformal symbology, so pilots can hover or land without visual references.
Tetraedr, a Belarus contractor, is entering the growing mobile air-defense systems market with the T38 Stilet, the latest evolution of the Russian OSA-AKM (NATO name SA-8 Gecko) surface-to-air missile (SAM) system. The T38 can be an appealing option for customers that operate the SA-8. The new system is “affordable,” Tetraedr says, and Belarus has few restrictions on military exports. On the other hand, it is an evolutionary product based on a design that entered service 40 years ago.
The European fighter development community's views on the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) have become more negative since 2005-06, and this is not, primarily, the result of marketing. The commentary expressed in offline meetings at conferences and shows is much more negative than on-the-record statements suggest.
Robots enter a building, assign each other tasks, explore and map the interior. This is reality, at least in the laboratory. Researchers at several universities, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, developed such an autonomous capability for the Army Research Laboratory's Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology program. Prof. Henrik Christensen (see photo), director of Georgia Tech's Robotics and Intelligent Machines Center, says the 1-sq.-ft. wheeled robots use video cameras, laser scanners, GPS and computers to map rooms.
How do you keep secrets in the Internet era? The reporting and tweeting about the Osama bin Laden raid is “unfortunate and gratuitous” says one source who ought to know. It's not so much the stealth helicopter—that was a risk that had to be taken—but the revelation of other capabilities, such as reports that stealthy unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were also involved. That in itself is not surprising, but what if it can be put together with other information—for example, that known stealthy UAVs were not in-theater? What else might have been used?
The aftermath of the raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden pointed to the existence of a stealth version of the Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter—and to the difficulty of keeping secrets in the Internet age.
With much of the Middle East in turmoil, new realities are emerging for Israel and her neighbors, reshaping the strategic environment that has remained nearly constant for more than 30 years, since the 1979 peace accord with Egypt.
The U.S. Army's wheeled tactical and ground combat vehicle fleet is an embarrassment of riches. There is the iconic HMMWV—the High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee—up-armored Humvees, Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles, MRAP All-Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV), Stryker armored fighting vehicles, Bradley fighting vehicles and various armored security vehicles.
REVIEWED BY Pat Toensmeier Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power BY Robert D. Kaplan Random House, 2010 366 pp., $28.00 The geopolitical history of the 20th century was dominated by Western powers as well as the former Soviet Union, and focused attention on two oceans—the Atlantic and the Pacific.
May began with the U.S. attack on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Editor-in-Chief Bill Sweetman was one of the first journalists to identify parts of a helicopter that crashed during that raid as a previously unseen stealth-modified aircraft. As links came in and Sweetman appeared on many news programs, traffic reached an all-time-high.
The U.S. Defense Department is expected to soon renew Milestone B approval for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. First granted in 2001 before the development contract was signed, MS-B approval was automatically rescinded last year after the program incurred a Nunn-McCurdy cost overrun breach.
On the secret-helicopter hunt in Elmira, N.Y., Editor-in-Chief Bill Sweetman indeed found a unique military aircraft—the last survivor of 30 Douglas BTD Destroyer carrier-based bombers, kicked outdoors by Sikorsky's growing customization shop.
The first three Tiger support helicopters of the German army's combat helicopter regiment (KHR 36) were cleared for training flights in April and have been exercising with ground troops for possible deployment to Afghanistan. This follows trials at the German army's aviation school. The helicopters are training with a light infantry regiment, which, with KHR 36, is part of Airmobile Brigade 1. Brigade commander Brig. Gen. Jurgen Setzer says four Tigers could deploy to Afghanistan in 2012, if the deployment decision is made.
The U.S. Army held an industry day on March 30 to explain what it wants in its upcoming Individual Carbine competition, which will choose a new rifle for infantry. Col. Doug Tamilio, project manager for soldier weapons, told representatives from 40 rifle makers that the Army was to release the final request for proposals in May, after which industry would have 90 days to submit one weapon design per company for evaluation. The Army has put up $30 million for the competition, which it expects to last two years.
The tropics create a maddening environment for a weapon more evocative of the bone-dry slums of Baghdad or the arid valleys of Afghanistan—the improvised explosive device (IED), signature weapon of the last decade. IED use is now proving popular with insurgents in jungle and subtropical environments.
Undersea warfare specialist Wass, part of Italy's Finmeccanica Group, is developing an ultra-fast catamaran for coastal antisubmarine warfare (ASW) and area-denial operations. Dubbed the Black Kite Katamaran, or BKK, the vessel's main mission will be ASW, but configurations are being developed for attack and interception, counter-terrorism, maritime surveillance, antismuggling operations and mine countermeasure (MCM) missions.
The U.S. Army will field a new GPS-guided precision mortar to forces in Afghanistan over the next six months. The 120-mm Accelerated Precision Mortar Initiative (APMI) cartridges were first fielded in March to an Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and the plan is to deploy them with another seven teams, says the Army's Program Executive Office for Ammunition. The new mortar with the APMI cartridge is designed to have a 10-meter (33-ft.) circular error probable, a significant improvement in accuracy over the most advanced current mortars.
Bill Sweetman (Washington), Andy Nativi (Genoa), Francis Tusa (London), David Eshel (Tel Aviv)
Warship design in much of the world may be entering a new era, with requirements driven less by peer-on-peer sea battles and more by lessons of the past decade, combined with economic constraints. Brazil, Canada, Israel and the U.K. are among the nations looking at new surface combatant programs. The first three represent markets for Europe's shipbuilders (and possibly South Korea) while the U.K. is trying to break back into the global warship business.
The Canadian government has been quiet about its ambitious C$5-billion ($5.2-billion) plan to procure thousands of tactical wheeled vehicles—among them reconnaissance vehicles, infantry carriers and logistics trucks—while also resetting and refitting vehicles ground down by war in Afghanistan. Despite that, details are emerging as the date approaches for contract awards later this year.
Milor is a miniaturized Loran (long-range navigation) receiver developed by Roke Manor of Romsey, England. Based on an international network of radio beacons, Loran is a European system that navigates in GPS-denied environments because it works indoors and underground, and is less vulnerable to jamming. (For an article on efforts to upgrade Loran, see DTI April, p. 26.) Traditional Loran receivers are bulky (approximately helmet-sized), expensive and restricted to vehicles. Milor has smartphone dimensions and consequently a lower cost.
With piracy exploding and ship owners paying millions in ransom to free crews, vessels and cargo, a proposal to create a quasi-governmental antipiracy force is gaining traction, at least among insurers. The concept involves buying a fleet of fast patrol boats that would accompany commercial ships through pirate-infested waters.
