The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) wants proposals for a factory that builds a combat vehicle in record time by making rapid design changes. Darpa released the final solicitation for iFAB—Instant Foundry Adaptive through Bits—part of a program to build “adaptive vehicles” with drastically shorter development cycles. “Instead of building one factory, wrapping it around one product or even a family of products, the iFAB foundry is a manufacturing capability with no learning curve,” says Army Lt. Col. Nathan Weidenman, deputy program manager.
As part of its general rearmament effort, Russia continues to enhance nuclear deterrence. Significant attention is being paid to sea- and land-based components of the nuclear triad. The growing defense budget (see p. 43) is enabling industry to make substantial progress in developing and fine-tuning strategic weapons.
Unlike 2010, there were no lethal skirmishes between North and South Korea in 2011, nor tense confrontations between China and Japan. But the underlying causes of the conflicts and disputes remain unresolved, with no solution in sight.
Everyone in the fighter business loves helmet-mounted displays, in principle. And everyone hates integrating them and (even worse) maintaining them, because they are complicated and not affixed to the airframe and have to be in precise alignment with the aircraft and its sensors. Three product families—Elbit's Targo (chosen for the Alenia M-346), BAE Systems' Q-Sight (selected for Gripen and JSF interim solutions) and Gentex's Scorpion (chosen for the U.S. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve F-16s and A-10s, and for AC-130 gunships) are breaking the mold.
At press time, two optionally piloted Kaman K-Max cargo-lift helicopters, modified for the mission by Lockheed Martin, were supposed to be on their way to Afghanistan—finally, after a lot of on-and-off decisions about unmanned cargo helicopters. If they make it, they will be the first in theater for the time being, ahead of the Boeing A160T, which was also being evaluated by the U.S. Navy for a Marine Corps support mission. Unmanned cargo helicopters ought to be a good fit for the distributed small-unit operations seen in Afghanistan.
Paul McLeary (Washington), Bill Sweetman (Washington)
In many respects, the election-year debate over U.S. defense budgets has yet to start, for two reasons: The defense topline over the next decade is unknown, within a very wide range, and Congress, lobbyists and the rest of the Washington defense machine have yet to grasp that unprecedented changes, compromises and even sacrifices may be needed to balance the books without ending up with a “hollow force.”
It was disclosed last year that AeroVironment's Switchblade man-portable, lethal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had received a production contract from the U.S. Army, following an operational utility assessment in 2010. AeroVironment has taken the lead with these systems, after launching development under the Army's Project Anubis. Using components from its Wasp mini-UAV, the 2-lb. Switchblade is tube-launched (so the operator can stay under cover) with tandem flip-out wings and electric propulsion.
It has been an interesting 12 months for U.K. defense, and 2012 promises to have as many noteworthy points as 2010-11. The end of 2010 saw publication of the Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR), with consequent cuts in the force structures of all three services. Then there was the budget settlement, which promises only minimal funding to 2015. The Libyan campaign appeared out of nowhere, but ended well, while raising serious questions about the outcome of SDSR.
Until last summer, it seemed that security and defense would be spared major cutbacks. The financial crisis in Europe, however, is forcing the Italian government to include these areas in austerity plans.
3DX-RAY of Loughborough, England, has signed a £1.46 million ($2.27 million) contract to supply four of its SVXi small-vehicle X-ray inspection systems to an undisclosed customer in the Middle East. The mobile systems will secure entrances to a city that has been under threat from terrorism. Each will be deployed at key entry points on a random basis. The SVXi system has two important features, says executive representative Vincent Deery: mobility and high resolution.
BMT Defense Services may be one of the most influential defense companies you have never heard of. Naval architecture—the equivalent of preliminary design in the aerospace world—employs only a few people worldwide, and even fewer in the warship business. Part of the BMT Group, a company held in a trust that is formally dedicated to the interests of its staff, BMT Defense Services has a core of 60 engineers and performs much of the Royal Navy's work in naval architecture.
Budget pressure and continuing technological and management problems are likely to lead to further changes in the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, with announcements possible before the defense budget rollout in February. The program's high points last year—flight testing and deliveries stayed on schedule, for the first time since 2008, and the F-35B performed its first shipboard landings—won't affect those changes.
On March 22, 2011, two Bell Boeing MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors launched from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsage to retrieve two U.S. Air Force F-15E pilots whose aircraft suffered mechanical failure over Libya. The fact that the MV-22Bs reached the pilots faster than a helicopter could have has been the central theme of a Marine Corps public relations offensive to polish the controversial Osprey's image. If it hadn't been for the V-22, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos said in November, “we'd have been negotiating for the release of those two pilots.”
There is no tougher radar target than a periscope—small, designed and treated to emit a low radar cross-section and surrounded by sea clutter. Even worse, its electro-optical and infrared sensors mean the scope just has to pop up, sweep the horizon and vanish while the crew studies the view at their leisure. In 2012, the U.S. Navy's long-sought answer to the modern scope undergoes operational evaluation as part of an upgrade to the Sikorsky MH-60R helicopter.
Kevin Kit Parker is not a typical traumatic brain injury (TBI) researcher. As an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Harvard University, his research interest until a few years ago was primarily cardiac cell biology and tissue engineering. But Parker, who is also a reserve officer in the U.S. Army, began to pursue a new area of research between two tours in Afghanistan. There, improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, are the No. 1 killer of U.S. and allied troops, and Parker saw firsthand the effects of TBI.
U.S. Air Force leaders in December signed off on a report called “Energy Horizons,” which looks at ways to reduce the service's dependence on imported oil, improve energy efficiency and increase use of alternative fuels. “The report has been approved,” says Mark Maybury, Air Force chief scientist. The final report will likely be cleared for release in early 2012. The report looks at fuel consumption across air, space, cyber and infrastructure, and recommends ways to increase efficiency.
Franz Gayl, U.S. Marine Corps science adviser, knows the perils—and potential payoffs—of being an advocate for technological change. Gayl, a retired Marine, played a critical role in pushing the service to adopt Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles, in the process exposing official intransigence. Then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates cited media reports prompted by Gayl's concerns for bringing to his attention the urgent need for MRAPs. The vehicles ended up saving thousands of lives.
Building Business AgustaWestland continues to invest more than 10% of revenue in R&D, to maintain helicopter development, upgrade existing models and extend its catalog. The company, owned by Finmeccanica, is entering the unmanned rotorcraft market and will have its first demonstrators this year. Also planned are the maiden flight of the 8-ton AW189 helicopter (see photo), unveiling of a new 4-5-ton helicopter, and initial operational capability of the T129, the Turkish variant of the AW129 Mongoose combat helicopter.
France's 2012 defense budget has had to cut €267 million ($352.4 million) from its original request of €31.72 billion. Had the axe not fallen, this budget would have remained stable, since the original 1.8% rise on the 2011 figure was just above the 1.7% inflation rate. The increase now is 0.75%.
Will 2012 bring as many unexpected events as 2011? Changing orders in the Islamic world add more unpredictability, because nobody is sure where the new leadership will fall on the scales of idealism and pragmatism or on the role of Islamic law in society. Certainly, nobody a year ago anticipated an all-air NATO campaign against Libya.
Russia is adapting its military to new threats, most of which come from neighbors. This large-scale reform started in 2008, after the war with Georgia over the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and is aimed at enabling the military to quickly respond to local challenges. In a presentation on the new shape of the armed forces, Army Gen. Nikolay Makarov, chief of the general staff, confirmed that Russia could be involved in conflict around most of its borders.
A satirical comic strip called Doctrine Man has racked up followers on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for its smart, sarcastic commentary on military life. So who is Doctrine Man? He asks the same question: “Caped man of mystery, mild-mannered Army officer gone cynical, or just another ham with mediocre PowerPoint skills?
Growth Dynamics Aselsan, Turkey's biggest defense contractor, started in 1975 as a small company doing licensed production of electronic systems. Aselsan today is a high-tech company with four divisions representing almost every facet of defense electronics. It continues to grow, giving Turkey independence in a key segment of defense technology.
Wide-area surveillance systems are the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flavor of the month in Afghanistan, and several systems are due to be deployed in 2012 or be integrated on new platforms. The nomenclature for these systems can be confusing and sometimes reflects a complex heritage. Take, for example, BAE Systems' Argus-IS (Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System), which was originally a U.S.
