Israel Military Industries showed a new MPR-500 general purpose (GP) bomb at the Singapore air show last month. The MPR-500 was developed to improve the reliability and performance of MK 82 bombs used with laser and GPS guidance kits. IMI designed the MPR-500 to be functionally interchangeable with the MK 82 to keep it compatible with all aircraft types flying the bomb, as well as all MK 82 guidance kits, fuses and tools. A 250-kg-class weapon, the MPR-500 is supposed to offer better lethality, penetration and reliability than the 2,000-lb.
As a very good friend who is internationally acknowledged as a guru in weapon systems testing said many years ago: “Clearing weapons out of and off the JSF is going to be both interesting . . . and exciting!” Those who have never done such work have little, if any appreciation, of what it entails and the risks involved. That goes for all clearance work—including subsonic [aircraft], as well as supersonic. —Horde
The budgets for at least three air-launched, directed-energy weapons are being fully protected by the U.S. Air Force in fiscal 2013 budget plans, according to Jennifer Ricklin, chief technologist for the Air Force Research Laboratory. Plans for Army anti-electronics weapons are less developed, but basic research in associated disciplines continues, according to budget request presentations last month. Specifically, the Air Force is developing bombs and missiles to carry high-power microwave (HPM) warheads.
As the process of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) becomes more sophisticated, work is ongoing to design sensors that can be used with diverse platforms, especially small UAVs. Logos Technologies of Alexandria, Va., developed a system for ISR and accompanying software called Leaps—Lightweight Expeditionary Airborne Persistent Surveillance system—which, at 54 lb, is one-tenth the weight of its previous surveillance payload. Leaps gives a ground commander sole control of a persistent surveillance asset.
The U.S. Navy's AN/ALQ-99 tactical jamming system, mounted on the Boeing EA-18G Growler, will be replaced by a Next-Generation Jammer (NGJ) that is more effective against current and evolving threats. The NGJ will be more powerful than the AN/ALQ-99, and thus require more energy, primarily to accommodate powerful radio-frequency transmitters.
Directional airborne antennas typically use dishes mounted to the underbelly of an aircraft that swing and point to communicate. This requires mechanical systems that cost extra to build, install and maintain; their operation limits communication to one point at a time, reducing the number of personnel who can be contacted; and the size and weight of the antenna and assembly can affect aerodynamics. Rockwell Collins set out to design an antenna that would overcome these drawbacks.
Lightning strikes are a constant threat to aircraft—manned and unmanned—in turbulent environments. Lord Corp. of Cary, N.C., has developed a curable reactive organic compound with conductive filler that is designed to self-assemble into a heterogeneous structure forming a continuous microscopic 3-D strike-protection layer of metal on a polymer-rich composite substrate. The material, which can be used on new structures or to repair damaged conductive pathways, is reportedly no more difficult to apply than an epoxy layer on a composite structure.
In one of 16 forts built in the 19th century to protect Paris sits a discreet intelligence service, whose task is not only to protect and advise the French defense establishment but also to protect the technological know-how of French defense companies. It recently unlatched its doors to let DTI have a look inside.
This month's Cutting Edge features six defense technology-related finalists from the second annual Suppliers' Innovation Challenge, a design competition run by Aviation Week. The winners (civil and military) will be announced later this month. For more information, go to AviationWeek.com
Equipping the armed forces of one country during wartime is extraordinarily expensive. Equipping two—as the U.S. has since 9/11 in Iraq and Afghanistan—borders on the absurd. But that's exactly the world we've been living in over the past 10 years, and the bills are beginning to come due.
Soldiers in the field may soon be trying out goggles that can literally read their unconscious thoughts. The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System (CT2WS) incorporates an array of advanced vision technology, including the ability to detect the wearer's neural signals. The high-tech binoculars are on track for testing, but it “will be summer before a prototype is deployed and tested,” Darpa tells DTI.
Homemade bombs of the future will not just be a problem for military forces in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. The threat from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is rapidly moving from military battlefields abroad to U.S. soil, according to a new Defense Department report, which also warns of future bombs that could be detonated by everything from Bluetooth to 4G devices. The domestic threat is “a relatively recent development,” but is growing quickly, says the new 2012-16 strategic plan of the Joint IED Defeat Organization (Jieddo).
Efforts to commercialize algae-derived renewable fuels are to receive a $14 million boost from the U.S. Energy Department, which aims to fund projects to improve the sustainability and accelerate the availability of algal-based biofuels. The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) is seeking proposals from small businesses, universities and national laboratories to modify existing facilities into long-term testbeds for new production processes to commercialize algal biofuels.
Hawker Beechcraft has welcomed the U.S. Air Force’s Feb. 28 decision to cancel Sierra Nevada Corp.’s $355 million contract to supply Embraer Super Tucanos for the Afghan air force, but whether the competition will be restaged remains unclear. Although Hawker Beechcraft (HBC) says the service has reinstated the company “to the competitive range” under the Light Air Support (LAS) procurement, the Air Force says no decision has been made on whether to restage the competition.
Congress doesn’t read its witnesses Miranda rights before they testify, but past Pentagon statements were certainly used against Air Force leaders during a Feb. 28 hearing. Given that the Air Force has rolled out a list of controversial cuts that gore oxen in congressional districts across the country for its fiscal 2013 budget request, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz had to expect some heat on Capitol Hill.
New Delhi – India has approved a proposal to acquire 18 new aircraft worth more than $1 billion for the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) currently being built for the navy. The permission to procure nine Medium Range Maritime Reconnaissance (MRMR) aircraft and limited series production of another nine carrier-borne Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was granted by the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by India Defense Minister A. K. Antony late last week, a senior defense official told Aviation Week.
LONDON – The Future Anti-Surface Tactical Missile that is being considered by France and the U.K. as a collaborative development program would have both helicopter and attack aircraft roles.
The U.S. strategy to reorient its forces to the Western Pacific Ocean is coming under pressure from financial, force structure, personnel and technology changes. For example, greatly desired, high-reliability, long-range active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radars installed in the Air Force and Navy’s best warplanes – including the F-22, F-35 and EA-18G – are vulnerable to cyberattack.
LONDON – Having declared an initial operating capability with the Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile in December, the Royal Australian Air Force is planning to reach full operating capability this year. The operational status is a sharp turnaround for the missile program that, in 2010, was added to Australia’s name-and-shame “Projects of Concern” list, before being removed late last year.
LONDON – Global arms sales continued to increase, but only at 1% real growth, in the latest figures published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). The figures, reflecting 2010 data, show total sales of military arms and services of $411.1 billion. One of the main trends is “a continuing increase in the sales of military services – including systems support, training, logistics, and maintenance, repair and overhaul,” Sipri notes.
