Much was made of the Bush administration's characterization of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as part of a larger Global War on Terror, Long War, or Era of Persistent Conflict—or as the lawyerly Obama administration prefers, Overseas Contingency Operations. It is a war that knows no real front lines or national boundaries, while lacking any strategic endgame, other than killing as many terrorists as possible.
The U.S. Navy plans to start production of the first of 12 SSBN(X) ballistic missile submarines in 2019 to replace the 14 Ohio-class boats. Construction, at the rate of one per year, is projected to continue to 2033, and the submarines could serve until the 2080s. Before the keel for the first boat is laid, however, much will be done in such areas as design, systems engineering and finalization of per-boat and life-cycle costs. The Milestone A program has received authorization for technology development, which will take place in Milestone B.
Charging Ahead SpringActive, a small company in Tempe, Ariz., may have an answer to a nagging problem: how to reduce the battery load that dismounted soldiers carry to power electronic devices. The company's solution—developed with input from an engineering professor at West Point—calls for a biomechanical energy harvester that attaches to one or both boots and generates electricity as a soldier walks—6-9 watts at 3 mph, which the company says is enough to recharge two AA batteries in 85 min.
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.
Cyberspooks In February 2011, hacking collective Anonymous broke into the servers of security company HBGary Federal and published more than 70,000 emails. Among them: confidential correspondence about and by an Atlanta cybersecurity firm called Endgame Systems. Founded in 2008 by former staffers at IBM's X-Force Internet Security Systems division, Endgame set up a subsidiary, ipTrust, in 2010, to analyze computer networks and rank IP addresses by their level of freedom from malware. The activities of the parent follow a similar vein.
The expanding role of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and the electronics revolution have been kind to Flir Systems. Its signature product, the “ball” or sensor turret, is ubiquitous on air, sea and land platforms, and each year the company finds ways to pack more capability, such as high-definition video and laser designators, into smaller and cheaper units. Flir's Government Systems unit is expanding into full security systems and services (DTI June 2011, p. 51).
Navies continue to engage in counter-piracy operations, but there is no easy remedy for the problem. The reason for this is that Somalia, from which the pirates launch attacks, is a failed state lacking the means to deal with the situation.
Andrew Krepinevich, Jr., is president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, one of Washington's most influential think tanks. He joined CSBA after 21 years in the U.S. Army, from which he retired as a colonel. In the Army, Krepinevich served in the Defense Department's Office of Net Assessment and on the personal staff of three defense secretaries. He was a member of the National Defense Panel and the Defense Science Board Task Force on Joint Experimentation, and serves on the Defense Policy Board. Krepinevich discussed the changes and challenges of U.S.
Train Like You Fight Spun off from a movie studio in 2002, Strategic Operations (Stops) provides “hyper-realistic” (its trademarked phrase) training. The San Diego firm has built training facilities modeled along Afghan/Iraqi lines for clients including the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and National Guard. Hollywood-style pyrotechnics ensure that urban combat scenarios do not lack realism, while actors play civilians and insurgents for troops to engage.
Within sight of the Virginia coast, the USS Wasp amphibious assault ship has been circling since the beginning of the month in a 20 X 20-mi. box quietly—until now—making history as the host of the very first sea trials of the Lockheed Martin F-35B, which is designed for short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) operations for the U.S. Marine Corps.
For the first time in the history of the Joint Strike Fighter program, a senior Pentagon appointee has raised the question of whether one of the three versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 should be canceled to save money. The move comes as program leaders and Pentagon cost experts are trying to prepare for a long-delayed Defense Acquisition Board review of JSF, including a comprehensive effort to establish reliable predictions of acquisition and operating costs.
With the U.S. Navy opening up to competition its lucrative contracts to provide ship- and land-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services, Sweden’s Saab sees an opportunity to break into the U.S. unmanned aircraft market. With CSC acting as prime contractor, Saab is offering its Skeldar V-200M vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft to meet that part of the Navy’s UAV ISR services requirement calling for a system able to operate from its Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI) Ghost electrically powered vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) mini-UAV is making its debut at this week's Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International show in Washington. Weighing 9 lb., the tandem-rotor autonomous aircraft can fly for up to 30 min. on battery power and is designed for low noise and ease of use in urban warfare and special operations. IAI has also developed the Panther family of tilt-prop small VTOL unmanned aerial systems.
Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is facing an existential threat on Capitol Hill. Senators are actively trying to end funding for the system and renegotiate the U.S. agreement to develop the missile with Italy and Germany. Rather than simply push back on the cuts, Lockheed Martin is making a run at the competition, arguing it will cost the government more in the long term to sustain Raytheon's Patriot missile system than to opt for Meads.
The next generation of unmanned aircraft could be today's systems, but linked in ways only now becoming possible, thereby enabling them to perform missions beyond their individual capabilities. Use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has grown during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as the conflict draws down, services are seeking ways to make better use of their existing assets, recognizing that prospects for new systems are receding as budgets tighten.
Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is facing an existential threat on Capitol Hill. Senators are actively trying to end funding for the system and renegotiate the U.S. agreement to develop the missile with Italy and Germany. Rather than simply push back on the cuts, Lockheed Martin is making a run at the competition, arguing it will cost the government more in the long term to sustain Raytheon's Patriot missile system than to opt for Meads.
Some broad decisions have already been taken, though. The defense ministry will be structured into three pillars: policy and strategy, armed forces, and procurement and estates.
Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is facing an existential threat on Capitol Hill. Senators are actively trying to end funding for the system and renegotiate the U.S. agreement to develop the missile with Italy and Germany. Rather than simply push back on the cuts, Lockheed Martin is making a run at the competition, arguing it will cost the government more in the long term to sustain Raytheon's Patriot missile system than to opt for Meads.
The next generation of unmanned aircraft could be today's systems, but linked in ways only now becoming possible, thereby enabling them to perform missions beyond their individual capabilities. Use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has grown during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as the conflict draws down, services are seeking ways to make better use of their existing assets, recognizing that prospects for new systems are receding as budgets tighten.
The next generation of unmanned aircraft could be today's systems, but linked in ways only now becoming possible, thereby enabling them to perform missions beyond their individual capabilities. Use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has grown during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but as the conflict draws down, services are seeking ways to make better use of their existing assets, recognizing that prospects for new systems are receding as budgets tighten.
Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney has no illusions about capturing the spotlight at this year's Paris air show. That will likely shine on rival Airbus, which is expected to announce more orders for its re-engined A320 narrowbody, dubbed the NEO (new engine option). Shortly before he left for the Paris air show, McNerney sat down in his office at Boeing's Chicago headquarters with AW&ST Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr., and Senior Business Editor Joseph C.
Bill Sweetman (Washington), Amy Butler (Washington)
Photography of U.S. military technology left behind in the May 1 raid against Osama bin Laden shows that previously unseen stealth-like enhancements to rotorcraft played a critical role in the mission to take down the Al Qaeda leader.
