July 15, 2019 | International, Other Defence
By: Todd South
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Army leaders see a future battlefield with networked minefields a commander can see from across the globe through satellite communications and that can be scattered in minutes but also retrieved and reused when needed.
The push is an effort to keep landmines of various types in the weapons portfolio while still meeting the agreements made to get out of the old school “dumb” landmine use.
Smart mines being developed now are a way to replace some of the aging stocks in the “Family of Scatterable Mines” run by the Army's Program Manager Close Combat Systems.
The program actually runs nearly half of all munitions from non-lethals to hand grenades to shoulder-fired rockets and counter explosives equipment.
The portfolio, its challenges and what's happening now were laid out for attendees at the annual National Defense Industrial Association's Armament Systems Forum in June.
Top of the priority lists are some simple munitions needs — more hand-grenade fuzes and better shoulder-fired weapons.
But the big ticket items that need problem solving are how to use “terrain shaping obstacles,” or landmines, that can be delivered to close, middle and deep distances and then controlled to avoid the problems of scattering mines across war zones and then leaving them for an innocent passerby to trigger years or decades later.
Small options such as the remote activation system used for current mine emplacements relies on radio frequency transmissions.
But, as Pelino noted, in a near peer fight it's likely that adversaries will do RF jamming.
The Army has a host of terrain-shaping obstacles, everything from the trusty standby Claymore mine which came online in the late 1950s and saw extensive use in the Vietnam War to the Gator system, which can be air dropped to take out everything from an individual soldier to a tank.
They're also the anti-personnel area denial artillery munition, or ADAM, mine that can be launched using a 155mm round from artillery. Its cousin, the remote anti-armor munition, or RAAM, packs a bit more of a punch but also can be delivered from anything that fires a 155mm shell.
Both are fired to the area of the threat and then roll out multiple mines that detonate when the appropriate level of vibration triggers them.
Pelino described the Modular Pack Mine System, or MOPMS, like a minefield in a suitcase. Though coming in at 165 pounds, that's a very heavy suitcase. A single radio-control unit can run up to 15 MOPMS on the battlefield. They can also be hardwired to a controller.
An upside to the MOPMS is it can be recovered and reused.
On the lighter side is the M86 pursuit deterrent munition. It was designed for special operations forces to use when being pursued by an enemy. Think classic films where the character scatters nails or an oil slick to slow down their chaser, except with a lot more boom.
Only instead of firing from a cannon, the soldier has to arm the device and deploy tripwires for bad guys to stumble upon.
The Volcano mine system takes more of an industrial approach. Allowing a UH-60 Black Hawk to create a 1,000-foot minefield in less than a minute, Pelino said.
The problem with all of those systems is they don't currently meet treaty obligations and many that had about a 20-year shelf life are pushing past 30 years now.
Most will still be in stock at 2035, as the Army uses updates to keep them serviceable, Pelino said.
The newer Spider System is one that allows soldiers to put in a porcupine-looking system that gives 360-degree coverage to deny enemy access to an area while also networking with other systems and a common controller.
Future systems will look a lot more like Spider and a lot less like pressure plate mines of the World War II era or the venerable Claymore.
The future minefield systems must have a 2 to 300km communications capability, an ability to be switched on and off, remotely modified self-destruct or deactivate mechanisms, self-report status so that users will know if they've been tampered with or if a mine went off.
The Army also wants the mines to be able to not just blow up when something rumbles by but also detect, track and engage threat vehicles for everything from tanks to engineer equipment. Oh, and it must work in all terrain and weather conditions, be easily trained and employed, recoverable, reusable and affordable.
The standard kit will include between half and a full brigade's worth of mines to block off areas for maneuver and prevent enemy flanking.
July 13, 2021 | International, Land
Both Hisar A+ and Hisar O+ have modular structures as part of their family concept, and are designed to be compatible with different platforms, fire control systems, and command-and-control infrastructure.
March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
ARMY Ceradyne Inc., Irvine, California (W91CRB-19-D-0012); Leading Technology Composites,* Wichita, Kansas (W91CRB-19-D-0013); and TenCate Advanced Armor USA Inc., Hebron, Ohio (W91CRB-19-D-0014), will compete for each order of the $704,238,806 hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract for Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert and X-Small Arms Protective Insert hard armor plates. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 5, 2023. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Salient Federal Solutions, also known as Salient CRGT, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded a $21,295,700 firm-fixed-price contract for mission critical information-technology communications infrastructure and services. One bid was solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Bagram, Afghanistan, with an estimated completion date of March 14, 2023. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $21,295,700 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W52P1J-18-C-0020). Conti Federal Services Inc., Edison, New Jersey, was awarded a $15,346,734 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Israel) contract for construction and renovation of an existing kitchen and runway renovations. Six bids were solicited with four bids received. Work will be performed in Tel Aviv, Israel, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 17, 2020. Fiscal 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $15,346,734 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wiesbaden, Germany, is the contracting activity (W912GB-19-F-0027). Bosch Rexroth Corp., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was awarded an $11,401,973 firm-fixed-price contract to install replacement hydraulic doors on Building 27496 at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2023. Fiscal 2019 military construction funds in the amount of $11,401,973 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (W912PP-19-C-0015). Southern Dredging Co. Inc.,* Charleston, South Carolina, was awarded a $9,773,000 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Kings Bay, Georgia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,773,000 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-19-C-0013). AIR FORCE General Dynamics Information Technology, Falls Church, Virginia, has been awarded a not-to-exceed $217,000,000 task order under General Services Administration Alliant 2 Unrestricted Government-Wide (GWAC) for the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing technical operations support. This task order provides for support of the Distributed Common Ground System network weapon system and all supporting activities, such as the development, integration, maintenance, administration, management, documentation, assessment, disposal and troubleshooting of 480 ISRW information technology assets from the network and enterprise level. Work will be performed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia; and Beale Air Force Base, California, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 31, 2027. This task order is the result of a competitive acquisition and five offers were received. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $11,589,147 are being obligated at the time of award. Headquarters Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-19-F-A022). Assured Information Security Inc.,* Rome, New York, has been awarded a $48,444,066 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for full spectrum cyber capabilities. The objective of this effort is to provide the Air Force with tools and technologies to aid in cyber warfare. This contract provides for research, development, and transition of cyber technologies to enable rapid cyber operations and will result in the accelerated delivery of innovative cyber solutions to the warfighter. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, and is expected to be completed by March 5, 2024. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-19-C-0013). NAVY Huntington Ingalls Industries, San Diego Shipyard Inc., San Diego, California, is awarded a $118,446,807 firm-fixed-price contract for the execution of USS Rushmore (LSD 47) fiscal 2019 drydock selected restricted availability. This is a “long-term” availability and was competed on a coast-wide (West coast) basis without limiting the place of performance to the vessel's homeport. This availability will include a combination of maintenance, modernization, and repair of USS Rushmore. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $154,235,955. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be complete by May 2020. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy); and 2019 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $118,446,807 will be obligated at time of award, and $108,971,062 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the Federal Business Opportunities website with three offers were received in response to solicitation no. N00024-18-R-4410. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity (N00024-19-C-4410). Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a $91,872,559 firm-fixed-price option to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-5425 for fiscal 2019 Navy procurements of Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 guided missile round pack and spare replacement components. The RAM Guided Missile Weapon System is co-developed and co-produced under an International Cooperative Program between the U.S.' and Federal Republic of Germany's governments. RAM is a missile system designed to provide anti-ship missile defense for multiple ship platforms. Work will be performed in Ottobrunn, Germany (44 percent); Tucson, Arizona (35 percent); Rocket Center, West Virginia (9 percent); Dallas, Texas (2 percent); Mason, Ohio (2 percent); Glenrothes, Scotland (1 percent); Cincinnati, Ohio (1 percent); Andover, Massachusetts (1 percent); and other U.S. locations (5 percent), and is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2019 weapons procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $91,872,559 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. GHD-COWI JV, San Diego, California, is awarded a maximum amount $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity architect-engineer contract for waterfront engineering services located in the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest (SW) Area of Responsibility (AOR). The work to be performed provides for the preparation of design-build requests for proposals; design-bid-build construction contract packages; reports/studies including utilities studies; technical reviews of government pre-prepared request for proposal packages for design-build projects and government pre-prepared design documents for design-bid-build projects; site investigations to support new development of facilities on raw land or redevelopment of existing facilities on developed sites; support and coordination of various technical disciplines; preparation of DD Form 1391 or similar planning and programming related documents; and post construction award services. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at various Navy and Marine Corps facilities and other government facilities within the NAVFAC SW AOR including, but not limited to California (87 percent); Arizona (5 percent); Nevada (5 percent); Colorado (1 percent); New Mexico (1 percent); and Utah (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by March 2024. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by operations and maintenance (Navy and Marine Corps). This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with five proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-D-2432). General Dynamics, Electric Boat Corp., Groton, Connecticut, is awarded a $23,689,683 delivery order under a previously awarded, multiple award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00024-16-D-4300 for the planning and material procurement requirements associated with repair work for USS John Warner (SSN 785). Work will be performed in Groton, Connecticut, and is expected to be complete by June 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $6,200,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Groton, Connecticut, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, is awarded a $12,192,816 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for engineering and test support services for the ALQ-249 Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) currently in development for the Navy EA-18G aircraft. Services to be provided include software support for NGJ pod and integration, including requirements analysis, design, development, integration, testing, training, and tools related to and in support of ALQ-249 and advanced electronic warfare initiatives. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California (75 percent); and Point Mugu, California (25 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $349,858 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, Point Mugu, California, is the contracting activity (N68936-19-D-0017). Optics 1 Inc., Bedford, New Hampshire, is awarded a $12,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract action for production, repair, and engineering support services for the ground based operational surveillance system light optical camera. The primary work is to manufacture and deliver a tripod mounted electro-optical and infrared sensor that provides both daylight and night vision imagery for detecting, classifying, and identifying targets to be mounted on a variant of the ground based operational surveillance system. Work will be performed in Bedford, New Hampshire, and is expected to be complete by March 2024. Fiscal 2019 and 2018 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $253,413 will be obligated at time of award, and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with two offers received. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N0016419DJV28). SimVentions Inc., Fredericksburg, Virginia, is awarded a $12,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the continued development, extension, and upgrade of the AN/SLQ-32(V)X Tactical Simulator tools and capabilities delivered in support of Navy training and integration and test efforts. Work will be performed in Fredericksburg, Virginia (88 percent); Fairmont, West Virginia (8 percent); and Pensacola, Florida (4 percent), and is expected to be completed by February 2024. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy); and fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,514,452 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00178-19-D-4502). Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, is awarded a $10,950,758 cost-plus-award-fee modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-18-C-2313 for DDG 51 class lead yard services, including engineering and technical assistance for new-construction DDG 51-class ships. This modification to the contract is for continued lead yard services for the DDG 51 Class Destroyer Program. Lead yard services include liaison for follow ship construction, general class services, class design contractor services, class change design services for follow ships, and ship trials and post-shakedown availability support. Work will be performed in Bath, Maine (96 percent); Brunswick, Maine (3 percent); and other locations below one percent (1 percent), and is expected to be completed by July 2019. Fiscal 2014 and 2015 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $10,379,684 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Datex-Ohmeda Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $100,000,000 firm‐fixed‐price, indefinite‐delivery/indefinite‐quantity contract for patient monitoring systems, accessories and training. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. This is a five-year base contract with one five‐year option period. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a March 5, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-19-D-0013). Raytheon Co., El Segundo, California, has been awarded an estimated $17,828,176 firm-fixed-priced delivery order (SPRPA1-19-F-C303) against a five-year basic ordering agreement (SPRPA1-17-G-C301) for aircraft radar system spare parts. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Mississippi, with a Dec. 20, 2021, performance completion date. Using customers are Navy and Canadian Armed Forces. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 Navy working capital funds and Foreign Military Sales. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded a sole-source cost-plus-fixed-fee modification in the amount of $14,162,806 to previously awarded contract HQ0276-15-C-0005, Contract Line Item Number 3002, to provide continued production support and engineering for the Standard Missile SM-3 Block IB program. This modification increases the total cumulative face value of the contract by $14,162,806 from $1,794,948,196 to $1,809,111,002. The work will be performed in Tucson, Arizona, with an expected completion date of October 2019. Fiscal 2019 Defense Wide Procurement funding in the amount of $14,162,806.00 will be obligated at the time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Virginia, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1777799/
February 17, 2021 | International, Aerospace
By: Tom Kington ROME — First there was the video from Libya of a Turkish drone destroying a Russian Pantsir missile defense system. Next came the veteran S-300 air defense system — also Russian — being taken out in Nagorno-Karabakh by an Israeli-built Harop loitering munition. In the conflicts in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh last year, unmanned platforms often made short work of the ground-based systems designed to neutralize them, paving the way for easy attacks on vulnerable troops. What is more, experts say, is that the balance of power between drones and air defense systems is shaping up to be a key to global wars in the near future. “Libya, Nagorno-Karabakh and also Syria have just showed us that if a fielded force cannot protect its airspace, then the large scale use of UAVs can make life extremely dangerous,” said Justin Bronk, an air force research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in England. Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 armed drone grabbed the headlines during the Libya conflict last year, which saw Turkey deploy the platform to defend the U.N.-backed Tripoli government against strongman Khalifa Hifter, who relied on Russian Pantsir systems. Able to fire their Roketsan munitions from outside the range of the Russian systems, the TB2s scored hits, helping stop Hifter's advance. “Turkey also sent in engineers who improved the software of the drones on the fly, while there was no similar learning curve with the Chinese UAVs operated by the UAE to assist Hifter,” said Jalel Harchaoui at the Switzerland-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. “The bold and effective use of TB2s in Nagorno-Karabakh in October was made possible by the previous success in Libya,” he added. An enclave belonging to Azerbaijan but governed by breakaway ethnic Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh has been a flashpoint between Azerbaijan and Armenia for years. It exploded in a brief and bloody war between September and November. Turkey, which backed Azerbaijan, reportedly sent in UAV trainers ahead of the conflict. TB2s alongside Israeli loitering munitions were soon racking up successes, with Dutch warfare research group Oryx reporting 134 Armenian tanks destroyed compared to 22 lost by Azerbaijan. “Turkey built up its UAV expertise after leasing Israeli UAVs, then put that expertise to use building its own after frustrations over the limits placed on its use of the Israeli systems,” Bronk said. “The TB2 has a similar aerodynamic profile to the Heron, while the Turkish Anka UAV is similar to the Hermes 450.” Manufacturer Bayraktar has sold the TB2 to Qatar and Ukraine, while Serbia is eyeing a purchase, raising the TB2′s profile as a competitor to the Chinese Wing Loong II, 50 of which have been exported. “China and Turkey are vying for sales, which begs the question: Why doesn't Russia have the equivalent of a TB2 to sell? I am very surprised they are almost absent in this market,” Harchaoui said. The drone's contribution to the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh came with a price, as Canada suspended arms exports to Turkey amid claims the TB2 contained Canadian parts, while a U.K. firm supplying parts to the drone also canceled its contract. A number of nations, including the U.K., are meanwhile beefing up their defenses for ground forces, said Bronk. “In light of this threat, the British Army has recently ordered a short/medium-range [surface-to-air missile] system called Sky Sabre. If deployed forward in significant numbers, it should dramatically reduce the Army's vulnerability to both surveillance and attack by hostile UAVs in situations where friendly air cover is unavailable,” he said. Drones are not, however, invulnerable, he added. “U.S. and British Reapers and Predators in Syria had lots of problems with Russian electronic warfare. Since the Reaper can be targeted, you can imagine that less sophisticated platforms can be more easily affected,” he said. Bronk expects that more militaries will spend more money on air defense to balance out the drone threat — “particularly countries which don't have strong air forces.” “One option is the Russian SA-17 system, which has a 75-kilometer range compared to the 10 kilometers of TB2 missiles, or the cheaper and more contained SA-15 with a 10-kilometer range. Western products include the [National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System] NASAMS, which already helps to defend Washington, D.C., with a roughly 15-kilometer range and the NASAMS 2 with a 30- to 40-kilometer range,” he said. Peter Roberts, the director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute, said the world is waking up to the reality of modern warfare. “For a while there was the romantic view that either drones or tanks or missiles would win wars on their own,” he said. “There is no silver bullet on the battlefield, and this is an era which is rediscovering that.” Roberts added that urban warfare is also undergoing a revival, as is the art of deception in war. “Whether it's the Russians in Ukraine or the Iranians, the use of decoys is back — something we once knew about, then forgot in the 1990s.” The world is also returning to an era of proxy wars, he said, from Libya to Nagorno-Karabakh to Yemen. “That means wars fought on the edge of great powers using mercenaries and sponsored guerilla groups and insurgents,” he said. “It also means more sophisticated weapons in the hands of smaller, nonstate groups like the Houthis in Yemen using cruise and ballistic missiles and drones. It is potentially very nasty.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2021/02/15/the-drone-defense-dilemma-how-unmanned-aircraft-are-redrawing-battle-lines/