August 5, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By: Melanie Marlowe
Next week, people from across the missile defense community will gather at an annual symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, to consider how to adapt U.S. missile defense efforts to the challenge of renewed competition with Russia and China. A centerpiece of their discussions will be the emergence of advanced hypersonic missile threats and what to do about them.
Over the past few years, the Pentagon has prioritized the development of offensive hypersonic strike weapons, with billions of dollars in contracts already awarded for each of the major military services to acquire hypersonic strike missiles of their own.
The counter-hypersonic mission, however, received surprisingly short shrift in recent defense budgets, with progress on hypersonic defense thus far piecemeal and halting. Some leading military officials charged with procuring hypersonic strike missiles have said that defending against hypersonic missiles is too hard, so we shouldn't even try.
That short-sighted approach is at odds with the vision of newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who stated to Congress that he will advocate hypersonic missile defense, to include the development of new sensors, interceptors, and advanced command-and-control systems.
Public commentary on hypersonic threats has been somewhat hyperbolic. Yes, hypersonics are fast — five or more times the speed of sound — but that's slower than many ballistic missiles. Aerodynamic maneuver makes for a less predictable flight path, but this also means that atmospheric friction would remove the kind of decoys that might accompany a ballistic reentry vehicle. Whether a boosted glide vehicle, a scramjet cruise missile or a maneuverable quasi-ballistic missile, hypersonics pose a complex air defense challenge, but they are not invulnerable.
The strategic significance of hypersonics is nevertheless quite real. Today's Patriot, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Aegis defenses protect American carrier groups and ground forces against aerial and ballistic missile attack. Designed to go around or under those defenses, hypersonics are a more sophisticated means to hold forces at risk, and thereby undermine our broader defense goals and alliance system. Even if the United States catches up with the Chinese and Russians on hypersonic strike, our adversaries' ability to hold U.S. carriers and forward bases at risk will push back U.S. forces. They could certainly also be used to target the American homeland, but the more urgent threat is regional. Passive defense only goes so far — ships can only go so fast, and air bases cannot be moved. Active defenses must be part of a balanced strategy.
The first priority here is a space sensor layer. Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles fly at lower and changing altitudes, are harder to see, and travel an uncertain flight path. Current early warning satellites can detect the launch of boost-glide vehicles but are unsuited to tracking them during the glide phase. Today's surface-based ballistic missile radars would only be able to spot a weapon once it crosses the horizon. Only space sensors can provide birth-to-death, fire-control quality tracks for hypersonic missiles.
Unfortunately, recent budget requests have been rather tepid in their commitment to space sensors. The administration's 2020 request virtually divested the program, and for the second year in a row the Missile Defense Agency listed the space sensor layer as its No. 1 unfunded priority. Thankfully, Congress seems to be in the process of restoring $108 million to return the program to the MDA to move out on development this year.
The second element of hypersonic defense is interceptors. Although existing interceptors may well be improved, Secretary Esper has affirmed that new interceptors will have to be developed that are better suited to the mission's stressing thermal and high-maneuver environment. The MDA's third-highest unfunded priority for 2020 — $720 million for hypersonic defense — seems unlikely to be restored this year, but should be restored in the 2021 budget. Directed-energy weapons could potentially target hypersonic threats in their cruise phase or jam them in their terminal phase, but the mission's complexity will almost certainly require both kinetic and nonkinetic effectors.
The most challenging element will be developing a command-and-control architecture that ties everything together. A long-range hypersonic glide vehicle of significant range could cross continents and multiple combatant commands. Even with better interceptors and an adequate sensor layer, information and fire-control solutions must be developed and rapidly passed to commanders. The Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications network that supports the Ballistic Missile Defense System may be the foundation of such an architecture, but more dramatic upgrades will be required.
The advent of the hypersonic era is central to the efforts by Russia and China to counter U.S. power projection in the world. The Pentagon's recent focus on hypersonic strike is necessary but insufficient. It falls now to congressional leadership and those assembling the 2021 budget to rebalance it with a more appropriate mix of hypersonic strike and defense.
December 28, 2023 | International, Security
“Non-kinetic defense systems are a key part of America’s national defense strategy,” said Colin Whelan, the president of advanced technology at Raytheon.
October 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Honeywell Aerospace Phoenix, October 12, 2020 -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) has won a five-year IDIQ (Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity) contract for the repair and overhaul of its T55-GA-714A engines that operate on the U.S. Army's CH-47 Chinook helicopters. This contract award will ensure that the U.S. Army's Chinook fleet has spare engines to sustain its future missions and overall readiness. The engines will be serviced at Honeywell's new maintenance facility at the company's Aerospace global headquarters in Phoenix. “Honeywell remains committed to supporting the T55 engine and the CH-47F Chinook program with improved maintenance practices, expanded repair capacities and engine modernization improvements that will meet the helicopter's needs for years to come,” said Dave Marinick, president, Engines & Power Systems. “Honeywell's unparalleled T55 repair and overhaul facility was designed to provide the highest level of support for the U.S. Army's needs today and in future missions. Every aspect of the layout and design of this new facility was carefully planned to ensure operational efficiency with U.S. Army mission readiness in mind.” Completion of the new facility means repair and overhaul work on the T55-GA-714A engine will now be in the same location as new engine production. This move allows the workforce to share resources between both engine lines, for a potential surge output of 20 engines per month that can be delivered to the U.S. Army, foreign military and commercial customers. “We've made substantial improvements to the shop layout and process flow of the T55-GA-714A maintenance lines,” said Lesley King, senior director, ISC Operations, Honeywell Aerospace. “So we can double our capacity in the shop and take advantage of our engineering resources on-site to ensure we are meeting our delivery commitments to the Army.” As a world leader in heavy lift, the CH-47F Chinook helicopter is used by the U.S. Army to support domestic and foreign operations by hauling troops and cargo all over the world. Since 1961, Honeywell has improved the horsepower of the T55 engine by 133%. Each improvement has decreased the engine's fuel consumption and lowered the maintenance burden to increase aircraft readiness. Honeywell is executing one such engine improvement program for the T55, which will increase shaft horsepower from today's 4,777 to 6,000. This engine enhancement will allow the CH-47F to increase its useful load at higher density altitudes and will further reduce maintenance hours with the introduction of a newly designed compressor and accessory drive gearbox. About Honeywell Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft. The Aerospace business unit builds aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity systems, mechanical components and more. Its hardware and software solutions create more fuel-efficient aircraft, more direct and on-time flights and safer skies and airports. For more information, visit www.honeywell.com or follow us at @Honeywell_Aero. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. https://www.epicos.com/article/635462/honeywell-secures-repair-and-overhaul-contract-us-army-chinook-fleet
July 20, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Airbus a annoncé le 10 juillet avoir formé avec 20 partenaires australiens le consortium «Team Nightjar» afin de pouvoir positionner son hélicoptère militaire H145M en Australie. Il s'agit de répondre aux besoins exprimés dans le projet Land 2097 Phase 4, visant à doter les forces spéciales australiennes d'une flotte d'hélicoptères multi-rôles de classe 4 tonnes. Parmi les membres de ce consortium figurent notamment, outre Airbus Helicopters, Safran Helicopter Engines Australia, QinetiQ Australia, Microflite, Kratos Australia et Cyborg Dynamics. «L'appareil bimoteur léger est une option éprouvée sur le plan opérationnel, abordable et à faible risque pour l'Australie, complétant le MRH90 Taipan par une mobilité et une connaissance situationnelle améliorées pour les opérations spéciales. En raison de sa taille compacte, le H145M sera optimisé pour les opérations en terrain urbain dense et sera rapidement déployable via un C-17A Globemaster», précise Airbus. Air & Cosmos du 17 juillet