Back to news

January 30, 2019 | International, Naval

More Missile Defense Ships, New Ground Deployments

By

WASHINGTON: A top Pentagon official on Tuesday said major upgrades being made to dozens of Navy destroyers to give them new missile defense capabilities will continue, even as Navy leadership bristles at having so many ships tied up hunting for missile launches.

The comments by James Anderson, assistant Defense secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities, came on the same day that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before Congress that US intelligence agencies assess North Korea is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in any potential deal with Washington.

“The Navy does have this mission of ballistic missile defense,” Anderson said during a talk at the Brookings Institution. “It is one of their core missions and it will remain so.” The Navy currently has 38 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis destroyers in the fleet with missile defense capabilities, he noted, and has plans to convert “all Aegis destroyers to fully missile defense capable” status, meaning 60 ships will be able to perform the missile defense mission by 2023.

Just the day before Anderson's remarks, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson complained again that he has ships sailing in “small boxes” protecting assets on land, when they should be out performing other missions.

“We've got exquisite capability, but we've had ships protecting some pretty static assets on land for a decade,” Richardson said. “If that [stationary] asset is going to be a long-term protected asset, then let's build something on land and protect that and liberate these ships from this mission.”

Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2019/01/more-missile-defense-ships-new-ground-deployments

On the same subject

  • Australia chooses General Atomics MQ-9B Sky Guardian RPAS

    November 29, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    Australia chooses General Atomics MQ-9B Sky Guardian RPAS

    The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) has down-selected General Atomics' MQ-9B Sky Guardian for the programme to acquire an armed Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). Australia is looking to purchase the MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for its armed MALE RPAS requirement under Project Air 7003. The DoD has selected the MQ-9B over the MQ-9A unmanned aircraft for the A$1.3bn ($884m) programme. It will now work on preparing an acquisition proposal for government consideration, which is expected to take place in 2021-22. Australia Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said: “Cutting-edge technology of this kind, with advanced sensors and systems, would complement advanced aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and ensure that Australian Defence Force maintains state-of-the-art capability.” The team assembled by General Atomics to deliver the RPAS for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is known as Team Reaper Australia. It includes Cobham Aviation Services Australia, Flight Data Systems, Collins Aerospace, Raytheon Australia, Airspeed, CAE Australia, Sentient Vision Systems, Ultra Electronics Australia, Quickstep Technologies and TAE Aerospace. Australia Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price said: “Local companies that provide a range of innovative sensor, communication, manufacturing and lifecycle support capabilities will have the opportunity to showcase their capabilities throughout this development process. “Australian defence industries are world-class and are extremely well-placed to be involved in projects like this.” The DoD select General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) to provide an armed RPAS solution in November last year. To be operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), the MQ-9B drone is part of the MQ-9 series of unmanned systems. Belgium and the UK also selected the MQ-9B Sky Guardian to meet their defence requirements. https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/australia-general-atomics-mq-9b-sky-guardian/

  • British Navy ships to carry drone-zapping lasers by 2027

    April 14, 2024 | International, Naval

    British Navy ships to carry drone-zapping lasers by 2027

    Using directed energy to down aerial threats promises to revolutionize the business of air defense.

  • Aviation Week Forecasts: Western C4ISR Commercial Airliner Aircraft MRO 2020-2029

    June 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

    Aviation Week Forecasts: Western C4ISR Commercial Airliner Aircraft MRO 2020-2029

    June 23, 2020 Aviation Week Network forecasts that from 2020 to 2029, Western-built commercial airliners performing military C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions will generate $20.7 billion in maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) demand, declining 4% over the decade. These figures only include aircraft categorized as commercial airliners that are specifically equipped to perform C4ISR missions against land and airborne targets—everything from aircraft equipped with just electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) devices to sophisticated electronic warfare platforms. Excluded are observation aircraft not specially equipped for C4ISR missions, any dedicated search-and-rescue aircraft, and military VIP transports. The single largest source of MRO demand over the forecast is the Boeing 707, which will produce a dominant 78.6% of the global forecast total. The 707 is the base airframe for 13 different C4ISR platforms around the globe, including the U.S.'s E-3, E-6, and E-8 fleets. Despite the dominance, the 707's annual demand will decline 14.5% in the next 10 years. Boeing's queen of the skies, the 747, will produce the second most MRO demand this decade, albeit a 10th of the 707. The 747 takes the lead in terms of MRO decline, shedding 33.5% of its demand by 2029 as the U.S. Air Force is expected to retire some of its smallest but most expensive-to-maintain fleets like the E-4. There is an estimated $330 million in MRO demand for yet-undecided military competitions and requirements that are assessed to be won by a commercial airliner C4ISR platform. While only 1.6% of the forecast total, it is 7.1% of the total in 2029, making it the second-largest source of MRO that year. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/z/aviation-week-forecasts-western-c4isr-commercial-airliner-aircraft-mro-2020-2029

All news