Raytheon upgrading Germany's Patriot integrated air and missile defense system

On the same subject

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  February 3, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  Israel touts upgraded Iron Dome capabilities against land, maritime threats

  By: Seth J. Frantzman JERUSALEM — An upgraded version of the Iron Dome air defense system has reached a “significant milestone” after contending with advanced threats in a test, Israel's Ministry of Defense announced Feb. 1. The Iron Dome is part of Israel's multilayered air defense and has been in service for a decade with more than 2,400 interceptions, mostly of projectiles launched from the Gaza Strip by militants. Two Iron Dome batteries were delivered to the U.S. Army in the last six months. “The Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), in the Directorate for Defense R&D of the Israel Ministry of Defense, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems have completed a successful series of flight tests of the Iron Dome weapon system,” Israel's Ministry of Defense said. “The Israeli Air Force (IAF) and Navy also participated in the test, which was conducted in a base in central Israel. The test campaign was held in a number of scenarios simulating advanced threats with which the Iron Dome is expected to contend during times of conflict — whether on land or in the sea.” The new system is expected to be delivered to the Israel Air Force for operational use — though it's unclear when — and then later installed on Israel's new Sa'ar 6 corvette, which arrived last year from Germany. It is expected to equip this new class of warships, which will be equipped with a variety of advanced Israeli systems in the coming years. The new ships are supposed to defend Israel's exclusive economic zone off the country's coast. Israel has expanded its infrastructure off the coast in the last several years due to natural gas discoveries in its exclusive economic zone, and the country signed a deal to build an Eastern Mediterranean pipeline to Greece via Cyprus last year. In the 2006 Lebanon war, the militant group Hezbollah fired a C-802 missile at a Sa'ar 5 ship. Egyptian and Saudi Arabian ships have also contended with anti-ship missile threats in recent years from Sinai and Yemen, respectively. Israel's Rafael would not elaborate on specifics of the test or the new capabilities. The ministry also would not provide further details beyond its statement. Video released by the ministry showed the logos of the companies involved, including the prime contractor Rafael; IAI, whose subsidiary Elta Systems is the maker of the multimission radar; and mPrest, which produces the BMC command-and-control system. The video also showed target drones launched over the water before Iron Dome intercepted them. It also showed several other quadcopter-style drones prior to takeoff, but it's unclear if they were targets in the drill. In mid-December, Israel launched an unprecedented integration test of its air defense systems, including Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow. During the test, Iron Dome was used to intercept cruise missiles — a new capability for the system. Drones and cruise missiles were used by Iran in September 2019 in an attack on Saudi Arabia, which led to concerns at the time over whether air defense systems were ready to confront drone swarm attacks or contend with slow and low-flying, maneuverable missiles. Iron Dome has received U.S. funding that tops about $500 million annually for joint air defense projects with Israel. In August 2020, Rafael and American firm Raytheon Technologies agreed to a joint venture to build Iron Dome in the United States. The facility builds the system and its Tamir interceptor, which is called SkyHunter, in the U.S. At the time, the system was said to be capable of intercepting cruise missiles, unmanned aircraft, rockets, artillery and mortars. When Israel completed the delivery of its second battery to the U.S. on Jan. 3, 2021, Israeli Defense Ministry Benny Gantz said he was “confident the system would assist the US Army in protecting American troops from ballistic and airborne threats as well as from developing threats in the areas where US troops are deployed on various missions.” Subsequent reports in Israeli media hinted that the U.S. might deploy the system to the Gulf where it has bases. Israel's MoD did not comment on the reports. The U.S. previously sent Patriot batteries as well as counter-rocket, artillery and mortar systems to defend against threats in the Gulf region. https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2021/02/02/israel-touts-upgraded-iron-dome-capabilities-against-land-maritime-threats

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  October 12, 2021 | International, C4ISR

  Merging worlds: Army releases unified network plan to ensure global connectivity

  The global nature of conflicts '€” physical and digital alike '€” against nation states will require forces to have ready and resilient access to data from anywhere.

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  June 28, 2018 | International, Land, C4ISR

  Here’s how artificial intelligence could predict when your Army vehicle will break down

  By: Victoria Leoni The Army wants to use artificial intelligence software to predict when vehicle parts might break down and prevent equipment failures before they happen. Uptake, a Chicago-based AI company, recently received a $1 million contract from the Army to test its technology on a group of deployed Bradley M2A3 combat vehicles, according to the Washington Post. Depending on how the trial goes, the AI software could be applied on a much larger scale. “We're looking to see if we can leverage some of Uptake's machine learning algorithms to spot equipment failures before they happen,” Lt. Col. Chris Conley, Army program manager for the Bradley fleet, said in the report. “If this pans out and can provide some real capability, the Army could look to expand this to the entire Bradley fleet as well as other combat vehicle fleets.” Uptake's technology will analyze the signals produced by the Army's equipment to provide updates on the equipment's maintenance status. If a vehicle part shows signs of being faulty, for example, commanders will be alerted and have the ability to repair or replace the part before the entire vehicle is compromised. “Just like humans have been putting their statuses on Facebook and Twitter, these machines have been putting out their statuses for decades and nobody's been listening,” Ganesh Bell, president of Uptake Technologies, told the Post. “Only recently do we have the technology to understand that.” M2 and M3 Bradleys are some of the most widely used Army vehicles in peacekeeping and combat missions. This will be the first application of the technology to military vehicles. “I'm not convinced that this will be successful, but I'm really excited about the potential of it,” Conley told the Post. “We're doing a pilot test to verify their claims before we do anything at scale.” Retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an Uptake shareholder, told the Post the AI technology is what the military needs to ensure readiness and efficiency. “What I've seen on the component side is you almost wait for failure and then figure it out,” he said. “Based on the results I've seen there is a huge potential here for better outcomes and a lot less expense, which is what anybody in the military is focused on.” https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/06/27/heres-how-artificial-intelligence-could-predict-when-your-army-vehicle-will-break-down/