February 24, 2024 | International, Aerospace
How interoperability benefits military, civil and commercial domains
Opinion: By focusing on interoperability, new capabilities can be quickly adopted and rolled out without significant system redesign.
February 16, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Russian Company Plans New Generation Of Missiles
Moscow-based GosMKB Vympel, which designs air-to-air missiles, is funding its own research on what appears to be the continuation of a short-range missile project that had been halted decades ago.
In late January, the company summarized its research and development work conducted in 2020. The most interesting project appears to be its research on “shaping the appearance of a future product 300M.”
This work, financed by Vympel's long-term development fund, is to lay the scientific and technical groundwork for the Russian military and increase the company's export prospects, the company says.
Undoubtedly, the current izdeliye 300M (“izdeliye” means “product” in Russian) is a further development of the K-30, or K-MD, short-range missile project, launched by Vympel in 1986 as part of its work on arming the fifth-generation MiG multirole fighter, which was halted in 1994 due to a lack of funding.
Later, Vympel offered the 300 project while working on how to arm the Sukhoi PAK FA (Su-57) fighter. In 2006, the company said the 300 missile could have been ready in 2013, if enough funding had been available. Gennady Sokolovsky, the head of Vympel at the time, said that the 300 missile would “significantly exceed foreign missiles of a similar type.”
The 300 was to be fitted with a new Merlushka, or “lambskin,” imaging infrared seeker developed by the AOMZ tactical missile company, enabling target identification and a lock-on range twice as great as its predecessors. The dual-pulse, solid-propellant motor was to provide relatively large specific impulse (about 100s), a measure of the engine's efficiency. The 300 missile was to have jet-vane gas controls instead of spoilers placed in the engine nozzle, as is the case with the current R-74 missiles. The efficiency of the variable gas nozzle is greater than that of spoilers; moreover, the presence of spoilers in the nozzle causes a loss of thrust.
Judging from the course of events, plans to resume the 300 project were not approved at the time, and the simpler R-74M2, otherwise known as izdeliye 760, was chosen as the primary close air-combat missile for the Su-57.
How the current 300M project changed compared with the previous version is not known, but most likely the modifications did not alter the overall configuration. If the changes were really significant, the project would have received a new index, not just an additional M letter.
Certainly, the element base in the seeker and control system is new; the engine also may be improved. Of course, the 300M missile remains at the conceptual research stage, which usually does not yet involve the actual construction of a missile.
According to Vympel's announcement, another short-range missile performed “about 30 firing tests” in 2020 as part of state evaluations, the final stage of tests before the missile is approved for full-scale series production. The announcement probably refers to the R-74M2, izdeliye 760, missile, which started firing tests on April 8, 2016, and in July 2019 was submitted for state evaluations on the Su-57. The Vympel R-74M2 is a further development of the in-service R-74M izdeliye 750 with the cross-section reduced so it can be fitted inside the internal quick-launch weapons bays of the Su-57.
The remaining information provided by Vympel about its 2020 research and development work is very general. The types of weapons are not named, and only the categories are defined. In the long-range air-to-air missile class, one of the missiles “completed preliminary tests to the extent sufficient for the construction documentation to be awarded the letter ‘O.'” In the parlance of the Russian defense industry, the letter “O” denotes permission to make an initial serial batch of missiles. Vympel could be referring to a new-generation heavy missile, the izdeliye 810, intended for internal carriage in the Su-57 fighter. The 810 missile, never presented to the public, began undergoing firing tests on July 6, 2017; its maximum range is estimated at 300 km (186 mi.).
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November 20, 2020 | International, Land
The Army is hunting for a new all-electric light recon vehicle
JARED KELLER The Army is searching for defense contractors to furnish the service with an off-the-shelf squad reconnaissance vehicle to complement its growing fleet of next-generation ground combat vehicles. The service on Wednesday published a market survey in search of a fully electric or hybrid-electric tactical vehicle to "inform" the acquisition strategy of its electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle (eLRV) program. The eLRV will provide "enhanced mobility, lethality, protection, mission load capacity, and onboard power" for six soldiers to conduct both mounted and dismounted reconnaissance and surveillance missions for Infantry Brigade Combat Teams, according to the market survey. The ideal vehicle will be transportable via CH-47 or C-130, have a range of more than 300 miles, and come with a medium-caliber weapon system to provide "precision 'stand-off' lethality" against both small arms and other light armored vehicles, according to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report. As Breaking Defense notes, the movement in the long-delayed eLRV program also comes amid a service-wide push to convert gas-powered ground vehicles to electric platforms for both tactical and logistical reasons. Electric vehicles "accelerate quicker, run cooler, and move quieter than internal combustion ones – advantages that are all especially valuable for stealthy scouts like LRV," as Breaking Defense put it in October. In addition, electric power "could reduce dependence on long supply lines and vulnerable convoys of tanker trucks, which are prime targets for adversaries ranging from Taliban irregulars to Russian missiles." The eLRV will also "operate in conjunction" with the service's next-generation Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) light tank and Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) to "enhance the lethality, mobility, reconnaissance, and security" of IBCTS, according to the market survey. Those new formations are still a ways off: the Army only accepted its first batch of ISVs in October and won't conduct its assessment of its two MPF prototypes until January 2021. And that's depending on if the Army formally sets aside any funding for the new scout vehicle in the first place. As the 2019 CRS report noted, the service did not actually request any money to fund the eLRV effort in both fiscal years 2020 and 2021 In the meantime, Army officials "were planning to use the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) to serve as the LRV on an interim basis," according to the CRS report. "From a programmatic perspective, the Army referred to its interim LRV solution as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle-Reconnaissance Vehicle (JLTV-RV)." If the Army gets its funding together, the service aims to potentially choose an off-the-shelf tactical vehicle for full production as soon as fiscal year 2025. https://taskandpurpose.com/military-tech/army-electric-light-reconnaissance-vehicle-markey-survey
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October 8, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR
Army Seeks Electric Scout By 2025
SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. The Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, an off-road truck to scout ahead of airborne and light infantry units, could lead the Army's move to electric motors. But electrifying heavy cargo trucks, let alone tanks, could take decades. WASHINGTON: The Army will brief interested companies Oct. 20 on an electric-drive version of the long-delayed Light Reconnaissance Vehicle and the service's emerging strategy to convert its gas-guzzling formations to electric power. The service is working with a non-profit consortium of more than 200 companies and universities developing clean transportation technologies, CALSTART. But the driving logic here is pure Army green, not eco-friendliness. Tactically, electric vehicles accelerate quicker, run cooler, and move quieter than internal combustion ones – advantages that are all especially valuable for stealthy scouts like LRV. They can also run power-hungry high-tech systems, from sensors to lasers, without needing a bulky auxiliary power unit. Logistically, even if the Army has to recharge its electric vehicles from diesel generators, that would actually get more miles per gallon than putting the same fuel directly into an internal combustion vehicle, because electric motors are much more efficient. So electric power could reduce dependence on long supply lines and vulnerable convoys of tanker trucks, which are prime targets for adversaries ranging from Taliban irregulars to Russian missiles. Army and NATO wargames have shown some alarming vulnerabilities in the fuel supply. What's the timeline? “We'd like to see an Electric Light Reconnaissance Vehicle by FY25,” said Maj. Ryan Ressler, who's leading the effort for Army Futures Command. But electrifying the Army's whole fleet of wheeled vehicles – let alone its heavier tracked vehicles – may take decades, starting with light trucks and gradually working up to heavy armor. “You're not going to go straight to an all-electric [fleet]. The battery density is not there for your combat vehicles,” Ressler told me – at least, not yet. “We would like to see all electric vehicles by 2040,” he said. “There might be potential to have all electric vehicles in the near term, if industry can help.” The Oct. 20 industry day will be the first step toward finding out. From Light to Heavy Ressler hopes to have a formal Abbreviated Capabilities Development Document (ACDD) for ELRV approved “in a matter of months,” he told me. “We see this as the first electrified vehicle for the Army ground combat fleet.” Industry feedback on ELRV – and progress on development, if the program goes ahead – will then inform the long-term strategy for Tactical and Combat Vehicle Electrification across the wider fleet. Ressler's team is now drafting what's called an Initial Capabilities Document for TaCVE. To test those concepts out in practice, he added, “we're looking at other potential candidates for electrification right now.” High on that list is the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) being built by GM Defense, an air-droppable light truck designed to carry airborne troops from their drop sites to the objective. Electric vehicles' innate stealth and reduced dependence on fuel supply would be particularly valuable to paratroopers, who operate on the ragged end of long supply lines. There's already been work done on an electric Infantry Squad Vehicle. “An electric prototype representative of the ISV proved it could be whisper-quiet, achieve sprint speed immediately, and offered excess power for extended silent watch mode exceeding current objectives,” according to an Army Futures Command white paper. LRV and ISV are natural partners. The Light Reconnaissance Vehicle was intended to scout ahead of the vulnerable Infantry Squad Vehicles, helping the unarmored transports avoid a lethal ambush. But the Army decided to delay a purpose-built LRV and use the heavier Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) as a stopgap scout. So it looks like LRV may have a second chance at life. ISV and LRV are both ultralight vehicles, meant to support airborne troops and other light infantry units that can deploy rapidly by air but after that mostly maneuver on foot. But even light infantry brigades have a small fleet of heavy trucks to carry supplies and special equipment. Mechanized units have a host of armored vehicles – 8×8 wheeled Strykers for medium brigades; tracked tanks, howitzers, missile launchers, and troop carriers for heavy brigades – followed by an even larger number of trucks to carry fuel, spare parts, supplies, and other support. There's already been some progress with these heavier vehicles. BAE Systems is developing an experimental hybrid diesel-electric engine for the M2 Bradley troop carrier. BAE's experimented with hybrid-electric armored vehicles for decades, company exec Andrew Rosenfeld told me – they once built a hybrid as heavy as an M1 Abrams tank – but the company's recent boom in civilian hybrid-electric buses has advanced the state of the art. Their engine for the Bradley can move up to 45 tons, and the same basic design could scale larger or smaller to go in a wide range of other vehicles. The hybrid Bradley uses 10 to 20 percent less fuel during a normal mission, he told me, and it can generate 500 kilowatts of power, enough to run an Army field hospital. On the wheeled side, the Army's Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC, formerly TARDEC) converted an Oshkosh cargo truck, the four-axle M977 HEMTT, to hybrid electric drive for a 2019 demonstration. That Tactical Vehicle Electrification Kit cut the HEMTT's fuel consumption by 15-25 percent, according to the Army Futures Command white paper. TVEK also tripled the truck's capacity to generate power. Increased power generation not only allows an electrified vehicle to have more technology on board, like sensors and weapons. Such vehicles could also park, plug in, and power up soldiers' charging kits, field hospitals, command posts, or radar sites – potentially replacing traditional diesel generators. “The very concept of what constitutes a vehicle has changed,” the white paper argued. “Electrification has transformed vehicles into sensor platforms, communication nodes, and mobile computational hubs.” Just as the F-35 fighter is so full of electronics that a former Air Force Chief of Staff called it “a computer that happens to fly,” electrified ground vehicles could become computers that happen to drive – and not just computers, but mobile charging stations as well. Today's complex and vulnerable supply chain must move large amounts of fuel from refinery to tanker to forward depot to individual vehicles and generators. A future system could be much more decentralized, supplying smaller amounts of fuel to hybrid-electric vehicles, which could then generate power to share with all-electric ones. Such streamlined logistics could make a life-or-death difference in wartime. The Army's concept for future combat, Multi-Domain Operations, calls for individual brigades to operate up to seven days without stopping for resupply. That's unimaginable today. Improving fuel-efficiency of internal combustion engines would make for only “marginal” progress towards the goal, the white paper argued. Truly self-sufficient combat units will require largescale replacement of fossil fuel with electricity, potentially drawn from small, mobile nuclear reactors. “It's fundamental to Multi-Domain Operations,” argued retired Lt. Gen. Eric Wesley, who commissioned the white paper when he was Futures & Concepts Center chief for Army Futures Command. He just took on a private-sector job with Flyer Defense, a maker of lightweight off-road trucks that's now developing an electric-drive vehicle with a small, built-in diesel generator to recharge itself. (This isn't a hybrid-electric drive, since the diesel doesn't' drive the wheels; it just charges the batteries). “Moving energy on the battlefield is the biggest challenge commanders will have in the future,” Wesley told me. But if you electrify your vehicle, he argued, it can “become more than just a combat vehicle: It becomes an energy node [in] a distribution network, where every vehicle is part of your energy distribution plan.” Such a decentralized and flexible system, he argues, is much harder for a Russian missile strike to take out than a fuel depot. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/10/army-seeks-electric-scout-by-2025/