UK orders first three Protector drones from General Atomics

On the same subject

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  July 10, 2018 | International, Land

  Army Anti-Aircraft Stryker Can Kill Tanks Too

  By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. With its eyes firmly on Russia, the US Army is racing to field 8×8 Strykers with an array of weapons that can down enemy aircraft — from drones to helicopters to jets — and incidentally make enemy tanks think twice. The first prototypes will be delivered next year, with up to 144 (four battalions) by 2022, although the contract details are still being negotiated. With the IM-SHORAD (Initial Maneuver Short Range Air Defense) Stryker, “you'll have more combat power, more lethality, than the Bradley fighting vehicle,” says Ed House, the retired Army infantry colonel who runs the program for Leonardo DRS. Now, before everyone gets too excited, this doesn't mean the new Stryker is a substitute for the Bradley as an infantry assault vehicle. The Stryker's got lighter armor, and wheels instead of tracks, so it can't handle all the threats or terrain a Bradley can. Plus, this variant's interior volume will be largely filled with spare missiles, leaving little room to carry troops. But it does raise intriguing tactical possibilities for IM-SHORAD Strykers to take up positions right behind the frontline forces — ideally on hills with good fields of fire — to provide both air defense and long-range shots against enemy armor. It's similar to how the German's famous 88mm high-velocity cannon of World War II did double duty as flak gun and tank killer. Rolling Arsenal Put together by Leonardo DRS and then installed on the Stryker by the vehicle's original manufacturer, General Dynamics Land Systems, the package includes an intimidating arsenal of weapon — and the flexibility to add more: Two Hellfire missiles, capable of hitting both air and ground targets. Hellfire has not only a larger warhead than the Army's standard Stinger anti-aircraft missile (18-20 pounds vs. 6.6) but a long range than the TOW anti-tank missiles on its M2 Bradleys and ATGM Strykers (5 miles vs. at most 2.8). Four Stinger missiles for less well-armored aircraft targets, in a new quad launcher put together by Raytheon. A 30mm automatic cannon, an upgraded model (M230LF) of the gun on the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and considerably more powerful than the Bradley's 25 mm. A standard 7.62mm machinegun as backup and to kill targets that don't merit a 30 mm round, such as slow-moving drones and infantry in the open. An electronic warfare package to jam drones' control links without having to shoot them. A Rada multi-mission radar to track both air and ground targets. What's more, the weapons are all mounted on a multipurpose unmanned turret, Moog's Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform (RIwP, pronounced “rip”), which House said could take a wide range of alternative layouts as technology, tactics, and threats evolve. It could also be adapted to other vehicles, with Leonardo having tried a counter-drone version on an M-ATV truck. “It takes us about four hours to put the RIwP turret on an M-ATV,” House told me. While they've haven't put one on a Stryker yet, once General Dynamics preps a Stryker — which includes cutting the appropriate hole in the top armor — “it won't be any harder to mount it on the Stryker.” The loaded turret weighs less than the TOW missile turret already installed on the Stryker's anti-tank variant, he said. (By contrast, a rival proposal from General Dynamics and Boeing involved a much larger turret that would have required cutting off the back half of the Stryker's cargo bay). With the turret installed and loaded, the vehicle has two Hellfires and four Stingers ready to fire and more would be carried in the hull. The three-man crew should be able reload the Stingers and the 30mm without leaving the vehicle, although they'd be partially exposed in an open hatch. The Hellfires, however, are simply too big and heavy to fit through the hatches, so the crew would have to get out and clamber on top of the vehicle to reload those. That's an awkward operation under fire and another reason the IM-SHORAD Stryker shouldn't hang out in range of enemy machineguns alongside the Bradleys. If fewer or no reloads are needed for a particular mission, House said, some or all of the Stryker's cargo/passenger area would be available for supplies or troops. But with Short-Range Air Defense identified as one of the Army's glaring shortfallsagainst a modern adversary like Russia or China, the IM-SHORAD Stryker probably won't have much time for odd jobs. Rushing vs. Russia The Army is rushing to fill multiple gaps in Europe, not just air defense. It's developing a new scout helicopter and adding Trophy Active Protection Systems(APS) to its M1 Abrams heavy tanks to protect them from Russian anti-tank missiles. But while armored brigades of M1 tanks and M2 Bradleys regularly deploy to Europe, the heaviest force stationed there permanently is mounted on Strykers. So the Army is rushing to upgun these relatively lightweight armored vehicles with anti-armor weapons from 30 mm cannon to Javelin anti-tank missiles, as well as the effectively dual-purpose IM-SHORAD package. How fast is that schedule? September 2017: The Army conducts a SHORAD “shoot off” of potential systems. February 2018: Army issues a Directed Requirement for what they call an “initial material solution” for SHORAD. April: The Army holds an industry day with interested companies. May: An Army panel evaluates companies' White Paper proposals and selects Leonardo DRS for the weapons, turret, and electronics (the Mission Equipment Package); Raytheon for the upgraded Stinger Launcher (which the government then provides to Leonardo); and General Dynamics to integrate everything on the Stryker. August 31: The Army's target date to award contracts. Mid-2019 (3Q FY19): First prototype to be delivered. 2020: First IM-SHORAD battery deployed. 2022: Up to four IM-SHORAD battalions fielded. At this point the Army may either keep upgrading IM-SHORAD — note it's called the “initial” solution, not the “interim” one as is sometimes reported — or choose another system. Different missiles, improved electronic warfare, and entirely new weapons such as lasers are all options, with 50 kilowatt lasers planned for 2023. https://breakingdefense.com/2018/07/army-anti-aircraft-stryker-can-kill-tanks-too/

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  October 22, 2019 | International, Land

  Industry Brings Robotic Vehicles To AUSA, Army Awarding Deals For Initial Prototypes Next Spring

  By Matthew Beinart | The Army will release a prototype proposal request for the Robotic Combat Vehicle light and medium of variants before November and award contracts for test vehicles next spring, the lead official for the program told reporters on Monday. The push towards the next phase of the Army's effort to grow a robotic vehicle fleet arrives as vendors such as BAE Systems, Germany's Rheinmetall, as well as a team of Textron Systems [TXT], Howe & Howe and FLIR [FLR] all unveiled potential offerings at this week's Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, D.C. Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Army's Next-Generation Combat Vehicle cross-functional team, detailed plans this week for the next phase of the RCV program, which he said would “revolutionize the way [the Army] fights in the future.” The Army will begin to solicit proposals for RCV-Light and RCV-Medium prototypes before the end of the month, with plans to hold a demonstration next March to put the platforms through a platoon-level operations experiment. Following the demonstration, the Army will then select one vendor to build four RCV-Ls and one vendor to build four RCV-Ms, according to Coffman. Those vehicles will then participate in a 2021 experiment going through company-level operations, before ultimately informing a 2023 decision on how the Army wants to construct its robotic vehicle fleet including the addition of an RCV-Heavy. Coffman has said previously that RCV is intended to eventually replace soldiers in dangerous tactical situations on the future battlefield with vehicles that are payload agnostic, semi-autonomous and integrated with a range of sensors and weapon systems (Defense Daily, Aug. 22). BAE Systems unveiled its Robotic Technology Demonstrator at AUSA, which has already participated in a recent demonstration with the Army on an outdoor test track in Sterling Heights, Michigan. “RTD is our way to go after that leap-ahead technology. We've designed it as rolling lab. Our intent is to keep developing this thing. This is a test platform that allows us to keep moving ahead,” Jim Miller, BAE Systems' senior director of business development, told reporters. “This is probably not going to be an RCV-L. It's probably the medium and it may lead us to a heavy option if that's where the Army continues to go.” Miller noted RTD uses a hybrid-electric drive, is currently integrated with a 30mm gun, and contains a range of sensor suites, including a 360-degree situational awareness system and the company's RAVEN soft-kill active protection system. The vehicle also includes a tethered UAS and a legged ground robot developed by Ghost Robotics. Rheinmetall brought its Wiesel Wingman configured toward the RCV-L path, which combines technology from its digitized Weasel platform, in use with the German Army, and the Mission Master unmanned ground vehicle. “That platform already exists in a digitized version. So throw out the hydraulics, the electronic kits inside, the drive-by-wire steering and electric transmission, and you combine it with the sensor and autonomy kit of the Mission Master and then you basically get a new vehicle that we call the Weasel Wingman,” Florian Reisch, director of business development and sales for Rheinmetall's American business, told Defense Daily. Basically you combine the Weasel platform that is able to hold the autonomy kit and then you basically get what the Army is looking for with robotic combat vehicles.” Reisch added that Rheinmetall could be interested in exploring the heavier RCV variants, listing potential options with the company's Lynx or Marder infantry fighting vehicles. “Of course we would be interested in the medium as well because we have different platforms available. We did have different research and development programs where we were modifying these platforms to basically enable them to carry a medium-caliber remote controlled turret. So that would be possible and we are looking at that.” The team of Textron, Howe & Howe and FLIR showcased the Ripsaw 5 platform at AUSA. The companies said it could be scaled down for RCV-L or up to a heavier version for RCV-M. “It's capable for both the RCV light and the RCV medium mission sets that the Army has put forward. What this does is it optimizes the superior value, the logistics, the mission outcome. We've got extraordinary modularity of performance. It's scalable with its high degree of reuse between the light and medium variants, and that just brings unmatched value to the team,” Lisa Atherton, Textron's CEO, told reporters during a teleconference last week. Geoff Howe, senior vice president of Howe & Howe, said the company is continuing to pursue additional technology additions for Ripsaw to grow capability for the robotic vehicle while the Army assesses its needs for a future unmanned fleet. “We are running a parallel program. Our program, we don't stop for anything. We're pushing forward with this technology we've advanced, and our plan is to meet the Army down the road with that parallel program. We're not waiting for anybody. We're pushing this development as far as we can,” Howe said. QinetiQ and Pratt & Miller also announced at AUSA a new partnership to offer a variant of the Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV) for RCV. https://www.defensedaily.com/industry-brings-robotic-vehicles-ausa-army-awarding-deals-initial-prototypes-next-spring/army/

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  December 24, 2018 | International, Land

  MPF Light Tank Profits Estimated ~$495M: Byron Callan

  By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. The Army's said it wants 504 of the MPF light tanks. But analyst Byron Callan is betting that either the Marine Corps or foreign buyers (or both) add another 106, bringing the total to 610 machines. WASHINGTON: Tis the season to buy... tanks? When you Google any kind of military hardware, odds are the autocomplete algorithm will suggest “....for sale.” Of course, pricing weapons systems isn't actually so straightforward. Whatever autocomplete may think, you can't actually buy a fighter jet or tank online, and trying to buy one anywhere as a private individual is a good path to prison. The Pentagon announces budget figures and contract values, but how do you figure out what a program will cost before that data's public? One of our favorite defense industry analysts, Capital Alpha's poetically named Byron Callan, just came up with an estimate for the Mobile Protected Firepowerprogram. The Army just announced Monday that established armsmakers BAE Systems and General Dynamics will build competing prototypes of the new armored vehicle, with a final winner picked in 2022. Now, MPF is effectively a light tank to accompany airborne troops and other infantry where the massive M1 Abrams cannot go. The Army's said it wants 504 of the vehicles, 14 per infantry brigade (both active-duty and National Guard) plus spares and training vehicles. But Callan is betting that either the Marine Corps or foreign buyers (or both) add another 106 tanks, bringing the total to 610 machines. Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2018/12/mpf-light-tank-profits-estimated-495m-byron-callan