15 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre, C4ISR

Afghanistan deployment proves One World Terrain is more than a training tool

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army began building an entire virtual world a few years ago for its Synthetic Training Environment (STE) to bring accuracy and a real-life feel to training, but a deployment of One World Terrain in Afghanistan has proved it's not just a training tool, according to Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, who is in charge of the service's STE development.

One World Terrain, or OWT, compiles realistic and, in some cases, extremely accurate virtual maps of territory all over the globe. The idea is to be able to click on any place on a virtual globe and go there. Soldiers can then train virtually in an exact environment in which they can expect to operate in reality.

“We're seeing now there are better uses for operational capability,” Gervais told Defense News in an Oct. 8 interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference. “And it's helping us inform how do we now expand this to meet training, operational and also targeting requirements.”

It all began with a unit that used OWT for training at the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, California, and saw value in it, Gervais said. When the unit deployed to Afghanistan, the soldiers asked to take the system — which included a drone and software — she said.

The unit was able to capture terrain for the purpose of mission-planning rehearsal and route planning. But the soldiers also used it to take an in-depth look at the forward-operating base to see how it was set up and analyze it for vulnerabilities.

“I will tell you from that usage, they figured out they had to make some changes,” Gervais said. “And then they went out and they started looking at other operating bases within their area. They expanded it.”

The system “immediately started proving its utility to them,” she said, “but from that unit from what they were able to do, we then were able to take the next unit that was coming in behind them and provide all that information to them and allow them to understand how One World Terrain could be used.”

The Army's 82nd Airborne Division also used the system prior to deploying to another theater. The division captured the terrain, using it for predeployment planning and mission rehearsals, including how and where to set up a base and where to position electronic warfare systems.

OWT also helped the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii prepare for a Joint Training Readiness Center rotation, and its members also plan to use it during the exercise.

These uses have led the Army to provide more drones and software for more units, Gervais said. Starting in December and January, the Army will begin fielding “a little bit more capability,” she added.

In March, the STE team went to Germany to observe an assured position, navigation and timing exercise that included a sensor-to-shooter, live-fire drill. The team worked with the 1st Cavalry Division's intelligence analysts and put OWT on the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A) system, which is an intelligence analysis platform.

“We showed them the capability, and what came out of there was pretty astounding,” Gervais said. With 3D terrain from OWT in the system, decisions could be made more quickly because there was no need to compare two different databases and reason against it, she said. That cut workload by about 60 percent, she added.

OWT was on a DCGS-A system at Project Convergence at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, this year, Gervais said, and it showed the realm of the possible from a targeting perspective.

While the STE had a limited scope during Project Convergence, “we're going to be more integrated in Project Convergence 21 next year,” she added, so that “everybody's kind of operating off the 3D terrain.”

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2020/10/14/afghanistan-deployment-proves-one-world-terrain-is-more-than-a-training-tool/

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2 juillet 2019 | International, Autre défense

US Navy awards contract to Serco for mass notification systems upgrade
The US Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific has awarded a contract to Serco to perform upgrades to giant voice mass notification systems. The giant voice mass notification system is a voice announcing system used to provide warnings to communities living near naval installations in emergency situations. Under the contract, Serco will provide production and installation services for the systems located at different sites in the Western Pacific Region. The one-year task order is valued at around $8.3m. Work will include pre-installation testing and check-out, retrofit installation, inspection, pre-setup, optimisation, training, and systems operational verification testing. Serco chairman and CEO Dave Dacquino said: “Serco has a 20-plus year legacy of rapidly providing highly reliable support to meet the emerging requirements of the navy. “Serco is proud of the base modernisation services we are providing to help secure our bases, and detect and respond to threats.” NIWC Pacific awarded the task order under the $232m anti-terrorism/force protection (ATFP) naval electronic surveillance systems (NESS) indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract secured by Serco earlier this year. Under the contract, the company will deliver technical services to the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), programme executive offices, and other US Department of Defence (DoD) agencies. Services are also offered to the Department of Homeland Security, US Marine Corps, and other government programmes. Serco is specialised in building and maintaining command, control, communications, computers, combat systems, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR) systems for various branches of the DoD. Specific services provided by the firm include lifecycle sustainment engineering, systems integration, hardware procurement, software development, and technical support. In addition, the company provides installation and testing, operations and maintenance solutions. In March, the company won a contract from the US Navy to provide technical and programmatic support at naval bases globally. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/us-navy-awards-contract-serco-mass-notification-systems-upgrade/
2 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

Growing threat at high altitude: innovation to fight drones
Over the past ten years, the growing availability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), commonly known as drones, has been a blessing for video enthusiasts and other tech addicts. But it also created a headache for safety authorities. To respond to this flourishing market, countermeasures are being developed in parallel, and represent a full-fledged business today. Very early after their appearance on the market, drones invited themselves on the battlefield. In 2014, the Islamic state was already using versions (Phantom 3 or 4) for reconnaissance. Then came the suicide drones, fitted with makeshift grenades. Conventional armies are also increasingly relying on them. If the United States used to have a quasi-monopoly on offensive UAVs at the beginning of the 21st century, countries such as China, Russia, and even Iran are constantly trying to fill the gap. In 2019, a wave of Iranian-made Qasef drones operated by the Houthi rebels took Saudi Arabia by surprise. Despite the presence of modern anti-aircraft missile systems such as the Patriot, the refineries of Abqaiq and Khurais, eastern Saudi Arabia, were heavily damaged, putting half of the country's oil production to a halt. Even in times of peace, UAVs can constitute a threat. In January 2019, drones caused a panic at London Gatwick Airport (LGW), United Kingdom, in the days preceding Christmas. The airport was closed for three days, creating a financial loss of several millions of pounds. The following months, less successful drone incidents also disturbed traffic at Changi Airport (SIN) in Singapore and at London Heathrow (LHR). To raise awareness of this danger and the lack of readiness, Greenpeace activists intentionally crashed several drones against French nuclear plants. A drone to rule them all In a similar fashion to the airports that have decided to rely on falconry to prevent birdstrikes, Fortem Technologies has decided to fight fire with fire. The US-based company offers several solutions to secure sites at risk from drone threats. A centralized system called SkyDome relies on an array of sensors, cameras and radars to monitor the surroundings and identify potential threats. The integrated artificial intelligence is capable of differentiating a bird from a drone, and to judge if the latter poses a threat or not. Once the threat is identified, SkyDome sends the HunterDrone capable to intercept the culprit and to fish it out of the air using a projectable net. Fortem Technologies has recently caught the interest of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). On February 3, 2020, the company announced it had been awarded a contract through the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). While the price of the contract is unknown, it appears that the DoD chose to acquire the whole set of solutions. “Fortem has a number of technologies that can help protect military bases without adverse effects to local communities,” the manufacturer said. The Israeli company Rafael also offers a centralized system, but with a different solution. Named DroneDome (in reference to the Iron Dome that defends Israel from missile threats) it relies either on a precise jammer, or on a powerful laser. It was this system that put an end to Gatwick's mayhem. It was also used in 2018 to secure the G20 Buenos Aires summit. Man-portable solutions also exist. During the last national day in France, the military presented to the officials two anti-drone rifles (the Nerod F5 by the French-based MC2-Technologies and the DroneGun Tactical by the Australian company DroneShield). The purpose of those Star-Wars-like devices is not to destroy the enemy drones as one could expect, but to jam their signals. When they lose contact with their control base, drones usually go back to their takeoff point or stay in stationary flight until they run out of battery. That solution avoids for dangerous debris to fall and create collateral damages, for example onto a crowd during an event. https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/24617-growing-threat-at-high-altitude-innovation-to-fight-drones
3 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial

Russia Researching Future Interceptor Technologies, New Light Fighters
Piotr Butowski On Jan. 22, Russian state development agency Rostec Corp. published a story on its website about the MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor in which it mentioned that the aircraft's successor, PAK DP or MiG-41, is currently under development. A few days later, the designation MiG-41 was removed from the text. The program for PAK DP, an acronym that roughly translates to Future Air Complex of Long-Range Interception, deserves close attention, as the conceptual work on it has been commissioned and is financed by the Russian defense ministry. The sums allocated to this program so far are small. The PAK DP is a research project, which aims to develop an initial concept of the aircraft and formulate requirements for a subsequent development effort. Available documents show that the main contractor for the PAK DP research work is the United Aircraft Corp. (UAC), which on Dec. 25, 2018, secured a contract from Russia's defense ministry. In May 2019, UAC ordered Russian Aircraft Corp. (RSK MiG) and Sukhoi to develop the aircraft concept. It is not clear whether each company is developing its own concept or if Sukhoi has a section of work under the RSK MiG project. That Sukhoi received the order directly from UAC, and not through RSK MiG, suggests the former. RSK MiG and Sukhoi have commissioned individual parts of the work to subcontractors. In 2020, RSK MiG ordered airborne missile designer and manufacturer GosMKB Vympel to conceptualize arming the PAK DP with air-to-air missiles. At the request of RSK MiG, part of the research work carried out in 2020—though it is not known what work specifically—was undertaken by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (MITT). The engineering school deals with intercontinental and tactical ballistic missiles, as well as hypersonic technologies. Even before the contract from the defense ministry, RSK MiG had requested the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) perform tests of the PAK DP model in the T-102 wind tunnel in 2017 and 2018. The T-102 is a low-speed tunnel; the research concerned the characteristics of the PAK DP in various configurations of the wing high-lift devices at speed Mach 0.2 and at angles of attack from -7 deg. to 36 deg. A total of 246 measurements of the model were made. Judging by the meager value of these contracts so far—2.5 million rubles ($33,000) for Vympel, 3 million rubles for MITT and 8.9 million rubles.for TsAGI, the project remains in its early stages. In 2019, as part of the PAK DP program, Sukhoi commissioned the development of instructions for counteracting foreign intelligence. With the launch of any military equipment development program in Russia, an accompanying document is developed in which it is determined what features of the new design must be hidden, as well as ways to hide them—including disinformation. The PAK DP program was broadly referenced by representatives of the Russian aviation industry and the air force in previous years. In August 2017, Ilya Tarasenko, then the director general of RSK MiG, said that PAK DP will implement all the technologies that the company has to offer. In November of that year, Sergey Korotkov, UAC vice president and general designer, said that PAK DP will fight against hypersonic targets. “We will have to deal with hypersonic carriers and their weapons, which are also hypersonic,” Korotkov said. People involved in the PAK DP project have publicly used the designation MiG-41 several times. In the above-mentioned RSK MiG order for PAK DP's wind-tunnel tests, the airplane is called “izdeliye,” or “product” 41. The PAK DP project dates back to the days of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, MiG was designing MDP, a multifunction long-range interceptor that was developed to achieve a range of 7,000 km (4,350 mi.) while flying at a cruising speed of Mach 2.35. Summing up the available information, it can be said that the purpose of the PAK DP is to fight the most demanding air targets, including hypersonic ones as well as low-orbit spacecraft. The aircraft would also fight against threats similar to those targeted by the current MiG-31, such as heavy bombers and strategic cruise missiles. PAK DP is to achieve the same cruising speed as the MiG-31 at 20 km altitude, Mach 2.35, but with a much longer radius of action. When speaking about the timing of the PAK DP program, UAC President Yury Slyusar said in August 2018 that the creation of the new interceptor “has to be synchronized with exhaustion of the MiG-31's lifetime.” In other words, the 2030s, Slyusar added. For Russia, however, the date is so distant that it is difficult to forecast anything. Current trends in the Russian economy and the aviation industry indicate that Russia will not be able to afford such an aircraft. It is possible that the tasks currently planned for PAK DP will be partially moved to an intercepting variant of the Su-57 fighter, especially after arming it with the new very-long-range missile “izdeliye 810.” In addition, the Russians may again extend the service life and upgrade the current MiG-31 fleet in order to keep it in service well beyond 2030. Light Strike Aircraft, With or Without Pilot RSK MiG, and Sukhoi too undoubtedly, are conducting conceptual work on variants of lightweight tactical combat aircraft. They all have a lower status than the PAK DP project, given there is no procurement or government financing for the variants under study. Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, to which UAC, RSK MiG and Sukhoi belong, told reporters in early December 2020 that the corporation is developing the concept of a fifth-generation fighter “in the light- and medium-weight class.” “This could be a universal platform in manned and unmanned versions,” he added. On Dec. 16, 2020, Andrei Yelchaninov, deputy chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission board, told the Izvestia newspaper that “MiG is working on the creation of a light strike aircraft, which can be either manned or unmanned.” Both Chemezov and Yelchaninov underlined that the work “is conducted on an initiative basis and is not funded by the state.” They also emphasized the export orientation of this project and possible cooperation with a foreign partner. One of Russia's possible partners is the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In February 2017, during the IDEX 2017 exhibition, Chemezov announced that Russia and the UAE had agreed to jointly create a new-generation lightweight fighter. Chemezov proclaimed the signing of an appropriate contract later that year. The aircraft would be produced in the UAE and was intended for the UAE Air Force and neighbor services. In the following years, apart from a few general declarations that the project is up to date, details were not available. There are three known acronyms for Russia's new lightweight fighter project. The official strategy of UAC for 2016-2035 was published in December 2016. That document interchangeably uses “LFI,” an acronym translated as Lightweight Tactical Fighter, or “PLIB,” translated as the Future Lightweight Fighter-Bomber, as the names of this program. In 2018, the United Engine Corp. (UEC) said in a presentation that the LFI/PLIB's powerplant could be a single “izdeliye 30” turbofan developed for the Su-57 fighter. According to the same presentation, two modified “izdeliye 30” engines would be used to provide propulsion for the PAK DP. The RSK MiG uses the acronym “LMFS” for its lightweight fighter project. In December 2019, RSK MiG ordered TsAGI to “calculate the aerodynamics of a lightweight multifunction tactical aircraft (LMFS) in a twin-engine configuration” and compare it with foreign counterparts. One of the known RSK MiG LMFS designs is a canard that has a large delta wing, with small control surfaces at the rear and on the sides of the engine nacelles. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 24,500 kg (54,000 lb.) and is designed to reach speeds of up to Mach 2. The ferry range with additional fuel tanks will be 2,160 nm, and the basic weapon load is to be carried inside the fuselage. The current conceptual work on the RSK MiG LFMS is a continuation of the LFI lightweight tactical fighter program launched by MiG as early as 1986. The LFI fighter was later refreshed in the form of the E-721 project for the purposes of the PAK FA stealth fighter program. In 2002, the MiG E-721 lost the PAK FA competition for the Sukhoi T-50 project, the present Su-57. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/russia-researching-future-interceptor-technologies-new-light

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