Cubic Awarded Contract to Support the U.S. Air Forces Development of Advanced Battle Management System

Sur le même sujet

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  27 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Turkey’s New Akinci Drone Is Impressive, But It’s No Substitute For Modern Fighter Jets

  Paul Iddon The Bayraktar Akinci drone is the most sophisticated built by Turkey to date. However, Ankara cannot count on the Akinci to serve as a substitute for its air force either acquiring or developing a fifth-generation fighter jet sometime in the next decade. The second Akinci (Turkish for ‘raider') prototype completed a 62-minute flight test in August, according to its manufacturer. The Akinci has a 65-feet wingspan, and is designed to have an impressive 24 hours of endurance, a range of over 300 miles, and to fly as high as 40,000 feet. Ukrainian-built AI-450 turboprop engines will power the heavy drones. According to the Turkish press, the drone “has two 450-horsepower engines but can be equipped with 750-horsepower engines or locally made 240-horsepower engines.” The Akinci will carry a variety of weaponry, including the same Smart Micro Munitions (MAM-L) its predecessor the Bayraktar TB2 does in addition to general purpose bombs. It can also reportedly fire Turkish-built Bozdoğan (Merlin) and Gökdoğan (Peregrine) within visual range and beyond visual range air-to-air missiles. The Akinci can even launch Turkish-built Roketsan SOM long-range air-launched cruise missiles that can hit targets up to 150 miles away. All of this makes it a very impressive weapons platform. Perhaps even more impressive are the drone's indigenous radars. “Ankara sees the Akinci as its main aerial vehicle for intelligence-surveillance-target acquisition (ISTAR) and command-control-communication (C3) tasks in the next decade,” wrote Turkish military expert Metin Gurcan. “The drone will be equipped with indigenously developed systems, including a multi-role active electronically scanned array radar, a SAR/GMTI radar, a wide-area surveillance system, electronic warfare, an electronic and signal intelligence suite, and beyond-line-of-sight satellite communications systems, the sum of which makes the Akinci the best-ever ISTAR+C3 asset the Turkish military has had,” he added. This combination of advanced radars and the multitude of weapons the Akinci can carry certainly make it a highly formidable piece of military hardware. “This weapons system could be quite effective in detecting and destroying individual land targets, such as enemy howitzers or mortars, or special equipment like electronic warfare (EW) stations,” noted a Jamestown Foundation analysis. Turkey has made impressive progress in drone production in recent years. Turkish drones have also seen combat and proven themselves formidable opponents. Its Bayraktar TB2s and TAI Anka-S drones devastated Syrian regime ground forces during clashes in Idlib province in February-March 2020. Turkish drones also gave decisive air support to Turkey's ally in the Libyan Civil War and successfully guided airstrikes that assassinated senior PKK leaders over the last two years. Given this record, it's not at all surprising that Turkey is investing in bigger and more advanced drones like the Akinci since it will be well suited for the kind of conflicts Turkey is fighting and will most likely continue to fight for the foreseeable future. While certainly impressive, the Akinci is, nevertheless, no substitute for Turkey acquiring a fifth-generation fighter jet. As Gurcan noted, by building the Akinci, Ankara is “hoping to extend its military reach in the region and compensate, even if fractionally, for the loss of the F-35 new-generation jets.” Turkey got suspended by the United States from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2019 for purchasing and taking delivery of Russian S-400 air defense systems. Also, Turkey's fifth-generation fighter jet project, the TAI TF-X, is unlikely to become operational until the 2030s for a variety of reasons. On top of these serious shortcomings, Turkey might even find it difficult to buy 4.5 generation aircraft in the meantime to serve as stopgap fighters that can gradually replace its aging fleet of fourth-generation F-16s and even older F-4s until Ankara can finally acquire a fifth-generation jet. So while the Akinci is an undoubtedly impressive achievement it's not the aircraft Turkey needs to substantially modernize its air force for the decades to come. https://www.forbes.com/sites/pauliddon/2020/08/25/turkeys-new-akinci-drone-looks-impressive-but-its-no-substitute-for-modern-fighter-jets/

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  7 août 2023 | International, Sécurité, Autre défense

  The Pentagon’s embrace of startups could fuel hypersonic tech

  The DoD has shown signs it recognizes the value of partnering with companies whose capabilities could help with near-term needs.

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  14 juin 2018 | International, Terrestre

  No more Army adviser brigades or amphib ships? This proposed report could radically change how the services fight

  A Senate committee is asking for a report that could radically alter the “roles and missions” of the services — especially the Army and Marine Corps. Senate bill 2987 calls for the services to put together this report by February. However, the bill is still in draft form and would require House agreement to become law. The proposal for the report suggests the Marine Corps could take over all counterinsurgency missions from the Army, thereby eliminating the newly established and deployed Security Force Assistance Brigades. The bill's authors instead want the Army to beef up its presence in the “great power competition” against Russia and China by increasing the size and strength of its vehicle fleet. The service would also use more drones and fewer manned aircraft to support ground units in the multi-domain fight. The Senate Armed Services Committee's request also calls for the services to conduct or provide the following: An assessment whether the joint force would benefit from having one service dedicated primarily to low-intensity missions, thereby enabling the others to focus more exclusively on advanced peer competitors. A detailed description of, and accompanying justification for, the total amount of forces required to perform the security force assistance mission and the planned geographic employment of such forces. A re-validation of the Army plan to construct six Security Force Assistance Brigades, and an assessment of the impact, if any, of such plan on the capability of the Army to perform its primary roles under the National Defense Strategy. An assessment whether the security force assistance mission would be better performed by the Marine Corps, and an assessment of the end strength and force composition changes, if any, required for the Marine Corps to assume such a mission. The analysis isn't limited to ground forces either. The SASC wants an assessment of the feasibility of current plans and investments by the Navy and Marine Corps to operate and defend their sea bases in contested environments. One assessment may strike deeply into current Marine Corps and Navy projects — amphibious connectors and the ships that carry them. SASC is asking the Pentagon to conduct the following: An assessment whether amphibious forced entry operations against advanced peer competitors should remain an enduring mission for the joint force considering the stressing operational nature and significant resource requirements of such missions. An assessment whether a transition from large-deck amphibious ships to small aircraft carriers would result in a more lethal and survivable Marine Corps sea base that could accommodate larger numbers of more diverse strike aircraft. An assessment of the manner in which an acceleration of development and fielding of longer-range, unmanned, carrier-suitable strike aircraft could better meet operational requirements and alter the requirement for shorter range, manned tactical fighter aircraft. Special operations forces would join the Army's shift back to fighting big militaries, getting out of the counterinsurgency business as well, according to the Senate proposal. Senators are seeking: A detailed assessment whether the joint special operations enterprise is currently performing too many missions worldwide, and whether any such missions could be performed adequately and more economically by conventional units. A detailed assessment whether the global allocation of special operations forces, and especially the most capable units, is aligned to the pacing threats and priority missions of the National Defense Strategy. A detailed description of the changes required to align the joint special operations enterprise more effectively with the National Defense Strategy. Additional reviews include the space mission, requirements for the KC-46 tanker aircraft, and logistics in contested environments. If approved, the Senate Armed Services Committee wants the report by Feb. 1. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/06/13/no-more-army-adviser-brigades-or-amphib-ships-this-proposed-report-could-radically-change-how-the-services-fight/