USAF’s Skyborg unmanned drone advances to next development phase

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  29 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Lockheed to research air-dropped packaged missiles in $25M contract

  Ed Adamczyk Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin Corp. announced the award of a $25 million contract on Wednesday supporting the use of U.S. Air Force cargo planes to deploy missiles. The contract was issued by the Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation Office, and is meant to support the fourth phase of the Palletized Munitions Experimentation Campaign, Lockheed said in a press release. The campaign is meant to investigate, and test, the idea of delivering large volumes of air-launched weapons via airlifters. The system uses C-17 and C-130 cargo planes, rolling the packaged missiles onto the planes for high-altitude airdrops to locations where they are needed. "Initial studies show that airlifters have the potential to deploy large quantities of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range missiles, providing a significant increase in long-range standoff scale and complementing traditional strike and bomber aircrafts," Lockheed said in a statement. The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range, or JASSM-ER, is a long-range, conventional, air-to-ground missile used by the United States and allied forces to destroy high-value and well-defended targets. "This innovative approach enables warfighters to launch offensive operations from a greater number of airfields and engage a larger number of near-peer adversarial targets," the company said. Tests with simulated weapons earlier this year demonstrated the feasibility of packing JASSM-ER missiles into modular containers atop standard shipping pallets, and then delivering them through airdrops. "A Palletized Munitions capability could enable various airlift aircraft to employ a range of weapons en masse via a self-contained, roll-on/roll-off palletized system, and may offer an alternative way for the Air Force to bring more mass to the fight," Dr. Dean Evans of the SDPE said after a test in September. "The successful demo represents a key step in SDPE's Palletized Munitions Experimentation Campaign, which will determine if the Palletized Munitions concept is feasible and provides a competitive advantage for the warfighter." The first-of-its-kind test was conducted at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The contract announced Wednesday includes a system-level demonstration in 2021 and continuing research of the program's viability. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/10/28/Lockheed-to-research-air-dropped-packaged-missiles-in-25M-contract/8691603902444/?ur3=1

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  12 août 2020 | International, Naval

  US Navy commissions another Littoral Combat Ship amid renewed push to fix the program

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy Saturday commissioned its latest littoral combat ship amid a top-level push to fix the ship's nagging reliability issues and forge a path to make the small surface combatants useful in the years ahead. The monohull Freedom-variant LCS St. Louis was commissioned at a private event in its namesake city, the 22nd LCS and 10th Freedom variant to join the fleet. There will be 35 LCS in the fleet once all are commissioned. Change is in the wind for LCS once again, which has already seen several shakeups to its system. A high-level effort is underway to address problems with its complicated drive train built for high speeds that have limited the ships availability for tasking as well as to finally field its long-delayed mission packages. Mission packages will make the ships either a surface warfare hull, a mine hunter or an antisubmarine ship. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday told Defense News in a July 16 interview that he was preparing to increase LCS deployments by two-and-a-half times over the next two years to finally shake out how to best employ the ships, as well as develop a plan to finally field the mine and ASW mission modules. “There are things in the near term that I have to deliver, that I'm putting heat on now, and one of them is LCS,” Gilday said. “One part is sustainability and reliability. We know enough about that platform and the problems that we have that plague us with regard to reliability and sustainability, and I need them resolved. “That requires a campaign plan to get after it and have it reviewed by me frequently enough so that I can be sighted on it. Those platforms have been around since 2008 — we need to get on with it. Experts who spoke to Defense News in July said the Navy would most likely need to accept less capability than they had planned for the ships to have if the service is to get the most out of the ships. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/08/10/us-navy-commissions-another-littoral-combat-ship-amid-renewed-push-to-fix-the-program/

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  27 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

  What kind of industrial cooperation will improved Israel-UAE relations produce?

  By: Agnes Helou Correction: A previous version of this story misidentified the title and employer of Aram Nerguizian. He is a senior associate with the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. BEIRUT — Analysts are looking forward to potential cooperation among the defense industries of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, following the Aug. 13 announcement that the two countries are establishing full diplomatic relations in a U.S.-brokered deal. “It is monumental for both Israel and the UAE that they are now on an unprecedented path to normalization. How this might or might not affect the UAE defense sector in the short to medium term is far from certain,” said Aram Nerguizian, a senior associate with the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “There are certainly areas where industry in both countries will have a desire to collaborate, explore cost, and access sharing tied to research and development, let alone explore opportunities for equity and ownership in leading defense firms in both countries,” he added. Some of these opportunities to collaborate include cybersecurity and advanced defense systems. “Cybersecurity is one of the areas which could witness industrial cooperation between the UAE and Israel, and the latter have a strong edge in this area, also in unmanned autonomous systems, unmanned aircraft, missile defense, electronic systems and system integration. These are all areas where there is potential cooperation,” said Riad Kahwaji, a Dubai-based Middle East security and defense analyst who and serves as director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis. Opportunities are also stem from the fact that the two countries use similar platforms, like the F-16 fighter jet and Patriot missiles. And as both nations view Iran as a security threat, that common adversary could drive cooperation, Kahwaji noted. What about the F-35? Negotiations between the U.S. and the UAE for the latter's purchase of the F-35 fighter jet haven't significantly advanced since the Israel-UAE announcement, and Nerguizian doesn't expect that to move forward. “None of this, however, changes short- to medium-term Israeli and U.S. concerns tied to Israel's QME [qualitative military edge] and regional proliferation. Sharing access and ownership to a fifth-generation platform like the F-35 falls into that uncertainty. For now, it is clear that both Israel and the U.S. remain concerned and opposed to the UAE acquiring the F-35,” Nerguizian said. “Certainly, that can change from a U.S. policy perspective if the Trump administration weighs in, if it is reelected for a second term. However, doing so would go against Israel's larger concerns that have less to do with the UAE and more to do with concern that if the UAE gets the platform, it will only be a matter of time before Saudi Arabia and eventually Egypt seek to acquire it as well,” the analyst added. “That is not something Israeli policymakers are all too comfortable with in the here and now. I should caveat that how that dynamic evolves in the medium to long term is far more uncertain. Both Israel and the UAE have reasons to deepen mutual trust and cooperation beyond narrowly balancing or containing Iran. Whether that level of cooperation extends to the F-35 or similar so-called ‘game-changer' systems is not something we can clearly predict.” A domino effect Kahwaji told Defense News that the Israel-UAE deal — which required the Jewish state halt its contentious plan to annex occupied West Bank land sought by the Palestinians — could be a sign of improved relations to come among Mideast neighbors, particularly invovling Bahrain, Oman and Qatar. “However, any negative moves by Netanyahu, like reviving his plan to annex the West Bank, will be a setback that will definitely sway many countries from following the UAE's path and could definitely impact UAE-Israel relation in a negative way,” the military expert said. Whether there will be growth across the entire region's defense industries remains to be seen. “Irrespective of administration, regional defense industries in the Arab world will continue to struggle against U.S. congressional limits and rules tied to [the International Traffic in Arms Regulations],” Nerguizian said. “There is an assumption that a Trump reelection might lead to more executive if not more legislative action, but that assumption still has to be tested, as concerns about [intellectual property] transfers, [qualitative military edge] and proliferation continue to cut across U.S. party lines.” Josef Federman, Matthew Lee and Jon Gambrell of The Associated Press contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2020/08/26/what-kind-of-industrial-cooperation-will-improved-israel-uae-relations-produce/