5 mars 2024 | International, Sécurité
13 juin 2019 | International, Autre défense
SOCOM wants a new armor piercing sniper bullet. Here’s one option engineers are developing
As the U.S. military shifts its focus back to fighting more traditional, near-peer adversaries like Russian or Chinese troops, the services are building out plans to revamp their gear to deal with better-equipped forces backed by money and technology from world powers.
That extends all the way down to the clothing and equipment each of these adversaries could be wearing into battle, including sophisticated body armor.
That's why SOCOM is reportedly looking at replacing its decades-old armor piercing small arms round.
“Snipers in USSOCOM units have a capability gap in their ability to penetrate enemy body armor, small boat engines and concrete barriers,” Crane researchers said in a slide presentation at this year's National Defense Industries Association Armaments Symposium.
The current round uses a discarding sabot the shields a sharpened tungsten penetrator that'll beat most armor and hard targets.
But that round is expensive at more than $10 per cartridge, can damage modern small arms accessories like suppressors and muzzle brakes and doesn't hold zero when switching from a traditional jacketed round to the AP round. That makes it difficult for snipers to go from one round to another and hit their target in the heat of battle.
So researchers at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, are looking at a new way to make the rounds cheaper, easier on snipers' guns and more ballistically consistent with common, jacketed bullets.
Dubbed “aeroshell” projectiles, the Crane engineers want to build and test bullets with a tungsten penetrator jacketed in a polymer shell. Federal Ammunition, a civilian ammo company, makes rounds with similar characteristics dubbed “Syntech."
These rounds are typically used by competitive shooters who shoot many rounds in practice and at matches and want to preserve barrel life and diminish spawl from hitting steel targets.
Crane researchers want to take the same thought process and apply it to a new AP round. The actual penetrator could have a slightly different shape than the current rounds, with more of a traditional bullet profile than today's needle-like AP round penetrator.
Researchers plan to create about 150 rounds of this new aeroshell AP round in .338 Norma Mag, 300 Norma Mag and 6.5 Creedmoor. They plan to test the rounds against representative body armor at 100, 400, 800 and 1,000 meters.
Sur le même sujet
-
-
2 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 01, 2020
U.S. SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND Raytheon Technologies, McKinney, Texas, (H92408-21-C-0001) was awarded a $235,576,667 C-Type, multi-year procurement contract for the production and delivery of the Silent Knight Radar in support of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) requirements. Fiscal 2020 procurement funds in the amount of $8,181,918; and fiscal 2021 procurement funds in the amount of $61,181,024 are being obligated at time of award. The work will be performed in McKinney and Forest, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed by July 2025. This is a sole-source award in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. USSOCOM, Tampa, Florida, is the contracting activity. ARMY Better by Design LLC,* New Boston, Missouri (W912P9-21-D-0011); Davinroy Mechanical Contractor Inc.,* Belleville, Illinois (W912P9-21-D-0012); Eagle Eye Electric LLC,* Las Vegas, Nevada (W912P9-21-D-0013); Gale Construction of Illinois,* Joliet, Illinois (W912P9-21-D-0014); Bloomsdale Excavating Co. Inc.,* Bloomsdale, Missouri (W912P9-21-D-0015); Keller Construction Inc.,* Glen Carbon, Illinois (W912P9-21-D-0016); Magruder Construction Co. Inc.,* Eolia, Missouri (W912P9-21-D-0017); Shinn Kellogg LLC,* Albia, Iowa (W912P9-21-D-0018); Syte Corp.,* Chicago, Illinois (W912P9-21-D-0019); Medvolt Construction Services LLC,* Kansas City, Missouri (W912P9-21-D-0020); and A&H Ambica JV LLC,* Livonia, Michigan (W912P9-21-D-0021), will compete for each order of the $95,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of various civil and flood recovery projects. Bids were solicited via the internet with 13 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2025. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis, Missouri, is the contracting activity. Exp Federal Inc., Chicago, Illinois (W912HN-21-D-2000); Burns & McDonnell Engineering Co. Inc., Kansas City, Missouri (W912HN-21-D-2001); and Barge/Emersion JV, Nashville, Tennessee (W912HN-21-D-2002), will compete for each order of the $20,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect-engineer general design services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 25 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 30, 2025. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, is the contracting activity. NAVY Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc., Houston, Texas, is awarded a $28,324,156 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification for the incorporation of additional services for Option Periods Three through Seven under the base operating service contract at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Kingdom of Bahrain. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $139,809,309. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, all management, supervision, tools, materials, supplies, labor and transportation services necessary to perform security operations, galley services, unaccompanied housing, facility management, emergency service requests, urgent service, routing service, facilities investment, custodial, pest control service, integrated solid waste, grounds maintenance, utility management, wastewater, operate reverse osmosis water treatment system, chiller and transportation, at NSA Kingdom of Bahrain. Work will be performed in Kingdom of Bahrain. Performance period is Dec. 1, 2020, to Nov. 30, 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); fiscal 2021 O&M (Coast Guard); and fiscal 2021 O&M (Army) contract funds in the amount of $912,863 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Europe Africa Central, Naples, Italy, is the contracting activity (N62470-17-D-4007). Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc., Houston, Texas, is awarded a $22,251,961 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification for the exercise of Option Three under the base operating services contract at Naval Support Activity (NSA), Kingdom of Bahrain. After award of this option, the total cumulative contract value will be $168,133,467. The work to be performed provides for, but is not limited to, all management, supervision, tools, materials, supplies, labor and transportation services necessary to perform security operations, galley services, unaccompanied housing, facility management, emergency service requests, urgent service, routing service, facilities investment, custodial, pest control service, integrated solid waste, grounds maintenance, utility management, wastewater, operate reverse osmosis water treatment system, chiller and transportation at NSA Kingdom of Bahrain. Work will be performed in Kingdom of Bahrain. Performance Period is Dec. 1, 2020 to Nov. 30, 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (O&M) (Navy); fiscal 2021 O&M (Army); and fiscal 2021 O&M (Coast Guard) contract funds in the amount of $22,251,962 for recurring work will be obligated on individual task orders issued during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Europe Africa Central, Naples, Italy, is the contracting activity (N62470-17-D-4007). Lockheed Martin Corp., Owego, New York, is awarded a $12,350,767 modification (P00021) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract N00019-19-C-0013. This modification adds scope to provide non-recurring engineering and obsolescence services in support of the Airborne Low Frequency Sonars integration into MH-60R production aircraft for the governments of India and Denmark. Work will be performed in Brest, France (58%); and Owego, New York (42%), and is expected to be completed in October 2024. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $12,350,767 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Advanced Acoustic Concepts LLC, Haupauge, New York, is awarded a $9,322,942 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Angler System for Seabed Warfare effort. This contract provides for the design and development, fabrication, assembly, integration and test and operational utility assessment of a weapon technology that is capable of operating in a deep-water environment. Work will be performed in Haupauge, New York, with an estimated completion date of Nov. 2, 2022. The total cumulative value of this contract is $9,322,942. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $9,322,942 are obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured under N00014-20-S-B001, “Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for Navy and Marine Corps Science & Technology.” Since proposals are received throughout the year under the long range BAA, the number of proposals received in response to the solicitation is unknown. The Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00014-21-C-1006). Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc., Houston, Texas, is awarded a $7,826,832 cost-reimbursement task order modification (N33191-18-F-4417) to exercise Option Period Two and provide additional services under the cost-plus-award-fee contract for base operating support services at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Redzikowo, Poland. After award of this modification, the total cumulative contract value will be $19,712,582. The work to be performed provides for furnishing all labor, supervision, management, tools, materials, equipment, facilities, transportation, incidental engineering and other items necessary to provide the base operating support services at NSF Redzikowo. Work will be performed in Slupsk, Poland. This option period is from Dec. 1, 2020, to Nov. 30, 2021. No funds will be obligated at time of award. Fiscal 2021 operation and maintenance (Navy); and fiscal 2021 research and development (Department of Defense) contract funds in the amount of $7,826,832 will be obligated on individual modifications to this task order during the option period. The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command, Europe Africa Central, is the contracting activity (N62742-16-D-3551). Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Moorestown, New Jersey, is being awarded a $7,654,990 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost (no fee) modification to previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-5104 to exercise options for ship integration and test of the AEGIS Weapon System (AWS) for AWS baselines through Advanced Capability Build (ACB) 12. This option exercise will provide AEGIS shipboard integration engineering, AEGIS test team support, AEGIS modernization team engineering support, ballistic missile defense (BMD) test team support and AWS element assessments. Work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia (33%); San Diego, California (25%); Everett, Washington (25%); Bath, Maine (10%); Moorestown, New Jersey (3%); Camden, New Jersey (2%); and various locations across the U.S., each less than 1% (2%), and is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2013 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $1,409,269 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded Nov. 30, 2020) AIR FORCE CORRECTION: A contract announced on Nov. 23, 2020, to Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Clearfield, Utah (FA8202-21-D-0001), in the amount of $185,700,000 for the A-10 Aircraft Structural Integrity Program Legacy VII has not yet been awarded. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2431502/
-
3 juillet 2018 | International, Terrestre
US Army’s interim short-range air defense solution crystallizes
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's interim short-range air defense system, which will urgently fill a capability gap identified a few years ago in the European theater, has crystallized. The Army had already decided the Interim Maneuver-Short-Range Air Defense system would be developed around its Stryker combat vehicle, but it has now chosen Leonardo DRS to supply a mission equipment package that will include Raytheon's Stinger vehicle missile launcher, according to Col. Chuck Worshim, program manager for cruise missile defense systems with the Army's Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, who spoke to Defense News on June 28. General Dynamics Land Systems — which produces the Stryker — will be the platform integrator for the IM-SHORAD system, he added. The Army went through a selection process through the Department of Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium to determine the best collection of vendors to build prototypes. A Boeing-GDLS team was a front-runner for an interim SHORAD mission package, unveiling before any other vendor a solution in August 2017 at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. Using an Avenger system on top of the Stryker, which was the team's solution, sought to take what was already in the Army's inventory to create a system. And a SHORAD demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, last September saw more possibilities for the interim solution including Rafael's Iron Dome and South Korean defense firm Hanwha's Flying Tiger. But a dark horse emerged at the Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Symposium, also in Huntsville, in March. Leonardo DRS showed an unassuming small-scale mock-up of its concept at its booth at the symposium that featured its partner Moog's Reconfigurable Integrated-weapons Platform. The platform would provide a choice of sights, direct-fire weapons and missiles, Ed House, DRS Land Systems' business development manager, told Defense News at the show. The system would be able to integrate both Stinger and Longbow Hellfire missiles, requirements for the service's IM-SHORAD solution. It also would come equipped with a complement of direct-fire weapons and sights to include the M230 chain gun and the 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. But the solution also has non-kinetic defeat capabilities and Rada's onboard multimission hemispheric radar. And that dark horse has won the opportunity to provide the mission equipment package for the IM-SHORAD prototype program. The system will also have Hellfire rails as well as an onboard sensor, according to Worshim. The Army decided to choose DRS to provide the mission equipment package because of the flexibility of its reconfigurable turret, which allows for growth opportunities should the threat change or something else change that requires a new interceptor or another capability, Worshim said. The solution also posed less intrusion to the existing Stryker platform, he added, and provided an increased level of protection as the crew reloads ammunition, which can be done under armor. While the Avenger solution was deemed technically acceptable and met requirements, one of the reasons the Army decided against using the Avenger on Stryker as the solution was because the government felt it would require major modifications to the Stryker, according to Worshim. The Army has a desire to keep the Stryker as common across the fleet as possible, Worshim said. Boeing was also looking to the government to supply Avenger turrets, of which a limited amount of those exist readily in the service's inventory, which would have been problematic when considering the Army's goal to deliver 144 IM-SHORAD systems by fiscal 2022, he explained. Now that vendors have been selected, the Army will move into a negotiation period expected to wrap up in mid- to late July. The service expects to officially award the contract to build nine prototypes by Aug. 31, but has the intention to possibly move that date up, Worshim said. Once the contracts are solidified, DRS will provide the first mission equipment package, complete with a new digital Stinger missile launcher in February 2019. Then GDLS will fully integrate the SHORAD prototype by April 2019. The final prototypes will be delivered to the service by the first quarter of fiscal 2020. As the prototypes are coming along, the Army will conduct prototype testing to see if the systems are meeting requirements. “From there, the Army will decide if this solution truly meets requirements in this respect,” Worshim said. If the solution does meet requirements, production efforts to build 144 systems — a total of four battalions — will move forward. The Army's goal is to provide the first battery no later than the fourth quarter of 2020, but that will depend on funding. If funding is lower than expected, the Army will deliver the first platoon by about that time, according to Worshim. The service has moved from receiving a directed requirement in late February 2018 to selecting vendors for the IM-SHORAD solution in just about four months, which, Worshim noted, is moving at “lightning speed” for a typical acquisition process. The hope is the process to build an IM-SHORAD solution will be used as a model for Army procurement that incorporates the “fly before you buy” concept and creates a way to rapidly understand capabilities moving forward, he said. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/06/28/us-armys-interim-short-range-air-defense-solution-crystallizes/