Poland Upgrades Its F-16 Weapons

Poland Upgrades Its F-16 Weapons

February 14, 2012: Poland is upgrading the armament of its 48 F-16 fighters by purchasing $447 million worth of American missiles and smart bombs. The deal includes 93 AIM-9X-2 Sidewinder Block II heat seeking air-to-air missiles, Sidewinder Air Training Missiles (with no warhead or rocket motor), 65 AIM-120C-7 radar guided air-to-air AMRAAM missiles, 42 GBU-49 227 kg (500 pound) Paveway II bombs (dual GPS/laser guidance), 200 JDAM dual GPS/laser guidance bomb kits, 127 MK-82 227 kg bombs, 642 BLU-111 bunker buster 227 kg bombs, 80 BLU-117 bunker buster 909 kg (2,000 pound) bombs and four MK-84 Inert 909 kg training bombs (each with a smoke spotting charge inert weights instead of explosives.) Several other items of bombing training equipment are included in the deal, as well as five years of support.

From:
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairw/articles/20120214.aspx

BBC News - Russian missile test launch fails

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/europe/8405481.stm

BBC News - Russian jailed for selling missile secrets to CIA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-europe-16982995?

Brown Out Beaten

Brown Out Beaten

February 1, 2012: The U.S. Army is equipping ten of its UH-60 helicopters in Afghanistan with a new 3-D radar. The HALS (Helicopter Autonomous Landing System) weighs 45 kg (99 pounds) and gives the pilots a 3-D picture of what's in front of the helicopter, no matter what actual visibility is. Snow, dust, sand, fog, and night can all hide small obstacles (especially wires or poles) that can cause a crash as a helicopter is taking off or landing. In the last decade about 20 percent of army helicopter crashes have been caused by storms because the pilots could not see obstacles. In Iraq, the most common danger was "brown out" (sand storm). Fog and, in Afghanistan, snow only add to the problem.

HALS has been in development for nearly a decade and has been undergoing testing for the last four years. The ten helicopters being equipped with HALS in Afghanistan are carrying out the first sustained test of the system under combat conditions.

The manufacturer is also developing a version of HALS for use in UAVs.

From:

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htecm/articles/20120201.aspx

FBI probes Anonymous intercept of US-UK hacking call

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-us-canada-16881582?

AWACSki Enters The 21st Century

AWACSki Enters The 21st Century

January 28, 2012: Russia has upgraded its A-50 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) and the first of these A-50Us recently entered service. The A-50 AWACS entered service in 1984 and 40 were built by the time the Cold War ended. In the 1990s most of the A-50s didn't fly much at all. The A-50 is based on the Il-76 transport. After over a decade of development the A-50 became a growing presence in Russian air operations during the 1980s.

The inspiration for the A-50 was the U.S. Air Force E-3 AWACS, which entered service in 1977. This was a continuation of AWACS development that began in 1944. The first AWACS appeared in 1945, when the U.S. Navy deployed radar equipped aircraft to control large numbers of airborne warplanes in combat. The Navy continued developing airborne early warning and control aircraft in the 1950s (the E-1) and replaced it with the E-2 in the early 1970s. This one is still in service.

The A-50 used less capable technology than the U.S. AWACS. The A-50 radar only had a range 200 kilometers, compared to 400 for the E-3. The A-50 upgrade uses modern (digital, rather than analog) systems and has a max range of 600 kilometers. The new computers allow far more (150) aircraft to be tracked and this is done more quickly and with fewer equipment breakdowns. The A-50U can control ten warplanes at a time, while these aircraft perform air-to-air or ground attack missions. The upgrade was actually underway when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and has been dormant until money became available to revive it four years ago.

China bought some of the older A-50s and was so dissatisfied that they switched to a new AWACS design based on the Boeing 737-800 airliner. The 157 ton Il-76 jet is considered less reliable and more expensive to maintain than the twin engine, 79 ton, Boeing 737-800. Chinese airlines (some of them controlled by the Chinese Air Force) have been using the 737-800 since 1999 (a year after this model entered service). So no matter how much Russia upgrades the A-50 they are still stuck with an expensive aircraft to carry everything around.

Article From:

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htecm/articles/20120128.aspx

AIDEWS For Nearly Everyone

AIDEWS For Nearly Everyone

January 26, 2012: so far, nearly 200 of the American ALQ-211 AIDEWS (Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suite) pods have been sold to six foreign customers. Most use it for their F-16 fighters. The ALQ-211 allows the aircraft to detect radar, jamming, and laser signals hitting the aircraft, as well as the presence of chemical weapons. ALQ-211 also provides some jamming of its own and assistance on where the signal is coming from, so the pilot can move the aircraft away from the threat. ALQ-211 is also installed in helicopters but not as a pod. Rather, the individual components are installed in the helicopter where space is available.

The ALQ-211 has been in service for a decade and there have been several upgrades and variants. Foreign customers do not get an ALQ-211 with the same capabilities that American aircraft receive. Components of ALQ-211 are programmable, so that the system can quickly be updated for newly discovered enemy equipment. The pod version, the ALQ-211(V)9 (version 9), costs about $3.5 million each.

MICA Reaches Out

MICA Reaches Out

January 12, 2012: India has ordered 500 French MICA long range (80 kilometers) radar guided missiles for its 51 French Mirage 200 fighters. The 112 kg (247 pound) MICA costs about $700,000 each and is similar to the U.S. AMRAAM.

India is upgrading its Mirage 2000 fighters, at a cost of $35 million each, so they can handle the MICA. The aircraft are getting new radar and fire control systems, as well as modern electronic warfare systems and digital communications. Other components (like the airframe and engines) would also be refurbished. After the upgrade, the twenty year old Mirage 2000s would be good for another twenty. While expensive, the upgrade would turn the Mirage 2000 fighters into long range air-to-air killers. These aircraft could very efficiently knock down their Pakistani or Chinese opponents (which are equipped with less capable Chinese FD-60 long range missiles).

Roll On Knowledge

Roll On Knowledge

January 4, 2012: The U.S. Air Force has taken a U.S. Marine Corps idea for an "instant gunship" and developed an "instant reconnaissance aircraft" along the same lines. The "instant gunship" is known as "Harvest Hawk" and it's a system that enables weapons and sensors to be quickly rolled into a C-130 transport and hooked up. This takes a few hours, and turns the C-130 into a gunship (similar in capabilities existing AC-130 gunships). The sensor package consists of day/night vidcams with magnification capability. The weapons currently consist of ten Griffin missiles and four Hellfires. These are lightweight missiles, so more can be carried.

The "instant reconnaissance aircraft" is known as "Senior Scout" and it quickly equips a C-130 with equipment that enables the transport to collect visual and electronic data from areas it flies over. On the larger C-130J, this leaves room for the aircraft to carry passengers and cargo as well as Senior Scout. This means that a C-130J that regularly makes trips between two bases, can just as regularly carry out surveillance on the ground below. The route the C-130J follows on these cargo runs can be modified a bit to suit intelligence needs on the ground.

Harvest Hawk enables marine KC-130J tankers to be transformed into gunships with the addition of the portable weapons and sensors. The marines had long noted the success of the U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunships that SOCOM (Special Operations Command) uses. But they couldn't afford them, as an AC-130 costs more than three times as much as a marine KC-130J aerial refueling aircraft. But the marines developed a solution. This is something the marines often do.

The KC-130J is the latest, and largest, USMC version of the C-130 transport used for aerial refueling. The KC-130J can also carry cargo, and weapons (bombs and missiles) hung from the wings; thus the Harvest Hawk version of the KC-130J.

The big thing with gunships is their sensors, not their weapons. Operating at night, the gunships can see what is going on below, in great detail. Using onboard weapons, gunships can immediately engage targets. But with the appearance of smart bombs (GPS and laser guided), aerial weapons are more available to hit any target that is found. So Harvest Hawk would be able to hit targets that were "time sensitive" (had to be hit before they got away), but could also call on smart bombs or laser guided missiles for targets that weren't going anywhere right away. Most of what Harvest Hawk does in Afghanistan is look for roadside bombs, or the guys who plant them. These marines want to track back to their base, and then take out an entire roadside bomb operation.

Ultimately, the air force and SOCOM saw the potential for the Harvest Hawk approach replacing custom built AC-130 gunships. There would still be a need for specially trained gunship crews. But they, and the several cargo containers of Harvest Hawk gear, could be held ready to go wherever they are most needed. SOCOM will be using their version of Harvest Hawk (the Precision Strike Package) in their MC-130 transports (which are already equipped for all-weather operations.)

The success of Harvest Hawk has got the air force considering other "ro/ro" (roll on/roll off) applications, thus saving the cost of custom aircraft for many jobs, and providing more opportunities to use specialized aircraft.

The Unstoppable Carl GustavJ

The Unstoppable Carl Gustav

January 1, 2012: After two decades of resisting calls from the troops for the Swedish 84mm Carl Gustav portable recoilless rifle, the U.S. Army has relented and ordered about a hundred Carl Gustav launchers. After watching U.S. Army Special Forces use this weapon in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last decade, the army brass reconsidered. This weapon has been around for over 60 years and is used by several dozen countries. It is simple but very effective.

The Carl Gustav was adopted by SOCOM (first for the Ranger Regiment) in 1990. The Carl Gustav is basically a lightweight 8.5 kg (19 pound) recoilless rifle. It is 1.1 meters (3.6 feet) long. The barrel is rifled and good for about a hundred rounds. Range is 500-700 meters (depending on the type of round fired). The 84mm projectiles weigh about 2 kg (4.4 pounds) each and come in several different types (anti-armor, combined anti-armor/high explosive, illumination, and smoke.) The anti-armor round is very useful in urban areas and against bunkers.

The army had earlier adopted the single shot version of the Carl Gustav (as the AT4), but the Special Forces showed that the Carl Gustav is better because you get more shots for less weight (the AT4 weighs about 6.8 kg each). It's easier to carry one Carl Gustav, at 8.5 kg, and a bunch of rocket propelled shells at about 2.2 kg (5 pounds, with packaging) each.

Germany Upgrades Air Defense

Germany Upgrades Air Defense

Germany is upgrading its Cold War era air defense system by purchasing six GM400 air defense radars. These semi-portable (each system can be moved in two 20 foot cargo containers) radars have a range of 400 kilometers, see the aerial situation in 3-D and, on average, operate 24 hours a day, for about five months, before suffering a system failure (which can often be fixed in a few hours, or less). The GM 400s the German Air Force receives will have IFF (Identify, Friend or Foe) equipment installed.

The first reported attempts at conducting Electronic Warfare occurred during the Russo-Japanese War.

The first reported attempts at conducting Electronic Warfare occurred during the Russo-Japanese War. At the Battle of Tsushima, in May 1905, Japanese reconnaissance ships trailed the Russian shipping fleet, transmitting details of the fleet's activities back to the Japanese High Command. The commander of the Russian cruiser Ural requested permission to use his radio transmitters to suppress the Japanese broadcasts, however in a decision he was later to regret, the Russian Vice Admiral denied this request. Thus, the Japanese HQ was kept constantly informed of the Russian ship positions. Some forward thinking Russian commanders later decided on their own initiative to jam these transmissions, however their efforts came too late to prevent the defeat of the Russian fleet who lost 60% of their capital ships on the first day of battle.

Since these early attempts at conducting EW, widespread use of the electromagnetic spectrum for communications and reconnaissance purposes has predominated throughout all stages of subsequent conflicts as well as peacetime activities.

VISIBLE LIGHT

Amounts of visible light can be measured in units of Lux or Foot-candles. Lux is a metric measurement while Foot-Candle is the empirical counterpart.
Lux. The Lux is a unit of illumination or how bright something is. The Lux is defined as the illumination on the surface on a sphere of radius one metre due to a uniform point source of one candle (heated carbon filament) placed at its centre.
Foot-Candle. The Foot-candle is defined as the illumination on the surface on a sphere of radius one-foot due to a uniform point source of one candle placed at its centre.

JSTARS The Keeper

JSTARS The Keeper

December 20, 2011: The U.S. Air Force continues to pay whatever it takes to keep its 17 E-8C Joint STARS (JSTARS) ground surveillance aircraft in service. This costs about a million dollars a month per aircraft just for maintenance and technical support. Fuel and crew costs are additional. In addition, some E-18Cs are getting new engines. The new JT8D engines are modern designs similar to those used on commercial aircraft. The new engines will enable the E-8C to maintain the most effective altitude and burn less fuel doing it. The new engines also require less maintenance.

The air force is spending nearly $100 million on upgrading each of the E-8Cs operated by reservists (the Air National Guard). This includes some new engines, an Internet-like communications capability, long range optical sensors (like that on combat aircraft targeting pods), and the ability to search water surfaces. These aircraft are organized into three units, one of which is in the reserves. In the last decade, JSTARS have flown over 5,200 missions, averaging about 12 hours each.

The E-8 is a militarized Boeing 707 (a 1950s design also used for the KC-135 aerial tanker and other U.S. Air Force electronics warfare aircraft). The main capability is the JSTARS ground search radar. This system has two modes: wide area (showing a 25 by 20 kilometer area) and detailed (4,000 by 5,000 meters). The radar can see out to several hundred kilometers and each screen full of information could be saved and brought back later to compare to another view (to see what has moved). In this manner, operators can track the movement of ground vehicles or ships. Operators can also use the detail mode to pick out specific details of what's going on down there, like tracking the movement of many small missile boats trying to rush an American warship. JSTARS can stay up there for over 12 hours at a time and two or more JSTARS can operate in shifts to provide 24/7 coverage.

The E-8C can be kept in service another 40 years, although will probably be replaced by cheaper, unmanned, aircraft in another decade or so. JSTARS first proved its worth during the 1991 Gulf War, where it accurately, and in real time, tracked the movement of Coalition and Iraqi ground forces. Most recently it was used in Libya and continues to operate over Afghanistan.

Thermals For Almost Everyone

Thermals For Almost Everyone

Canada ordered another $14 million worth of U.S. AN/PAS-13 thermal sights. This device enables infantry to see through darkness, mist and dust storms, because it can make out differences in heat. Over 80,000 of these sights have already been ordered, mostly for U.S. troops. But close allies of the U.S., like Canada, Britain, Australia and the like, have also ordered these rifle and machine-gun accessories. European firms have also developed similar systems.

Troops operating in Iraq and Afghanistan have found these lightweight thermal sights invaluable. Since first appearing in 1998, for use by Special Forces troops, the AN/PAS-13 has gone through several upgrades. The latest version is AN/PAS-13C. It is a little heavier than earlier models, but has longer range and more reliability. Four years ago, a new model appeared that was much more reliable and sturdy, which made thermal sights much more useful, and popular, among combat troops.

The AN/PAS-13C actually comes in three sizes, to accommodate the different ranges of infantry weapons. The smallest one, weighing .8 kg/1.95 pounds, is used on your basic M-16 or M-4 assault rifle. This sight has a range of 680 meters and 3x zoom. It uses 4 AA batteries (lithium, as used in cameras), which gets you about 5.5 hours of use and a resolution of 320x240 pixels. 

The next version weighs 1.3 kg/2.9 pounds, has a range of 1,100 meters and is used in 5.56mm and 7.62mm machine-guns. This sight requires six AA batteries (for 6.5 hours). The heaviest version weighs 1.8 kg/3.7 pounds, has a range of 2,200 meters, and is used by heavy machine-guns and snipers. This one also requires six AA batteries (for 6.5 hours). Both the heavier models have 3x zoom and 640x480 resolution for the user.

Large quantities of the AN/PAS-13 began showing up in Iraq and Afghanistan three years ago, and now everyone wants one. Over 80,000 have been delivered so far. The U.S. Army plans to buy as many as 100,000 AN/PAS-13 sights (at a cost of over $10,000 each)