Jane's Defence Weekly (13 July)

36 Pages·2005·4.885 MB·English

COVER_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 10:56 AM Page 1
jdw.janes.com•VOLUME42 •ISSUE 28•13 JULY 2005
Flanking moves
India’s Su-30Ks show their strength in France
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jdw.janes.com•VOL42 •ISSUENO 28•13 JULY 2005 (seepage4).
Headlines Online this week
4 IndianSu-30Kfighters display new capabilities Interview
5 Germany seeks timely F125acquisition 34 JDWtalks toGeneral jdw.janes.com
Joginder Jaswant Singh,
Wedgetail sails throughfirst flight handling tests Denelhas
India’s ChiefofArmy
6 USAFeyes UAVdispensers(below)for weapons Staff conducted
successful tests of
and supplies Empics; 1134029 twoof thekey
20 Swiss APCs boundfor Iraq weapons for the
Close-eye SouthAfrican
view of the Egypt,France signco-operationdeal Navy’s new Meko
Guided A200 patrol
Weapon Business corvettes:the
System Umkhonto
21 DropinRussianaircraft sales tohit industry hard
MSirak; 1115317 surface-to-air
AMSdelivers HUMS toIndia,eyes export growth missileand the
UK restructures specialforces communications 35mmdual-
7 Smoothbore trialledfor UKChallengers 23 Elbit acquires ElisraElectronicSystems purposegun
Blockages toJSFprogrammehinder USdefence Denel; 1116320
Former Australianchiefcalls for bigger army capabilities
●Qinetiqacquisitions set sales soaring
The Americas Briefing
●UKidentifies potentialmarkets for FRES
8 ATKmarkets hypersoniccruisemissile 24 Power Play:Indiais makinga strategic thrust ●CzechArmy adopts Falcon sniper rifle
intoAsiainorder toprotect itself, secureenergy ●New Zealandcompletes workinSierraLeone,
US releases first homelanddefence strategy
needs andhopefully emergeas amajor regional Mozambique
10 USArmy accelerates guidedartilleryfielding power broker.RahulBedireports ●Iranagrees militaryco-operation withIraq
TheSheriff will show uplateinIraq Infantry Equipment Update Subscribe today!
Europe 31 USArmy adopts Australian weapon station
To subscribe toJDWonlineplease telephone
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004_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 1:13 PM Page 4
4•13 July 2005•JDW•jdw.janes.com
HEADLINES
Indian Su-30K
Staff complexity as the exercise
Editor Peter Felstead progressed.
LandForces Editor Christopher F Foss Thefighters also refuelledfrom
AviationEditor DamianKemp the oppositenation’s tankers. This
fighters display
MiddleEast andEuropeEditor RobinHughes demanded complex preparations
NavalEditor RichardScott because,despiteboth sides using
Features Editor MelanieBright the hose-and-drogue system,
Reporter:Tony Skinner FrenchandRussianjet engines do
WashingtonDCBureau: new capabilities not use the sameJP-fuel.
Bureau ChiefAndrew Koch Initially the aircraft acted
Reporters JoshuaKucera,MichaelSirak as ‘blue pairs’, doing cross-
AsiaPacificEditor Robert Karniol refuellings andmixed patrols with
Mirage 2000Cs equipped withRDI
ChiefSubEditor LisaZanardo pulseDoppler radars. This was fol-
Senior SubEditor SusieKornell GEORGMADER JDWCorrespondent lowedby oneagainst two and two
SubEditorsChris Evenden,KarenDeans Vienna against two engagements within
Jane’s DefenceIndustry Editor Guy Anderson visual range, simulating the use of
ReporterJames Murphy Magic-2 andR-73 (AA-11 ‘Archer’)
GroupTechnicalEditor Rupert Pengelley During‘Garuda air-to-air missiles (AAMs).
AerospaceConsultant NickCook II’,Indian After 24 June, the arrival of
Business Consultant James Smith Su-30Ks and Mirage 2000-5s allowed simulated
AdministrativeAssistant MarianChiles FrenchMirage beyond-visual-range (BVR) com-
ProductionControllerMelanieAris 2000s bat with theFrench usingMICA
e-PublishingAlexander Garrett,Ray Trott performeda AAMs and theIndians usingR-77
number ofair (RVV-AE or AA-12) AAMs. It was
Publisher JonathanGrevatt combat previouslybelieved that only the
GroupManagingDirectorAlfredRolington scenarios Su-30MKIfitted withanN011M
(Bars) radar could operate theR-77.
FrenchAir Force;
Correspondents 1116231 Indianexerciseleaders referred
TheAmericas: to theaircraft as Su-30Ks,not Su-
Scott Gourley; JoséHiguera; SharonHobson; 30MKs,but several times used the
Jeremy McDermott; PedroPauloRezende; I term ‘A-12’for what theydescribed
Cesar Cruz Tantalean ndia’s pilots have demon- as “afullyactiveBVR weapon”.
strated the power of their ●India’s deployment ofSu-30K Official results from theexercise
Asia/Pacific: SukhoiSu-30Kaircraft inan fighters for aFrenchexercise was arenot yet available.
IqbalAthas;RahulBedi; JosephBermudez; exercise that saw ‘Flankers’ thefirst outsideIndia French pilots used theexercise to
FarhanBokhari; IanBostock; YihongChang; flyingoperationally onEuro- ●TheIndianSu-30Ks tookon assess the ‘threat-benchmark’of the
Anthony Davis; ShinichiKiyotani; Ghazi pean soil, outsideRussia,forthe FrenchMirage 2000C Su-30. OneMirage pilot said: “In
MahmudIqbal; Robert Keith-Reid; Wendell first time since theearly 1990s. and 2000-5fighters closecombat theMirage[appears]
Minnick; PhillipMckinnon The exercise provided fresh ●Frenchpilots wereimpressedby more ‘nervous’than theSukhoi. A
insight into thecapability of theair- theSu-30Ks’capabilities decisionmust beachievedin the
Europe: craft, its weapon load and the first minuteor thesheer power and
MartinBayer; JohnBerg; Piotr Butowski; advanced abilities of Indian Air ‘Garuda I’, the first time it has theagility of theSu-30 will over-
Thomas Dodd; TimGlogan; Grzegorz Force (IAF) pilots. taken sixSukhoiSu-30Kfighters whelmyou.”
Holdanowicz; DavidIng; HenryIvanov; The positiveexperiencefollows out ofIndia. The latest French frontline
JiriKominek; JACLewis; GeorgMader; onfrom the 2004 ‘CopeIndia’exer- TheIndianaircraft deployed to fighter, Rafale, was reportedly
NikolaiNovichkov; TimRipley; cise with theUS when theSu-30s Istres from their home base near sought for ‘GarudaII’but “it has
LaleSariibrahimoglu; Radu Tudor; competed successfully against Delhi viaJamnagar inIndia’s west. not yet been operationalisedin the
TheodoreValmas; PaoloValpolini F-15Caircraft. Refuellingfrom two IlyushinIl- FrenchAir Forceand was thus not
SixSu-30Kaircraft took part in 78 tanker aircraft, theaircraft flew available”,a source said.
MiddleEast/Africa: ‘GarudaII’from 15Juneto 1 July to Egypt’s Jiyanklis air basenear ‘GarudaII’gaveIndiaanother
SegunAdeyemi;AlonBen-David; alongsideFrenchAir ForceMirage Alexandriaand then on to Istres. good chance of evaluating the
Nicholas Blanford; Helmoed-Römer Heitman, 2000s, operating from the 125th AnIAF spokesperson said: “We Mirage 2000-5 and RDY radar
MuhammadNajib Air ForceBaseat Istres andin skies couldhavegone straight with sev- combination,as theIAF willinherit
spanningMarseilles to Corsica. eral refuellings,but wedidnot want 12 ex-QatariMirage 2000-5s and
NATOandEUaffairs:AdrienneBaughman French pilots involved in to tax the pilots too hard.” has an upcoming requirement for
UN:ThalifDeen ‘Garuda II’ said the exercise A French officer added: “The 126 fighters, which will include
demonstrates that Indiais one of Indians have put themselves visi- that type.
e-mail theeditors:[email protected] the world’sleadingair forces and bly into the ‘club’ of the Demandingc0onditions during
that their pilots are “outstanding world-leadingair arms with that theexercise were reported by the
professionals withanamazingabil- remarkable deployment; the Indian sidebecause of “unfamiliar
ity to adapt and [have] good Chinesefor example, stillcannot denseairspace withconstant fresh
knowledge ofNATO procedures”. do that.” restrictions –and theFrenchlan-
It is thefirst time that theIAFhas TheSu-30Ks and various French guage-melody on the radio”. ■
taken part inanexerciseinEurope Mirage-2000 aircraft performed
and, in exchange for a French mutual air defence missions RELATEDARTICLE:
deployment to India in 2003 for from 17-28June, that developedin Su-30KandMirage 2000 (jawa.janes.com)
005_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 4:32 PM Page 5
jdw.janes.com•JDW•13 July 2005•5
Germany seeks timely F 125 acquisition
JORISJANSSENLOK JDWSpecialCorrespondent
TheHague
The German Navy is seeking TheF125 willbe very
parliamentary approval for a different toits
contract forfourTypeF125 sur- predecessors suchas
facecombatants in thefirst half of theF123,oneof which
2006 andforthenew warships to –theFGSBayern–is
be commissioned at two-year pictured
intervals startingfrom 2012.
NATO; 1116319
However, the pending German
elections, scheduled for later in
2005,and the possiblechange of ships willbecapable of providing cal reasons. This generates long
government couldhaveanimpact ● ForthcomingGermanelections tacticalnavalfire support to land transit periods andconsequentlya
on the project, senior sources in the couldaffect thepaceof theF125 operations and of supporting special shorter operational deployment,
navy toldJDW. surfacecombatant procurement forces operations,” JDWwas told. thereby puttingahigher strain on
“As thefunctional requirements ● TheF125 willbeadedicated Evaluation of theF 125’sweapons the ships’crews in thelong term,”
for F 125 are set, we expect to stabilisationforces asset and sensors configuration is still Rear AdmSchimpf said.
receiveanindustrial proposalfor under way, with “major decisions to “Technically, theF 125 should
the ship’s specifications by theend Following politicalguidancein be taken in August-September thereforebedesignedfor a period of
of July. This will thenhave to be May 2003, the German armed 2005”, the statement said. fiveyears betweenmajor overhauls.
evaluated throughAugust-Septem- forces have been conceptually However, theF 125 will “not be Of this, up to two years maybea
ber, takinginto consideration the dividedinto threeforcecategories equipped with any sonar equip- deployment in one or more opera-
functional and financial frame- according to their capabilities and ment”,Rear AdmSchimpf warned tional theatres without major
work,” a statement from the office readiness: responseforces for high- inakeynoteaddress to the recent maintenance requiringa returnto
ofRear AdmiralAxelSchimpf,Vice intensity warfare, stabilisation Undersea Defence Technology thehomebase,” theadmiral’s office
Chief ofNavalStaff, said on 7July. forces and supportingforces. (UDT) Europeevent inAmsterdam. said on 7July.
“The upcomingelections inGer- “Stabilisationforces aredesigned Speaking to JDWat UDTEurope, Theaimfor F 125is to achievean
many willhaveacertaininfluence to support long-lasting worldwide theadmiralemphasised theGerman increase of the operationalavail-
on the pace of this project.” crisis management operations of Navy’sneedfor a warship capable ability to about 5,000hours ayear
At present it appears certain that low- or medium-level intensity,” of lengthy operations at faraway (of the total of8,760hours ayear)
theF 125 willbe verydifferent to its Rear AdmSchimpf’s office said. locations. per ship. This means that theF 125’s
predecessors, thein-serviceF 124, “Afrigatefor stabilisation opera- “The kind of long-endurance engines need to beable to sustain up
F 123 andF 122 frigates and the tions like thenew typeF 125 will operations necessary in a crisis to 30,000 runninghours between
K 130 corvettes now under con- need both lethal and non-lethal management scenario cannot be major overhauls, thenavy said.
struction. means for selective and precise conducted efficiently with the “Robust technologies,ahigher
TheF 125 willbe thefirst Ger- interventions in order to control,de- frigates the German Navy degree of automation, technical
man warship to be specifically escalate or escalateagiven situation. presentlyhas in use. These[legacy] modularityandbuild-in test equip-
designedandequippedfor stabilisa- “Besides specific protection vessels need to be relievedmore ment concepts are to becarefully
tion operations. against asymmetric threats, these frequentlyfor manningand techni- evaluated to achieve thesegoals.”
Asemi-electric propulsion sys-
Wedgetail sails through first flight handling tests temis currentlyforeseenfor theF
125,allowinganelectricallygener-
ated transit speed of 20 kt and a
Thefirst platformfor theRoyalAustralianAir Force’s Wedgetail maximum speed ofmore than 26 kt.
airborneearly warningandcontrol(AEW&C) systemproject has To facilitate the required long
completedits performanceandflight-handling test programme. absencefromhome,anew,50 per
TheWedgetailloggedmore than 245flights and500 flight hours. cent reduced manning concept is
According toBoeing’s vicepresident of 737 AEW&Cprogrammes, beingdevelopedfor theF 125. This
PatrickGill, theaircraft performed“superbly”inallareas. willfeature two crews ofabout 100
Tests,including simulatedair-to-air refuelling, tookplacefrom each (plus 20 for the aviation
Edwards Air ForceBaseinCalifornia.Enginenacelleandengine detachment), relievingeach other
component cooling were testedinMesa,Arizona. ona regular,four-month, rotating
Flight testingof theaircraft’s AEW&Cmission systemand radar is schedule.
expected to takeplace this year. Additional personnel willbe pro-
Australiahas purchased six aircraft with thefirst two scheduledfor vided if needed for maritime
deliveryin 2006 and thefinalfour tofollow by 2008. interdiction–boarding– operations
DamianKemp,JDWAviationEditor,London and for force protection against
asymmetric threats. TheF 125 would
Australia’s first WedgetailAEW&Chas completedflight RELATEDARTICLES: also beequipped withan “innovative
handling tests Boeing 737 AEW&C variants (jema.janes.com) damagecontrolconcept”. ■
Australia’s first Wedgetail takes to the skies
Boeing; 1116316 (jdw.janes.com, 21/05/04)
Go tojdw.janes.comfor moreof this article
006_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 4:04 PM Page 6
6•13 July 2005•JDW•jdw.janes.com
HEADLINES
USAF eyes UAV dispenser
UK restructures
specialforces
for weapons and supplies
communications
TheUKhas restructured thecommand
information systems (CIS)organisation
that supports its specialforces (SF).
What werepreviously anumber of MICHAELSIRAKJDWStaffReporter
independent signals squadrons have Baltimore,Maryland
T
now beendrawn together under the
umbrellaof18SignalRegiment, which heUSAirForce (USAF) Sterchele said thedispenser will
●TheGuidedDispenser System
cameintoexistenceearlier in 2005. is evaluatinga standard- enable theUAVs to deliver their
wouldallow medium-sizedUAVs
The400-odd strong regiment now con- ised dispenser system payloads fromhighaltitudes.
todeliver supplies and weapons
sists of: that could be mounted Secondly,he said, thedispenser
precisely fromhighaltitudes
•Ageneral support squadron,providing onmedium-sized unma- caneasilyandaffordablybeinte-
●Tests of thedispenser have taken
long-range strategiccommunications.This nned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to grated across a range of UAVs
placeon theUSArmy’s RQ-5
has comefrom the strategiccommunica- precisely deliver supplies and once the engineering work has
Hunter UAVandare set to
tions element of 264Signals Squadron, the weapons. beenaccomplishedfor theinitial
continue through 2005
previously independent SF support unit The service’sUAVBattlelabis host platform.
basedat Hereford; leading the effort to integrate “You pay thebill once,” he told
•Twoclose support squadrons providing Textron Systems’ Guided Thedispenser cancarrylethal JDWon 29June.
tactical,in-theatrecommunications sup- Dispenser System, onto unmanned weapons suchas TextronSystems ColFelder said theimpetus of
port toSFoperations to support theSpecial platforms like theUSArmy’sRQ- 64 lb (29 kg) BLU-108 anti- the project was thedesire of spe-
Air Service(SAS)andSpecialBoat Service 5Hunter and theair force’s own armour submunition; the similarly cialforces to useUAVs as ameans
(SBS).Thesehavebeenformedfrom the MQ-1 and MQ-9 Predators. It sized Clean Lightweight Area of precision resupplyduring oper-
remainingpart of 264Signals Squadron couldalso becarried onUAVs like Weapon (CLAW) ananti-person- ations inforward-deployedareas.
and theSBSSignals Squadron,apurely theRQ-8Firescout and thearmy’s nel system thecompanydesigned Thedispenser project is one of
RoyalMarines organisationbasedat future Extended-Range/Multi- specifically for carriage on 13 unclassified initiatives the
Poole,Dorset; Purpose platform, air force and UAVs; andNorthrop Grumman’s UAVBattlelabhas under way to
•TheSpecialReconnaissanceRegiment industry sources toldJDWat the Viper Strike, said Richard increase the effectiveness of
(SRR)Signals Squadron(267) to support Associationfor UnmannedVehi- Sterchele,manager ofTextron’s unmanned aircraft in the near
the recently announcedSRR, whichcon- cle Systems International 2005 strike weapons business develop- term.
tains some specialist elements previously NorthAmericanConference. ment. Amongits other weapons activi-
employedinNorthernIreland; On its release from the host It could also carry non-lethal ties, saidColFelder,is a project to
• 63 Signals Squadron(Volunteer), theTer- platform, the GPS guidance- payloads such as unattended integrate the small5lbSpikemis-
ritorialArmy sub-unit that supports SF, aidedGuidedDispenser System ground sensors,naval sonobuoys, siledesignedby theUSNavy onto
operatingfromThorney Island,Hamp- manoeuvres itself to pre-pro- decoys andleaflets for psycholog- smaller-sizedUAVs. Withit, these
shire,has alsobeen subsumedinto the grammedco-ordinates viacontrol ical operations as well supplies UAVs could deliver precision
new organisation; and fins, whichalso corrects for wind likefood,ammunitionandmed- strikes to support ground troops
•A smallheadquarters andadministrative drift,and thendeploys its contents ical items, according to the air fightinginconfined urbanareas.
support element. viaa pistonejection system. forceandindustry officials. Industry sources saida potential
Most of themanpower cover has been Already thebattlelabhas flown host platform for Spike flight
foundfrom theprevious sub-units.A small the dispenser on the Hunter and evaluations is DRS’s Sentry
proportion tocover entirely new posts has released a BLU-108 in an inert High Performance UAV, from
beenfoundfromelsewherein thearmy. drop test. Live tests ofaBLU-108 which thebattlelabdroppedBLU-
Thenew set-upis ajoint organisationcom- releasedat higher altitudes off the 108s in tests in 2004.
prisingpersonnelfrom thearmy, theRoyal Hunter are plannedfor thenext few TextronSystems has additional
Air Forceand theRoyalMarines, reflecting months, the officials said. Colonel concepts for integrating weapons
thecompositionofUKSF. Close-eye view of theGuidedDispenser Larry Felder, commander of the on smaller sizedUAVs that are too
Thearrangements for communications System(above)and(below)amock-up UAVBattlelab, saidhealso intends light to carry the BLU-108 and
support to the specialforces support bat- of thesystem onaNorthropGrumman to test thedispenser offaPredator, CLAW. It is offering the 10 lb
talion,or ‘ranger battalion’,announcedin Hunter UAV MSirak; 1116317, 1116318 either anMQ-1 or MQ-9. SelectivelyTargetedSkeet (STS)
the recent army restructuringplans arenot for use onUAVs in the sizeclass of
yet decidedand willprobably dependon thearmy’sRQ-7 Shadow andUS
theeventual structureof thebattalionitself. Navy’sRQ-2 Pioneer. ■
TheUKMinistry ofDefenceis still to
decideon thefinalmake-upof thenew bat- RELATEDARTICLES:
talionbut thereis anassumption that it will Go tojdw.janes.comfor moreof this article
beajoint organisationdrawingonother EDOplans further development ofSabre
weapons carriage
services,particularly theRoyalMarines.It
(jdw.janes.com,13/06/05)
is expected that thebattalion willbe stood
USAir Force’s UAVBattlelabeyes
upduring thefirst halfof 2006.
expandedactivities
Giles Ebbutt (jdw.janes.com, 27/09/04)
Editor,Jane’s C4ISystems,London Textron shows lethalpayloads for UAVs
(idr.janes.com,14/11/03)
007_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 10:41 AM Page 7
jdw.janes.com•JDW•13 July 2005•7
Smoothbore trialled
for UK Challengers
CHRISTOPHERFFOSSJDWLandForces Editor
London
Initialfiring trials of the 120mm
L/55 smoothbore tankgunforthe ●TheChallenger 2 MBTis theonly
BritishArmy’sChallenger2main NATO tank witha rifledmaingun
battle tank (MBT) havebeencom- ●Findinganalternativemaingun
pletedat theRheinmetallfiring for theUK’s Challenger 2s is
rangeinGermany. beingdrivenby thefact that
Under theChallenger Lethality developingnew ammunitionfor a
Improvement Programme (CLIP), rifled tankgun wouldbefar too
theUKMinistry ofDefence (MoD) costly
has alreadyawardedafirmfixed- 120 mmL/55 smoothboreguninChallenger 2 mantlet duringfiring trials inGermany
pricecontract to thenow BAESys- being suppliedbyRheinmetall–
BAESystems; 1116310
tems LandSystems for the 120mm including theDM53 armour-pierc-
Smoothbore Option Technical ingfin-stabiliseddiscarding sabot thedirect-fire version of theFuture Under the CLIP programme,
Demonstrator Programme (SO tracer round. RapidEffect System (FRES). Rheinmetallis a sub-contractor to
TDP), which is expected to be Within the Defence Procure- The current British Army BAESystems LandSystems andis
completed in mid-2006. The ment Agency (DPA),CLIPis being Challenger 2 MBTis armed witha supplyinganew 120mmL/55 ord-
weaponis being shipped to theUK runby theFutureBusiness Group. 120mmL30 rifledgun that fires nance. This is ballisticallyidentical
for further staticfiring trials and Theaim of theseTDPs is to reduce separate loading ammunition to the 120mmL/55installedin the
will then be installed in a Chal- riskdownstreamas earlyas possi- (ie projectile and charge ). This German Leopard 2A6 MBT but
lenger 2 MBT for systems ble. weaponis not usedbyany other externally,as far as possible,is the
technicaldemonstrations, which It willalso assist ininforming NATOcountryandit wouldbe too sameas thecurrent 120mmL30
aredueby theend of 2005. thecustomer not only onlethality expensivefor theUK to develop a rifled tankgun. This enables it to be
A quantity of 120 mm improvements for the in-service new-generationammunition sys- almost adirect replacement for the
smoothbore ammunition is also Challenger 2 but also options for tem solelyfor its own use. current in-service 120 mm L30
weapon. The ordnanceis fitted with
Former Australian chief calls for bigger army a fume extractor, thermal sleeve
andmuzzle reference system.
It was expected that the Chal-
Australia’s outgoingChiefof theDefenceForce(CDF), looking tomount acasefor increased troopnumbers toput before lenger 2 would be phased out of
Lieutenant GeneralPeter Cosgrove,has firedaparting shot at government in thecomingmonths. servicearound 2025but this has now
theDepartment ofDefenceby makingit clear theAustralian Thearmy, which still suffers from‘hollowness’inmany ofits beenextended to 2035. While the
Army is too small tocope withlikely future requirements. premier frontline units,has beenexamining thefeasibility of vari- UK has aspirations to upgrade at
GenCosgrove, who retiredon1July, toldjournalists that the ous options availablefor boostingnumbers inbothcombat and least part ofits fleet of 386 Chal-
AustralianDefenceForce(ADF)“may need toask thegovernment combat support units. lenger 2s under theCLIPprogramme
for another one thousand to two thousand troops in thearmy”. It is unclear whether any increaseinpersonnelnumbers suchas it is understood that at present thereis
He said theADF,earlier in 2005,“becamepersuaded that todoit that suggestedby GenCosgrove wouldbe used toestablishoneor no fundingin place,although this
properly” the regular army’s 25,600 personnel wouldproveinsuffi- twoadditionalinfantry battalions or tomake up themanpower couldchangein thefuture.
cient. shortfalls inexisting regular army units. If sufficient funding was avail-
According toCosgrove, thenew CDFAir ChiefMarshallAngus It is known,however, that a strongpreferenceexists for thefor- able then, in addition to CLIP, a
Houston,andChiefofArmy Lieutenant GeneralPeter Leahy willbe mationofa secondmechanisedinfantry battalionby theendof the number of other improvements
decade.Oneoptionbeingconsideredis re-rolinganexistinglight wouldalso bemadeinkeyareas
Former infantry battalionfor this role,although theavailability ofadditional such as integrating a panoramic
AustralianChief personnelmay result inanentirely new unit being raised. thermalimagingcapability, regen-
ofDefenceForce GenCosgrove’s comments arelinked toa widely held view erative nuclear, biological and
Lt GenCosgrove within theADFandamonglocalanalysts that Australia’s defence chemicaldefence systemandnew
believes the spending,hoveringaround1.9per cent ofgross domesticprod- all-electricguncontrol system.
army needs tobe uct,is inadequateand unsustainableover themedium term, with Therecouldalso beanumber of
larger anadditional 2,000 troops estimated to requireaninitialinvest- survivabilityenhancements inkey
ment ofapproximately AUD1billion(USD740 million)and areas suchas thearmour anddefen-
ADF, 1116313 recurringannualcosts ofat least AUD300 million. siveaids suite. ■
GenCosgrove’s statements comeat a time whenCanberrais
considering thedeployment ofanADF taskforce toAfghanistanin RELATEDARTICLES:
thecoming weeks.This wouldbeinaddition toapproximately 600 UKlooks at improvements toChallenger 2
troops currently servinginIraq. (jdw.janes.com, 28/01/05)
IanBostock,JDWCorrespondent,Sydney Challenger 2 new gunproject presses
ahead(jdw.janes.com, 08/01/04)
008_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 5:15 PM Page 8
8•13 July 2005•JDW•jdw.janes.com
THE AMERICAS
ATK markets
developingnew components that
Acting wouldadd riskandcost,he said.
Deputy The missile’s scramjet, which
Secretaryof burns JP-10jet fuel,is designed to
hypersonic
Defense cruiseat afixed point aroundM5.0,
Gordon as opposed to having to operateat
England: varying Mach numbers. It uses
“New thermal management techniques
strategy is a cruise missile and materials already proven in
significant solid-fuel rocket motors,he said.
milestone.” Thecompanyintends to conduct
aflight test of themissile within
USDoD; 1116311
threeyears,Precourt said. Already
US releases its MICHAELSIRAK JDWStaffReporter it has conductedaground test to
Washington,DC validate the scramjet combustor
first homeland A design. Next up, saidPrecourt,is a
lliant Techsystems “freejet” test of theengineina wind
defence strategy ●TheBoost toCruiseinitiative
(ATK) is developingan tunnel, plannedfor within thenext
envisages anM5.0 cruisemissile
ultra-fast cruisemissile year, to demonstrate its aerody-
witha 250 lb warheadand
TheUSDepartment ofDefense(DoD)has that,it claims,couldbe 600 nm range namiccharacteristics.
releasedits first Strategy for Homeland fielded more quickly ●Acompany-fundedflight test of At some point, the company
DefenseandCivilSupport, whichoutlines than otherdesigns underconsid- themissileis anticipated within hopes that its internalefforts will
theDoD’s roleinpreventingand erationby theUSDepartment of thenext three years gain the sponsorship of theDoD or
responding toattacks onUS territory. Defense (DoD). ●With theacquisitionofGASLin theNationalAeronautics andSpace
Whilemilitaryactivities in theUSare Under the internally funded 2003,ATKhas thein-house Administration (NASA). For
restrictedby law, theDoDis taking thelead Boost to Cruiseinitiative, thecom- expertiseinallfacets of example, thereis the potentialfor
ingovernment efforts togather andanalyse panyhas conceivedahypersonic designing scramjet-powered Boost to Cruise activities to be
intelligence,defeat threats before they reach cruisemissile that flies notionallyat weapon systems,company rolledinto workbeingdone under
US territoryandpreparecriticalinfrastruc- M5.0,carries a 250lb (113 kg) war- officials say the DefenseAdvanced Research
tureagainst chemical,biologicalor nuclear headandhas a range of 600nm, Projects Agency-USNavyHyFly
attack. saidCharliePrecourt, vice presi- around 2008. Precourt saidATK hypersonic cruise missile pro-
TheDoD willalso support civilianagen- dent of Advanced Strategic engineers think their designcould gramme,Precourt said.
cies indealing with unconventionalattacks Programs withinATKThiokol. He befielded sooner andless expen- The Boost to Cruise missile
on theUSand will work toimproveco-oper- said thecompanyhas presented the sively than the potential operational wouldbe propelled to M5.0bya
ation withother government agencies and concept to DoD officials andhas derivatives of theDoD technology solid-fuel rocket booster,at which
neighbouringnations onintelligence shar- generatedinterest,but declined to demonstrators yet bejust as effec- point it would separateandcontin-
ingandother issues.Among the specific elaborate. tive. “That strikes us as being ues onits own. ATKis lookingat
elements of the strategy, theDoD will: TheBoost to Cruisemissileis achievable and the technology several ofits existingmotors as the
•Develop“acadreof specialised terrorism poweredbya supersoniccombus- results wehavehad to dateare very booster,includingits Orionmotors,
intelligenceanalysts within thedefence tion ramjet (scramjet) engine. It is encouraging,” he told JDW on saidPrecourt.
intelligencecommunity anddeploy anum- envisaged to giveUSmilitarycom- 1 July. Themissile-booster pair couldbe
ber of theseanalysts tointeragency centres manders the option to strikemoving The company, already consid- potentiallylaunchedbyaircraft, sur-
for homelanddefenceandcounter-terror- vehicles and stationary objects in- ered a leader in scramjet face ships or submarines,he said.
ismanalysis andoperations”; theatremuchmore quickly thanis development, gathered the engi- Additional design issues are
•Put together andimplement a“compre- possible todayin scenarios where neeringexpertisefromacross its under examination suchas thecom-
hensivepreparedness plan”for the speed of reaching the target is a business units,includingGASL,a mandandcontrolnecessaryfor the
unconventionalattacks,beingespecially criticalfactor ingaininganadvan- scramjet specialist it acquired in missileinflight and whether the
attentive tobiologicalattacks; tage over anenemy. November 2003 – to come up with missile wouldhave theability to go
•Mandate that someUSNavy forces be The DoD has several scramjet theBoost to Cruisemissiledesign, after hardened targets andburied
placed under the“periodic”commandand technologydemonstrations under Precourt said. structures in addition to surface
controlofUSNorthernCommand; and way, suchas theUSAir Force-led Akeyattribute of themissileis its objects.
•Developadeployableair-andcruise-mis- Scramjet Engine Demonstrator - comparative simplicity,he said. It With theacquisition ofGASL,
siledefence system,including serviceair WaveRider programme, whichis uses existing technologies as much along withFlight Systems,in 2003,
defenceassets, theNorthAmericanAero- expected to conduct flight tests as possibleandavoids theneedfor ATKexecutives say thecompanyis
spaceDefenseCommand system,other uniquely positioned to develop all
agencies’information sources and the facets of scramjet-powered
advanced sensors. weapon systems for theDoD. ■
ActingDeputy SecretaryofDefenseGor-
donEnglanddescribed the strategy as “the
next most significant milestonein reshap- RELATEDARTICLES:
ing thedepartment’s approach tohomeland
Go tojdw.janes.comfor moreof this article
defence”.“[It] will significantly improve the
Boeingaccelerates hypersonicprototypes
department’s ability tocounter threats of the
(jdw.janes.com,15/06/05)
21st Century.” ATK strategy: show and sell
JoshuaKucera (jdw.janes.com, 23/07/04)
JDWStaffReporter,Washington,DC ATKpushes propulsionenvelope
Artist’s impressionofATK’s hypersoniccruisemissile ATK; 1116315 (jdw.janes.com, 04/12/03)
009_JDW_13_07 7/8/05 4:14 PM Page 9
jdw.janes.com•JDW•13 July 2005•9
Bomb-clearing robots to
enter full-rate production
JOSHUAKUCERA&MICHAELSIRAK JDWStaffReporters
Washington,DC
TheUSDepartment ofDefense deployed to Iraq and 100 to
has approved two bomb-clear- ● TheUSis usingalmost 1,500 Afghanistan,according to DTRA
ing robots for full-rate bomb-clearing robots in the figures.
productionand will soonintro- AfghanistanandIraq Current requirements are for
ducea variety ofimprovements ● Planned upgrades include 3-D thearmy to have461 MTRS sys-
to them. imaging,protectionagainst ECM tems, theUSMarineCorps 205,
ThenewlynamedManTrans- anda return-homefunction theUSNavy 154and theUSAir
portableRoboticSystem (MTRS) ● TheUShas a requirement for Force 140.
programmehas grown out of the over 900 more robots Future robot improvements
rapiddeployment of two off-the- shouldinclude protectionagainst
shelf robots to Iraq and electronic countermeasures
Afghanistan. Those robots, the CaptainBryanSopko,comman- (ECMs) as army officials believe
Foster-Miller Talon IV and the der of the52ndOrdnanceGroup, that insurgents willbeable to dis-
iRobot PackBot EOD, were which oversees thearmy’sEOD rupt the robots,especiallyas they
selectedfromfive types deployed operations. become operable over greater
earlylast year as a test. If soldiers can examine a distances. “ECMs willbeacriti-
Officials at the Naval Explo- defused bomb they can gather cal factor for us,” Capt Sopko iRobot’sPackBot EODin useinIraq
sive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) intelligenceand, theyhope, track said.
USNavalSeaSystems Command; 1116314
Technology Division at Indian down the bombmaker, Capt Another issueis that at present
Head,Maryland,are working on Sopko said. Improvements to the the robots stallif they stray out of
a contract for MTRS in July or robots’ reliability are also range of their operators. The plug and play with a variety of
August. expected to beintroduced,along operators thenhave to approach different sensors, saidJoeDyer,
Thecontract willincorporate with chemical, biological and the robot – sometimes leavinga executive vice president ofiRo-
improvements suggestedbyUS radiological sensors. protected position– to get within bot Government and Industrial
forces in theMiddleEast, where Foster-Miller has so far pro- range. Foster-Miller is working Robots.
improvised explosive devices ducedaround 300Talons,about onan upgrade that would make Foster-Miller recently intro-
(IEDs) are the biggest killer of 90 per cent of which have been the robot retreat automatically duced theTalon Hazmat, which
US troops. sent to Iraq and Afghanistan, once it got out of radio range, can remotely test theair using off-
Improvements willinclude 3-D saidBobQuinn, thecompany’s Quinn said. the-shelf chemical, gas,
visionfor the operator rather than generalmanager for Talon opera- BothFoster-Miller andiRobot temperature and radiation sen-
the 2-D that is availablenow as tions. have also recently introduced sors. ■
wellas better dexterity so that the iRobot has deployed about new versions of their robots. The
robots candefuse thebomb rather 200PackBots. US soldiers also PackBot Explorer is intended to RELATEDARTICLES:
thanhaving to set it off. use a lower cost system, devel- be usedas a reconnaissance scout USArmy speeds fieldingofarmed robots
“Blowing up IEDs does not oped by the Defense Threat for urban operations. It can see toIraq(jdw.janes.com 27/01/2005)
help us. We need to catch the ReductionAgency (DTRA). higher off theground thanits pre- US speeds upmine-clearingpurchases
bomb maker,” said US Army About 1,000 have been decessor, theiRobot Scout,and (jdw.janes.com 20/02/04)
Guided munition programme comes under fire again RaytheonEX-171ERGMand theAlliant Techsystems
BallisticMissileTrajectoryRangeMunitionII.A winner
willbe selectedlater in 2005, with the system’s develop-
USNavy plans for anew long-rangeprecisiongun- Thenavy respondedby saying that theprogramme ment anddemonstrationphase to start inMarch 2006.
launchedprojectileare under fireonceagain, this has beenfully fundedand that a validated requirement is Although theprecisenumber of rounds tobebought is
timefrom theDepartment ofDefenseInspector expected tobecompletedandapprovedby theendof still undefined, theIG report saidaninitialbatchofat
General(IG). 2005. least 8,500 is anticipated.
According toaJuneIG report, thenavy’s plans for Theprogramme, theExtendedRangeGuidedMunition Over thelong term,four past studies onnaval surface-
developingandfieldinganextended-rangemunitionare (ERGM), whichis tobefiredfromMk-455in(127 mm) fire support show between50,000 and400,000 rounds
not properly funded,donot includea viableacquisition guns,has faceda series ofdifficulties over the years. couldbeneeded.However, thenavy saidless may be
strategy andarebasedon undefined requirements. Past problems include several reorganisations, techni- neededas they wouldonly bedeployedon 32 DDG-51
Therefore, the report stated, thenavy shouldhalt the cal troubles that delayedproducing the round until 2010, ArleighBurkeclass destroyers.
programme untilanacquisition strategy is formulated and spirallingcosts that havepushed the totalpro- Andrew Koch,JDWBureau Chief,Washington,DC
andfunded.Further,it noted,if theprogramme’s vali- grammeprice upfromUSD523.7 million toUSD1.37
datedprocurement requirements are unaffordable, the billion, the report said.
RELATEDARTICLE:
service should scrap theproject and use thefinances for Navy plans now callfor a‘shoot-off’competition tobe
‘USNavy rethinks fire-support plan’(jdw.janes.com,
other tasks. heldin thecomingmonths between theincumbent
11/12/03)