Army Working on New Lightning Zapper Weapon

By Paul McLeary in Army, DoD, New Tech

What’s that you say? You want more lightning bolts in your laser beams? Has the Army got a program for you.

The big brains at the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal are working on a technology that can blast lightning bolts down laser beams in order to fry a target. The Laser-Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC), is envisioned as a way to destroy targets that conduct electricity better than the air or ground that surrounds them, according to an Army story.

But I’ll let George Fischer, lead scientist on the project, explain further:

“If a laser puts out a pulse with modest energy, but the time is incredibly tiny, the power can be huge,” Fischer [said]. “During the duration of the laser pulse, it can be putting out more power than a large city needs, but the pulse only lasts for two-trillionths of a second.”



How much energy are we talking about here? The optical amplifier the team is using churns out 50 billion watts of optical power—a light bulb uses 100 watts.

A target, an enemy vehicle or even some types of unexploded ordnance, would be a better conductor than the ground it sits on. Since the voltage drop across the target would be the same as the voltage drop across the same distance of ground, current flows through the target. In the case of unexploded ordnance, it would detonate, explained Fischer.

The service isn’t really anywhere close to actually fielding the technology, as plenty of technical challenges still need to be overcome, including “synchronizing the laser with the high voltage, ruggedizing the device to survive under the extreme environmental conditions of an operational environment, and powering the system for extended periods of time.”

Still, lightning bolt laser beams, people.

All Roads Lead to Lima

By Paul McLeary in Budget, DoD, Policy

The fight over the defense industrial base—and in particular, the fight over the defense industrial base in Lima, OH., where General Dynamics makes the Abrams M1 Main Battle Tank—has been joined yet again.

On Friday, Ohio Senator Rob Portman and Congressman Mike Turner announced that the Marine Corps is planning to maintain its Hull Machining Line at the Joint Services Manufacturing Center (JSMC) in Lima, rather than move it.

The Marines has originally planned to move the facility after the cancellation of the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle program, but the two Congressmen “worked with the Marine Corps to ensure proper consideration was given before a final decision was made,” a statement on Turner’s Web site says.

More from the statement:

“When it comes to manufacturing combat vehicles, the skills and expertise at Lima are unparalleled anywhere in the world.  I’m pleased to see the Marines have agreed to work with us, to make sure we maintain the proper resources at the plant and avoid negatively impacting this critical capability,” said Senator Portman.

The Marines will undertake a Business Case Analysis (BCA) that will allow them to compile a cost/benefit analysis of all potential disposition alternatives. The BCA will focus on maintaining the Defense Industrial Base, of which the Lima facility is a key part.

“This decision is important for the continued success and strength of the Lima Tank Plant. Having visited the facility a number of times, I know the workforce is dedicated to producing vehicles for the defense of our nation and our allies around the world. I am glad the Marine Corps is conducting this analysis, and understands the significant importance of our defense industrial base, not only to Ohio, but the United States,” stated Congressman Turner.

U.K. Looking for More Power, Less Weight

By Paul McLeary in Acquisition, International

Cleaning out my notebook from the Eurosatory show in Paris last week, I came across this item that probably should have made the cut for our Show Scout blog. I stopped by the BAE Systems display to chat with Chris Roper, the company’s business development manager for electronic systems in the U.K., and he explained the company’s submission to the U.K. Ministry of Defence’s Manworn Power and Data program.

Essentially, the MoD wants to find new ways to keep all of the electronics that soldiers now wear as part of their kit powered up without adding to the already significant battery weight that dismounted soldiers already carry around. Some of the directions from the MoD were that “they didn’t want to use cables, and didn’t want to use wireless technology” to move energy to the various electronic devices a soldier wears on his kit, Roper said.

The company’s solution is to use the fabric that lines the soldier’s protective vest to push electrical energy and data from the battery to the devices, and back.

The fabric technology was first developed to allow hikers and snowboarders to listen to their MP3 player wirelessly, Roper said, adding that BAE is working with a company called Intelligent Textiles Ltd. to develop it for military applications. The cloth has a high degree of redundancy, so if it is ripped or a hole is cut in it, the wearer won’t lose power because the juice will still find it way through.

BAE has added commercially available smart snap-on detectors to the fabric so electronic devices can be connected to receive power from two batteries, one that is designed to fit behind the soldier’s ballistic plate, and another that can be worn elsewhere.

The program is still very early in development, but the MoD has already asked industry to prove that they can move a still photograph from a camera to a display using only a small a soldier-borne computer with a docking hub in order to manage power and data. Tests have gone well so far Roper said, but he warned that the program still has a long way to go, and that the company is experimenting with a variety of new technologies in order to meet the MoD’s needs.

 

 

Lockheed Fighter Bid Weighed 7,000 Pounds

By Marcus Weisgerber in Acquisition, Air Force, Intercepts, International

An F-35A on its way to Edwards Air Force Base in California. (DoD Photo)

Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter proposal for the much-watched South Korean fighter competition  weighed 7,000 pounds, according to an industry source.

But it looks like Lockheed, and its competitors, will be adding at least a few more ounces, if not pounds, to those proposals.

It appears Seoul is delaying its contest because the bids submitted contain documentation errors, AFP reports.

South Korea plans to buy 60 new fighter jets. The F-35 is vying for the deal against the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle and Eurofighter Typhoon.

My colleague Zach Biggs tells me that based on the weight of Lockheed’s bid, it probably included between 600,000 and 700,000 pages depending on the type paper and boxes used.

Wonder if they’ll need to re-submit all of the paperwork by the new July 5 deadline? If so, that has to be one heck of a shipping bill.

SOCOM On The Hunt For Vehicles That Fit In An Osprey

By Paul McLeary in Acquisition, DoD, Intercepts

Fresh on the heels of its solicitation for a new MH-47 Chinook-transportable Ground Mobility Vehicle to replace the Humvee variant it is currently using, the U.S. Special Forces Command (SOCOM) is also searching for a vehicle that it can drive out of the back of a SOCOM-configured CV-22 Osprey and begin firing its weapons in under a minute.

In a June 18 “sources sought” announcement for the creatively-named “V-22 ITV” (Internally Transportable Vehicle), SOCOM insists that it is only trolling for some information from industry, but then lays down some relatively specific criteria for any submissions industry is able to put together.

The solicitation said that any submission to the program must include two “Critical Flight Mission Payloads,” one at 1,000 lbs., and another at 2,000 lbs., with a field installable weapon station mount capable of fitting the M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun; the M240; the M249 SAW; MK-19; and the MK-47 Grenade Launcher. The 1,000 lb. variant must also be capable of fitting the MK46 5.56 Lightweight Machine Gun, and MK-48 7.62 Lightweight Machine Gun.

SOCOM wants the ITV to fit one driver, two passengers, and a field removable gunners seat, while also be capable of carrying either three or six casualty litters “such that the casualties will not extend horizontally outside the vehicle and rescue personnel will have access to all patients” and have a crush resistant roll cage.

The platform is also expected to be able to move, and do so pretty fast and for distances: SOCOM is calling for a design that will be capable of traveling 350 miles to 450 miles “at 45 mph on level paved roads using organic fuel tank(s), without refuel, and exclusive of onboard fuel storage cans,” and it will also have a top speed of 65 to 75 mph.

At the moment, SOCOM has taken delivery of 24 of a planned 50 Ospreys, with the remainder making their way to the Air Force’s Special Operations Command by the end of 2015.

Of course, being a special operator means that you have to stay silent as much a possible, but also stay in communication with other teams and/or commanders. With that in mind, SOCOM wants a vehicle that can kick out continuous electrical power—with the engine off—to operate a manpack radio for four to twelve hours (the 2,000 lb. and 1,000 lb variant respectively), “with a Power Management System to prevent discharging the starter system beyond the capability of restarting the engine under operational conditions after the Silent Watch period” ends.

So….that’s all. Let’s see what industry’s got. They have until July 6 to submit responses.

GAO: F-35 Program Needs Prepare for Budget Cuts

By Marcus Weisgerber in Intercepts

A new Government Accountability Office report on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter recommends the program prepare for reduced funding levels due to a projected decline in defense spending.

Aircraft deferrals, risky funding assumptions, and future budget constraints make it prudent to evaluate potential impacts from reduced levels of funding. Therefore, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense direct the Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation perform an independent analysis of the impact lower annual funding levels would have on the program’s cost and schedule. This sensitivity analysis should determine the impact of funding on aircraft deliveries, unit costs, and total tactical air force structure resulting from at least three different assumed annual funding profiles, all lower than the current funding projection.

GAO continues to warn of development challenges that are ahead for the Lockheed Martin-built plane, which has completed 21 percent of its developmental flight tests. Developing and integrating more than 24 million lines of software code still continues to be a concern, the report states.

The full report is here.

Aerial Refueling the E-4B

By Marcus Weisgerber in Afghanistan, DoD, Intercepts, International, Video

Refueling any plane in flight is a tricky dance as you can see from the video above.

During U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s trip across the Pacific last week, we needed to refuel a total of five times, once on the way to Hawaii, another on the way to Singapore and three time between Afghanistan and the United States.

The video above is from the last refueling on the 15-and-a-half-hour flight from Kabul to Andrews.

Three KC-135s from from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, based at RAF Mildenhall in England, filled up our gas tank just off the coast of the United Kingdom.

I’ve seen aerial refuelings in the past, but never from this perspective. Usually I’m laying on my stomach in the back of the tanker with the boom operator.

The E-4B, a heavily modified Boeing 747-200 jetliner which serves as Panetta’s ride, has its refueling receptacle on its nose, meaning you get the full view of the tanker boom floating its way into the plane.

The receptacle  on most aircraft, large and small, is above or to the side of the cockpit.

From the passenger cabin, the refueling maneuver is far less sexy, especially since the E-4B has no windows. On top of that, the wake of the tanker could make the experience quite unpleasant (some advice, don’t eat before the refueling).

Surprisingly it’s much smoother when getting gas from the larger KC-10 Extender compared with the smaller KC-135 Stratotanker.

Toward the end of the clip, you can see what happens if the the connection between the boom and the receptacle springs a leak.

 

Of F-35s, Pandas and Elephants

By David Brown in Acquisition, Budget, Intercepts, Navy, Video

YouTube Preview Image

After taking on Tiger Woods and everybody’s favorite Jet Blue flight attendant, Next Media Animation has turned its attention to the U.S. Navy’s spending habits. The Taiwan-based news service, which pumps out videos relying on CGI, accuses the Navy of spending “money like a drunken sailor” on Zumwalt-class destroyers and F-35 joint strike fighters at the expense of cheaper “Streetfighters” and “low-tech destroyers.” You could spend all day picking apart that logic, or you could press play and gaze upon the giant panda that wants to kill us all.

New F-22A Oxygen System in the Works

By Marcus Weisgerber in Acquisition, Air Force, Contract Announcement, DoD, Intercepts Tags: , , , ,

A U.S. Air Force F-22A Raptor(right) prepares to land at Hickam Field in Hawaii on May 31, 2012. (Marcus Weisgerber/Staff)

A new oxygen system is in the works for the Air Force’s F-22A Raptor.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $19 million contract for what is being called the “automatic backup oxygen supply.”

Here is the June 5 contract announcement:

Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $19,154,000 (face value) cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for automatic backup oxygen supply in the F-22 Life Support System.  Effort includes 40 retrofit kits, plus non–recurring engineering, and 10 spares.  The location of the performance is Marietta, Ga.  Work is to be completed April 30, 2013.  ASC/WWUK, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8611-08-C-2897 P00145).

F-22A pilots have suffered dizziness, nausea, confusion and other hypoxia-like symptoms while flying the high-tech fighter. Maintainers who work on the aircraft have also experienced some these types of symptoms.

The Air Force has grounded the jet numerous times over the past year, however, no one has been able to find the cause of the problem. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta slapped restrictions on F-22A flights last month.

The Air Force is “working on this very, very hard,” Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said at a June 5 briefing at the Pentagon. “We expect that they will be briefing the[defense] secretary, giving him an update, in the very near future.”

 

Panetta in the Pacific: Hanoi

By Marcus Weisgerber in Intercepts

Members of Vietnam's army, navy and air force stand at attention during a welcome ceremony for U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on June 4, 2012. (Marcus Weisgerber/Staff)

HANOI, Vietnam – As you approach K2000, Vietnam’s equivalent to the Pentagon, it’s impossible to miss the row of warplanes on the side of the road.

Fighter jets and even a helicopters line the street, similar to how retired jets are displayed at U.S. military bases or aviation museums.

But these are not Vietnamese aircraft. In fact, some are U.S. military planes that were downed during the Vietnam War (see photo below).

A U.S. Air Force plane from the Vietnam War at a military Museum in Hanoi. (Marcus Weisgerber/Staff)

The museum set the stage for an interesting morning at the Vietnamese military headquarters where it was clearly visible just how far one-time foes have come almost 40 years since the end of that conflict.

Vietnamese defense officials put on quite the show during a welcome ceremony for U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that included a military band, marching, a troop review and a whole lot of red carpet.

Afterward during a joint press conference, Panetta and Vietnamese Defense Minister Gen. Phung Quang Thanh exchanged artifacts recovered by each country during the Vietnam War (toward the end of the video below).

Panetta served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, however, he never saw combat in the country. Quang Thanh fought for the North Vietnam army in the war.

If you watch Quang Thanh face during the exchange, he genuinely appears moved upon receiving a diary recovered of a dead North Vietnam army soldier by an American soldier 1966.

1 2

↑ Back to top

Site Map  |  Back to Top 

Gannett

All content © 2013, Gannett Government Media Corporation