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Lased and Confused


By Erik, September 5, 2010
Lased and Confused: Off-the-Shelf Infrared Lasers Could Ward Off Missile Attacks on Military Helicopters   Scientific American -- By Charles Choi   A newly developed broad-spectrum laser mounted on choppers could effectively dazzle shoulder-launched antiaircraft weapons in flight, and prevent them from finding and destroying their targets.   Helicopter-mounted lasers that can dazzle and defend against heat-seeking missiles are now under development, researchers reveal.   The military often relies heavily on helicopters in areas such as Afghanistan, where rough terrain can make it hard for airplanes to land and for troops and vehicles to travel on the ground. However, as the Soviet Union discovered in the 1980s during their war there, copters are easy targets for enemies with shoulder-launched missiles, "and now, unfortunately, the U.S. is on the other side with Afghanistan," says Mohammed Islam, a laser and fiber-optics scientist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. "To consider the magnitude of the problem, there are about 3,000 helicopters in the U.S. armed forces."   Islam and his colleagues are now devising a way to protect helicopters from such attacks using off-the-shelf lasers. The missiles normally home in on aircraft by targeting the infrared radiation given off by the latters' engines; the lasers jam the sensors on these heat-seekers from up to three kilometers away by shining infrared beams at them, buying the helicopters enough time to maneuver away.   Most lasers emit just one wavelength, or color. To deflect missiles, the researchers are employing what are known as mid-infrared supercontinuum lasers, or MISCLs, that give off a much broader range of wavelengths—from the visible (800 nanometers) to the mid-infrared (4.5-microns). (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; A micron is one millionth of a meter.) Because these lasers emit such a broad spectrum, they inundate the opposing sensors with all the infrared wavelengths the missile might look for; any attempts by opponents to block these dazzling rays by painting reflective or absorptive coatings on the missile beforehand would also blind its sensors to the same wavelengths from the copter engine.   Less than 10 percent of the light from the laser is a visible dim red; the rest falls within the infrared range. Altogether, the latest version of the device packs about 10 watts of power concentrated into a searing beam. "People who put their hands in its beam quickly move the hand away," Islam says.   The new laser uses technology from the telecommunications industry, which relies on multiple wavelength lasers to create many highway lanes for data signals to travel within fiber optics. "It's a clever way of using lasers that you can essentially buy off the shelf," said laser scientist Anthony Johnson at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who did not take part in this research.   Laser-based defenses have already found their way onto some aircraft, but the laser optics in these systems can currently have up to 84 moving pieces—precision components that can easily get knocked out of alignment by the rumbling on a copter. "Our lasers have no moving parts, which means they can withstand a helicopter's shake, rattle and roll," Islam explains. The hope is to replace the lasers in existing aircraft antimissile defense systems that detect and train beams on their targets. The system is being commercialized through Islam's company, Omni Sciences.   In terms of weight current laser-based aircraft antimissile defense systems weigh on the order of 16 kilograms, whereas this new laser is more in the 4.5-kilogram range. When it comes to cost, "for our next prototypes, we'll probably have the parts cost $25,000 to $30,000, and with the packaging and testing we could probably sell it profitably for $100,000," Islam says. In comparison, laser-based aircraft defense systems today cost roughly $1 million, he explains.   The researchers developed a first-generation, DVD player–size prototype for the U.S. Army in 2008, and are working on a second-generation, laptop-size device for 2011 that is four times more powerful. Although Islam says that helicopters probably face the greatest need for such laser-based protection against missiles, "it's potentially applicable to all aircraft," he suggests.   Islam says the laser could also aid in border surveillance—the chemicals involved in explosives often emit specific light wavelengths when hit by infrared rays, which means these lasers might be able to detect guns and bombs from afar. "You could put them maybe a kilometer or two apart at borders to monitor someone passing, instead of having a border patrol agent every 60 feet," he says.       Scientific American
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Saab Courts Asia, Eastern Europe to Save Gripen Warplane


By Erik, September 5, 2010
  Saab Courts Asia, Eastern Europe to Save Gripen Warplane   Bloomberg -- By Howard Mustoe and Ola Kinnander   Saab AB is stepping up a campaign to sell its Gripen warplane in Asia and eastern Europe as Switzerland’s decision to delay a $1 billion fighter purchase threatens to curtail production of the 1,320 mile-per-hour jet.   Orders from Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia and a follow-on contract from Thailand are “major near-term opportunities” for the Gripen, which competes with models from Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., Dassault Aviation SA and Eurofighter GmbH, Saab Aeronautics chief Lennart Sindahl said in an interview.   Switzerland will wait until 2015 before awarding a contract to replace ageing Northrop F-5 Tigers, its defense ministry said on Aug. 25, halting a tender regarded as key to the Gripen’s future by analysts including Teal Group’s Richard Aboulafia. Saab is still betting on orders from Brazil and India to save the flagship fighter as the production backlog shrinks, with Malaysia another prospect, Hakan Buskhe, the company’s new chief executive officer, said in his first interview in the role.   “We were a little bit sad that the Swiss postponed, but there was a tricky situation with the financing and I wasn’t totally surprised,” Sindahl said by telephone yesterday. “The good thing is that we haven’t lost the contract.”   Saab rose 1.6 percent to 95 kronor in Stockholm, where the company is based, paring the stock’s decline this year to 19 percent and valuing it at 10.4 billion kronor ($1.4 billion).   Dwindling Workload   The Swedish manufacturer, which is competing with Dassault and Eurofighter in Switzerland, requires new orders as work on 26 Gripens for South Africa and an initial six planes for Thailand runs out in 2012, with an upgraded version not due to enter service with Sweden’s air force until at least 2017.   Saab also needs export orders to establish the Gripen as the model of choice in former Soviet and non-aligned markets not dominated by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which is grabbing contracts with its F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.   Saab’s ability to offer the Gripen with in-house radar technology is being pitched as an advantage over rival planes and helped it win the existing Thai order, Sindahl said.   Still, the Gripen’s prospects have been harmed as delays to contract decisions bring newer models into the reckoning which were unavailable at the time of tender, said Sandy Morris, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London with a “buy” recommendation on Saab stock.   New Generation   Regarded as the first of a new generation of fighter planes, the Gripen has been operational with the Swedish military since 1997, whereas the first Eurofighter Typhoon entered service in Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain in 2004.   “The Gripen was a capable fighter-bomber long before the Eurofighter was anything more than a pure fighter and you’d have thought there was a window of five-to-seven-years to sell to export markets,” Morris said. “But unfortunately these competitions just kept shifting.”   Saab views Brazil’s requirement for 36 jets as a live competition even after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva indicated last year that he favored the Dassault Rafale, Sindahl said, with no contract for the order yet signed.   In order to boost its chances of winning the $1.8 billion deal Saab has offered to establish joint manufacturing of the Gripen in Brazil, which currently operates Dassault’s Mirage.   ‘Good Offer’   “Every day that nothing new comes from Brazil I think we have gained a little bit,” Sindahl said. “The longer it takes, the more discussions there are and the more they start realizing how good the offer is both with respect to the product and also to the package for Brazilian industry.”   South America’s biggest economy is unlikely to choose between the Gripen, Rafale and Boeing Co. F/A-18 Super Hornet before a presidential election in October, the executive said.   India may announce the preferred supplier for a 126-plane requirement by the end of this year after scrapping an April 27 deadline to select a replacement for Russian-built MiG jets dating to the 1970s, Sindahl said.   The $10 billion order is the world’s biggest fighter-jet purchase in 15 years and has attracted bids from Lockheed, Boeing, Dassault, Eurofighter and Russia’s United Aircraft Corp.   Saab hasn’t given up on winning Dutch and Danish orders for the Gripen, CEO Buskhe said at the company’s Stockholm offices yesterday. The Netherlands has selected Lockheed’s F-35 as its preferred candidate and like Denmark is one of eight partner countries with the U.S. in developing the plane.   Saab is also pursuing a contract to provide day-to-day maintenance for Swedish air force Gripens that could be sealed this year or early in 2011, Sindahl said. An agreement would mirror one to maintain Sweden’s Saab 105 jet trainers.               Bloomberg -- To contact the reporters on this story: Howard Mustoe in London at hmustoe@bloomberg.net; Ola Kinnander in Stockholm at okinnander@bloomberg.net
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C-5 Becomes A ‘Superstar’


By Erik, September 5, 2010
  C-5 Becomes A ‘Superstar’ Lockheed Martin   MARIETTA, Ga., September 2nd, 2010 -- Another Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] C-5 is being transformed into the world’s most capable strategic airlifter, the C-5M Super Galaxy. With more than 70 improvements, the Super Galaxy is rapidly becoming the linchpin of success in achieving global reach. The next C-5M Super Galaxy will be delivered on Sept. 30, 2010 and will be stationed at Dover Air Force Base, Del. The C-5M Super Galaxy recently achieved a 96 percent departure reliability rate while delivering critical cargo to troops in Afghanistan and was called upon to carry the 7.5-ton Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to be launched on the last space shuttle flight next year.       Lockheed Martin
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Video Game Pulled Globally From Military Stores Over Taliban Inclusion


By FastCargo, September 3, 2010
  From Kotaku.com   As all stores located on Army and Air Force bases will no longer be allowed to sell Electronic Arts' upcoming military shooter Medal of Honor because an aspect of the game includes playable Taliban characters.   The Army and Air Force Exchange Services has confirmed to Kotaku that they requested the game pulled from the 49 GameStop's located on bases in the continent U.S. The ban, an AAFES representative told Kotaku, also extends to all military PXs worldwide.   In an email to employees, GameStop says the decision was made "out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform."   "GameStop has agreed out of respect for our past and present men and women in uniform we will not carry Medal of Honor in any of our AAFES based stores...," the email, obtained by Kotaku, reads. "As such, GameStop agreed to have all marketing material pulled by noon today and to stop taking reservations. Customers who enter our AAFES stores and wish to reserve Medal of Honor can and should be directed to the nearest GameStop location off base.   "GameStop fully supports AAFES in this endeavor and is sensitive to the fact that in multiplayer mode one side will assume the role of Taliban fighter."   The stores on bases contacted by Kotaku all confirmed that they no longer will be selling the game and referred us to GameStops in town to pick up the title when it comes out.   Electronic Arts declined to comment further for this story.   They have, though, made their opinion on the matter clear.   The commanding general of the Army and Air Force Exchange Services confirmed told Kotaku that his decision was based on the inclusion of Taliban in the game and impacts all PXs located on Army and Air Force bases worldwide and all GameStops located on U.S. bases.
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Russia to sell Mi-17 helicopters to Argentina


By Erik, September 2, 2010
Russia to sell Mi-17 helicopters to Argentina   RIA Novosti. Alexei Kudenko   Russia has signed a "historic" contract on Mi-17 helicopter deliveries to Argentina, a member of a Russian delegation said on Wednesday.   "The contract provides for the delivery of two Mi-17 helicopters to the Argentinean Air Force," the official said, adding that the contract was signed on Tuesday evening.   The sale is the first time the Argentinean military has bought Russian military hardware, he said.   "Until now there has been no military-technical cooperation between Russia and Argentina," he said.   Vyacheslav Davidenko, spokesman for Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, confirmed the contract.   MOSCOW, September 1     RIA Novosti
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First Flight for New HELLFIRE II Missile Design


By Erik, September 2, 2010
  First Flight for New HELLFIRE II Missile Design   Lockheed Martin   ORLANDO, Fla: Lockheed Martin's new multi-functional AGM-114R Hellfire II missile scored a direct hit during its first proof-of-principle (POP) flight test recently at Eglin Air Force Base, FL.   The Hellfire II design, now entering the qualification phase, features a new multi-purpose warhead that enables a single missile to cover all of the target sets of the current laser-guided Hellfire II variants.   The POP 1 flight test featured a lock-on-before-launch engagement of a stationary target board at 3.2 miles (5.1 km). The team used a ground-based laser designator to illuminate the target. The inert missile, which was ground-launched, was equipped with an enhanced telemetry package. In addition to proving out the new components and software, the flight also verified backward compatibility with Hellfire II platforms that cannot provide targeting information to the missile.   "The multi-functional Hellfire II missile is one missile for many missions," said Ken Musculus, director of Air-to-Ground Missile systems Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Its multi-functional warhead enables the AGM-114R to neutralize a broad set of targets previously covered by four different warhead models - everything from armor and air defense systems to patrol boats and enemy combatants in SUVs or caves. Warfighters won't have to decide ahead of time what they might encounter and load the appropriate combination of missiles; with the multi-functional Hellfire II, they can meet many contingencies with a single missile."   Prior to the first POP flight test, Lockheed Martin completed a battery of warhead tests, including 10 precursor warhead tests, four main warhead tests and five tests of tandem warheads within the Hellfire guidance section. The next two POP flight tests, scheduled for early next year, will feature live warheads.   "This new Hellfire II can be fired from both rotary-wing and unmanned platforms," Musculus said. "A new inertial measurement unit enables properly equipped platforms to launch missiles at targets behind them without first having to turn the aircraft around. Getting the missile on target that much quicker gives the enemy less time to react or escape."   Musculus said many of the new improvements are software-driven. "We've replaced a host of circuit boards, transistors and other hardware components with software," he added. "Turning hardware into software contributes to the modular design of the missile and offers an efficient path to future upgrades."   With more than 25,000 rounds produced for the U.S. and 14 international customers, Hellfire II has been successfully integrated with attack helicopters in the U.S. and many Allied fleets. It is also capable of surface launch from ground vehicles, tripods and small vessels. More than 10,000 Hellfire missiles have been successfully fired in combat.         Lockheed Martin
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