Posted 9:19 PM by Muhammad
US Navy sees the 'light'
ANDREW KOCH JDW Bureau Chief
Washington, DC

High-powered lasers that knock cruise missiles and aircraft out of the sky, precision-guided projectiles that emerge from the exoatmosphere at a speed of M5.0, striking their targets with such force that explosive warheads are not required. These are some of the advanced technologies senior US Navy (USN) officials believe will equip future warships. These capabilities, listed in the navy's new 'Sea Power 21' roadmap, are within technical reach this decade, Rear Adm Michael Mathis, commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, told Jane's Defence Weekly.

Perhaps the most revolutionary system is the electromagnetic (EM) railgun, which could deliver a strike similar to that of a meteorite, according to one navy official under Adm Mathis.

Unlike conventional guns - which use propellant to create expanding gases that force a projectile down a barrel - EM guns use electrical current to create an electromagnetic force (a Lorenz force) to propel the projectile between two conducting rails, the official explained. The projectiles on current USN designs are launched at M7.0-8.0 into the exoatmosphere, allowing them to "go in excess of 200nm" in about six minutes.

The projectile, which would contain a small global positioning system guidance, navigation and control package, would strike its target at M5.0. Therefore, the official said: "You get to the point where you don't need explosive [warheads] because the chunk of metal from the projectile at that speed carries more kinetic energy than a high-explosive round."

To date, the power demands of such a weapon, among other problems, have hampered its development. One particular difficulty has been how to store the 15-30MW of energy that EM guns require, as well as being able to discharge that energy quickly.

However, navy officials believe, development of the required technologies, particularly an integrated power system in the future DD(X) destroyer, will permit such concepts.

The navy hopes to conduct a proof-of-concept demonstration of the EM gun over the next four or five years, Adm Mathis said. The service could have an operational system ready in 15 years, funding permitting, he added. That would meet the schedule for future upgraded versions of the DD(X) such as Flight 2.

EM guns also offer logistical improvements because of less maintenance. Moreover, they fire smaller projectiles that do not require their own propellant or rocket motors, allowing each magazine to store five to 10 times more EM projectiles than conventional rounds.

Yet the ability to propel lethal pieces of steel deep inland is not the only future directed-energy capability the navy is seeking. It is also developing high-energy lasers for ship self-defence against cruise missiles, unmanned air vehicles (UAVs), manned aircraft and even small seacraft, Adm Mathis said (JDW 1 May).

Laser generations

The navy estimates it will eventually need a megawatt laser and plans to work in stages toward that capability. "I could see the first generation of lasers on ships as an infra-red countermeasure to blind [cruise] missiles," Adm Mathis said, with more capable lasers and missions added later. Funding permitting, the navy hopes to demonstrate a full-power Free Electron Laser (FEL) at sea in eight to 10 years. To date, the Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, has scaled an FEL up to 2KW and the navy wants to increase that to 10KW soon before moving to 100KW in two to three years.

That laser would then be moved to Barking Sands Pacific Missile Test Range, Hawaii, for experimentation - such as investigating ways to conduct command and control when operating with lasers. "You can engage a cruise missile with a laser, but that beam will spread and there will be other ships potentially down range. How do you build safeguards for doing that?" Adm Mathis asked.

All of that is funding dependent, however, and Adm Mathis listed funding - some $500 million over eight years - as the biggest challenge facing FEL development. However, he added, because a self-defence laser is substantially cheaper per shot compared to a $300,000-$400,000 self-defence missile, "the cost argument will become stronger as we go forward".

The navy prefers to develop a FEL because it is more efficient in power transference and it can operate in maritime environments, explained Cdr Roger McGinnis, the service's programme manager for directed energy. Chemical lasers - such as those the army is developing for the Tactical High-Energy Laser programme - use highly toxic chemicals and effluents dangerous for naval personnel.

Moreover, Cdr McGinnis said, chemical lasers operate at wavelengths that do not propagate well through a wet maritime atmosphere. Solid-state lasers, Adm Mathis said, are less efficient than FELs, so "you have a lot of waste heat that ends up residing in the lasing medium that you cannot get ride of". That excess heat causes a problem for ships when the laser is operated at high power.

In addition to developing the laser generator itself, the navy has begun a series of tests at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on the ability of the laser tracker's algorithms to stay focused on 'high-g cruise missiles'. The experiments will use the Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser tracking surrogate cruise targets, which it will attempt to shoot down.

http://web.referent.ru/nvi/forum/files/Vadim/garin.jpg
Storing the 15-30MW of energy that the electromagnetic rail gun would need is one of the problems facing US Navy developers if the weapon were to be used aboard the DD(X)

Posted 9:12 PM by Muhammad
Aviation Week & Space Technology
North Korea Nuke Crisis Complicates Iraq Buildup
DAVID A. FULGHUM and ROBERT WALL/WASHINGTON

Russian, Turkish forces may support attack. U.S. eyes extra carriers for Taiwan Strait, Korean peninsula.Some Pentagon war planners are now looking at the first half of February as the most likely time for an attack on Iraq, immediately after U.S. representatives present "direct evidence" to the U.N. Security Council that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

F-15Es of the 4th Fighter Wing, flying over their home base at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., have orders to deploy to the Middle East as part of the buildup for a possible Iraq conflict.

More conservative analysts, convinced of many more bureaucratic and diplomatic delays in the offing, contend a 60-90-day window (late February or early March) is more realistic. They also say [b:4b29f27432]Russian [/b:4b29f27432]and Turkish troops will play a key role in ensuring that Iran doesn't violate Iraq's borders if Saddam Hussein's Baath government collapses. "They will be mustered as a warning for Iran to stay put," a Navy official said.

However, two additional U.S. carrier battle groups and two amphibious readiness groups are not bound for waters around Iraq, but rather for the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan Straits, the Navy official said. "The idea is to keep the Chinese from thinking irrational thoughts," he said.

The crisis over North Korea's plans to reactivate the Yongbyon nuclear facility is complicating U.S. military planning. The Pentagon is not calling up forces for Iraq that might be required in the event of a military confrontation on the Korean peninsula, such as F-15E long-range strike aircraft based in Alaska, noted an Air Force official. Additionally, plans are being drafted to shore up U.S. defenses in Asia in case the Japan-based USS Kitty Hawk is called to support military activity in Iraq. The Kitty Hawk served as a base for special operations helicopters during the Afghanistan campaign. The planning activities are being kept quiet to avoid inflaming the delicate negotiations with North Korea.

However, some military officials worry about coincident action in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula, long viewed as a nightmare scenario among planners. A particular worry is a dearth of airlift to support forces in Asia if there is a large buildup in the Middle East. "Airlift is always a concern," said the Air Force official.

The triggering event for military action against Iraq is expected to be "proof positive" of the country's possession of prohibited weapons, which will include aerial images of weapons and the dates where they were observed and declarations from some of the Iraqi scientists involved, said a second senior U.S. Air Force official. He did not know if it would include evidence of the delivery systems--long-range missiles or manned and unmanned aircraft.

More air reservists, particularly fighter and tanker units, will be deployed by the end of January when the U.S. reveals its evidence, the official said, and preliminary probing of Iraq's military and national computer systems is already underway.

The U.S. will move quickly to secure Basra and the oil fields east of there from encroachment by Iran. [b:4b29f27432]Russian[/b:4b29f27432] units will mass on Iran's northern border as a warning against a territorial grab. Turkish armored forces already operating along northern Iraq's border will advance with U.S. troops well into Iraq, but also to the southeast to secure the border with Iran.

"The U.S. will then turn out the lights in Baghdad and render it useless as a command and control center for the Hussein family," the Navy official said. "The idea isn't to lay siege, but to isolate it through jamming and cutting off the electricity. There will be selected strikes, for example, on communications. There won't be any cell phone service. The operation will make the lives of those in Baghdad difficult, but not impossible. Food, water and fuel will be supplied, but the [blockade] will prevent Hussein from exercising control."

Deployment orders have gone out to the 1st Wing flying F-15C interceptors, the 4th Wing with F-15E long-range strike aircraft, the 49th Wing's stealthy F-117s and the 28th Wing's B-1s. The latter will be stationed at Thumrait AB, Oman; however, in combat, small numbers of the bombers would be forward based in Kuwait to maintain a 24-hr. on-call orbit over western Iraq to strike pop-up targets such as mobile surface-to-air or ballistic missile launchers.

The strike aircraft also will be distributed to bases in Turkey, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The government of Saudi Arabia has announced it will permit defensive operations from its bases. That means use of the combined air operations center at Prince Sultan AB south of Riyadh and that coalition tanker, transport, intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft can fly missions from that nation. As a backup option, E-8 Joint-STARS, RC-135 Rivet Joint and E-3 AWACS aircraft could fly from bases in Qatar and the UAE. Also receiving deployment orders were combat search and rescue HH-60 helicopters and HC-130s and additional Predator unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

Those active in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) community say the Air Force has reported that the Predator lost in December was shot down by a missile fired from an Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft. A senior industry official attributed the shoot-down to a more sophisticated intercept system than analysts believed possible. "The challenge of shooting down a 90-kt. UAV with an aircraft that flies 3-4 times as fast is monumental," he said. "With that little Rotax engine, there's not a lot of heat for an infrared missile to lock on to, and it's made of composites with only a few metal boxes inside to produce a radar signature."

AIR FORCE OFFICIALS said it was a well-planned event. The Iraqis put a mobile radar command and control post in place, tracked the Predator and handed off to the attacking pilot. The aircraft quickly took its shot and fled the no-fly zone. The attack was timed to occur between coalition air patrols. The next day the U.S. responded by attacking the mobile site they believed was used to attack the Predator.

"But that's the way the Predator was designed," the industry official said. "If the bad guys shoot down one, you only lose commercial technology and no state secrets. Then you send in a second and a third." Cost of each aircraft is about $1.5 million, even with upgrades to quiet the craft electronically so it can carry a signals intelligence payload. A satcom data link, synthetic aperture radar, electro-optical/infrared cameras, laser range-finder and line-of-sight communications probably increase total cost to around $5-6 million each.

The incident wasn't the first time the Iraqi military has attempted an air-to-air engagement of a Predator. In a previous instance, a MiG-21 engaged a Predator but failed to hit it. In response, Air Force officials decided to move forward quickly with the integration of 35-lb. air-to-air Stinger heat-seeking missiles on the Predators.

The Air Force is preparing to provide its special operations helicopters with added basing flexibility. Crews flying MH-53 Pave Low II helicopters have been training to land their large rotorcraft on the USS Mount Whitney, the amphibious forces command ship operating near the Horn of Africa. The MH-53s are operating from an airfield in Djibouti.

Well before any combat, the services will cooperate in setting up an around-the-clock intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) network to detect movement in Iraq, particularly in the west where Scud boxes (surveyed as sites to launch ballistic missiles against Israel) are located.

In conjunction with establishing the ISR network, information operations against Iraq's computer networks are already underway and will escalate.

"The computer network attack plans are very sophisticated," the Air Force official said. "The effort will resemble what Compass Call [EC-130 electronic attack aircraft] and the National Security Agency do. They listen for a while and then apply a little jamming. Then they listen some more and apply a little more pressure. It's the same way with computer network attack. They hack in, put in a false command and then observe the effects. They're making sure they can shut down all the military and some of the national networks when they need to." Iraq's air defense network, in particular, is reliant on computers. The U.S. has been practicing breaking into such networks over the last two years during U.S.-based exercises.

During the 1991 Persian Gulf war, carbon-fiber wires (most of them dispensed from air-launched BLU-114/B submunitions) were draped like spiderwebs over some of Baghdad's key outdoor electrical grids to cut off electricity to key mainframe computers. They also were employed to turn out the lights in Belgrade during the Kosovo air campaign, and they will likely be used again in Iraq to avoid creating permanent damage with high explosives. "They will be used selectively to protect the civil infrastructure," the official said. The carbon fiber devices have so far been delivered by ship-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and in dive-bombing attacks by F-117 aircraft.

U.S. intelligence officials also are detecting signs that Iraqi officials in charge of Saddam Hussein's personal security are looking for a way to sneak him out of the country in case the regime collapses. They hope to match Osama Bin Laden's success in avoiding U.S. forces, according to one analyst. Such an escape is complicated by Iraq's geography, since none of the neighboring countries is a possible safe haven.

THE PENTAGON ALSO is quietly continuing efforts to provide U.S. troops with more protection gear against chemical and biological weapons. It recently ordered 16,000 additional chemical/biological mask kits, only the latest in a string of such orders in recent months.

Headquarters of U.S. Army V Corps and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force are already established in the theater. The rough areas of responsibility are the Marine Corps in eastern Iraq and the Army in southern and western Iraq. Planners say there would be no Marine amphibious assault through the marshy coastal region of Iraq. Any offensive operation would likely come ashore in Kuwait and assault overland into the Basra area of Iraq.

Posted 9:08 PM by Muhammad
India is launch customer for Israeli rifle
Rahul Bedi JDW Correspondent
New Delhi

India has concluded an estimated $20 million agreement with Israel Military Industries (IMI) for the acquisition of an unspecified quantity of Tavor 21 5.56mm standard assault rifles and Galil 7.62mm sniper rifles. The contract includes the provision of 5.56mm ammunition, night-vision sights, laser rangefinders and other targeting equipment.

Official sources in New Delhi said the deal was finalised by an Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) committee which visited Tel Aviv in October with the aim of upgrading the capabilities of India's special forces. The Israeli MoD declined to confirm the agreement.

Indian military sources said India is considering the acquisition of "several thousand" more Tavors to equip infantry units currently armed with the 7.62mm AKM assault rifle, some 100,000 of which were bought from Romtehnica of Romania in 1995. Some units also use the locally designed Indian Small Arms System (INSAS) 5.56mm assault rifle, but this is no longer being issued to frontline units due to unspecified "problems".

Jane's Defence Weekly understands that an agreement between IMI and the Israeli MoD for the supply of the Tavor family to the Israel Defence Force (IDF) is expected sometime early this year.

The Tavor will replace the 5.56mm M16 series of assault rifles currently in IDF service (JDW 26 June 2002).

Industry sources said IMI won the contract after Germany's Heckler & Koch, then owned by BAE Systems, Royal Ordnance Defence of the UK, was reportedly refused an export licence to sell several hundred MP 5 9mm submachine guns and around 150 PSG 1 7.62mm sniper rifles. The German/UK bid was selected following an evaluation process that included Belgium's Fabrique Nationale and Switzerland's SIG.