Теги форумов: english, новости

2000-06-04, Bobo: Official Launch of New Phase $3.1 Billion RAH-66 Comanche EMD Contract Signed HUNTSVILLE, Alabama, June 1, 2000 — Representatives of the Boeing Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche program and the U.S. Army signed contract documents today in a ceremony that officially launched the $3.1 billion engineering and manufacturing development phase for the Comanche program. The contract signing came less than two months after a Department of Defense Acquisition Board Milestone II review gave the go-ahead for EMD. "We accomplished this task by relying on the Alpha Contracting process, a major Defense Department acquisition reform initiative that streamlined the contract negotiation process, saving much time and money," said Brig. Gen. (P) Joseph Bergantz, U.S. Army Comanche Program Manager. "The hard work, trust and teamwork that made today's ceremony possible have benefited the Army, the contracting companies and the public we serve," Bergantz added. "The Comanche Team has performed well," said Comanche Joint Program Office…

2000-05-27, Jag_22: Helicopters: Hunters, Not Victims by Kathleen Kocks Encounter an attack helicopter, even during the innocence of an airshow, and there’s no doubt that you are facing a predator. From nose to tail, it has the body of a killer. It has the eyes (target-acquisition system), ears (electronic-warfare and countermeasures suites) and teeth (weapons) of a killer. Its traits include agility, survivability and speed. It does its job alone or multiplies its strength by working in a pack. Confuse it not with a helicopter that began life unarmed, but subsequently acquired weapons. Such pretenders are sheep in wolves’ clothing, compared to the attack species. From concept to conception, attack helicopters were bred to kill. Their brute force is clearly evident. Less evident is their newest, most dreadful weapon: information technology. Thanks to advanced defense electronics, modern attack helicopters are not only hunters, but also gatherers of battlefield intelligence. “Besides its weapons, the key advantage of a modern…

2000-05-27, Jag_22: Prophet Air Restructured If no Shadow 200s are available when concept demostrations begin, the Army will install COMINT and jamming systems aboard it Hunter TUAVs. (TRW photo) According to the US Army’s Program Budget Decision 745, the airborne communications-intelligence (COMINT) and jamming element of the service’s Prophet program (Prophet Air), itself a replacement for the Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Common Sensor (IEWCS) program (see "US Army to Field IEWCS, Update Requirements and Transition to Prophet," JED, September 1998), has been restructured. The systems eventually procured under the program are now to be installed aboard tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (TUAVs) — not aboard modified UH-60 helicopters, as initially planned. The COMINT and jamming systems eventually procured for the Prophet Air portion had been slated to replace the existing Quickfix II systems. Now, however, the Army plans to install these systems aboard the Shadow 200, produced by AAI Corp. (Hunt Valley, MD), the recent…

2000-05-27, Jag_22: Guardrail 2000 Launched The lastest version of the Guardrail Common Sensor system represents the Army's first implementation of the Joint Avionics SIGINT Architecture. (TRW photo) The seventh generation of the US Army’s Guardrail system, dubbed Guardrail 2000, was recently rolled-out at Moffett Field, CA. This latest generation of the system is, according to program manager LTC Harold Greene, “both a quantitative and qualitative advance over its predecessors.” Guardrail 2000 also represents the Army’s first operational implementation of the Joint Avionics SIGINT [signals- intelligence] Architecture (JASA). The Guardrail Common Sensor GR/CS, first introduced in 1971, is a corps-level airborne SIGINT collection/location system that integrates the Improved Guardrail V (IGR V), the Communication High Accuracy Airborne Location System (CHAALS) and the Advanced QUICKLOOK (AQL) into the same platform — the RC-12K/N/P/Q aircraft. Key features include integrated communications and radar reporting, enhanced signal…

2000-05-27, Jag_22: Russian S-37 Accelerates Fighter Technology CRAIG COVAULT/MOSCOW The prototype is Russia's most advanced in 20 years, and Sukhoi would like to show it at Farnborough Russia's Sukhoi S-37 forward-swept-wing fighter has completed about 100 flights and is progressing through its supersonic test regime at the Zhukovsky Flight Test Center near the Russian capital. Russia's Sukhoi S-37 forward-swept-wing fighter is the most advanced military aircraft developed by the former Soviet Union in 20 years. The company would like to bring the large twin-engine fighter to the Farnborough air show in July, Sukhoi General Director Mikhail A. Pogosyan told Aviation Week & Space Technology. But whether the Russian government will allow unique aircraft to fly to England is still an open question. Sukhoi has not been able to obtain Russian Defense Ministry permission to even display the S-37 publicly at Russian venues other than Zhukovsky, although the aircraft made two brief overflights of Moscow after it first flew in…

2000-05-27, Jag_22: First Round Of Maple Flag Wraps Up Today by William B. Scott 05/26/00 10:58:05 AM U.S. EDT COLD LAKE, ALBERTA — The first period of this year's six-week Maple Flag exercise ends today, capping Round One of an intensive international training program aimed at honing coalition air warfare skills. Approximately 1,500 people and many of the 118 aircraft will depart later today, clearing the Cold Lake airfield ramp for the next contingent — including seven German MiG-29s — that arrive tomorrow for their two-week segment. The 33rd Canadian-hosted Maple Flag has several objectives rooted in the Allied Force air campaign against Yugoslavia last year: Fly more strike missions at medium altitudes. Several European air forces still prefer Cold War methods, attacking low and fast, but losses to anti-aircraft guns and older missiles have convinced most nations that higher is better. Practice more air-to-air refueling. In Kosovo, a shortage of aerial tankers constrained a number of sorties, forcing real-time changes in…

2000-05-27, Jag_22: Unlikely Chemical Weapons Were Stored At Iraqi Air Base by Ted Gogoll 05/25/00 09:43:18 PM U.S. EDT A Defense Dept. report concluded it was unlikely chemical weapons were present at Iraq’s Tallil Air Base during the Persian Gulf War. U.S. officials had believed the base was a chemical weapons depot because it served as a staging point for Iraq’s airborne chemical attacks against Iran in their 10-year war. Tallil also had an S-shaped bunker that officials had assessed was designed specifically to store chemical weapons and agents. After the cease-fire, U.S. forces occupied Tallil, sending in nuclear, biological and chemical specialists to inspect the base, finding no evidence of chemical weapons. And at no time did officials receive reports by personnel of medical symptoms associated with chemical weapons. After the inspections, the base was destroyed. Copyright AviationNow

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Thunderbird Pilots, FAA Grilled On Possible Violations by David Fulghum Aviation Week & Space Technology 05/25/00 07:20:50 PM U.S. EDT U.S. Air Force Thunderbird flight demonstration pilots and FAA air controllers are being grilled about what went wrong when the eight-aircraft team left Andrews AFB near Washington, D.C. in poor visibility last week. The team may have over flown the vice president’s residence, breached controlled airspace at Dulles Airport and came too near two civilian aircraft before being redirected into a safe area above the cloud cover during the May 22 incident. Pentagon officials said possible violations were the result of a string of small errors that created a big problem. The Thunderbirds team wanted to leave Andrews in an eight-lane group, but the flight plan wasn’t accepted by the FAA’s computer. Subsequently they were told to make a radar-assisted trail departure with each pilot being responsible for staying in radar contact with the aircraft immediately ahead. The pilots…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: King Air Ditches, Sick Pilot Survives by Mal Gormley 05/25/00 06:54:37 PM U.S. EST A very lucky pilot and sole occupant of a Beech King Air Super 200 survived a Pacific Ocean ditching on Wednesday afternoon after becoming ill while flying home to San Diego from Parker, Ariz. The accident occurred some 160 miles off the coast of San Diego. The pilot, Mark Armstrong, 40, of Valley Center, Calif., reported to controllers that he felt sick and was vomiting, then left the frequency. The twin turboprop continued west over the Pacific without communicating and was tracked by two U.S. Navy F-18 aircraft in the area on maneuvers. The King Air continued into a military flight training area. After Armstrong had evidently passed out, the two F-18’s drew along side the airplane but could not see anyone aboard. Eventually, however, Armstrong was seen slumped over the controls. The Navy pilots, who were now getting low on fuel, eventually succeeded in getting the now startled Armstrong’s attention and gestured for him to…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Naval Technology That's the ship I was talking about, when I said that they are not going use the Batteries on the submarine, but instead on a destroyer. [Edited by Jag_22 (26-05-2000 at 23:35).]

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Information operations - coming of age? A new paradigm of warfighting or the greatest failure of NATO's Operation 'Allied Force'? Andrew Rathmell examines the advances made in information operations and looks beyond the 'cyber-hype'to the reality behind the myths. TEN YEARS ago Operation 'Desert Storm' was hailed as the 'First Information War'. However, since the conclusion of NATO's Operation 'Allied Force' over Kosovo, senior US officers have complained that the USA is still not using Information Operations (IO) effectively. According to Admiral Ellis, commander of the air campaign: " roperly executed, IO could have halved the length of the campaign", but the IO operators were "too junior and from the wrong communities to have the required impact on planning and execution". Noting that "all the tools are in place... [but] only a few were used," he has concluded that IO was "perhaps the greatest failure of the war". Outgoing NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Wesley Clark has expressed similar…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Boeing to Refit Israeli F-16 Fighter Jets to Carry Smart Bombs VCI Internet Properties (IsraelWire-5/22) Boeing Aircraft will receive an $8.4 million contract to upgrade Israel Air Force F-16 fighter jets to drop the company's new satellite-guided smart bomb, the company and military officials said Tuesday. According to the BridgeNews report distributed by the IMRA News Agency, the contract will provide for the upgrading of F-16 jets to enable them to deliver the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM). Boeing makes guidance kits that convert so-called dumb bombs into weapons guided by Global Positioning System satellites. © V.C.I. Internet Properties Ltd. 1999. All rights reserved.

2000-05-26, Jag_22: U.S. Begins Domestic Anti-Terrorism Exercise by Ted Gogoll 05/23/00 08:29:40 AM U.S. EDT A multi-agency U.S. government team has begun a 10-day crisis management exercise to assess U.S. capabilities against integrated, no-notice terrorist threats and acts. Exercise Top Off 2000 is being staged in various cities around the country, bringing together the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FBI, Energy Dept., Environmental Protection Agency, and the Health and Human Services Dept. along with state and local agencies in a $3.5 million program to pinpoint the weaknesses in the nation’s anti-terrorism capabilities. The combined agencies make up the Joint Task Force Civil Support (JTF-CS), based in Norfolk, Va. – a newly established unit under the U.S. Joint Forces Command – with control over DOD forces which support a lead federal agency for managing the consequences of weapons of mass destruction incidents in the U.S. “Our mission is to save lives, prevent injury and restore life critical infrastructure,” said…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Ryan Insists USAF Supports Joint Strike Fighter by Robert Wall 05/23/00 11:54:39 AM U.S. EDT Under fire for the perceived lack of U.S. Air Force support for the Joint Strike Fighter program, the service’s Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Ryan, today insisted JSF enjoys full support and full funding in the USAF’s long-term budget plans. “I can’t show greater support than that,” Ryan said at a DFI International-sponsored event in Washington. The multi-role JSF is supposed to replace A-10s and F-16s for the Air Force. Ryan also presented an update on the Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter’s progress, noting that the development of the critical Block 3 software the service has to fly this year is still on track. However, the chief expressed frustration that a canopy cracking problem being experienced on the stealth fighter is hindering flight test progress. Several canopies have cracked and flight-testers will have to wait several weeks for replacements. But Air Force acquisition officials at this point aren’t overly…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Canadian Weather No Barrier To Air Combat Exercise by William B. Scott 05/24/00 08:45:02 AM U.S. EDT COLD LAKE, ALBERTA — The annual Maple Flag international air combat exercise is into its second week of large-scale air operations here, unhampered by unusual weather. Hosted by Canada's 4 Wing, the exercise dealt with unexpected challenges from a freak snowstorm on May 17. For the first time, Maple Flag is being conducted under all-weather rules — a consequence of “lessons-learned” during the Kosovo air campaign a year ago — allowing pilots to deal with realistic conditions that complicate bombing missions. Maple Flag is similar to the USAF-hosted Red Flag, but is conducted over wooded terrain dotted with lakes, emulating a European combat zone. Flying in a relatively unrestricted environment, large strike “packages,” made up of 40-50 fighters, battle opposing forces employing airborne and ground-based electronic threats. Approximately 118 aircraft from Canada, Singapore, the Netherlands, the U.S., the U.K.,…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Joint Strike Fighter Engine Ready To Fly by Jim Mathews 05/25/00 06:59:49 AM U.S. EDT Enginemaker Pratt & Whitney’s JSF119 engine for the Joint Strike Fighter has finished flight clearance testing in time for this summer’s JSF concept demonstrator flight tests, P&W reports this morning. “The engines are no longer concepts, or designs that need to be proven – they are real engines that are ready to be flown. They have done exceedingly well in ground testing that’s required for flight certification,” says P&W JSF119 Program Director Bob Cea. Boeing engine JSF119-614 and Lockheed Martin engine JSF119-611 went through performance testing at all power ranges within their full flight envelopes. Altitude testing at the USAF’s Arnold Engineering and Development Center essentially clearing the conventional takeoff as well as short take-off/vertical landing (STOVL) engines for up-and-away flight. Sea level accelerated mission tests at P&W’s West Palm Beach, Fla., test facilities demonstrated engine…

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Marines OK Return To Flight For Ospreys by Robert Wall 05/25/00 02:01:23 PM U.S. EDT The U.S. Marine Corps has authorized MV-22 Ospreys to resume flight operations, lifting a grounding order that followed the April 8 crash of an Ospreys in which 19 Marines died. Initially, pilots will be re-familiarized with the aircraft, which is normal after an extended interruption of flying operations. Only after completing this phase of the return-to-flight activity will the operational evaluation of the V-22 continue. In a symbolic gesture to demonstrate confidence in the tiltrotor, the Marine Corps’ commandant, Gen. James Jones, and U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael E. Ryan, will be on the first MV-22 to carry passengers. Copyright AviationNow

2000-05-26, Jag_22: Army Postpones Test For Missile-Defense Laser by Robert Wall 05/25/00 02:10:39 PM U.S. EDT Israel will have to wait a little longer for a U.S.-developed laser system to protect it against Katyusha rockets. The U.S. Army postponed its first attempt to shoot down a Katyusha rocket with the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL, pictured). A mirror in the laser was damaged during testing at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M. It will take about two weeks to fix the laser, Army officials say. THEL was conceived as a quick development program in 1996 to defend against rockets launched by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists. But the high-energy laser system’s development has been slowed by technical problems. The Army hopes to be able to resume THEL testing and achieve the first intercept in June. Copyright AviationNow

2000-05-23, Jag_22: Good News for Il-76; Bad News for An-70 By Vovick Karnozov AWN Moscow-based columnist The past week was a good one for the manufacturers of the Ilyushin Il-76 four-jet freighter and frustrating for Antonov and its allies on the An-70 airlifter. While the Il-76TF, a new civilian version of Ilyushin's 30-year-old design, acquired its first customer, the An-70's chances to win the tender for the future European airlifter were further reduced with the announcement of the UK government that Airbus Military Company's A400M is the long-term choice to replace its remaining fleet of the aging C-130 Hercules transports (see related story) . The UK's commitment to the A400M is expected to induce a stronger interest from Germany in the new Airbus design. Together with France, which also favors the A400M, the UK and Germany could together produce a sufficient joint order to make the whole project profitable for Airbus and thus suitable for launch. This leaves the An-70 sales prospects confined to a weak CIS market whose…

2000-05-23, Jag_22: Pentagon Answer To Recruiting Challenge: Yahoo! by Jim Mathews 05/19/00 09:01:07 AM U.S. EDT Facing record recruiting shortages and a youth culture unfamiliar with the military, the Pentagon is joining forces with Yahoo! Careers to stage a fantasy job contest, whose winners will get to spend a week training to be a fighter pilot, jumping out of airplanes or sailing on an aircraft carrier. Top brass have reasoned that with people willing to spend thousands of dollars to pretend they’re everything from baseball stars to race car drivers, why not expose hundreds of thousands of contest hopefuls to some of the adventures the military has to offer – and maybe snag a few of those fantasy contestants who decide to make the dream reality. “This is a way for ordinary people from ‘Main Street USA’ to connect with extraordinary people doing exciting, thrilling and challenging jobs,” says Navy Commander Yvette C. Brown-Wahler, a top recruiting official. “So if you’ve ever dreamed of parachuting with the Army’s Golden…

2000-05-23, Jag_22: JSF Study Team Recommends One Winner, Two Builders by Dave Fulghum 05/19/00 04:11:02 PM U.S. EDT U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen and acquisition chief Jacques Gansler were briefed late this week by the team studying alternative acquisition strategies for the Joint Strike Fighter program, say Pentagon insiders. The team found it’s too hard to split the JSF program before picking a prime contractor and recommended instead that a single winning design be selected, and then both Lockheed Martin (top image) and Boeing (bottom) should be qualified for engineering and manufacturing development, the next phase of the JSF program. Because both prime teams would wind up building airplanes, study group members won’t describe the team whose design is not picked as the losing team — only as the “non-winner.” This non-winner would be qualified through the major subsystems of the winner’s design and each company would put together its own subcontractor team, a plan that would ensure another round of competition prior…

2000-05-22, BACKFIRE: It appears to be that US aircraft development is targeted on unmanned AVs even more then on human piloted aircrafts. It sounds real the 6th generation fighter will be a sort of UCAV.

2000-05-21, Serge Pod: 17 May 2000 Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes told parliament yesterday that agreement was close on the sale of Russian T-90S to the Indian Army. India is to get 124 Russian made T-90S and a license to build 186 in country, at a cost of approximately US$ 700 million. The Defence Minister also commented on other possible arms deals, including the possibility of indigenous production of multi- purpose Su-30 fighters by the end of this year. Ina an agreement signed in 1996 India is to get 40 fighters of this type and, last year, agreed to buy a further ten. Two Indian MiG-21BIS fighters, which have been upgraded in Russia, have been test flown. Six of the 36 sets of upgrade equipment due this year have been delivered. Eventually India will upgrade all 125 of its MiG-21BIS, extending their service life to the end of the decade DSD

2000-05-21, Serge Pod: 19 May 2000 The US Army has awarded Aerojet a three-year, $5 million contract to develop controllable thrust propulsion for Army tactical missiles, primarily Modernized Hellfire and Common Missile but also Compact Kinetic Energy Missile. Beginning this month, Aerojet will produce concept designs then test and build flight hardware by 2003. The goal is to develop motors that will allow Army tactical missiles to fufill multiple missions with one rocket motor. This technology has been described as 'putting a gas pedal' on a missile. "Aerojet has been a leader in controllable thrust propulsion for 40 years, and we are pleased that the Army intends to field this technology,'' said Bob Keenan, Aerojet programme manager for controllable thrust propulsion. Aerojet will carry out the work in Sacramento for the Army Missile Command (AMCOM) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. Initial studies are underway with testing expected to begin by next year. Some testing may take place at AMCOM. DSD

2000-05-16, Jag_22: NASA Plans to Sail to the Stars On Largest Spacecraft Ever Built The US space agency, NASA, is setting sail for the stars - literally. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is developing space sails technology to power a mission beyond our solar system. "This will be humankind's first planned venture outside our solar system," said Les Johnson, manager of Interstellar Propulsion Research at the Marshall Center. "This is a stretch goal that is among the most audacious things we've ever undertaken." The interstellar probe will travel over 23 trillion miles - 250 astronomical units - beyond the edge of the solar system. The distance from Earth to the Sun, 93 million miles, is one astronomical unit. For perspective, if the distance from Earth to the Sun equaled one foot, Earth would be a mere 6 inches from Mars, 38 feet from Pluto, 250 feet from the boundaries of the solar system, and a colossal 51 miles from the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri. This first step beyond our solar system en route to the stars…