The Pentagon Is Quietly Developing A Next Generation Long-Range Air-To-Air Missile
The possibility of a two-stage air-to-air missile design is intriguing to say the least.
BY TYLER ROGOWAYNOVEMBER 2, 2017
US DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE VIA FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM
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As the latest and likely the last major iteration of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, the D model, spreads throughout the services and America's allies' weapons caches, there has been great speculation as to what will come next, and real concern that the Pentagon has not moved fast enough or in a consistent enough manner to field a next generation long-range air-to-air missile. Now it appears that a new initiative has been quietly underway for two years now to do just that.
Our friend and Flightglobal.com Americas Bureau Chief Stephen Trimble posted a report today identifying a obscure line-item under the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (the Pentagon's budget) called “emerging capabilities technology development." Trimble notes that this is usually attributed to small electronic warfare programs, not new air-to-air missile development. But in this case it included a program dubbed Long Range Engagement Weapon, or LREW for short.
IS THE EUROPEAN METEOR AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE REALLY THE BEST IN THE WORLD?By Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
SHADOWY NEW MISSILE APPEARS UNDER THE WING OF CHINESE J-16 FIGHTERBy Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
NORTHROP GRUMMAN HAS PATENTED A KINETIC MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM FOR STEALTH AIRCRAFTBy Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
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This program has worked as an exploratory initiative used to identify the overall concept, technologies, kill chain structure, and baseline requirements for a new long-range air-to-air missile or family of missiles. Officially the program is aimed at "maintaining America's air dominance." Now the classified results of the program are supposedly being funneled down to the services where they are likely to morph into a hardware development program of record.
Trimble also included an official piece of concept art from the program in his post which clearly shows a two-stage missile design being launched from the weapons bay of an F-22 Raptor. Although we have no clear indication if this is the final LREW concept being passed down for further evaluation and development, the fact that it clearly shows a two-stage air-to-air weapon is interesting to say the least.
Such a weapon could leverage a new family of small, hit-to-kill, intermediate to short-range air-to-air missiles as primary payload attached to a booster. This would maximize weight for propellant and the payload weapon could also be used without a booster for far shorter range engagements. Whether such a setup would fit into a weapons bay of an F-22 or F-35 isn't known, although the artwork implies it would. But regardless, at the ranges it could potentially engage enemy targets, being fired from a low observability host platform has diminishing advantages.
A Langley AFB based F-22A Raptor fires off an AIM-120 during training.
We have discussed small hit-to-kill missiles, long-range air-to-air missiles, and the tactics surrounding both of them before. This includes using an "arsenal ship" such as an F-15, to lug long-range missiles into a position well behind a flight of stealth fighters operating along or beyond the forward edges of the enemy's airspace, and using their sensor "picture" for providing targeting for these weapons via data-link. The long-range air-to-air missile would then be launched remotely by the F-15 operating in safer airspace, with the networked weapon flying to a high altitude while being fed targeting updates from the stealth fighters via data link, before diving down on their targets at high speed.
Alternatively, such a missile can give 4th generation fighters with large radar apertures and powerful AESA radar arrays, once again like the F-15C, a new lease on life, as it can take full advantage of the radar's extreme range as well as an increasingly networked battlespace. If this new long-range missile, or a version of it, can fit into a F-35 or F-22's weapons bay, it provide the types with a longer-range arrow to put in their quiver.
Bottom line, there are many tactics that can be applied to such a weapon, and that's an exciting thing to say the least. A long-range, two-stage missile would be especially useful at targeting strategic force multiplying assets, like airborne early warning and control aircraft, tankers, surveillance drones, and communication relay planes. For the Navy's aircraft carriers, these weapons could give the air wing back its long-range engagement capability that was lost when the AIM-54C Phoenix missile was retired, and later its host platform, the F-14 Tomcat. And striking anti-ship cruise missile carrying bombers is becoming an issue once again with the rise of China's bomber force and the awakening of the Russian Bear.
The possibility of opting for a two stage missile configuration could mean that the DoD plans on skipping an evolutionary step by not moving forward with an air breathing, throttleable ramjet design like the one used on the BMDA Meteor. A two stage system could take better advantage of climbing up into the very thin upper atmosphere where friction and drag are minimized, which would result in longer range and enhanced end-game kinematic performance of the payload weapon. A steeper trajectory and higher speed could also make defending against such an attack more troublesome for the enemy.
The U.S. hasn't led the way in long-range air-to-air missile development over the last decade, at least not publicly or with a new production missile to show for it. Various programs have come and gone over the years, and some seem to continue on to this day, although they are shrouded in secrecy (Triple Target Terminator for instance), but a clear new long-range or very long-range air-to-air missile strategy has not emerged. Meanwhile America's peer state competitors, namely China, have moved their air-to-air missile capabilities forward at an alarming rate.
Earlier this year, pictures emerged out of China showing what was clearly a very long-range air-to-air missile design being flown on a J-16 indigenous Flanker derivative. You can read all about this missile and our analysis on it here, but suffice it to say, China sees an opportunity in America's lack of a bigger arrow and the vulnerability of American strategic aircraft during long-range expeditionary operations. Russia also has its own long range missile designs equipped with anti-radiation seekers that could potentially home in on airborne early warning and control aircraft like the E-3 Sentry E-2 Hawkeye.
A year ago, images of China's long-range air-to-air missile emerged, with the missile be flown under a J-16's wing during a large exercise.
Now we'll have to see if the findings of the Long Range Engagement Weapon program result in a development program of record aimed at putting a new missile into production. Once again, this effort may be best paired with taking an existing shorter-ranged missile in development and pairing it with a specialized booster.
We have discussed doing exactly that before with Israel's Stunner surface-to-air missile which features a unique "dolphin" nose seeker head, housing a dual mode seeker installation. Currently Stunner is launched via booster from the ground, but the missile could also potentially fly as a stand-alone weapon on a fighter aircraft or its boosted version could possibly be adapted as well for the long-range air-to-air combat realm.
As far as size, a notional LREW missile's booster could potentially be sized up or down depending on the limitations of the aircraft carrying it. Going with this type of modular route would break the highly restrictive dimensional limitations that entire fighters were designed and built around—most notably the AIM-120's dimensions for the F-35 and F-22—and would allow much larger future aircraft, like the B-21 Raider, to be able to carry extremely long-range versions of the same basic missile.
The booster could also possibly be used for delivering air-to-ground precision strikes over very long ranges. Even the rendering of the LREW concept depicts what looks more like a boosted Excalibur guided artillery round than anything else, although this is likely just used as a placeholder. Still, an air-launched boosted guided artillery round traveling at very high speeds and altitudes for use against both ground targets and aerial ones alike is something to ponder isn't it? Especially when applied to large strategic sensor aircraft and bomber formations.
Whatever the payload weapon is, such a two-stage air-to-air missile concept is truly an exciting possibility, and could result in a common missile design with ranges from intermediate (no booster) to long-range, to very long-range, to extremely long-range with just the change of a booster section. The core missile and its autopilot, data-link, and seeker system could remain largely unchanged.
With all this in mind, maybe America's next generation long-range air-to-air missile will have been worth the wait.
The possibility of a two-stage air-to-air missile design is intriguing to say the least.
BY TYLER ROGOWAYNOVEMBER 2, 2017
SHARE
TYLER ROGOWAYView Tyler Rogoway's Articles
twitter.com/Aviation_Intel
As the latest and likely the last major iteration of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, the D model, spreads throughout the services and America's allies' weapons caches, there has been great speculation as to what will come next, and real concern that the Pentagon has not moved fast enough or in a consistent enough manner to field a next generation long-range air-to-air missile. Now it appears that a new initiative has been quietly underway for two years now to do just that.
Our friend and Flightglobal.com Americas Bureau Chief Stephen Trimble posted a report today identifying a obscure line-item under the Office of the Secretary of Defense in the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (the Pentagon's budget) called “emerging capabilities technology development." Trimble notes that this is usually attributed to small electronic warfare programs, not new air-to-air missile development. But in this case it included a program dubbed Long Range Engagement Weapon, or LREW for short.
IS THE EUROPEAN METEOR AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE REALLY THE BEST IN THE WORLD?By Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
SHADOWY NEW MISSILE APPEARS UNDER THE WING OF CHINESE J-16 FIGHTERBy Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
NORTHROP GRUMMAN HAS PATENTED A KINETIC MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM FOR STEALTH AIRCRAFTBy Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
F-22 NOW HAS AIM-9X BUT STILL NO HELMET MOUNTED DISPLAY TO USE WITH ITBy Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
WATCH RUSSIA'S ONLY OPERATIONAL BATTLECRUISER LAUNCH A MASSIVE "SHIPWRECK" ANTI-SHIP MISSILEBy Tyler RogowayPosted in THE WAR ZONE
This program has worked as an exploratory initiative used to identify the overall concept, technologies, kill chain structure, and baseline requirements for a new long-range air-to-air missile or family of missiles. Officially the program is aimed at "maintaining America's air dominance." Now the classified results of the program are supposedly being funneled down to the services where they are likely to morph into a hardware development program of record.
Trimble also included an official piece of concept art from the program in his post which clearly shows a two-stage missile design being launched from the weapons bay of an F-22 Raptor. Although we have no clear indication if this is the final LREW concept being passed down for further evaluation and development, the fact that it clearly shows a two-stage air-to-air weapon is interesting to say the least.
Such a weapon could leverage a new family of small, hit-to-kill, intermediate to short-range air-to-air missiles as primary payload attached to a booster. This would maximize weight for propellant and the payload weapon could also be used without a booster for far shorter range engagements. Whether such a setup would fit into a weapons bay of an F-22 or F-35 isn't known, although the artwork implies it would. But regardless, at the ranges it could potentially engage enemy targets, being fired from a low observability host platform has diminishing advantages.
A Langley AFB based F-22A Raptor fires off an AIM-120 during training.
We have discussed small hit-to-kill missiles, long-range air-to-air missiles, and the tactics surrounding both of them before. This includes using an "arsenal ship" such as an F-15, to lug long-range missiles into a position well behind a flight of stealth fighters operating along or beyond the forward edges of the enemy's airspace, and using their sensor "picture" for providing targeting for these weapons via data-link. The long-range air-to-air missile would then be launched remotely by the F-15 operating in safer airspace, with the networked weapon flying to a high altitude while being fed targeting updates from the stealth fighters via data link, before diving down on their targets at high speed.
Alternatively, such a missile can give 4th generation fighters with large radar apertures and powerful AESA radar arrays, once again like the F-15C, a new lease on life, as it can take full advantage of the radar's extreme range as well as an increasingly networked battlespace. If this new long-range missile, or a version of it, can fit into a F-35 or F-22's weapons bay, it provide the types with a longer-range arrow to put in their quiver.
Bottom line, there are many tactics that can be applied to such a weapon, and that's an exciting thing to say the least. A long-range, two-stage missile would be especially useful at targeting strategic force multiplying assets, like airborne early warning and control aircraft, tankers, surveillance drones, and communication relay planes. For the Navy's aircraft carriers, these weapons could give the air wing back its long-range engagement capability that was lost when the AIM-54C Phoenix missile was retired, and later its host platform, the F-14 Tomcat. And striking anti-ship cruise missile carrying bombers is becoming an issue once again with the rise of China's bomber force and the awakening of the Russian Bear.
The possibility of opting for a two stage missile configuration could mean that the DoD plans on skipping an evolutionary step by not moving forward with an air breathing, throttleable ramjet design like the one used on the BMDA Meteor. A two stage system could take better advantage of climbing up into the very thin upper atmosphere where friction and drag are minimized, which would result in longer range and enhanced end-game kinematic performance of the payload weapon. A steeper trajectory and higher speed could also make defending against such an attack more troublesome for the enemy.
The U.S. hasn't led the way in long-range air-to-air missile development over the last decade, at least not publicly or with a new production missile to show for it. Various programs have come and gone over the years, and some seem to continue on to this day, although they are shrouded in secrecy (Triple Target Terminator for instance), but a clear new long-range or very long-range air-to-air missile strategy has not emerged. Meanwhile America's peer state competitors, namely China, have moved their air-to-air missile capabilities forward at an alarming rate.
Earlier this year, pictures emerged out of China showing what was clearly a very long-range air-to-air missile design being flown on a J-16 indigenous Flanker derivative. You can read all about this missile and our analysis on it here, but suffice it to say, China sees an opportunity in America's lack of a bigger arrow and the vulnerability of American strategic aircraft during long-range expeditionary operations. Russia also has its own long range missile designs equipped with anti-radiation seekers that could potentially home in on airborne early warning and control aircraft like the E-3 Sentry E-2 Hawkeye.
A year ago, images of China's long-range air-to-air missile emerged, with the missile be flown under a J-16's wing during a large exercise.
Now we'll have to see if the findings of the Long Range Engagement Weapon program result in a development program of record aimed at putting a new missile into production. Once again, this effort may be best paired with taking an existing shorter-ranged missile in development and pairing it with a specialized booster.
We have discussed doing exactly that before with Israel's Stunner surface-to-air missile which features a unique "dolphin" nose seeker head, housing a dual mode seeker installation. Currently Stunner is launched via booster from the ground, but the missile could also potentially fly as a stand-alone weapon on a fighter aircraft or its boosted version could possibly be adapted as well for the long-range air-to-air combat realm.
As far as size, a notional LREW missile's booster could potentially be sized up or down depending on the limitations of the aircraft carrying it. Going with this type of modular route would break the highly restrictive dimensional limitations that entire fighters were designed and built around—most notably the AIM-120's dimensions for the F-35 and F-22—and would allow much larger future aircraft, like the B-21 Raider, to be able to carry extremely long-range versions of the same basic missile.
The booster could also possibly be used for delivering air-to-ground precision strikes over very long ranges. Even the rendering of the LREW concept depicts what looks more like a boosted Excalibur guided artillery round than anything else, although this is likely just used as a placeholder. Still, an air-launched boosted guided artillery round traveling at very high speeds and altitudes for use against both ground targets and aerial ones alike is something to ponder isn't it? Especially when applied to large strategic sensor aircraft and bomber formations.
Whatever the payload weapon is, such a two-stage air-to-air missile concept is truly an exciting possibility, and could result in a common missile design with ranges from intermediate (no booster) to long-range, to very long-range, to extremely long-range with just the change of a booster section. The core missile and its autopilot, data-link, and seeker system could remain largely unchanged.
With all this in mind, maybe America's next generation long-range air-to-air missile will have been worth the wait.
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1136283339923632128View image on Twitter
Raytheon✔@Raytheon
How can we stop the threat of rogue drones and hypersonic missiles? See how we're working to solve the most pressing problems in defense, and learn about the products we're highlighting at the Paris Air Show: https://rtn.co/2WvxjRS
2163:47 PM - Jun 5, 2019
Raytheon: The need for incredible speed - Accelerating the creation of hypersonic vehicles
The need for incredible speed
Accelerating the creation of hypersonic vehicles
Hypersonic vehicles operate at extreme speeds and high altitudes. Raytheon is developing hypersonics for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Share
A hypersonic missile taking flight from somewhere around the globe, soaring and maneuvering through the atmosphere faster than five times the speed of sound. At that speed, a threat would be very hard to stop.
That is the scenario that concerns U.S. officials. The concern is real. Russia and China both claim to have tested hypersonic systems.
“In the last year, China has tested more hypersonics weapons than we have in a decade,” Michael Griffin, the Pentagon’s top weapons researcher, said at a National Defense Industrial Association-sponsored event in December. “We’ve got to fix that. Hypersonics is a game-changer.”
The U.S. Department of Defense is working on that fix. It has contracted with Raytheon and others to produce and rapidly deploy hypersonic flight programs. That includes development of technologies to defeat hypersonic vehicles.
As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonshot, Raytheon is pursuing a number of futuristic "moonshot" technologies that could represent the next giant leap, including counter-hypersonics and hypersonic vehicles.
In March, the DoD granted Raytheon a $63 million contract to further develop the Tactical Boost Glide hypersonic flight program, a joint effort between the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Air Force.
For a tactical-range boost glide weapon to achieve hypersonic speeds, "a rocket accelerates its payload to high speeds. The payload then separates from the rocket and glides unpowered to its destination," according to the DARPA website.
Raytheon is also helping to develop air-breathing hypersonic systems. With engines built on a technology called a scramjet, the system uses a booster to reach cruising speeds. The missiles fly at sustained speeds above Mach 5 at certain altitudes in order to ensure the scramjet engine functions optimally.
The company has experience in the technical challenges of very high speeds, as it already produces missiles that travel above Mach 5.
Download High Res Photo
MAKING THE MATERIALS
Vehicles require unique materials to fly so fast. They must withstand blazing temperatures from the friction produced as they accelerate through the atmosphere. That calls for advanced manufacturing.
Hypersonics must also be aerodynamically maneuverable, posing challenges related to thermodynamics, complex geometries, materials and manufacturing. The most effective shapes for hypersonic systems are highly complex and quite different from conventional aircraft or missiles. Those shapes are being developed for the first time.
Raytheon has made significant investments in advanced design manufacturing facilities, including its Immersive Design Center, a virtual, 3-D environment for collaborative engineering and design.
The company expanded its facilities in Tucson, Arizona, last year, dedicating an entire building to high-power computing, harnessed for its work on hypersonic systems.
“In order to develop these highly advanced systems, you need the appropriate infrastructure in place and the technical talent to solve the most challenging problems,” said Dr. Thomas Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president.
Raytheon: To shield and protect - Partnering with allies on a multi-layered approach to missile defense
To shield and protect
Partnering with allies on a multi-layered approach to missile defense
Share
We have seen the future, and it is rife with increasing threats.
They are global in nature - unpredictable - coming from all distances, altitudes and speeds. This means that no nation, or system, can go at it alone. Effective missile defense requires partnership between industry and governments around the world to ensure a layered approach.
The 2019 U.S. Missile Defense Review presented a strategy for layered missile defense, a time-tested concept that encompasses all domains, from sea to space. Combined with a collaborative approach among cooperating nations, a multi-tiered defense can help protect Europe and other regions.
An array of complementary technologies create the necessary layers of defense. Serving the U.S., its friends and allies, Raytheon is fielding and developing missile defense systems like Patriot and introducing new advancements in counter-hypersonics and advanced early warning capability.
"The world is getting to a point where it’s not (just) ballistic missiles across the globe as the prime threat, or tactical short range missiles. There are mid-range, hypersonics, all these threats that drive a need for a space-sensing layer in the international community," said Wallis Laughrey, Raytheon's vice president of Space Systems.
STAYING AHEAD OF THE OTHER GUY
The need for space-based early warning and tracking could be met by technologies such as the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared, or Next-Gen OPIR, Block 0 resilient missile warning satellite. The U.S. Air Force has budgeted $1.7 billion to develop a constellation of Next-Gen OPIR satellites, according to Space News. Raytheon is one of two contractors chosen to develop the payload for these satellites.
Advanced sensors on satellites and other platforms make practical the U.S. Navy's ability to “launch on remote” or “engage on remote," allowing a naval commander to launch interceptors even before the ship's radar has pinned down the target. Distributed sensors, issuing a stream of data, allow for a "sensor-to-shooter" scenario, giving defenders the ability to act quickly on information from distant or nearby sensors.
“The shooter doesn’t need any other data other than what it gets from the radar to launch and engage and destroy that target," said Bryan Rosselli, vice president of Mission Systems and Sensors.
FILLING THE QUIVER
With adversaries racing to develop hypersonics, it's no wonder that faster-than-Mach 5 technologies are a dominant theme in the global conversation surrounding missile defense. Raytheon is working on several fronts to meet the technical challenges of operating at such high speeds.
Still, effective defense requires a full quiver of options; non-kinetic effects, cyber defenses and speed-of-light tech such as directed energy. And ultimately, advanced command and control, or C2, to manage the full suite of defenses.
“Future missile defense is much more than hypersonics,” said Mitch Stevison, Raytheon Strategic and Naval Systems vice president.
Stevison advocates for a new way to think about C2 that is a “leap ahead,” where C2 is decentralized, as opposed to having specific C2 physical nodes that could become targets.
“There must be interfaces to the system, where the combatant commanders have the ability to operate the system, but there is no centralized C2 node," he said. "Everything is a C2 node, whether it is an effector, a radar on the ground or a satellite with a space-based sensor on it. They all have the ability to operate as part of a network or to operate autonomously."
Raytheon✔@RaytheonHow can we stop the threat of rogue drones and hypersonic missiles? See how we're working to solve the most pressing problems in defense, and learn about the products we're highlighting at the Paris Air Show: https://rtn.co/2WvxjRS
2163:47 PM - Jun 5, 2019
Raytheon: The need for incredible speed - Accelerating the creation of hypersonic vehicles
The need for incredible speed
Accelerating the creation of hypersonic vehicles
Hypersonic vehicles operate at extreme speeds and high altitudes. Raytheon is developing hypersonics for the U.S. Department of Defense.
Share
A hypersonic missile taking flight from somewhere around the globe, soaring and maneuvering through the atmosphere faster than five times the speed of sound. At that speed, a threat would be very hard to stop.
That is the scenario that concerns U.S. officials. The concern is real. Russia and China both claim to have tested hypersonic systems.
“In the last year, China has tested more hypersonics weapons than we have in a decade,” Michael Griffin, the Pentagon’s top weapons researcher, said at a National Defense Industrial Association-sponsored event in December. “We’ve got to fix that. Hypersonics is a game-changer.”
The U.S. Department of Defense is working on that fix. It has contracted with Raytheon and others to produce and rapidly deploy hypersonic flight programs. That includes development of technologies to defeat hypersonic vehicles.
As the world celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonshot, Raytheon is pursuing a number of futuristic "moonshot" technologies that could represent the next giant leap, including counter-hypersonics and hypersonic vehicles.
In March, the DoD granted Raytheon a $63 million contract to further develop the Tactical Boost Glide hypersonic flight program, a joint effort between the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Air Force.
For a tactical-range boost glide weapon to achieve hypersonic speeds, "a rocket accelerates its payload to high speeds. The payload then separates from the rocket and glides unpowered to its destination," according to the DARPA website.
Raytheon is also helping to develop air-breathing hypersonic systems. With engines built on a technology called a scramjet, the system uses a booster to reach cruising speeds. The missiles fly at sustained speeds above Mach 5 at certain altitudes in order to ensure the scramjet engine functions optimally.
The company has experience in the technical challenges of very high speeds, as it already produces missiles that travel above Mach 5.
MAKING THE MATERIALS
Vehicles require unique materials to fly so fast. They must withstand blazing temperatures from the friction produced as they accelerate through the atmosphere. That calls for advanced manufacturing.
Hypersonics must also be aerodynamically maneuverable, posing challenges related to thermodynamics, complex geometries, materials and manufacturing. The most effective shapes for hypersonic systems are highly complex and quite different from conventional aircraft or missiles. Those shapes are being developed for the first time.
Raytheon has made significant investments in advanced design manufacturing facilities, including its Immersive Design Center, a virtual, 3-D environment for collaborative engineering and design.
The company expanded its facilities in Tucson, Arizona, last year, dedicating an entire building to high-power computing, harnessed for its work on hypersonic systems.
“In order to develop these highly advanced systems, you need the appropriate infrastructure in place and the technical talent to solve the most challenging problems,” said Dr. Thomas Bussing, Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems vice president.
Raytheon: To shield and protect - Partnering with allies on a multi-layered approach to missile defense
To shield and protect
Partnering with allies on a multi-layered approach to missile defense
Share
We have seen the future, and it is rife with increasing threats.
They are global in nature - unpredictable - coming from all distances, altitudes and speeds. This means that no nation, or system, can go at it alone. Effective missile defense requires partnership between industry and governments around the world to ensure a layered approach.
The 2019 U.S. Missile Defense Review presented a strategy for layered missile defense, a time-tested concept that encompasses all domains, from sea to space. Combined with a collaborative approach among cooperating nations, a multi-tiered defense can help protect Europe and other regions.
An array of complementary technologies create the necessary layers of defense. Serving the U.S., its friends and allies, Raytheon is fielding and developing missile defense systems like Patriot and introducing new advancements in counter-hypersonics and advanced early warning capability.
"The world is getting to a point where it’s not (just) ballistic missiles across the globe as the prime threat, or tactical short range missiles. There are mid-range, hypersonics, all these threats that drive a need for a space-sensing layer in the international community," said Wallis Laughrey, Raytheon's vice president of Space Systems.
STAYING AHEAD OF THE OTHER GUY
The need for space-based early warning and tracking could be met by technologies such as the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared, or Next-Gen OPIR, Block 0 resilient missile warning satellite. The U.S. Air Force has budgeted $1.7 billion to develop a constellation of Next-Gen OPIR satellites, according to Space News. Raytheon is one of two contractors chosen to develop the payload for these satellites.
Advanced sensors on satellites and other platforms make practical the U.S. Navy's ability to “launch on remote” or “engage on remote," allowing a naval commander to launch interceptors even before the ship's radar has pinned down the target. Distributed sensors, issuing a stream of data, allow for a "sensor-to-shooter" scenario, giving defenders the ability to act quickly on information from distant or nearby sensors.
“The shooter doesn’t need any other data other than what it gets from the radar to launch and engage and destroy that target," said Bryan Rosselli, vice president of Mission Systems and Sensors.
FILLING THE QUIVER
With adversaries racing to develop hypersonics, it's no wonder that faster-than-Mach 5 technologies are a dominant theme in the global conversation surrounding missile defense. Raytheon is working on several fronts to meet the technical challenges of operating at such high speeds.
Still, effective defense requires a full quiver of options; non-kinetic effects, cyber defenses and speed-of-light tech such as directed energy. And ultimately, advanced command and control, or C2, to manage the full suite of defenses.
“Future missile defense is much more than hypersonics,” said Mitch Stevison, Raytheon Strategic and Naval Systems vice president.
Stevison advocates for a new way to think about C2 that is a “leap ahead,” where C2 is decentralized, as opposed to having specific C2 physical nodes that could become targets.
“There must be interfaces to the system, where the combatant commanders have the ability to operate the system, but there is no centralized C2 node," he said. "Everything is a C2 node, whether it is an effector, a radar on the ground or a satellite with a space-based sensor on it. They all have the ability to operate as part of a network or to operate autonomously."
Raytheon: Cross-check that network - Modernizing air traffic telecommunications infrastructures
Cross-check that network
Modernizing air traffic telecommunications infrastructures
An air traffic controller works in a flight control tower.
Share
Apple sold its first iPhone in 2008. There have been 20 more versions since.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration uses 26,000 telecommunications services at more than 4,000 locations every day. Yet it relies on a telecommunications infrastructure that dates back to 2002.
It’s about time for an upgrade.
The agency is looking to replace the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure with the FAA Enterprise Network Services Program, a commercial infrastructure that will use secure and emerging technologies. Raytheon is bidding on the contract later this year.
“The FAA’s next-generation system is much more than a telecommunications upgrade, and that’s reflected in the program’s name change and use of the term “enterprise network,” according to Nicole Gates, Raytheon FENS capture manager. “In the past, there was a lot of moving data from point A to point B…but now the FAA wants to make that data more meaningful, using big-data analytics to provide information that can help drive better, real-time decisions, both tactically and strategically.”
The U.S. isn't alone in its air traffic management improvement efforts. The European Union's Single European Sky project, which aims to make the EU's air traffic system function as a single entity, much like the FAA, is also upgrading its technology to help with delays and disruptions at EU airports.
A joint Eurocontrol-FAA report issued in April reviewed air traffic delays between 2002 and 2017. It found that flights at Europe’s top 34 busiest airports are three times more likely to be held at the gate or on the ground for en route constraints than in the U.S. The Single Sky project seeks to standardize and modernize the fragmented European air traffic management system to clear up this congestion.
In the U.S., the new FAA infrastructure will support critical National Airspace System services like air and ground control voice communication, radar, data and flight services, and it will provide normal, day-to-day services like email, payroll and internet.
Gates compared the FAA’s current network infrastructure to “one big ball of yarn” with every single system having a “string” threaded into another system — point to point.
“The FAA is looking to move to more of a circle, where everything is integrated,” Gates said. “That way you can talk to other air traffic applications more directly. Once you become connected like that, you can then apply the power of big data for better decision-making. It really opens the aperture a lot.”
The current “ball of yarn” system creates challenges when it comes to cyber protections, too.
“As the FAA modernizes their communications infrastructure, they’re concerned with maintaining the highest levels of security, resiliency, integrity, availability, survivability, and performance that are required for NAS mission critical applications,” said Mark Orlando, Raytheon FENS cybersecurity chief engineer.
According to Orlando, anything that could impact or degrade the ability of these systems to talk to each other presents significant safety risks.
“Making sure communications happen in a timely, reliable and cybersecure manner is really paramount here, as it is in many other critical infrastructure sectors,” Orlando said.
Raytheon offers prior expertise in integrating global, mission-critical enterprise networks, including the GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System and the Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground System, according to Gates. The company’s experience on programs like these, she said, will allow Raytheon to help the FAA introduce new technologies in a network environment with a rapid innovation lifecycle and stringent availability and cybersecurity demands.
“You have a lot of duplication today with users communicating on different networks to do their missions,” Orlando said. “As we modernize this environment, they’ll use some of the same networks and systems. We’ll see a lot of cost savings for the FAA.”
The modernization effort will provide other benefits, including flexibility and scalability, making it easier to expand and grow as the FAA’s requirements evolve.
Raytheon is also offering its experience with air traffic systems, including automation, surveillance, navigation and landing technologies, and multi-layered cybersecurity for programs like the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Protection System, or DOMino, which helps protect the networks that serve more than 100 federal civilian government agencies.
“It’s not just about securing a network or making sure the network can operate. It’s about understanding priorities," Orlando said. "In this case, it’s the safety, reliability, and accessibility of these services.”
Cross-check that network
Modernizing air traffic telecommunications infrastructures
An air traffic controller works in a flight control tower.
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Apple sold its first iPhone in 2008. There have been 20 more versions since.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration uses 26,000 telecommunications services at more than 4,000 locations every day. Yet it relies on a telecommunications infrastructure that dates back to 2002.
It’s about time for an upgrade.
The agency is looking to replace the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure with the FAA Enterprise Network Services Program, a commercial infrastructure that will use secure and emerging technologies. Raytheon is bidding on the contract later this year.
“The FAA’s next-generation system is much more than a telecommunications upgrade, and that’s reflected in the program’s name change and use of the term “enterprise network,” according to Nicole Gates, Raytheon FENS capture manager. “In the past, there was a lot of moving data from point A to point B…but now the FAA wants to make that data more meaningful, using big-data analytics to provide information that can help drive better, real-time decisions, both tactically and strategically.”
The U.S. isn't alone in its air traffic management improvement efforts. The European Union's Single European Sky project, which aims to make the EU's air traffic system function as a single entity, much like the FAA, is also upgrading its technology to help with delays and disruptions at EU airports.
A joint Eurocontrol-FAA report issued in April reviewed air traffic delays between 2002 and 2017. It found that flights at Europe’s top 34 busiest airports are three times more likely to be held at the gate or on the ground for en route constraints than in the U.S. The Single Sky project seeks to standardize and modernize the fragmented European air traffic management system to clear up this congestion.
In the U.S., the new FAA infrastructure will support critical National Airspace System services like air and ground control voice communication, radar, data and flight services, and it will provide normal, day-to-day services like email, payroll and internet.
Gates compared the FAA’s current network infrastructure to “one big ball of yarn” with every single system having a “string” threaded into another system — point to point.
“The FAA is looking to move to more of a circle, where everything is integrated,” Gates said. “That way you can talk to other air traffic applications more directly. Once you become connected like that, you can then apply the power of big data for better decision-making. It really opens the aperture a lot.”
The current “ball of yarn” system creates challenges when it comes to cyber protections, too.
“As the FAA modernizes their communications infrastructure, they’re concerned with maintaining the highest levels of security, resiliency, integrity, availability, survivability, and performance that are required for NAS mission critical applications,” said Mark Orlando, Raytheon FENS cybersecurity chief engineer.
According to Orlando, anything that could impact or degrade the ability of these systems to talk to each other presents significant safety risks.
“Making sure communications happen in a timely, reliable and cybersecure manner is really paramount here, as it is in many other critical infrastructure sectors,” Orlando said.
Raytheon offers prior expertise in integrating global, mission-critical enterprise networks, including the GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System and the Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground System, according to Gates. The company’s experience on programs like these, she said, will allow Raytheon to help the FAA introduce new technologies in a network environment with a rapid innovation lifecycle and stringent availability and cybersecurity demands.
“You have a lot of duplication today with users communicating on different networks to do their missions,” Orlando said. “As we modernize this environment, they’ll use some of the same networks and systems. We’ll see a lot of cost savings for the FAA.”
The modernization effort will provide other benefits, including flexibility and scalability, making it easier to expand and grow as the FAA’s requirements evolve.
Raytheon is also offering its experience with air traffic systems, including automation, surveillance, navigation and landing technologies, and multi-layered cybersecurity for programs like the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Protection System, or DOMino, which helps protect the networks that serve more than 100 federal civilian government agencies.
“It’s not just about securing a network or making sure the network can operate. It’s about understanding priorities," Orlando said. "In this case, it’s the safety, reliability, and accessibility of these services.”
Raytheon: What to do about drones - The tech that will protect airports, stadiums and military bases
What to do about drones
The tech that will protect airports, stadiums and military bases
Share
They’re a problem hanging over everyone’s head.
They hover over sports stadiums and have crashed into the stands. They shut down airports. They spy on soldiers and can drop crude IEDs with precision.
Cheap, capable quadcopter drones mean everyone from civilian air traffic controllers to front-line military commanders need new and specialized technologies to meet the threat.
“This is very fast-moving from a technology standpoint,” said Todd Probert, a Raytheon vice president who oversees the company’s work in space, intelligence and command and control. “Too much of the environment is reacting to it. They need someone to come in and system-engineer a solution to whatever their problem is.”
Sometimes the answer to rogue drones is as simple as knowing they’re there, and sometimes it is complex, like a coordinated counterattack with lasers, radio waves, small drones and even missiles. It all depends on who is responding – and what they’re protecting.
THE STADIUM
Pick your sport, pick your spot. Baseball in Boston. Football in California. Soccer in Scotland.
When drones buzz sports stadiums, authorities have to act fast to assess and address the threat without endangering the crowd. That starts with radars and electro-optical sensors that can pick out slow, low-flying objects, even in the clutter of an urban environment.
“Being able to detect those as far out as possible, as quickly as possible and in as much detail as possible, is paramount,” said Cliff Johnson, a director for business development in tactical radars at Raytheon.
The versatile KuRFS radar uses active electronically scanned array technology to track airborne objects including unmanned aerial systems.
With a good counter-drone radar, authorities can buy themselves time and track even the most haphazard drone flight pattern. But that leaves the question of how to deal with it.
At a stadium, shooting a drone down – or smacking it with what military officials call a "kinetic effector" – is simply too risky; you don't want to send shrapnel flying into the stands, and even a lightweight drone plummeting to the ground can injure people.
“You want one of those non-kinetic effectors that will just have it come down to Earth in one piece, or confuse it so it goes off, and not just have it go boom,” Johnson said.
In those cases, authorities can take advantage of drones’ dependency on radio frequencies. Jamming a drone’s GPS or Wi-Fi signal can confuse it and trip a mechanism that forces it to land or retreat.
THE AIRPORT
Airport radars are really good at looking for planes. But planes and drones aren’t the same thing.
While you can’t beat a traditional air traffic control radar for tracking a jetliner many miles away, the problem is that the drones causing the most trouble – those classified by the U.S. Department of Defense as class 1 and class 2 – fly below 3,500 feet. That’s far lower than air traffic control radars typically look.
“A class 1 or class 2 unmanned aerial system that is flying extremely low? These radars are looking so far out they wouldn’t even see that UAS approaching the airfield,” Johnson said.
Instead, he said, what airports need is a radar with a low gaze and a fast update rate. While a few seconds between blips isn’t a problem when monitoring big commercial planes on a planned trajectory, tracking the highly unpredictable flight patterns of drones is another matter.
“Even a small UAS could move a lot of distance in five seconds,” Johnson said.
For air traffic controllers, the response might end with detection. Once a system has flagged a drone in a restricted area – say, a hobbyist club flying within five miles of an airport – it may not be necessary to do much more than make sure it doesn’t go any farther.
“The FAA might not even be interested in effectors,” Probert said, using a military term that encompasses things like missiles, interceptors and lasers. “They don’t necessarily want to get involved in the ‘do something about it’ part. They might just send a police officer out to go take a look.”
THE MILITARY BASE
A sports stadium is one thing. A forward operating base is another, said Evan Hunt, a director of business development at Raytheon.
“It’s a different mindset: if it flies, it dies,” he said, “because we can’t afford for anything to get into this protected zone.”
The most dangerous thing about drones is how cheap they are. For a few thousand dollars, even ragtag enemy forces can deploy dozens of drones to run reconnaissance, harass a target or even drop an explosive payload – tasks that once required multimillion-dollar fighter jets, helicopters, large drones or missiles.
That means the U.S., its friends and allies need defenses that can do the job at a low cost. Two technologies have that covered: Lasers and high-power microwaves.
Counter-drone lasers use beams of intense, invisible light to burn whatever they hit. They are fast, they are precise, and as long as you have a power source, you can fire them until the end of time. High-power microwave systems are similarly effective, but in a different way. Rather than pinpointing a weak spot and burning a hole, they simply send out a pulse that disrupts drones’ control mechanisms and sends them crashing to the ground.
“It’s the sniper rifle versus the shotgun,” Hunt said.
Militaries are looking for options beyond that layer, he said. They include technologies like the Coyote unmanned aircraft system, which the U.S. Army is using for counter-drone operations; it can fly in swarms and carry a seeker and warhead to eliminate hostile drones. And the Stinger missile – originally developed to take down helicopters – now has a special fuse that allows it to defeat drones by detonating near them.
It’s all part of a plan to provide options that help stay ahead of the danger, Hunt said.
“The threat of today can certainly be countered. These drones are Wi-Fi and GPS-dependent. They’re very susceptible to weather conditions,” he said. “The threat of tomorrow may be different.”
What to do about drones
The tech that will protect airports, stadiums and military bases
Share
They’re a problem hanging over everyone’s head.
They hover over sports stadiums and have crashed into the stands. They shut down airports. They spy on soldiers and can drop crude IEDs with precision.
Cheap, capable quadcopter drones mean everyone from civilian air traffic controllers to front-line military commanders need new and specialized technologies to meet the threat.
“This is very fast-moving from a technology standpoint,” said Todd Probert, a Raytheon vice president who oversees the company’s work in space, intelligence and command and control. “Too much of the environment is reacting to it. They need someone to come in and system-engineer a solution to whatever their problem is.”
Sometimes the answer to rogue drones is as simple as knowing they’re there, and sometimes it is complex, like a coordinated counterattack with lasers, radio waves, small drones and even missiles. It all depends on who is responding – and what they’re protecting.
THE STADIUM
Pick your sport, pick your spot. Baseball in Boston. Football in California. Soccer in Scotland.
When drones buzz sports stadiums, authorities have to act fast to assess and address the threat without endangering the crowd. That starts with radars and electro-optical sensors that can pick out slow, low-flying objects, even in the clutter of an urban environment.
“Being able to detect those as far out as possible, as quickly as possible and in as much detail as possible, is paramount,” said Cliff Johnson, a director for business development in tactical radars at Raytheon.
With a good counter-drone radar, authorities can buy themselves time and track even the most haphazard drone flight pattern. But that leaves the question of how to deal with it.
At a stadium, shooting a drone down – or smacking it with what military officials call a "kinetic effector" – is simply too risky; you don't want to send shrapnel flying into the stands, and even a lightweight drone plummeting to the ground can injure people.
“You want one of those non-kinetic effectors that will just have it come down to Earth in one piece, or confuse it so it goes off, and not just have it go boom,” Johnson said.
In those cases, authorities can take advantage of drones’ dependency on radio frequencies. Jamming a drone’s GPS or Wi-Fi signal can confuse it and trip a mechanism that forces it to land or retreat.
THE AIRPORT
Airport radars are really good at looking for planes. But planes and drones aren’t the same thing.
While you can’t beat a traditional air traffic control radar for tracking a jetliner many miles away, the problem is that the drones causing the most trouble – those classified by the U.S. Department of Defense as class 1 and class 2 – fly below 3,500 feet. That’s far lower than air traffic control radars typically look.
“A class 1 or class 2 unmanned aerial system that is flying extremely low? These radars are looking so far out they wouldn’t even see that UAS approaching the airfield,” Johnson said.
Instead, he said, what airports need is a radar with a low gaze and a fast update rate. While a few seconds between blips isn’t a problem when monitoring big commercial planes on a planned trajectory, tracking the highly unpredictable flight patterns of drones is another matter.
“Even a small UAS could move a lot of distance in five seconds,” Johnson said.
For air traffic controllers, the response might end with detection. Once a system has flagged a drone in a restricted area – say, a hobbyist club flying within five miles of an airport – it may not be necessary to do much more than make sure it doesn’t go any farther.
“The FAA might not even be interested in effectors,” Probert said, using a military term that encompasses things like missiles, interceptors and lasers. “They don’t necessarily want to get involved in the ‘do something about it’ part. They might just send a police officer out to go take a look.”
THE MILITARY BASE
A sports stadium is one thing. A forward operating base is another, said Evan Hunt, a director of business development at Raytheon.
“It’s a different mindset: if it flies, it dies,” he said, “because we can’t afford for anything to get into this protected zone.”
The most dangerous thing about drones is how cheap they are. For a few thousand dollars, even ragtag enemy forces can deploy dozens of drones to run reconnaissance, harass a target or even drop an explosive payload – tasks that once required multimillion-dollar fighter jets, helicopters, large drones or missiles.
That means the U.S., its friends and allies need defenses that can do the job at a low cost. Two technologies have that covered: Lasers and high-power microwaves.
Counter-drone lasers use beams of intense, invisible light to burn whatever they hit. They are fast, they are precise, and as long as you have a power source, you can fire them until the end of time. High-power microwave systems are similarly effective, but in a different way. Rather than pinpointing a weak spot and burning a hole, they simply send out a pulse that disrupts drones’ control mechanisms and sends them crashing to the ground.
“It’s the sniper rifle versus the shotgun,” Hunt said.
Militaries are looking for options beyond that layer, he said. They include technologies like the Coyote unmanned aircraft system, which the U.S. Army is using for counter-drone operations; it can fly in swarms and carry a seeker and warhead to eliminate hostile drones. And the Stinger missile – originally developed to take down helicopters – now has a special fuse that allows it to defeat drones by detonating near them.
It’s all part of a plan to provide options that help stay ahead of the danger, Hunt said.
“The threat of today can certainly be countered. These drones are Wi-Fi and GPS-dependent. They’re very susceptible to weather conditions,” he said. “The threat of tomorrow may be different.”
Raytheon: Mastering the skies - Robust tech gives pilots a toolkit to achieve air dominance
Mastering the skies
Robust tech gives pilots a toolkit to achieve air dominance
An F-35A Lightning II test aircraft released AMRAAM missiles and AIM-9X missiles at QF-16 targets during a live-fire 2018 test over an Air Force range in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)
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It’s called air dominance. Pilots demand it.
“Basically, you own the skies and keep the enemy out from whatever they might want to be doing,” said Mark “Chairman” Mouw, a 25-year U.S. Air Force veteran who flew the F-4 Phantom II, and F-15 C/E. “Whether that’s preventing aircraft from operating in the sky or protecting our ground forces from anything that might come from the sky – in my mind, that’s air dominance.”
Much of air dominance depends on the technology that powers aircraft and that they carry, including avionics, sensors and weapons.
TECH EVOLUTION
Mouw, now a Raytheon engineer, cites reliability and precision as qualities necessary to the tech he used as he flew missions in 1990-1991's Operation Desert Shield.
“The engine, the avionics, everything down to the weapons – they would go where you wanted them to go, and they did it every time,” said Mouw.
Today’s fighter pilots rely on even more advanced systems, such as the StormBreaker smart weapon, which can see through fog, smoke and rain, and glide more than 40 miles. The winged munition is slated for the F-15E, F/A-18 Super Hornet E/F and all variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by 2023. The JSF can carry eight StormBreaker weapons internally and eight on the wings.
Other modernized tech includes the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, the first short-range, air-to-air missile to be used on the F-35. The U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Raytheon have successfully test-fired an AIM-9X Block I missile from an airborne F-35A. Introduction across the F-35 fleet is expected in 2020.
The newest version of Raytheon’s AMRAAM missile has increased range, GPS-aided navigation and a two-way data link, and is operational on all F-35 variants. It’s the only radar-guided, air-to-air missile cleared to fly on the F-35.
Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg Gruppen are developing the Joint Strike Missile for the F-35. The long-distance, anti-ship missile can change course in flight and fly at low, radar-evading altitudes.
TRANSFORMING COMMAND
The U.S. Air Force has deployed the Air and Space Operations Center – Weapons System at 22 locations around the world. The AOC-WS receives, hosts and parses incoming data used in the information-rich environment the Air Force calls “fusion warfare.” It allows combatant commanders to plan, oversee and execute theater-wide air and space missions.
“It’s the nerve center of air campaigns,” said Ian Mitchell, Raytheon Air and Space Operations Center Block 20 program director. “It’s where commanders plan, monitor and direct sortie execution.”
The current AOC-WS is highly advanced, yet there is still a lot of manual labor needed to create Air Tasking Orders. Raytheon is automating a number of processes with AOC-WS Block 20.
“We’re using commercial software best practices, including Agile and DevOps, to get new capabilities in days instead of years,” Mitchell said. “Many of these were existing capabilities, but now they’re automated. No more phone calls and filling out spreadsheets. It allows our commanders to make quicker, more informed decisions.”
VISION IN FLIGHT
For Joe “Grip” Beissner, who flew the F-4 and F-15 in a 27-year Air Force career, radar technology is a crucial element.
“I need the radar to do more so I, as the pilot, can use my eyes, ears and other sensors,” said the former fighter pilot, now a business development lead at Raytheon.
Today’s active electronically scanned array, or AESA, radar systems enable aircrews to switch from air-to-air to air-to-ground mode nearly simultaneously, painting a complete picture of the environment.
Radar warning receivers are also evolving. The ALR-69A, the world's first all-digital radar warning receiver, alerts pilots to threats in dense signal environments. The system is being tested on the F-16 Fighting Falcon and is installed on the C-130H Hercules and KC-46A Pegasus.
The ALR-67(V)3, which equips the F/A-18, is being upgraded to an all-digital variant to increase situational awareness.
In 2018, Raytheon received a contract to build the F-35’s most important sensor, the Distributed Aperture System. The DAS collects and sends high-resolution, real-time imagery to the pilot's helmet from six infrared cameras mounted around the aircraft, allowing pilots to see the environment around them day or night.
THE MODERN TOUCH
Tech advances have given Beissner’s son, a pilot who flies the latest variant of the F-15, more ability in the skies.
“He is quick to tell me, ‘What you used to fly is not what I fly now,’” Beissner said.
While the F-35 is critical to future combat, it’s important to keep legacy fighters like the F-15 and F-16 modernized for tomorrow's missions.
"The F-15—whether it be an F-15C or an F-15E —has done the job it has been expected to do extremely well for a very long time," he said, "I don’t see that going away, even in tomorrow’s fight.”
Mastering the skies
Robust tech gives pilots a toolkit to achieve air dominance
An F-35A Lightning II test aircraft released AMRAAM missiles and AIM-9X missiles at QF-16 targets during a live-fire 2018 test over an Air Force range in the Gulf of Mexico. (Photo: U.S. Air Force)
Share
It’s called air dominance. Pilots demand it.
“Basically, you own the skies and keep the enemy out from whatever they might want to be doing,” said Mark “Chairman” Mouw, a 25-year U.S. Air Force veteran who flew the F-4 Phantom II, and F-15 C/E. “Whether that’s preventing aircraft from operating in the sky or protecting our ground forces from anything that might come from the sky – in my mind, that’s air dominance.”
Much of air dominance depends on the technology that powers aircraft and that they carry, including avionics, sensors and weapons.
TECH EVOLUTION
Mouw, now a Raytheon engineer, cites reliability and precision as qualities necessary to the tech he used as he flew missions in 1990-1991's Operation Desert Shield.
“The engine, the avionics, everything down to the weapons – they would go where you wanted them to go, and they did it every time,” said Mouw.
Today’s fighter pilots rely on even more advanced systems, such as the StormBreaker smart weapon, which can see through fog, smoke and rain, and glide more than 40 miles. The winged munition is slated for the F-15E, F/A-18 Super Hornet E/F and all variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by 2023. The JSF can carry eight StormBreaker weapons internally and eight on the wings.
Other modernized tech includes the AIM-9X Sidewinder missile, the first short-range, air-to-air missile to be used on the F-35. The U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and Raytheon have successfully test-fired an AIM-9X Block I missile from an airborne F-35A. Introduction across the F-35 fleet is expected in 2020.
The newest version of Raytheon’s AMRAAM missile has increased range, GPS-aided navigation and a two-way data link, and is operational on all F-35 variants. It’s the only radar-guided, air-to-air missile cleared to fly on the F-35.
Raytheon and Norway’s Kongsberg Gruppen are developing the Joint Strike Missile for the F-35. The long-distance, anti-ship missile can change course in flight and fly at low, radar-evading altitudes.
TRANSFORMING COMMAND
The U.S. Air Force has deployed the Air and Space Operations Center – Weapons System at 22 locations around the world. The AOC-WS receives, hosts and parses incoming data used in the information-rich environment the Air Force calls “fusion warfare.” It allows combatant commanders to plan, oversee and execute theater-wide air and space missions.
“It’s the nerve center of air campaigns,” said Ian Mitchell, Raytheon Air and Space Operations Center Block 20 program director. “It’s where commanders plan, monitor and direct sortie execution.”
The current AOC-WS is highly advanced, yet there is still a lot of manual labor needed to create Air Tasking Orders. Raytheon is automating a number of processes with AOC-WS Block 20.
“We’re using commercial software best practices, including Agile and DevOps, to get new capabilities in days instead of years,” Mitchell said. “Many of these were existing capabilities, but now they’re automated. No more phone calls and filling out spreadsheets. It allows our commanders to make quicker, more informed decisions.”
VISION IN FLIGHT
For Joe “Grip” Beissner, who flew the F-4 and F-15 in a 27-year Air Force career, radar technology is a crucial element.
“I need the radar to do more so I, as the pilot, can use my eyes, ears and other sensors,” said the former fighter pilot, now a business development lead at Raytheon.
Today’s active electronically scanned array, or AESA, radar systems enable aircrews to switch from air-to-air to air-to-ground mode nearly simultaneously, painting a complete picture of the environment.
Radar warning receivers are also evolving. The ALR-69A, the world's first all-digital radar warning receiver, alerts pilots to threats in dense signal environments. The system is being tested on the F-16 Fighting Falcon and is installed on the C-130H Hercules and KC-46A Pegasus.
The ALR-67(V)3, which equips the F/A-18, is being upgraded to an all-digital variant to increase situational awareness.
In 2018, Raytheon received a contract to build the F-35’s most important sensor, the Distributed Aperture System. The DAS collects and sends high-resolution, real-time imagery to the pilot's helmet from six infrared cameras mounted around the aircraft, allowing pilots to see the environment around them day or night.
THE MODERN TOUCH
Tech advances have given Beissner’s son, a pilot who flies the latest variant of the F-15, more ability in the skies.
“He is quick to tell me, ‘What you used to fly is not what I fly now,’” Beissner said.
While the F-35 is critical to future combat, it’s important to keep legacy fighters like the F-15 and F-16 modernized for tomorrow's missions.
"The F-15—whether it be an F-15C or an F-15E —has done the job it has been expected to do extremely well for a very long time," he said, "I don’t see that going away, even in tomorrow’s fight.”
Air Force Conducts Successful Hypersonic Weapon Flight Test
Air Force Conducts Successful Hypersonic Weapon Flight Test
(Source: US Air Force Global Strike Command; issued June 13, 2019)
A B-52H bomber similar to the one used by the US Air Force to flight-test the sensors of the AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile it is developing. The weapon was not launched, and carried no warhead. (USAF file photo)
ARLINGTON, Va. --- The U.S. Air Force successfully conducted the first flight test of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on June 12 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
A sensor-only version of the ARRW prototype was carried externally by a B-52 during the test to gather environmental and aircraft handling data.
The test gathered data on drag and vibration impacts on the weapon itself and on the external carriage equipment of the aircraft. The prototype did not have explosives and it was not released from the B-52 during the flight test. This type of data collection is required for all Air Force weapon systems undergoing development.
“We’re using the rapid prototyping authorities provided by Congress to quickly bring hypersonic weapon capabilities to the warfighter,” said Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. “We set out an aggressive schedule with ARRW. Getting to this flight test on time highlights the amazing work of our acquisition workforce and our partnership with Lockheed Martin and other industry partners.”
The Air Force is leading the way in air-launched hypersonic weapon prototyping efforts. As one of two rapid prototyping hypersonic efforts, ARRW is set to reach early operational capability by fiscal year 2022.
“This type of speed in our acquisition system is essential – it allows us to field capabilities rapidly to compete against the threats we face,” Roper said.
The flight test serves as the first of many flight tests that will expand the test parameters and capabilities of the ARRW prototype.
The ARRW rapid prototyping effort awarded a contract in August 2018 to Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida, for critical design review, test and production readiness support to facilitate fielded prototypes.
Air Force Conducts Successful Hypersonic Weapon Flight Test
(Source: US Air Force Global Strike Command; issued June 13, 2019)
A B-52H bomber similar to the one used by the US Air Force to flight-test the sensors of the AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile it is developing. The weapon was not launched, and carried no warhead. (USAF file photo)
ARLINGTON, Va. --- The U.S. Air Force successfully conducted the first flight test of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on June 12 at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
A sensor-only version of the ARRW prototype was carried externally by a B-52 during the test to gather environmental and aircraft handling data.
The test gathered data on drag and vibration impacts on the weapon itself and on the external carriage equipment of the aircraft. The prototype did not have explosives and it was not released from the B-52 during the flight test. This type of data collection is required for all Air Force weapon systems undergoing development.
“We’re using the rapid prototyping authorities provided by Congress to quickly bring hypersonic weapon capabilities to the warfighter,” said Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. “We set out an aggressive schedule with ARRW. Getting to this flight test on time highlights the amazing work of our acquisition workforce and our partnership with Lockheed Martin and other industry partners.”
The Air Force is leading the way in air-launched hypersonic weapon prototyping efforts. As one of two rapid prototyping hypersonic efforts, ARRW is set to reach early operational capability by fiscal year 2022.
“This type of speed in our acquisition system is essential – it allows us to field capabilities rapidly to compete against the threats we face,” Roper said.
The flight test serves as the first of many flight tests that will expand the test parameters and capabilities of the ARRW prototype.
The ARRW rapid prototyping effort awarded a contract in August 2018 to Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida, for critical design review, test and production readiness support to facilitate fielded prototypes.
A sensor-only version of the ARRW prototype was carried externally by a B-52 during the test to gather environmental and aircraft handling data.
The test gathered data on drag and vibration impacts on the weapon itself and on the external carriage equipment of the aircraft. The prototype did not have explosives and it was not released from the B-52 during the flight test. This type of data collection is required for all Air Force weapon systems undergoing development.
Air Force conducts successful hypersonic weapon flight test
The U.S. Air Force successfully conducted the first flight test of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on June 12 at Edwards Air Force Base,
www.af.mil
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1140765063176790018
Edwards AFB✔@EdwardsAFB
The U.S. Air Force successfully conducted the first flight test of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on June 12 at Edwards Air Force Base, Californiahttps://go.usa.gov/xyqdu
14012:36 AM - Jun 18, 201964 people are talking about this
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The test gathered data on drag and vibration impacts on the weapon itself and on the external carriage equipment of the aircraft. The prototype did not have explosives and it was not released from the B-52 during the flight test. This type of data collection is required for all Air Force weapon systems undergoing development.
Air Force conducts successful hypersonic weapon flight test
The U.S. Air Force successfully conducted the first flight test of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on June 12 at Edwards Air Force Base,
www.af.mil
https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1140765063176790018
Edwards AFB✔@EdwardsAFBThe U.S. Air Force successfully conducted the first flight test of its AGM-183A Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, on a B-52 Stratofortress aircraft on June 12 at Edwards Air Force Base, Californiahttps://go.usa.gov/xyqdu
14012:36 AM - Jun 18, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Air Force's Future Stealthy Combat Drone Could Use AI to Learn
Air Force's Future Stealthy Combat Drone Could Use AI to Learn
The XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, a long-range, high subsonic unmanned air vehicle completed its inaugural flight March 5, 2019 at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. (U.S. Air Force photo)
20 Jun 2019
Military.com | By Oriana Pawlyk
SALON DU BOURGET, PARIS -- The company working with the U.S. Air Force to create what may be the service's first artificial intelligence drone is gearing up for the final few demo tests, according to an industry official.
Kratos Defense completed its second test flight of the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned aerial vehicle -- which in the near future could accommodate AI -- on June 11 at test ranges in Yuma, Arizona. And "the final three flights are going to occur over the next several months before the end of 2019, [possibly] into early 2020," Kratos Defense CEO and President Eric DeMarco told Military.com here at the Paris Air Show.
The latest news comes as the Air Force is looking to expedite the prototype program. Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said Monday there's potential to field some Valkyrie drones faster -- roughly 20 to 30 -- for experimentation before the service syncs manned fighters with the drone by 2023.
DeMarco said Roper's idea doesn't come as a surprise.
Related content:
Parallel to Kratos' work, the Air Force Research Lab is working on the "Skyborg" program, aimed at pairing AI with a human in the cockpit. "The Air Force Research Lab has been nothing short of an incredible partner. It's their brainpower, it's their facilities, their capability. They're A-plus," DeMarco said.
The goal is to incorporate the Skyborg network into Valkyrie alongside manned fighters, so the machine can learn how to fly and even train with its pilot. The drones will then be sent out alongside F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or other fighters to scout enemy territory ahead of a strike, or to gather intel for the pilot in the formation.
This "is about augmenting the man fighter, not replacing them, and putting all types of interesting payloads on the Valkyrie to really emphasize that mission package," DeMarco said.
He said Valkyrie, a long-range, high-subsonic UAV, has incorporated a lot of lessons from Kratos' other subsonic drone, the Mako.
"Mako continues to fly for various customers with all types of payloads," he said. It was designed to carry a 350-pound internal and/or 500-pound external payload, as well as 100-pound payloads on each wing. That includes electronic warfare or jamming equipment, infrared search and track sensors, and offensive and defensive weapons.
"Mako [is] a test bed, running a parallel path with the Valkyrie, so when the Valkyrie is ready, those payloads can more easily be ported over and integrated into Valkyrie because they've already been demonstrated in an unmanned platform," DeMarco said.
The Valkyrie specifically can "carry four small diameter bombs internally," he added.
While other defense contractors such as Boeing Co. are also working on manned-unmanned teaming, DeMarco said Kratos -- which first demonstrated manned-unmanned teaming in 2015 -- is readying to produce in bulk. "We're going to start ordering long-lead items, such as engines, because if we're intending to start delivering these airplanes at the end of next year, we need to get going on them now."
He touted Kratos' ability to create drones that don't need a safe space to land.
"All of our drones, including the Valkyrie, are runway independent; they're launched off a rail … and [are] independent on recovery," DeMarco said. "We can land via parachute on land or in the water."
He continued, "Our drones can be pre-deployed in various locations. Let's say, for example, a container or some sort of door opens. The railway slides out, and a squadron has launched. Some of our customers believe that is critically important for potential future conflict."
Air Force's Future Stealthy Combat Drone Could Use AI to Learn
The XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, a long-range, high subsonic unmanned air vehicle completed its inaugural flight March 5, 2019 at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona. (U.S. Air Force photo)
20 Jun 2019
Military.com | By Oriana Pawlyk
SALON DU BOURGET, PARIS -- The company working with the U.S. Air Force to create what may be the service's first artificial intelligence drone is gearing up for the final few demo tests, according to an industry official.
Kratos Defense completed its second test flight of the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned aerial vehicle -- which in the near future could accommodate AI -- on June 11 at test ranges in Yuma, Arizona. And "the final three flights are going to occur over the next several months before the end of 2019, [possibly] into early 2020," Kratos Defense CEO and President Eric DeMarco told Military.com here at the Paris Air Show.
The latest news comes as the Air Force is looking to expedite the prototype program. Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said Monday there's potential to field some Valkyrie drones faster -- roughly 20 to 30 -- for experimentation before the service syncs manned fighters with the drone by 2023.
DeMarco said Roper's idea doesn't come as a surprise.
Related content:
- R2-D2 in the Cockpit? Air Force Testing 'Skyborg' AI Program
- Air Force Conducts Flight Tests With Subsonic, Autonomous Drones
- Russia's MiG Developing Drone Wingman Concept for Fighters
Parallel to Kratos' work, the Air Force Research Lab is working on the "Skyborg" program, aimed at pairing AI with a human in the cockpit. "The Air Force Research Lab has been nothing short of an incredible partner. It's their brainpower, it's their facilities, their capability. They're A-plus," DeMarco said.
The goal is to incorporate the Skyborg network into Valkyrie alongside manned fighters, so the machine can learn how to fly and even train with its pilot. The drones will then be sent out alongside F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or other fighters to scout enemy territory ahead of a strike, or to gather intel for the pilot in the formation.
This "is about augmenting the man fighter, not replacing them, and putting all types of interesting payloads on the Valkyrie to really emphasize that mission package," DeMarco said.
He said Valkyrie, a long-range, high-subsonic UAV, has incorporated a lot of lessons from Kratos' other subsonic drone, the Mako.
"Mako continues to fly for various customers with all types of payloads," he said. It was designed to carry a 350-pound internal and/or 500-pound external payload, as well as 100-pound payloads on each wing. That includes electronic warfare or jamming equipment, infrared search and track sensors, and offensive and defensive weapons.
"Mako [is] a test bed, running a parallel path with the Valkyrie, so when the Valkyrie is ready, those payloads can more easily be ported over and integrated into Valkyrie because they've already been demonstrated in an unmanned platform," DeMarco said.
The Valkyrie specifically can "carry four small diameter bombs internally," he added.
While other defense contractors such as Boeing Co. are also working on manned-unmanned teaming, DeMarco said Kratos -- which first demonstrated manned-unmanned teaming in 2015 -- is readying to produce in bulk. "We're going to start ordering long-lead items, such as engines, because if we're intending to start delivering these airplanes at the end of next year, we need to get going on them now."
He touted Kratos' ability to create drones that don't need a safe space to land.
"All of our drones, including the Valkyrie, are runway independent; they're launched off a rail … and [are] independent on recovery," DeMarco said. "We can land via parachute on land or in the water."
He continued, "Our drones can be pre-deployed in various locations. Let's say, for example, a container or some sort of door opens. The railway slides out, and a squadron has launched. Some of our customers believe that is critically important for potential future conflict."
US Air Force looks to fast track cash to Kratos Defense for more Valkyrie drones
US Air Force looks to fast track cash to Kratos Defense for more Valkyrie drones
By: Valerie Insinna 2 days ago
1K44
The XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, a long-range, high subsonic UAV completed its inaugural flight March 5, 2019, at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz. (U.S. Defense Department)
LE BOURGET, France — Things are looking up for Kratos Defense’s XQ-58A Valkyrie drone. Fresh off its second flight, the U.S. Air Force is considering buying 20-30 aircraft for further experimentation, the service’s acquisition executive said Monday.
“I’m now looking at ways to do that and what the cost will be,” Will Roper told reporters on the sidelines of Paris Air Show, saying that the Air Force is looking for prototyping funds that it can access for a rapid procurement of those aircraft.
Read more from Paris Air Show 2019!
The XQ-5A Valkyrie is an “attritable” drone, the word the military uses for an asset that can be reused but is cheap enough that a commander could use them aggressively and would expect — and be comfortable with — some losses in combat.
What sets Valkyrie apart is not only its low price point, which Kratos estimates will be $2 million per copy in a production run of 100 jets or more, but also the aircraft’s near supersonic speed, long endurance and maneuverability, which could make it a formidable partner for manned fighter jets.
Introducing Skyborg, your new AI wingman
Future Air Force pilots might be getting their own R2-D2-like companion.
By: Valerie Insinna
Once the Air Force buys additional Valkyrie drones, the idea would be to pair those unmanned aircraft with manned fighter jets.
“Depending on what comes out of that campaign, the idea would be to look and do a program of record. You’d want to start spiraling the development,” Roper said.
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A decision on starting a program could be made as soon as fiscal 2021, and from there it would be only two to three years to begin production and fielding aircraft, he said. “I am really pleased we’re getting strong buy-in, strong appetite at the pointy end for attritable systems by our pilots.”
Roper’s comments come after another milestone for the Valkyrie — the second flight demo, held June 11 at Yuma Proving Grounds. According to a Kratos release, the aircraft completed unspecified objectives over a 71 minute test.
“With this most recent milestone, the readiness of the XQ-58A is accelerating and increasing the near-term application opportunities for the system,” said Steve Fendley, the company’s president of its unmanned systems division. “I am extremely proud of our development, production, and test teams who continue to deliver successful results, in record time, on our comprehensive system level efforts — rare within the aerospace and defense industry."
The Air Force Research Laboratory is partnered with Kratos to develop Valkyrie through the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator program, the service’s effort to field a “Loyal Wingman”-style drone that can be flown alongside a fighter jet or other combat aircraft in manned-unmanned teams.
But Roper has alluded to even more ambitious plans for Valkyrie or other attritable drones like it.
Not only does the Air Force want to add sensors and weapons to Valkyrie, but it wants to implant artificial intelligence in the drone so that it can train and learn alongside pilots, eventually growing in skill and becoming able to respond independently to threats.
Roper calls that effort “Skyborg” and in May told Defense News that the service was considering how to incorporate it with manned fighters like the F-35 and the F-15EX.
“I don’t want this to just be a laboratory project that lives and dies there in a petri dish. I want this to become a program,” he told reporters in March. “I want to see real, operational demonstrations within a couple years. And I will push them to be faster than that.”
US Air Force looks to fast track cash to Kratos Defense for more Valkyrie drones
By: Valerie Insinna 2 days ago
1K44
LE BOURGET, France — Things are looking up for Kratos Defense’s XQ-58A Valkyrie drone. Fresh off its second flight, the U.S. Air Force is considering buying 20-30 aircraft for further experimentation, the service’s acquisition executive said Monday.
“I’m now looking at ways to do that and what the cost will be,” Will Roper told reporters on the sidelines of Paris Air Show, saying that the Air Force is looking for prototyping funds that it can access for a rapid procurement of those aircraft.
Read more from Paris Air Show 2019!
The XQ-5A Valkyrie is an “attritable” drone, the word the military uses for an asset that can be reused but is cheap enough that a commander could use them aggressively and would expect — and be comfortable with — some losses in combat.
What sets Valkyrie apart is not only its low price point, which Kratos estimates will be $2 million per copy in a production run of 100 jets or more, but also the aircraft’s near supersonic speed, long endurance and maneuverability, which could make it a formidable partner for manned fighter jets.
Introducing Skyborg, your new AI wingman
Future Air Force pilots might be getting their own R2-D2-like companion.
By: Valerie Insinna
Once the Air Force buys additional Valkyrie drones, the idea would be to pair those unmanned aircraft with manned fighter jets.
“Depending on what comes out of that campaign, the idea would be to look and do a program of record. You’d want to start spiraling the development,” Roper said.
Sign up for our Early Bird Brief
Get the defense industry's most comprehensive news and information straight to your inbox
Subscribe
A decision on starting a program could be made as soon as fiscal 2021, and from there it would be only two to three years to begin production and fielding aircraft, he said. “I am really pleased we’re getting strong buy-in, strong appetite at the pointy end for attritable systems by our pilots.”
Roper’s comments come after another milestone for the Valkyrie — the second flight demo, held June 11 at Yuma Proving Grounds. According to a Kratos release, the aircraft completed unspecified objectives over a 71 minute test.
“With this most recent milestone, the readiness of the XQ-58A is accelerating and increasing the near-term application opportunities for the system,” said Steve Fendley, the company’s president of its unmanned systems division. “I am extremely proud of our development, production, and test teams who continue to deliver successful results, in record time, on our comprehensive system level efforts — rare within the aerospace and defense industry."
The Air Force Research Laboratory is partnered with Kratos to develop Valkyrie through the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator program, the service’s effort to field a “Loyal Wingman”-style drone that can be flown alongside a fighter jet or other combat aircraft in manned-unmanned teams.
But Roper has alluded to even more ambitious plans for Valkyrie or other attritable drones like it.
Not only does the Air Force want to add sensors and weapons to Valkyrie, but it wants to implant artificial intelligence in the drone so that it can train and learn alongside pilots, eventually growing in skill and becoming able to respond independently to threats.
Roper calls that effort “Skyborg” and in May told Defense News that the service was considering how to incorporate it with manned fighters like the F-35 and the F-15EX.
“I don’t want this to just be a laboratory project that lives and dies there in a petri dish. I want this to become a program,” he told reporters in March. “I want to see real, operational demonstrations within a couple years. And I will push them to be faster than that.”
Air Force Developing AMRAAM Replacement to Counter China
News
Air Force Developing AMRAAM Replacement to Counter China
6/20/2019
––RACHEL S. COHEN
Maj. Douglas Rosenstock fires an AIM-120 AMRAAM from an F-35 Lightning II during a weapons test surge at Edwards AFB, Calif. Lockheed Martin photo by Darrin Russel via USAF.
DAYTON, Ohio—The Air Force is developing a new air-to-air missile, dubbed the AIM-260, that offers longer range than Raytheon’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile and would be used to counter the Chinese PL-15 weapon.
Air Force Weapons Program Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Anthony Genatempo told reporters in a June 20 interview here the service is working with Lockheed Martin, the Army, and the Navy to field the Joint Advanced Tactical Missile in 2022. Work began about two years ago.
“It has a range greater than AMRAAM, different capabilities onboard to go after that specific [next generation air-dominance] threat set, but certainly longer legs,” he said. “As I bring up JATM production, AMRAAM production is kind of going to start tailing off.”
The weapon is initially planned to fly in the F-22’s main weapons bay and on the Navy’s F/A-18, with the F-35 to follow. Flight tests will begin in 2021 and initial operational capability is slated for 2022, Genatempo said.
“It is meant to be the next air-to-air air dominance weapon for our air-to-air fighters,” he said.
The Air Force will buy its last AMRAAMs in fiscal 2026 as JATM ramps up, answering combatant commanders’ needs, Genatempo said.
He told Air Force Magazine the service hasn’t settled on how many JATMs it might buy in the outyears or how the program will ramp up.
“The future of what JATM looks like, especially out in that outyear increment, is very, very up in the air right now,” Genatempo said. “As far as lot sizes go, it’s on the order of a couple hundred per lot and I don’t think we have a definite plan.”
He expects JATM could be in production as long as AMRAAM, which was first deployed in 1991.
News
Air Force Developing AMRAAM Replacement to Counter China
6/20/2019
––RACHEL S. COHEN
Maj. Douglas Rosenstock fires an AIM-120 AMRAAM from an F-35 Lightning II during a weapons test surge at Edwards AFB, Calif. Lockheed Martin photo by Darrin Russel via USAF.
DAYTON, Ohio—The Air Force is developing a new air-to-air missile, dubbed the AIM-260, that offers longer range than Raytheon’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile and would be used to counter the Chinese PL-15 weapon.
Air Force Weapons Program Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Anthony Genatempo told reporters in a June 20 interview here the service is working with Lockheed Martin, the Army, and the Navy to field the Joint Advanced Tactical Missile in 2022. Work began about two years ago.
“It has a range greater than AMRAAM, different capabilities onboard to go after that specific [next generation air-dominance] threat set, but certainly longer legs,” he said. “As I bring up JATM production, AMRAAM production is kind of going to start tailing off.”
The weapon is initially planned to fly in the F-22’s main weapons bay and on the Navy’s F/A-18, with the F-35 to follow. Flight tests will begin in 2021 and initial operational capability is slated for 2022, Genatempo said.
“It is meant to be the next air-to-air air dominance weapon for our air-to-air fighters,” he said.
The Air Force will buy its last AMRAAMs in fiscal 2026 as JATM ramps up, answering combatant commanders’ needs, Genatempo said.
He told Air Force Magazine the service hasn’t settled on how many JATMs it might buy in the outyears or how the program will ramp up.
“The future of what JATM looks like, especially out in that outyear increment, is very, very up in the air right now,” Genatempo said. “As far as lot sizes go, it’s on the order of a couple hundred per lot and I don’t think we have a definite plan.”
He expects JATM could be in production as long as AMRAAM, which was first deployed in 1991.
That's the LREW. It's apparently two stage. So the first stage is changed based on the need, short, medium or long range.
US Air Force builds first B-21 Raider 'test' stealth bomber
US Air Force builds first B-21 Raider 'test' stealth bomber
By Kris Osborn | Warrior Maven
Fox News Flash top headlines for July 9 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com
The Air Force is now building its first “test” aircraft of the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber aircraft engineered to elude the most advanced air defenses for decades to come and destroy high-value targets over enemy territory -- without being seen.
“We’re closely monitoring the build of the additional test aircraft and associated software to support the first flight,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told an audience at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
As for the timing of the first flight and many of the acquisition specifics, they are not available simply because the program is largely secret, in an obvious effort to prevent enemies from getting a jump-start on how they may seek to counter the aircraft. Although few details are known, engineers, observers, program managers and Air Force flag officers are all very clear -- this new bomber will introduce stealth technology the likes of which the world has never seen.
Following a successful critical design review, which closely analyzed many of the aircraft’s technologies, configurations and weapons, the Air Force has brought the program into its Engineering Manufacturing and Design phase - the point in the process where weapons and systems are built.
Much of the construction and prototyping likely involves subsystems, avionics and weapons integration, test aircraft manufacturing, of course, also includes engineering the stealth bomber’s external configuration.
US Air Force builds first B-21 Raider 'test' stealth bomber
By Kris Osborn | Warrior Maven
Fox News Flash top headlines for July 9 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com
The Air Force is now building its first “test” aircraft of the new B-21 Raider stealth bomber aircraft engineered to elude the most advanced air defenses for decades to come and destroy high-value targets over enemy territory -- without being seen.
“We’re closely monitoring the build of the additional test aircraft and associated software to support the first flight,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told an audience at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
As for the timing of the first flight and many of the acquisition specifics, they are not available simply because the program is largely secret, in an obvious effort to prevent enemies from getting a jump-start on how they may seek to counter the aircraft. Although few details are known, engineers, observers, program managers and Air Force flag officers are all very clear -- this new bomber will introduce stealth technology the likes of which the world has never seen.
Following a successful critical design review, which closely analyzed many of the aircraft’s technologies, configurations and weapons, the Air Force has brought the program into its Engineering Manufacturing and Design phase - the point in the process where weapons and systems are built.
Much of the construction and prototyping likely involves subsystems, avionics and weapons integration, test aircraft manufacturing, of course, also includes engineering the stealth bomber’s external configuration.
This is such an awesome aircraft. Probably just as awesome an aircraft would be the AC-130 gunship.
Wish we had a separate aircraft for CAS.
What fixed wing aircraft in service is preferred by our services for CAS roles ?