MILNET Brief

MILNET Brief
New Weapons, Q1, March, 2007

Q2-07, May 2007

Q3-07, September 2007

Q4-07, December 2007

Q1-08, March 2008

Q2-08, May 2008

The first quarter of 2007 has offered some interesting developments in weapons around the world. The most exotic, naturally, are weapons that one might expect from technology in science fiction works -- high energy weapons. The leaders in this area, at least publicly appear to be the U.S.

Another area of interest are weapons in space, and the Chinese have trumped everyone in this respect, however, only because Russia and the U.S. have kept their efforts extremely quiet. I suspect that anti-satellite developments in the 80s by both powers were not halted as much as shelved. Neither nation wanted an arms race in space, satisfying themselves to use space as the high ground for surveillance. For instancce the U.S. experimented with an F-15 that could launch a small rocket off its wing that would carry an anti-satellite weapon into space. Hard to confirm this, but there is enough rumor to make one believe this was possible. Rumors of a ground based laser to do the same job (in fitting with my "exotic" statement earlier) are a lot harder to believe -- the amount of energy delivered and focusing power for a laser to do damage from the ground to well outside the atmosphere is enormous -- I believe far beyond our capability today...the only thing that comes close is the Airbone Laser Laboratory -- ABL, and that shoots relatively close to a ICBM in the early parts of it's boost phase.

In any case, we'll try to summarize the weapons we've seen so far. Note this is, as you'd expect from a blog, a growing category of blog entries.

High Energy Weapons
First let's be clear, we mean beam weapons - lasers and microwave or perhaps even ultrasonic. Not kinetic in any way. We present a very brief table here, for more detailed information consult the two MILNET briefings Weapons for 2025 and the newly updated Directed Energy Weapons briefs.

Acronym/Designation	Who	Description	Status
ABL -- Airborne Laser Lab	U.S.	747-400F with chemical laser. Shoots down missiles in boost phase Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.	All major components ground tested, in early flight test phases.
ADS -- Area Denial System	U.S.	Prototype non-lethal weapon that uses focussed microwaves to make the surface of the skin feel extremely hot, fooling the subjects into believing there are about to catch on fire, forcing them to flee or seek cover. Beam is effective up to 500 yards away.	Field Testing, IOC 2010
ATL -- Advanced Tactical Laser	U.S.	Army gunship program - C-130 (AC-130?) with turret on underside to fire down onto battlefield	ACTD program In early flight testing of surrogate laser
JHPSSL -- Joint High Power Solid State Laser	U.S.	High energy laser (100kw) for all services. Northrup-Grumman	Development Contract
LADS -- Laser Area Defense System	U.S.	Mates HEW and the well proven PHALANX detect, track, and aim system	Proposed by Contractor
Skyguard	U.S.	Northrup-Grumman system using THEL. 3 20X8 ft. containers provide area defense	Proposed by Contractor
THELUS -- THEL Utility Study	U.S.	Pilots flying dogfights in simulators with conventional and then HEW. HEW gave them significant adavantages.	Study Ongoing

Laser Weapons Are Getting Closer To Reality, Sander Research, 03/02/2007
Lasers Go To War, David Lichner, NEWS11AZ, 01/25/07
Ray gun makes targets feel like they're on fire, Elliot Minor, A.P., MSNBC, 1/25/07

Ground Weapons
Several new weapons on the military arms market, including one well received equivalent to the Leopard tank.

Acronym/Designation	Who	Description	Status
EAPS Extended Area Protection and Survival	U.S. Army	Highly maneuverable artillery round that takes guidance in flight and uses tiny thrusters to course correct, bringing the round onto target. ATK	Development
ERGM -- Extended Range Guided Munition	U.S. Navy	Designed to upgrade the ubiquitous 5 inch Naval gun with a precision guided munition. The program is over a decade in development and still far from being called successful. Perhaps the Navy should look at having the Army rounds resized down to 5 inch? Or do the same with the 6 inch round being developed for the DDX -- next generation destroyer. Both projects are much further along. According to GlobalSecurity.com, "The 110-pound aerodynamic projectile is five inches in diameter and 61 inches in length, and uses a coupled Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) guidance system." The specs call for a round that can attack targets with great precision at ranges up to 41nm.	Overrun Development
Excalibur -- Precision Guided Artillery Round	U.S. Army	155mm artillery round that descends almost vertically onto the target and optimizes the fragmentation impact. The IA-2 extends the range up to 40km from a Palidan or LW155 artillery piece. Raytheon	Completed Field Testing
GMLRS -- GPS-MLRS Rocket System	U.S. Army	System fires up to 10 GPS guided 227mm rockets from the standard MLRS truck mounted launcher, for precision targeting within 16 feet of aimpoint. Lockheed Martin	Operational
NLSM -- Non-Line-of-Sight Mortar Program, part of Future Combat System program	U.S. Army	Self loading armored mortar vehicle with automated breech loaded mortar tube and loader. Much like tracked artillery piece, includes storage. BAE	Entering testing, delivery by 2014
THAAD -- Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile sys.	U.S. Army	Patriot like system that uses rocket boost to put a kinetic penetrator onto target destroying incoming missile well above battlefield. Uses Minuteman upper stages mounted on Pershing missile and battery (large, truck hauled 8 tube launcher)	11 major tests, expected to be fielded by 2010-2014
PJ-10 BrahMos Missile System	India	Cruise missile mounted 3 tubes per truck, 200km range, 3.2 ton missile that carries 660 lb warhead. Missile batallion has 4 trucks. Based on the Russian SS-NX-26 missile	Feb 2007 succesful test of Surf-to-Surf Missile Vers.
XK2 -- Black Panther Tank	So. Korea	Auto-load 120mm cannon with fully electronic command and control suite, and 50 caliber MG, 70km/hr	Entered Field Testing in March 2007, production to begin in 2010

Aerial
There has been some controversy in the U.S. over a weapons system called the hyper cruise missile. The program has actually been around for sometime, the X-43A popping up from time to time in defense news reports for over a decade. As the actual cruise missile's completion nears, there are also some ideas coming out to use orbital lift vehicles to create an anytime, anywhere sub-orbital mission capability. Thus the controversy -- a lot of anti-war and hand wringers worry about some of these proposals -- especially one that uses a submarine launched trident as a booster for the hyper cruise -- a launch profile that might make a nation believe they are seeing a nuclear launch instead of a conventional launch. Congress in a fit of apolexy directed the Pentagon to scrap that plan. Funny the vertical launch tube capability on subs is not all that different...we think maybe there was a different agenda at work here...we can't APPEAR to be launching a nuke now. Ridiculous. Unless we are launching a hyper cruise at China, France, the U.K., Germany or Russia, what's the difference? Stupid Pacifist Logic at work again. SPL is a growing threat to weapons development, expect more of the same lunacy as time goes on.

Acronym/Designation	Who	Description	Status
ERMP -- Extended Range/Multi-Purpose UAV "Warrior"	U.S.	Based upon the extremely successful Predator, the ERMP will loiter for up to 36 hours and carry a payloads of 300lbs internal or 500 lbs external. General Atomics Aerospace	Contract Awarded
JSOW NES -- Joint Standoff Weapon Network Enabled Seeker	U.S.	Adds a previously dropped requirement to network enable the AGM-154C seeker circuity. Raytheon FAS Description (Image at left is the standard AGM-154C JSOW)	Engr. Study Awarded
MQ-9 "Reaper" Predator-B	U.S. Army	Large bodied UAV that carries up to 3,000 pound payload, for instance 14 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, or other quantities in combo with GBU-12 and GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions. Fact Sheet General Atomics Aerospace	Final Development and Testing, 7 in service, full production decision not yet made
SDB-FLM -- Small Diameter Bomb Focused Lethality Munition (FLM)	U.S.	Upgrade to the current 200 pound small diameter bomb intended for small UCAV (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) - using carbon fibre technology to reduce radar cross section and overall weight. Boeing. (Image at left is the standard Joint Small Diameter Bomb)	Study Contract Awarded
JASSM-XR Cruise Missile XR Cruise Missile Extended Range	U.S.	AGM-158A upgrade: 5,000 lb (2,268 kg) missile with 2,000 lb warhead, range in excess of 1,000 n miles (1,852 km) Lockheed Martin (Image at left is the standard AGM-158A JASSM)	Contractor Study
Longbow Hellfire	U.S./ Japan	Major update to the Hellfire Missile System carried on the Apache Helicopter. Allows for attacks on targets over the horizon while the Apache remains hidden. The system can detect, track and attack using targeting information from other sources allowing for. "engaging a stationary tank target, with the Fire Control Radar (FCR) providing target data handover; engaging a stationary tank target, with remote target data handover from another Apache's FCR; and engaging a stationary tank target in strong headwinds."	U.S. Operational Japanese in OPEVAL
X-51 HCM -- Hypersonic Cruise Missile Wave Rider	U.S.	Mach 5 (3,000 mph) or greater cruise missile designed for sub-orbital profile on attack run. One version (the Prompt Global Strike System was ordered stopped by Congress, presumably for political reasons, however may still have life) was to use boost vehicles from converted non-nuke TRIDENTs launched from nuclear subs. Another booster envisioned is the Army Tactical Missile System rocket, dropped from a "mother ship" aircraft like a B-52.	Proposal First Test Flights in 2008

Robots
Robots in use by the military today are confined to remotely piloted vehicles, with the most in automation perhaps extending to autonomous navigation via waypoint programming. However, it won't be long before a part or all of the missions are fully automated. Here are some of the intresting robotic devices we ran across in our research this quarter.

Acronym/Designation	Who	Description	Status
R-Gator	Prop..	Contractor designed fully remotely controlled 6 wheeled vehicle built on the John Deere M-Gator platform iRobot Inc.	Proposed, Limited Production
RONS -- Remote Ordnance Neutralization System	U.S. Marine Corps EOD	Tracked EOD robot with remote controlled robotic arms and claws, TV camera and periscope. Similar to off-the-shelf systems currently in use by law enforcement EOD teams in the U.S.	Operational
Talon and Talon MRV	U.S. Army EOD	Tracked, remotely controlled EOD unit with long arm and claw. Two onboard cameras. Other Talon versions can be outfitted with M240 or M249 machine guns or Barrett .50 caliber rifles for armed recon missions. Foster-Miller Inc Robots Going In Harm's Way, Boston Globe, Jeffrey Krasner, 03/12/2007	Operational
TRAP -- Telepresent Remote Aiming Platform	U.S. Army EOD	Vehicle mounted teleoperated (remote controlled) high caliber gun system designed to detonate unexploded ordnance in the field -- such as cluster bomblets, mines, etc. Selected by the Joint Service EOD program. Can be mounted on the Talon MRV for increased personnel safety. Precision Remotes, Inc.	Operational
Viper	Israel	9" Tall, tracked robot for use in tunnels or low observability requirements, can carry 9mm Uzi machine pistol, a hand grenade or a bomb sniffing instrument. Elbit Systems Ltd.	Entering Field Test For Israeli Army

Also, work is progressing in the command and control field for robots...specifically a recent set of rules of engagement for autonomous robotic fighting units was published by John S. Canning of the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren titled Concept of Operations for Armed Autonomous Systems.

Sensors
In the area of sensors, a REALLY cool improved sonar...click on the image to see a video loop of the system looking at some scuba divers in action:

Dual Frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON)

SCI-FI Futures?
Anyone who has read cyber novels would be able to tell you where the possibilities lie in the future for military gear. These include weapons or vehicle controls that operate through direct connection to the brain through hard links (essentially a cable that plugs into your head and then goes to a weapon) is one of the most popular themes, as is nanotechnology -- little machines that can invisibily attack similar to a virus with similar if not worse results. And finally, the use of hardware embedded inside the human physiology and software to augment the brain through similar hardware in the brain case, all provide plenty of grist for the sci-fi writer's look at future warfare.

So how much of this is actually possible. According to a UK think tank, military analysts are already considering whether it is time to start real investigations into these technologies. Here is a quote from a recent article on the subject:

"Painting a picture of the 'future strategic context' likely to face Britain's armed forces, the world in 30 years will bring us information chips implanted in the brain; electromagnetic pulse weapons; the middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat; the population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls; and "flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilized by criminal gangs or terrorists groups.
Surprisingly, there are not a lot of references to nanotechnologies and its likely impact on society or the military for that matter. Where nanotechnology is mentioned it is in general terms, for instance:
"Innovation, research and development will originate from more international and diffuse sources and will proliferate widely, making regulation and control of novel technologies more challenging. The exploitation of these may have catastrophic results, especially those associated with nanotechnology, biotechnology and weapon systems. These may be unintended, for example ‘runaway’ nanotechnology or biotechnology, or intended, such as the development and use of directed energy or electromagnetic-pulse weapons."
"Nanotechnology is likely to be an important enabler for other developments, for example in electronics, sensors and commodity manufacture."
The report's authors state that it will be difficult to predict particular breakthroughs but that trend analysis indicates that the most substantial technological developments will be in: ICT, biotechnology, energy, cognitive science, smart materials and sensor/network technology.
"Advanced nanotechnology will underpin many breakthroughs, (See text box). Developments in these areas are likely to be evolutionary, but where disciplines interact, such as in the combination of Cognitive Science and ICT to produce advanced decision-support tools, developments are likely to be revolutionary, resulting in the greatest opportunities for novel or decisive application. Most technological breakthroughs will be positive, however, many advances will also present potential threats, either through perverse applications, such as the use of genetic engineering to produce designer bio-weapons or unstable substances, or through the unanticipated consequences of experimental technological innovation."
As far as military uses od nanotechnologies are concerned, the report foresees that small incremental changes in technology are likely to lead to disproportionally large increases in warfighting capability and effectiveness. "This is likely to lead to the reduction of transitional concept-to-capability timescales and increase the scope for technology leakage and more discriminating use of Off-The-Shelf (OTS) applications." - U.K. Guardian, UK military think tank provides a grim vision of the future, 4/11/2007

© Copyright 2007, Michael G. Crawford for MILNET