 MILNET Brief New Weapons, Q2-08 June, 2008 |
| MILNET Brief New Weapons, Q2-08 June, 2008 |
| Weapon
Acronym |
Who |
Description |
Status |
| New
Technology |
|||
| Cormorant Submerisble Drone  |
U.S. Navy |
a stealthy autonomous spy jet that starts and ends its mission 150 feet
under water. Launched from Ohio-class submarines, the four-ton aircraft
is designed with folding wings that allow it to fit inside a Trident
missile tube, which is about 48 feet long but just 7 feet wide. The
stealthy drone quietly floats to the surface...
slips back under the waves to be retrieved by a sneaky robotic
underwater vehicle. No flying prototype yet, DARPA will make
decision to proceed in September, Lockheed Martin is proposed
contractor. - Gizmodo |
Proposal |
| Robobug Surveillance Automotan  |
U.S. Army |
Developing small electronic insects,
spiders and snakes that have the ability to enter places before combat
soldiers and electronically report back what's inside, BAE just signed a multi-million dollar contract to develop the robots for the U.S. Army, the newspaper reported.Some of the insect-like robots will have small cameras, while others will have sensors able to detect chemical, biological or radioactive weapons - Daily Mail, U.K, (Fox News reporting) |
Development |
|
|
Harvard Microbotics Lab |
Developers are trying and conspiracy theorists
think the U.S. has already fielded surveillance devices...anti-war
nutcases claim that they are being photographed by them. Perhaps
a little ahead of the technology deployment, never-the-less there are
projects under way. This particular photo comes from what we can
only call a tech site, that tends to lend itself to conspiracy theory
from time to time. Article reads of intense paranoia, but the
picture is interesting, as is the "manufacuter"/researcher. |
Research |
SpyFlies (Entomopter) |
DARPA DoD |
Shown is a larger prototype which will
eventually be scaled down to just six inches, an articuled flying
machine that can carry experiments, visual or electronics surveillance
devicese. This is serious research hoping to expand military and
commerical capabilities in several arenas using Micro Air Vehicles
(MAVs). - How Stuff Works |
Research |
Free Electron Laser -- FEL Jefferson Labs  DDX: U.S. Navy Drawing |
U.S. Navy |
Intended to supplement or replace the rail gun on the DDX, the current prototype delivers some 10KW, with a design on the drawing board which will deliver up to 100KW. In November of 2006, the lead lab, Jefferson Labs, a U.S. Department of Energy facility announced they had achieved a 14.2 kilowatt beam of laser light at an infrared wavelength of 1.61 µm on Oct. 30. Previously the laserachieved 10 kW in the infrared at 6 µm in July 2004. | Development |
| Invisibility |
Berkeley |
Graduate
student Jason Valentine at Berkely's
nano labs says he has created a material that bends light around an
object coated with it so that the object appears to be invisible.
While only operating in the infrared spectrum, the technology may be
the starting point for an alternative to "negative refraction"
technology which currently only works on two dimensional
surfaces. The new tech uses "is made from 21 alternating layers
of silver and magnesium fluoride, arranged in a "fishnet" structure." - New Scientist Tech |
|
Liquid Body Armor USMilitaryAbout.com |
U.S.xArmy |
"key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid. STF is
composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid,
polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of
temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components
of STF. This combination of flowable and hard components results in a
material with unusual properties.
“During normal handling, the STF is very deformable and flows like a
liquid. However, once a bullet or frag hits the vest, it transitions to
a rigid material, which prevents the projectile from penetrating the
Soldier’s body," - USMilitaryAbout.com |
|
| Pulse Discharge Weapon and Power Modules  USMilitaryAbout.com |
U.S. Army |
The weapon is intended to be mounted on a
truck or tank, the weapon is hoped to deliver a 10,000-volt zap to its
target. Uses lithium-ion.power modules (batteries) which store
energy for the weapons extremely fast discharge, in the range of a
millionth of a second and last for up to 15 years without need for
replacement. Modules can also be used, it is hoped, with
high power laser systems or to drive electric engines for vehicles. - USMilitaryAbout.com (paraphrased) |
Early Development |
| Silent Guardian Pain Inducer  |
Silent Guardian is making waves in defence circles. Built by the U.S. firm Raytheon, it is part of its "Directed Energy Solutions" programme. What it amounts to is a way of making people run away, very fast, without killing or even permanently harming them...I tested a table-top demonstration model, but here's how it works in the field. A square transmitter as big as a plasma TV screen is mounted on the back of a Jeep. When turned on, it emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation - similar to the microwaves in a domestic cooker - that are tuned to a precise frequency to stimulate human nerve endings. It can throw a wave of agony nearly half a mile. Because the beam penetrates skin only to a depth of 1/64th of an inch, it cannot, says Raytheon, cause visible, permanent injury. But anyone in the beam's path will feel, over their entire body, the agonising sensation I've just felt on my fingertip. The prospect doesn't bear thinking about. - The Daily Mail U.K. |
||
| SWORDS Armed Autonomous Robot  Popular Mechanics |
U.S. Army |
Designed to carry the Squad Automatic Weapon
(SAW), the tracked vehicle is under development with a total of three
prototypes funded and fielded in Iraq for testing purposes only.
Rumors on the Internet that the program has been scrapped due to its
operating out of control are sensational internet garbage, as are
rumors that its funding has been pulled, or that the units have been
pulled out of the testing. To the contrary, the manufacturer and
the Army both state the test units have been in Iraq, uninterrupted and
proceeding as expected. The military is rightfully cautious,
ensuring that there is a "human in the loop" with all deadly weapons,
just as the Predator drones, to make sure autonomous vehicles are not
generating friendly fire. |
Prototype |
Touch Table Future Firepower.com |
U.S. Navy |
Built by Northrop-Grumman, the touch
table is a HD display with built in touchscreen laid out on a tabletop,
to be used in tactical display and manipulation of spatial data.
Moving hands across the display pans it, moving them apart or together
does zoom out or zoom in. - Future Firepower.com (paraphrased) |
Testing |
| Littoral Combat Ship Trimaran LCS-2  Blackfive LCS-1  Defense Industry Daily |
U.S. Navy |
Designed to launch helicopters and work VERY
close in to shore, the faceted design may remind you of the Lockheed
stealth ship (Sea Shadow)and that is the idea. With a narrow and shallow
draft, the new ships are part of the Navy's focus on close-in shore
operations. The Navy plans to build 55 of them. This is the
U.S.S. Independence, LCS-2,
photo taken at
the dry dock in Mobile, Alabama, in April of 2008, built by Austal
Shipyards, prime contractor is General Dynamics. 50 to 60
knots, can carry a variety of combatants forces, for instance two SH-60
Seahawks, a large CH-53 class helo, UAVs on the flight deck as well as
can carry Strykers, Humvees or other highly mobile equipment
troops. Anti-sub or surface warfare choppers can add sting to its
inshore mission. It also has nice self defense including the 57mm
Bofors machine gun, SeaRam anti-ship missile defense as well as several
other seaborne defense systems, including a torpedo specific defense
system. See the specs on Wiki,
yes, that's right, Wiki has great coverage on this new vessel.
The Pentagon has cancelled LCS-3 (Lockheed) and LCS-4 (G.D.) The
program will go through rebid process between G.D. and Lockheed Martin.
Industry insiders say both contractors may no bid -- Navy is playing
games on funding models and the contractors are simply not going to
take the risks. If this happens it will be the smallest class of
ships since the Truxtan (nuclear powered cruiser in the 1960s).
Three
more will be awarded after the rebid, the other 49 are not yet
funded. The LCS-1 was launched in September of 2006. |
Building 2nd in final assembly |
|
Army Carrier
USAV-X1 Catamarran Helicopter Landing Ship  USMilitaryAbout.com |
U.S. Army |
"Army aviators began a new chapter in history March 25 (2004) when they landed two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters
aboard a new test vessel in the Yellow Sea." This appears to be a
prototype of the LCS-1 shown above, and the data is quite old.
However, it is the first time we ran across this report and thought it
interesting enough to publish on this page. - USMilitaryAbout.com |
Testing/
Certification
|
Man Jet |
Civilian |
A small group corporation has produced a
prototype of a set of wings that a man straps on like a parachute (and
includes the parachute as well). The guy can jump from an
aircraft, unfold the wings, glide, and then, COOL!!! fire up the four
small jet engines and fly up to around 180 mph. Landing is via
parachute, a little dicey but doable. The photo at left is of
Yves Rosey, the test pilot. "Rossy and his sponsors, which include the
Swiss watch company Hublot,
have spent $190,000 on the project". There appear (that might be
disinformation) to be no plans to market the craft, however, the small
jet engines company is very clear on the closeup photo, and the wing
itself is not exactly all that difficult for a miltary aerospace firm
to reverse engineer...assumiong of course the sponsers decided NOT to
ocntact with some forward looking military organization. The U.S.
Marines have deployed a small strap on glider, this would be a natural
upgrade. Check out the video on the bottom of the page at Wired.com |
Prototype |
| Thin-disk Laser |
Contractor |
Boeing Missile Defense Systems and Directed
Energy Systems Division is devloping a new laser system that has been
tested so far at power levels over 25 kilowatts for a few
seconds. The design integrates multiple solid-state lasers into
one system of lasers and hopes to scale the system up to a 100 kilowatt
level in one compact lower cost and more reliable laser system.
The system is designed to provide a rapid-fire, repaid re-targeting
area-defense weapon that is rugged and easier to power over purely
chemical laser based systems which are much larger and slower to engage
or retarget. - azooptics.com |
Development |
| Conventional
Battlefield Weapons |
|||
F-22 Raptor MILNET |
U.S. Air Force |
We've talked about the F-22
before, however, a video of a flight demonstration had us cheering or
hanging there with mouth open...you have to see this Lockheed Martin
flashplayer video on Firepower.com.
An aircraft that can from a full vertical stall, hang there for a
moment and then casually recover, still fully in control, accelerate
and maneuver into yet another square corner vertical climb, then rotate
-- yes rotate slowly on a horizontal plane. Or it can do a
slow speed vertical loop in what appears to be less than a 100 feet,
almost on its own axis.
Takeoff roll ain't bad either. Congress, of course, is slow
rolling the production, the most maneuvarible Mach 2 (supercruise and
stealthy) aircraft in the world is quite expensive per plane. |
Deploying/ Production |
| AGM-883 Advanced HARM  Raytheon Version Shown |
U.S. Navy / Air Force |
Advanced High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile -
Being developed by the Alliant corporation for the U.S. Navy, will
extend the capaibilites of the 25 year old missile to match more
sophisticated air defense which provide protection at longer ranges and
threaten the capability of the older missile. The concept is
competing with the Air Force's preferred (but not awarded) program
which uses a Raytheon ram-jet system that "replaces the AGM-88’s dual-thrust rocket
motor with a dramatically more powerful ramjet engine. Guidance is also
upgraded with satellite-based navigation, fiber-optic gyroscopes and
new software." |
|
| ARH-70A Arapaho Armed Recon Helicopter  Army Technology.com |
U.S. Army |
Based on the well known, well traveled and
reliable Bell 407, the Arapaho features an all new glass cockpit and
will carrry a 50 cal gatling gun, 7-tube FFAR pods, or up to 38 std
rocket tubes. Ceiling of 20,000 ft, and a 4 hr loiter time at
4,000 ft. See the Bell Brochure
(MILNET Mirror, PDF: 2.3MB). The Arapaho is the replacement for
the aging Kiowa. It can carry a few troops, but is not meant to
replace the light troop carrier, the Lakota. See the MILNET Helo Brief for more helicopter info. |
Taking Delivery |
Blimps  Blazing Talons |
DARPA |
Reserach contract vies a small firm against
Lockheed Martin to develop blimps that can carry 500 to 1,000 tons of
cargo to locations anywhere in the world within seven days. The
site "Blazing Talons"
doesn't think much of the idea pointing out that the blimp is a poor
vehicle in a combat area. Just shoot it down -- slow, easy to
puncture, etc. Of course, transporting to rear lines or like to
Kuwait or Saudi Arabia would be much safer, and clearly lower cost than
a dozen C-130 or five C-5 or C-17 flights. |
|
Chloe Laser Armed UAV Fox News |
U.S. Dept Homeland Security |
"If a terrorist launches a
missile, the UAV’s sensors immediately detect the missile’s thermal
scar. In just seconds, it fires its laser to jam the missile’s guidance
system.A terrorist need be within only 10
miles of a runway to bring down a plane as it lands or takes off, and
MANPADS can strike planes at altitudes up to 15,000 feet within a 2-3
mile range.
But Project Chloe could surmount
that threat, offering 360-degree protection over a vast area. “... One
of these devices flying above 60,000 feet would cover all of the
commercial airports in the L.A. County area,” Cohen said." - Fox News |
Proposal |
Lightweight Multirole Missile -- LMM  FlightGlobal.com |
U.K. |
Designed for smaller unmanned helicopters and
UAVs, the new missile uses elements from Thale's Starstreak missiles
system. The missile weighs approximately 13kg (20lbs) and
does not alter significantly the flight characteristics of lighter
airborne platforms. The project was launched in January of 2007
with first flight tests begun in December of 2007. The missile
has a range of 8m (4.3nm) and can carry a 3kg blast/fragmentation
warhead, and costs about half that of the larger Starstreak
missile. Thales will initially offer laser guided rounds
featuring forward wing independent steering (3 of 4) and may introduce
a GPS guided round in the future.Production goal in 2011. Janes adds
that Thales also based the design on the Strarburst missile system
allowing the missile to fit the same launching canister adding
fieldablilty on different vehicles and lowing support costs. |
Development, Flight Tests |
| M136 (AT4 CS) Confined Space Anti-Tank Weapon  Deagel.com |
U.S. Army France Sweden |
"a lightweight, recoil less, self-contained, preloaded, shoulder-fired,
one-shot disposable weapon designed for quick and easy operation. It is
suitable for any combat situation, even urban warfare. Its primary
target are armored vehicles, structures, fortifications and transport
vehicles. The AT4 fires a free-flight, fin-stabilized rocket with a shaped
charge warhead. The rocket features 84mm of diameter, weighs 1.8 kg and
0.46 meters long. The M287 is a derivative of the AT4 to provide
training. Saab and ATK have produced more than 600,000 AT4 weapons to
date." Spd: Mach 0.66, Rng: 984 ft., Wgt: 16.5 lbs, Diam: 84mm - Deagel.com |
Deployed |
FOAB Future Firepower.com |
Russia |
Skeptics doubt
Russian Claimbs however the device is worth mentioning -- according to
the Russians the FOAB (Father of all Bombs) is supposedly the
non-nuclear bomb with a 900 blast radius surpassing the U.S. 8 ton MOAB
which detonates with a 400 foot blast radius |
Development |
Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile -- JASSM  Future Firepower.com |
U.S. Air Force |
The JASSM is a low radar signature, stand
off missile with a range of better than 200 miles, and can be launched
well out of the danger zone to attack designated targets. The
missile carries a 1000 lb warhead, and can be fitted with nuclear,
chemical, conventional, or even biological warheads. Cost per unit is
$300,000 less than a Tomahawk cruise missile. A 500 mile extended
version in under develoment as well, both versions having stealthy
radar signatures. - Future Firepower.com (paraphrased) On May 2, 2008, the DoD has approved the JASSM for ongoing production , with plans to award the contract for 115 more missiles in June to prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The DoD has about 600 missiles already, with an additional 400 already on order. Upgrades also include a troublesome anti-spoofing modification for the GPS guidance which has plauged the development with misguidance on tests. 2,500 missiles will be manufactured by program end at a cost estimated at $6.1 billion., first deliveries began 1998. - Air Force Times (paraphrased) |
Delivery / Upgrades |
| Non Line-of-Sight Cannon NLOSC  GizMag |
U.S. Army |
The first of the vehicles on the Future Combat
Systems common chassis, the NLOSC is just entering its chassis testing
phase, focusing on the marriage between gun and the common chassis that
will be used in the majority of the FCS vehicles. The vehicle is
all electric, with a diesel generator powering an electrical powerplant
to move tracks and power firing computer and communciations.
Fires a 38 caliber (155mm) gun every 10 seconds. "esigned to move rapidly and set-up quickly, the Non-Line of Site cannon is capable of firing a round every 10 seconds and maintaining a sustained rate of six rounds per minute at ranges of nearly 15 miles. The NLOS-C is a hybrid-diesel aluminium-armored vehicle with extremely quiet 18-inch band tracks. Most significantly, it is far more automated than any mobile cannon in history, with an automatic ammunition-handling system laser igniter and enough robotics to reduce the crew from four to two compared to the Crusader it will replace. It is also half the weight of a Crusader, 30 percent more fuel-efficient and the lead manned ground vehicle system of the US Army's Future Combat Systems program." - Gizmag |
|
| P-8A Poseidon MMA LR Maritime Mission Aircraft  DefenseIndustryDaily |
U.S. Navy |
The U.S. Navy has contracted with the Boeing
Aircraft company to convert 737 cargo planes into extremely capable
submarine hunters. The program has been contracted for an initial
conversion of five planes at a cost of $3.9 billion. The total
program will build an additional three aircraft, presumably along the
full production specification, then churn out another 108
production line aircraft. Boeing is also looking at another 100
from foreign buysers such as India and Australia. The plant will
hope to produce 12 to 18 aircrarft per year. The aircraft will
have many of the same features in terms of sub hunting as the
vernerable Lockheed P-3A sub hunter including an internal bomb bay and
hardpoiknts on the wing for mounting torpedos or Harpoon anti-submarine
missiles. The first aircraft is expected to fly from the Renton,
VA. plant to Boeing Field near Seattle Washington. The next three
aircraft will begin flight tests in late 2009. The aircraft is
derived from the P-7 LR Air ASW-Capable Aircraft program (LRAACA) which was cancelled at the end of 1990. - Seattle Times (paraphrased) |
First Article |
M41A Saber Missile Saber Missile in Flight Launcher (Op29 Online) |
U.S. Marines |
Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided anti-armor missile system, one for one replacement for the aging TOW system.
The Saber is equipped with an integrated day and night
sight with up to
24 power magnification. The old system has two separate sights. It also
runs off of a lithium-ion battery that provides 12-16 hours of useable
time of the system between charges. Like the Javelin, the Saber
has targeting gates to better lock onto
targets. It also has joystick-like controls that make firing the weapon
a lot easier, also is equipped with a Position Azimuth
Determination System comprised of a dual-Global Positioning System that
gives the missileman his positional coordinates and those of his target
up to six kilometers away when using the integrated Laser Range
Finder.
The system is able to fire all and projected future TOW missiles
including the TOW 2B Aero and the TOW-Bunker Buster
missile. It can be mounted on a vehicle or fired from a
tripod. Testing is being conducted by the Marine Corps Systems
Command in West Palm Beach, Florida. - Marine Corps Training has begun with Infantry units beginning on both coasts in June or July, with trained units being fielded in August of 2008. additional link, Leatherneck.com |
Testing |
| SS-N-27B Sizzler Cruise Missile  |
Russia, China Iran? |
Introduced by the Russians in 2001, bought by
Chna, the missile is a two stage cruise missile that flys at subsonic
speeds to within 10 miles of its target and then its rocket booster
separates and flies the missile in at Mach 3. Highly manueverable
as well as fast, challenges, according to the MINA webiste, even
the U.S. Aegis system. Back in news because Pentagon officials
are challenging the Navy to provide details of defense, perhaps
dragging their feet on several important other programs til the Navy
comes through with a reasonable response. - MINA - Macedonia Online |
Deployed |
SU-47 Berkut Future Firepower.com |
Russia |
"reduced radar signature, thrust vectoring, advanced fly-by-wire
technology, and most notably a very unique forward swept wing design.
The Sukhoi SU-47 is extremely maneuverable at subsonic speeds and has a
maximum speed of mach 1.6. The SU-47 can carry a variety of air-to-air
and air-to-ground munitions." - Future Firepower.com |
Flight Testing |
Three New Virginia Class Submarines Named All Hands |
U.S. Navy |
SSN-780, 781 and 782 have been named U.S.S.
Missouri, U.S.S. California and U.S.S. Mississippi. The
Virginia Class submarines are the latest in stealthy underwater attack
subs featuring a host of new modern features...clicking on thumbnail
will yield a giant JPG of the Virginia Class Submarine features. |
Production |
| Weapon Locating Radar (WLR)  Air Combat Information Group |
Indian Army |
"The Indian Army is acquiring 28 highly
sophisticated India-made Weapon
Locating Radars (WLRs) to track and neutralize hostile artillery fire.
The radars are being integrated by the state-run Bharat Electronics Ltd
(BEL)...also known as Gun Locating Radar, helps track hostile fire and
directs counter fire within seconds...The heart of the WLR is the
advanced phased-array Rajendra radar... The Indian radar is also
fitted on the BEML-supplied Tatra vehicles, which are produced in India
under licence...The sensor is on a single vehicle, and the radar has
automatic
projectile acquisition and data transmission even in high density fire
environment. It has high resolution as well as remote displays
with the facility to change sector coverage as required in a
battlefield. The range of the radar was not specified but it is
believed to be 40-plus km." - ThaiIndian News |
Production |
XM-29 Assault Rifle USMilitaryAbout.com |
U.S. Army |
"XM29 is an integrated dual-munitions bursting weapon. It has an over
and under barrel with a fire control. The top barrel fires bursting
munitions using a fire control that programs the round, telling it
where to explode." -USMilitaryAbout.com |
Development |
