pmaidhof

Where is my June 2007 issue!

Corps looks to add armor to AAVs By Kris Osborn - Staff writer Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 6:18:23 EDT The Marine Corps is considering adding armor upgrades across the entire fleet of Assault Amphibious Vehicles, service officials said Tuesday. Plans for greater armor protection and survivability on the AAV are being evaluated, in part, due to delays with the Corps’ next-generation Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. “We have been putting together possible upgrade packets,†said Brian Prosser, Program Manager, Assault Amphibious Vehicle Systems, Marine Corps Systems Command. Now in its system development and demonstration phase, the EFV fielding date was delayed by five years in March to 2015, according to a stakeholder report obtained by the Marine Corps Times. The report also detailed cost increases for the EFV, indicating the acquisition unit costs per vehicle had risen from $12.3 million estimated last August, to $22.3 million each. The Corps is evaluating add-on armor packages for the 1,057 AAVs now in service, Prosser said. The upgrades could continue irrespective of developments with the EFV, said SysCom officials. With a current weight of 44,000 pounds, the AAV would be able to add some more weight and strengthen its defenses against known threats such as rocket-propelled grenades, said Prosser. “If an RPG hits your vehicle, a lot of what causes the damage is spall [shrapnel and fragments]. With armor upgrades you can reduce that stuff,†said Prosser. Armed with a .50-caliber M2HB machine gun and Mk-19 40mm grenade launcher, the AAV has been in service sine 1984. After the Gulf War in 1991, AAVs were configured with Enhanced Applique Armor Kits (EAAK) giving the vehicle modular, bolt-on armor capability, said Prosser. The EAAKs give the Marines the ability to add more protective armor to the AAV. Current armor on the AAV covers only the upper sides and the top of the hull. An upgrade packet would add armor lower down on the vehicle, allowing for additional protection against mines and IEDs, said Prosser. At the same time, adding armor on the lower portions of the AAV could prove difficult given the amphibious nature of the vehicle. Essential cooling systems are placed on the lower portion of the AAV to keep the engine from overheating while in water, Prosser said. “One of the challenges of going to 360 armor protection is that we have to swim in water,†said Prosser. The Corps is also looking at composites which reduce the corrosive effect of the ocean upon the AAV, SysCom officials said. [still waiting on what now is called the Expeditionary fighting Vehicle - FKA Advance Assault Amphibious Vehicles AAAV.] Find article here.

Frequently?

Navy launches show of force off Iran coast By Barbara Surk - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday May 23, 2007 9:12:42 EDT DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The Navy staged its latest show of military force off the Iranian coast Wednesday, sending two aircraft carriers and landing ships packed with 17,000 Marines and sailors to carry out unannounced exercises in the Persian Gulf. The strike groups led by the carriers John C. Stennis and Nimitz were joined by the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard and its own strike group, which includes landing ships carrying members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The Navy said nine U.S. warships passed through the narrow Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. Aircraft aboard the three carriers and the Bonhomme Richard were to conduct air training while the ships ran submarine, mine and other exercises. The maneuvers came just two months after a previous exercise in March when two U.S. carrier groups carried out two days of air and sea maneuvers off the Iranian coast. Before the arrival of the Bonhomme Richard strike group, the Navy maintained around 20,000 U.S personnel at sea in the Gulf and neighboring waters. Merchant ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz carry two-fifths of the world’s oil exports. U.S. warships have frequently collided with merchant ships in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf. Find article here.

Facing is extremely important as it relates to armor/penetration. Also important is the "hull down" orders button which is akin to a "]" or "}" in the unit orders dialogue, and the "delay" (for lack of a better descriptive title) button - it looks something like a wristwatch. The 1min combat turn is broken down into 4x 15sec pulses. Each left-click on that button will insert a 15 second delay in the execution of the next order. Example, if you two units next to each other. Give one unit three movement waypoints, then give the other two left-clicks of delay then one waypoint. The first unit will move a full minutes worth of movement, while the second will only move 30sec of movement. All good to synchronize your battlefield ballet.

SINGAPORE — Though small in size, the city state of Singapore resides in a busy neighborhood. It’s the home of the busiest port in the world, and it’s not uncommon to see several hundred container ships stacked up in neat rows stretching out dozens of miles from the downtown skyline. The Malacca and Singapore Straits also see about 1,400 vessels pass through their narrow channels each day. For a small nation with no natural resources or agricultural industry, maritime and port security are essential to the nation’s economic well-being. And security in the straits has global implications, experts say Col. Tay Kian Seng, head of naval operations for the Royal Singapore Navy, described complications similar to those encountered in U.S. ports. “The best thing we can do is to work together not just between agencies, but across boundaries,” he said at the Global Security Asia Forum here. Maritime security is the responsibility of three agencies in Singapore — the navy, the port authority and the coast guard. Like his U.S. counterparts, Singapore is attempting to increase the awareness of what ships are in its waters, what they are carrying and where they are headed. Ships weighing more that 300 gross tons are equipped with the automatic identification system — as they are in the U.S. waters. AIS transmits a signal identifying the ship and its bearing. However, Singapore has gone one step farther and installed similar transmitters in ships weighing less than 300 tons. The program identifies fishing vessels, pleasure craft, tugs and other small boats. This data is collected along with an extensive network of shore-based radars. “The challenge of course, is to collect seemingly insignificant data and placing them into a coherent situational picture,” Tay said. Singapore broke ground in March on the Maritime Security Center, which will open in about two years and be staffed with representatives of the coast guard, port authority and navy. It will be a “one-stop information center where a 24/7 maritime picture will be coordinated,” Tay said. Meanwhile, deterrence of terrorist attacks is a large part of the plan. Sea marshal security teams with members of the navy and coast guard carry out random boardings. The two services also do selective escorts for ships with hazardous cargo. The Malacca and Singapore Straits carry over 30 percent of the world’s commerce and 80 percent of the oil headed for China and Japan from the Middle East. An attack on its sea lanes would send ripple effects through the world economy, said Mikkal Herberg, director of the Asian energy security program at the National Bureau of Asian Research. Eleven million barrels of oil per day travel through the straits and that number is expected to double to 22 million by 2030, he said at a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars lecture in Washington. Liquefied natural gas shipments will see similar jumps. While little of the oil and gas is headed for the U.S. market, the U.S. Navy is active in patrolling the waters, he said. Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea all depend on the fuel shipped through the straits. “The security of the Malacca Straits is a complex issue that can only be tackled with the cooperation of the regional players,” Tay said. Singapore partners with Indonesia and Malaysia to provide a constant naval presence in the straits. The three nations also use aircraft to keep watch on the waters. There are several scenarios where terrorists would use the waters to launch an attack. One would involve destroying a ship and blocking sea lanes. Hijacking a small boat and sneaking into Singapore’s port to launch an attack is another possibility. Herberg said U.S. Pacific Command made overtures to the three regional partners to join in patrols but was “roundly rebuked” by Malaysia and Indonesia, who saw the request as a threat to their sovereignty. Singapore was more open to the idea, he added. Still, the U.S. Navy dominates the world’s sea lanes, which causes much consternation in China, which is decades away from building its own blue water navy, Herberg said. In a Taiwan war scenario, the United States could potentially stop oil shipments in the straits from reaching China, he said. Meanwhile, the stepped up patrols have sharply reduced piracy and sea robbery in the region, Tay said. Catherine Zara Raymond, an analyst based in Singapore with the Travel Risks consulting group, said scenarios where pirates and terrorists link up to create havoc in the straits are not beyond the realm of possibility. However, “there is little evidence to suggest that there has been a blurring of the lines between piracy and terrorism,” she said at the Woodrow Wilson center. Terrorist groups in the region such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines and the Jamaah Islamiyah in Indonesia have shown interest in attacking U.S. naval ships, and have used the seas to conduct operations such as kidnapping tourists. If the price was right, they could enlist criminals with knowledge of the seas to help them launch an attack. Blowing up and sinking a ship would not block the straits, she noted. Their narrowest point is slightly more than half a kilometer wide, so most ships would still be able to pass, she said. Mining the straits, however, could potentially be devastating. Even if terrorists spoofed such an attack, the regional navies’ minesweeping capabilities are not robust. And it could take days for a navy such as the United States’ to reach the area to ensure the lanes are clear. “The impact on the region’s economies could be severe,” she said. Find article here.

Just like the Air Force, the Army and the CIA, the Navy soon could be deploying its own armed drones. To that end, the Navy will request funds in fiscal year 2010 to begin outfitting its new surveillance drone with kinetic weapons. The drone, which is scheduled to enter service next year, is the vertical-takeoff and landing tactical unmanned air vehicle, or VTUAV, which is also known as Fire Scout. The aircraft is a modified Schweizer 333 helicopter that the Navy wants to fly off the decks of its littoral combat ships. During the next several months, the Naval Air Systems Command will be examining various weapons that are considered viable candidates for the VTUAV. “For the first time, we are looking at the integration of weapons on UAVs,” said Cmdr. Robert Murphy, team leader at the Naval Air Systems Command. The weapons must be lightweight, Murphy said at a conference of the Precision Strike Association. The Fire Scout can carry only a 600-pound payload. The aircraft is being equipped with electro-optical infrared cameras. The Navy is seeking funds in 2009 to add a radar sensor. The manufacturer of Fire Scout, Northrop Grumman Corp. of San Diego, already has fired 2.75-inch unguided rockets from the aircraft in tests two years ago at the Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. In the test, the Fire Scout lifted off, traveled nearly 10 miles to the firing range where the first rocket was fired. The aircraft remained in forward flight at about 40 knots during the first firing. For the second rocket launch, the Fire Scout increased its speed to 52 knots. Northrop Grumman is under contract to build nine Fire Scouts but anticipates much bigger orders, said Michael Fuqua, a business development manager. The future of the aircraft is tied to the littoral combat ship. If the Navy reaches its current goal of building 56 ships, it could end up buying as many as 100 Fire Scouts. Fuqua said the aircraft also could fly off the decks of larger destroyers or amphibious vessels. “It is qualified to land on any air-capable ship,” he said in an interview. The contractor tests at Yuma, which the Navy did not fund, only proved that weapons could be launched from Fire Scout, but the Navy still needs to do considerably more research in this area, said Murphy. Upcoming studies will address the options available for weapons and launch mechanisms, he said. The Navy would prefer to use weapons that already exist. “We don’t want to get tied to a big development,” said Murphy. “We want something we can integrate rapidly, that is easy to target.” Northrop Grumman has done its own analysis on the various weapons available, Fuqua said. “There’s lots of them out there.” Options include missiles, smart bombs, projectiles and laser-guided rockets, he added. The company would like to see the Navy adopt the Viper Strike semi-laser guided gliding weapon, which also is made by Northrop Grumman. The Army already has deployed the Viper Strike aboard its Hunter UAV. The gliding munition was designed to kill armored vehicles using GPS-aided navigation and a semi-active laser seeker. The company is preparing for a major evaluation of the Fire Scout next year, when the aircraft will be tested by Navy planners in a live combat scenario. “The primary threats are small swarming boats,” Fuqua said. The Fire Scout would hover over potential targets and provide images that commanders would use to determine whether an enemy boat should be struck. If needed, Fire Scout could also fly ashore for surveillance missions. The aircraft route would be pre-programmed before it takes off, but it can be redirected while in flight if necessary. It can be controlled via UHF/VHF narrowband AN/ARC-210 radios or by a Ku-band tactical common data link. The aircraft is designed to endure 12-hour missions at distances of no more than 110 nautical miles. Its current speed is 80 knots, but the Navy predicts its maximum speed will reach 107 knots, Murphy said. Eventually, the Navy wants the UAVs to exchange data with conventional attack aircraft, said Navy Capt. Donald Gaddis, program manager for the F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet. “We’re thinking about how to communicate with UAVs,” he said at the conference. For that purpose, UAVs should be equipped with the Link 16 air-to-air information distribution system, and they should be part of the so-called “precise participant location and identification” network. For the time being, the Navy will concentrate on understanding how to incorporate UAVs into combat scenarios at sea. “The problem with UAVs is that machines don’t understand the complexity of the decision making logic,” Murphy said. Just making them land on a moving ship is a “pretty complex challenge.” A major obstacle is the electromagnetic interference that occurs when the aircraft is trying to interact with radio emitters on the ship. The Fire Scout program started in 2000 as a replacement for the aging Pioneer, which the Navy and the Marine Corps have been operating since 1985. But the Navy stopped funding the Fire Scout in 2001 as budgets shrank. The service resurrected it in 2004 as the VTUAV. The Navy also has been engaged in an unmanned “combat air system” research effort to design and develop a strike aircraft that would operate from large-deck carriers. Northrop Grumman and the Boeing Company are competing for an upcoming award. The Navy budgeted approximately $240 million in 2007 for the “naval unmanned combat air vehicle carrier demonstration.” Find article here.

Report: Japanese navy leaked missile data The Associated Press Posted : Tuesday May 22, 2007 9:05:19 EDT TOKYO — Classified information about a U.S.-developed missile defense system was leaked from Japan’s navy to students at a naval academy, a news report said Tuesday, as officials investigated security gaps in military information shared between the allies. Investigators say the leak involved ship-to-air SM-3 interceptor missiles that are to be deployed on Japanese ships later this year, Kyodo News agency reported, citing unidentified officials. Investigators are already looking into the alleged leak of information about the U.S.-developed high-tech Aegis radar system used in warships. That information was also shared between the U.S. and Japan. “There are various investigations going on and I will not comment on individual cases,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a regular news conference Tuesday. Shiozaki did not specify whether investigators were looking into the SM-3 case. Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma said he had not “heard anything” about the matter. Hiromitsu Harada, a spokesman for Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force, and Kanagawa police refused to comment. Spokesmen for the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the U.S. Forces Japan likewise declined to comment on the report, saying it was policy not to discuss intelligence matters. Japan and the U.S. have been accelerating plans for a joint missile defense system to counter threats from North Korean missiles and nuclear weapons. Deployment of the SM-3 interceptors on Japanese Aegis-equipped ships is part of the upgrade. Investigators have also discovered leaks regarding a data system called “Link 16” used to share information between U.S. and Japanese military units, Kyodo said. The SM-3 information is believed to have been leaked to students at a naval academy, it said. On Saturday, naval and local police raided the naval academy over the alleged leak of Aegis technology. Local media said authorities believe that computer disks containing the classified data were illegally copied and circulated among dozens of students and instructors at the academy. The case first surfaced in March when police found one of the disks at the home of a Japanese naval officer in Kanagawa during a separate investigation of his Chinese wife over her immigration status. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed concern about the leak during talks with Kyuma last month in Washington. Earlier this month, Kyuma ordered annual interviews with all members of the military — about 250,000 of them — to tighten controls on information, the Defense Ministry said. The leaks come amid speculation that Japan may want to buy the newest — and most expensive — fighters in the Air Force, the F-22 Raptor stealth aircraft. Japan is planning to replace its aging F-4 fighters with a more advanced aircraft, but has expressed concern over the high cost of the F-22 and possible licensing problems. But the U.S. Congress has placed restrictions on sales, largely to safeguard its advanced technology. Find article here.

Some background: Urban Conflicts Shape New Recon Helicopter By STEW MAGNUSON Col. Mark Hayes and Lt. Col. Neil Thurgood are brimming with confidence while facing a Herculean task. Their mission is to develop and deploy a new, armed reconnaissance helicopter within four years. They admit that there are many who don’t believe they can pull it off. “Even the people who were skeptical have moved mountains to keep this program on track,” said Hayes, who serves as system manager of the Army’s reconnaissance/attack training and doctrine command at Fort Rucker, Ala. “There are a lot of skeptics out there,” said Thurgood, product manager of the armed reconnaissance helicopter (ARH) at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, Ala. “We will not get another chance at this. This program must be successful.” Thurgood vowed that the new aircraft’s first flight will take place March 22. The goal is to have the first unit equipped with 30 aircraft and eight trainers by September 2008. He expressed little doubt that they will hit these marks. “Every second counts,” he said at an aviation conference sponsored by the Association of the United States Army. “It’s important that we measure what we’re doing every minute of every day,” Thurgood said. “If you just kind of wave your hand and say we’re going to get there eventually, you probably will get there eventually, but we just don’t know when eventually is.” The ARH will replace the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, which has served since 1991. The need is acute. The Army requires 368 Kiowas, but fewer than 350 remain. When one goes down, there are none left in the inventory to replace them. In one recent incident, a Kiowa crashed near Mosul, Iraq, killing both pilots. The Kiowa has given the Army one of the greatest returns on investment of any aviation program, Hayes said. “We’ve been asking this airplane to do a lot of hard things for a long time well beyond its service life and well beyond the capability we designed,” he added. The need for an armed reconnaissance helicopter in urban battlefields remains strong, although there are always challenges to operating in such environments, Hayes said. The four-year development track the Army has laid out for the ARH will take place within the Iraqi and Afghan conflicts, barring no unforeseen troop withdrawals before 2008. In a 2005 annual report, David Duma, the Defense Department’s operational test and evaluation director, noted that the ARH schedule is “aggressive.” He cautioned against temptations to add new mission requirements during the development phase. Army Capt. Jeff Kalil, a reservist who flew while on active duty in Baghdad from March to December 2003, told National Defense that the urban landscape poses many obstacles to Kiowa operators. He described a typical scenario as being similar to police operations when officers track suspects down alleyways or streets in coordination with forces on the ground. Just like U.S. police, if a target flees into a building, the helicopter stands by as personnel on the ground attempt to flush him out into the open. Complications arise when pilots must keep track of the buildings, which vary in height, as they change speed and altitude to avoid ground fire. The two-pilot crew must do all this while maintaining radio contact with ground forces, often on different radio systems. The two theaters have influenced the new aircraft’s design, Hayes said, and it should be able to serve in all environments. “Somebody has to go to the cave and root out the dragon.” Scout aircraft need to be responsive to the ground maneuver commander and provide information about the battle space. It also has to offer adequate protection for the crew. To fulfill these requirements, and deliver the aircraft on time, the two managers are purposely avoiding any unproven or experimental technologies. Commercial off-the-shelf solutions, or systems already deployed on other military aircraft, are key. “This program is not about inventing new processes and new technologies,” Thurgood said. The two central criteria are technologies that work and that pilots truly need, he said. The ARH, like the Kiowa, will be based on the commercial Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. 407. Its engine will be the relatively new Honeywell International HTS900, a derivative of the LTS-101, which has more than 8.5 million operating hours. The cockpit computer system will have little in the way of new software. Of the 880,000 lines of code needed, 845,000 have already been written. The ARH’s updated engine will provide more speed and power than the Kiowa. Combatant commanders have indicated that they want the new scout’s systems to be equal to or better than the Kiowa’s. As a reconnaissance aircraft, the new helicopter is designed to be agile. Its base weight will be 3,882 pounds with a 223-mile range with the ability to remain airborne for 2.3 hours within a 62.1-mile radius, according to Bell. Kalil said such long-range missions are rare. Shorter patrols along roads are common, and his unit was often asked to fly in an area just to maintain a “presence.” Standoff sensors were used to locate black marketers setting up shop. If they spotted someone selling weapons by the side of the road, they would call in the location for ground forces to investigate. Their orders were to not engage enemies, but to report and withdraw. Hayes said the ARH will be able to fly down streets and alleys to support ground forces moving from building to building to root out insurgents. Armaments will be similar to the Kiowa, which has 2.75-inch rockets, a .50-caliber machine gun, and Hellfire missiles. A specific sensor package hasn’t been chosen either, but it will include a forward-looking infrared sensor, magnification capabilities for daytime operations with stand-off range to see in complex terrain. “Helicopters are a tough business in the urban fight,” Hayes added. Since pilot safety is the number one concern, the ARH will include armor to deflect small arms fire, as well as a standard aircraft survivability suite to help defeat infrared and radar threats. However, the increased speed and maneuverability, allowing pilots to escape hairy situations, will make the ARH more survivable than the Kiowa, Hayes noted. The ARH design has been directly influenced by lessons learned in Afghanistan and Iraq, Hayes said, although it will be designed to operate in any terrain. Kalil said the increased engine power will be effective, but he didn’t agree with the “evolutionary versus revolutionary approach” the Army is taking. “What would be revolutionary would be something that would enhance the safety, enhance the efficiency, reduce the maintenance time and reduce the cost per hour of flying the aircraft,” Kalil said. At the top of his list would be an airbag that would deploy in the event of a crash. “They put in them cars. The thought is ‘why not put them in a helicopter?’” He would like to see better optics, more dependable weapons and a reliable computer system that manages not only avionics and systems, but efficiently manages communications. “When you really start getting busy, the last thing you need is some clunky radio shorting out on you or dropping the secure channel,” Kalil said. To ensure they are delivering what the war fighters need, pilots, maintenance and logistics personnel are working alongside Thurgood at Redstone Arsenal during the development process. The pilots who are taking part in the development and flight tests are the very ones who will be assigned to the first unit. Kiowa personnel are also in the office “so we don’t have to relearn the lessons of the past,” Thurgood said. “As we make decisions, we can make them quickly because all the key players are co-located with us.” It is the user from the start designing this aircraft, “not industry saying ‘we think we know what you want,’” Hayes said. “We don’t make a decision until it flies with pilots who have flown in combat.” As the 2008 date approaches, more pilots will join the process. The “first unit equipped” standard will include the 30 aircraft, all of the support equipment, and personnel and everything needed to complete training and go to combat, Hayes said. The Army requested $141 million for fiscal year 2007 to buy eight aircraft. Logistics concerns have also been factored into the aircraft’s development. It is designed to be self-sustaining. “We can’t have a huge logistics tail spread out over the battlefield,” Hayes said. Two ARHs should fit on a C-130 and be mission ready within 15 minutes of arrival, according to Bell. Hayes joked that the accelerated timetable has caused his hair to turn gray and Thurgood’s to fall out. Nevertheless, neither wavered from their assertion that the milestones will be met. “Speed matters,” Thurgood said. “We’re managing on a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute status.” Find article here.

Army resumes recon helo effort; House says no By Kris Osborn - Staff writer Posted : Monday May 21, 2007 20:53:29 EDT The Army has resumed spending money on the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH-70A) program, led by prime contractor Bell Helicopter Textron. In March, Army officials temporarily halted funding for the program due to cost escalation and production concerns. On May 18, Army acquisitions undersecretary Claude Bolton and a Systems Acquisition Review Council reviewed the effort and lifted the funding ban. “The Army will continue with Bell Helicopter/Textron Inc. as the prime contractor for the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter,” according to a statement from Army Lt. Col. Carl Ey. The Army plans to acquire up to 512 ARH-70s. So far, Bell has been contracted by the Army to build 368 ARH-70As. “The recommendation by the Systems Acquisition Review Council, approved by the Acting Secretary of the Army, maximizes contract performance while minimizing negative cost and schedule impacts to the government,” the Army statement reads. “We’re extremely pleased with the decision to move forward,” said Greg Hubbard, a Bell spokesman. The Army aviation director for the deputy chief of staff had predicted May 11 that ARH development would resume. “There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that we have got to have an Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter, a replacement for the OH-58 [Kiowa Warrior],” said Army Brig. Gen. Steven Mundt. “We believe Bell can build it; we’ve got to come to an agreement on schedule and cost.” Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives are less convinced. The week of May 7, the House Armed Services air and land subcommittee recommended cutting $470 million from the ARH-70A program. The full House went further, recommending cutting all funding and calling upon the Army to hold an entirely new bid-and-selection process. In a recent deployability test, two ARH aircraft were loaded onto a C-130 cargo plane, then unloaded and made combat-ready in 15 minutes, Bell officials said. The ARH-70A carries Rockwell Collins’ Common Avionics Architecture System, Hellfire missiles, 2.75-inch folding-fin rockets, a .50-caliber Gatling gun, FLIR’s BRITE Star II day-and-night sensor, and laser designators that do not overheat and need no rest between cycles. “With the old system — a flash-lamp designator — if you designate for 30 seconds, you have to cool for 30 seconds,” said one FLIR Systems executive. “If you are flying along and you just designated a target and something else pops up, you can’t take it out. You can’t designate for the other guy to shoot it. With BRITE Star II, it’s like you see a target here along with another somewhere else, you are designating at the same time. The way it’s designated and the way it does its power management, it will designate all day long.” This FLIR sensor flew on an ARH-70A during Army tests in March at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., FLIR officials said. Find article here.

ROFL. Thought you called me a pansie. : May have gotten ugly real quick

For the technology kowledge deficient (I'm first in line - what the heck is a Patsyr? Thought you might be calling me out). Next questions are: Is it in H4 data? Will it be in HCE/HCDB? Pantsyr S1 Air Defense Missile / Gun System, Russia Pantsyr-S1 (also known as Pantsir) is a close-in air defence system designed to defend ground installations against a variety of weapons including both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, ballistic and cruise missiles, precision-guided munitions and unmanned air vehicles. It can also engage light-armoured ground targets. It was designed by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, Russia, and is manufactured by the Ulyanovsk Mechanical Plant, Ulyanovsk, Russia. "Pantsyr-S1 is a close-in air defence system designed to defend ground installations against a variety of weapons."In May 2000, the United Arab Emirates ordered 50 Pantsyr-S1 systems, half to be mounted on tracked GM-352M1E vehicles from Minskiy Traktorniy Zavod of Belarus and half on wheeled chassis. The first batch of was delivered in November 2004. However a new radar was requested by the UAE and first deliveries of the completed system are planned for 2007. Final deliveries are scheduled for 2009. ARMAMENT Pantsyr-S1 carries 12 57E6 surface-to-air missiles on launchers. The missile has a bicalibre body in tandem configuration, separable booster and sustainer with separation mechanism. The sustainer contains the warhead and contact and proximity fuses. The fragmentation rod warhead weighs 16kg. The missile weighs 65kg at launch and has a maximum speed of 1,100m/s. Range is from 1km to 12km. Two 2A72 30 mm guns are fitted with 750 rounds of a variety of ammunition - HE (High Explosive) fragmentation, fragmentation tracer, armour-piercing with tracer. Ammunition type can be selected by the crew depending on the nature of the target. Maximum rate of fire is 700 rounds per minute. Range is up to 4km. FIRE CONTROL The Pantsyr-S1 fire control system includes a target acquisition radar and dual waveband tracking radar, which operates in the mm and cm waveband. Detection range is 30km and tracking range is 24km for a 2cm² - 3cm² target. This radar tracks both targets and the surface-to-air missile while in flight. As well as radar, the fire control system also has an electro-optic channel with long-wave thermal imager and infrared direction finder, including digital signal processing and automatic target tracking. A simplified, lower-cost version of Pantsyr-S1 is also being developed for export, with only the electro-optic fire control system fitted. "The radar tracks both targets and the surface-to-air missile while in flight."The two independent guidance channels - radar and electro-optic - allow two targets to be engaged simultaneously. Maximum engagement rate is 12 targets a minute. The Pantsyr-S1E systems for the UAE will be fitted with a new MRLS fire control radar. MRLS is a phased array radar operating at 40 GHz (K-band), with a range of up to 28km. VEHICLE Pantsyr-S1 is mounted on a 10t Ural-5323 truck chassis with a turret that houses the armament, laying drives, sensors, control equipment and crew. The Ural-5323 truck is four-axle, 8 x 8 all-wheel drive with single tyre wheels. The first and second axle wheels are steerable. The engine is an air-cooled diesel Ural-745.10 providing 290hp. The dual-plate mechanical clutch has a pneumatic booster and three-range five-speed gearbox. A two-stage transfer case has lockable symmetrical interaxle differential. Suspension is by rigid-axle bogie on longitudinal semi-elliptical leaf springs. Front suspension is fitted with hydraulic shock absorbers. The Ural-5323 can ford up to 1.75m of water. A shelter-based version of the Pantsyr-S1 is also being developed. Find description here.

Burke skipper fired Sixth CO sacked in 6 weeks By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer Posted : Tuesday May 22, 2007 9:03:29 EDT NORFOLK, Va. — Cmdr. E.J. McClure, captain of the destroyer Arleigh Burke, was relieved of command Monday by Rear Adm. Dan Holloway, commander of Carrier Strike Group 12, according to a Navy official. Holloway had a “loss of confidence in her ability to command” following the May 15 “soft grounding” of the Burke off Norfolk as the ship was heading back into port. No one was injured in the incident, but damage to the ship is still being assessed, according to the official. McClure was temporarily reassigned to Naval Surface Force, Atlantic. Burke’s executive officer, Lt. Cmdr. Allen Hobbs, is the interim commander. Destroyer Squadron 2 commodore Capt. Larry Tindal was aboard Burke at the time of the grounding. His status following the incident, “will come out in the investigation,” by CSG 12 officers, the official said. McClure is the sixth CO to be relieved since April 16. Related reading: 5 COs fired in 5 weeks, and more may follow Find article here.

I did not yet have a chance to look at it, I brought my rules with me today for a lunch hour of fun. DaveS agreed that in his opinion the hit chance was too high for local control AA guns over on CSW (Harpoon #860) and also replied (I know you posted it there as well James so I'm also sure you have seen his response, but for all other concerned): One thing to note, there are changes to the gunnery systems coming (as part of the unification) and I would expect that this will also change the gunnery AA stuff. Pete Dave's reply found here.

5 COs fired in 5 weeks, and more may follow By Zachary M. Peterson - Staff writer Posted : Monday May 21, 2007 9:14:20 EDT The Navy’s recent troubled waters got even more turbulent May 11-16 as news got out of a destroyer grounding, a frigate apparently going dead in the water and a sub skipper being fired. The commanding-officer sacking was the fifth in as many weeks. What’s more, the Coast Guard “temporarily reassigned” the CO of a 270-foot cutter after he was arrested on charges of assaulting a bartender in Key West, Fla. The troubles began May 11, when the frigate Samuel B. Roberts was coming into port in Argentina after completing the annual UNITAS Atlantic exercise with other Navy and foreign ships. The Roberts experienced “engineering difficulties” and had to be pulled into port by tugboats, said Lt. Cmdr. Jon Spiers, a Naval Forces South spokesman. The frigate is commanded by Cmdr. Marc Weeks. It’s unclear exactly what caused the frigate to apparently go dead in the water. Spiers would not comment on the specifics of the “engineering difficulties.” He did note that tugboats pulled the ship into port at Puerto Belgrano. There were no injuries onboard, he added. Navy investigators are in Argentina assessing the ship’s condition and reviewing the incident. A few days later, the guided-missile destroyer Arleigh Burke ran aground off the coast of Norfolk, Va. Cmdr. Herman Phillips, a 2nd Fleet spokesman, described it as a “soft grounding,” noting the ship was able to arrive in port May 15 under its own power. There was no apparent damage to the vessel, Phillips added. Cmdr. E.J. McClure commands the Burke. Capt. Ralph “Larry” Tindal, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 2, was also onboard at the time of the grounding, according to the Navy. The Norfolk grounding is especially odd given the well-charted waters. The Navy declined to provide specifics and is investigating. The service reported no injuries. In the fifth skipper dismissal in five weeks, the Navy announced May 16 that Cmdr. William A. Schwalm was relieved of command of the fast-attack submarine Helena. Capt. Paul N. Jaenichen, commodore of San Diego-based Submarine Squadron 11 and Schwalm’s boss, said he had lost confidence in the commander’s ability to “maintain the Helena crew’s proficiency and level of readiness.” Jaenichen assigned Cmdr. Daryl L. Caudle, his deputy at the submarine squadron, as the temporary commander of Helena until a permanent skipper is named. Caudle most recently had command of the fast-attack boat Jefferson City. The latest firing comes on the heels of four others in the past month: * The captain of an electronic warfare squadron, just nine days after he took command. * The head of a major recruiting district. * The commanding officer of a destroyer headed for the Persian Gulf. * The commander of the historic ship USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides,” in Boston. None of the firings was related to mishaps or operational errors. The Navy has not released much information on the dismissals, but sources have suggested causes range from incompetence to fraternization to an allegation that a captain struck an enlisted crew member. The Coast Guard reassignment is more straightforward, however. Cmdr. Michael Sabellico, skipper of the 270-foot medium-endurance cutter Escanaba, was arrested in Key West on May 15 after an apparent bar brawl. According to the police report, Sabellico and several crew members were drinking at bars along the island’s famed Duval Street when they argued with a bartender at an Irish pub. Sabellico and the crew members allegedly were loitering in an alley when the bartender at Irish Kevin’s asked them to leave. They left as requested, but according to the report, Sabellico returned and scuffled with the man. He then left the scene. Sabellico was apprehended later and charged with simple assault. Sabellico remains the Escanaba’s skipper, but he was temporarily reassigned to the Coast Guard’s 1st District. Cmdr. Chris Austin has assumed temporary command of the cutter. Staff writers Patricia Kime and Gidget Fuentes contributed to this report. Discuss: 5 COs fired in 5 weeks Previous stories: 4 sacked in 4 weeks Coastie skipper arrested after Key West bar brawl Sub CO is latest in series of skipper firings Arleigh Burke runs aground off Norfolk Tugs tow Sammy B to port after exercise Destroyer CO fired while on way to Persian Gulf Skipper of historic ship Constitution fired CO of cutter Alex Haley relieved of duty New York-area recruiting commander relieved Prowler CO relieved after 9 days in command Find article here.

Welcome aboard squidly. Ensure that you either go to battlefront.com or gamesquad tacops folder to install the most up to date version which is 4.0.6[AH] TacOps Update. Also, try Team MCMains, then perhaps we could try a live network game. Enjoy. [Edit] Forgot about the Basic Training Scenario. Get comfortable with the interface first. The "TF" scenarios are the battalion task force sized. The "Team" denotes company sized. Team McMains is a small, very nice, company level scenario.

[This sums up some of the recent firings] Sub CO is latest in series of skipper firings By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer Posted : Thursday May 17, 2007 14:54:20 EDT SAN DIEGO — The skipper of the fast-attack submarine Helena was relieved of command Wednesday for “loss of confidence,” a Navy spokeswoman said, the most recent firing in what has become a rash of commanding officer-level dismissals for “administrative” reasons. Cmdr. William A. Schwalm was relieved of command of Helena by his boss, Capt. Paul N. Jaenichen, commodore of Submarine Squadron 11, said Lt. Alli Myrick, a squadron spokeswoman at Point Loma Naval Base in San Diego. Jaenichen made his decision based on “just a pattern of performance over time that was consistently not meeting the standards” expected of a commanding officer, Myrick said. The captain lost confidence “in his ability to maintain the Helena crew’s proficiency and level of readiness.” Schwalm was the fifth skipper to be fired in the past month — his four predecessors include the captain of an EA-6 Prowler electronic warfare squadron, just nine days after he’d taken command; the head of a major national recruiting district; the captain of a destroyer on its way to the Persian Gulf; and the captain of the historical ship USS Constitution, “Old Ironsides.” Although the Navy has officially revealed little about the various dismissals, sources have unofficially hinted that potential causes range from simple incompetence to improper fraternization to an allegation that a captain struck an enlisted crew member. Schwalm had assumed command of Helena on June 9 and led the submarine on a two-month deployment to the U.S. Southern Command region. He has been temporarily reassigned to a position at Naval Mine and Anti-submarine Warfare Command in San Diego, Myrick said. Jaenichen assigned Cmdr. Daryl L. Caudle, his deputy at the submarine squadron, as the temporary commander of Helena until a permanent skipper is named. Caudle most recently had command of the fast-attack boat, Jefferson City. Schwalm, a native of Petersburg, Mich., who was commissioned into the Navy in 1987, has served on five submarines, including the fast-attack submarine Philadelphia, where he served as the executive officer, according to his official biography. His other submarine assignments include the Daniel Webster, Sea Devil and Alabama. Among his military decorations are the Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal (three awards) and Navy Achievement Medal (two awards). Find article here.

Again. USCG Skipper Relieved

SLAM-ER

Is it just like everything else, that since we all have more opportunity to hear/read it, the more it "appears" to be happening. Reading navytime.com today, two more skippers have either been relieved, or have a good chance, in this case ground Arliegh Burke outside of Norfolk. CO of Arliegh Burke ran around, oh soft aground, so that's ok. CO of USS Helena (SSN) CO of USS Constitution And more than one or two over the past weeks that I am not currently able to pull up on the site. What's going on? Is it OPTEMPO? I'm not saying that there are not leadership failures in both the Army and Marines, but those forces are currently "engaged".

Defeatism: nor do I. However, the last time I checked both Iraq and Afghanistan fall in the CENTCOM AOR. CENTCOM AOR. And since he will be outranked by both Fallon and Petraeus, why not have this office be a function of USCENTCOM. I believe that it is in the process of being re-learned through hard knocks that there is no single "military" solution to an insurgency - sounds like Vietnam, Algeria, Indochina, Malaysia the list goes on an on - however, since CENTCOM is well entrenched there, why not put the non-DOD entities under the USCENTCOM Commander? I believe it was Colin Powell who coined a phrase, "Being Responsible sometimes meanings pissing people off". These governmental departments/agencies need to all be rowing in the same direction. Don't want DOD in charge, place DOD under State, someone needs to be in charge. Tough times call for tough measures. In 2002 I was a tiny spoke of a big wheel joint exercise which talked the talk of applying all facets of national power to achieve the mission. I believe "DIME" was a common acronym in use at the time. Diplomatic/Intelligence/Military/Economic IIRC. Bottom line was all agencies needed to work in concert. Victory has many fathers while defeat is an orphan. Perhaps LtGen Lute is looking to adopt? Just my opinion.

Trouble only in extreme cases. Occasionally slow/no load from the work ISP.

Japan To Vote On Modifying Pacifist Charter Written By U.S. By Norimitsu Onishi TOKYO, May 14 — The Japanese Parliament passed a bill on Monday calling for a national referendum on amendments to the country’s pacifist Constitution. The government will be able to hold the referendum as early as 2010, but experts say it may take far longer than three years to persuade voters and opposition lawmakers to back constitutional change. Polls show that Japanese remain split, especially on the Constitution’s Article 9, which renounces war and forbids Japan to have a full-fledged military. But Parliament’s action was an important preliminary step toward rewriting the American-imposed Constitution, a goal long cherished by the governing Liberal Democratic Party and one that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has deemed central to what he calls shedding Japan’s “postwar regime.” Any amendments would have to be approved by two-thirds of both houses of Parliament and by a majority of voters in a national referendum. The Liberal Democrats would effectively need the approval of opposition parties, which largely want to maintain the current Constitution or have their own plans for revisions. “The law will be implemented three years hence, and until then it is important to debate broadly and deeply in a calm environment,” Mr. Abe told reporters. Opposition lawmakers said Mr. Abe had used the Liberal Democrats’ control of both houses to ram the legislation through with little debate. They also criticized the lack of a minimum turnout requirement for the referendum, which would seem to give more weight to motivated supporters of constitutional change. The law bans public servants, including teachers, from taking part in debates over constitutional change. Critics said the ban seemed intended to prevent teachers, who tend to support the current Constitution, from influencing young voters. Under the law, Japanese 18 and older will be allowed to cast ballots in the referendum, after a current law requiring voters in national elections to be 20 or older is revised. Critics are calling that a ploy to raise turnout among supporters of change, because younger Japanese are less tied to the status quo. In recent years, the Japanese government has passed special laws that have stretched the limits of the pacifist Constitution, for example, allowing Japanese noncombat troops to operate in Iraq. The government is also moving to reinterpret the Constitution to allow Japan to engage in collective self-defense with the United States. The United States has long backed constitutional change so that Japan can play a larger military role as part of their security alliance. But such moves, coupled with increasing attempts by leaders here to revise Japan’s wartime history, are likely to unsettle its Asian neighbors.

Long but interesting narrated navy F-14, and A-6 mishap ejection video. Might have been Discovery Channel footage.

Wow At first thought, I immediately returned to the 1970 (?) early F-14 prototype crashing and burning further out on Long Island at the former Grumman Test Facility in Calverton