http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/miltech/ en-us Fri, 1 Jan 2010 10:02:32 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418868/posts Ongoing problems with the Minotaur 4 rocket will delay by 14 months the launch of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite, government documents show. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center planned to launch SBSS in October 2009 with what would have been the first launch of the new Minotaur 4 rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va. The service announced that month the launch would be indefinitely delayed with technical problems, though no further explanation was given. The Minotaur 4 relies on retired U.S. Peacekeeper missile motors for its first three stages... Space News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418868/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 10:02:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415197/posts The HMAS Melbourne has demonstrated the navy's updated naval air defense capability with the firing of a Standard Missile (SM-2) off Jervis Bay. Minister for Defense Personnel, Materiel and Science Greg Combet said in a written statement that the SM-2 would be further enhanced throughout 2010. "This missile firing was the first time an SM-2 has been fired from an Adelaide-class frigate," Combet said. "The missile was prepared, launched and supported in flight before engaging a target." Combet said Melbourne is now equipped with two modern missile systems to combat anti-ship missiles and aircraft. "HMAS Melbourne is an Adelaide-class guided-missile... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415197/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:09:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414820/posts Three years after deciding to start production, the Russian Air Force received the first two production models of the Su-34 fighter-bomber. The original plan was to put 24 aircraft into service by 2010. It was hoped that they would eventually be able to buy a hundred. Apparently one goal of undertaking serial production was to encourage foreign purchases. No luck there yet. The 45 ton Su-34 is a replacement for the 43 ton Su-24 bomber, which is beginning to show its age (over twenty years). There are 300 Su-24s on the books, but most of these are not fit for... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414820/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:59:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414227/posts Russia will press ahead with its Bulava missile programme, the country's defence minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday, despite another failed test launch earlier this month. "We are certainly not going to cancel Bulava," Anatoly Serdyukov told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview to be published Thursday, parts of which were obtained by Interfax news agency. "There's a whole series of problems and unfortunately we can not resolve them as quickly as we would like," he added. "Nevertheless, I believe that the missile will fly." The latest test over Russia's White Sea on December 10 ended in failure, owing... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414227/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:08:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412758/posts Lockheed Martin missile defense systems achieved several key milestones in 2009, including five successful intercepts and numerous other major accomplishments, further solidifying Lockheed Martin as a world leader in air and missile defense. With 20 successful Aegis BMD intercepts, six successful Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) intercepts and 26 successful Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile intercepts since the inception of those programs, Lockheed Martin continues to build on its unmatched legacy as the pioneer of hit-to-kill technologies. "Lockheed Martin is proud to continue to lead ballistic missile defense efforts for the United States and allied nations," said John Holly,... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412758/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:19:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412079/posts Testing of the Lockheed Martin Sniper Targeting Pod on board the B-1B Lancer bomber has been accelerated in recent and is nearly completed, leading to the Air Force's Air Combat Command plans to approve sending pod-equipped bombers on operational missions by mid-summer. Because the sniper pod is a desperately needed capability in theater, Edwards Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force and the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, combined the operational and developmental testing of a B-1B Lancer to accelerate the integration of the sniper targeting pod with the B-1B bomber. "Everyone at the here... Defense Update http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412079/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 07:22:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411977/posts One reason so many roadside bombs in Afghanistan use pressure plates or wire controlled devices to detonate these weapons, is because American jamming technology has made wireless detonation of the bombs so difficult. The U.S. Department of Defense is working on a third generation of jammers, to make sure the terrorists have to rely on less effective means of detonating their bombs for the foreseeable future. The most recent innovation in the areas was the JCREW (Joint Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare) 3.1 dismounted (wearable) jammer. These cost about $99,000 each. The wearable JCREW jammers are more useful... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411977/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:23:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411971/posts The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. a $75 million contract to develop the final design for a radically new space architecture in which traditional, large spacecraft are replaced by clusters of wirelessly connected orbiting modules. Dubbed System F6, short for Future, Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying spacecraft, Orbital’s design was selected among four competing study contracts issued in 2008 and 2009, according to a Dec. 18 company news release. The new contract is valued at $74.6 million over a one-year period. Gregg Burgess, Orbital’s vice president for national security systems in the company’s Advanced... Space News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411971/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:13:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410258/posts While the Pentagon may not have been listening to the increasing calls, from the troops, for a militarized smart phone, one defense supplier (Raytheon) has, and resulted in RATS (Raytheon Android Tactical System). Taking advantage of the open source Android operating system (think of it as mobile Linux), and the thousands of applications already available for it, RATS combines this with increasingly powerful, and inexpensive smart phone hardware, to produce something the troops want. Actually, RATS isn't a phone, it's a wi-fi device that looks like one (as does the Ipod Touch). RATS has GPS, a compass, vidcam and software... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410258/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:37:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410255/posts is similar in size (and appearance) to the American Predator (both weighing about a ton), but the Israeli vehicle is built mainly for endurance. The Hermes can stay in the air for 36 hours, and has a payload of 650 pounds (300kg). This means that, with its cruising speed of 125 kilometers an hour, the Hermes 900 has a max range of 4,500 kilometers. Thus the Hermes 900 could fly to Iran (1,500 kilometers distant), do some reconnaissance, and return. Although the 900 has a quiet engine, it is fairly visible, even at its highest altitude (nearly 10,000 meters/30,000 feet).... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410255/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:29:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410241/posts The U.S. Air Force’s ISR chief says a new bomber design will be more about intelligence gathering and non-kinetic weapons than about bombing. The arsenal of this “long-range, ISR/Strike” aircraft may eventually include directed energy and network attack, says Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Directed energy weapons under development by the Pentagon include a range of lasers and devices that produce pulses of high-power microwaves. Other non-kinetic capabilities include the attack of enemy sensors with very precise, exotic-waveform jamming and the low-power, electronic invasion of networks that link tactical weapon systems... Aviation Week and Space Technology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410241/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:42:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410232/posts The second generation of Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, BMD 4.0.1, successfully detected, tracked and conducted simulated engagements against a variety of different ballistic missile targets during a series of tracking exercises in the Pacific. The key feature of the new system is a new integrated signal processor designed to improve the system’s discrimination capability to defeat sophisticated ballistic missiles and their countermeasures. During a series of four tests, the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie – upgraded with the BMD 4.0.1 Weapon System – successfully detected, tracked and guided simulated Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block... Defense Professionals http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410232/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:15:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409346/posts $26 Software Is Used to Breach Key Weapons in Iraq; Iranian Backing Suspected WASHINGTON -- Militants in Iraq have used $26 off-the-shelf software to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, potentially providing them with information they need to evade or monitor U.S. military operations.Senior defense and intelligence officials said Iranian-backed insurgents intercepted the video feeds by taking advantage of an unprotected communications link in some of the remotely flown planes' systems. Shiite fighters in Iraq used software programs such as SkyGrabber -- available for as little as $25.95 on the Internet -- to regularly capture drone video feeds,... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409346/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:17:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407773/posts Afghanistan, American aircraft equipped with radar (that can see what's on the ground), are tailing Taliban suspects driving through remote areas. Operators in these JSTARS aircraft can track movement of ground units, or individual vehicles, over a wide area. Operators can also use the detail mode to pick out specific details of what's going on down there, like tracking the movement of vehicles fleeing the scene of a battle, or meeting with Taliban leaders. JSTARS is real good at picking up trucks moving along highways on flat terrain, but the equipment has now been tweaked to deal with the mountains... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407773/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:02:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407771/posts In Afghanistan, the Taliban are finding that their Medieval warrior mentality and physical hardiness are no match for smart bombs and even smarter intelligence work. The Taliban fighters are often described as clever and adaptive. They are. But the Taliban fighters, including many of the leaders, are illiterate and uncomfortable with new technology. They constantly get nailed using cell phones and walkie talkies (like the Motorola models available worldwide), even though it's common knowledge that the U.S. frequently eavesdrops. The Afghans believe the Americans are using some kind of pagan "magic", and if an Islamic warrior is pure-of-heart, the magic... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407771/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:54:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406490/posts The giant gold and silver satellite glittered against the black sky as space shuttle Atlantis closed in on it from below. Commander Hoot Gibson and pilot Guy Gardner flew the approach, while mission specialist Mike Mullane, at the other end of the flight deck, readied the shuttle’s robot arm for a capture. Downstairs in the airlock, mission specialists Jerry Ross and Bill Shepherd waited in their spacesuits for Gibson’s order to go outside and attempt a rescue. The mission of STS-27 had been to deploy the first in a series of new spy satellites that used radar to observe ground... Air & Space Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406490/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:28:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406487/posts The report card is mixed regarding next-generation nonkinetic, or limited effects, weaponry ­developed by the U.S. and its allies. Cyber-warfare turns on three critical aspects--attack, defense and assessment. Information-technology industry officials say attack capabilities are receiving attention and funding. Defenses against cyber-attack have begun attracting support because of persistent adversaries who flourish in the Wild West atmosphere of the Russian and Chinese cyber-worlds. The big shortfall, they agree, is in battle damage assessment (BDA). "I'm trying to render an enemy system nonfunctional with a nonkinetic attack," says John Osterholz, BAE Systems vice president for integrated cyber-warfare and cyber-security. "How do... Aviation Week and Space Technology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406487/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:11:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406485/posts The US Air Force Research Laboratory's X-51A WaveRider scramjet engine demonstrator completed its first captive-carry flight under the wing of its B-52H mothership from Edwards AFB on Dec. 9. The first free flight is planned for mid-February. The B-52 climbed to the planned launch altitude of 50,000ft during a 1.4h flight that checked out systems and telemetry. The next flight, planned for mid-January, will be a full dress-rehearsal for the first of four planned X-51A hypersonic test flights. The Boeing-built X-51A will be released at 50,000ft over the Pacific and accelerated to Mach 4.5 by a solid rocket booster. The... Aviation Week and Space Technology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406485/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:01:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406001/posts The military is a major user of supercomputers (the fastest computers on the planet). These machines were first developed, as were the first computers, for military applications. These ultra-powerful computers are used for code breaking, and to help design weapons (including nukes) and equipment (especially electronics). The military is also needs lots of computing power for data mining (pulling useful information, about the enemy, from ever larger masses of information.) Because there's never enough money to buy all the super-computers (which are super expensive) needed, military researchers have come up with ways to do it cheaper. A decade ago, it... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406001/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 09:19:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405420/posts (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 7). The U.S. Air Force’s recently revealed, stealthy, all-jet RQ-170 remotely piloted aircraft that has flown in Afghanistan has linkages to earlier designs from Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs, including the stealthy DarkStar and Polecat UAVs.The RQ-170 is a tailless flying wing whose upper surfaces have conformal sensor and/or communications pods faired into each side outboard of the centerline fuselage “DarkStar didn’t die when Lockheed Martin [retired the airframe for being too small and short-ranged],” says a now-retired company executive. “It just got classified.” The revelation of the RQ-170 comes as the Air Force’s top intelligence officer... Aviation Week. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405420/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:50:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404398/posts It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for... Air and Space Smithsonian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404398/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:37:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404399/posts It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for... Air and Space Smithsonian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404399/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:37:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404363/posts U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says that the service’s forthcoming budget request, though pinched by the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will likely include money for a new bomber and a new space surveillance system. The on-again-off-again Next-Generation Bomber (or NGB, also called Long-Range Strike), could re-emerge with the Pentagon’s fiscal 2011 spending request going to Capitol Hill in February, Schwartz said during a luncheon speech last week at the Credit Suisse/Aviation Week Aerospace & Defense Finance conference here. Defense Secretary Robert Gates put a hold on the NGB program last spring in... Aviation Week and Space Technology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404363/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:29:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401896/posts Lockheed Martin has marked successful entry into low rate initial production on the F-35 Lightning II Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). The first production units have been delivered to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, TX, for integration onto the aircraft. Embedded into the F-35's fuselage with an innovative faceted sapphire window, the low-drag, stealthy EOTS is the world's first and only sensor combining forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality. The F-35 EOTS will provide Lightning II pilots with significant air-to-air and air-to-ground situational awareness in a single compact and completely passive sensor. "Our team looks forward to meeting... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401896/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 08:34:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401743/posts It's been a long wait—in some ways, more than 50 years—but in April 2010, the U.S. Air Force is scheduled to launch an Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the newest U.S. spacecraft, the unmanned X-37, to orbit. The X-37 embodies the Air Force's desire for an operational spaceplane, a wish that dates to the 1950s, the era of the rocket-powered X-15 and X-20. In other ways, though, the X-37 will be picking up where another U.S. spaceplane, NASA's space shuttle, leaves off. Kompas.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401743/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 00:42:05 GMT