Smaller satellite terminal solution being fielded following Network Integration Evaluations

By Army News Service on Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Taking advantage of lessons learned through several Network Integration Evaluation cycles, the Army is fielding to its first unit a new, smaller ground satellite terminal designed to provide high-capacity, beyond-line-of-sight communications to newly digitized command posts at the company level.

“One of the main goals the Army had in creating the Company Command Post was the reduction of size, weight, and power consumption, referred to as SWaP,” said Lt. Col. Greg Coile, product manager for Satellite Communications, or PdM SATCOM, which manages the terminals. “We leveraged the NIE (Network Integration Evaluation) Process to inform a SATCOM solution that would reduce the Soldier’s burden and improve unit mobility.”

The Secure Internet Protocol Router/Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Access Point 1.2 meter Lite, referred to simply as SNAP Lite, was chosen as one of the SATCOM solutions to meet the requirement for a small form factor terminal to support the enhanced communication and mission command capabilities of the Company Command Post, or CoCP. This very small aperture terminal is a rapidly deployable, pack-in-the-box solution that extends the Army’s network and improves situational awareness for maneuver companies.

An Expeditionary Signal Battalion, or ESB, is the first unit to be fielded under the Department of the Army-directed requirement for CoCPs. The unit is scheduled to receive SNAP Lites, followed by two weeks of new equipment training. ESBs provide communication connectivity to disadvantaged users, often in austere environments, and Army modernization efforts call for an increase in ESB transport capability to improve battlefield communication.

The ESB’s SNAP Lites will be used to support the unit’s worldwide contingency operations as well as potential NIE support in the future. Additional SNAP Lites for the Army’s CoCPs will be procured and fielded as funding is determined, while other CoCPs in theater will utilize the larger legacy SNAPs for their SATCOM requirements.

“In the past we have always relied on larger aperture satellite dishes, but now we are fielding one that is smaller, lighter and more compact and can fit inside a rapid force deployment,” said John Lundy, SNAP project lead for PdM SATCOM. “The reduction in setup time and SWaP makes the unit more mobile.”

Like the legacy SNAPs, SNAP Lites provide secure and non-secure satellite communications for the CoCP. The communications and mission command systems that make up the Army’s newly enhanced, digitized CoCP are intended to deliver a new level of advanced voice and data communications to the company level and improve the flow of critical battlefield information.

“CoCP users can take their mission command systems and plug right into the SNAP on both classified and non-classified networks,” said Michael Sidwell, SNAP systems integration engineer for PdM SATCOM. “With the addition of these beyond-line-of-sight capabilities, the CoCP becomes a hub in battlefield operations where users can exchange critical battlefield information from the Soldier on the ground on up to higher headquarters.”

SNAPs work in concert with both Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, or WIN-T, Increment 1 and WIN-T Increment 2, which together make up the Army’s current tactical communications network backbone, essentially the Army’s Internet. In the past, Army maneuver companies did not have high-capacity entry into digital networks, and that reach-back to the network backbone is critical for today’s evolving missions.

“The introduction of SNAPs into the company level command post gives company commanders access to those high-speed digital networks,” Sidwell said. “The company command post connection completes an important part of the network architecture.”

The capabilities of SNAP Lite, along with other potential CoCP industry-proposed solutions, were evaluated during NIE 12.2 held in May 2012. The intent of the NIE process is to assess and integrate systems that meet an operational need or gap, primarily through Soldier-led evaluations during the semi-annual field exercises. The Army established a realistic operational environment at Fort Bliss, Texas, and White Sands Missile Range, N.M., to conduct these evaluations. NIE systems under evaluation, such as the CoCP SNAP Lite, are submitted by government and industry and go through a selection process to participate in the NIEs to receive a full assessment.

The Army’s solicitation for a small form factor terminal to support the CoCP included required vendor participation in a demonstration held at the Joint Satellite Engineering Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Engineers from Aberdeen Proving Ground’s Communications Systems Design Center were also leveraged to review and ensure the validity of the demonstration’s technical data, Lundy said.

“The CoCP directed requirement demonstrated that we could evaluate the latest technology and capability through the NIE then complete that requirement to gain the best value for the Army,” Coile said.

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Military Transports to Safely Fly Low-Level IFR with new Terrain Following and Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA)

The Head-Up Display view of the TF/TA system developed for the C-130. Photo: Elbit Systems

An innovative Terrain Following and Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) system under development at Elbit Systems, in cooperation with Northrop Grumman, will enable pilots to fly and maneuver more safely in Terrain Following/Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) flight mode under all weather conditions, day and night.

The two companies will display the new system at the C-130 Hercules Operators Council organized by the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin in Atlanta, later this month.

Under the collaborative deveplopment, Elbit Systems’ TF/TA head-up display (TA/TF HUD) application is coupled with Northrop Grumman’s AN/APN-241 Terrain Following Radar for an avionic upgrade for existing or new C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The TF/TA HUD demonstrator is expected to fly within the upcoming year on an international customer’s C-130 Transport Aircraft.

The TF/TA system relies on a Digital Terrain Elevation Database and the Terrain Following Radar as an active sensor, driven and controlled by Elbit Systems’ Smart Displays. Implemented as part of a “Glass Cockpit” concept, the system is positioned as a competitive and attractive enhancement for C-130 modernization and upgrading.

The system evolved in Elbit Systems’ Futures Lab, the company’s innovation center tasked with rapid prototyping and proof of concept evolving aerospace systems. The TF/TA system has already been selected for integration into an ongoing C-130 upgrade program.

AN/APN-241 weather/terrain avoidance radar from Northrop Grumman is used on the C-130J and C-27J tactical transport aircraft

Northrop Grumman’s AN/APN-241 radar has been selected as the standard radar for the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules and Alenia C-27J transport aircraft. Additionally, the AN/APN-241 radar has been integrated and installed on the CASA C-295 transport aircraft.

Elbit Systems and Northrop Grumman Collaborate in Developing Terrain Following and Terrain Avoidance (TF/TA) System to Improve Tactical Low-Level Flight Safety for Military Transport Planes. Photo: Elbit Systems

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Air Force assures F-22 readiness following extensive testing

By American Forces Press Service on Thursday, August 2nd, 2012

Following months of life support systems components testing in the F-22 Raptor, officials have “determined with confidence” the source of previously unexplained physiological incidents, the director of operations for the Air Force’s Air Combat Command said July 31 at a Pentagon news conference.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta last week approved a gradual lifting of restrictions he placed on F-22 flights in May.

The combined medical disciplines of flight medicine, toxicology, physiology, human factors and occupational health have enabled the service to assemble “pieces of the mosaic” that reside in the cockpit, Maj. Gen. Charles W. Lyon, designated by Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley in January to lead an investigative task force, said at the news conference. The general pinpointed the upper pressure garment, oxygen delivery hoses, quick connection points and on occasion, the air filter canister, as root causes of previously unexplained physiological incidents in which some pilots complained of hypoxia-like symptoms.

“As we completed end-to-end testing in the life support systems components, we are able to piece together the contributing factors for our previously unexplained incidents,” Lyon said, crediting an “integrated, collaborative approach by government and industry” in helping the Air Force develop its findings. The task force, Lyon said, leveraged the investigative efforts of numerous safety investigation boards and the Air Force’s Scientific Advisory Board to eliminate contamination as the root cause of the incidents.

Air Force officials used intensive altitude chamber and centrifuge protocols to isolate variables in the flight gear and cockpit connections, the general said. They also analyzed thousands of samples of gases, volatile and semi-volatile compounds, solids and liquids, and compared that data to occupational hazard standard levels.

“Managing risks to our F-22 force has always been pre-eminent as we work through this complex set of factors,” Lyon said. “In the end, there is no ‘smoking gun.’”

The fleet, grounded for five months last year, has flown nearly 8,000 sorties totaling more than 10,000 flight hours since its last reported unexplained incident in March, Lyon said.

In a recent update to Panetta that led to the decision to roll back the restrictions, Air Force officials said the service employed thorough, in-depth analysis to eliminate contamination as a contributing factor to its most recent incident and charted a path to eliminate all significant contributing factors today and in the future.

“We left no stone unturned in the investigative process,” Lyon said, adding that the service will continue to move forward with enhancements and fixes as NASA primes to conduct an independent investigation.

The Air Force’s investigative process also involved canvassing the F-22 communities to gauge pilot, maintainer and family member confidence in the aircraft’s safety, Lyon said.

“I recently visited our F-22 bases, and I can tell you, their confidence is high,” he said, noting that no hybrid high-altitude flight operations and high-maneuverability aircraft could be completely immune to such incidents. “There’s no other aircraft our pilots would rather fly in the service of our nation,” he added.

Panetta has authorized the deployment of a squadron of F-22 aircraft to Kadena Air Base, Japan, under altitude restrictions using the northern Pacific transit route. Upon completion of that mission, the Air Force likely will approve most long-duration flights, service officials said.

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TenCate Lowers 2012 Expectations Following a Drop in US Defense Sales

In anticipation of the publication of the half-year figures on Friday, 27 July, 2012, TenCate announced today it has adjusted its financial outlook for 2012; based on the current half year results, the expected profit will be below 2011 level. The company said that uncertain political climate combined with economic conditions has had a negative effect on government expenditure in 2012. TenCate’s half year revenues decreased by 9% to € 540 million during the first half of 2012.

This decrease had been partly anticipated. Revenues Advanced Armour and the Defender M product lines have thus far shown a decrease of approximately US$ 60 million, particularly with TenCate Defender™ M portfolio. Defender M is a flame retardant fabric developped in 2006 in response to an urgent U.S. military requirement for a fabric that could improve the protection from burn injuries, caused from Improvised Explosive Devices, (IEDs). In the following years TenCate Protective Fabrics USA won multiple solicitations from the US Army, US Marine Corps, US Air force and the US Navy and has become the fabric of choice for flame-resistant protection, credited with a major reduction in burn injuries. However, in 2012 this trend shifted. According to the company, due to an unexpected decline in buffer inventories at the US military.

TenCate hopes to offset this decline with new US orders for various army units, however, these new opportunities may not be in line for this year. In contrast, sales of Defender M outside the US showed a positive trend. Defender M is currently delivered to the Australian Army, Norwegian Navy and to the Soldier of the Future program of the Italian Army (‘Forza Nec’ programme). In addition the company has now established new business for Defender M in Canada, India, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Poland, the Czech Republic and Brazil. Additional prospects from follow-up orders from these countries and following trials in more than ten countries.

For the near term TenCate plans to sharpen its strategic focus by the integration of activities and ‘synergy effects’ which will also involve personnel reductions, in an attempt to save €25 million on an annual basis.

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Following the Trophy Success, RAFAEL Develops Hard Kill Countermeasures for Helicopters

RAFAEL has demonstrated key elements for an active defense system for helicopters, designed to protect from unguided weapons such as Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG). These threats that are typically fired from very short range, proved lethal against helicopters in recent conflicts, particularly in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. In a recent terror attack on the Southern border near Eilat, terrorists fired RPGs against Israeli attack helicopters, but luckily did not hit them.

Shoulder-Launched, Man Portable guided Missiles (MANPADS) are considered the common threat to helicopters and aircraft they are typically engaged by countermeasures (also known as ‘soft kill’ defenses). Such countermeasures include flares, infrared jammers and electronic countermeasures, aiming to distract, confuse or incapacitate the ‘soft elements’ of the threat, like the guidance systems of incoming missiles missiles, or their command links. In contrast, the RPG does not have a ‘soft side’, it is unguided, fired at a straight line from very short range, and when the warhead is activated, on impact with the target or other objects, its relatively large warhead causes an explosion that would destroy a soft target like a helicopter.

Widely used with insurgents and terrorist groups worldwide, RPGs and MANPADS  are posing a significant threat to helicopters, particularly in the take-off, landing and low hovering phase, as they make a large, slow and vulnerable target. MANPADS such as the Stinger, SA-7, 14, 18 and latest generation SA-24 are widely available, putting at risk aircraft and helicopters at low and medium altitudes. A number of new countermeasures are designed to address the advanced MANPADS threats, including new laser-based directional infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) and multi-spectral flares, but the RPG threat has sofar remained unchallenged.

RAFAEL’s new ‘Hard Kill’ technology marked an important milestone in September 2011, demonstrating the kill of an incoming RPG at a safe distance from the protected platform. The new system dubbed ‘Fliker’ is developed by the company’s MANOR Technologies Division with support by the Israeli MOD Defense Research & Development Directorate (DRDD).

Fliker is designed as an add-on defensive layer, augmenting existing warning systems and countermeasures used on combat helicopters. As such, it will be activated after all other measures have failed to defeat the threat, meaning the time remaining for engagement and the distance to the target are shortest. To minimize response time Manor designers developed a new launcher for this application, combining pyrotechnic charges and high speed electrical motors to achieve very high traverse rate, while aiming at the target with high accuracy to achive effective kill without initiating the RPG’s explosive charge. (the same counter-RPG concept is used in hard kill systems on tanks).

Specialized in the development of warheads, MANOR defined a unique kill mechanism for the Fliker, taking the impact point as far as possible from the protected platform and reducing collateral damage effect to minimize the risk of debris hitting the helicopter. The warhead is activated by an advanced optical proximity sensor also developed by RAFAEL. Fliker is designed as an add-on kit augmenting existing self protection systems operating on helicopters. The kit will include the specialized turret, interceptors and software enhancements to the self protection system, that will identify a threat ‘not responding’ to soft kill countermeasures, thus activating Fliker for the hard-kill.

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PyongYang Prepares for 3rd Nuke Blast, Following Missile Launch Failure

In defiance of international condemnation and pleas for restraint, North Korea launched its long-range Unha-3 rocket on Friday the 13th in an effort to place an Earth-observation satellite into a polar orbit.

International news media outlets are reporting that North Korea launched its Unha-3 three-stage rocket on Friday at 7:39 AM Korean time from its northwestern Sohae Space Center at Tongchang-ri in an effort to place a satellite into Earth-orbit. South Korean and United States’ sources are reporting that all preliminary data indicates that the launch failed shortly after lift-off. No launch confirmation has been provided by North Korea yet.

US, Japanese, and South Korean officials announced that data collected during the launch indicate the rocket broke apart, possibly within the first ninety seconds of flight. First reports say that an abnormally large “flare” was identified shortly after separation of the rocket’s first stage and the remaining portions of the rocket crashed somewhere in the sea. Officials speaking for the United States stated that no part of the rocket or the satellite made it out of Earth’s atmosphere.

South Korea scrambled military helicopters and ships immediately following the launch in a search effort to locate and retrieve any debris that might be found. Before the launch, the United Nations announced that the Security Council was scheduled to meet sometime on Friday to discuss the launch. It is unknown if this meeting will be held as scheduled or will be delayed now that the North has completed its launch effort.

The North’s launch was planned to be the highlight of the nation’s scheduled celebrations to commemorate the 100th birthday anniversary of Kim Il-Sung, the founder of the North Korean regime. Kim Il-Sung’s birthday, April 15th, has long been a national holiday in the North known as the “Day of the Sun.”While the failure of this launch is likely to be viewed by the international community as an “embarrassment,” it is equally probable that the North will claim that the endeavor was an unqualified success. Since 1998, North Korea has attempted four launches of multistage rockets, all attempts have failed.

South Korean representatives have expressed their belief that this launch attempt will be quickly followed by a new nuclear test in keeping with the North’s past history. Two previous satellite-launch attempts preceded nuclear tests and South Korean intelligence sources are reporting that work is now underway to prepare for another test in the same region where previous nuclear tests were conducted.

Based on information compiled by South Korean intelligence, reported by Associated Press on 9 April, it appears highly probable the North is nearing completion of necessary excavations at the northeast Punggye-ri nuclear test facility required to conduct a nuclear test. The Punggye-ri site was used to conduct tests following the failed rocket launches in 2006 and 2009.

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