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Brumby said:

"The program is also unusually advanced in terms of design and testing; the Air Force already has two robust prototypes in hand"

I thought this is a significant piece of news that there are already two prototypes built. That would also mean that more than likely the predominant technologies and design that would go into the LRSB are already bedded down.

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• Mobile Protected Firepower: BAE Systems will exhibit a solution to meet the U.S. Army’s proposed requirement for a Mobile Protected Firepower capability, which would involve an expeditionary light tank that could be air-dropped from a C-130 aircraft. The company’s solution is based on the purpose-built M8 Armored Gun System, modernized with mature technologies from the CV90 family of infantry fighting vehicles and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

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AUSA 2015: Rafael to display Trophy active protection system on Oshkosh M-ATV

Posted on 07 October 2015

Washington, AUSA October 2015 – Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., developer and manufacturer of TROPHY APS, the world’s only operational and combat-proven active protection system for armored vehicles, will display its lighter, TROPHY LV (light vehicle) on an Oshkosh Defense M-ATV Base (SXB) 4X4 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle at AUSA, Washington DC. The Oshkosh M-ATV is a superior MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle. The Rafael Trophy LV solution enables greatest level of protection, hostile fire detection and greater lethality increasing operational capabilities and allowing troops to carry out missions with greater flexibility, maneuverability and confidence.



Trophy is a family of situational awareness and active protection hard kill systems that operate in three major stages: Threat detection and threat tracking, followed by hard kill countermeasure activation and threat neutralization.



The operational requirement to equip armored vehicles with an APS is dictated by the growing proliferation of advanced Anti armor weapons. Trophy-LV has the proven capability to defeat advanced threats coupled with handling all safety considerations of an autonomous shooting system, an issue that has raised concerns among potential customers for many years



Trophy-LV APS capabilities have benefitted from decades of experience at Rafael, developing and integrating APSs. The principles supporting Trophy LV are similar to those of Trophy‑HV, an APS which is currently in a fielding process in a third IDF combat brigade.



Trophy‑HV has so far saved dozens of soldiers’ lives, ever since its first deployment in August 2009 and especially in operation “Protective Edge” (summer 2014), where numerous anti-armor threats were launched at Merkava IV tanks equipped with Trophy – none of these potentially lethal attacks caused casualties to IDF troops.



The downscaled Trophy-LV offers a cost-effective, 360º protection, easy integration, minimal risk of collateral damage, outstanding performance at a fraction of the weight, coupled with the highest level of kill probability.



In addition to Trophy LV, the Oshkosh M-ATV will be fitted with a Rafael Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RWS). Samson provides military users with enhanced capability not only in survivability, but affording them greater lethality, derived from Trophy-LV’s hostile fire detection (HFD) capabilities, coupled with, the world’s top-of-the-line RWS, Globally integrated on thousands of fielded ground and naval platforms in over 25 countries, Rafael’s Samson family of advanced Remote Weapon Stations (RWS), capitalizes on extensive combat experience with a deep understanding of emerging military needs. The Samson Family is offered in six land configurations. Samson RWS support diverse, interchangeable weapons and sensors including 5.56/7.62/12.7/30 mm machine guns, 40 mm automatic grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles, observation pods, and non lethal capabilities.

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strehl said:

A prototype is usually functional as opposed to a simple mockup. They are also expensive enough that it would be hard to finance through company business development funds. I haven't seen any kind of budget releases indicating this level of funding has been provided for LRS-B. Also, has anyone noticed any spike in the number of cars parked at Plant 42 or going through the Janet Terminal in Las Vegas? I think I will add a couple teaspoons of salt to this statement.

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The 419th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB recently executed ground laser testing on the B-52H aircraft.

The B-52 bomber is integrating the LITENING targeting pod (TGP) under the right wing.

Operational B-52 aircrews have requested additional targeting pod resources to maintain precision weapon delivery and to provide air support for troops on the ground. The test program at the 419th will provide results to support fielding recommendations.

The LITENING TGP will provide the field with additional military utility.

The targeting pod provides Infrared and TV imagery along with three different lasers. It's a gimbaled sensor that can look about the ground while using lasers. The lasers may help generate precise ground coordinates or point out items for ground troops.

The LITENING system is a self-contained, multi-sensor targeting and surveillance system, which has been fielded in other aircraft types across the U.S. Military. LITENING enables aircrews to detect, acquire, auto-track and identify targets at extremely long ranges for weapon delivery or nontraditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. LITENING's laser imaging sensors, advanced image processing and digital video output provide superior imagery, allowing aircrews to identify and engage targets under a wide range of battlefield conditions.

While the LITENING TGP can provide a much needed and improved capability, it cannot be fielded until laser safety is complete. The lasers cannot be allowed to strike the aircraft for both safety reasons and accuracy.

"We needed to create what is called a MASK curve that stops the lasers when the targeting pod looks at B-52 aircraft structure. Essentially, the aircraft may get in the way of the laser, so we have to stop the laser from firing," said Perry Choate, 419th FLTS Electro Optics lead.

"The importance of this laser mask zone test was to assure the lasers would not touch any aircraft structure. The most important reason to keep the lasers from hitting the aircraft was to guarantee a correct laser range measurement to the intended ground point of interest. If the laser hit the aircraft, the laser range measurement would be in error."

Two other reasons for keeping the laser from touching the B-52 is the sensitivity of the internal laser range receiver, which can be affected by such a close reflection to the targeting pod from the aircraft itself. There is also a nominal ocular hazard distance from where the laser hits the aircraft surface that could possibly affect the cockpit area and aircrew.

In order to integrate the lasers, the 419th test team had to find the angles where each of the lasers just begin to touch aircraft structure, which was labor intensive. This entailed measuring each of the lasers as test personnel moved around the aircraft structure.

"We had to climb on the engines and wing areas to measure where the lasers were in relation to the aircraft structure. Once we determined the angles, a safety buffer was added to that initial two-dimensional curve. I assured extra margin about the B-52 cockpit area since our aircrew has windows that allow viewing the targeting pod," said Choate.

The result was a list of angles that masked out the B-52 aircraft structure to prevent laser striking aircraft structure with added safety margins.

What made the test challenging is that all three lasers are invisible to the eye. A special camera that sees the invisible lasers, along with a phosphorescent card that glowed when struck by laser energy, was used to pinpoint the laser spots.

"We were efficient and kept the test safe for all participants," Choate said.

In the end, the team designed and verified the MASK curve.

"The next step is to take our MASK curve to flight and run another airborne test just to be sure we have the all the angles correct," said Choate.

That flight test is planned for early 2016.

"The B-52H operational fleet is anticipating use of the LITENING TGP to continue their role in air dominance and to support ground troops while deployed in hostile areas."

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