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Laser shooting from an Apache !

A high-energy laser mounted on a Boeing AH-64 attack helicopter "Apache" acquired and reached an unmanned target. The test was conducted by Raytheon and the US Army's Apache Program Management Office in collaboration with US Special Operations Command at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

This is the first time a fully integrated laser system has successfully fired a target drone from a helicopter. The Apache flew with different varieties of flight regimes, altitudes and air speeds, which proves the feasibility of a laser attack from an AH-4 "Apache".
For the test, Raytheon has coupled a multi-spectral targeting system, an advanced infra-red, electro-optical sensor, with a laser. The system and data fusion provided information on targeting, situational awareness and beam control. The system followed and directed energy on a stationary target at a distance of 1.4 kilometers.

The data collected from the test, including the impact of vibration, dust and rotor vibration, will help shape the future high-energy laser systems of tomorrow.

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Navy Awards 1 Littoral Combat Ship to Austal; Still Negotiating With Lockheed Martin

The Navy awarded Austal USA up to $584.2 million for one Littoral Combat Ship, while the service is still negotiating with Lockheed Martin for the second ship and weighs its options for the third ship, USNI News understands.

This contract award comes amid a confusing spring for the program. After learning in early May that Congress wanted the service to buy three ships in 2017, the Navy testified in later that week that it needed to

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, but then

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later in the month. Then, the next day, the Trump Administration

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instead of one.

At the height of LCS procurement, the Navy was awarding two ships a year to both LCS builders, Austal USA and Lockheed Martin, and contracts with both yards were announced at the same time. Friday’s contract award to Austal was not accompanied by one for Lockheed Martin. USNI News understands negotiations for this year’s ships has been tougher than in past years.

The Navy could not comment on the ongoing competition, and Lockheed Martin spokesman John Torrisi could only say that “we continue to work with the U.S. Navy to reach an agreement on a contract for Fiscal Year 2017 ships.”

U.S. Navy spokesman Alan Baribeau confirmed that Lockheed Martin would get at least one ship in 2017, in accordance with the approved LCS acquisition strategy and solicitation, and that that solicitation allows for awards to the shipyards to be made at different times.

The contract covers hull LCS-28, and the Lockheed Martin ship that must be awarded in 2017 would be LCS-27, putting the two builders even with each other in terms of workload in the ship class. The third ship in 2017 presents some options for the Navy in terms of how the service will decide who to award it to.

Current acquisition plans have the Navy buying just one ship in 2018 and one in 2018, though the Trump Administration voiced support for a second LCS in 2018. USNI News understands that, while the administration hasn’t released its plans for how to pay for that second ship, the Office of Management and Budget should have that decision signed off on by June 30. Baribeau told USNI News that the Navy is in the process of amending its plans to include buying two ships in 2018 and one in 2019. The House Appropriations Committee, though, is set to mark up a bill today that includes funding for three ships in 2018.

If lawmakers ultimately decide the Navy will buy either one or three LCSs in 2018, the third ship from 2017 could be lumped in with the 2018 ships to keep even procurement rates for both shipbuilders. If the service ends up with two ships in 2018, the third 2017 ship could be awarded based on a straight price competition or other factors. The third 2017 ship would be the last one covered by a previous block buy agreement, and the

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, but the Navy’s use of contract options – Austal’s contract award has an option for future ships, and Lockheed Martin’s eventual contract likely would too – creates some flexibility in determining who would build the last 2017 ship.

The contract announced on Friday covers the first of three ships appropriated in 2017 under a spending plan passed by Congress in May, and ensures the cost of the ship stays below the congressionally mandated cost caps, though it does not specify an exact contract value.

“The Navy expects to release a competitive solicitation(s) for additional LCS class ships in future years, and therefore the specific contract award amount for these ships is considered source selection sensitive information … and will not be made public at this time,” according to a Defense Department contracts announcement posted online Friday, explaining why the cost is described only as being under the congressional cost caps.

Austal USA released a statement Monday on the award of the first ship, calling it “a clear sign of confidence in Austal USA’s Littoral Combat Ship program” by the Navy.

“We’re very proud to be awarded this contract in such a highly competitive environment,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said in the statement.
“This demonstrates the Navy’s confidence in Austal being a key component in building their 355-ship fleet, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our incredible employees.”

USNI News understands there is no timeline yet for when the Navy would award a 2017 ship to Lockheed Martin or make a decision about how to award the third 2017 ship and to whom.

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Laser shooting from an Apache !

A high-energy laser mounted on a Boeing AH-64 attack helicopter "Apache" acquired and reached an unmanned target. The test was conducted by Raytheon and the US Army's Apache Program Management Office in collaboration with US Special Operations Command at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

This is the first time a fully integrated laser system has successfully fired a target drone from a helicopter. The Apache flew with different varieties of flight regimes, altitudes and air speeds, which proves the feasibility of a laser attack from an AH-4 "Apache".
For the test, Raytheon has coupled a multi-spectral targeting system, an advanced infra-red, electro-optical sensor, with a laser. The system and data fusion provided information on targeting, situational awareness and beam control. The system followed and directed energy on a stationary target at a distance of 1.4 kilometers.

The data collected from the test, including the impact of vibration, dust and rotor vibration, will help shape the future high-energy laser systems of tomorrow.

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Jura said:

one of my favorite stories now, so called retirement of the Warthog (I've heard the first attempts were in 1980s

Yesterday at 4:10 PM

now
Air Force Mulls Cutting Three A-10 Squadrons

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The House Armed Services Committee has taken its first steps toward preserving three A-10 Warthog squadrons that, without funding for new wings, could begin retiring as early as the mid-2020s.

The HASC chairman’s mark of the fiscal year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, released Monday, adds $103 million for an A-10 “unfunded requirement.” In its FY18 unfunded priorities list, the U.S. Air Force included an equivalent amount of cash, which if appropriated would be used by Boeing to restart its A-10 wing production line and manufacture four wing sets.

As of now, the Air Force plans on retaining its A-10s through at least the next five years. Past then, some parts of the fleet will need modifications to keep flying.

The service currently operates 283 Warthogs, but only 173 of those have had their wings replaced. Unless the remaining 110 A-10s — about three squadrons worth — are rewinged, those aircraft would come to the end of their service lives, U.S. Air Combat Command head Gen. Mike Holmes told Defense News in an interview earlier this month.

Congress has long been opposed to any move that would retire even a portion of the A-10 inventory, and HASC’s inclusion of the funding in the defense policy bill could be a signal that lawmakers will continue that trend. However, it’s worth noting that the NDAA only approves funding and does not actually allocate it — meaning there is no guarantee that House and Senate appropriators, who control Congress’s purse strings, will fund the wings in their spending bills.

HASC members had telegraphed that it would once again supply the funding needed to preserve the aircraft. During a hearing this month, Rep. Martha McSally, an Arizona Republican and former A-10 pilot, pointed out that testimony from Air Force officials committed to retaining only six squadrons. She then demanded to know the planning assumptions that had substantiated the decision to mothball one-third of the inventory.

“From my view and my experience, if we need that capability until a proven, tested replacement comes along, nine squadrons is the absolute minimum,” she said then.

Holmes has said the first A-10s could wear out their wings as early as five or so years from now, giving the service some time to figure out whether it should extend the lives of those three squadrons or replace them with F-35s or other platforms.

“When their current wings expire, we have some flexibility in the depot; we have some old wings that can be repaired or rejuvenated to go on. We can work through that, so there’s some flex in there," he said.

Asked about the future of the A-10 in an exclusive June 13 interview, U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson praised the Warthog, calling it a “pretty phenomenal machine.”

She also pointed out that the Pentagon has a defense strategy review underway — a hint, perhaps, that the Air Force’s budget planning assumptions could change after that analysis concludes, paving the way for an even longer lifespan for the Warthog. However, Wilson also acknowledged that the A-10 is just one of many Air Force platforms in need of revitalization.

“With respect to the A-10 and its needs for continued life extension and those things, we’ve got a lot of equipment that needs either replacement or life extension. The A-10 is just one of them, but it’s a great airplane, and we’re committed to it,” she said.

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A missile defence role is emerging after 2023 for an unmanned air system (UAS) with the payload and range capability of today’s manned Lockheed Martin U-2S.

The US Missile Defense Agency has released specifications for its next top priority: a high-altitude, long-endurance UAS that uses a high-energy laser weapon to shoot down ballistic missiles within seconds of launching.

But the MDA’s performance requirements appear to rule out any known UAS in existence, including all versions of the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk.


In particular, the MDA’s request for information dated 13 June call for an aircraft that can carry at least 2,270kg (5,000lb) of payload and as much as 5,440kg (12,500lb) at altitudes higher than 63,000ft.

The manned U-2S has a maximum payload capacity of 2,270kg, matching the MDA’s requirements, according a USAF fact sheet last updated in 2015. It’s listed with an unclassified operational ceiling above 70,000ft.

But the requirements exceed the maximum payload capacity (1,360kg) and altitude ceiling (60,000ft) for the RQ-4 fleet, according to a 2014 USAF fact sheet.

Lockheed has released a series of proposals to develop an unmanned version of the U-2S dating back to the late 1990s, when it offered the unmanned “U-2U” design as an alternative to the RQ-4 to the USAF for high-altitude reconnaissance.

In 2014, Lockheed’s Skunk Works team again revived a concept for an unmanned version of the U-2, but withdrew the concept in favour of the stealthy, unmanned TR-X concept.

Meanwhile, the MDA has started looking for technology to attack ballistic missile targets in the boost phase, when they are most vulnerable to an intercept attempt.

“Right now our long-term goal is to deploy lasers on a high-altitude UAV platform to destroy [intercontinental ballistic missiles] in the boost phase,” an MDA spokesman tells FlightGlobal.

The agency is working on developing a laser weapon small enough to be carried by a high-altitude aircraft yet powerful enough to knock down a missile weighing several tons.

The MDA released the RFI in mid-June to identify options for aircraft that can carry such a weapon in the 2023 timeframe. Although an unmanned aircraft is preferred, the agency is open-minded about using manned aircraft.

“Unmanned platforms are highly desired; however, manned concepts will be considered with appropriate justification,” the MDA says in the RFI.

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FORBIN said:

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House Armed Services Committee wants US Navy to replace its Reserve Hornets
The U.S. Navy Reserve's F/A-18A+ Hornets are relics of the Reagan era, but the fleet still uses them to play the bad guy in air-to-air combat simulations. Now the House Armed Services Committee wants the U.S. Navy to plan on replacing them, according to a version of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act released Monday.

The U.S. Navy Reserve has two squadrons of the planes — 33 all together — that they use predominantly as opposition forces for training aviators and painted to look like Russian MiG fighters. But they are supposed to be kept at a high level of readiness to serve as replacement jets if the U.S. Navy suffers combat losses in a crisis

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