As reported in this author’s 13 April Navy League conference report, Textron Marine & Land Systems, the prime contractor for the US Navy new Ship-to-Shore Connector(SSC) programme selected Rolls Royce to supply the marine gas turbine for the embryonic craft. MILITARY TECHNOLOGY (MT) had an opportunity to gain insights from Rolls Royce on its efforts to supply its MT7 Marine Gas Turbine for the SSC programme. Brian Schires, Rolls Royce’s vice president for Naval Marine Programs, initially noted how pleased he was that his company will be working with prime contractor Textron on SSC. The Reston, VA-based executive then pointed out the MT7 shares a common architecture with the AE-1107C-Liberty aero engine that powers Bell Boeing’s V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft. And while the SSC will traverse the littoral regions of the world, they will also operate in some of the same environmental conditions in which land- or sea-based OSPREY successfully fly – which include healthy doses of sand, sea spray and other unique attributes.
The MT7 is currently completing endurance testing at Rolls Royce’s Indianapolis, IN testing facility. The test regimen should successfully end, “in two or three weeks,” Schires said.
Ben Nies, the company’s programme manager for Minor Caliber programmes, told MT one enhancement to the 25mm gun system’s lethality is achieved by placing a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun on the side of the current gun. The MK38's upgrade to a MOD III configuration is also being accomplished with the addition of new optics and computer system. “This provides better probability to detect and identify the target – it’s a better machine all around,” Nies emphasised.
BAE will deliver the 7.62mm upgrade to about one-half of the US Navy’s gun systems on contract. The company expects to deliver about 457 MK38 25mm guns to the Navy by 2020.
The company is also upgrading the legacy-era 25mm gun to a 30mm system. The 30mm’s first operational test was successfully completed off of Haifa, Israel last December.
Whereas the 25mm has an Orbital ATK BUSHMASTER barrel the 30mm uses ATK’s MK44 barrel.
A second BAE industry team member, Rafael, furnishes the new 30mm optics subsystem.
“Another significant thing about the 30 mm gun is the magazine capacity – it’s bigger – increasing from 168 rounds to 400 rounds,” Nies noted.
Additionally, when compared to the 25mm gun, the 30mm gun system’s elevation increases from 40 degrees to 70 degrees, and it may be depressed from -10 degrees to -20 degrees. The Minneapolis, Minnesota industry expert added “You can definitely shoot more targets closer to you. In fact the main target for the 30 mm will be small boats in swarm attack formation. You want to also shoot closer and farther away, and at UAVs.”
The BAE 30mm has a 200 round/minute sustained rate of fire and a range of about 3,000 yards. “This is about a 20 percent increase in range compared to the 25 mm,” Nies concluded.
The company’s MK 25 and 30 mm guns can be used interchangeably on the same ship, as both use common deck facing rings, similar power supplies and battery systems, and other attributes.
Raytheon’s TOMAHAWK fits the US Navy’s leadership concept of a reusable and repurposeable weapon. The weapon is integrated on major US and UK surface ships and submarines. More than 2,200 missiles have been fired in combat through the last 20 years.
The 30-year old missile system is rapidly approaching the start of a significant modernisation plan. 2019 is the next 15-year benchmark when individual missiles must be recertified at the Raytheon factory.
Raytheon will embark on a multi-mode seeker test this September to allow its Navy customer to determine the scope of future modernisation efforts. In this late summer test, the captive flight test will be designed to demonstrate the TOMAHAWK processor’s ability to broadcast active radar, as well as passively receive target electromagnetic demonstration.
Dave Adams, the company’s TOMAHAWK programme manager, emphasised the company’s internal R&D investment for this test will permit the Navy make a decision on the scope of new or different sensors needed to continue to destroy fixed and mobile targets on land and at sea, in complex high density electromagnetic environments.
The 23 P-8’s delivered to the service have been nothing short of a, “game changer,” declared Navy Captain Scott Miller, the programme manager for Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft at Naval Air Systems Command. Miller was speaking from the perspective of operational after-action reports received from supported US Navy and joint force operational commanders in US Seventh Fleet (Western Pacific) and other regions.
Miller further discussed what sets the POSEIDON part from the legacy P-3C ORION fleet, which it is replacing, as well as new technology insertions on the horizon.
The POSEIDON has an airspeed of 450kn (564mi per hour), range of 1,200nm with four hours on station and a 189,200lbs payload – more than 50,000lbs than its older P-3 siblings. This payload allows the Navy customer to increase the quantity and quality of onboard systems for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and ISR other missions as assigned to the aircraft commander. In one instance, the P-8’s acoustics baseline is on an order of magnitude of twice as capable as the ORION. “We have twice the number of sonobouys and twice the number of onboard displays on the P-8,” the programe manager observed.
The Navy has an ambitious, incremental upgrade plan on its horizon for P-8. From an acquisition and programme management perspective the Poseidon program is in what is called Increment 1.
Increment 2, starting in fiscal year 2016, will further improve high altitude ASW weapon capability to allow the aircraft to better monitor sensors and deploy torpedoes, and provide multi-static active coherent acoustics for wider area searches and other capabilities. “This increment will allow us to more effectively operate at 10,000ft. and beyond” Miller predicted.
P-8 programme increment 3, starting in fiscal year 2021, will provide additional sensor upgrades, network-enabled weapon systems and further ASW upgrades.
One of the rapidly evolving aspects of the P-8 programme is the international perspective. Six P-8Is have been delivered to the Indian Navy with another two on schedule for delivery this year. Boeing and the Navy are in further discussion for another four aircraft. The P-8I is operational with its Indian Navy customer. Australia remains a cooperative programme member. In February 2014, the nation gave acquisition approval for 8 P-8As, with the Department of Defence considering an option for four more aircraft.
“The Australian P-8s are identically configured to the US P-8’s,” added JD Detwiler, Boeing’s P-8 programme manager.
Representatives from Navy and Marine Corps commands had a harmonised message – their organisation's need to lighten their operators’ combat loads and further reduce their energy consumption – and soon. The commands are seeking solutions, preferably from the commercial market, which already work. “We’re not interested in long-term solutions – that are concepts ready for traditional, lengthy R&D work,” said Navy Captain John Carson, the director of Naval Facilities Command’s Expeditionary Programs Office.
Indeed, Marine Corps Colonel Jim Caley, the director of his service’s Expeditionary Energy Office was more specific with his immediate need and technology focus: Better and more efficient fuel cells, batteries and hybrid technology all –terrain vehicles.
There is no doubt the Marine Corps continues to lead the other US services in its quest to achieve battlefield energy efficiency.
Companies interested in doing business with the US Marine Corps in the energy sector are advised to refer to and read the Energy Office’s website.
Sara Jerrett,a pavilion spokesperson, said it made sense the companies should have a presence at Navy League. “We [the US and Canada] have similar military force structures, common languages, culture and such. We see a huge opportunity in the US market.” Indeed, Dynamic Air Shelters is among the exhibiting companies with a US presence through an in-country office.
One of the more intriguing technology “finds” on the conference floor was the Boeing-Liquid Robotics’ Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft (SHARC). MT viewed the craft at the Boeing booth during its first public display. The device is basically a giant surfboard covered in sensors and it provides continuous maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
missions for up to a year without refueling or servicing.
Gary Gyson, president and CEO of Liquid Robotics and Egan Greenstein, the senior director of Automomous Maritime Systems at Boeing Military Aircraft, noted the system is based on commercially proven technology used in the energy and adjacent sectors. The SHARC is conceptually envisioned to be used in a network – with other SHARC devices and other systems – providing a seafloor-to-space network.
“These would be a ‘trip wire’ to provide queing and other indications in theatre,” said Gysin.
The industry team will continue to evaluate and test SHARC through this summer in US Navy-sponsored exercises.
And perhaps lost or overlooked in the flurry of press releases at the start of this exposition was one noting the continued progress by General Atomics in building a common system – an architecture core – to advance the state-of-the-art in tactical lasers.
General Atomics’ Jim Davis, its chief laser engineer, pointed out the community has “all the pieces” to build a tactical laser architecture for seal, air and land platforms and is benefiting from the R&D supported by his company’s Tactical Laser Weapon Module.
The MT7 is currently completing endurance testing at Rolls Royce’s Indianapolis, IN testing facility. The test regimen should successfully end, “in two or three weeks,” Schires said.
Developments in Weapons Programmes
BAE Systems Platforms & Services is expanding its naval surface gunnery portfolio with two concurrent efforts. In one instance BAE is enhancing its legacy-era MK 38 25mm gun system. At the same time, the company is developing the 30mm TYPHOON.Ben Nies, the company’s programme manager for Minor Caliber programmes, told MT one enhancement to the 25mm gun system’s lethality is achieved by placing a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun on the side of the current gun. The MK38's upgrade to a MOD III configuration is also being accomplished with the addition of new optics and computer system. “This provides better probability to detect and identify the target – it’s a better machine all around,” Nies emphasised.
BAE will deliver the 7.62mm upgrade to about one-half of the US Navy’s gun systems on contract. The company expects to deliver about 457 MK38 25mm guns to the Navy by 2020.
The company is also upgrading the legacy-era 25mm gun to a 30mm system. The 30mm’s first operational test was successfully completed off of Haifa, Israel last December.
Whereas the 25mm has an Orbital ATK BUSHMASTER barrel the 30mm uses ATK’s MK44 barrel.
A second BAE industry team member, Rafael, furnishes the new 30mm optics subsystem.
“Another significant thing about the 30 mm gun is the magazine capacity – it’s bigger – increasing from 168 rounds to 400 rounds,” Nies noted.
Additionally, when compared to the 25mm gun, the 30mm gun system’s elevation increases from 40 degrees to 70 degrees, and it may be depressed from -10 degrees to -20 degrees. The Minneapolis, Minnesota industry expert added “You can definitely shoot more targets closer to you. In fact the main target for the 30 mm will be small boats in swarm attack formation. You want to also shoot closer and farther away, and at UAVs.”
The BAE 30mm has a 200 round/minute sustained rate of fire and a range of about 3,000 yards. “This is about a 20 percent increase in range compared to the 25 mm,” Nies concluded.
The company’s MK 25 and 30 mm guns can be used interchangeably on the same ship, as both use common deck facing rings, similar power supplies and battery systems, and other attributes.
Raytheon’s TOMAHAWK fits the US Navy’s leadership concept of a reusable and repurposeable weapon. The weapon is integrated on major US and UK surface ships and submarines. More than 2,200 missiles have been fired in combat through the last 20 years.
.jpg) |
| Raytheon, the prime contractor for the US Navy's Tomahawk missile. One Tomahawk Land Attack Missile launches from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lassern (DDG 82) this March. The 30-year old missile system is on a rapidly evolving modernization plan. 2019 is the next 15-year benchmark when individual missiles must be recertified at the Raytheon factory. Raytheon will embark on a multi-mode seeker test this September to allow its Navy customer to determine the scope of future modernization efforts. (Photo: US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Martin Wright) |
The 30-year old missile system is rapidly approaching the start of a significant modernisation plan. 2019 is the next 15-year benchmark when individual missiles must be recertified at the Raytheon factory.
Raytheon will embark on a multi-mode seeker test this September to allow its Navy customer to determine the scope of future modernisation efforts. In this late summer test, the captive flight test will be designed to demonstrate the TOMAHAWK processor’s ability to broadcast active radar, as well as passively receive target electromagnetic demonstration.
Dave Adams, the company’s TOMAHAWK programme manager, emphasised the company’s internal R&D investment for this test will permit the Navy make a decision on the scope of new or different sensors needed to continue to destroy fixed and mobile targets on land and at sea, in complex high density electromagnetic environments.
P-8 Takes Flight Internationally
In the air domain, Boeing and its US Navy customer briefed the media on the status of domestic and international sales of the P-8 POSEIDON. The Navy has 53 P-8s on contract with the program now in full production. Boeing’s industry team includes CFM, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Spirit AeroSystems, GE, and BAE Systems. |
| Six P-8Is have been delivered to the Indian Navy with another two on schedule for delivery this year. Boeing and the navy are in further discussion for another four aircraft. The P-8I is operational with its Indian Navy customer. (Photo: Boeing) |
The 23 P-8’s delivered to the service have been nothing short of a, “game changer,” declared Navy Captain Scott Miller, the programme manager for Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft at Naval Air Systems Command. Miller was speaking from the perspective of operational after-action reports received from supported US Navy and joint force operational commanders in US Seventh Fleet (Western Pacific) and other regions.
Miller further discussed what sets the POSEIDON part from the legacy P-3C ORION fleet, which it is replacing, as well as new technology insertions on the horizon.
The POSEIDON has an airspeed of 450kn (564mi per hour), range of 1,200nm with four hours on station and a 189,200lbs payload – more than 50,000lbs than its older P-3 siblings. This payload allows the Navy customer to increase the quantity and quality of onboard systems for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and ISR other missions as assigned to the aircraft commander. In one instance, the P-8’s acoustics baseline is on an order of magnitude of twice as capable as the ORION. “We have twice the number of sonobouys and twice the number of onboard displays on the P-8,” the programe manager observed.
The Navy has an ambitious, incremental upgrade plan on its horizon for P-8. From an acquisition and programme management perspective the Poseidon program is in what is called Increment 1.
Increment 2, starting in fiscal year 2016, will further improve high altitude ASW weapon capability to allow the aircraft to better monitor sensors and deploy torpedoes, and provide multi-static active coherent acoustics for wider area searches and other capabilities. “This increment will allow us to more effectively operate at 10,000ft. and beyond” Miller predicted.
P-8 programme increment 3, starting in fiscal year 2021, will provide additional sensor upgrades, network-enabled weapon systems and further ASW upgrades.
One of the rapidly evolving aspects of the P-8 programme is the international perspective. Six P-8Is have been delivered to the Indian Navy with another two on schedule for delivery this year. Boeing and the Navy are in further discussion for another four aircraft. The P-8I is operational with its Indian Navy customer. Australia remains a cooperative programme member. In February 2014, the nation gave acquisition approval for 8 P-8As, with the Department of Defence considering an option for four more aircraft.
“The Australian P-8s are identically configured to the US P-8’s,” added JD Detwiler, Boeing’s P-8 programme manager.
Need Your Help
One of the more candid discussions at this year’s expo was the panel presentation on Energy Capability Gaps and Warfighter Needs from the perspective of the Navy Expeditionary Community.Representatives from Navy and Marine Corps commands had a harmonised message – their organisation's need to lighten their operators’ combat loads and further reduce their energy consumption – and soon. The commands are seeking solutions, preferably from the commercial market, which already work. “We’re not interested in long-term solutions – that are concepts ready for traditional, lengthy R&D work,” said Navy Captain John Carson, the director of Naval Facilities Command’s Expeditionary Programs Office.
Indeed, Marine Corps Colonel Jim Caley, the director of his service’s Expeditionary Energy Office was more specific with his immediate need and technology focus: Better and more efficient fuel cells, batteries and hybrid technology all –terrain vehicles.
There is no doubt the Marine Corps continues to lead the other US services in its quest to achieve battlefield energy efficiency.
Companies interested in doing business with the US Marine Corps in the energy sector are advised to refer to and read the Energy Office’s website.
Other Developments
The international aspects of this year’s Navy League were further noted with the presence of the Canada pavilion. Canadian-based companies and other entities exhibiting at the pavilion included Agile, Bluedrop Training and Simulation, Compusult, Dynamic Air Shelters, Excite Corp., Solace Power, and the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador.Sara Jerrett,a pavilion spokesperson, said it made sense the companies should have a presence at Navy League. “We [the US and Canada] have similar military force structures, common languages, culture and such. We see a huge opportunity in the US market.” Indeed, Dynamic Air Shelters is among the exhibiting companies with a US presence through an in-country office.
One of the more intriguing technology “finds” on the conference floor was the Boeing-Liquid Robotics’ Sensor Hosting Autonomous Remote Craft (SHARC). MT viewed the craft at the Boeing booth during its first public display. The device is basically a giant surfboard covered in sensors and it provides continuous maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance
missions for up to a year without refueling or servicing.
Gary Gyson, president and CEO of Liquid Robotics and Egan Greenstein, the senior director of Automomous Maritime Systems at Boeing Military Aircraft, noted the system is based on commercially proven technology used in the energy and adjacent sectors. The SHARC is conceptually envisioned to be used in a network – with other SHARC devices and other systems – providing a seafloor-to-space network.
“These would be a ‘trip wire’ to provide queing and other indications in theatre,” said Gysin.
The industry team will continue to evaluate and test SHARC through this summer in US Navy-sponsored exercises.
And perhaps lost or overlooked in the flurry of press releases at the start of this exposition was one noting the continued progress by General Atomics in building a common system – an architecture core – to advance the state-of-the-art in tactical lasers.
General Atomics’ Jim Davis, its chief laser engineer, pointed out the community has “all the pieces” to build a tactical laser architecture for seal, air and land platforms and is benefiting from the R&D supported by his company’s Tactical Laser Weapon Module.
Marty Kauchak, MT’s US correspondent, provides continuing coverage of this year’s Navy League Expo from the exhibition hall and conference rooms of the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
No comments:
Post a Comment