Look What Can A Cluster Bomb Do | U.S. Air Force SFW™ CBU-105 Cluster Bomb

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The SFW CBU-105

Textron Systems’ Sensor Fuzed Weapon, SFW™, is a highly effective air-delivered area weapon designed to defeat a wide range of moving and fixed targets on land, at sea and in littoral environments. One SFW can neutralize many targets and do so nearly real time, leaving no evasion time for the adversary. It’s been integrated onto a number of United States and Allied Forces fighter and bomber platforms.

The SFW CBU-105 D/B system exceeds very tight U.S. Department of Defense policy on munitions systems by regulating unexploded ordnance (UXO) to less than one percent. SFW has demonstrated greater than 99 percent reliability by the verified performance in operational testing. Features of this weapon system, combined with self-destruct and self-neutralization, ensure virtually no UXO.

BLU-108 SUBMUNITION

The SFW composed of 10 BLU-108 Submunitions that each carry four Skeet projectile warheads, while every smart Skeets are equipped with dual-mode passive infrareds (IR) and active laser sensors. The BLU-108 Submunitions is capable of integration into other weapons systems for precise engagements of multiple targets.

Once deployed, each smart Skeet warheads sweeps for targets using the IR sensor to identify a thermal signature, while the laser sensor validates the target profile for improved aim point and lethality. When a valid target is detected, the warhead explodes which is a copper explosive.

                                     
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USMC's V-23 Osprey Getting Its Much Needed Missiles & Rockets Next Year

The future of MV-22B Osprey technology may be fast arriving. In late March, the Marine Corps teamed with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to test-fire a precision-guided missile from an airborne Osprey. In a unique twist, the air crew coordinated the shoot with ground troops operating handheld tablet technology. The PCAS, short for persistent close air support system, was featured at Talon Reach, a regular exercise conducted in the southwestern U.S.

During the demonstration, a joint terminal attack controller used the mapping software on his tablet to identify a target near an unmanned truck and then communicate its position to a PCAS module inside the Osprey, DARPA officials explained in a recent news release. Troops in the air and on the ground then confirmed the shot before the Osprey fired.

The munition was a nonexplosive version of the tube-launched AGM-176 Griffin missile. It traveled about 4.5 miles. "The length of time from initiation by the JTAC to missile impact on target was just over four minutes — even better than PCAS' goal of six minutes, and more than seven times faster than the half hour or more it can take using current methods that rely on voice directions and paper maps," DARPA's news release states.

Officials are touting this enhanced communication and accuracy as another major leap forward for the Osprey and the Marines' ability to quickly plan and execute missions. Lt. Gen. John Davis, the service's deputy commandant for aviation, referenced the demonstration during a discussion in mid-April at the Sea-Air-Space conference in National Harbor, Maryland. Using tablets to link Marines on the ground with those inside an aircraft is becoming almost commonplace among those who've trained with such technology, he said.

"Bottom line," Davis said, "they're acting like this is standard gear." He called the PCAS test a positive byproduct of the service's otherwise challenging fiscal constraints. When money is tight, leaders are forced to find new and creative ways to do more with the gear available to them, Davis said, adding it "leads to better thinking."

The general also hopes to see the service maximize resources by developing a mid-air refueling capability for the Osprey. With it, these passenger and cargo transports would double as aerial tankers, a function performed now by the Marine Corps' fleet of KC-130J Hercules. This would enable them to regularly fly about 2,000 miles, he said.

These ideas are among several concepts outlined in the Marine Corps' 10-year aviation plan, released last fall. The recent testing reveals how determined officials are to make those concepts reality.

Davis said the work will enable Marines to stay ahead of enemy capabilities and to be prepared for a variety of operations while facing evolving threats around the world. "Be ready for the high-end fight; it's coming our way," he added. "Any fight, any time."

Bell-Lockheed Martin JV's V-280 Valor Upraising for US Military's FVL Program

As the Pentagon considers the future of military vertical lift, Bell Helicopter is talking with the US services about designing a next-generation tiltrotor solution that could begin low-rate production in the mid-2020s, one company official said.

Bell Helicopter's V-280 Valor concept

Bell is partnered with Lockheed Martin to build a rotorcraft flight demonstrator as part of the US Army’s Joint Multi-Role program, which will gauge the art of the possible for the path ahead. The demonstrator program will inform the Army’s Future Vertical Lift effort to buy a new state-of-the-art family of helicopters in the 2030s.

The demonstration effort may have implications beyond the Army. The Pentagon has indicated that FVL may eventually replace the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force military helicopters as well. But for now, Bell is working with the Army and Marine Corps to shorten the time line for fielding the aircraft, the V-280, program manager Chris Gehler told the media on Nov. 16.

“Bell Helicopter is working closely with the Army and the Marine Corps on informing the requirements of FVL, exploring the options for shortening the time required to field this aircraft,” Gehler said. “We’ll work with our primary customers in the Army and Marine Corps to explore different ways to enter into a low rate production by the mid 2020’s. We are in close communication with the DOD to bring the V-280 onboard as soon as possible with limited risk to better take advantage of the industry and DOD investment.”

The Bell-Lockheed team is offering its V-280 Valor tiltrotor, which builds on the technology developed for Bell-Boeing’s V-22. The competing team, made up of Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing, is working on a coaxial helicopter known as the SB-1 Defiant for the demonstrator effort.

Although the demonstrator prototypes will fly in 2017, the Army is currently not planning a contract award until the late 2020s, Richard Harris, Bell’s vice president for international military business sales, said in an interview with Defense News. But he stressed that company officials believe the Bell-Lockheed team could achieve initial operational capability by 2025.

“The Army and DOD are exploring options for shortening the V-280 development timeframe, given the significant investment by DOD and industry,” Gehler said. “The Army intends to enter a technology maturation and risk review (TMRR) phase around 2020. We feel a case could be made to instead jump ahead to the Engineering Manufacturing and Development (EMD) phase, given the technology readiness levels we will demonstrate. This has the potential to move the entire timeline up, and deliver this leap-ahead capability to the warfighters years earlier.”

Bell’s goal is ultimately to replace all the Pentagon’s helicopters with the V-280, Harris said, touting the plane’s speed and flexibility. The Valor will have twice the speed and range of the Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk, more than doubling operational reach, according to Bell’s website. The future plane will also outperform the V-22, Harris said, with a combat radius of 1,200 nautical miles compared to the Osprey’s 900 nautical miles.

In one major difference between the two tiltrotors, the Valor’s engines remain in place for transition to forward-flying position, while the rotors and drive shafts tilt, Harris explained. The V-280 will also build on the V-22’s offensive capability. Unlike the Osprey, the Valor will have a forward-firing capability, likely achieved by integrating Hellfire missiles into the plane’s side panels, he said.

While the new aircraft’s cabin will look much like a Black Hawk’s, the advanced glass cockpit uses similar technology to the F-35, Harris said, touting the plane’s fly-by-wire flight control system.

Bell just received the first cabin, and is getting ready to integrate the wings and engine onto the plane, Harris said, adding that “it went together like Lego blocks.”

“When you take a look at the dynamic world that we live in these days and how fast things happen and how far away things happen, a conventional helicopter just does not meet the requirements of all the services,” Harris said. “We are trying to define the standard for what future vertical lift is based upon [Bell’s] legacy and the fact that we are the ones that developed the secret sauce for the V-22.”

Prowlers of US Marine Corps are redeploy to Qatar

A squadron of US Marine Corps (USMC) EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft have been redeployed from Afghanistan to Qatar, the US Air Force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing (379 AEW) announced on 21 February, reports Jane’s 

 

EA-6B Prowler takes off from Eielson AFB. Note the tint of the gold embedded in the canopy. The gold provides protection from electromagnetic interference and prevents some EM emissions

Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 3 (VMAQ-3) ‘Moon Dogs’ arrived at Qatar’s Al-Udeid Air Base on 17 February. While the Moon Dogs will continue to fly sorties over Afghanistan, their main mission will be to “support any contingencies or operations which may need electronic attack” in Central Command’s (CENTCOM’s) area of responsibility, which covers the Middle East, Egypt and Central Asia, the 379 AEW said.

 

'FrankenProwler' during a pre-flight inspection at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq

One of the pilots was quoted as saying: “We are excited to be back at Al-Udeid Air Base and look forward to providing electronic attack for US and coalition forces in the area.”

The USMC’s ageing Prowlers have been used to jam the signals that insurgents use to trigger improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan.