buglerbilly
07-06-10, 04:24 AM
U.S. Marines Plan To Double As ISR, Strike Aircraft
By DAVE MAJUMDAR
Published: 7 June 2010
The U.S. Marines know as well as anyone that there is never enough airborne video in Afghanistan to watch over forward bases, convoys and patrols. Listening to the feedback from the field, Marine planners in 2008 realized that their KC-130J aerial refueling planes might be able to double as ISR and strike planes.
Last year, the service reprogrammed millions of dollars from an avionics initiative to assemble ISR and weapons kits for its refuelers, and within weeks the Marines hope to start flying the first KC-130J equipped with the cameras, computers and missiles.
A big challenge for engineers has been to prove that installation of the equipment will not detract from the KC-130J's primary refueling mission.
The Lockheed Martin-designed kits, called Harvest Hawks for High Altitude Weapons Kit, are the latest example of the U.S. effort to put all eyes on the battlefield in the counterinsurgency war against the Taliban. Ground crews would be able to install or remove combinations of the weapons and ISR equipment in the field in no more than eight hours.
The Marines could beam video to the ground while a KC-130J transferred fuel to an MV-22 tiltrotor, helicopter or fighter; in between refuelings, they could launch small missiles armed with just a few pounds of explosives, the kinds of weapons that can minimize civilian casualties in a counterinsurgency.
If the kits pass their field tests and reach Afghanistan as planned, they will answer "an urgent universal needs statement from deployed Marines" for more persistent surveillance and close-air support, said Marine Corps Maj. J.P. Pellegrino, the KC-130 requirements officer.
Each KC-130J would become "a flying Swiss Army knife," with the Marine task force commander deciding on the mix of weapons and ISR equipment that the planes should carry on specific sorties, Pellegrino said by e-mail.
The plane's right wing would be unchanged, but the left wing could be converted to a platform for an ISR camera and weapons. The aerial refueling pod would be removed in the field to accommodate Hellfire missiles. Field crews also would be able to remove the plane's fuel tank on that side and attach a dry fuel tank modified to carry a camera pod.
Commanders could choose to load pallets of small Viper Strike bombs and Griffin missiles by rolling them up the planes' cargo ramps before takeoff. The ground crew would lash down the pallets and the aircrew would open the aft cargo doors to fire the weapons. The work stations to operate the video and control the weapons would be rolled up the same way as the pallet-mounted munitions.
The need for rapid fielding has driven many of the decisions in the Harvest Hawk development program: By turning to a largely self-contained work station that would be rolled on and off, engineers avoided the software hassles of feeding new streams of data and intelligence into the KC-130J's mission system.
The Harvest Hawk computers will rely on the parent aircraft only for position information, power and communications. There will be "no permanent modifications to the airframe except for the running of wires along existing wire bundles to the hard points on the wing stations where the ISR sensor and Hellfire missiles will be stored," Pellegrino said.
In what might be the boldest decision, developmental flight tests are being conducted concurrently with operational tests.
These decisions are supposed to add up to the first flights in Afghanistan this summer with two additional kits available by fall. "The intent is to have two mission kits forward and one in the rear for training and further test of the system," Pellegrino said. Lockheed Martin is on contract to deliver three mission kits for $51.6 million, including $23 million in research and development spending. The Marines eventually plan to buy nine kits.
The Harvest Hawk-equipped KC-130Js would be flown at the same altitudes where the planes perform their aerial refueling missions. "For instance, an aircraft could take off from an airfield with a sensor and Hellfire missiles, and set up its refueling track directly over a forward operating base," Pellegrino said.
Because the system is modular, the equipment could be mixed and matched. "If desired, only the targeting ISR sensor could be loaded for an ISR-only mission. The targeting ISR sensor plus Hellfire could be loaded if the ramp is required for another mission. The sensor and ramp launcher could be loaded if both aerial refueling pods are required," Pellegrino said.
Firing weapons would not be easy, however. "When ready for launch, the aircrew will depressurize the aircraft, lower the ramp, launch the munitions, close the ramp, and then repressurize the aircraft," Pellegrino said. Future modifications would enable the aircraft to fire weapons without depressurizing the ramp area.
Though the targeting camera and laser designator system were borrowed from the Viper helicopter, officials expect that to be an advantage. Built by Lockheed Martin, the targeting system is a large-aperture midwave forward-looking infrared and color television camera with a built-in laser designator/range finder. "It's got quite a bit more complex stabilization system than any other system out there" because it was designed to be carried by helicopters, which are prone to vibration, said Col. Harry Hewson, who is familiar with the camera as the Marine Corps manager for light helicopter programs, including the Vipers.
The Marines are contemplating the addition of a convoy escort role to the Harvest Hawk's mission set and are considering using them to detect ambushes and improvised explosive devices. For now, much of the ISR emphasis is on beaming video from the AN/AAQ-30 to ground forces equipped with Rover video displays.
Flight Tests
The first Harvest Hawk kit is in the final stages of developmental flight-testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and the China Lake range in the California desert. Four flights have been conducted so far, including a live-fire test of a Griffin missile against a pickup truck from an altitude of 18,000 feet in which the target was designated by an off-board laser. "The missile scored a direct hit," Pellegrino said.
The other flights focused on the high-altitude performance of the AN/AAQ-30 video pod and the video downlink capability to forces equipped with Rover 3 and Rover 4 video displays. The test phase will include "end-to-end testing of the sensor and munitions system through detect, recognition, identification and engagement utilizing both self-laze and buddy laze."
In a push to deliver the technology fast, the Marine Corps is conducting an operational evaluation of the Harvest Hawk kits at China Lake concurrently with the developmental tests at the two sites and aircrew training. The evaluations will employ regular fleet personnel "to characterize the operational usefulness of the system," Pellegrino said. "Initially, we will utilize a limited operational envelope."
By DAVE MAJUMDAR
Published: 7 June 2010
The U.S. Marines know as well as anyone that there is never enough airborne video in Afghanistan to watch over forward bases, convoys and patrols. Listening to the feedback from the field, Marine planners in 2008 realized that their KC-130J aerial refueling planes might be able to double as ISR and strike planes.
Last year, the service reprogrammed millions of dollars from an avionics initiative to assemble ISR and weapons kits for its refuelers, and within weeks the Marines hope to start flying the first KC-130J equipped with the cameras, computers and missiles.
A big challenge for engineers has been to prove that installation of the equipment will not detract from the KC-130J's primary refueling mission.
The Lockheed Martin-designed kits, called Harvest Hawks for High Altitude Weapons Kit, are the latest example of the U.S. effort to put all eyes on the battlefield in the counterinsurgency war against the Taliban. Ground crews would be able to install or remove combinations of the weapons and ISR equipment in the field in no more than eight hours.
The Marines could beam video to the ground while a KC-130J transferred fuel to an MV-22 tiltrotor, helicopter or fighter; in between refuelings, they could launch small missiles armed with just a few pounds of explosives, the kinds of weapons that can minimize civilian casualties in a counterinsurgency.
If the kits pass their field tests and reach Afghanistan as planned, they will answer "an urgent universal needs statement from deployed Marines" for more persistent surveillance and close-air support, said Marine Corps Maj. J.P. Pellegrino, the KC-130 requirements officer.
Each KC-130J would become "a flying Swiss Army knife," with the Marine task force commander deciding on the mix of weapons and ISR equipment that the planes should carry on specific sorties, Pellegrino said by e-mail.
The plane's right wing would be unchanged, but the left wing could be converted to a platform for an ISR camera and weapons. The aerial refueling pod would be removed in the field to accommodate Hellfire missiles. Field crews also would be able to remove the plane's fuel tank on that side and attach a dry fuel tank modified to carry a camera pod.
Commanders could choose to load pallets of small Viper Strike bombs and Griffin missiles by rolling them up the planes' cargo ramps before takeoff. The ground crew would lash down the pallets and the aircrew would open the aft cargo doors to fire the weapons. The work stations to operate the video and control the weapons would be rolled up the same way as the pallet-mounted munitions.
The need for rapid fielding has driven many of the decisions in the Harvest Hawk development program: By turning to a largely self-contained work station that would be rolled on and off, engineers avoided the software hassles of feeding new streams of data and intelligence into the KC-130J's mission system.
The Harvest Hawk computers will rely on the parent aircraft only for position information, power and communications. There will be "no permanent modifications to the airframe except for the running of wires along existing wire bundles to the hard points on the wing stations where the ISR sensor and Hellfire missiles will be stored," Pellegrino said.
In what might be the boldest decision, developmental flight tests are being conducted concurrently with operational tests.
These decisions are supposed to add up to the first flights in Afghanistan this summer with two additional kits available by fall. "The intent is to have two mission kits forward and one in the rear for training and further test of the system," Pellegrino said. Lockheed Martin is on contract to deliver three mission kits for $51.6 million, including $23 million in research and development spending. The Marines eventually plan to buy nine kits.
The Harvest Hawk-equipped KC-130Js would be flown at the same altitudes where the planes perform their aerial refueling missions. "For instance, an aircraft could take off from an airfield with a sensor and Hellfire missiles, and set up its refueling track directly over a forward operating base," Pellegrino said.
Because the system is modular, the equipment could be mixed and matched. "If desired, only the targeting ISR sensor could be loaded for an ISR-only mission. The targeting ISR sensor plus Hellfire could be loaded if the ramp is required for another mission. The sensor and ramp launcher could be loaded if both aerial refueling pods are required," Pellegrino said.
Firing weapons would not be easy, however. "When ready for launch, the aircrew will depressurize the aircraft, lower the ramp, launch the munitions, close the ramp, and then repressurize the aircraft," Pellegrino said. Future modifications would enable the aircraft to fire weapons without depressurizing the ramp area.
Though the targeting camera and laser designator system were borrowed from the Viper helicopter, officials expect that to be an advantage. Built by Lockheed Martin, the targeting system is a large-aperture midwave forward-looking infrared and color television camera with a built-in laser designator/range finder. "It's got quite a bit more complex stabilization system than any other system out there" because it was designed to be carried by helicopters, which are prone to vibration, said Col. Harry Hewson, who is familiar with the camera as the Marine Corps manager for light helicopter programs, including the Vipers.
The Marines are contemplating the addition of a convoy escort role to the Harvest Hawk's mission set and are considering using them to detect ambushes and improvised explosive devices. For now, much of the ISR emphasis is on beaming video from the AN/AAQ-30 to ground forces equipped with Rover video displays.
Flight Tests
The first Harvest Hawk kit is in the final stages of developmental flight-testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and the China Lake range in the California desert. Four flights have been conducted so far, including a live-fire test of a Griffin missile against a pickup truck from an altitude of 18,000 feet in which the target was designated by an off-board laser. "The missile scored a direct hit," Pellegrino said.
The other flights focused on the high-altitude performance of the AN/AAQ-30 video pod and the video downlink capability to forces equipped with Rover 3 and Rover 4 video displays. The test phase will include "end-to-end testing of the sensor and munitions system through detect, recognition, identification and engagement utilizing both self-laze and buddy laze."
In a push to deliver the technology fast, the Marine Corps is conducting an operational evaluation of the Harvest Hawk kits at China Lake concurrently with the developmental tests at the two sites and aircrew training. The evaluations will employ regular fleet personnel "to characterize the operational usefulness of the system," Pellegrino said. "Initially, we will utilize a limited operational envelope."