The Wedgetail programme

[buglerbilly]

Wedgetail Through-Life Support Contract

(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued January 19, 2010)

Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Personnel, Materiel and Science, today announced the signing of a contract with the Boeing Company to provide five years of through life support services for the new Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fleet of Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEWC) aircraft.

“This contract will create more than 100 industry jobs in the Newcastle area. It will also provide continued and new employment for more than 100 personnel at Amberley over the next 12 months, which will have positive flow-on effects for local businesses,” Mr Combet said.

“The five year performance based contract is valued at $800 million and provides a comprehensive support arrangement.

“The contract links contractor profits directly to contractor performance, thereby promoting greater efficiency and delivering real cost savings.

“The contract aims to reduce costs into the future, providing value for money for Defence and the Australian taxpayer.

“As outlined in the Rudd Government’s White Paper the Wedgetail aircraft will provide vastly improved situational awareness and an ability to control and coordinate aircraft in the military environment.

“The Boeing Company will be supported by Boeing Defence Australia on maintenance, engineering and training. Northrop Grumman Corporation will provide support for their Multi-Role Electronically Scanned radar.

“As part of the contract, the industry team will deliver services including logistics, training, spares management, aircraft deeper maintenance, engineering and supply chain management,” Minister Combet said.

The Wedgetail aircraft are being delivered progressively to RAAF Base Williamtown. This contract will allow for the necessary infrastructure to be developed for the support of the Wedgetail Aircraft when they are formally accepted by the Commonwealth.

-ends-

[Milne Bay]

This probably isn't the appropriate thread but considering what the Orions have been doing I thought it appropriate.

Air Force AP-3C Orions – 7 Years Of Continuous Middle East Operations


(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued Jan. 29, 2010)



Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orions have achieved an extraordinary seven years of continuous Middle East operations, providing crucial support to Australian and coalition forces.

Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal (AIRMSHL) Mark Binskin said the Orions had flown more than 1750 missions involving 16500 flying hours supporting Operations Bastille, Falconer, Catalyst and Slipper.

During the past 7 years the Orion crews have conducted overland intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks in Afghanistan and Iraq, maritime patrols of the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea and more recently, counter-piracy missions in the vicinity of Somalia, working closely with the US-led Combined Maritime Force (CMF) and other international task forces.

“This milestone is a great tribute to the men and women of Air Force’s Surveillance and Response Group who have worked long hours flying and maintaining the Orions. Maintenance staff have often worked in 50C plus temperatures to achieve a very high aircraft availability rate,” AIRMSHL Binskin said.

The RAAF Orion detachment in the Middle East includes approximately 88 people and two aircraft.

“The support provided by members of Air Force’s Combat Support Group, Maritime Patrol Systems Program Office and Aerospace Operational Support Group have been vital to the Orions’ achievements in the Middle East.”

RAAF’s AP-3C Orions are among the best intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft in the world. Orions can transmit real-time surveillance pictures, providing essential situational awareness to commanders on the ground.

Many of the Orions’ other capabilities are classified. The sensitive nature of much of the Orions’ ISR work means their contribution to the Australian Defence Force’s mission success in the Middle East is not always publicly recognised.

“Many of our AP-3C Orion people have done four and in some cases five deployments to the Middle East. I understand the impact this has on personal lives and I thank their families and friends in Australia for the vital support they provide,” AIRMSHL Binskin said.

In addition to ongoing work in the Middle East, Air Force Orions also provide significant support to Operation Resolute, patrolling Australia’s northern maritime approaches.

-ends-

[Exsandgroper]

From ADM

First Link 16 Vigilare-AEW&C transmission
11 Feb 2010


Boeing Defence Australia has announced that Project Vigilare, the Australian network centric C3 system, recently completed its first data transmission with a RAAF Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft using Link 16.
The Link 16 data transmission took place in December 2009 between the Vigilare system installed at the RAAF's Northern Regional Operations Centre in the Northern Territory, and an airborne Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft performing training missions over Australia's east coast.

Link 16 capability will enable the RAAF to transfer and receive critical tactical data from Australian Defence Force platforms including Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft, F/A-18 Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, and naval assets, as well as future platforms such as Aegis-equipped Air Warfare Destroyers and P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

"As Vigilare is an extremely complex system-of-systems project requiring the merging of data from a large number of dynamic and disparate sources, the successful demonstration via Link 16 was a good indication of the progress that is being made and a further risk reduction activity ahead of the operational test event that will occur this year," Air Commodore Steve Sheedy, Director General - Surveillance and Control branch of the DMO, said.

"Vigilare represents a fundamental shift in command and control systems, and Australia is leading the way in its development," Steve Parker, Boeing Defence Australia vice president and general manager for Network & Space Systems - Australia, said.

"Today, NC3S is one of the most capable surveillance and battlespace-management systems available that has application with air forces and higher defence headquarters around the world.

"We are pleased with the level of interest being shown internationally, and we are currently working with several international customers to define their future NC3S requirements."

Cheers

[Gubler, A.]

Here is the original Boeing press release:

Boeing NC3S Project Vigilare Completes 1st Data Transmission With Wedgetail

SINGAPORE, Feb. 3, 2010 - Boeing Defence Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA], today announced that Project Vigilare, a Network Centric Command and Control System (NC3S) solution for Australia, recently completed its first data transmission with a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft using Link 16.
"This achievement demonstrates the significant interoperability NC3S provides between key assets using tactical data links," Rod Drury, Boeing Defence Australia vice president of Strategy and Business Development, said today at the Singapore Airshow, where Boeing is presenting an NC3S display until Feb. 7.
The Link 16 data transmission took place on Dec. 14 between the Vigilare system installed at the RAAF's Northern Regional Operations Centre in Northern Territory, Australia, and an airborne Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft performing training missions over Australia's east coast. Link 16 capability will enable the RAAF to transfer and receive critical tactical data from Australian Defence Force platforms including Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft, F/A-18 Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, and naval assets, as well as future platforms such as Aegis-equipped Air Warfare Destroyers and P-8 maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
"As Vigilare is an extremely complex system-of-systems project requiring the merging of data from a large number of dynamic and disparate sources, the successful demonstration via Link 16 was a good indication of the progress that is being made and a further risk reduction activity ahead of the operational test event that will occur this year," said Air Commodore Steve Sheedy, Director General - Surveillance and Control branch of the Australian government's Defence Materiel Organisation.
"Vigilare represents a fundamental shift in Command and Control systems, and Australia is leading the way in its development," said Steve Parker, Boeing Defence Australia vice president and general manager for Network & Space Systems - Australia. "Today, NC3S is one of the most capable surveillance and battlespace-management systems available that has application with air forces and higher defence headquarters around the world. We are pleased with the level of interest being shown internationally, and we are currently working with several international customers to define their future NC3S requirements."
Developed by Boeing Defence Australia, NC3S integrates advanced technologies that combine data from land, sea, air and space platforms, sensors and data links to provide tactical and strategic surveillance and battlespace management operations across wide geographic regions.

[Milne Bay]

Hmmm.........................

Boeing Completes Phase 2 of Turkish Industrial Participation Program


(Source: Boeing Co.; issued February 22, 2010)



ANKARA, Turkey --- The Boeing Company today announced it has successfully completed the second phase of its industrial participation program for the Peace Eagle 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft program for the Turkish Air Force. Boeing finished Phase 2 on time and exceeded this phase’s $270 million requirement by $21 million, demonstrating the company’s continued success in meeting its industrial cooperation commitments.

“Reaching this milestone continues our long-standing commitment to invest in the regions where we do business,” said Gwen Kopsie, director of International Industrial Participation for Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “This accomplishment further reinforces our focus on developing partnerships and issuing contracts that will result in long-term, high-value jobs in Turkey while further establishing Boeing as an enduring partner to Turkish industry. The Boeing Company has completed projects with 15 Turkish companies and institutions over the past six years.”

Boeing completed Phase 1 of the program in 2006. The company remains on track to fulfill all three phases of the $930 million program for Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense Undersecretariat for Defense Industries.

In addition to the Peace Eagle industrial participation program, Boeing also supports the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries’ efforts to increase Turkish technology and small-business activities through a NATO Airborne Warning and Control System industrial participation program. That program is on track for completion later this year.

“Boeing’s relationship with Turkey spans more than 60 years,” said Greg Pepin, president of Boeing Turkey. “Today, Boeing is a major contributor to the Turkish economy through its industrial participation programs, which support more than 1,000 direct jobs and will place work worth a total of more than $1.2 billion in Turkey through 2013. Boeing has many suppliers and customers in the region and enjoys close, mutually beneficial collaboration with airlines, government, academic institutions and industry.”

Boeing has successfully implemented industrial participation programs totaling more than US$41 billion in nearly 40 countries over the past 30 years.


A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world’s largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $34 billion business with 68,000 employees worldwide.

[Exsandgroper]

Defence's troubled Wedgetail airborne radar project nears completion

THE end is in sight for the troubled Wedgetail defence project, now running more than four years late because of major technical problems.

Under the $3.45 billion program launched in 1999, Australia will buy six Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with a radar able to observe aircraft over a vast area.

Developing the radar and related systems has proved technically challenging with the project running severely behind schedule.

Warren King, general manager of programs for the Defence Materiel Organisation, told a parliamentary committee the project should be finished about year's end.

“We have made good progress on the project. It is late - 49 months late,” he told the parliamentary committee.

“The end is in sight.”

Mr King said defence had taken delivery of two aircraft for crew flight training and further systems development with initial acceptance set for late April or early May.

Prime contractor Boeing is forecasting final acceptance for December, although defence estimated that could take some months longer.

Mr King said final acceptance related to performance of electronic support measures (ESM), the crucial ability to intercept and classify electronic emissions such as hostile radar signals.

“We have made a commercial settlement with Boeing on matters relating to late delivery and also ... a shortfall in one area of radar performance and coming to an agreement for compensation for that,” he said.

Mr King said an agreement had also been reached with Boeing for a structure to bring that shortfall up to expected standard over time.

That relates to the radar's performance in pulse doppler mode - the ability to detect a target and also measure its speed.

Mr King said an assessment of Wedgetail by US radar expert Lincoln Laboratories concluded that the radar was fundamentally sound but existing technology could not deliver that element of capability at this time.

He said it was hoped that over time that capability would be delivered and eventually be better than what was initially contracted.

Mr King said Wedgetail featured 10,000 technical specification points of which the vast majority would be achieved and many exceeded.

Significant problems with radar system stability had been fixed. Initially the system required a partial or complete shutdown and reboot every couple of hours but that had now been extended to 10 hours, he said.

Well the reboot stability is better than I got from Vista when I first got it.:trashpc
Settled down very nicely now thank goodness:thumbsup

[buglerbilly]

Turkey's spy plane program back on track

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News

After facing delays of more than three years, a $1.6 billion program headed by Boeing to construct four specialized planes for Turkey’s military is now back on track, a Turkish defense industry specialist said Monday.

"We are close to agreeing with Boeing to a revised timetable for the program," Murad Bayar, head of the undersecretariat for Defense Industries, or SSM, Turkey's procurement agency, told the Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review.

"We hope to receive the first aircraft before the end of next year," he said.

Boeing officials also confirmed that both sides are working on a new and detailed schedule for the program, dubbed Peace Eagle, also saying that the firm is committed to an airborne early warning and control, or AEW&C, system that meets Turkey's procurement requirements.

The remarks indicate a breakthrough toward resolving the worst conflict between Turkey and the United States-based company.

Boeing and the SSM signed the spy plane contract in 2002 in a deal that includes the Turkish air force’s acquisition of four 737-700 AEW&C aircraft, ground radar and control systems, plus ground support segments for mission crew training, mission support and maintenance support. There also is an option for an additional two aircraft.

The first plane was originally scheduled for delivery in 2007, but the deal was dogged by delays from the beginning.

Long delay

In 2007 U.S. and Turkish industry sources said the delays mainly stemmed from software production and integration problems. Boeing officials also said at the time that the development of Turkey’s Peace Eagle system had been a greater challenge than anticipated.

Turkey’s AEW&C contract came a year after a similar but larger deal between Australia and Boeing. Under that contract, Australia had ordered six 737-700 AEW&C aircraft and related systems.

Australia’s program also had faced similar delays, but the problems began to be resolved in recent years. As a result, Boeing delivered the first two 737 AEW&C planes to the Royal Australian Air Force, or RAAF, in late November last year.

In mid-February, Boeing instructors began a maintenance training program with RAAF personnel on the Australian 737 AEW&C aircraft as part of the contract.

Turkey plans to use its AEW&C aircraft for national defense, along with NATO-related missions.

The program, based on Boeing’s popular 737-700 commercial aircraft, will come with Northrop Grumman’s MESA electronically-scanned array radar, an all-weather, 360-degree air and maritime mode system.

An airborne early warning system is a radar system carried by an aircraft designed to detect other planes. Used at a high altitude, the radar allows the operator to distinguish between friendly and hostile aircraft hundreds of miles away.

AEW&C aircraft are also used offensively to direct fighters to their target locations, and defensively to counter attacks.

[buglerbilly]

Big Boost for Australia’s Defence Surveillance Capability

(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued May 5, 2010)

Greg Combet, Minister for Defence Materiel and Science, today accepted the first two Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft at RAAF Base Williamtown in Newcastle.

“The two surveillance aircraft will significantly increase Australia’s surveillance capabilities and, as outlined in the Rudd Government’s Defence White Paper, the Wedgetail will be critical in supporting our future ADF,” Mr Combet said.

“Wedgetail aircraft will provide the ADF with the capability to maintain surveillance over a surface area of 400,000 square kilometres at any one time – that is an area 5 times as big as Tasmania.

“Over a 10 hour mission the Wedgetail’s sophisticated mission systems and advanced radar will be able to cover four million square kilometres in surveillance, with its primary task being to detect air threats and coordinate our air defence.

“The Wedgetail project has suffered problems, especially in regards to schedule, and has been on the Government’s ‘projects of concern’ list.”

“This project was experiencing a variety of problems when the Government was elected but we have put a lot of work into getting it back on track,” Mr Combet said.

“Over a decade since the project first started it is finally now ready to be used for Air Force training. I congratulate all parties, including the Department, Air Force and the Wedgetail’s manufacturer Boeing who have got us to this point.

“This is good news, although there are still a number of hurdles to overcome. Defence will continue to work alongside Boeing to support the ramp up of training and the final delivery of all six completed aircraft.

“The Royal Australian Air Force will now commence formal training and building operational capability over the next 12 months.

“It is expected the new aircraft will aid the ADF in providing support for our naval fleet, assist in search and rescue and border protection.”

Mr Combet said the Wedgetail project has also benefited local industry and local jobs.

“The Wedgetail project will not only boost the nation’s defence capabilities but it has benefited local industry and will support 200 local jobs in the sustainment phase of the project.”

-ends-

[tiddles]

I guess that we will eventually hear just what the "hurdles" that are left that GC referred to exactly are, fortunately they would not seem to prevent the RAAF from operating the Wedgetail so after all this time & with new tankers soon & new planes [SH] as well, the RAAFs capabilities have been greatly expanded. All they need now is a "threat' to intimidate .
Tiddles

[buglerbilly]

DATE:27/05/10

SOURCE:Flight International

Australia prepares for first Wedgetail inspection

By Stephen Trimble

A Boeing 737 Wedgetail will enter heavy maintenance for the first time in July, six months before the Royal Australian Air Force will receive its first example with full capability.

Boeing delivered the service's first of six Wedgetail airborne early warning and control system aircraft in 2003, but the programme fell three years behind schedule because of problems with structural modifications and radar performance.

Last November the RAAF accepted the first two Wedgetails with limited capability. Another aircraft will be delivered with full capability by the end of the year, with the remainder scheduled to follow in 2011.


© Boeing

Meanwhile, the first test aircraft will enter a heavy maintenance interval in July termed R7, which includes elements of a C and D check in commercial service.

The depot service will include intensive inspections to structural modifications in the cabin, and particularly of Section 46, which supports the 3,180kg (7,000lb) Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned array (MESA).

However, the R7 inspections will not require Boeing to remove the MESA antenna from the aircraft.

Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) is to perform depot maintenance for all six aircraft under a A$250 million ($210 million) support contract that runs through 2014. The company expects to reduce the R7 cycle from nine to six months within this period.

Maintenance support for the Wedgetail fleet will be performed at RAAF Williamtown, New South Wales, where 2 Sqn is based. The work has moved from RAAF Amberley, Queensland, where BDA modified four of the six aircraft.

BDA's training operation, meanwhile, in late May graduated its first two pilots inducted for Wedgetail flight training after a 19-week course.

[Unicorn]

The company expects to reduce the R7 cycle from nine to six months within this period.


six months for a C/D check?

WTF are they sniffing?

Airlines start getting very bloody pissed at anything over four months max.

Tell me they are having a lend of us. Please?

Unicorn

[Chunder]

Yeah but to a point.
With Airlines it's stock standard, years of experience with common airframe structures.

3 Tonne sitting upon the structure although sitting there that no one really has much experience on maintaining (first of type) needs to be scrutinised and the manual written if you like. IIR the RAAF had a programme going with Lockheed as a first of type operator of the 130J. So it's not uncommon to expect worse case scenario, but get down significantly in undercutting that.

Adelaide never had deep maintenance, There would be minor system checks, but the way the system worked was that you needed to have a lot of experience before being posted to Adelaide, presumably because the airline would bank on minor system checks and revealed faults being fixed quickly for service. So you can imagine a bunch of new guys working on a new plane, common structure or not, taking awhile.

Don't take that as gospel though. PDf might have a better explanation/ correct some of the above.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:19/07/10

SOURCE:Flight Daily News

FARNBOROUGH: Turkey's first 737-based AEW aircraft makes UK debut

By Craig Hoyle

Boeing's 737-based airborne early warning and control system aircraft is making its UK debut this week, with the company having brought the Turkish air force's first example to the show.

Ankara has ordered four AEW&C platforms, which feature equipment including a Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned array, or "Top Hat" on the modified airliner's fuselage.

Boeing is in negotiations with Turkey over the delivery schedule for the new type, which has been the subject of development delays. Turkish Aerospace Industries has already completed work to modify the air force's second and third aircraft, and the fourth is "well under way", Boeing says.


© APG Photography

Turkey could receive its first operational aircraft during 2011, an industry source suggests.

The Royal Australian Air Force is now conducting training with its first three of six "Wedgetail" AEW&C aircraft, and Boeing also recently conducted the first flight of the adapted 737 for South Korea, its remaining other customer for the type.

[Unicorn]

Anyone know what are the key differences between the Turkish and RAAF birds, if any?

Unicorn

[Mercator]

From memory, I think they have a different ESM system fitted.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:12/11/10

SOURCE:Flight International

Australia’s first Wedgetail crew completes training

By Greg Waldron

Australia's first mission crew for the Boeing 737-based Wedgetail airborne early warning and control system aircraft has completed its training, following a seven-month course.

The first intake of eight Royal Australian Air Force students received their training with support from eight instructors and three role-players from Boeing. They underwent 1,200h of training on the aircraft's battle management mission systems.

"Boeing Defence Australia is responsible for training the students in non-tactical areas across all aircraft mission systems, including datalinks, communications systems and the multi-role electronically scanned array radar, to ensure they graduate with the necessary skills," says Todd Barker, the company's Wedgetail AEW&C mission crew lead instructor and course director.


© Boeing

Based on the 737-700, the Wedgetail can track airborne and maritime targets simultaneously with its Northrop Grumman surveillance radar, and has 10 mission crew consoles.

Under a contract with the RAAF, Boeing provides programme management, supply-chain management and engineering, maintenance and training services to support Australia's Wedgetail fleet.

The nation has formally accepted three aircraft in an "initial operating configuration". Another is scheduled to arrive before year-end, with a fourth to follow in 2011.

Completing the first training course represents a high point in the Wedgetail's long and troubled history. Boeing delivered the service's first of six modified aircraft in 2003, but the programme fell three years behind schedule because of problems with structural modifications and radar performance. In November 2009 the RAAF accepted its first two Wedgetails with limited capability.


© Boeing

The AEW&C programme is listed on the Australian defence ministry's projects of concern list. Established in 2008, this is intended to help government and industry leaders focus on solving issues involved with projects which face significant challenges with scheduling, cost or capability delivery.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:28/01/11

SOURCE:Flight International

Boeing accepts charge on new 737 AEW&C problems

By Stephen Trimble

Boeing has announced a new setback for the long-delayed plan to deliver fully operational 737 airborne early warning and control system aircraft to Australia and Turkey.

The company's fourth quarter earnings statement included a new charge against earnings valued at $136 million on the AEW&C programme.

Boeing blames the writedown on "additional software development and testing required for acceptance of the Wedgetail aircraft" by the Royal Australian Air Force. The charge also covers the "resolution of issues associated with the test programme" for the Turkish air force's Peace Eagle programme, it adds.

It was not immediately clear whether the new issues will further delay the delivery of full operational capability for Australia's six AEW&C aircraft, ordered a decade ago under Project Wedgetail.


© Boeing

The programme has suffered repeated delays due to development problems with the aircraft's Northrop Grumman multi-role electronically scanned array (MESA) radar, Boeing's design for the heavily modified 737-700 and the BAE Systems Australia suite of electronic support measures.

As the lead integrator, Boeing has accepted previous charges worth more than $1 billion as the schedule for first delivery to Australia slipped by more than three years. The company delivered the first two of six Wedgetails to Australia in November 2009, but with limited operational capability.

Turkey has ordered four 737 AEW&C aircraft under its Peace Eagle programme, while South Korea also has four under contract via its Peace Eye project.

The 737 AEW&C features Northrop's unique approach to achieving 360° radar coverage with a "top-hat" array. The MESA radar includes two side-looking arrays, as well as a top-hat array that uses "endfire" techniques to steer the radar beam forward and aft of the aircraft.

Last year, the Australian government commissioned Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study whether the MESA radar's architecture can meet its requirements. The results of the study indicated that the architecture was sound, but that software changes would be required to achieve full capability.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Wedgetail's Radar -- What Was Wrong and What Fixed It

Posted by David A. Fulghum at 2/2/2011 3:01 AM CST



Australia’s new airborne early warning and control aircraft has arrived, but it is at least four years late.

The Australian military was stunned in 2006 to discover that the Wedgetail’s large, futuristic, long-range radar still had both hardware and software problems.

The first problem involved the “end-fire” portion of the radar that provides the fore and aft segment of its 360 degree coverage. A long, hollow chamber atop the radar had been carefully shaped to deflect a portion of the radar’s beams 90 degrees from the vertical to the horizontal, accelerate and shape those beams into waves and fire them both ahead and behind of the aircraft. The fore and aft scanning filled in the coverage between side arrays that looked left and right.

The “top hat” chamber should have acted like a well-designed music hall to carry the music undistorted to the audience in the back rows. Because the technology was new, the original chamber fitted above the vertically-firing, transmitter modules (that created the fore and aft transmissions) was built 4-in. too short. The result was an electronic cacophony of distorted signals.

However, the top hat with its end-fire array, positioned atop the radar’s dorsal fin, was new technology developed for the Wedgetail program. Engineers were inventing the theory to build the radar which involves over 1,000 radar signal radiators that feed the long, narrow pedestal array. The radiators assigned to fore and aft coverage point straight up from what is called the “bed of nails” [referring to the rows of hundreds of emitters on the floor of the cavity].

The antenna modeling, which was being invented during the early stages of the program, “indicated there needed to be a 10-in. separation” between the radiating surface and the top of the radome cavity,” says Bob Hendrix, chief architect for Northrop Grumman’s ISR systems division. “This separation ultimately proved insufficient during testing, causing a partial redesign of the radome and perturbation to the program.”

The end-fire design creates a traveling plane wave that grows in power as it moves either forward or backward along the cavity. But because the space was too narrow, the phasing of the wave did not allow it to be strengthened and shaped properly by the subsequent rows of emitters.

“It’s like an orchestra where the conductor needs to make sure that each musician does not absorb or distort the sound from the others,” Hendrix says.

Designers created a program to increase the outer mold line of the aircraft, but that created an aerodynamic impact which had to be defined and compensated for by a new series of wind tunnel tests that added to the delay.

“These L-band T/R modules are very high power because they have to see hundreds of miles in all directions,” Hendrix says. “Fighters have a more limited scan [perhaps 120 degrees or less] and don’t have to look that deep. Now we have very stable hardware and software so that we can make many improvements – perhaps for a 10-year window – with software modifications. “

A second, longer-lasting problem was refining the software for the baseline Wedgetail missions and capabilities that were constantly evolving as electronically scanned array radar technology matured.

“Part of what took so long was wrapped up in [tweaking the software],” Hendrix says. “We had to optimize the radar and IFF [automated identification friend or foe] processing to pull tiny targets out of cluttered backgrounds. You are always challenged by the false alarm rate. You have to reduce that for the surveillance operators.

But again, the benefits -- shrouded in classification -- may be worth the wait. They include, given enough funding for software development, capabilities such as focusing radar beams on a single point to serve as anti-missile weapons or generating data beams that can be packed with algorithms to invade enemy communications networks.

When the available power is focused through a smaller sector of coverage, the output goes up which allows the detection of smaller objects at longer range. The new target set includes stealthy cruise missiles and aircraft now under development by Russian and Chinese industries for export. Greater computing power allows the easier identification of objects whether they are moving or not.

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Non-kinetic Weapons for the RAAF

Posted by David A. Fulghum at 2/3/2011 10:12 AM CST

Australia’s Wedgetail early warning aircraft – which carries a large, low frequency, radar – is being refined to locate very small targets at long range which gives it the potential to counter reduced signature designs such as China’s J-20 strike aircraft and the PLAAF’s low-observable cruise missile.

Other potential missions could involve electronic attack and network invasion. Active, electronically scanned arrays (AESA) can be engineered to create data beams that can be packed with algorithms. These data beams can be fired into antennas linked to integrated air defenses and other communications nodes as a way to inject malware and extract intelligence from networks of interest.

“Anything you can envision that is in the public forum on AESA technologies could be adapted and evolved to MESA,” says a senior Australian defense official.

The RAAF purposely chose to equip the Boeing-made Wedgetail with the large, Northrop Grumman-designed, L-band, all-weather Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar. Special radar modes can increase its range. Northrop Grumman admits to more than a 200-mi. range for the radar. In fact, it is often limited only by the horizon and radar specialists contend that AESA radars double or triple the range of conventional mechanically scanned radars. The 737-700 Increased Gross Weight variant has a 15-ft. plug between wing and tail replaced and reinforced for the 3.5-ton radar and two 12-ft. long ventral fins added for aerodynamic stability.

“It’s fast enough to keep track of maneuvering targets that you could not keep track of if the radar was taking a snapshot every 10 sec., which is the scan rate of an AWACS,” says Bob Hendrix, chief architect for Northrop Grumman ISR systems division. “Supersonic missiles are in the target set. The technology also is there to pick out individuals walking in a huge area” like the savannah of Northern Australia where drug and immigrant smuggling is big business.

Boeing plans to complete delivery and integration of the Wedgetail’s initial package of hardware and software this year.

“We’re on track to deliver full-up capability with the Electronic Support Measures [surveillance] and radar improvements and everything else by the end of 2011,” say Ian Thomas, Boeing’ president for Australia & South Pacific. “As we’ve gone through the exercises with the RAAF and as they get more aircraft for training purposes they are finding capability that they didn’t fully anticipate. They are letting the guys in back dial up the network and pull in Super Hornets and other aircraft. That’s opening their minds to the long-term potential that the [Wedgetail mission system] has. It is fundamental and central to the network-enabled capability of the air force.”

But there are concerns about what the platform can or should be designed to do in the areas of electronic attack and network invasion, for example.

“There is a danger in mixing some of those missions,” the Australian defense official says. “Just as there is non-kinetic potential with the AESA radars on fighter aircraft [in electronic warfare and jamming], there is a similar potential in the MESA. But you have to consider the type of aircraft you want to put non-kinetic attack options on. AEW&C vulnerability [in size, speed and agility] would be a factor. You don’t want to make yourself too tempting a target when you are such a critical part of the network.”

[Unicorn]

How much of this is true and how much is spin to make up for the delays, can anyone comment?

[Gubler, A.]

How much of this is true and how much is spin to make up for the delays, can anyone comment?

This is mostly about growth potential and has little to do with the delays, which were mostly to do with systems integration.

[buglerbilly]

S. Korea to Get 1st Early Warning Aircraft in July

By JUNG SUNG-KI

Published: 28 Feb 2011 19:00

SEOUL - Boeing will deliver the first of four planned 737 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to South Korea in July, procurement officials here said Feb. 28.


The 737 AEW&C "Peace Eye" is seen during a test flight. Boeing is expected to deliver four of the planes to the South Korean Air Force by July. (Boeing)

"The first 737 AEW&C is now in development test and evaluation after its flight tests were completed successfully last June," an official at the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said. "Type test and evaluation is scheduled to begin in March before a Korean operational utility demonstration slated for May."

The first aircraft is now at a Boeing facility in Seattle, while the remainder is at a facility of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) in Sacheon, about 430 kilometers southeast of Seoul, for system integration and modification works, the official said.

South Korea signed a $1.6 billion contract in November 2006 to introduce four 737 AEW&C "Peace Eye" aircraft by 2012. The modification work by KAI is part of offset deals from the AEW&C contract.

The Peace Eye systems include an increased-gross-weight version of the new 737-700 passenger aircraft; Northrop Grumman's Multi-mode Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar and identification friend or foe (IFF) system; electronic support and communications measures; electronic warning and self-protection system; and ground systems and product support.

ISR Independence

The 737 AEW&C aircraft is a core part in South Korea's pursuit of achieving independent intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance capability to prepare for the transition of wartime operational control from the U.S. to South Korea in 2015, as the nation heavily relies on U.S. reconnaissance aircraft based in Okinawa, Japan.

The South Korean Air Force considers creating a tactical reconnaissance wing led by the 737 AEW&C aircraft. The wing will have unmanned aerial vehicles, RF-4C surveillance planes, Hawker 800 aircraft and others, according to Air Force officials.

In case of an emergency, the Peace Eye aircraft will orchestrate air assets flown by ROK airmen by detecting and identifying airborne objects, determining their coordinates and flight path data, and transferring the information to commanders.

The planes will offer all-weather surveillance, command-and-control, and communications platform to guide fighter-interceptors and tactical air force aircraft to combat areas to attack ground targets at low altitudes, with on-board battle management crew conducting planning, direction, coordination, and control of forces and operations.

The 737 AEW&C has six common console stations for the mission crew and boasts of its commonality with commercial airline fleets for flexibility and support. The aircraft can fly at a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet and top speed of 340 knots.

[ADMk2]

Top speed of 340 knots? Seems a bit slow to me? Normally 737-700 types cruise at about 585mph. This is a significant reduction in cruise performance if true. One would have thought that engine thrust would have improved to offset the additional drag?

Or that article got it wrong...

[buglerbilly]

Cruise speed is quoted as 530MPH elsewhere.............

[Unicorn]

Chatted to some Wedgetail backseaters today.

Their thoughts were that while the aircraft still has a way to go before it is really operationally capable, the USAF AWACS community is very interested in what the RAAF can achieve, as they see the same system, scaled up to a larger aircraft such as a 767-sized aircraft, as the logical progression from the current E3 Sentry fleet.

[buglerbilly]

Delivery of long-delayed spy planes to start next year

Thursday, May 5, 2011

ÜMİT ENGİNSOY

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News


Turkey plans to use the spy planes for national defense and also for NATO-related missions. Hürriyet photo

Next year Boeing, a top United States aircraft manufacturer, will deliver the first of four spy planes it is building for the Turkish Air Force in Turkey's long-delayed multibillion-dollar Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft program, a senior company official said Thursday.

"We're looking forward to the first delivery toward the end of next year," said Mark Ellis, director at Boeing for Turkey's Peace Eagle aircraft program at a briefing at the Turkish Aerospace Industries plant near Ankara. The remaining three planes are expected to enter service in 2013.

In 2003, Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defense Industries, the procurement agency, ordered from the Chicago-based Boeing four 737-700 planes for the aircraft program, a ground radar, and control systems plus ground control segments for mission crew training, mission support and maintenance support.

The contract was for $1.6 billion. The original contract contained an option for two more aircraft but both Turkish and Boeing officials said there was no indication that Ankara would buy the two additional aircraft.

In 2007 when the first plane was scheduled to arrive, U.S. and Turkish officials said software production and integration problems were delaying the deliveries in a major way. Boeing officials said at the time the development had been tougher than expected.

Turkey's contract came one year after Australia signed a similar deal for six 737-700s and related systems. Australia's program also faced similar delays, but eventually Boeing delivered four aircraft and has begun training Royal Australian Air Force maintainers as part of the contract. This paved the way for the removal of the problems in the Turkish program.

South Korea also is in a process to buy the same type of aircraft.

Turkey plans to use the spy planes for national defense and for NATO-related missions.

The program, based on Boeing's popular 737-700 civilian aircraft, will come with Northrop Grumman's MESA electronically scanned array radar, an all-weather, 360-degree air and maritime mode system.

An airborne early warning system is a radar carried by an aircraft designed to detect other planes. Used at high altitude, the radar allows the operator to distinguish between friendly and hostile aircraft hundreds of miles away. Early warning aircraft are used offensively to direct fighters to their target locations and defensively to counter attacks.

[Milne Bay]

Stopped at Raymond Terrace for a revive and survive break yesterday.
Lucky enough to see overhead a Wedgetail banking on its landing approach, with two F/A-18's in attendance. Too high to see which of the S/Hornets they were, but assume they were classics, as the others are up at Amberley.
Made my day.
Cheers
MB

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

Peace Eye on finals

Posted by Guy Norris at 5/23/2011 4:51 PM CDT

The first Boeing 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) ‘Peace Eye’ for the Republic of Korea (ROK) is entering the final phase of mission system flight testing at Boeing’s Seattle facility, and is on track for delivery later this summer – likely around August.


Guy Norris

Korea, which signed a contract in November 2006 for four Peace Eye AEW&Cs after an extensive evaluation for its ‘EX’ requirement, expects to receive all four aircraft by the end of 2012. The other three airframes are undergoing modification at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) facility in Sacheon, 430 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The third, and final, 737-700IGW for this modification program was delivered via Hawaii on Dec 4, 2010.


Guy Norris

The Peace Eye fleet will play a key role in South Korea's goal of achieving independent intelligent gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance capability as it prepares for the transition of wartime operational control from the U.S. in 2012. As part of its preparations, the ROK Air Force is setting up a tactical reconnaissance wing which will be centered on the 737 fleet and include RC-800 (modified Hawker 800RA radar surveillance aircraft), RF-4C and UAVs.

[buglerbilly]

South Korea Unveils First Surveillance Aircraft

(Source: Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense; dated Aug. 8, 2011)


The first of four Boeing 737 AEW&C aircraft ordered by South Korea was handed over on Aug. 1 at the Gimhae air base in South Gyeongsang. (S. Korea MoD photo)

As a hope of making another great leap in improving South Korea’s military might, South Korea’s first surveillance airplane, known as Airborne Early Warning and Control plane, arrived at an Air Force base on Aug. 1.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in Seoul said that a Boeing E-737 early-warning and control aircraft landed at the Air Force base in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, after completing tests by South Korean Air Force at Boeing’s factory in Seattle.

“It will go through test flights and acceptance tests before it’s handed over to our Air Force in early September,” the DAPA said.

In an effort to establish autonomous early-warning and control system, South Korean military had decided to adopt E-737 in November 2006. Since then Seoul has been doing its effort to bring four such planes by end of 2012. Currently, Korea Aerospace Industries, the nation’s leading aircraft maker, is developing advanced multi-purpose electronic satellite radar system that will be installed in the second, third and fourth planes. They are planned to be handed over to South Korean Air Force in 2012.

“If necessary, early-warning and control airplane is capable of monitoring the whole land of North Korea,” said a defense official at the Defense Ministry in Seoul. “Not only the plane can monitor target areas real-time, but also it can improve airborne operations significantly by assisting air-defense system on ground. The surveillance plane will also be capable of checking airborne or seaborne targets on the entire Korean Peninsula, and will be able to catch aircraft flying at low altitude infiltrating mountainous areas.”

A 120-seater E-737 surveillance aircraft was made by remodeling Boeing 737 passenger plane, such as installing Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) Surveillance Radar on top of plane body and radar manipulating consol system inside the aircraft. DAPA said such systems are capable of detect, distinguish, monitor and analyze targets in the air and on sea spontaneously. When new E-737 plane is in full operation, it will observe whole operational area and provide core information of enemies to South Korea’s fighters and warships.

Apart from a old early warning and control plane, the new E-737 aircraft uses electronically scanned array radar which is capable of not only covering omni-directional area but also focusing on a specific target exploration. Experts anticipate that the use of the new plane could upgrade South Korea’s military power significantly. They also hope that the plane could contribute in improving independent intelligence gathering and monitor capabilities after the transition of wartime operational control from the United States to South Korea.

The new E-737 has a flying range of around 7,000 kilometers (4,349 miles) and it can fly on patrol for about eight to nine hours. MESA radar can detect and monitor some 1,000 target planes at the most. It also has a capability of interlocking with strategic data link system of Air Force air-defense units.

The aircraft has been dubbed “Peace Eye” after a naming contest in 2008. It has a meaning of demonstrating peace missions in and out of the Korean Peninsula where it remains the only divided land in the world.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This delivery has not been announced by Boeing to date, although the company routinely announces F-15K deliveries to South Korea.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Wedgetail Successfully Completes International Exercise

(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued November 4, 2011)

The Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft has successfully participated in the Five Power Defence Arrangements Exercise BERSAMA LIMA, Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare said today.

The Five Power Defence Arrangements Exercise BERSAMA LIMA 2011 commenced on 17 October and will finish today in the Malaysian Peninsula and South China Sea.

“This is another step forward in the $3.9 billion project which will provide the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) with a leading-edge surveillance aircraft,” Mr Clare said.

“Our aircraft worked with ground, sea and air assets from Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom in a range of exercise scenarios.”

During the exercises, the aircraft’s sensors, communications suite and datalinks were used for Maritime Strike, Offensive and Defensive Counter Air operations.

Fifty-six Australian personnel deployed with the aircraft, comprising two flight crews and two maintenance crews as well as support personnel.

“The exercise provided important training for our pilots, air crew and ground crew in maritime and air combat situations – working closely with our Five Power partners,” Mr Clare said.

-ends-