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22-01-10, 02:04 PM
Helo-Protecting Advanced Sensors Hurried
Jan 21, 2010
By David A. Fulghum
Washington
After generations of talk but little success, integration and commonality of digital sensors among operational forces of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force are showing surprisingly vibrant signs of life.
A competition was kicked off late last year to design, build and demonstrate prototypes of the Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (Jatas) to protect Navy and Marine Corps helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft from both dumb and smart weapons. The two remaining competitors are Lockheed Martin and the team of Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and BAE Systems.
Jatas is to be the core of a system that can grow, as technology and funding allow, to detect lasers, small-arms fire, shoulder-fired rockets as well as guided surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. Eventually, Jatas is expected to encompass cyber-network detection, analysis and, possibly, attack.
“This is a first,” says Matt Milligan, director of platform survivability for Lockheed Martin. “These capabilities do exist, but they are different systems with [diverse] hardware components that take up valuable space and resources on assault helicopters. [Meanwhile,] the threats are evolving. We have documented evidence that assault platforms [in Iraq and Afghanistan] are coming back riddled with bullet holes and in some cases the pilot doesn’t know he’s being shot at.” In addition, older ultraviolet-based, missile detection systems “are being flooded by false alarms,” he says.
A key concept is to network information collected by a growing package of sophisticated sensors that is then integrated by an advanced, broadband, high-speed processor. Jatas is part of the effort to introduce common, open-architecture systems that can transport capabilities across service lines and among allies.
The Navy awarded two 16-month contracts to demonstrate prototypes of a compact, two-color, mid-wave, infrared system, says Laurie Nuzzo, BAE Systems’ Jatas program manager. The Marine Corps MV-22 tiltrotor troop transport is the lead platform for the Jatas program’s engineering and manufacturing development phase. Development proposals are due this November, with final selection of a prime contractor expected next spring. Both teams include DRS Technologies and Goodrich.
Demand for the missile-detection capability is being accelerated by the heavy volume of automatic small-arms fire encountered in Afghanistan and, to a lesser degree, by availability on the black market of Russian-built SA-16 Gimlet, SA-18 Grouse and SA-24 Grinch man-portable air defense missiles (manpads).
SA-16s, for example, can be bought for about $40,000 each, say U.S. defense officials. Defense laboratories have bought SA-18s on the black market (for an undisclosed amount) and they were delivered by a commercial mail service. Both missiles are hit-to-kill and carry modifications to delay their detonation until they have penetrated the target. The SA-24 has contact or non-contact options. It offers a combination of rods and fragments to expand and optimize the kill envelope, say U.S. analysts.
Jatas eventually is expected to integrate electronic attack and warfare capabilities as well.
“We really need to work the whole [electro-magnetic] spectrum now, not just because of manpads,” says Burt Keir*stead, BAE Systems’ director of Navy programs for survivability solutions. “[However,] the big threat at the moment, if you look at rotary-wing losses, is hostile [small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade] fire. It turns out that we’ve done a pretty good job with missile warning, especially with the Army. I’d argue that more important is a hostile-fire [detection] capability that’s going into the Jatas program. At lower altitudes, that’s the greater threat to helicopters.
“As we’ve seen with the Army, the helicopter will continue to be the workhorse in modern conflicts like Afghanistan where you need to transport troops,” Keirstead says. “The other aspect is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is searching for cross-pollination among the services to solve the hostile fire threat.”
Acoustic sensors will be examined later in the program to detect and locate the source of ball-ammunition, rifle and machine gun fire that have no infrared signature to exploit. But there are hints about work on advanced algorithms that are to combine information from many sources other than acoustics to determine the source of ball-ammunition fire.
“We are looking at acoustic as well as a few other options . . . as supplements to our IR sensor for the complete hostile fire indicator,” says David Huber, Lockheed Martin’s Jatas program manager. “Acoustic [sensors] may be furthest along in maturity, but there are other technologies we are looking into. We’re going to create discriminators for ourselves [from our] strong capabilities in algorithms, integration and sensor-packaging.”
“As a requirement for the program, the Navy would like to evolve to a directable infrared countermeasure [dircm]—a jammer—which is part of the Jatas interface requirement,” Keir*stead says. The Army already uses the advanced threat infrared countermeasures (Atircm) jamming laser.
One of the project’s core requirements is for a broad-bandwidth, large-memory processor with open architecture as well as memory, bandwidth and processing speed reserves of 200% for adding future functions to the system. Another requirement calls for a mid-wave, two-color (3-5 micron) IR system that allows targets to be picked more efficiently from interfering sources of radiation. It is expected to generate fewer false alarms than sensors based on ultra-violet sensors.
The mid-IR part of the spectrum was picked for its longer-range target detection. An open-architecture processor—built on a standard commercial design for low cost and interoperability—will allow modular insertion of more capabilities.
“[Jatas also] has a laser-warning capability embedded in it,” Keirstead says. For example, Goodrich provides laser warning that determines the direction and type of threat laser and the type of weapon associated with it. “We think we need to get as many sensors on the problem as we can.” The processor and IR sensor package also provide the skeleton on which advanced future capabilities can be hung. “You want to add incremental capability without having to go back and rebuild key pieces of core operational software,” says Keirstead.
Another longer-term upgrade is networking with other air and ground systems to locate and track all the weapons in a specific battlespace, including longer-range surface-to-air missiles.
“It’s safe to say that growth for these applications . . . will let us go look at air-to-air threats, for example,” Keirstead says. “The big difference when you go from manpads to air-to-air threats is just the range. One of the advantages of embedding infrared capability is getting extended range so there is more potential to deal with long-range missiles.”
There also is a long-term requirement to tack on other advanced sensors, including a network-detection device that can sense, identify and map the activity of local IT networks that might be part of a threat system.
Jan 21, 2010
By David A. Fulghum
Washington
After generations of talk but little success, integration and commonality of digital sensors among operational forces of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force are showing surprisingly vibrant signs of life.
A competition was kicked off late last year to design, build and demonstrate prototypes of the Joint and Allied Threat Awareness System (Jatas) to protect Navy and Marine Corps helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft from both dumb and smart weapons. The two remaining competitors are Lockheed Martin and the team of Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and BAE Systems.
Jatas is to be the core of a system that can grow, as technology and funding allow, to detect lasers, small-arms fire, shoulder-fired rockets as well as guided surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. Eventually, Jatas is expected to encompass cyber-network detection, analysis and, possibly, attack.
“This is a first,” says Matt Milligan, director of platform survivability for Lockheed Martin. “These capabilities do exist, but they are different systems with [diverse] hardware components that take up valuable space and resources on assault helicopters. [Meanwhile,] the threats are evolving. We have documented evidence that assault platforms [in Iraq and Afghanistan] are coming back riddled with bullet holes and in some cases the pilot doesn’t know he’s being shot at.” In addition, older ultraviolet-based, missile detection systems “are being flooded by false alarms,” he says.
A key concept is to network information collected by a growing package of sophisticated sensors that is then integrated by an advanced, broadband, high-speed processor. Jatas is part of the effort to introduce common, open-architecture systems that can transport capabilities across service lines and among allies.
The Navy awarded two 16-month contracts to demonstrate prototypes of a compact, two-color, mid-wave, infrared system, says Laurie Nuzzo, BAE Systems’ Jatas program manager. The Marine Corps MV-22 tiltrotor troop transport is the lead platform for the Jatas program’s engineering and manufacturing development phase. Development proposals are due this November, with final selection of a prime contractor expected next spring. Both teams include DRS Technologies and Goodrich.
Demand for the missile-detection capability is being accelerated by the heavy volume of automatic small-arms fire encountered in Afghanistan and, to a lesser degree, by availability on the black market of Russian-built SA-16 Gimlet, SA-18 Grouse and SA-24 Grinch man-portable air defense missiles (manpads).
SA-16s, for example, can be bought for about $40,000 each, say U.S. defense officials. Defense laboratories have bought SA-18s on the black market (for an undisclosed amount) and they were delivered by a commercial mail service. Both missiles are hit-to-kill and carry modifications to delay their detonation until they have penetrated the target. The SA-24 has contact or non-contact options. It offers a combination of rods and fragments to expand and optimize the kill envelope, say U.S. analysts.
Jatas eventually is expected to integrate electronic attack and warfare capabilities as well.
“We really need to work the whole [electro-magnetic] spectrum now, not just because of manpads,” says Burt Keir*stead, BAE Systems’ director of Navy programs for survivability solutions. “[However,] the big threat at the moment, if you look at rotary-wing losses, is hostile [small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade] fire. It turns out that we’ve done a pretty good job with missile warning, especially with the Army. I’d argue that more important is a hostile-fire [detection] capability that’s going into the Jatas program. At lower altitudes, that’s the greater threat to helicopters.
“As we’ve seen with the Army, the helicopter will continue to be the workhorse in modern conflicts like Afghanistan where you need to transport troops,” Keirstead says. “The other aspect is that the Office of the Secretary of Defense is searching for cross-pollination among the services to solve the hostile fire threat.”
Acoustic sensors will be examined later in the program to detect and locate the source of ball-ammunition, rifle and machine gun fire that have no infrared signature to exploit. But there are hints about work on advanced algorithms that are to combine information from many sources other than acoustics to determine the source of ball-ammunition fire.
“We are looking at acoustic as well as a few other options . . . as supplements to our IR sensor for the complete hostile fire indicator,” says David Huber, Lockheed Martin’s Jatas program manager. “Acoustic [sensors] may be furthest along in maturity, but there are other technologies we are looking into. We’re going to create discriminators for ourselves [from our] strong capabilities in algorithms, integration and sensor-packaging.”
“As a requirement for the program, the Navy would like to evolve to a directable infrared countermeasure [dircm]—a jammer—which is part of the Jatas interface requirement,” Keir*stead says. The Army already uses the advanced threat infrared countermeasures (Atircm) jamming laser.
One of the project’s core requirements is for a broad-bandwidth, large-memory processor with open architecture as well as memory, bandwidth and processing speed reserves of 200% for adding future functions to the system. Another requirement calls for a mid-wave, two-color (3-5 micron) IR system that allows targets to be picked more efficiently from interfering sources of radiation. It is expected to generate fewer false alarms than sensors based on ultra-violet sensors.
The mid-IR part of the spectrum was picked for its longer-range target detection. An open-architecture processor—built on a standard commercial design for low cost and interoperability—will allow modular insertion of more capabilities.
“[Jatas also] has a laser-warning capability embedded in it,” Keirstead says. For example, Goodrich provides laser warning that determines the direction and type of threat laser and the type of weapon associated with it. “We think we need to get as many sensors on the problem as we can.” The processor and IR sensor package also provide the skeleton on which advanced future capabilities can be hung. “You want to add incremental capability without having to go back and rebuild key pieces of core operational software,” says Keirstead.
Another longer-term upgrade is networking with other air and ground systems to locate and track all the weapons in a specific battlespace, including longer-range surface-to-air missiles.
“It’s safe to say that growth for these applications . . . will let us go look at air-to-air threats, for example,” Keirstead says. “The big difference when you go from manpads to air-to-air threats is just the range. One of the advantages of embedding infrared capability is getting extended range so there is more potential to deal with long-range missiles.”
There also is a long-term requirement to tack on other advanced sensors, including a network-detection device that can sense, identify and map the activity of local IT networks that might be part of a threat system.