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Watch America's Most Advanced Tank Waltz For Estonians

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Watching a 65-ton rolling battleship waltz around can be strangely enchanting. The Russians, in particular, take their tank ballets very seriously. But America is getting in on the act, showing off their souped up M1A2SEPv2 Abrams main battle tanks to Baltic NATO allies as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.


The grooving was filmed during a welcoming ceremony in Estonia, with the country's military brass checking out what America’s best rolling fortresses could do. It's all part of the U.S.' push to beef up its readiness and enhancing interoperability with its NATO allies throughout Europe. The Army’s Task Force 2-7 Infantry “Cottonbalers” have been at the tip of this spear, deploying to Poland, Latvia, and Estonia simultaneously while carrying out flash drills with local forces.


The M1A2SEPV2 is the latest configuration of the Abrams main battle tank. In addition to the major sensor and mission systems upgrades initiated by the M1A2 program, the SEPv2 added enhanced user interfaces shown on full color displays, a new computer operating system, and a much more powerful onboard computer system. Upgraded side and frontal third-generation steel-encased depleted uranium armor was also added, as well as a tougher transmission.

Next generation thermal sights are installed as well, one of which is an additional Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV). This added sight allows for "hunter-killer" operations and better situational awareness for the tank's crew. Also, an auxiliary power unit was installed so that crews could run the tank's electrical systems for long periods of time without starting its thirsty and loud gas-turbine engine.

A new cooling system was added as part of the M1A2SEPv2 program, so the added thermal loads from all the Abram's new electronics could be mitigated. Finally, a simple feature – but one that was in huge demand during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan – is a external telephone intercom system so that troops operating alongside the tank cantalk to the crew inside.


One of the most most visible upgrades for the M1A2SEPv2 is the addition of the CROWS II (Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station) atop the Abrams's turret. This system, and its progenitors, CROWS and RAVEN, allow for the crew to fight the tank in 'buttoned up' conditions, even for close quarters battles. This keeps the soldiers from exposing themselves to shrapnel and sniper fire while using machine guns. It also adds another high-mounted thermal site for surveillance.

CROWS II consists of a high definition thermal camera, a laser rangefinder, and a daylight video camera system, all slaved to a crew-served weapon – in this case a .50 caliber M2 machine gun. Smaller caliber guns and grenade launchers can also be carried in the .50 cal's place. The system provides precise, fast panning and elevation, and the fire control system gives ballistic corrections to the CROWS operator. The operator sits within the tank and uses a joystick to control the CROWS turret with its imagery displayed on a flat panel screen.

A new version of the CROWS turret, dubbed CROWS III will bring even better optics and user interface, as well less than lethal capabilities to the CROWS system. Options include a laser dazzler that temporarily blinds people it's pointed at, an LRAD acoustics active area denial device, and extremely bright spot lights that can be ran in a disorienting strobe mode. Also, more cameras will be added for a panoramic staring video feed without the need to rotate the turret at all. Similar, albeit much more complex capabilities, are used on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It will also have an infrared laser pointer so that tank crews can identify objects at night, and it can even be outfitted with an add-on FGM-148 Javelin missile launcher. This gives any vehicle with a CROWS III setup standoff attack capability against heavily armored vehicles and fortified positions.


One tanker told me that the M1A2SEPv2 derivative of the Abrams is the tank he dreamed of having in Iraq, and when the TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit) package is added, it would have been a much more effective weapon during his two deployments. TUSK is a add-on option for Abrams tanks that sees reactive armor "bricks" added to the Abram's sides, along with more armor on the tank's belly and slatted armor in the rear. This all amounts to better survivability against High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds often used in Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPGs) launchers. CROWS was originally part of the TUSK package, but it is now becoming standard outfit for all M1A2SEPV2s.

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Just over a year ago, many defense analysts were saying the tank was dead. Now, a year of geopolitical change later, and both the US and Russia seem very keen on showing off their latest and greatest in rolling fortresses.

From Watch America's Most Advanced Tank Waltz For Estonians





*When last we saw the Tomahawk, it was hitting a stationary naval target. Now it's hitting moving targets at extreme distances.

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Tomahawk Cruise Missile Hits Moving Ship Target


The Navy is moving closer to having a sea-launched, anti-ship cruise missile able to change course in flight and hit moving ship targets from distances up to 1,000 miles, according to two recent Tomahawk Block IV tests at China Lake, California.

“The USS Kidd, one of our guided missile destroyers, launched a Tomahawk missile that changed course mid-flight and struck a moving ship after being queued by an aircraft,” Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said in a recent speech at the U.S. Naval Institute. “Now, this is potentially game-changing capability for not a lot of cost. It’s a 1,000 mile anti-ship cruise missile. It can be used from practically our entire surface and submarine fleet.

The two tests, which involved firing Tomahawk Block IV missiles against land and sea targets, were conducted by the Navy and Raytheon at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, Calif., in January of this year.

During the first test, a Tomahawk missile fired from the USS Kidd, a guided missile destroyer, and received real-time target information relayed from a surveillance aircraft to a weapons station at China Lake. Updated target information was related to the Tomahawk in flight before the missile then maneuvered and changed course from a pre-planned mission toward a new target, striking a moving ship on the water.

“This demonstration is the first step toward evolving Tomahawk with improved network capability and extends its reach from fixed and mobile to moving targets,” a statement from Raytheon said.

In the second test, the USS Kidd launched another Tomahawk Block IV missile on a “call-for-fire” mission in support of shore-based Marines, Raytheon officials said.

“Using GPS navigational updates, the missile performed a vertical dive to impact on San Nicolas Island, scoring a direct hit on the target designated by the Marines. The test provided valuable data for the Marine Expeditionary Force to evaluate and evolve their call for fire capability,” the statement said.

Work cited these tests and Tomahawk modernization as an example of how the U.S. can retain its technological edge amid a fast-changing global technological landscape.

“What happens if we take another step and just make an advanced seeker on the Tomahawk rather than building a new missile? We believe if we make decisions like that, that we will be able to outturn potential adversaries and maintain our technological superiority,” Work added.

In fact, Raytheon officials explained that they are working on new passive and active seeker technology for the Tomahawk which would even better enable the weapon to discriminate between targets and destroy moving targets.

A passive seeker can receive an electromagnetic signal and follow it, whereas an active seeker has the ability to send out or ping an electronic signal and bounce it off potential targets.

Raytheon is planning additional testing for its new seeker system on the weapon, which would allow it to separate legitimate from false targets while on-the-move, Raytheon officials said.

After additional lab testing, ground testing and flight testing, an integrate suite consisting of an active seeker, passive seeker and high-speed processor is slated to be ready this year.

Overall, Raytheon has delivered more than 3,000 Tomahawk Block IV missiles to the Navy. The missiles are expected to complete a 30-year service life after being re-certified at the 15-year mark. The inventory of Block IV missiles are slated to go through a re-certification process in 2018 and 2019.

Tomahawks have been upgraded numerous times over their years of service. The Block IV Tomahawk, in service since 2004, includes a two-way data link for in-flight re-targeting, terrain navigation, digital scene-matching cameras and a high-grade inertial navigation system, Raytheon officials explained.

The weapon is also capable of performing battle damage assessment missions by relaying images through a data link as well, they said.

The re-certification process for Block IV Tomahawks will provide occasion to implement a series of high-tech upgrades to the missile platform which improve the weapon’s lethality, guidance and ability to find and destroy moving targets, Raytheon officials explained.

With this in mind, Raytheon has been conducting ongoing re-certification studies with the Navy to take up key questions regarding upgrades and new technologies for the platform.

Along these lines, the fiscal year 2015 budget added $150 million for a new Tomahawk missile navigation and communications suite in order to better enable the weapon to operate in anti-access/area-denial environments. The enhanced communications suite is slated to be ready by 2018 or 2019, Raytheon officials said.

Raytheon and the Navy are also developing a new payload for the weapon involving a more-penetrating warhead called the Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System, or JMEWS. Previously sponsored by U.S. Central Command, the JMEWS would give the Tomahawk better bunker buster type effects — meaning it could enable the weapon to better penetrate hardened structures like concrete.

Tomahawk missiles weigh 3,500 pounds with a booster and can travel at subsonic speeds up to 550 miles per hour at ranges greater than 900 nautical miles. They are just over 18-feet long and have an 8-foot, 9-inch wingspan.

The Navy is in the early stages of conducting an analysis of alternatives exploring options for a next-generation land attack weapon. It remains unclear whether they will use next-generation, upgraded Tomahawks to meet this requirement or chose to develop a new system.

From Tomahawk Cruise Missile Hits Moving Ship Target | Defense Tech

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This Duck Drone Could Spy on Enemy Subs

But building a flying-and-swimming robot is harder than nature makes it look.

Nature, which has no need for devices that spy on enemy submarines from the air and underwater, may nevertheless have invented their form: flying fish, for example, or ducks that can zoom over the water’s surface and dive beneath to feed. But the Navy Research Lab, or NRL, which is working on a new drone that can both fly and swim, is learning that combining robots for two different purposes is not as easy as nature makes it look.

Why does the Navy need duck drones? Simply put: flying is faster than swimming, largely because water is 1,000 times denser than air. Consider that the common MK 46 torpedo makes at best 50 mph, while sea-skimming missiles can do five times that speed.

While nature has found a way to accommodate the variety of physical forces that can act upon complex swimming and flying systems, humans have yet to figure this out. Submersible undersea drones, made thick-skinned to withstand water pressures, are generally heavy or equipped with complicated ballast systems. Aerial drones, conversely, are as light as possible, and rarely designed to crash into water.

“For a submarine to fly, the enclosed air volume, which is the main driver of weight for a submarine, needs to be reduced as much as possible. For an aircraft to land on the water, its structural elements need to be more robust to survive the high impact of splashdown.” Dan Edwards, a principal investigator for NRL, writes in the most recent issue of the lab’s Spectra magazine.

Under its Flimmer program (for “flying swimmer”), the NRLteam built a “Test Sub” — basically a submarine with wings —and simply worked around the fact that it was heavier than the typical drone. They took it on at least three test runs, dropping it from a plane at 1,000 feet. The test sub flew well enough, according to Edwards’s account, performing “as any other aircraft, controllable in three axes and exhibiting sufficient stability for man-in-the-loop flight.” The team then guided it along the surface of the water at 40 knots (about 46 miles per hour) “before sending it beneath the waves where it performed like a regular UUV,” or unmanned underwater vehicle.

The “Test Sub was guided along a standard approach at an airspeed of approximately 40 knots before splashdown with wings level,” writes Edwards. “Upon touching the water surface, the aircraft saw a dramatic increase in drag and decelerated abruptly. After the splash, Test Sub submerged and started moving underwater and was responsive to human controls … Test Sub cruises well above 50 knots in the air, while top speed in the water is below 10 knots, illustrating the ultimate benefit of a flying submarine: assuring quick reaction access to underwater areas.”

The team is experimenting now with floodable wings and more fishlike designs such as the lab’s experimental “Wrasse-inspired Agile Near-shore Deformable-fin Automaton,” or WANDA. Built to mimic the movement of a fish called the bird wrasse, the WANDA’s moving fins may prove too fragile for a machine hitting the water at relatively high speed.

“A four-finned configuration provides high maneuverability and good stability underwater. In air, however, the fins add weight and are relatively fragile mechanisms that need to be able to survive the forces of splashdown. Bringing all these design elements together is the central challenge of the Flimmer program,” writes Edwards.

The team has begun to adjust WANDA’s design for flight and will spend the rest of the year fine-tuning and tweaking the design.

The future of flying fish drones looks neither like a bird, nor a fish, but something new entirely.

From This Duck Drone Could Spy on Enemy Subs - Defense One

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It is actively undergoing testing:

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*This doesn't completely relate to the US Armed Forces, but it raises an interesting question about the use of wingsuits in the US Military.

This Video Is The Result Of A Wingsuit, A GoPro And A Death Wish


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Wingsuits allow humans to fly like birds, at least for a finite period of time. As such, the combination of speed and using your body for control is clearly highly addictive, and as you can see in the video below, totally exhilarating. The truth is that there are also clear military applications for the technology as well.

Currently, wingsuits allow for a glide ratio of about two and a half to one, meaning for every foot you lose in altitude you move two and a half feet horizontally. Theoretically, this capability allows for soldiers jumping from aircraft operating at higher altitudes along enemy borders to cross those borders during descent.

If a 20k foot free-fall were prescribed for a high altitude, low opening (HALO) jump profile, this would equate roughly to a 9.5 mile maximum horizontal glide distance if the soldiers were equipped with wingsuits. When you take air pressure, weight, weather and human error into account that number is degraded, but it's still relevant.



In the last decade, rigid and semi-rigid wingsuit type apparatuses aimed to drastically increase glide range. Instead of a glide ratio of two and a half to one, these new wingsuit concepts were envisioned as achieving between a five to one and a ten to one glide ratio. This equates to dozens of miles of glide distance during HALO operations, allowing, at least in theory, for the jump platform (aircraft) to stay farther away from enemy borders and air defenses.

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These new Batman looking contraptions can be made out of radar transparent composite materials and coated with radar absorbing paint, making them very hard to detect. When it comes to guidance, a modular helmet system with a display that guides soldiers to their landing spot and maximizes the wing's glide range was seen as a possible way to get the most out of such a high performance skydiving and special force insertion capability. The most high-profile of these rigid wingsuit development initiatives was from ESG/Speclo and named the Gryphon Next Generation Parachute System.

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In 2008, Yves "Jetman" Rossi largely changed the whole idea of wingsuits and what a flying soldier could be. With further technological evolution, "jetsuits" like Yves Rossi's could allow for flight range increases approaching one hundred miles, which would open up a much wider range of infiltration possibilities for airborne special forces compared to existing wingsuits or even rigid wing apparatuses.


Since Jetman's first flight, designs have emerged that could potentially allow for takeoff and landing without the need of a drop aircraft or even a parachute at all. Although such a system seems optimistic to say the least, although it is fun to think about the tactical impacts that such an exotic capability could offer, landing without a chute is an area that the wingsuit community seems especially interested in and may very well become feasible one day.


With the great success of "Jetman Rossi" and his amazing jet-wing, as well as Rex Pembertonwho has flown an unpowered rigid wing design, you would think the military would be excited about evolving similar technologies for special operations uses. The reality is that the DoD has been very quiet when it comes to such interesting private sector technological revolutions. Even unpowered rigid wing designs that were high-profile projects around the turn of the decade have largely gone silent, which is peculiar to say the least.

It could be that the technology was seen as not worth pursuing, but considering the special operations community seems fairly aggressive when it comes to gaining every edge it can get, and unpowered rigid wingsuits are not exactly high-cost development projects, the total lack of development when it comes to anything like these concepts within the US military complex is puzzling.


Then again, considering who would be using such a capability and what they would be using it for, maybe the Pentagon's silence on the topic says quite a bit. Like stealth helicopter transports, such a capability would be way more useful if nobody knew it existed.

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*Fu** Yeah:usflag:! This is what the LCS needs, it fits very nicely into the US Navy's Distributed Leathality Doctrine - if it floats, it's a shooter:usflag:.

Raytheon and Kongsberg Team to Pitch Stealthy Norwegian Strike Missile for LCS


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The Norwegian manufacturer of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) has teamed with U.S. missile manufacturer Raytheon to pitch the anti-ship missile (ASM) to the Navy as the over-the-horizon (OTH) ASM for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), company officials told reporters in a briefing on Thursday.

The agreement comes as the Navy surface warfare directorate is working through the requirements for a longer range anti-ship missile to include onboard the LCS and the modified LCS frigate design with a request for proposal (RfP) for the capability expected in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016.

The NSM — or a derivative — could also compete for the Navy’s Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) Increment 2 multi-platform competition as a follow on to the Lockheed Martin Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). LRASM is in a sole source negotiation with Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) for OASuW Increment 1.

A version of the NSM, the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), is being developed for the Norwegian version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) by both companies.

The NSM — already a staple onboard Royal Norwegian Navy ships — is billed as a stealthy, subsonic missile to replace aging anti-ship missiles like the Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon Block II and the French-designed MBDA Exocet.


“There are several foreign nations that have developed counters to the Harpoon and Exocet missiles — from a range perspective — this particular missile fills that gap and allows [navies] to outrange the folks with the foreign systems that are being directed at our vessels,” Taylor Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president, told reporters.

According to press reports, the NSM has an effective range of about 100 nautical miles.

As to price, Lawrence said it cost a little more than the company’s Block IV Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM). The Navy quotes the price per round of the TLAMs at $569,000 per round in FY 1999 dollars (about $802,000 in 2015, adjusted for inflation).

“Our missile is competing very well, compared to other missiles when it comes to price per missile,” Harald Ånnestad, Kongsberg Defense Systems president told reporters
“The price will vary a lot if you buy ten or if you buy 400 missiles.”

For the LCS mission, the companies are proposing to place the proprietary canister launchers on the deck of the ship and claim the missiles could easily tie into the combat systems of both classes.

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“We’re looking at these canisters to be placed on the deck or an appropriate horizontal surface on the ship and integrated in their missions control, mission planning suites,” Lawrence said.
“We wouldn’t have to have the vessels radically modified to include vertical cells for that matter. These would be placed on the deck.”

An artist’s conception of the placement would put the canisters forward of the deck house and aft of the main gun on both the Independence and Freedom classes of LCS.

From Raytheon and Kongsberg Team to Pitch Stealthy Norwegian Strike Missile for LCS - USNI News
 
Thank god we at least are getting some more firepower on LCS. Also cant wait for JSM/F-35 combo to come online.
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Agreed:yahoo:. People are too impatient. the LCS program is still new and few ships have been completed, changes are always made on subsequent ship, just give the LCS time.

and:o: where'd you get the Norwegian flag? I need that for;

Nordic Defense News, pictures, videos and history

Which you should take a look at if you get the time:whistle:.
 
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