Raytheon’s SM-6 Moves from Low-Rate to Full-Rate Production
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
TUCSON, Ariz. — Raytheon Co.’s Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) program has moved from low-rate to full-rate production, clearing the path for significantly increased production numbers and focus on further cost-reduction opportunities.
SM-6 is a surface-to-air supersonic missile capable of successfully engaging manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. It also defends against land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles in flight.
“SM-6 is proven against a broad range of advanced threats, which makes it very valuable to Combatant Commanders who need and want that flexibility,” said Mike Campisi, Standard Missile-6 senior program director. “Full-rate production allows us to significantly ramp up production and deliver to the U.S. Navy the quantities it needs to further increase operational effectiveness.”
The first full-rate production round was delivered to the U.S. Navy from Raytheon’s state-of-the-art SM-6 and SM-3 all-up-round production facility at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala. Prior to final assembly, a majority of the SM-6’s section level assembly and testing development took place at Raytheon’s subsystem center factory in Tucson.
Raytheon has delivered more than 180 SM-6 missiles to the U.S. Navy, which deployed SM-6 for the first time in December 2013.
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U.S. Fleet Cyber Command Standing Up Cyber Mission Teams
SEAPOWER Magazine Online
By RICHARD R. BURGESS, Managing Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. — The commander of Fleet Cyber Command and U.S. Tenth Fleet said her command is halfway through its build-up of more than 1,000 additional cyber warriors, whose role is to conduct cyber defense at a national level or in support of combatant commanders.
“We’re creating 40 teams,” said VADM Jan Tighe, speaking to reporters May 6 at the Pentagon, referring to the effort begun in 2013 to set up the Navy contribution to the U.S. Cyber Command’s Cyber Mission Force (CMF), which will include 133 teams from the various armed services.
In the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command/Tenth Fleet Strategic Plan 2015-2020, released May 6, Tighe said that the CMF teams will perform in three major sectors:
- National Mission Forces will defend the nation by seeing adversary activity, blocking attacks and maneuvering to defeat the attacks.
- Protection Forces defend the Defense Department’s information networks and, when authorized, other infrastructure.
- Combat Mission Forces conduct military cyber operations in support of Combatant commands.
The role of Fleet Cyber Command in standing up the CMF teams is temporary, the document said, in that it eventually will be assumed by the new type command, Navy Information Dominance Forces. The goal for completing this transition is 2017. But Fleet Cyber Command will continue to operate or direct the employment of the Navy’s CMF teams in support of combatant commanders and fleet commanders.
Navy personnel, including Reservists, make up approximately two-thirds of the fleet cyber forces and include information warfare and information systems officers and enlisted cryptologic technicians, intelligence specialists and information systems technicians. Civilian personnel fill critical roles in the command.
One of the challenges Tighe faces is adding to and training the force while keeping maximum readiness to counter cyber threats.
“We can’t let our eye off the ball. The cyberspace domain is changing on a daily basis,” Tighe said, noting the challenge of keeping teams “in a constant state of readiness. Ceding cyber territory to an adversary is what we cannot allow to happen.”
Cyber warfare has become one of the low-density, high-demand capabilities in which demand is always going to outstrip the supply, she said.
Like any warfare in the electromagnetic spectrum, there is a danger in damaging one’s own capabilities while attacking an enemy’s.
“We don’t want our solutions to be worse than what the adversary was going to do,” Tighe said.
Navy cyber forces not only support the combatant commanders and the fleets but also, on a national level, the National Security Agency.
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New Headset to Merge Night Vision, Thermal Imaging
New Headset to Merge Night Vision, Thermal Imaging | Defense Tech
The U.S. subsidiary of British defense giant BAE Systems Plc is developing a new headset that merges night vision and thermal imaging.
Soldiers typically wear night-vision goggles to see their surroundings in the dark, but use thermal sights mounted on their rifles to engage targets. Soon, they’ll be able to use one device for both tasks, the company announced in a
release on Monday.
“On today’s battlefield, this slower approach, which is often further hampered by heavy smoke or bad weather, compromises soldiers’ safety and can reduce mission effectiveness,” it states. “By integrating night vision and thermal targeting capabilities into one sight displayed on the soldiers’ goggles, BAE Systems’ new solution allows troops to more easily acquire targets and engage faster.”
The company said it worked with the U.S Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate to develop the technology. It beat several unnamed competitors for the
contract, which is valued at up to $434 million over five years.
BAE has received an initial award of $35 million for the program, known as the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle III and Family of Weapon Sight-Individual. It plans to build the headsets at its new factory in Hudson, New Hampshire.
It wasn’t immediately clear how much the product will cost. Initial production of the night vision will begin this summer, while the weapon sight is currently in development and will enter production next year, according to Paul Roberts, a spokesman for BAE’s electronic systems unit.
The headset may be fielded to soldiers downrange beginning in late fiscal 2016 or early fiscal 2017, Roberts said in an e-mail.
The technology relies on a wireless video interface to transfer imagery from the sight to the goggle, according to the release. This feature offers a number of advantages, such as eliminating the need for aiming lasers, a shorter engagement time, increased maneuverability and extended target acquisition range, it stated.
The product is the latest example of companies coming to market with optical systems designed to stream more data and information to shooters.
Earlier this year, smart rifle-maker TrackingPoint Inc. teamed with Recon Instruments to sync imagery from its high-tech scope system directly into protective glasses.
The Austin, Texas-based company
showed off the product on in January at a range north of Las Vegas as part of SHOT Show, the biggest small arms show in the world. The glasses weren’t functional and only displayed static images. But officials said the technology will be ready for release this year, possibly in the spring.
The smart-rifle scope includes a Linux-powered computer with sensors that collect imagery and ballistic data such as atmospheric conditions, cant, inclination, even the slight shift of the Earth’s rotation known as the Coriolis effect. Because the computer is wireless-enabled, information can be streamed to a laptop, smart phone or tablet computer for spotting or to share intelligence.
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Army sets dates for new camo rollout
Source: Army sets dates for new camo rollout
The Army expects combat uniforms made of the new Operational Camouflage Pattern to start hitting store shelves on July 1, an Army official has confirmed.
New coyote brown boots to complement the new uniform won't be available until August, the source said.
New recruits should start receiving them in their clothing bags by January, according to the source, who has knowledge of the roll-out but requested anonymity.
Army public affairs declined to discuss the roll-out plan at this time.
Army Times' source said the target wear-out date of old ACUs made of the unpopular Universal Camouflage Pattern, has been set for October 2018. That means, until then, soldiers in garrison could see a mix of uniforms including MultiCam, which has been issued to soldiers deploying to Afghanistan since 2010 and more recently to those in Iraq.
Soldiers have clamored for more details on the new camo, and related wear rules.
The Army has yet to issue guidance on whether new darker accessories (boots, T-shirt, belt) can be worn with old uniforms or vice versa.
In early April, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno told a virtual town hall that OCP would be available in late summer or early fall, and would be issued in clothing bags soon after.
Both MultiCam, and OCP feature a more traditional (non-digital) camo pattern of muted greens, light beige and dark brown.
The Army had said there would be desert and jungle variants of OCP, but this far there have been no details or imagery of potential variants.
The new ACUs are expected to have design changes as well:
- The internal knee and elbow pads will be gone.
- The upper-sleeve pocket will be an inch longer and zippered instead of Velcro.
- The cargo pocket will lose its cord-and-barrel lock.
- And the lower leg pocket flap will have a button rather than Velcro.