2RHPZ
07-08-2004, 05:06 AM
International Missile Defense Programs Get A Boost On Two Fronts
By Marc Selinger
07/07/2004 10:22:12 AM
International cooperation on missile defense has gained a boost on two fronts, with the tri-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) clearing a major hurdle and Australia revealing more details about potential ties with the United States.
Jim Cravens, president of MEADS International, the prime contractor for MEADS, told reporters July 6 that a U.S. Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) has approved American entry into design and development (D&D), the next phase of the program. Cravens said the DAB decision "represents a major stepping stone" toward securing similar approvals later this year by the other two participants, Germany and Italy.
Cravens said the Italian government could quickly give D&D the go-ahead once a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is completed to underpin the program. He estimated the agreement could be finished as early as mid-July, with major remaining issues involving the handling of software and the fire control radar. Germany's entry into D&D will require the approval of that country's parliament, which could act no earlier than September and as late as November.
The program's current risk-reduction phase was to end in March but was extended through Sept. 30 because of delays in starting D&D (DAILY, March 9). If Germany does not approve D&D before the risk-reduction phase runs out Sept. 30, the United States and Italy could kick off D&D on their own and add the German government later.
MEADS International, a joint venture that includes Lockheed Martin, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), MBDA Italia and Germany's LFK, proposed in June 2003 that the nearly seven-year D&D contract be worth $2.88 billion, Cravens said. The joint venture is now updating that proposal. Once the contract is signed, Cravens expects the program to expand its workforce significantly.
Due to budget constraints, the U.S. Army now is looking at starting to field MEADS in fiscal 2015 instead of FY '14 as previously planned, Cravens said. The first European battery could become operational as early as FY '12, the same as before.
MEADS is a mobile system designed to defeat aircraft and ballistic and cruise missiles and replace Patriot systems in the United States, Patriot and Hawk systems in Germany and Nike Hercules systems in Italy. During a demonstration in May in Italy, MEADS showed it could track a live target and assign missiles to kill it (DAILY, May 19).
Australian radar studied
Australia, meanwhile, has revealed it is studying whether a ground-based radar it developed to detect aircraft and ships could also play a role in U.S.-led ballistic missile defenses.
Defence Minister Robert Hill announced July 6 that tests conducted in April confirmed that the Jindalee over-the-horizon radar has potential for ballistic missile defense. Although those tests used an aircraft as a target, they helped confirm that the high-frequency radar could track the trajectory of a ballistic missile, he said. American officials observed the trials, which were conducted by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
Later this year, Australia hopes to find out whether the radar can track missiles launched from a U.S. test range.
Hill said the ground-based radar could allow for earlier detection of a launch than satellites, which may not detect a missile until it has broken through the clouds.
Hill's announcement came the day before he and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were scheduled to sign a 25-year agreement formalizing plans for the two countries to cooperate on missile defense research and development. The MOU is expected to provide a broad framework for negotiating specific projects.
The Australian government indicated in late 2003 that it would seek a role in U.S. missile defense programs, possibly including sensors, to improve its defenses against long-range missiles and provide Australian companies with new business opportunities (DAILY, Dec. 5, 2003). The Bush Administration has encouraged allied participation in U.S.-led missile defenses.
The Jindalee radar demonstration "is precisely the sort of work the [Australian] government envisaged when committing to the missile defense program," Hill said in a statement.
The United States and Australia have cooperated on ballistic missile detection for years. The two countries jointly operate a facility in Pine Gap, Australia, that receives satellite data on missile launches.
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Missile Defence Research Takes Off
(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued July 7, 2004)
Preliminary trials of the possible application of Australia’s world-leading Jindalee over the horizon radar to missile defense had proved successful in detecting a target, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.
Senator Hill made the announcement on the eve of the annual Australia-United States Ministerial consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington where Senator Hill and the US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, will sign a joint Memorandum of Understanding that provides a 25-year framework for Australian-US cooperation on missile defense.
Senator Hill said the trials, led by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and conducted in April around Darwin with US officials present, examined the potential of high frequency radar to improve the detection of ballistic missiles at launch.
“Although the report on this research is still being finalized, the trials demonstrated the feasibility of applying JORN to missile defense,” Senator Hill said.
“The research examined whether Australia’s over the horizon radar technology could improve the detection of ballistic missiles during the early boost phase, therefore allowing earlier interception.
“This is precisely the sort of work the Howard Government envisaged when committing to the missile defense program. While there is no immediate threat to Australia from ballistic missiles, this collaborative work puts Australia and its scientists at the forefront of leading edge research and development. It is also a prudent investment in potential future capabilities for the defense of Australia – a fact that Labor has ignored with its short sighted and anti-American opposition to the missile defense program.”
Existing missile detection systems that depend on infra-red detection from spacecraft, for example, may not always detect the missile until it breaks cloud cover.
The latest trials were aimed not only at detecting the target but also whether additional and more accurate information about the trajectory of the missile could be obtained using multiple receiving systems.
For convenience the Darwin trials used an aircraft as a target rather than a missile. Given that missiles are a more demanding target than an aircraft in level flight, a further trial of the technology is proposed for later this year using missile launches from a test range in the United States as targets of opportunity. Subsequent work would investigate the automatic detection and tracking of the missile signatures and the fusion of this information with information from other sources.
Australia and the US will decide whether to develop these promising beginnings into a joint research project.
By Marc Selinger
07/07/2004 10:22:12 AM
International cooperation on missile defense has gained a boost on two fronts, with the tri-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) clearing a major hurdle and Australia revealing more details about potential ties with the United States.
Jim Cravens, president of MEADS International, the prime contractor for MEADS, told reporters July 6 that a U.S. Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) has approved American entry into design and development (D&D), the next phase of the program. Cravens said the DAB decision "represents a major stepping stone" toward securing similar approvals later this year by the other two participants, Germany and Italy.
Cravens said the Italian government could quickly give D&D the go-ahead once a memorandum of understanding (MOU) is completed to underpin the program. He estimated the agreement could be finished as early as mid-July, with major remaining issues involving the handling of software and the fire control radar. Germany's entry into D&D will require the approval of that country's parliament, which could act no earlier than September and as late as November.
The program's current risk-reduction phase was to end in March but was extended through Sept. 30 because of delays in starting D&D (DAILY, March 9). If Germany does not approve D&D before the risk-reduction phase runs out Sept. 30, the United States and Italy could kick off D&D on their own and add the German government later.
MEADS International, a joint venture that includes Lockheed Martin, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), MBDA Italia and Germany's LFK, proposed in June 2003 that the nearly seven-year D&D contract be worth $2.88 billion, Cravens said. The joint venture is now updating that proposal. Once the contract is signed, Cravens expects the program to expand its workforce significantly.
Due to budget constraints, the U.S. Army now is looking at starting to field MEADS in fiscal 2015 instead of FY '14 as previously planned, Cravens said. The first European battery could become operational as early as FY '12, the same as before.
MEADS is a mobile system designed to defeat aircraft and ballistic and cruise missiles and replace Patriot systems in the United States, Patriot and Hawk systems in Germany and Nike Hercules systems in Italy. During a demonstration in May in Italy, MEADS showed it could track a live target and assign missiles to kill it (DAILY, May 19).
Australian radar studied
Australia, meanwhile, has revealed it is studying whether a ground-based radar it developed to detect aircraft and ships could also play a role in U.S.-led ballistic missile defenses.
Defence Minister Robert Hill announced July 6 that tests conducted in April confirmed that the Jindalee over-the-horizon radar has potential for ballistic missile defense. Although those tests used an aircraft as a target, they helped confirm that the high-frequency radar could track the trajectory of a ballistic missile, he said. American officials observed the trials, which were conducted by Australia's Defence Science and Technology Organisation.
Later this year, Australia hopes to find out whether the radar can track missiles launched from a U.S. test range.
Hill said the ground-based radar could allow for earlier detection of a launch than satellites, which may not detect a missile until it has broken through the clouds.
Hill's announcement came the day before he and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were scheduled to sign a 25-year agreement formalizing plans for the two countries to cooperate on missile defense research and development. The MOU is expected to provide a broad framework for negotiating specific projects.
The Australian government indicated in late 2003 that it would seek a role in U.S. missile defense programs, possibly including sensors, to improve its defenses against long-range missiles and provide Australian companies with new business opportunities (DAILY, Dec. 5, 2003). The Bush Administration has encouraged allied participation in U.S.-led missile defenses.
The Jindalee radar demonstration "is precisely the sort of work the [Australian] government envisaged when committing to the missile defense program," Hill said in a statement.
The United States and Australia have cooperated on ballistic missile detection for years. The two countries jointly operate a facility in Pine Gap, Australia, that receives satellite data on missile launches.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Missile Defence Research Takes Off
(Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued July 7, 2004)
Preliminary trials of the possible application of Australia’s world-leading Jindalee over the horizon radar to missile defense had proved successful in detecting a target, Defence Minister Robert Hill announced today.
Senator Hill made the announcement on the eve of the annual Australia-United States Ministerial consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington where Senator Hill and the US Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld, will sign a joint Memorandum of Understanding that provides a 25-year framework for Australian-US cooperation on missile defense.
Senator Hill said the trials, led by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation and conducted in April around Darwin with US officials present, examined the potential of high frequency radar to improve the detection of ballistic missiles at launch.
“Although the report on this research is still being finalized, the trials demonstrated the feasibility of applying JORN to missile defense,” Senator Hill said.
“The research examined whether Australia’s over the horizon radar technology could improve the detection of ballistic missiles during the early boost phase, therefore allowing earlier interception.
“This is precisely the sort of work the Howard Government envisaged when committing to the missile defense program. While there is no immediate threat to Australia from ballistic missiles, this collaborative work puts Australia and its scientists at the forefront of leading edge research and development. It is also a prudent investment in potential future capabilities for the defense of Australia – a fact that Labor has ignored with its short sighted and anti-American opposition to the missile defense program.”
Existing missile detection systems that depend on infra-red detection from spacecraft, for example, may not always detect the missile until it breaks cloud cover.
The latest trials were aimed not only at detecting the target but also whether additional and more accurate information about the trajectory of the missile could be obtained using multiple receiving systems.
For convenience the Darwin trials used an aircraft as a target rather than a missile. Given that missiles are a more demanding target than an aircraft in level flight, a further trial of the technology is proposed for later this year using missile launches from a test range in the United States as targets of opportunity. Subsequent work would investigate the automatic detection and tracking of the missile signatures and the fusion of this information with information from other sources.
Australia and the US will decide whether to develop these promising beginnings into a joint research project.