First Production Global Hawk Rolls Out

[budanski]

http://media.primezone.com/cache/189/med/849.jpg

First Production Global Hawk Rolls Out

(Source: US Air Force issued Aug. 8, 2003)
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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --- The first production RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle rolled out in ceremonies held Aug. 1 at prime contractor Northrop Grumman’s Antelope Valley Manufacturing Center at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif. *
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Drawing back a large curtain, program officials unveiled Global Hawk in its operational gray and white colors as Air Force dignitaries and contractor employees cheered and applauded the milestone. *
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“The fact that we have hardware now rolling out of the factory a little over two years after the start of the formal acquisition program shows that we are realizing the vision of evolutionary acquisition,” said Col. Scott Coale, director of the Global Hawk program office at the Aeronautical Systems Center here. “It’s proof that we are shortening the normal 10- to 15-year acquisition cycle, and fielding this system that much sooner to support warfighter needs.” *
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The Air Force plans to purchase 51 Global Hawks. *
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Even though this is the first production air vehicle, a demonstrator version already has seen combat twice in Afghanistan and Iraq, Coale said. *
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“The demonstrator flew just 3 percent of the imagery intelligence missions over Iraq but located 55 percent of the time-sensitive targets generated to destroy air defense equipment,” he said. “It also identified almost 40 percent of Iraq’s armor, and the Combined Air Operations Center attributed the accelerated defeat of the Republican Guard to Global Hawk. *
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“Our experience in Operation Iraqi Freedom really validated the Air Force’s confidence in the Global Hawk system,” Coale added. “It demonstrated the UAV’s potential to transform the way wars are fought in the future.” *
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Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance system that provides battlefield commanders near-real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information in day or night and all weather conditions. It operates autonomously at altitudes up to 65,000 feet for more than 36 hours. The Global Hawk has a range of 13,500 nautical miles and can image an area the size of Illinois in just 24 hours. *
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Lessons learned from Global Hawk’s two combat deployments will be instrumental in understanding how best to integrate unmanned systems with air, land, sea and space forces to create a transformed warfighting capability, said Scott Seymour, Northrop Grumman corporate vice president and Integrated Systems' sector president. *
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The first production Global Hawk is the eighth air vehicle built. Northrop Grumman produced the first seven under the advanced concept technology demonstration phase of the program. *
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The new production vehicle will complete a final series of system tests before its first flight later this month. Following a flight test program at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., it will be delivered to the Air Force's 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, Calif. *
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More "illegal" weapons in the U.S. arsenal, according to Mortimer. :roll:

[budanski]

B-2 Drops 80 Test Bombs
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(Source: US Air Force issued Aug. 8, 2003)
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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --- In an effort to increase the B-2 Spirit's operational capability, a test force here conducted an airborne release of 80 Joint Direct Attack Munitions separation test vehicles. The separation test vehicles are inert weapons used to collect data. *
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The Aug. 6 test was one of more than nine sorties flown as a build-up toward equipping the aircraft to carry and release up to 80 JDAMs on a single mission, according to Mark Burke, 419th Flight Test Squadron project manager. The purpose of the build-up approach is to reduce the risk of aircraft collision with the weapons, explained Burke. *
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“The overall objective of this program is to integrate the Smart Bomb Release Assembly and JDAM-82 into the B-2,” said Burke. “This improved capability will allow the B-2 to carry 80 JDAMs.” *
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The brains of the SBRA are the Smart Bomb Rack Controller and the Stores Management Operational Flight Program. This allows the weapons to be released at specific intervals, according to Burke. The JDAM-82, a 500-pound smart bomb, is able to communicate with the aircraft through a cable, instructing the weapon to strike a specific target. *
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The vehicles used during the drop are not considered smart weapons because target data will not be passed to the weapon, said Burke. Data collected from each sortie will be analyzed by the Air Force Seek Eagle Office at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Officials use this data to certify the safety of new weapons on aircraft, and the B-2 test program is required to have AFSEO clearance before progressing to the next release sortie. *
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“Once all of the data collected from the STV release is analyzed by AFSEO, the program will progress into the demo phase,” said Burke. “The demo phase will be an end-to-end test that proves the capabilities of the SBRA and JDAM-82 weapons load.” *
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The demo phase is a two-part mission that will be flown from Edwards to the Utah Testing and Training Range at Hill AFB, Utah, Burke explained. *
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The demo phase will mark the first demonstration of an airborne platform with the maximum amount of mass-precision capability achieved by the B-2 test program, according to Maj. William Power, 419th FLTS project pilot. *
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The first demo test, scheduled for late August, will be the release of 32 inert JDAMs onto the JDAM complex, which is set up to represent an operational airfield. The final demo test, scheduled for September, will release 80 inert JDAM-82 weapons at once with the potential of striking 80 different targets on the JDAM complex. *
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Oh my, stealth technology. Its so unfair.....

[budanski]

Lockheed Martin's LOSAT Defeats Moving Target in White Sands Missile Range Test

(Source: Lockheed Martin issued Aug. 8, 2003)
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DALLAS --- Lockheed Martin conducted a successful test of the transformational Line-of-Sight Antitank (LOSAT) Weapon System yesterday in which a Kinetic Energy Missile (KEM) was fired at short range at a moving target. *
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The test marked two firsts for the program: the first guided test against a moving target and the first test in a series of 18 Production Qualification Tests (PQT) that are under the control of the Army Test and Evaluation community. *
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This test was conducted to evaluate the system's performance against a short-range moving target at an off-axis firing position to evaluate the performance of a cold-conditioned missile and to collect fire unit and missile flight reliability data. Preliminary data suggest all test objectives were achieved. *
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“LOSAT was devastating in its test against a reinforced structure a few weeks ago, and now we have successfully conducted the first LOSAT test against a moving target,” said Ron Abbott, vice president - Tactical Missiles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We are pleased that testing is moving forward as planned, and that the warfighter will soon be receiving a system that is effective against the full spectrum of battlefield targets.” *
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The LOSAT program has now successfully completed four firing tests this year. The previous test, conducted July 17, demonstrated LOSAT's effectiveness against a reinforced concrete structure, which was destroyed by the KEM. A Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) decision is expected in fiscal year 2004. *
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All PQTs should be completed by the end of the second quarter 2004, with all testing scheduled to take place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. LOSAT fills an urgent operational requirement for overmatching capability in the Light Forces, and is managed by the Army's Close Combat Weapon Systems Project Management Office (PMO) in Huntsville, Ala. *
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The LOSAT Weapon System provides a high volume of extremely lethal and accurate missile fire that is effective against heavy armor systems at ranges exceeding tanks' main gun ranges. LOSAT consists of kinetic energy missiles and a second-generation FLIR/video acquisition sensor mounted on a highly mobile, HMMWV chassis. The LOSAT weapon system will help remedy the forced- entry/early-entry force lethality shortfall against heavy armor because it can deploy with both forces. *
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The key advantages of the LOSAT system are the tremendous overmatch in lethality of the KEM, which defeats all predicted future armored combat vehicles, and its deployability. The LOSAT weapon system also provides increased survivability for the operator and countermeasure effectiveness. It operates to the maximum range of direct-fire combat engagements and provides dramatically increased rates of fire and enhanced performance under day and night, adverse weather and obscured battlefield conditions. The system can be transported by C-130H low velocity airdrop or by sling load with the UH-60L. *
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Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. *
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Hitting a target while its fleeing... MAKE IT STOP!!!

[Rantanplan]

F**k Fairness!!!!!
Lets arm the Dallas Cowboy, next SuperBowl, with M4 Rifles!!!
p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-) p-)

[usa320]

yeah, Mortimer makes more of an ass of himself everyday. :)

perhaps instead of investing in new weaponry that pisses of the liberals, we should go back to the 1940's systems we used to save their asses, ya know B-17's carpet bombing, flamethrowers, and then we can all roll our eyes when they complain about how bad it is now, but when it was benifiting them, it was the best darn tools in the world.

New weaponry might look bad, but it will end up saving more lives than it takes, for one the power of it all will act to deter weaker armies, and for two more accurate prescion guided weapons means less collateral damage.

[duck]

Amazing technological achievements. Makes me wonder how many of the components are developed and built in Asia, especially China/Taiwan?

[Seiyuuki]

:lol: That make me remember the movie "Armageddon," toward the end, when the Russian's cosmonaut went to fix the shuttle...and his line went something like this..."American, Russian...ALL MADE IN CHINA!!!!" (or was it Taiwan?). rofl