The Wideband Global SATCOM Program

quoted from the Defence Industry Daily

The WGS program is actually a set of 13 kilowatt spacecraft based upon Boeing's model 702 commercial satellite. These satellites will support the USA's warfighting bandwidth requirements, supporting tactical C4ISR; battle management; and combat support needs. The program name has been changed for some reason from "Wideband Gapfiller Satellite" to "Wideband Global SATCOM," presumably to avoid correct suggestion that it fills an emerging gab. Readers should be aware that references to either title in documents, archives, or the media denote the same program.

Upon its first launch into geosynchronous orbit, WGS Flight 1 became the U.S. Department of Defense's highest capacity communication satellite. Each satellite can route 2.4 to 3.6 Gbps of data - providing more than 10 times the communications capacity of the predecessor DSCS 3 satellite. Indeed, One WGS satellite will provide more throughput than the entire Defense Service Communications Satellite(DSCS) constellation currently on station. Using reconfigurable antennas and a digital channelizer, WGS also offers added flexibility to tailor its coverage areas, and to connect X-band and Ka-band users anywhere within the satellite's field of view. Unlike programs like AEHF or T-SAT, however, WGS offers wideband communications that are "unprotected" against jamming and nuclear effects.

Dutch to Rent Israeli UAVs for Afghanistan

quoted from the Defense Industry Daily

Afghanistan has forced a number of participating countries to upgrade their UAV fleets through purchase or rental, and Dutch forces are no exception. They have bought Aladin and Raven mini UAVs, and a recent announcement indicates that they're about to retire their old, limited Sperwer-A UAVs as of March 1/09.
Instead of buying replacements, they will join the rent-a-UAV trend.

The concept of renting front-line military equipment would have seemed outlandish a very short time ago. Now, UAVs like Boeing's ScanEagle are rented and operated by contractors on the front lines battle, Britain has rented Elbit Systems' mid-size Hermes 450 UAVs for use in Afghanistan. P.W. Singer's recent book Wired for War even discusses examples of human rights groups inquiring about renting or buying UAVs to monitor key conflict zones. Private surveillance UAVs are already operating along the US-Mexican border, and additional examples around the globe seem to be just a matter of time. The times, they are a' changing.

The Dutch have picked Aeronautics Defense System' Aerostar UAV, and that firm has just confirmed the contract ...

The Sperwers have been taken out of service by Canada and Denmark, so their retirement by the Dutch is not a surprise. According to background materials released by the Dutch MvD, the MvD had initially identified a need for 2 'air-ground reconnaissance capacities', one at the tactical level for commanders on the ground, and another at the "operational level" for theater command intelligence. At first, both types of UAV requirements were handled and evaluated separately, and were estimated at less than EUR 25 million each.

Further investigation led to a Novemver 2008 decision that both requirements could be fulfilled in a single platform, under a EUR 25 - 50 million program, if the high-echelon requirements were relaxed slightly. In truth, finding a system that could meet all of the MvD's needs is not challenging. Finding a solution that would meet most of these needs provide enough UAVs to supply adequate coverage, and fit within the budget was the challenge.

After issuing an international solicitation through the EU's European Defense Agency online marketplace, the Dutch concluded that the Israeli firm Aeronautics Defense System Ltd. in Yavneh, Israel was the only option that could fit their requirments, which include operating and maintaining the UAVs on the Netherlands' behalf. This is considered an urgent operational buy, and the MvD intends to sign a contract by the end of January 2009, so that it can begin deployment in March 2009.

CubeSat Futures: The IFTF's Signtific Lab Invites Participants

quoted from the Defence Industry Daily

The proliferation of micro-satellites is just the start. USAF journals like High Frontier are already talking about nano-satellites, or in civilian parlance "CubeSats." Their effects could be profound, and will be felt in many ways. San Jose's Good Morning Silicon Valley covers an Institute for the Future project called The Signtific Lab. The premise, which you're invited to discuss and build on, is:
"...in 2019, cubesats - space satellites smaller than a shoebox - have become very cheap and very popular. For $100, anyone can put a cutomized personal satellites into low-earth orbit. And space data tranfer protocols developed by the Interstellar Internet Project provide a basic relay backbone linking low-powered cubesats with ground stations, and with each other. Space is open... . What will you do when space is as cheap and accessible as the Web is today?"
......

Laser Designators for RQ-7 Shadow UAVs

quoted from The Defense Industry Daily

"CENTCOM Looks to Boost ISR Capabilities in 2008-2009" discussed the growth of local US military surveillance/strike capabilities, and SecDef Robert Gates' strong support for more attention to the needs of the counterinsurgency fight. Surveilance is part of that, but it needs to be backed by action. "Mortars from Aircraft? The Shadow Knows..." and "Task Force ODIN: In the Valleys of the Blind..." discussed pending and emerging approaches that tie UAVs, manned propeller planes, artillery, and helicopters into a cohesive, fast, and flexible solution for finding, identifying, and capturing or killing opponents.

Another piece of that puzzle is about to fall into place. The US Army's RQ-7 Shadow UAVs are currently too small to carry weapons, but their surveillance turret's laser rangefinder can designate GPS locations for JDAMs and related bombs, Excalibur 155mm artillery shells, and GMLRS 227mm rockets. That's useful, but maximum unarmed effectiveness requires a lightweight laser designator that would add the ability to actively mark targets for weapons like Helfire missiles, laser-guided 70mm rockets, or Paveway bombs. That way, the small and relatively cheap RQ-7s could mark targets for any component of Task Force ODIN.

The first challenge is making a full laser rangefinder and designator that's powerful enough, but still small enough and light enough to fit on the Shadow UAVs. The second challenge involves making that solution part of Army systems that stretch beyond the Shadow UAVs carring it

Feb 12/09

Texton subsidiary Army Armaments Incorporated(AAI) in Hunt Valley, MD receives a $9.3 million cost plus fixed fee contract modification, exercising options for additional engineering hours re,ated to these Shadow UAV modifications. These servies are related to low-rate initial production of Laser Designators, Tactical Common Data Link(TCDL) interoperability, and integration with the Army's Universal Ground Control Station and Universal Ground Data Termianl.

Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, MD, with an eatimated completion date of April 30/09. One bid was solicited and one bid received by the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command in Redstone Arsenal, AL (W58RGZ-08-C-0033)

An EUM Bellwether? India/US Arms Deals Facing Crunch Over Conditions

quoted from the Defense Industry Daily

When countries export weapons, they frequently set associated conditions. Rules against reselling the gear without permission would be a basic condition for obvious reasons, and more advance restrictions on technology tranfer, sharing of details about the weapon with other countries, and related codicils are also common. Some western countries will also place restrictions on what the purchaser can do with the weapons as part of these "End Use Monitoring"(EUM) agreements.

Indonesia turned to Russia as a supplier, for instance, after Britain created problems when the country moved to use its British=made Scorpion light tanks against a separatist insurgencyin Aceh. Chad encountered trouble from Switzerland after its Pilatus-7 turboprops were reported to have been armed for use aginst Sudanese-backed forces. A problem that the opposing Sudanese forces don't have with their new Chinese and Russian jets.

During the Cold War, regimes always had the option of playing Western suppliers off against the Soviet Union. With the USSR's collapse, that option disappeared for a while, but the re-emergence of Russia's weapons industry, and the development of competitive arms industries in countries like China, South Korea, Brazil, and India, is changing the global equation again.

EUMs are likely to be affected by this trend, as the leverage to apply them declines. The question is which items are deal-breakers that must be retained by western countries, and which will be allowed to quietly fall by the wayside. That decision will be different in different countries, of course. Meanwhile, the strains created in India by standard American EUMs appear likely to provide an early indicator. India is a leading edge case for a number of reason ...

Gluf States Requesting ABM-Capable Systems

quoted from the Defense Industry Daily

A 2007 US National Intelligence Assessment[redacted NIE summary] believes Iran's nuclear program has stopped, but others, including the United Nations and Israel are more skeptical.
Intelligence is always a very uncertain and ambiguous exercise, and occasionally features assessments like the somewhat infamous NIE whose 1962 judgment was that there were no Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Uncertainty creates perception of risk, and perception of risk lead to behaviors aimed at reducing that risk. Iraq is no longer a missile/WMD threat, Iran's regular and Revolutionary Guards air forces remain relatively weak, and Iran's ballistic missiles based on North Korean designs lack accuracy. Still, even a lucky conventional missile could create issues in some Gulf states if it hit important oil-related infrastructure, or hit the larger and more nebulous target of business confidence.

Arms spending is an incomplete but very concrete way of tracking a state's real assessment of threats and priorities. It's becoming clear that Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have stepped up their defence spending in recent years. Those expenditures cover a range of equipment, but anti-ballistic missile capabilities appear to be rising to the top of the priority list.

In June 2008, over $10 billion worth of December 2007 Patriot missile upgrade requests in the UAE and Kuwait shone a spotlight on the region's new defense priorities. The latest news involves additional order requests from the UAE for THAAD theater defense missile systems, and additional Patriot PAC-3 related equipment. the requests dovetail with the UAE's moves to become a command-and-control leader within the [Arabian] Gulf Cooperation Council, and are part of a top to bottom moderniztion of the UAE's air defense systems, which appear to be shifting strongly toward American equipment.

A multi-billion dollar Patriot missile contract seems to be locking in that shift, and recent developments in the UAE underscore the strategic logic at work in the regionl. One of those developments is a major spares and support contract to accompany their December 2008 Patriot missile order

국내방위산업현황

2007 방산현황

1. 국내 방위산업 업체수: 87개
2. 방산산업 시장규모: 4조원(상위5개사 비중 50%, 상위12개사 비중 80%)
3. 방산산업 수출규모: 2천억(상위5개사 비중 90%, 국내시장규모대비 5%)
4. 상위5개기업: 한국항공우주산업, 삼성테크윈, 삼성탈레스, 넥스원퓨처, 두산인프라코어
5. 해외수출품목: 탄약류에서 F-15K/K-9자주포/항공기엔진 등의 부품류 및 KT-1훈련기, 2.5t차량 등으로 다양화(수출액의 70%)