Browse Topic: Munitions

Items (952)

Artificial Intelligence in the Battlespace

22AERP04_0104/01/2022

Key Considerations for a New Way of Fighting War Contemplating the AI-enabled future of war, practical and philosophical questions offer few easy answers. What kind of devices and weapon systems would most benefit from AI (artificial intelligence)? What types of oversight should apply to its use? What are the moral/ethical questions in play? How will humans and AI coexist in the battlespace? In chapter three of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence's final report, the commission postulates that “AI-enabled warfare will not hinge on a single new weapon, technology, or operational concept; rather, it will center on the application and integration of AI-enabled technologies into every facet of warfighting.”

Fighter Jet Armaments

TBMG-3986809/01/2021

MBDA Les Plesis Robinson, France +33 1 71 54 10 00

Digital Thread and the Impact on Weapon System Acquisition Cost Growth

2021-01-002603/02/2021

The traditional acquisition and development cycles of a weapon system by government agencies goes through multiple stages throughout the life cycle of the product. Over the last few decades, many of the United States military equipment had experienced acquisition cost growth. Many studies by the Department of Defense indicates that the cost growth is a result of multiple factors including the development and manufacturing stages of the product. Organizations with multiple operation sites that goes across multiple states or even countries and continents are finding it increasingly difficult to share informational databases to ensure the corporate synergy between multiple sites or divisions. For such organizations, there exist the need to synchronize the operations and have standard and common database where everything is stored and equally accessed by different sites. Digital transformation sounds real exotic and futuristic and promise to reduce operation costs of big organizations

Hamada, Mohamed Yousef

Electronic Warfare

21AERP02_0302/01/2021

Vying for Control of the Electromagnetic Spectrum Over the past decade, preeminent countries involved in major military conflicts mainly focused on asymmetrical warfare - surprise attacks by small groups armed with modern, high-tech weaponry. During that same period, however, near-peer adversaries began attaining impressive electronic warfare (EW) capabilities. As a result, a plethora of new, dynamic threats flooded the EW spectrum, pushing threat detection and analysis to keep pace. Large military forces now face ongoing development and evolution to stay ahead of their adversaries, leading to a need for a more flexible, scalable approach to threat detection, analysis, and response. Even the smallest military can now build powerful weapons systems, given the availability and low cost of advanced electronics with high computing power. The proliferation of technology also created a battlefield where weapons technology undergoes rapid, continuous change. Digital and programmable radio

Army and Universities Deploy New Warfighter Communication Technology

TBMG-3854102/01/2021

Researchers from the U.S. Army and the University of Maryland, College Park, have developed a controller for deploying robots that forms antenna arrays to maintain longer-range wireless communication. Antennas are distributed between mobile robots, allowing the controller to autonomously guide robots to create and maintain a reliable wireless communication network in challenging battlefield environments.

Light Tactical Vehicle

TBMG-3853402/01/2021

Polaris Inc. Medina, MN (866) 468-7783

Counter-UAS Technology

TBMG-3852902/01/2021

SRC Inc. Syracuse, NY 315-452-8362

Electronic Warfare: Vying for Control of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

TBMG-3854002/01/2021

Over the past decade, preeminent countries involved in major military conflicts mainly focused on asymmetrical warfare — surprise attacks by small groups armed with modern, high-tech weaponry. During that same period, however, near-peer adversaries began attaining impressive electronic warfare (EW) capabilities. As a result, a plethora of new, dynamic threats flooded the EW spectrum, pushing threat detection and analysis to keep pace. Large military forces now face ongoing development and evolution to stay ahead of their adversaries, leading to a need for a more flexible, scalable approach to threat detection, analysis, and response.

Loitering Munition System

TBMG-3825212/01/2020

UVision Air Ltd. Zur Igal, Israel +972-9-7496822

Information Warfare - Staying Protected at the Edge

20AERP10_0210/01/2020

On April 1, 2001, a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided above Hainan Island, China. Per protocol, the EP crew scrambled to destroy sensitive key-management data onboard the aircraft. However, the team was interrupted by opposing soldiers, and as a result failed to destroy cryptographic keys and other highly sensitive information on the plane. In a matter of seconds, U.S. secrets were in the hands of another nation, including intelligence documents, NSA employee names, defense plans, and other confidential documents. This exposure of information set back U.S. intelligence enough to impact the nation's defense strategy for years. Had this aircraft been equipped with hardware-embedded cyber defense capabilities such as instant secure erase (ISE), the complete compromise of sensitive data could have been prevented - U.S. troops would have been able to destroy the data with the

Information Warfare: Staying Protected at the Edge

TBMG-3788110/01/2020

On April 1, 2001, a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft and a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy J-8II interceptor fighter jet collided above Hainan Island, China. Per protocol, the EP crew scrambled to destroy sensitive key-management data onboard the aircraft. However, the team was interrupted by opposing soldiers, and as a result failed to destroy cryptographic keys and other highly sensitive information on the plane. In a matter of seconds, U.S. secrets were in the hands of another nation, including intelligence documents, NSA employee names, defense plans, and other confidential documents.

Aircraft Protection Systems

TBMG-3789410/01/2020

Northrop Grumman Corporation Falls Church, VA 1-703-280-2900

Data Collection Using the MetalMapper in Dynamic Data Acquisition and Cued Modes

TBMG-3789310/01/2020

The ability to safely and efficiently locate, identify, and remove buried objects on practice and test ranges is critical to the U.S. Department of Defense’s mission and its goals of safe operation, sustainability, and environmental stewardship.

Data Collection Using the MetalMapper in Dynamic Data Acquisition and Cued Modes

20AERP10_1010/01/2020

Safely locating, identifying and recovering buried munitions on practice and test ranges is critical to the U.S. Department of Defense's mission and its goals of safe operation, sustainability, and environmental stewardship. Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Alexandria, Virginia The ability to safely and efficiently locate, identify, and remove buried objects on practice and test ranges is critical to the U.S. Department of Defense's mission and its goals of safe operation, sustainability, and environmental stewardship. Although several robust, advanced sensor technologies have been developed for discriminating buried objects on ranges as targets of interest (TOIs), widespread acceptance of the technologies requires that they be demonstrated on live sites, where the impact of operating and data acquisition and analysis parameters can be fully evaluated. The potential benefit of the technology is to reduce the number of subsurface investigations that are

Thermal Management for Directed Energy Weapons

20AERP09_0209/01/2020

Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) utilize concentrated electromagnetic energy focused on a target to cause damage, versus conventional kinetic energy weapons which hit the target with a solid projectile. Lasers, microwaves, and particle beams are examples of DEWs. While DEWs are not a new concept, they are gaining increasing interest as the technologies to concentrate energy to damaging levels, to track the targets accurately, and to manage the massive amounts of waste energy produced are reaching higher levels of maturity. At the same time, the price tag for conventional ammunition and conventional weapons continues to climb, placing increasing funding burdens on the government. Compared to conventional weapons, the advantages of DEWs include: (1) speed of light target engagement; (2) low cost per shot; and (3) deep magazine capability, limited only by the available power and thermal management capacity.

Beam Propagation Model Selection for Millimeter-Wave Directed Energy Weapons

20AERP09_0909/01/2020

Comparing the relatively simple Fraunhofer or “far field” (FF) approximation commonly used in radar and high-powered microwave systems with the more complex near field (NF) propagation model based on the field equivalence principle demonstrates which approach achieves reasonable modeling fidelity with minimal compute power. Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia Modeling and Simulation (M&S) can be used to explore the design trade space of directed energy weapons. M&S can be particularly helpful when that trade space is influenced by a large number of parameters and when acquiring field data to explore those parameters requires a large amount of resources. One example involves the Active Denial Technology (ADT) system, a non-lethal, counter-personnel, directed energy weapon that outputs high-powered, millimeter wave electromagnetic energy for crowd control, patrol/convoy protection, and perimeter security. The accompanying figure shows a photograph of a current ADT

Experimental Design of a UCAV-Based High-Energy Laser Weapon

TBMG-3761309/01/2020

The deployment of an airborne platform armed with a High Energy Laser (HEL) weapon has been a major challenge for several decades. Attempts in the past included mounting a HEL weapon in large aircraft like a Boeing 747, mainly for strategic missions like defense against tactical ballistic missiles. Despite being very promising in their initial phases, these trial configurations presented various technical and economic issues that resulted in their cancellation.

Thermal Management for Directed Energy Weapons

TBMG-3760809/01/2020

Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) utilize concentrated electromagnetic energy focused on a target to cause damage, versus conventional kinetic energy weapons which hit the target with a solid projectile. Lasers, microwaves, and particle beams are examples of DEWs. While DEWs are not a new concept, they are gaining increasing interest as the technologies to concentrate energy to damaging levels, to track the targets accurately, and to manage the massive amounts of waste energy produced are reaching higher levels of maturity. At the same time, the price tag for conventional ammunition and conventional weapons continues to climb, placing increasing funding burdens on the government. Compared to conventional weapons, the advantages of DEWs include: (1) speed of light target engagement; (2) low cost per shot; and (3) deep magazine capability, limited only by the available power and thermal management capacity.

Beam Propagation Model Selection for Millimeter-Wave Directed Energy Weapons

TBMG-3761109/01/2020

Modeling and Simulation (M&S) can be used to explore the design trade space of directed energy weapons. M&S can be particularly helpful when that trade space is influenced by a large number of parameters and when acquiring field data to explore those parameters requires a large amount of resources. One example involves the Active Denial Technology (ADT) system, a non-lethal, counter-personnel, directed energy weapon that outputs high-powered, millimeter wave electromagnetic energy for crowd control, patrol/convoy protection, and perimeter security. The accompanying figure shows a photograph of a current ADT demonstrator (left) and a conceptual drawing of a future iteration of ADT (right).

sUAS-Based Payload Development and Testing for Quantifying Optical Turbulence

TBMG-3736608/01/2020

Within the highly dynamic and hostile modern-day battlespace, the Department of Defense (DoD) is constantly facing threats from multiple domains. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), swarms of fast attack craft, anti-ship missiles and manned aircraft are quickly developing asymmetric options. These threats need to be tracked, engaged and destroyed in quick succession. However, not all threats can necessarily be paired with the same weapons system.

sUAS-Based Payload Development and Testing for Quantifying Optical Turbulence

20AERP08_1108/01/2020

Understanding how atmospheric effects can impact operational conditions is important to the development of High Energy Laser (HEL) weapon systems. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California Within the highly dynamic and hostile modern-day battlespace, the Department of Defense (DoD) is constantly facing threats from multiple domains. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), swarms of fast attack craft, anti-ship missiles and manned aircraft are quickly developing asymmetric options. These threats need to be tracked, engaged and destroyed in quick succession. However, not all threats can necessarily be paired with the same weapons system. The use of directed electro-optical energy has a long history in warfare dating back to the days of the Romans. According to legend, Archimedes used an array of mirrors to direct beams of sunlight on enemy ships to burn them down before they could invade Syracuse. In more recent times, the Navy began experimenting with the use of chemical lasers in the

Bore Elevation and Azimuth Measurement System (Beams)

20AERP08_0808/01/2020

Newly developed laser apparatus verifies that the pointing accuracy requirement of a weapon's fire control system is met. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) engineers from the Fire Control Systems and Technology Directorate at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey developed, tested, and placed into practical application the Bore Elevation and Azimuth Measurement System (BEAMS). The BEAMS provides a means to accurately measure the pointing ability of fire control for mortars, artillery, and other weapon platforms. Heretofore, verifying weapon pointing accuracy in an engineering environment has been, and continues to be, a problem at many government test facilities.

Facility Focus: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

TBMG-3744608/01/2020

Founded on March 10, 1942, the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University is the nation’s largest university-affiliated research center. It was created as part of a federal government effort to mobilize scientific resources to address wartime challenges. APL rapidly became a major contributor to advances in guided missiles and submarine technologies.

Loitering Precision Strike Missile

TBMG-3737108/01/2020

AeroVironment, Inc. Simi Valley, CA 805-520-8350

Electro-Optical Missile System

TBMG-3737908/01/2020

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. Haifa, Israel 972-73-3324710

Bore Elevation and Azimuth Measurement System (Beams)

TBMG-3738208/01/2020

The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) engineers from the Fire Control Systems and Technology Directorate at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey developed, tested, and placed into practical application the Bore Elevation and Azimuth Measurement System (BEAMS). The BEAMS provides a means to accurately measure the pointing ability of fire control for mortars, artillery, and other weapon platforms.

High-Speed Data Cables for Fighter Aircraft

TBMG-3710906/01/2020

Harbour Industries LLC Shelburne, VT 1-802-985-3311

High-Energy Laser Weapon Systems

20AERP06_0206/01/2020

Longtime skeptics of high-energy lasers often say, ‘the technology is five years out… and will always be’. The DoD and defense industry have invested in laser weapons development for 40 years, in anticipation of a transition to troops that has yet to happen. Then, between 2017 and 2018, we demonstrated our high-energy laser weapon system, or HELWS, for the U.S. Air Force and the Army, shooting down multiple drones.

High-Energy Laser Weapon Systems

TBMG-3710806/01/2020

Longtime skeptics of high-energy lasers often say, ‘the technology is five years out… and will always be’. The DoD and defense industry have invested in laser weapons development for 40 years, in anticipation of a transition to troops that has yet to happen.

Battle Command System

TBMG-3710106/01/2020

Northrop Grumman Corp. Falls Church, VA 703-280-2900

Robotic Combat Vehicles: Putting the Brains Behind the Brawn

TBMG-3682205/01/2020

Anti-Drone Remote Weapon System

TBMG-3681605/01/2020

General Robotics Ltd. Beit Nehemia, Israel +972 (0) 77 512 1020

Robotic Combat Vehicles

20AERP05_0405/01/2020

Putting the Brains Behind the Brawn A new era of Robotic Combat Vehicles (RCV) is about to begin. The U.S. Army is getting ready to evaluate competing candidates to meet requirements for light and medium versions of a new class of modular unmanned ground vehicle (UGV). Designed to be controlled in the field via remote control, and in the future, autonomously, these new robot tanks have the potential to revolutionize ground warfare. We witnessed the debut of this emerging class of “robo-tank” when the Ripsaw M5 was unveiled by the team of Textron Systems, Howe & Howe, and FLIR Systems at the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Conference, in October 2019. A couple months later, in January, the Army announced contracts to buy eight experimental RCVs for use in wargame tests next year. QinetiQ North America, along with its partner Pratt & Miller, was selected to provide four of their EMAV robots (Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicles). Textron was tapped to provide four of the Ripsaw

Assessing the Effectiveness of a Combat UGV Swarm in Urban Operations

20AERP05_0805/01/2020

Fighting in urban areas is extremely complex and challenging due to multi-story structures, new engagement conditions, and the consideration of civilian-military relations, but recent technological advancements could enable the military to employ robotic platforms in swarms to help overcome operational challenges in an urban environment. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California The global trend of urbanization that began after World War II continues to grow rapidly. In 2014, 54 percent of the world's population resided in urban areas, compared to only 30 percent in 1950, and the United Nations estimates that by 2050, that number will reach 66 percent. This global trend necessarily contributes to a shift in the characteristics of any future potential conflicts, and as a result, in the way urban warfare would be conducted. Fighting in urban areas is extremely complex and challenging. The third dimension in urban areas, such as subterranean and multi-story structures, affects the

Aerospace - Passive Side Stick Unit General Requirements for Fly-by Wire Transport and Business

ARP6001B-TEST-REC (Historical)04/23/2020

This SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) provides recommendations for design and test requirements for a generic “passive” side stick that could be used for fly-by wire transport and business aircraft. It addresses the following: The functions to be implemented The geometric and mechanical characteristics The mechanical and electrical interfaces The safety and certification requirements

A-6A3 Flight Control and Vehicle Management Systems Cmt

Aerospace - Passive Side Stick Unit General Requirements for Fly-by Wire Transport and Business

ARP6001B (Current)

04/23/2020

This SAE Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) provides recommendations for design and test requirements for a generic “passive” side stick that could be used for fly-by wire transport and business aircraft. It addresses the following: The functions to be implemented The geometric and mechanical characteristics The mechanical and electrical interfaces The safety and certification requirements

A-6A3 Flight Control and Vehicle Management Systems Cmt

SAE STANDARDS NEWS

20AUTP04_0604/01/2020

I've grown to appreciate the fact that readers of this column are well-versed in acronymic discourse. But that doesn't make swimming in the ever-deeper ‘alphabet soup’ less daunting. The mobility industry and its government and academic partners seem to add new acronyms daily to the already daunting list, putting SAE International in the center of the vortex. It's our duty to help our industry partners keep pace with new organizations of all sizes that prefer to be labeled in this fashion. Sometimes this leads to humor. Editor-in-chief Lindsay Brooke jokes about a reporting visit he made to TARDEC. Once spelled out as the U.S. Army's Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, the huge facility in Warren, Michigan, now is officially the GVSC-the Ground Vehicle Systems Center. It's part of CCDC, the Combat Capabilities Development Command. In his interview with Army vehicle engineers, Brooke came under intense acronym-fire, with arcane-to-civilians abbreviations

Lethal Loitering System Meets U.S. Military Requirements

TBMG-3660104/01/2020

UVision Air Ltd. Zur Igal, Israel +972.9.749.6822

Shoulder-Launched Weapon System

TBMG-3606102/01/2020

Saab Stockholm, Sweden +46 13 18 00 00

Long-Distance LADAR System and Method

TBMG-3598002/01/2020

A laser detection and ranging (LADAR) system was developed to provide unambiguous range and velocity measurements of long-distance targets such as sea-skimming anti-ship missiles. By using the LADAR's range and velocity data, false alarms and clutter objects will be distinguished from incoming missiles at longer ranges (up to 10 km). Because the developed LADAR uses an array receiver, it can also provide three-dimensional (3D) imagery of potential threats at closer ranges (2-3 km) in support of the force protection/situational awareness mission.

Electronic Warfare Weapon

TBMG-3606802/01/2020

MBDA Hertfordshire, UK +44 (0)1438 752000

Tank Destroyer Vehicle

TBMG-3567812/01/2019

MBDA Missile Systems Hertfordshire, UK +44 (0)1438 752000

Robotic Helicopter

TBMG-3567712/01/2019

Steadicopter Ltd. Migdal HaEmek, Israel +972-4-9592959

Autonomous Multi-Sensor Maritime Awareness System

TBMG-3536410/01/2019

BIRD Aerosystems Herzliya, Israel

Influence of Leading-Edge Oscillatory Blowing on Time-Accurate Dynamic Store Separation

TBMG-3536210/01/2019

Increasing the operational efficiency of weapons employed in hostile environments is a high priority of the United States Air Force (USAF). In recent history, the USAF has made a move to smaller and internally stored weapons, especially for fighter aircraft. Maintaining a low radar cross section signature, and thus a low observable air vehicle, is desirable so the aircraft is less detectable by the enemy.

Counter IED System

TBMG-3535610/01/2019

Netline Communications Technologies Ltd. Tel Aviv, Israel

EO/IR Maritime Payload

TBMG-3535210/01/2019

CONTROP Precision Technologies Ltd. Lanham, MD 571-331-0042

Solid-State Microwave Power Module

19AERP10_0510/01/2019

Historically, the term microwave power module (MPM) has been associated with a small, fully integrated, self-contained radio frequency (RF) amplifier that combines both solid-state and microwave vacuum electronics technologies. Typically, the output power of these MPMs is on the order of about 100 Watts CW over an octave bandwidth. Because of their smaller size and lower mass compared to conventional traveling-wave tube amplifiers, these MPMs may have applications in electronic warfare systems. The MPMs require both a solid-state amplifier at the front end and a microwave vacuum electronics amplifier at the back end; however, such MPMs cannot be utilized for communications because the MPMs are not optimized for linearity or efficiency. Also, the MPMs can be very expensive to manufacture, particularly when modules are produced in very small quantities for space applications. Also, a kilovolt (kV)-class power supply is required to power the traveling-wave tube amplifier, which is a part

Influence of Leading-Edge Oscillatory Blowing on Time-Accurate Dynamic Store Separation

19AERP10_0710/01/2019

Developing an understanding of, and potentially controlling, pitch bifurcation of a store release from an aircraft during flight could improve weapons delivery. Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Increasing the operational efficiency of weapons employed in hostile environments is a high priority of the United States Air Force (USAF). In recent history, the USAF has made a move to smaller and internally stored weapons, especially for fighter aircraft. Maintaining a low radar cross section signature, and thus a low observable air vehicle, is desirable so the aircraft is less detectable by the enemy. An internal weapons bay has a reduced load out but yields a low observable profile (reduced radar cross section). Also, aircraft can carry a greater number of weapons if the weapons are smaller, increasing the quantity of targets that can be engaged per sortie. The newer attack aircraft in the United States, such as the P-8A, F-22 and, most recently, the

Fuze Well Mechanical Interface

AS5680B (Current)

09/03/2019

This interface standard applies to fuzes used in airborne weapons that use a 3-in fuze well. It defines: Physical envelope of the fuze well at the interface with the fuze. Load bearing surfaces of the fuze well. Physical envelope of the fuze and its connector. Mechanical features (e.g., clocking feature). Connector type, size, location and orientation. Retaining ring and its mechanical features (e.g., thread, tool interface). Physical envelope of the retaining ring at the interface with the fuze. Physical space available for installation tools. Torque that the installation tool shall be capable of providing. This standard does not address: Materials used or their properties. Protective finish. Physical environment of the weapon. Explosive interface or features (e.g., insensitive munitions (IM) mitigation). Charging tube. Torque on the retaining ring or loads on the load bearing surfaces. Each fuze and weapon combination should be evaluated to ensure that the weapon system will satisfy

AS-1B Aircraft Store Integration Committee

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