Defense Technology International - March 2008 - (Page 19)

t l were completed in February.) Until the F-22 is operational with SAR, the capability that is being lost with the retirement of the F-117A—a stealth platform other than the B-2 that images targets rather than bombing on GPS coordinates—will not be replaced. The F-22’s Achilles heel is that it has no way to share data acquired by its radar or electronic surveillance measures with anything except an F-22. This is supposed to be fixed with the Advanced Flight testing of the Increment 1 VH-71A Tactical Datalink program, helicopter has started, but the vehicle will part of Increment 3.2, which have to be redesigned for greater loads. includes supersonic SDB release. Increment 3.2 does not even pass revelation of another test failure of a operational testing until the ﬁrst half of Pratt & Whitney F135, delaying the iniFiscal 2014, with retroﬁts “in the next tial ﬂight of the ﬁrst F-35B by a month several years following completion of and threatening similar or longer delays development.” The next stage, includ- to the start of the critical short takeing other weapons, electronic attack or off/vertical landing (Stovl) test phase. ISR functions, doesn’t enter the design The P&W team will be scrambling for the rest of the year to ensure that the stage until 2014. The JSF budget for Fiscal 2009 ter- engine gets qualiﬁed for Stovl tests. In minates development of the General Stovl mode, the low-pressure turbine is Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 engine, an under peak load because it is driving the announcement that coincided with the lift-cruise engine fan and lift fan. In land systems, the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle program drops off a cliff, from 7,494 vehicles in Fiscal 2008 to none in Fiscal 2009. The message to Congress is: No more, thank you. Even as MRAPs are flown into theater, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks are declining in Iraq. Marine Corps Systems Command boss Brig. Gen. Michael Brogan says the Marines have cut their own requirement to 2,300 vehicles from 3,600, and are already looking at where to store MRAPs—“the vehicle for this fight and this enemy”—when the conﬂict ends. The MRAP is reportedly too heavy to move easily, and lacks agility and off-road mobility. Absent another Iraqi-type war, MRAP will come out of the Marine inventory, and long-term support of the diverse ﬂeet will be transferred to the Army. Some of the vehicles may end up stored in caves in Norway, months after delivery. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Blackswift, a joint USAF-Darpa (Defense U.S. NAVY h e y t il t f d f e t e r e t e l h R d        19   1174504575 CMYK    � http://L-3com.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - March 2008

Defense Technology International - March 2008 Contents Sweden Cancels SEP; Israel Launches Imaging Satellite; Geotextiles Secure Ammo Dump U.S. Navy Taps Neural Architecture Software to Assure Job Satisfaction Shrapnel-Like Pieces of Reactive Materials Increase Explosive Force of Bombs Technology is Rapidly Closing the Gap Between Sensors and Shooters Italian Army Program Aims to Develop a Fully Networked Land Force Political and Military Uncertainties Plague U.S. Defense Budget Democrats Put Pentagon on Notice Over Spending and Policy at DTAR Conference Russian Combat Vehicle Protects Tank Formations from Anti-Armor Weapons European Battlelabs Use Simulation to Verify Technologies and Stretch Defense Funds Malaysia Accelerates Fleet Modernization to meet Long-Term Goals U.S. Navy Says Composite Raiding Boat May Reduce Injuries From Wave Shocks Seeing Isn’t Believing When it Comes to Deciphering Funds for Secret Projects Advances in Sensors and Propulsion Make Torpedoes Ever More Lethal FAA is in No Rush to Approve Rules that Let UAVs Fly in Civil Airspace USS Truman Carrier Strike Group Patrols a Rough Neighborhood 24/7 U.S. says Sino-Russian Space Disarmament Plan is Riddled with Pitfalls Hyperspeed Projectile; “Sound Cloak” Hides Subs; Improving Nuclear Forensics Dutch Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf Analyzes the Impact of Rotary-Wing Operations One Soldier’s War is a Behind-the-Headlines Look at Russia’s Campaigns in Chechnya Black Budgets are Huge and Growing, and Often Conceal Amazing Failures

Defense Technology International - March 2008

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