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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected Rockwell Collins to develop architectures and techniques that reduce war fighter dependence on GPS.As part of DARPA’s Spatial, Temporal and Orientation Information in Contested Environments (STOIC) program, Rockwell Collins will research relative positioning accuracy, navigation and picosecond-accurate timing technology to augment or substitute for GPS in multifunctional communication system solutions.

Source: Rockwell Collins wins DARPA contract for GPS alternatives

GPS has become ubiquitous in our lives in just a short time. In Desert Storm, GPS was in its infancy. Indeed, many units, mine included, were not equipped with even the first generation GPS receivers, instead relying on commercial LORAN radio navigation systems, and only one per company at that! Today, there are few of us that don’t walk around without a phone that (kinda emulates) GPS level accuracy for navigating the roads.

The military is even more dependent on GPS than you are. Everything from aerial navigation, to weapons guidance to encrypted datalinks rely on the Position, Navigation and Timing afforded by GPS.

That is rapidly becoming a real problem, as GPS can, in fact, be jammed. It is, after all, just really faint radio signals broadcast from a constellation of satellites.

DARPA, and the rest of the DoD, have recognized this, and have a slew of programs looking to provide a fully self contained PNT system that doesn’t rely on outside input to provide GPS levels of accuracy. One suspects some of these technologies will prove to be dead ends, and others less than wholly successful. But one also suspects that sooner or later, a reasonably affordable system will be available, and its uses will also prove to be virtually unlimited.

The U.S. Navy has for the first time successfully fired a tactical ship-defense missile made by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems from one of its new coastal combat vessels.In an Aug. 14 test disclosed by Raytheon on Thursday, the littoral combat ship USS Coronado fired a Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) from a SeaRAM defense system, both produced by Raytheon.The missile was launched during a live-fire exercise at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division sea range off the coast of California. The system detected, tracked and engaged an inbound threat and fired a RAM Block 1A missile that successfully intercepted the target, Raytheon said in a news release.

Source: Raytheon ship-defense missile hits mark in test

That’s a year and a half after the ship was commissioned. Wow. And as far as I know, that means USS Independence, the first LCS-2 variant, still hasn’t fired one. Nor has either ship deployed anywhere.

At least with the F-35, we’re going to get a decently armed platform.

The C-130 is a very versatile airplane. Think of using variants of cargo aircraft as an early example of a plug-and-play philosophy. One system tailored to the C-130 is the MAFFS. Firefighting air attack assets are expensive, and most of the year aren’t really needed. That means there is never a very large fleet of them. But when they are needed, they are really needed. That slim margin lead the US Forest Service to team up with the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve to design a capability to utilize C-130s for dropping retardant.

That’s actually a somewhat harder challenge than you’d first think. First, the entire package had to be fit into the C-130 fuselage. More importantly, unlike dedicated fire bombers, it had to be done with no modifications needed to the Herc. After all, when they’re not dropping retardant, the Air Force has other missions for them.

The original MAFFS had a 2700 gallon tank that discharged through pipes out the back ramp of the C-130. The current MAFFS II discharges its pressurized load via a pipe fitting through the port side troop door.

Only a handful of  airlift wings are slated for MAFFS operations (and not all the crews and aircraft in those wings use it). It has enjoyed some foreign sales. Interestingly, the MAFFS belongs to the USFS, which is why the trailers are painted in their shade of green, and not the typical, darker Air Force dark green.

The pink markings are temporary (water colors!) to better enable the lead planes and attack coordinators identify individual aircraft.

Germany’s first production batch of 1,215 new MG5 machine guns has been delayed by technical issues, the German Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed.Ordered in June 2013, the MG5 (HK121) manufactured by Heckler & Koch (HK) is to replace the obsolete MG3 in service with the Bundeswehr.First deliveries were scheduled from the end of July, but this has been pushed back to 2016 because of “irregularities that may require retesting”, the MoD stated.

Source: Germany’s new MG5 delayed by teething problems – IHS Jane’s 360

Huh. H&K has long enjoyed a sterling reputation for quality. But this comes on the heels of news that the Bundeswehr isn’t very happy with the G36, either.

Pentagon officials are weighing whether to cancel the last of three ships in General Dynamics Corp.’s $22 billion program to build new destroyers even though the vessel is already under construction.Canceling the USS Lyndon B. Johnson, a Zumwalt-class destroyer, is a topic that’s “to be reviewed in the next few weeks” by teams formed by the Pentagon’s independent cost-assessment office, according to a Defense Department briefing document dated Aug. 25. Two officials familiar with the issue confirmed that cancellation discussions are under way although no decision has been made.The Zumwalt-class destroyer is designed as a multimission land-attack vessel that will use electricity generated by gas turbines to power all of its systems, including weapons. The cancellation discussions, part of planning for the fiscal 2017 budget, are the latest twist for a program that’s been buffeted by delays, rising costs and changing plans.

Source: General Dynamics Destroyer Reviewed by U.S. for Cancellation – Bloomberg Business

DDG-1000 is a textbook example of the cost-spiral death of a defense program. Oddly, unlike some other programs, such as the LCS, where the technology has proven to be problematic, the testing and prototyping of DDG-1000 has been fairly successful. While some systems are simply going to be white elephants (such as the AGS), others, like integrated drive, will likely be used in future ship classes.

Has the time come for the Air Force to put enlisted airmen in the cockpit? Even among some command chief master sergeants, there’s a difference of opinion.Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh is due to make a decision this November on whether enlisted airmen should be allowed to fly drone aircraft, and has said that could open the door to enlisted airmen flying manned aircraft as well.And at a panel discussion at the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference on Monday, some command chief master sergeants had different thoughts on whether the Air Force is ready for enlisted airmen to fly alongside officers.

Source: Enlisted pilots? Even command chiefs disagree

If only there was a service that used warrant officers as aviators, and enlisted RPA operators that the Air Force could learn from.

Marines involved in a controversial experiment evaluating a gender-integrated infantry unit say they feel betrayed by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus after he criticized the results of a nine-month study that found women are injured more frequently and shoot less accurately in simulated combat conditions.“Our secretary of the Navy completely rolled the Marine Corps and the entire staff that was involved in putting this [experiment] in place under the bus,” said Sgt. Danielle Beck, a female anti-armor gunner with the task force.

Source: Navy secretary threw us ‘under the bus,’ say Marines in gender-integrated infantry unit – The Washington Post

The Marine Corps isn’t happy with SecNav calling them liars. Sgt. Beck and the others had at least tacit approval from higher echelons to speak on the record. That’s the senior uniformed leadership shooting back at Mabus, telling him their willing to fight a PR war.

Here’s a hint, Mr. Mabus- SecNavs come and go about every two years. The USMC publicity shop is eternal.

The early vision of the F-16 was a simple radar, two AIM-9J tail chase Sidewinders, the M61 gun, and the best maneuverability and range that could be crammed into a small plane. It has, of course, evolved somewhat since those days.