News Story: Use Allied Investments To Help Rebuild US Military

RAAF Wedgetail AEW/C Aircraft (File Photo)

By ROBBIN LAIRD

The shift from slo mo — counterinsurgency operations — to high intensity combat is a major challenge for the US military and its allies. It is a culture shift, a procurement shift and an investment shift. But mobilization is even more important than modernization.

To get ready for this shift, our weapons inventory needs to become more robust. In visiting US bases, a common theme we hear is the challenge of basic inventory shortfalls.

The Trump Administration came to power promising to correct much of this. But there simply is not enough time and money to do readiness and training plus ups, mobilization and rapid modernization.

As a businessman, Donald Trump might take a look at how the Pentagon actually functions as an effective business in equipping the force. Having highlighted the question of allied spending, he might be pleased to learn of significant allied investments in new combat systems which his own forces can use, saving American taxpayers money and enhancing our military effectiveness at the same time.

One way to augment US forces would be to do something which might seem to be at odds with the Make America Great notion. As one of my Danish friends put it well: “I have no problem with the idea of making America great again. For me, the question is how?”

One way would be to leverage existing allied capabilities which, if adopted by the US forces, would save money but, even more importantly, would ramp up the operational capability of the US forces and their ability to work with allies in the shortest time possible. It would also allow the US to target investments where possible in break through programs which allies are NOT investing in.

Read the full story at Breaking Defense

News Report: Japan Enhances Offensive Capabilities, Equips F-35s with Joint Strike Missiles

The Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) is making moves to enhance its return on investment in F-35 fighters by equipping the aircraft with Joint Strike Missiles designed by Norway’s Kongsberg Defence Systems, the South China Morning Post reported.

“Japan has never previously had anything like this,” defense analyst Lance Gatling of Nexial Research Inc. told the news outlet on Tuesday.

The F-35 can maintain its stealth profile while carrying the weapons, which allows pilots to soar “much closer to targets” when they launch the missiles, Gatling added.

As a self-defense outfit, the JSDF has been reluctant to procure offensive weapons capability, but Tokyo’s posture is shifting as potential regional threats loom on the Korean Peninsula and in the South and East China Seas. Upgrading strike capabilities for the F-35 is a natural decision for policymakers in light of such developments, Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper, reported on June 27.

Industry: BAE Systems Australia technology in Joint Strike Missile

BAE Systems Australia’s technology is another step closer to being used in the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) being developed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, following the signing of a contract between the Federal Government and Norway's Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace.

The contract will enable Kongsberg, which is developing the JSM, to continue the integration and qualification of BAE Systems' passive radio frequency (RF) sensor into the system.

BAE Systems is Australia’s specialist manufacturer of missile control and guidance systems. The Company will provide a low-cost, light weight and highly sensitive electronic support measure (ESM) receiver for incorporation on JSM which will feature an additional land attack and littoral attack capability as well as a two-way communications line for target adjustment and inflight termination.

Industry: KONGSBERG signs contract with Australia to integrate new capability for the Joint Strike Missile

Kongsberg Defence Systems (KONGSBERG) has entered into a contract with the Australian Department of Defence worth 150 MNOK for integration of a new capability in the Joint Strike Missile (JSM).

This contract is a result of the agreement reached between the Norwegian and Australian Governments initialized during the visit by Norwegian State Secretary of Defence, Mr. Øystein Bø to Australia in 2015.

JSM is the 5th generation long-range precision strike missile that will be integrated for internal carriage on the F-35. Using a combination of advanced materials, ability to fly low, while following the terrain and using advanced passive seekers, the missile is extremely difficult to detect and stop even for the most advanced countermeasures and defence systems.

The unique state-of-the-art RF-seeker sensor, developed by BAE Systems Australia, will enable JSM to locate targets on the basis of their electronic signature. This will further strengthen the capabilities of JSM for the most challenging scenarios in a modern battlefield.

“We are very pleased that Australia joins the development of JSM by funding the integration of the RF seeker and that we together can increase the JSM capabilities”, says Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence Systems.

Kongsberg

News Report: Former DoD Officials Laud International Development Programs, Question Their Future In Trump Admin

F-35 Lightning Stealth Fighter

By: John Grady

The Trump administration’s focus on “America first” throws into question whether it would launch any new large-scale international joint development programs such as the F-35, a former under secretary of defense for policy said Monday.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Christine Wormuth said, “having that interoperability is increasingly valuable,” particularly when gained through “working with allies and partners on real-world projects.” Over time the development and operation of these systems strengthen trust and increase the depth of relationships with allies and partners, said Wormuth, now a senior adviser on international security at CSIS. Quoting a Special Forces mantra, she added, “you can’t surge trust.”

But other panelists noted that many challenges – plus the current political climate – could stand in the way of launching another major international joint development program in the near term despite the benefits.

News Report: New Strategy Emphasizes High-end Surface Warfare

By: Sam LaGrone

A new strategy for the surface force – released today – creates an outline for a navy that anticipates a return to high-end warfare it hasn’t known since the Cold War.

The document will fill in gaps for several pushes the surface establishment has announced over the last two years to create a cohesive path forward for the force.

“There was a picture that we were building, we just had to get that picture into focus. You want to be impatient, you want it into focus as rapidly as you can, but you may focus on the wrong picture,” Vice Adm. Tom Rowden told USNI News last week.

“This is our North Star, if you will. All the conversations we’ve had over the last three, four years, and starts to focus them in a single direction that will drive resources.”

For Rowden, that direction is sea control.

News Story: Successful flight test for Norwegian missile

by Richard Tomkins

Kongsberg's Joint Strike Missile, designed for internal carry on an F-35 aircraft, has been successfully flight tested in the United States, the company said.

The Norwegian missile was tested using a U.S. Air Force F-16 over the Utah Test and Training Range, demonstrating safe separation from the aircraft.

It also performed a number of flight maneuvers while continuously alternating speed and altitude.

Read the full story at SpaceWar

PacificSentinel Note: The JSM will be the primary, if not only, Anti-Ship Missile carried internally by the F-35, as such expect all F-35 users to operate this missile in the years to come.

News Story: Australian Air Force Must Make Careful F-35 Choices

by Chris Pocock

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is preparing to receive its first squadron of 14 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs in-country in late 2018. They will be preceded by a squadron of 12 Boeing EF-18G Growlers that will arrive next year.

Like other air arms receiving advanced combat aircraft from the U.S., the RAAF must make careful choices about weapons and software commonality, and training, if costs are to be restrained. Air Commodore Mike Kitcher, the RAAF’s director general capability planning, provided some insight into the issues for delegates attending The International Fighter Conference in London last November.

“I don’t think we could repeat our F-18 Classic experience on the F-35; a higher-complexity platform with multiple security layers,” Kitcher said. He was referring to the RAAF’s choice of some unique weapons to arm its F/A-18A/B Hornets, 75 of which were acquired and entered service in the 1980s. They were the MBDA ASRAAM (advanced short range air-to-air missile), the Lockheed Martin JASSM (joint air-to-surface standoff missile), and the extended-range (ER) version of the JDAM (joint direct attack munition). None of these weapons are in the U.S. Navy’s Classic Hornet inventory, and Australian engineers made “some startling discoveries” during the integration process, Kitcher added. And although the wide-open spaces of the Woomera range were available, “flight-testing 200- to 300-km-range weapons is a considerable challenge,” he noted.

The RAAF subsequently acquired 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets to replace a similar number of F-111s in 2010. Now come the EF-18s, and Kitcher said the RAAF is aiming for commonality of weapons on the Super Hornets, Growlers and the F-35s. The F-18 Classics will be retired at the rate of one squadron per year starting in 2019 as more F-35s enter service. In 2014, Australia confirmed it would buy another 58 F-35s, making a total of 72 for three squadrons plus an Operational Conversion Unit (OCU).

Read the full story at AINonline

Editorial: US Navy Wants New Missile for Littoral Combat Ship by End of 2016

Kongsberg NSM (Image: Flickr User - U.S. Pacific Fleet)

By Franz-Stefan Gady

However, no decision on what new missile system to purchase has been made yet, according to a U.S. Navy admiral.

The United States Navy wants to equip its burgeoning fleet of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) with a new over-the-horizon missile by the end of 2016, the Navy’s surface warfare director, Rear Admiral Peter Fanta, told USNI News in a recent interview.

According to Fanta, equipping the LCSs with a new missile is “an absolute requirement” for the U.S. Navy. By the end of 2016 the admiral wants to have a new missile on the ships at least as a demonstration.

The U.S. Navy has rebranded the LCS as a frigate due to recent advances in effective counter-swarm defenses and is looking to increase the ships’ firepower. Naval engineers are currently studying what missile system would fit best on the LCS.

“It takes a little while for the guys with the slide rules to figure out… what the deck strength needs to be and what angle the launcher needs to sit at. That’s my biggest hold right now is guys doing math,” Fanta said.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: Look to Japan to Solve the Navy’s ASM Crisis

XASM-3 (Image: Wiki Commons)

By Ben Rimland

The U.S. Navy’s traditional blue-water advantage in the Asia-Pacific is at risk. Japan can help.

With the venerable RGM-84 Harpoon growing rather long in the tooth, the U.S. Navy has begun searching in earnest for a new and cutting-edge anti-ship missile (ASM) in both air and ship-launched varieties. Unsurprisingly, the Navy has looked to further evolutions of two legacy weapons systems, the Tomahawk and Harpoon, to replace its fleet of 1980s-vintage weapons.

Of course, weapons procurement – especially for the world’s greatest maritime superpower – does not occur in a vacuum. While the Navy has distressingly neglected to construct new warships with organic Harpoon capability since 1999, China, Russia, and other adversaries have begun fielding advanced supersonic, long-ranged ASM like the SSN-27A Sizzler, the YJ-18, and other such weapons. America’s longtime technological and quantitative edge in wielding a “big stick” in the Asia-Pacific, then, is eroding at supersonic speeds.

Much has been written about the development of Lockheed’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) and the possibility of fielding a competition between it and a next-generation Tomahawk modified for maritime attack. The Navy can and should encourage the development of these weapons, which maintain sophisticated capabilities like highly independent inertial navigation, data interlink, and in the case of the LRASM, a stealthy design for operation in an A2/AD environment. Their long range makes each choice, along with the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile, good options for increasing the range of U.S. ASM capability.

What these missiles have in survivability and range, however, they lack in speed. Compared to the Chinese and Russian missiles, the LRASM and Tomahawk are only capable of subsonic operation. This is precisely why the Navy should, in addition to procuring the LRASM/Tomahawk, move to collaborate with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the developers of the XASM-3.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: F-35’s Joint Strike Missile Successfully Completes Flight Test in US

By Franz-Stefan Gady

The test was hailed as a ‘milestone’ by the missile’s developers.

A missile specifically designed for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was successfully tested last week at the Utah Test and Training Range in Utah’s West Desert in the Western United States.

According to a press release by Norwegian defense contractor Kongsberg, which is jointly developing the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) with Raytheon, the missile was launched from a F-16 at 22,000 feet and performed “a number of challenging flight maneuvers.”

The JSM–designed to fit inside the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter’s missile bay in order to maintain the stealth capabilities of the aircraft– is a fifth-generation, long-range, precision-guided, stand-off missile system and can be deployed in anti-surface warfare and naval fire support missions.

The recent test showed the technological maturity of the missile including its software, Kongsberg underlines. “This is a major accomplishment for the JSM program, and in addition several critical capabilities beyond the scope of the test were verified. The test demonstrates that we are on track with the qualification of JSM, which brings critical capability to F-35 and the warfighter,” says Harald Ånnestad, the president of Kongsberg Defense Systems.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

Editorial: Tinker, Tailor, Hacker, Spy - Why Is China Hacking Norway?

By Benjamin David Baker

Chinese cyber spies have taken an interest in Norway. What gives?

All states spy. Stealing corporate secrets and understanding what other governments are thinking and planning have often been important methods for states to get ahead of their competitors.

This May, the cyber-security company FireEye released a report [PDF] on cyber-espionage aimed at the Nordic states. Some of the report’s key findings were hardly surprising. Russia and China were the two states from which most cyber-attacks originated. Defense/aerospace, energy and high-tech communications are the industries which have been the most targeted by cyber intrusions from these two states. Considering the Nordic states’ advanced, often niche, research and development within these sectors, that’s not surprising.

However, there was also quite a lot of activity aimed at acquiring classified government and military memos and emails. While this is to be expected from Russia, considering its position vis-à-vis NATO (of which four out of the five Nordic states are members, Sweden being the exception), it’s interesting that Beijing is showing an interest in a region from which it is so far removed.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: Norway, Australia Team To Upgrade Missile for F-35

By Lara Seligman

FORT WORTH, Texas — Norway and Australia have minted a deal to develop a new seeker capability for the Joint Strike Missile, a core weapon planned for integration onto Norway's F-35.

Under the Sept. 15 agreement, Australia will finance the development of a new RF-seeking capability, which will enable the missile to locate targets based on electronic signature. BAE Australia will develop and integrate the capability, according to a Sept. 21 statement from Norway's Ministry of Defense.

If Australia later decides to procure the JSM, developed by Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence Systems, Norway and Australia will share the cost of integrating the JSM on the F-35.

The new seeker will provide JSM dual-seeker capability, which enables the missile to operate in all weather conditions, Executive Vice President of Kongsberg Group and President of KDS Harald Ånnestad told Defense News on Monday. Kongsberg expects the announcement to fuel increased interest in the JSM from other international partners, he said.

Read the full story at DefenseNews

Editorial: America Pivots to Asia; Europe Arms It

Australian A330 MRTT (KC-30A) Tanker Aircraft (File Photo)

By Robbin F. Laird

European firms are providing their Asian customers with some core capabilities.

A neglected aspect of the analysis of the evolution of Asian defense and security is the contribution of the European defense industry. Major players in Europe (and in the United States) are seeking global markets to remain viable and to evolve over time. Defense and security is not a static business; it is highly competitive and modernization is always a key element of the equation. Global customers are a crucial element for U.S. or European defense firms to remain on the cutting edge and to be viable in challenging economic conditions.

European firms provide capabilities in many areas of interest to Asian customers, notably military aerospace, weapons and naval systems. The military aerospace and weapons part of this equation warrants particular note, as does the dynamics of change in the Asian market for these products. The point is simply this: European firms are providing core capabilities for Asian customers and are an important part of the military equation in region.

Kongsberg - Warship based NSM & F-35 based JSM (Wiki Info)

Perhaps governments will follow as well. Notably, last month the United Kingdom signed agreements with Japan creating a legal framework for defense and security cooperation between their two countries. focusing on defense and security issues.

During the signing of the agreements, U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “Japan is a key ally of the U.K. and we work closely together on many issues of global foreign and security policy. This is a groundbreaking agreement, which will enable joint research, development and production of defense equipment.”

Read the full 4 page story at The Diplomat

Tech Report: NSM Naval Strike Missile - JSM Joint Strike Missile

Produced by Kongsberg, the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) are autonomous, long-range, precision missiles designed to engage high-value, well-defended targets at sea and ashore.

The NSM can be launched from vessels or coastal systems while the JSM was specifically designed to be air launched.

Read the full story at Navy Recognition