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tio CSe lmProvements w*ll almost certainly require significant reduc- hayS 'k wadlead and guidance weights. Several new propulsion concepts mult' °£en disPlayed recently, including blended rocket-ramjets and te !~Puise rockets. The multi-pulse feature would provide thrust for is al'na* maneuvering’ e g., against an evasive or crossing target. There For S° SOme h°Pe of reduced weight by using new structural materials. 9) CXamPic. the Navy is seeking a lighter wing for its Sidewinder (AIM- test 1SSde’ 'n July, LTV was awarded a contract to design, develop, and composite prototype wings.
to-ai 6 ifughes AIM-120 AMRAAM (advanced medium range air- ternf m'ssde)’ the AAAM would have to be self-guiding in at least its new ma* *5*lase' The Phoenix uses an X-band active terminal seeker, but a whlc:hSmaller weaP°n would have to use a higher frequency (K-band), hand ^0ldd more vulnerable to weather interference. On the other more ■ and allows for greater frequency diversity and thus should be multi resistant t0 jamming. Reports that the new missile would have a (min; m°de seeker suggest other alternatives, such as long-wavelength y meter-band) infrared.
ery high-speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) technology might make it
Future Air Defenses Take Shape
The U. S. Government has taken two steps toward its next generation of tactical air defense. In November, the Air Force announced that Lockheed (teamed with General Dynamics and Boeing to build the YF- 22A) and Northrop (teamed with McDonnell Douglas to build the YF-23A) will build competing prototype Advanced Tactical Fighters (ATFs), the winner to be chosen in 1990. It will probably be the successor to the Air Force’s F-15, and ultimately may form the basis of the successor to the Navy’s f F-14, the current fleet air de-
ense fighter. Reportedly, the new fighter will incorporate stealth technology an(j wj|| be designed with Navy fleet air defense requirements in ?llad- The ATF will probably enter service with the Air Force about . 95, and will probably be the first U. S. “supercruising” aircraft, fly- "Jg at about Mach 1.5 without afterburner. Current fighters cruise at °ut Mach 0.8 or Mach 0.9, achieving supersonic speeds only with ? tert>umers, and then only for very short bursts. Total production might eJ*b°ut 1,000, including 750 for the Air Force.
The Navy has selected Grumman (teamed with Northrop) and McDon- e 1 Douglas (teamed with General Dynamics) to build competing proto- pTcs °f >ts Advanced Tactical Aircraft (ATA), the A-6 (and, probably, '•11) successor.
Meanwhile, the Navy announced a competition for a new long-range pranced air-to-air missile (AAAM), to succeed the Hughes A1M-54C °enix. The goal is for greater range, higher speed, greater terminal aneuverability, and significantly lighter weight (no more than 650 Ur|^s’ compared to about 1,000 for the Phoenix) so that more weapons p "he earned. The current goal is eight AAAMs to be cairied by the sj and four by the F/A-18. Some of the competitors are proposing ^guificantly smaller weapons that can be carried in greater numbers; "cra' Dynamics, which announced in December that it would team 1 Westinghouse, has displayed a model of a 144-inch, 360-pound eapon.
possible for a future air-to-air missile to recognize targets (e.g., among jammers or decoys or fighters escorting the bomber targets) and even to recognize points of aim. That, in turn, might make it possible for the missile to carry a significantly smaller warhead, and thus achieve high performance at a significantly smaller net weight.
Similarly, a more intelligent missile might incorporate a directional warhead. Current missiles incorporate all-round proximity fuzes, which trigger the missiles on the basis of range-to-target. They must incorporate enough explosive to achieve killing effects all along a circle at that range. Any reduction in the area over which the missile must kill will help. That might be achieved either by reducing miss-distance (for a shorter radius) or by focusing the blast of the missile in the direction of its target with a more sophisticated target detector, perhaps linked to the radar seeker.
Concept definition contracts were awarded in 1985 to General Dynamics, Grumman/RCA, Hughes Aircraft, McDonnell Douglas, Martin Marietta, and Raytheon. A final request for proposals will be released in March, and proposals will be due in June. Two contractors will be selected for a technology demonstration beginning late in 1987 and lasting through 1991.
India Receives First Type 1500 Subs
The Indian Navy took delivery in September of its first German-built submarine, the Type 1500 Shishumar. The second Type 1500, the Sankush, was commissioned in November. They are the first of four ordered in December 1981 from West Germany’s HDW. The other two will be built by Mazagon Dockyard in Bombay. HDW announced that it expected two more boats to be ordered soon and that India wants a total of ten. India operates eight Soviet-built Foxtrot-class submarines and the first of three Soviet Kilo-class submarines reportedly on order; the Sindhugosh arrived in India in August 1986.
The Indian Type 1500s are the first Western-built submarines to incorporate rescue spheres in their hulls, a feature that the design agency IKL has advocated for some time. The sphere is large enough to accommodate the submarine’s entire crew, and can operate down to the submarine’s collapse depth. The sphere was first tested on board the Shishumar in October 1985; it was released at a depth of about 260 feet and reached the surface in 58 seconds.
These boats are also the first HDW craft to incorporate a pressure-tight bulkhead dividing the boat in two. The bulkhead cannot save the submarine from sinking if its pressure hull is broken because the flooded space would be too large. However, it can protect those crewmen left in the unflooded space if the submarine is lying on the bottom above its collapse depth.
Including ships under construction, the Indians now have two V/STOL aircraft earners, three missile cruisers (Kresta Ils, reportedly on order), 15 submarines, six missile destroyers (Kashins), 14 frigates, 22-25 corvettes, 14 missile-armed patrol boats, 18 minesweepers, and ten or more amphibious ships. It is by no means certain that this force will ever be fully operational, but the scale of the Indian Navy is impressive. It is similar in scale to the two major European navies, albeit with far less infrastructure to support it. For example, the larger of the two major local builders, Mazagon, has not built a warship larger than a frigate, and, reportedly, its efforts to build Type 1500 submarines have not been particularly successful.
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°Ceedings / February 1987
Proceedings / February
When India was a British possession, the Raj was responsible not only for the subcontinent, but also for keeping order in East Africa, the Middle East, and east to Burma and Malaya. Largely an Indian Army responsibility, the troops were convoyed by the Royal Navy. One wonders if the scale of current Indian military forces reflects an official view in New Delhi that the current Raj must defend interests over a similar area. India is currently the only nation in the region with active production facilities for high-performance jet combat aircraft, tanks, and warships (frigates and, now, submarines). India still seems to rely heavily on foreign designs, but, in 1986, Indian officials said India would develop its own torpedoes and naval missiles. An Indian-designed and -built frigate, the Godavari, represented the country at the International Naval Review in New York in July 1986, and the first indigenously designed, 1,200-ton corvette was launched in September.
Britain To Modernize Amphib Forces
The British Government announced in mid-December that it would indeed modernize its amphibious lift, ending a long, intense, and even bitter debate that began in 1981 with a decision to scrap or sell the navy’s two dock landing ships. Before that could happen, they proved their value in the Falklands. Even so, it was by no means certain that a hard- pressed British Government would be able to replace or modernize HMSs Fearless and Intrepid, which were completed in 1965 and 1967 and are scheduled for replacement or disposal in the 1990s. Now they are to be rebuilt for service life extension.
One or more aviation support ships will be built or converted from existing merchant ships. In the past, the Royal Marines relied on converted light aircraft carriers to deploy the approximately 12 helicopters they consider essential to the initial echelon of an amphibious assault. Amphibious assault helicopter carriers were, for example, retained in the Royal Navy after the big fixed-wing carriers were abandoned. However, none are left; the last dedicated amphibious assault carrier was HMS Hermes, which was later reconverted to a general-purpose configuration and used as such in the Falklands. It seems unlikely that the three ver- tical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) carriers could be spared as amphibious helicopter carriers in any future conflict, so the Royal Marines believe that their future depends upon the acquisition of a new helicopter assault ship.
There is some question of just how capable it will be. U. S. helicopter carriers have operated V/STOL aircraft and some were designed with alternative antisubmarine warfare (ASW) capability. At one time, the British reportedly considered the commando role as an alternative to the general-purpose role for small helicopter carriers. Thus, the new aviation support ship could be an austere V/STOL carrier prototype, with considerable overseas sales potential. It might be so austere as to be only marginally survivable, and certainly not capable enough for both ASW and V/STOL operations.
Australia to Build OTH Radars
The Australian Government announced in October that it would build three over-the-horizon (OTH) radars to monitor ship and aircraft movements in the northern approaches to the country. They will be based on the Jindalee OTH system and will help implement the new strategy proposed in the Dibb report on Australian defense.
The government requested Paul Dibb, a professor at the Australian National University, to review its defense policy. The current Labour government decided some years ago to abandon fixed-wing naval aviation, a step that in Britain was associated with a withdrawal from distant military obligations (“East of Suez”).
Dibb suggested that Australian forces should deal primarily with discrete small-scale threats, which could be detected by sophisticated surveillance systems (primarily the new OTH radars) and then met by mobile units such as land-based aircraft. For example, Dibb advocated modernizing the long-range F-lll attack bomber force and adding inflight refueling gear to the new F/A-18 fighter-bombers.
The new policy might be considered a retreat from the traditional Australian sphere of influence in areas such as Singapore and Papua New Guinea. Without an aircraft carrier, Australian naval surface forces can124 not operate freely very far (some have suggested even 100 miles) from the Australian coast, except in areas where Australian land-based aircraft are granted basing and overflight rights. Nor is it clear that the Royal Australian Navy can expect to mount viable convoy efforts, vis-a-vis substantial air or over-the-horizon submarine missile threats, without organic aviation of its own. It may be significant that the proposed frigates, the characteristics of which are now under study, are described as patrol vessels for Australia's northern approaches rather than as escorts.
Some Australians have suggested that the OTH radar might supplant, rather than supplement, conventional surveillance measures such as airborne early warning radars—which Australia does not have but is considering buying. For example, there have been official suggestions that its high-frequency (relatively long wavelength) signals can overcome stealth technology in aircraft. However, it is not clear whether any long- range radar could adequately identify seagoing traffic, especially if that (attacking) traffic consisted of large numbers of relatively small craft such as junks.
Britain Chooses AWACS
Amid a raging political storm, Britain decided in December to abandon its nine-year, $1.4 billion Nimrod airborne early warning radar program, and to purchase instead the U. S. airborne warning and control system (AWACS)—the E-3A Sentry—built by Boeing. Defence Secretary George Younger told Parliament that the Nimrod radar, built by Britain’s General Electric Avionics, had fallen “well short” of Royal Air Force requirements in flight tests. He said an initial order for six E-3As would be placed, with deliveries to begin in 1991.
The AWACS will be used to patrol Britain and the North Atlantic sea lanes, as part of its NATO mission. Mr. Younger said an additional two AWACSs will be necessary to fulfill this responsibility.
This announcement follows on the heels of the purchase of Britain s Westland Helicopter Company by another U. S. company, Sikorsky, which resulted in the resignation of Mr. Younger’s predecessor Michael Heseltine and the forced departure of another Cabinet minister. After acrimonious parliamentary protests, the government canceled negotiations with U. S. auto makers Ford and General Motors for control of British Leyland.
BAe Helps Aussies With Super Ikara
The Australian Government is collaborating with British Aerospace to develop and market a new version of the Ikara antisubmarine (ASW) torpedocarrying missile, which is used by the Royal Australian and Royal navies. Super Ikara’s airbreathing engine would provide ranges as great as 60 nautical miles (compared to about ten nautical miles for the current Ikara) or the capability to loiter near a distant contact being prosecuted by a helicopter. Current ASW helicopters, such as the U. S. light airborne multipurpose system (LAMPS), generally carry sensors (sonobuoys in the case of LAMPS) and only one or two homing torpedoes, owing to weight restrictions. If the submarine evades the torpedoes, there may not be sufficient time for another helicopter to reach the contact and reattack. A ship carrying Super Ikaras could launch a helicopter devoted entirely to sensors, which might be lighter than LAMPS or carry more sensors. The ship might carry enough Super Ikaras to reattack several times.
Australia was collaborating with Italy’s OTO-Melara to devise a box- launched version of Ikara compatible with the Italian Otomat antiship missile. However, OTO-Melara is now collaborating on a new Franco- Italian ASW missile, revealed at the 1986 Le Bourget Navale show- Compared to Super Ikara, the French weapon would be significant y smaller, but it would have a much shorter range—about 22 nautica miles. Both weapons differ from the U. S. antisubmarine roc e (ASROC) in that they can be controlled in flight and have substantia y longer ranges.
1987