Robots Moving Robots: Lockheed Martin Conducts First Fully Autonomous Mission

Squad Mission Support System (SMSS) unmanned ground vehicle, K-MAX unmanned helicopter and Gyrocam optical sensor.

Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT], in collaboration with the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), successfully conducted a fully autonomous resupply, reconnaissance, surveillance and target-acquisition demonstration using its

 

During the “Extending the Reach of the Warfighter through Robotics” capability assessment at Fort Benning, Georgia, K-MAX delivered SMSS by sling load to conduct an autonomous resupply mission scenario for soldiers defending a village. At mission completion, SMSS proceeded to an observation point where it raised its Gyrocam sensor and began scanning the area for enemy forces. In an actual mission, upon observation of enemy forces, the remote operator would notify the commander on the ground, who would assess the threat and determine the appropriate method of neutralizing it.

 

“Fully autonomous capabilities as we’ve just demonstrated will allow service members to focus on important missions and remain out of harm’s way,” said Scott Greene, vice president of Ground Vehicles for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “This successful demonstration with both unmanned air and ground vehicles shows us that these missions are not only possible, but can be available much sooner than you would expect.”

 

“The synergistic use of unmanned air and ground vehicles will give warfighters a larger operational reach, and allow execution of missions that are currently performed at great risk to the warfighter,” said Dr. Paul Rogers, TARDEC director.

 

In 2011, K-MAX became the first unmanned aircraft system to deliver cargo in-theater for the U.S. Marine Corps. As troops were frequent targets of improvised explosive devices and insurgent attacks, K-MAX answered the call to reduce the number of truck resupply convoys and their troop escorts to protect Soldiers on the ground.

 

Manufactured by Kaman Aerospace Corporation and outfitted with its mission package of systems and sensors, the heavy-lifting K-MAX unmanned system is a transformational technology that can lift 6,000 pounds of cargo at sea level. Capable of flying delivery missions day and night, K-MAX can reach remote locations without risking a life.

 

“This demonstration signifies another use for robots and this brings us closer to the pinnacle of how we use unmanned systems,” said Dan Spoor, vice president of Aviation and Unmanned Systems at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business. “There is significant potential for these types of systems for humanitarian aid, the civilian oil and gas industry, firefighting and for other military applications.”

 

During the test, the Gyrocam 9-inch, mid-wave surveillance sensor provided constant video surveillance during each phase of the mission, including while in flight. The elevated system scanned for threats and provided geo-location coordinates of hostile personnel for indirect-fire missions.

 

Both SMSS and K-MAX were equipped with mobile Satellite Communications (SATCOM) systems as well as local line-of-sight communications systems.  A remote operations center equipped with SATCOM controlled and monitored the vehicles’ activities throughout the demonstration.

 

ABOUT LOCKHEED MARTIN
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

 

ABOUT TARDEC
Headquartered at the U.S. Army - Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, TARDEC is the Nation’s laboratory for advanced military automotive technology and serves as the Ground Systems Integrator for all Department of Defense (DOD) manned and unmanned ground vehicle systems. With roots dating back to the World War II era, TARDEC is a full life-cycle, systems engineering support provider-of-first-choice for all DOD ground combat and combat support weapons, equipment and vehicle systems. TARDEC develops and integrates the right technology solutions to improve Current Force effectiveness and provides superior capabilities for Future Force integration. TARDEC’s technical, scientific and engineering staff lead cutting-edge research and development in Ground Systems Survivability; Power and Mobility; Ground Vehicle Robotics; Force Projection; and Vehicle Electronics and Architecture. TARDEC is a major research, development and engineering center for Research, Development and Engineering Command and an enterprise partner in the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command.

Poland says to speed up attack helicopter purchase due to Ukraine crisis

Poland will move the purchase of 30 attack helicopters forward by two years as part of a review of its army modernisation programme triggered by the crisis in Ukraine, Polish deputy defence minister Czeslaw Mroczek said.

 

Mroczek told Reuters that the first stage of the procurement process, originally scheduled for 2016, had already started and confirmed that 10 companies have submitted their offers but declined to name them.

 

“The events in Ukraine are having a clear negative impact on regional and international security and have made us … realise there was a need for updating our technical modernisation plans,” Mroczek said in an interview last week.

 

“As a result of the review, the plans have been updated byspeeding up the programmes which increase our military’s attack force, as well as its deterrence potential,” he said.

 

Polish military experts have suggested Boeing’s AH-64 Apache, AgustaWestland’s AW-129 Mangusta and Eurocopter’s EC-Tiger as potential candidates.

 

“We will try to have the helicopters ready for combat in 2019 or 2020,” Mroczek said. They will replace the worn-out Soviet-era Mi-24s currently used by the Polish army.

 

Poland, the biggest of the former Communist states to joinNATO after the end of the Cold War, has been a leading voice in calling for sanctions on Russia after it annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and for NATO to shift troops and equipment eastwards to reassure members close to Russia as fighting with rebels in eastern Ukraine continues.

 

Last week, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Reuters that NATO members were “quite close” to reaching consensus on increasing the alliance’s presence in eastern Europe.

 

Poland is already in the process of purchasing 70 multi-purpose helicopters, with Airbus Helicopters, Sikorsky Aircraft and AgustaWestland competing for the tender. Sikorsky and AgustaWestland already own factories in Poland.

 

Mroczek said that following “the Ukrainian review”, Poland will also speed up the purchases of a second naval strike missile system, a long-range missile launcher and air-to-surface JASSM missiles for its fleet of 48 F-16 fighter jets.

 

The country is now also looking to buy long-range unmanned attack aircrafts, also known as drones.

Asked about Poland’s mid-range missile defence system, Mroczek confirmed the tender will be completed next year. In June, Poland shortlisted U.S. firm Raytheon and a consortium of France’s Thales and European group MBDA as potential suppliers of the system.

 

Mroczek said the role of Polish industry in the contract would be an important factor in choosing the supplier.

 

“Polish industry’s participation, that is, how big a part of the (production of) system will be left to Polish companies, will be an important consideration,” said Mroczek.

 

The companies participating in the final stage of the procurement have said the participation of Polish companies would account for a large portion of the contract.

 

Mroczek said that the modernisation programme represented “a great opportunity and vast amounts of money, which can transform Polish military technology science, and, above all, the Polish industry.”

 

Poland’s Finance Ministry estimates that the country will spend around 130 billion zlotys between 2013 and 2022 on modernising its armed forces. The country already spends 1.95 percent of its GDP on the army, one of the highest rates of military spending in the world.

Russia Seeks New Arms Deals on Growing Latin American Market

Russia will actively seek new deals on the Latin American arms market, which it expects to reach a value of $50 billion in the next ten years, the head of a Russian Technologies (Rostec) high-tech state corporation delegation said on Saturday.

“According to our expert estimates, the volume of the Latin American arms market will reach about $50 billion in the next ten years. If we focus our efforts on this, corresponding contracts could be signed,” said Sergei Goreslavsky, head of the delegation of Rostec, which comprises state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, at the SITDEF Peru 2013 defense technology exhibition.

Goreslavsky said Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico were all interested in buying helicopters and air defense systems. Russia, the world's second largest arms exporter after the United States, already has existing or previous arms contracts with those countries, as well as with several other Latin American states.

Earlier on Saturday, Goreslavsky said that Russia was in discussions with Peru over the purchase of Russian trucks, helicopters and tanks, and that Russia was considering allowing Bolivia to purchase about 10 Mi-8/17 helicopters on credit.

Rosoboronexport sold $14.5 billion worth of weaponry to Latin American countries in the past 12 years, the company’s general director Anatoly Isaikin told the State Duma on Monday.

Tradition Triumphs In New Zealand

New Zealand has ordered ten Kaman Super Seasprite 2G(I) helicopters for its navy. These will cost $12 million each. In service since the 1990s, the Super Seasprite is an upgrade of the older (1960s era) Seasprite. The U.S. Navy was the major user of the original Seasprite and retired the last of them in 1993. The only other user was New Zealand. The U.S. Navy ordered 24 Super Seasprites in the 1990s, but eventually settled on navalized versions of the UH-60 Black Hawk for most of its needs. 

The U.S. sold two of its Super Seasprites to New Zealand, which liked them. Australia, on the other hand, bought some Super Seasprites in the late 1990s and had lots of problems. These were fixed, but not in time to keep Australia as a customer. Meanwhile New Zealand had been operating Super Seasprites since 2001 and was satisfied with their performance. Egypt and Poland also operate Super Seasprites.

 

The Super Seasprite is a six ton helicopter that usually operates with a crew of three (pilot, co-pilot and crew chief or senor operator). It can carry about two tons and has a cruise speed of 220 kilometers an hour. The Super Seasprite can stay in the air for about four hours per sortie. It is used for search and rescue and anti-submarine work and is able to carry anti-submarine torpedoes.

U.S. Navy launches new squadron of manned, unmanned helicopters

The U.S. Navy introduced its first squadron that combines combat helicopters with unmanned aerial vehicles at an air base near San Diego on Thursday, calling the approach the future of warfare.

The squadron of about 140 sailors, called the Magicians, will work off coastal combat ships that are smaller and faster than destroyers and aircraft carriers.

 

"We've been using multimillion dollar destroyers to chase Somali pirates," Admiral David Buss said. "This approach is designed for near-shore environment where our current experience shows us we're most likely to encounter threats."

The new approach combines MH-60 Romeo helicopters the Navy currently uses with the MQ-8 Fire Scout, a Northrop Grumman-built drone that looks and launches like a helicopter.

Where the helicopters are designed and built for antisubmarine and surface warfare, as well as search and rescue, the Fire Scout will be equipped and used for surveillance, target acquisition and relaying information to its controllers, at least for now.

The unmanned aircraft is controlled by two "pilots" on the ground or on a ship up to 110 miles away. It can stay in the air for at least eight hours, compared to the helicopter's maximum air time of 3.3 hours.

The Navy has been testing the Fire Scout since 2007 and deploying it since 2009, using it for counter-narcotics operations and in Afghanistan. In 2012, two of the drones crashed in separate incidents, and the Navy briefly grounded its Fire Scout fleet. Another was shot down over Libya in 2012.

The strengths of the Fire Scout lie in how long it can monitor situations, Buss told a news conference.
"Helicopters can't stay airborne as long as the Fire Scout," he said. "With the Fire Scout's endurance of up to eight hours, the helicopter crew can return refuel, rearm and re-man while the Fire Scout maintains contact."

Buss acknowledged that the Navy doesn't have a playbook for how to mix manned and unmanned flying warfare.

"The ink has not dried on any set of criteria yet," he said. "As with any new systems and any new technology, we work through the bugs from early on."

Northrop Grumman is looking forward to seeing how the Navy actually uses the Fire Scout and already has an upgraded version in the pipeline, according to Jim Zortman, sector vice president of global logistics and operational support.

"We put it in the hands of these smart, young sailors and they figure out ways to operate it that we never thought of," Zortman said. "They take some little thing we barely noticed and do something amazing with it while something we paid a lot of attention to, they'll barely notice or use at all."

NATO forces killed in Afghanistan plane crash

A plane crashed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing four military personnel on board, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said, adding that the cause of the accident was under investigation.

NATO plane crashed in Afghanistan on Saturday killing four service members, the coalition said, adding that early reports suggested the aircraft was not brought down by insurgents.

The plane crashed in the south of the country, according to a statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

"The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash," it said.

Most international soldiers in southern Afghanistan are from the United States, but the nationality of the dead was not released in line with coalition policy.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Taliban, who earlier Saturday announced the start of their annual "spring offensive" vowing a nationwide series of attacks as NATO troops withdraw.

Aircraft crashes are fairly frequent in Afghanistan, where the 100,000-strong international mission relies heavily on air transport as it battles the insurgency across the south and east of the country.

Earlier this month, two US troops were killed when a NATO helicopter crashed in the eastern Afghanistan, while five US troops died in the southern province of Kandahar in March when their helicopter came down during a heavy rainstorm.

On Saturday, the Taliban said that their annual offensive would target international airbases and diplomatic buildings with multiple suicide bombings, "insider attacks" by Afghan soldiers and "special military tactics".

They warned Afghans working for President Hamid Karzai's "stooge" regime to distance themselves from the government to avoid being caught up in the promised violence, and called for young people not to join the police or army

This year's "fighting season" is seen as crucial to Afghanistan's future as its much-criticised security forces pit themselves against the Islamist extremists who have fought against the Kabul government since 2001.

NATO combat operations in Afghanistan are due to end next year, and coalition commanders say that the local army and police have made enough progress to provide security and keep the Taliban at bay.

Last week a study by the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office found attacks by the Taliban and other insurgents rose 47 percent in January-March compared with the same period last year.

The United Nations has separately reported a rise of almost 30 percent in civilian casualties in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, with 475 civilians killed and 872 wounded.

China unveils new attack helicopter

China has published photos of its new attack helicopter ahead of its first public appearance in an air show.

Official media here published photos of WZ-10 attack helicopter conducting sorties. The chopper is due to be exhibited at the Zhuhai Air Show in China's Guangdong province, state-run Global Times reported without revealing details of its capabilities.

China, which complaints of little access to advanced technologies of the US and the EU, has been developing large military hardware.

Besides launching its first aircraft carrier recently, China also unveiled a second version of the stealth bomber J-20, becoming the second country after the US to have that technology

IAF to unveil radar plane, choppers

India will showcase its latest Air Force acquisitions -- an indigenous airborne radar plane and a Russian-origin cargo helicopter -- at this year's Air Force Day parade that marks its 80th anniversary, a week from now.

"This year, the Indian Air Force (IAF) completes its 80 years. We will showcase our latest acquisitions such as the indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft and the Mi-17V5 cargo chopper at the Air Force Day parade, Oct 8," an IAF officer told a news agency on Sunday.

The Air Force Day parade will be held at Hindon air base in Ghaziabad district on the outskirts of the national capital. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne will take the salute of the air warriors and address them, he said.

The AEW&C radar, based on a modified Brazilian Embraer plane, will be on static display at the Air Force Day parade, providing the background to the air warriors on parade, while three Mi-17V5 will fly over the parade ground in a Vic formation trooping the national flag and the air force ensign.

This will be the first time the two assets of the IAF will be on public display. The parade will also witness a flying display of other air assets such as the Mi-25 and Mi-35 attack helicopters, C-130J plane for special forces, and MiG-21, MiG-29, Mirage-2000 and Su-30MKI combat jets.

The crowd that gathers for the parade will be deprived of the Surya Kiran aerobatics team display as the unit stands temporarily disbanded after its Kiran MkII planes were diverted for rookie pilot training in 2011.

The AEW&C plane was inducted into the IAF on September 20 at Bangalore, after it was earlier received and flown to India in August this year from Brazil.

The indigenous AEW&C will enable the nation to deploy an alternative electronic eye in the sky to the three IL-76-based Israeli Phalcon radars the IAF currently operates.

This is the first of the three aircraft from Embraer for which a USD 400-million contract was signed in 2008.

The country also plans to have a fleet of 10 indigenous AEW&Cs in future to augment the three IL-76 platforms.

The most-modern Mi-17V5 helicopter is the IAF's latest buy from Russia, to ramp up the ferrying of troops and supplies to remote and mountainous areas.

The helicopters, 80 of which were bought in 2008 for USD 1.34 billion, started arriving in September 2011 and were inducted in February this year at the Palam air base in the national capital. The first lot of helicopters is currently deployed in Bhatinda, Punjab.

The Mi-17V5 falls in the category of an armed helicopter, with substantial and effective firepower. It is an upgraded version of the Mi-17 medium-lift category that the IAF operates.

The Mi-17s can carry troops and supplies to remote helipads close to India's border posts, while the fixed-wing Soviet-era IL-76 and AN-32 transport planes fly only up to airfields.

Russia has till date delivered nearly half of the 80 helicopters that is on order. Once all the 80 helicopters are delivered by 2014, India may order another 59 of these choppers at a cost of $1 billion.

NATO helicopter crashes in Afghanistan

A NATO helicopter crashed Wednesday in western Afghanistan, injuring two troops serving with the U.S.-led military coalition, NATO said.

No other information was disclosed about the crash in the relatively peaceful west. The crash is under investigation.

Separately, NATO reported that a service member was killed Tuesday during an insurgent attack in the south. Insurgents are trying to regain territory they’ve lost during the past two years when tens of thousands of coalition and Afghan forces routed them from their strongholds in the south.

The trooper’s nationality has not yet been released.

So far this year, 238 coalition service members have been killed in Afghanistan, including at least 172 Americans.

On Tuesday, the Afghan Defense Ministry said that an Afghan soldier has been sentenced to death for killing four French troops earlier this year in eastern Afghanistan — one of the deadliest in a rising number of attacks in which Afghan forces have turned their guns on their foreign partners.

Zahir Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, said a military court in the country’s capital on Monday ordered the soldier, Abdul Sabor, to be hanged. The soldier can appeal the sentence to higher courts, Azimi said. It was not clear when the soldier was convicted of the crime and Azimi did not have any other details about his case.

The four French soldiers were killed on Jan. 20 in Tagab district of Kapisa province. Just a month earlier, on Dec. 29, 2011, another Afghan soldier killed two members of the French Foreign Legion.

The French casualties prompted France’s new President Francois Hollande to withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan earlier than planned. The decision to put France on a fast-track exit timetable sparked consternation among some members of the U.S.-led military coalition, which is not ending its combat mission until the end of 2014.

France will pull 2,000 French combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and leave around 1,400 soldiers behind to help with training and logistics.

The death of the French troops was one of the latest cases of the so-called “green-on-blue” attacks in which Afghan soldiers, or insurgents disguised in their uniforms, turn their weapons on coalition forces.

Such attacks have fueled distrust between U.S. and other foreign troops and their Afghan partners. Last year there were a total of 21 ‘green-on-blue’ attacks that killed 35 coalition service members, according to NATO figures. That compares with 11 fatal attacks and 20 deaths the previous year. In 2007 and 2008 there were a combined total of four attacks and four deaths.

Besides targeting foreign forces, insurgents in Afghanistan have stepped up attacks on political and government figures.

On Monday, insurgents twice ambushed the convoy of Nuristan provincial Gov. Tamim Nuristani, but he escaped unharmed both times, said provincial spokesman Mohammad Zareen.

The first ambush came as the convoy was traveling to Wama district where the governor was inaugurating a road. After a brief gunbattle, the insurgents pulled back. The convoy was later attacked again when the governor was en route to Parun district. One policeman was killed and two others were wounded in the fight that followed.

Also on Monday, a magnetic bomb attached to the vehicle of the chief of Khan Abad district of Kunar province exploded, killing one policeman and wounding eight civilians, said provincial spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini. The district governor was not in the vehicle when the bomb detonated.

And on Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up among guests at a wedding hall in northern Afghanistan, killing 23 people, including a prominent ex-Uzbek warlord-turned-lawmaker who was the father of the bride. Three Afghan security force officials were among those killed. The day before, two government officials were assassinated — the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs director in Laghman province and the mayor of Shindand district in Herat province.

Turkish pilot foils PKK attempt to blow up helicopter

A helicopter pilot transporting Turkish soldiers to a rural area in eastern Turkey narrowly avoided falling into a booby trap set by militants when he realized the patch of ground he was about to land on had been disturbed, leading him to abort the landing.

A subsequent dig revealed that an explosive device had been buried at the location by suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK had intensified its road block activities in the eastern province of Tunceli’s Ovacık district last week in a purported plan to lure troop-transporting helicopters into a trap, daily Milliyet reported on its website today.

A squadron of soldiers from the gendarmerie was dispatched to rural Ovacık to search for the PKK militants blocking roads in the vicinity. The pilot of a Sikorsky transport helicopter found a suitable location in the rugged terrain and was about to land when he realized the ground he was about to land on appeared to have been newly turned over. Suspecting a trap, the pilot aborted the mission and returned to base while a separate team was sent to inspect the location.

Soldiers searching the location found a "very powerful explosive device" buried in the ground and destroyed it.

Two PKK militants were killed and four were injured in an operation following the incident, while numerous other explosives buried in clearings in the woodlands – suitable places for helicopters to land – were found and destroyed.

The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.