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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 1627.PDF
RAF Canberras at centre of surveillance tie-up with USA TIM RIPLEY/LONDON UK ROYAL Air Force BAC Canberra PR9 strategic rec onnaissance aircraft have been equipped with highly sensitive US satellite datalinks to allow real-time transmission of electro- optical (EO) surveillance imagery, according to US Air Force recon naissance specialists. The SYERS (Senior Year Electro-Optical Relay System) datalink, which is fitted to USAF Lockheed Martin U-2 reconnais sance aircraft, has been in use on two of the five operational Canberras since September 1999 and has recently served over the Balkans and the Middle East. SYERS cameras were fitted to the Canberras in 1997 under the Rapid Deployable Electro-Optical Systems (RADEOS) upgrade by FRAviation, but the datalirik was not available for "security reasons ". US sources say the SYERS cam era has a slant range of "around 100 miles [160km]", giving the Can berra a good stand-off capability for the first time. SYERS can download still frames in near-real time, but not video images. The UK is the only country cleared to receive SYERS. The cameras were developed for the U-2 in the late 1980s by Itek, a division of Litton, now part of Northrop Grumman. The USA retains close control over SYERS because the Can berra's "intelligence take" has to be routed through the US Mobile Stretch (MOBSTR) image com pression ground stations. Imagery is routed via US satel lites for processing at Beale AFB, California, before transmission to UK facilities. An RAF team based at Beale AFB oversees the process. The Joint Reconnaissance Int elligence Centre at RAF Brampton and the Permanent Joint Head quarters at RAF Northwood are the main UK users. For Balkans operations, such as recent missions over Macedonia, Canberras are deployed to Gioia del Colle in Italy and EO imagery is down-linked via the MOBSTR site at San Vito, near Brindisi. For Iraq operations, the Canberras operate from Gioia or RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, with imagery downloaded to a MOBSTR site in the Gulf. • Canberra has received SYERS, a sensitive US image transmission system USAF initiates new precision bomb development THE US Air Force is working on a next-generation preci sion attack munition called the Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). Work will be in three phases start ing with a near-precision GPS satellite/inertial navigation guided fixed-target weapon with a 110km (60nm) range and weighing 75- 125kg (165-275Ib). The second phase, involving a variant of the Phase 1, would add a terminal, seeker, such as a laser radar or millimetre wave, for increased accuracy against fixed and moving targets. The third stage wotJd yield a different weapon - similar to the Lockheed Martin Low "Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) - with wide area search capability. Terry Little, the USAF's SDB programme manager, says phase three "is independent of the SDB effort". The USAF plans to award two SDB two-year preliminary design contracts late this year. A contractor would then be chosen for engineering and manufactur ing development, flight testtrig and production of more than 100,000 SDBs. The initial weapon would enter service by 2 007. Phase three would not begin before fiscal year 2004- 05, adds Little, and would be comp etitive, with Lockheed Martin expected to submit a bid. LOCAAS is in development and enters flight testing later this year. Little says a Northrop Grum man B-2 could carry 200 SDBs on new bomb racks. The weapon would also be deployed on the Boeing F-15E and Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor. An analysis of alternatives (AoA) defined the need to maximise the quantity of SDBs carried by an aircraft to cut down on sorties, and concluded SDBs would provide new capability against relocatable targets and reduce collateral damage. The SDB grows out of work at the Air Force Research Labora tory's Munitions Directorate at Eglin AFB, Florida. The USAF is fielding an interim small precision attack weapon, a Mk82 227kg bomb with a GPS satellite naviga tion guidance kit. • CONTRACTS ++ The Thai Army is to acquire two Sikorsky S-70 Black Hawk utility helicopters in a US foreign military sale valued at around $20 million. ++ BAE Systems has been awarded a $11.7 million con tract to integrate the Broach war head into the Raytheon AGM-154 Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW). BAE will subcontract Thales Missile Electronics and the UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. Raytheon Missile Systems has been award ed a $10.8 million US Navy con tract to integrate Broach into JSOW. ++ Trimble has received a $2.7 million Boeing contract to provide its TA-12 GPS satellite nav igation receiverforthe US Air Force KC-10A global air traffic manage ment upgrade. The TA-12 operates in both civil standard and military precise positioning modes. ++ California Microwave Systems, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, has won a $10 million US Army contract for a sixth RC- 7B Airborne Reconnaissance Low- Multifunction surveillance aircraft. Delivery is expected within two years. ++ Ultra Electronics has won an order from Boelngto qual ify its HiPPAG 500 on-board com pressors on the F-15E. HiPPAG will replace pyrotechnic ejection on weapons carriage systems. ++ The US Navy has taken a $14.2 million option for one Fire Scout vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (VTUAV) System, its support equipment, data, and initial training for the VTUAV Program Office with Northrop Grumman Ryan Aeronautical Center. ++ Ray theon has been awarded a $177.3 million US Department of Defense contract for 426 AIM- 120 AMRAAM, 332 spare fins, 233 warranties, four instrumenta tion units and spares. The USAF will receive 170 missiles and war ranties, the USN 63 missiles and warranties, and 332 spare fins. Japan, Singapore and Taiwan will receive between them 193 mis siles, 73 warranties, software upgrades, and four instrumenta tion units. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 8 - 14 May 2001
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