This is an important point. While attention is usually focused on a new interceptor, its performance & potential, what often gets overlooked is the incremental enhancements made to the overall system to prepare for the new missile, or to keep pace with the threat. See 📸👇
👆was published in the mid 1990s just as PATRIOT was preparing to introduce the PAC-3. As included in the paper, at the time, one of the biggest gains was the ability to emplace launchers up to 30 km from the RS. The Army's IAMD-BCS #IBCS extends that to 150 km via IFCN relays.
Wish I could share some of my past threads on this capability. Here's a snippet of what this capability (IBCS / IFCN relays) does to Army's Air and Missile Defense capability. A-IAMD is essentially fully replacing PATRIOT. I'll post more below.
More 👇
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I'm often asked, why ⤵️costs $100K. Coyote includes features that are highly desirable for its intended role of protecting fixed/semi fixed sites (large OCONUS installations). If all we want is a cheap point defense solution look no further than the standard or L3/TSC upg APKWS.
Its actually quite sensible to have options across the performance & cost spectrum against G2 and 3 threats while focusing more on EW, DEW or gun based solutions for smaller G1 drones. Fielding layered capabilities is highly desirable.
There are genuine needs that cannot be met with a one size fits all solution or just fielding more guns/CIWS or similar systems. Considerations include launcher emplacement, areas of an installation you don't want to engage (or even fly) targets over & having the speed and range
"We were tasked in Jan 2023 to deliver BMD capability to 🇺🇦..the training occurred at Fort Sill, and in April we conducted a validation exercise in 🇵🇱. #PATRIOT was transferred to protect Kyiv in late April & at 02:30 AM [May 04] it engaged the first ALBM " Col Rosanna Clemente
"We parachuted a [ADA] team into 🇺🇦..and they did an assessment in December of 2021..They took some of our #PATRIOT folks/planners. They spent some time with the Ukrainians and looked at the problem set that..2 months later they were absolutely facing" BG Maurice Barnett
"If you want to see some place that's already doing composite go to any major city in 🇺🇦..You all will probably see this in the news in the next few months or so..the team has done a phenomenal job of moving the ball [on integration]" BG Maurice Barnett
The Joint Simulation Environment #JSE is DOD’s next-gen digital test & training range made up of cockpits, domed simulators & a/c software. It enables pilots to fly wartime scenarios in a near-exact virtual environ & a/c developers to push systems to extreme limits.. ~ US Navy
Navy and AF pilots will begin training together in NAWCAD’s JSE this summer, and the JSE is now part of the DOD’s formal curriculum for its tactical weapons schools. This includes the Navy’s TOPGUN & Air Force’s 6th Weapons Squadron ~ US Navy
NAWCAD will incorporate additional test & training cockpits including the F/A18 Hornet, EA18 Growler, and E-2 platforms in its Patuxent River facility, and deploy its second training system onboard a Navy carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), this year.
The DOD is moving ahead with rapidly developing an Imaging Infrared Seeker seeker for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System. Emphasizing low cost & optimized to defeat the Small UAS threat, DOD wants the seeker to cost <$10K to keep the overall CsUAS #APKWS+ cost under $50K.
DOD wants the low cost imager to be capable of detecting small objects at ranges exceeding 2km, within a field-of-view that the target has a high probability of detection in a lock-on-after-launch scenario. OEM's would need to partner with BAE to integrate solutions on APKWS.
Baseline APKWS costs $25K while the counter UAS variant featuring an upgraded PF that combines target proximity detection & point detonation and currently runs around $40K per AUR. It has already been shown to defeat Groups 2 & 3 UAS targets. 👇
Lockheed Martin 300 kW High Energy Laser Scaling Initiative laser. Delivered in 2023, the 300kW Laser is foundational to the initial IFPC-HEL prototypes for the Army that will be delivered in the coming month. The 300kW IFPC-HEL will be the most powerful SSLs with the US Army.
US have a little more than 2 dozen DE (HEL & HPM) systems that have been deployed as of early 2024. There are technical & ops challenges that still need to be overcome that will take several years to work themselves out before these proliferate more broadly (100s of systems).
US Army is taking the lead with several 10 & 20kW HEL's currently forward deployed that have been actively used to defend targets and protect troops. Army has also pushed its platoon of DE-MSHORAD prototypes to CENTCOM to gain experience with its most powerful (50kW) HEL.
It's worth remembering that since FY19, US Army has been testing some fairly significant enhancements to PATRIOT that the systems with 🇺🇦 do not possess. The PDB-8 & PDB 8.1 (last upgs for legacy PATRIOT) are designed around envelope expansion, communication & overall system imp
To advance this, last March, a US Army PDB 8.1 equipped PATRIOT Fire Unit successfully defeated a Medium Range Ballistic Missile #MRBM target (believed to be the focus of PDB 8.1) using a PAC-3 MSE. This was the 3rd operational test for the latest legacy PATRIOT configuration.
PDB 8.1 is slated to be the last PATRIOT enhancements before transitioning to Army IAMD (IBCS). While current live-fire testing, and M&S has focused on sub 1,500 km ranged MRBM defeat, AIAMD, LTAMDS, MSE (seeker) enhancements should allow for the defeat for longer ranged MRBMs.