US Army has requested $800+ MM in FY24 for the Lower Tier Air & Missile Sensor #LTAMDS (AN/MPQ-65A replacement). This funding will support further development, testing & acquisition of 5 radars - 3 EOC radars for Pacific Deterrence initiative & +2 radars to support IOT&E. #GaN.
Meanwhile, the 2nd Lower Tier Air & Missile Defense sensor has begun verification testing at WSMR. The first sensor has been undergoing testing & EOC integration activities at #WSMR for quite some time. #LTAMDS will transition to developmental testing in late FY23. #GaN
On my previous a/c, I used to have a detailed 🧵on the 360° capability of the Army's #LTAMDS. As a programmatic decision, US Army preferred a starring array (optimal revisit rates) vs a traditional rotating one. The main array does BMD & C-ABT/CM, while rear arrays only C-ABT/CM.
Though much smaller than the main array, the rear arrays are still substantial. So much so that RTX has spun off a medium ranged radar (GhostEye-MR) utilizing a single rotating #LTAMDS rear array. They are about 50% the size of legacy PATRIOT's array & offer nearly 2/3 its perf.
So what's next for the GhostEye family? RTX has stated that the GhostEye-MR is the first of a family of LTAMDS derived sensors. It is aimed at #NASAMS upgrades. My guess is that next up would be a 360° rotating AESA utilizing #LTAMDS primary array catering to PATRIOT upgrades.
☝️approach to rapidly iterating & developing a portfolio of products, catering to different needs, from a single parent design is not different from what Raytheon & Lockheed have done with their newest #GaN AESA sensors. Both the AN/SPY-6 and LRDR/SPY-7 have several variants.
I see a rotating 360 degree GhostEye Long Range a suitable candidate for the US Navy if 👇ever materializes.
This might seem ridiculous at first pass, but these are the insanely large number of high end systems you would need when you don’t have the air power required to establish Air Superiority.
"The only thing more expensive than a first-rate Air Force, is a second-rate Air Force" ~ Gen. Mark Kelly @ACC_Commander
General Kelly has been an exemplary leader of Air Combat Command and a very passionate advocate for building capacity. As he prepares to hand over the keys to the ACC, he spoke his mind on Air Power and the war in Ukraine. Well worth a listen. 👇 defaeroreport.com/2023/06/01/def…
Ditching the F35 would allow the US to invest in 17,937,000 AI-enable small and nano drones. Combined with swarming a few hundred could neutralize an entire J-20 squadron This won't happen because the DOD lacks insight into future technology & grand strategy. A short 🧵👇1/39
Did you know, DJI produces more UAV's then the rest of the world combined? 3.75 times more to be exact. Millions of those can swarm and deny the F-35 the ability to take-off / land. No problem for this 👇. 2/39
Sure these drones may only have a 2-3 lb warhead. But we can launch 30-50 at a single target. Sure they may only have a 2 hour endurance but that's easily solvable. The J-20 has absolutely no counter for this. It's amazing how much the DOD has dropped the ball on this. 3/39
Over the coming months, Epirus will deliver several #Leonidas Counter UAS systems to support the US Army's IFPC-High-Power Microwave effort. These systems will equip the 1st IFPC-HPM platoon & inform production transition. Leonidas is the world's first solid-state HPM system.
The operational prototypes that will be delivered to the Army will be the fourth gen of the Leonidas system that has been in-development at Epirus for over 3 yrs. Epirus self funded product development, product improvements, customer demonstrations & production facilitization.
One of the hallmarks of this effort has been to demo product capability, readiness, and producibility ahead of actual customer interest in creating an acquisition pathway. This strategy continues with Stryker-Leonidas which is designed to support Army's DE Maneuver SHORAD needs.
Here we go again. At some point, one has to assume that these comparisons - Shahed-136 vs Aim-120D, PAC-3 or the purposefully inflated (facilitized) cost of Stinger - have to be done on purpose. To sensationalize!
For those interested in actual US and western response to the problem of Counter small unmanned systems that can cost anywhere from $1000 right up to $50+K, see the 🧵below. As I have repeated dozens of times over the last several years - we're on it!.
The🧵👆 compares the capability against one specific type of small UAS - Group 3 one way attack drones that have recently been in the news. We have specific effectors both kinetic & non-kinetic, in production, development or deployed that go after smaller & even swarming threats.
This is getting insane. I realize the appetite to sensationalize but it's getting out of hand. If someone were to industrialize this capacity to inflict civilian damage at scale as is proposed 👇, "D" would be to equally mass produce things like Coyote Blk 2+/Mordecai, & DE sys.
In the end, what is being pushed here is still fairly limited war winning capability. We are talking about a 50 kg warhead equipped flying moped that is COTS derived and fairly limited in its strike potential against military targets and hard & soft CM's and tactics.
The false comparison being drawn to "Western" air-defense capacity is also completely irrelevant to the discussion. The "Shahed" threat doesn't warrant those capabilities. It warrants equally scaled production of significantly cheaper, and simpler counter measures.
The latest version of the Standard Missile 2, upgrades the missiles with an active RF seeker derived from the SM6. SM-2 IIIC also features a new dorsal fin design & thrust vectoring jet tab assembly. SM-2 offers mid range capability out to 90nm/165km against ABT's.(📹SM2/USN)
I have to agree with a comment👇. Several allies like 🇦🇺🇳🇴and perhaps even the Marines could benefit from a ground based Extended Range Cruise Missile and AD capability utilizing SM-2 Blk IIIC and future SM variants. Such a system will not be difficult to put together.
Why this and not a PATRIOT? Not every ally is a PATRIOT user or can afford BMD. Extended range Cruise Missile defense, on the other hand, is going to be a pretty hot market that will extend beyond SHORAD. Sharing a common missile b/w land and sea applications would bring EOS etc