Return-Path: <sentto-279987-4073-1008466370-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 [204.181.12.215] by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.7.4) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Sat, 15 Dec 2001 17:53:08 -0800 (PST) Received: (qmail 6693 invoked by uid 510); 16 Dec 2001 01:51:23 -0000 Received: from n23.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.73) by all.net with SMTP; 16 Dec 2001 01:51:23 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-4073-1008466370-fc=all.net@returns.groups.yahoo.com Received: from [216.115.97.164] by n23.groups.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 16 Dec 2001 01:32:50 -0000 X-Sender: fc@red.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-8_0_1_3); 16 Dec 2001 01:32:50 -0000 Received: (qmail 63547 invoked from network); 16 Dec 2001 01:32:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (216.115.97.167) by m10.grp.snv.yahoo.com with QMQP; 16 Dec 2001 01:32:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO red.all.net) (12.232.125.69) by mta1.grp.snv.yahoo.com with SMTP; 16 Dec 2001 01:32:49 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by red.all.net (8.11.2/8.11.2) id fBG1Xgj02035 for iwar@onelist.com; Sat, 15 Dec 2001 17:33:42 -0800 Message-Id: <200112160133.fBG1Xgj02035@red.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL3] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> X-Yahoo-Profile: fcallnet Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 17:33:42 -0800 (PST) Subject: [iwar] [fc:Manuever.Warfare.&.OODA.Loops.AF.Style] Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello big diameter bomb: Northrop Grumman Pitches 30,000-Pound Guided Bomb To Air Force Drudge (ugh) Report, Fri Dec 14 2001 10:40:25 ET Northrop Grumman has briefed Air Force officials on a concept to field a 30,000-pound guided weapon, called 'Big BLU,' that could be used as a penetrator to destroy hardened targets that may house enemy leaders or weapons of mass destruction, DEFENSE DAILY reported on Friday. The proposal may gain favor with the Pentagon as the military tries to kill Al-Qaeda leaders holed up in Afghan caves. An Air Force official said, however, that the weapon will have significant cost and schedule hurdles associated with aircraft integration, is only a concept and is not envisioned for use during the Afghan conflict. Oops ... Good bye Small Diameter Bomb: Roche: Strike F-22 Particularly Key As Counter-Terror Operations Continue By Vago Muradian, Defense Daily, October 11, 2001 CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla.-- Development of a strike version of Lockheed Martin's [LMT] F-22 is being accelerated in the wake of deadly terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, and although the Pentagon is reviewing its weapons needs following the assaults the sophisticated radar-evading jet remains as important as ever to future Air Force operations, according to a top official. "The great strength of the F-22 is its speed and stealth that is as important operating over heavily-defended enemy territory as against state-sponsored terrorism or other asymmetrical threats," Air Force Secretary Jim Roche told Defense Daily on Tuesday during a wide-ranging interview here. "The F-22, with its supercruise ability to fly above Mach 1.5 for long periods of time, is an ideal air-to-ground platform that would form the terminal end of the sensor-shooter equation that offers the opportunity to dramatically shorten the time between finding a target and destroying it, which is particularly important against rapidly moving targets." Roche declined to discuss program or budget specifics regarding the F-22. Some analysts have said weapons systems such as the F-22 are of questionable value in operations against terrorist groups, and could suffer as investment is redirected to bolster intelligence gathering and other shortcomings. Since taking office in June, Roche has repeatedly said that the F-22, although long advertised by the Air Force as an air superiority fighter to replace the Boeing's [BA] F-15, would make a potent attack jet, particularly because of its sustained high-speed characteristics, thereby improving U.S. capabilities against moving targets (Defense Daily, Aug. 15). The Air Force plans to purchase at least 331 F-22s under a $37 billion program, with the aircraft to debut with both air superiority and air-to-ground capabilities starting in late 2005. Those plans, however, appear to have been accelerated and Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is being "fit" tested internally on an F-22, sources said. The Air Force also has asked Lockheed Martin to explore ways to "significantly" increase the F-22's already-considerable range, allowing the jet to extend the time it can spend loitering over hostile territory, these sources added. To extend range, tests have explored fitting 600-gallon fuel tanks externally under each wing. Aside from a spacious internal weapons bay, the F-22 also has four external mounting, or "hard," points for weapons and fuel that could be used when stealth is not a top priority. Lockheed Martin spokesman Jim Fetig declined comment. The key to the success of the strike F-22 variant will be a potent synthetic aperture radar, given the plane's current APG-77 radar by Northrop Grumman [NOC] is tailored to anti-aircraft applications, sources said. The APG-77's ground-attack abilities could be bolstered using technologies now being developed for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), sources said. Northrop Grumman is developing the radar for Lockheed Martin's JSF team, while Raytheon [RTN] is performing the same role on Boeing's JSF consortium. Despite ongoing military operations, Roche stressed that the JSF winner would be disclosed as planned by the end of October. The cost of equipping the F-22 with a strike capability is to be covered under a multiyear $2 billion spending plan that also includes spending for strike improvements to a range of other service aircraft, including Lockheed Martin F-16s. Roche and other senior service officials have said that while the Air Force can accurately attack fixed targets, it is less adept at finding and destroying mobile ones. In its current campaign against terrorism, the United States and its allies face a particularly difficult challenge in quickly spotting, positively identifying and While the F-22 was developed as the world's best dogfighter, the aircraft can be modified to carry munitions both externally and internally--critical to maintaining the jet's stealthiness. In its air superiority guise, the jet can internally carry six Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) as well as two AIM-9-series Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles, both by Raytheon. The aircraft can internally carry two, 1,000-pound versions of JDAM, along with two AMRAAMs. Larger weapons like the 2,000-pound version of JDAM can be carried on the external hard points, each of which can support as much as 5,000 pounds. The 250-pound Small Diameter Bomb now under development is the weapon best suited for internal portage by the F-22, given eight of the weapons can be carried internally, preserving the plane's stealth profile. Pentagon acquisition chief Pete Aldridge in August cleared the F-22 to shift from development to low-rate initial production, but citing cost concerns scaled the total number of aircraft to be acquired from 331 to 295 (Defense Daily, Aug. 16). Roche, however, made a deal with Aldridge that he could seek to continually cut the cost of each F-22, allowing the service to buy as many planes as possible under current cost caps. Roche has expressed confidence that in partnership with Lockheed Martin and its suppliers, the Air Force will end up with "far" more than 330 F-22s. Gen. John Jumper, the new Air Force chief of staff, earlier this year said the service could need between 500 and 700 of the jets to satisfy its Air Expeditionary Force requirements. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Call any Phone in the World from your PC with CrystalVoice -LOW rates world-wide - $0.039/min in U.S. FREE trial. Click here. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Ib1xVB/IxbDAA/ySSFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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