[iwar] [fc:Manuever.Warfare.&.OODA.Loops.AF.Style]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-12-15 17:33:42
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 17:33:42 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Manuever.Warfare.&.OODA.Loops.AF.Style]
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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.

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