[iwar] [fc:Defense.Research.Role.Growing]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-08-24 08:08:18
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From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
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Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 08:08:18 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Defense.Research.Role.Growing]
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Huntsville (AL) Times
August 22, 2002
Defense Research Role Growing
Advanced computer work done here not duplicated elsewhere
By Shelby G. Spires, Times Aerospace Writer
Army and defense industry research in Huntsville will play a key role in
developing and testing weapons for all military services in the coming
years, several top generals said Wednesday at the fifth annual Space and
Missile Defense conference here this week.
The Army has spent millions to build and develop advanced computer
simulation research labs and missile research centers here in Huntsville.
Those are considered national assets performing work that cannot be
duplicated anywhere else in the nation.
The Army now uses what it terms a "system of systems" approach. That means
weapons will become more complex and use several technologically advanced
computer systems to control the guided missiles, rockets or guns they are
designed to shoot.
Huntsville, with its simulation, analytical modeling and computer network
engineering expertise, will be key in making these complex weapons work
together, said Gen. Paul Kern, commanding general of the Army Materiel
Command, which is in charge of the Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone
Arsenal.
"As we move forward, we have to have a system of systems in missile
defense," Kern said.
Kern said the Army will need advanced sensors that do more than one job.
Today, heat detection and radar sensors work in limited spectra and are
built for a single task. To succeed in building a comprehensive missile
shield, those sensors have to be vastly improved.
"We expect Huntsville will grow in its ability to" design and test missile
defense systems, Kern said.
Kern wants to heavily involve the common soldiers who use advanced weapons
in battle with the labs here in Huntsville, he said, so the information on
how to best design the weapons will get back to the engineers. Kern hopes
that will reduce errors before the systems are put into mass production.
"In the end, it's about soldiers and protecting them so they can protect
this country," Kern said.
There is a human element that goes beyond jobs and money in Huntsville.
Missile defense means protecting America, said Maj. Gen. Larry Dodgen,
commander of the Aviation and Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal.
Dodgen said observers are always tense during the final moments of an
intercept test. The two seconds leading up to a missile intercept are the
worst time be Please see ROLE on A13 Missile defense development moving to
comprehensive system, AMCOM chief says Role Continued from page A11 cause
people are holding their breath waiting to see if it's a hit or miss.
"There is a balance of many lives in our nation riding on those two
seconds," Dodgen said. "We can't fail in this."
Missile defense development is heading toward a comprehensive defense which
will have interceptors that can destroy ICBMs and smaller, SCUD type
ballistic missiles. However, outside that there are cruise missiles that
pose a high threat to the military today, Dodgen said.
Dodgen said an extreme challenge in the future is integrating a system that
will intercept cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Cruise missiles are
small and maneuverable like jet fighters. Ballistic missiles are larger and
travel along one path.
The key lies in developing radars and other sensors that can detect the
cruise missile and guide an interceptor to it, Dodgen said.
Engineers are working in the labs at Redstone Arsenal to develop advanced
sensors that will be used in cruise missile defense. "I feel confident we
are in good shape to take on the cruise missile defense," Dodgen said.
The cruise and ballistic missiles are becoming more complex, meaning the
Patriots of yesterday may not be able to take on the cruise missiles of
tomorrow. It will take a national effort similar to NASA's Apollo program to
build a missile defense system capable of protecting America and its allies,
said Maj. Gen. Peter Franklin, deputy director of the Missile Defense
Agency.
To field any missile defense system, be it a large one that covers
continents or one that covers the battlefield, cooperation is needed among
the services, Franklin said. Resources, money and skilled people are
dwindling to the point where no one military service can develop and use a
missile defense system. "It requires teamwork," he said. "We have to work
together."
The Army uses Patriot as a missile defense weapon today, but it was designed
to shoot down aircraft. The Army is updating Patriot through the Patriot
Advanced Capability-3 program, and the service is developing the Theater
High Altitude Air Defense system as a follow on to Patriot.
The Navy had a theater missile defense program that was slashed from the
budget this year because it was deemed too expensive, forcing it back to the
drawing boards on missile defense. The Air Force is developing an airborne
laser to shoot missiles down from a 747 jumbo jet.
Franklin said all the programs can benefit from the work that goes on in
Huntsville. "What you are doing here will make these systems a reality," he
said.

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