The U.S. Is Stocking Up On Fighter Jet Missiles That Have Been Upgraded

Reuters 

National Interest: The U.S. Is Stocking Up on Upgraded Fighter Jet Missiles  

The United States and many of its allies around the globe will be receiving upgraded air-to-air attack missiles. 

Thanks to a series of software and hardware upgrades, U.S. and allied fighter jets will be equipped with improved guidance and targeting capabilities. 

A $972 million deal recently awarded to Raytheon to provide missiles to the U.S. Air Force and Navy will extend and even expand upon the existing AIM-120D advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) production line. 

In addition, the Raytheon contract supplies AMRAAMs to nineteen countries, extending the production line for both the United States and allied partners.  

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Update #1: Raytheon wins $972M order for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (Defense News)  

Update #2: Raytheon to Upgrade AMRAAM Hardware, Software in $927M Contract (Defense Post)  

WNU Editor: The only thing that I am surprised about this contract is that it is only $1 billion. You would think with all the tensions in the world this budget allocation would be multiple times what it is.

U.S. Navy Trident Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile Is Tested Off The Florida Coast

 

Daily Mail: Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile is tested off the Florida coast with a range of more than 4,000 nautical miles but Floridians think it's a 'UFO' 

 * A Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test occurred over the Atlantic on Tuesday evening 

 * The launch grabbed the attention of Floridians who saw the Trident missile's comet-like trail light up in the evening sky 

 * The angle of the sun as it set made the missile's vapor trail even more visible 

Strange lights in the sky were seen in South Florida on Tuesday evening leading to many people grabbing their cellphones to snap pictures of the unusual sight. 

Some people believed that the UFO was proof that aliens had finally reached Earth but the Navy soon confirmed that it was in fact simply testing a missile. 

A Trident-II ballistic missile was launched from a submarine in the Atlantic just off the Florida coast. 

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WNU Editor: Thank you to WNU reader Adam for sending to me the above two videos. 

 More News On Yesterday's Trident Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile Test Off The Florida Coast 

Twitter lights up with UFO talk after light seen in Florida sky, turns out to be Navy missile -- FOX News 

Light off Florida coast was missile launched from a submarine -- South Florida Sun Sentinel 

Floridians mistake Trident submarine missile launch for UFO -- NYPost 

‘UFO’ spotted off Florida coast triggers wild theories, but experts suspect Trident missile test (PHOTOS, VIDEOS) -- RT

U.S. Army Tests New Precision-Strike Missile

An artist's impression shows the launching of a Precision Strike Missile. (Credit: Lockheed Martin)

FOX News/Warrior Maven: Army fires off test shot for new precision-strike missile

The U.S. Army has fired test shot number three for its fast-emerging Precision-Strike Missile, a new surface-to-surface weapon intended to destroy targets with precision accuracy from ranges as far as 500 km. (311 miles).

The shot, which took place earlier this year at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., moved the development of the weapon into a new phase as a next generation method of pinpointing targets from safer stand-off ranges. The new PrSM is, among other things, intended to replace and improve upon the existing Army Tactical Missile System land-fired missile.

The test shot, senior Army leaders described, laid the foundation for the Army’s ultimate goal for the new system.

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Update: Army begins testing advanced seeker for Precision Strike Missile (US Army)

WNU Editor: Hitting a target 500km is impressive. This is a continuation on the development and expectation that short to medium term missiles will be playing a critical role in any future war.

New And Improved U.S. Tomahawk Missiles Can Now Run On Corn And Other Feedstocks

Photo credit: PO1 Carmichael Yepez/DVIDS

Popular Mechanics: The New and Improved Tomahawk Missile Now Runs on Corn

* Modern cruise missiles are powered by turbine engines running off JP-10.
* Scientists at Los Alamos National Labs have created a new formulation of JP-10 that uses feedstocks instead of petroleum.
* The result is a domestic, renewable fuel source that the lab believes will be significantly cheaper to use.

One of the nation’s most prestigious national labs has developed a new fuel substitute for the same jet fuel that powers cruise missiles. Los Alamos National Labs has come up with a replacement fuel for JP-10 that uses corn bran and other feedstocks instead of petroleum products. The result is a fuel that can be sourced directly from America’s most plentiful crop, bypassing foreign sources.

The Tomahawk missile is one of the most plentiful missiles in the US military arsenal. Developed in the 1970s, Tomahawk was one of the first low-altitude, radar-evading cruise missiles to enter service, and today 145 U.S. Navy warships carry the missile daily as part of their standard missile loadout. Unlike other missiles that are powered by rocket motors, the Tomahawk and others like it are powered by turbine engines, in effect miniature, single-use airplane engines that trade speed for fuel efficiency and range. These engines, like their bigger, more powerful cousins run on JP-10 jet fuel.

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WNU Editor: They say it will be cheaper. We shall see.

Viper Strike Was The First Micro Missile

Image: Creative Commons

Charlie Gao, National Interest: Meet the Viper Strike The First Micro Missile

How dangerous is it?

As Western militaries shift back into a conventional focus after spending more than a decade fighting insurgencies, they are bringing along some tech developed for counterinsurgency that has applications in a peer or near-peer conflict. One important innovation that is looking to change how air-to-ground support can occur is the development of a new class of “micro precision munitions”: guided rockets, bombs, and missiles that weigh around 20 kg or less. The GBU-44/B Viper Strike was one of the first of this new class of weapon. But does it have a future?

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WNU Editor:A lot of work to reinvent the Hellfire missile, but with a smaller warhead.

U.S. Army Now Engineering New Rocket, Missile And Artillery Rounds That Are More Lethal With A Greater Range

File photo (Photo Credit: Courtesy photo of Long Range Precision Fires CrossFunctional Team/U.S. Army)

FOX News/Warrior Maven: Army engineers more lethal and more explosive fragmenting missiles, artillery

The Army Research Laboratory is now engineering new rocket, missile and artillery rounds able to destroy groups of mobile enemy fighters, incinerate armored vehicles and eliminate structures with a single munition -- all at much longer ranges than currently deployed weapons can fire.

Experts are currently immersed in cutting edge research, using 3D printing, to develop new metal alloys, weapons casings and design geometries to increase range and lethality for the Army’s emerging Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF) program.

“Additive manufacturing (3D printing) can take weight out of certain components, create complex geometries inside things and create complex fragmentation patterns,” Dr. Brandon A. McWilliams, materials engineer, lead for Metals Added Manufacturing, Army Research Lab, Combat Capabilities Development Command, told Warrior in an interview at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md.

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WNU Editor: This focus on developing better artillery rounds is long overdue.

Wikileaks: CIA Is Able To Restrict The Use Missiles To A Specific Region

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Reuters: CIA devised way to restrict missiles given to allies, researcher says

LEIPZIG, Germany (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has devised technology to restrict the use of anti-aircraft missiles after they leave American hands, a researcher said, a move that experts say could persuade the United States that it would be safe to disseminate powerful weapons more frequently.

The new technology is intended for use with shoulder-fired missiles called Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS), Dutch researcher Jos Wetzels told a cybersecurity conference here in Leipzig, Germany on Saturday. Wetzels said the system was laid out in a batch of CIA documents published by WikiLeaks in 2017 but that the files were mislabeled and attracted little public attention until now.

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WNU Editor: The software that makes this possible (i.e. limiting the use of a missile to a specific region) must be impressive.

The US Navy's Newest Missile Is Ready For Action

A US Air Force crew member moves a Long Range Anti-Ship Missile for a test flight at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, February 2015. US Air Force photo

Business Insider/Task & Purpose: The Navy's newest ship-killer missile is ready for a fight

  * The Navy this month announced that its new anti-ship missile reached early operational capability with the F/A-18 fighter in August.
  * The Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile can deliver a 1,000-pound penetrating warhead at a range of up to 500 nautical miles and has a unique sensor and targeting system to hone in on targets in even the most contested environments.

The newest weapon in the Navy's arsenal is ready for action.

The Navy last week announced that the service's new AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) achieved early operational capability with the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in August, a major milestone for the air-launched cruise missile.

The LRASM previously achieved EOC with the B-1B Lancer bomber back in December 2018.

Conceived by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as a replacement for the AGM-88 Harpoon anti-ship missile, the LRASM can deliver a 1,000-pound penetrating warhead at a range of up to 500 nautical miles, according to USNI News.

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WNU Editor: It has an impressive range of 500 nautical miles.

U.S. Preparing To Test An Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM test launch takes place Oct. 2, 2019, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (Staff Sgt. J.T. Armstrong/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Defense News: Is the US about to test a new ballistic missile?

WASHINGTON — The U.S. may be set to test a new ground-launched ballistic missile in the coming weeks, the first test of that particular weapon since the country withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty earlier this year.

In March, Pentagon officials told reporters that they intend to test an intermediate range ballistic missile in the November time frame. At the annual Defense News Conference in September, Robert Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy for nuclear and missile defense, confirmed that the Pentagon is roughly on track for that test.

“I do believe it is still the plan to conduct a ballistic missile test before the end of the year," he said then.

Asked about Soofer’s comments and whether those tests are still planned, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Carver could not “confirm or deny a test will take place in November. I am unable to provide any details on testing dates, times or locations.”

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WNU editor: After the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty earlier this year, the expectation was for a test to occur within a year or two of a new intermediate range missile. It looks like the test is going to happen sooner rather than later. But while there is progress for a new intermediate missile, apparently there are a lot of problems in developing a new long range ballistic missile .... $85B Nuclear Missile Competition Gets Messier as Feds Investigate Northrop (Defense One).

Cockpit Video Of Unusual Trident Ballistic Missile Test

Warzone/The Drive: Amazing Cockpit Video Of Unusual Trident Ballistic Missile Test May Point To New Warhead

Experts agree that the video may show a high-speed "depressed trajectory" that would be used by the controversial new W76-2 low-yield warhead.

No less than four D5 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles were fired from the USS Nebraska off the Southern California coast between September 4th and September 6th, 2019. We detailed this rare test in an article posted shortly after it occurred. Now, a video we received shows one of these launches from the perspective on an Airbus airliner's cockpit as it flew from Guadalajara to Tijuana, Mexico. Any rocket or ballistic missile launch from such a perspective is fascinating to see—as the aircrew's dialogue proves—but the one recorded appears to have been potentially unique and quite timely considering ongoing U.S. nuclear weapons developments in response to peer state competition abroad.

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WNU Editor: You do not see that everyday.

U.S. Navy Tests New Naval Strike Missile In The Pacific

CNN: US tested new missile in the Pacific as China paraded weapons

As China paraded some of its most powerful weaponry during celebrations marking the Communist state's 70th anniversary on Tuesday, the United States Navy tested its newest piece of firepower in the Pacific.

In the waters off Guam, the USS Gabrielle Giffords fired off a Naval Strike Missile (NSM), a sea-skimming cruise missile that is difficult to spot on radar, and can maneuver to avoid enemy defenses.

The NSM, along with a variety of other weapons, were fired at a surplus US Navy frigate, the former USS Ford, which was towed to the Pacific to act as a target in an exercises called SINKEX.

The Giffords is the first US Navy ship to deploy with the Naval Strike Missile, and analysts say it helps even the equation in the Pacific, where China has been increasing its missile arsenal in terms of quality and quantity.

Read more ....

More News On The U.S. Navy's New Naval Strike Missile

LCS Fires New Long-Range Missile, As Navy And Marine Corps Hammer Out New Force Plan -- Breaking Defense
Navy Fires New Littoral Combat Ship Missile in Pacific SINKEX -- USNI News
The Navy has a new ship-killer missile to take on China — and it just used it to sink an old warship -- Business Insider
The U.S. Navy's Littoral Combat Ship Just Fired a Naval Strike Missile -- National Interest
This Image Of A Naval Strike Missile Launch Shows A Key Tenet Of Stealth Design -- Warzone/The Drive

U.S. Tests Ground Launch Cruise Missile That Was Previously Banned Under INF

WATCH: U.S. flight-tests ground launched Tomahawk variant off of California in a test that went "more than 500km", a first since the end of the INF treaty earlier this month. Notable that they chose the Tomahawk as the original ground-launched version of it was killed by INF pic.twitter.com/aIPKRFHdvC

— Jeff Martin (@JeffMartinDC) August 19, 2019

CNN: US tests ground launch cruise missile previously banned under INF

The US military conducted a flight test of a conventional ground-launched cruise missile off the western coast of the US Sunday, a missile test that would have been previously banned under the now defunct Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Pentagon said Monday.

"The Department of Defense conducted a flight test of a conventionally-configured ground-launched cruise missile off the US West Coast Sunday. We are currently evaluating the results of the test," Lt. Col. Carla Gleason told CNN.

The test was conducted from San Nicolas Island, California, and the Pentagon said that "the test missile exited its ground mobile launcher and accurately impacted its target after more than 500 kilometers of flight."

Officials stressed that the missile is designed to carry a conventional and not a nuclear payload.

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WNU Editor: It is now official. The INF Treaty is dead.

More News On The U.S. Testing Ground Launch Cruise Missile

Pentagon tests first land-based cruise missile in a post-INF treaty world (WATCH) -- Defense News
The US fired off a previously banned missile, the first since the collapse of a Cold War-era nuclear arms pact with Russia -- Business Insider
Pentagon tests previously banned cruise missile -- The Hill
DOD Tests Intermediate-Range Cruise Missile -- Air Force Magazine

The Pentagon And The CIA Have Developed A Missile That Kills Terrorists And Minimizes Civilian Casualties

Anyone remember those weird strikes, probably by US forces, mostly on cars, where there didn’t seem to have been an explosive payload, but everything inside the car was very dead?

Well, here it is, a secret kind of Hellfire:https://t.co/kTx8s5r4kB

— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) May 9, 2019

Washington Examiner: Pentagon and CIA using 'halo of blades' missile designed to kill terrorists but not civilians

The Pentagon and CIA have developed a new missile designed to minimize civilian casualties when targeting terrorists.

A modified Hellfire missile, it is called the R9X and carries 100 pounds of metal designed to cut through the tops of cars and buildings with "a halo of six long blades" that shred through anything in its path, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The R9X was used to kill Ahmad Hasan Abu Khayr al-Masr, al Qaeda’s second in command, in 2017 and, Jamal al-Badawi, implicated in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, on New Year's Day 2019.

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Update: CIA Used Secret Missile to Kill Terrorists ‘With No Explosion’– Report (Sputnik).

WNU Editor: For more details on this missile, go here .... The CIA Designed a Secret Missile That's Basically a Meteor Filled with Swords (National Interest/Task & Purpose).

Watch This Missile Execute An Incredible Maneuver In A Recent Airstrike Footage On The Taliban (Video)

Warzone/The Drive: Mystery Guided Munition Executes Incredible Maneuver In Strange Airstrike Footage

The footage shows an unidentified weapon being used that appears to be capable of some amazing aerobatic feats.

Recent airstrike footage from Afghanistan released by the Pentagon shows a peculiar engagement in which a guided munition appears to approach a target from one direction before abruptly flipping back entirely on itself to make its very short final attack run from the completely opposite direction before detonating in a big fireball. In the video, which was pointed out to us by War Zone reader Trevor Austin, the munition in question is nearly featureless, which only adds to its mystery.

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WNU Editor: When I watched the video I also spotted the missile's maneuver in mid-flight .... but I personally thought there was something wrong with the video. Apparently not. You can see the strike starting at the 32 second mark in the above video. This guided missile is way beyond the capability that we have been told (or shown) on what these missiles could do.

The U.S. Navy Will Soon Be Fielding The LRASM Heavy Missile

Breaking Defense: Navy Warships Get New Heavy Missile: 2,500-Lb LRASM

It's a big day for the 2,500-pound Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, LRASM. This morning, contractor Lockheed Martin announced an $86.5 million contract to build the first 23 production missiles – as opposed to test weapons – for use by Navy Super Hornet fighters and Air Force B-1B bombers. Lockheed also announce this afternoon that it had, for the first time, successfully test-fired a modified LRASM from the kind of launchers used on Navy ships.

Ship-borne launchers dramatically expand the ways the US military can use the missile. LRASM has come a long way from its origins in the air-to-ground JASSM program (Joint Air To Surface Standoff Missile). While aircraft can carry missiles further and faster than warships, they can’t carry nearly as many, which means what ships lack in agility they make up for in striking and staying power. At the very maximum, with nothing held back for defense (which would be tactical insanity), an entire carrier air wing of 44 fighters could only carry 88 LRASMs, while a single Arleigh Burke destroyer could carry 96.

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WNU Editor: More evidence that missiles are going to be playing an even more important role in the future. And while much of the media focus has been on what other countries are doing, it is what the U.S. is doing that should catch everyone`s attention.

The Brimstone Missile Is A Drone Missile That Will Not Miss

A Palpable Hit -- The Dew Line/Flight Global

The folks at MBDA Inc in the USA have kindly posted a video compilation showing the results from a series of test firings involving the Brimstone missile conducted from an MQ-9 Reaper UAV earlier this year.

We reported about the test campaign elsewhere on Flightglobal in January, and also in March – it was performed by personnel from the UK Royal Air Force and the US Big Safari project office in California, with support from industry.

As you can see from the video, each of the shots (which used a mix of telemetry- and live warhead-equipped rounds) resulted in a direct hit, despite being conducted against small vehicle targets moving at up to 70mph, and from a maximum range of 12km.

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Update: Terrifying slow motion video of a missile that never misses its target -- Sploid/Gizmodo

My Comment: Impressive video.

The Next Generation Of U.S. Navy Missiles Being Developed

The guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) successfully launches its second Tomahawk missile during weapons testing. Sterett is underway off the coast of Southern California conducting Tomahawk missile testing in preparation for an upcoming deployment. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Carmichael Yepez/Released)

Navy Seeks Next Generation Tomahawk -- DoD Buzz

The Navy is testing several new next-generation cruise missiles as potential replacements for the battle-tested Tomahawk, service leaders told lawmakers Wednesday.

Although the Navy plans to modernize its arsenal of roughly 4,000 Tomahawk missiles, the service is testing and developing a new weapon called the next-generation land attack weapon, Navy acquisition executive Sean Stackley told members of the House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.

Read more ....

Previous Post: Pentagon To Cancel The U.S. Navy's Hellfire And Tomahawk Missile Programs (Updated)

More News On The Next Generation Of U.S. Navy Missiles Being Developed

U.S. Navy plans competition for next-generation missile -- Reuters
Approval given for Griffin missile launch system -- UPI
Navy tests several next-generation Tomahawks -- Business Journal
US Navy Developing Next-Generation Tomahawk Missiles: Reports -- Defense World