Boeing successfully completed developmental flight testing of its Integrated GPS Anti-Jam System (IGAS) for the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) weapon system May 29 at the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, Calif.
"IGAS uses digital signal processing to significantly reduce the impact of GPS jamming, allowing the warfighter to use JDAM with confidence in a variety of battlefield environments," said Boeing IGAS Program Manager Dennis Kast. "Its performance continues to exceed our highest expectations."
During the program, testers released five weapons from a U.S. Navy F/A-18 under various mission and GPS jamming scenarios. All five weapons acquired and maintained their GPS coordinates while flying to their targets.
Boeing will complete IGAS development in 2007, with deliveries planned to begin in 2008.
Known as the world's most accurate bomb, JDAM is a GPS-aided, near-precision weapon that the U.S. Air Force and Navy have used extensively in global combat operations, including Afghanistan and Iraq. JDAM guidance kits are capable of guiding 500- to 2,000-pound inventory warheads, and are widely acknowledged as the "warfighters' weapon of choice." Since 1998, Boeing has produced more than 180,000 tail kits.
The paratroopers were keen for the mission despite their rough conditions. The difference between a tan line and dirty skin has long since passed. Bites from sand fleas and mosquitoes just add to the problem. Electricity, toilets and running water (a 45 minute patrol away) are long forgotten conveniences.
The paratroopers are Sky Soldiers from Battle Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
The first flight of the A160T Hummingbird unmanned rotorcraft was successfully completed June 15 from an airfield near Victorville, Calif.
The A160T, developed by the Boeing Company, is a turbine-powered version of the innovative piston-powered A160 helicopter, features unmatched range, endurance, payload and altitude for an unmanned rotorcraft.
The scramjet engine experiment reached speeds of up to Mach 10, approximately 11,000 km per hour, or ten times the speed of sound.
Scramjets are air-breathing supersonic combustion ramjet engines that could make it possible for a two hour flight from Sydney to London.
The flight took place at the Woomera Test Facility in South Australia under a collaborative effort between the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and DSTO, also representing the research collaborators in the Australian Hypersonics Initiative (AHI).
While DSTO was the lead Australian research agency for the flight, the AHI’s collaborative partners include the University of Queensland, the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, and the Australian National University, together with the State Governments of South Australia and Queensland.
DSTO scientist Dr Warren Harch said hypersonic propulsion using supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) technology offered the possibility of very high speeds and fuel efficiencies.
Hypersonics is the study of velocities greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) and could have a significant impact on Defence as well as on international transport and future access to space.
Future defence applications for hypersonic vehicles include long-range time critical missions, with civilian applications including low-cost satellite launching and high-speed aircraft.
In November last year DSTO signed the $74 million Hypersonics International Flight Research Experimentation (HiFire) Agreement with the United States Air Force. Up to ten Hypersonic flight experiments are planned to occur at Woomera over the next five years under the agreement.
The Army celebrated its 232nd birthday today in the Pentagon courtyard by displaying some of the newest clothing, personal equipment and weaponry coming on line to support warfighters.
Servicemembers, civilian workers and contractors roamed through displays to touch fabrics being incorporated into new uniform items, peek through the sites of new optical equipment, and kick the tires on new Future Combat System vehicles.