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V-22 to get a tanker option
Joshua Stewart, Staff Writer 10:37 a.m. EST December 28, 2014
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(Photo: Sheldon Cohen/Bell Boeing)
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The V-22 Osprey is getting topped-off with a new capability. An aerial refuelling system is being developed for the tilt-rotor aircraft, turning the cargo and personnel carrier into a tanker that can provide fuel to other aircraft, mid-flight.

"The aerial refueling capability is going to be the next thing," for the Osprey, Maj. Douglas Thumm, the plans officer for the V-22 at Headquarters Marine Corps, said.

The Osprey's tanker system is in the early stages of development and won't be ready until 2017, he said.

When operational, the V-22 could refuel the Corps' fleet of aircraft, including the new F-35B Lightning II. It could also rendezvous with ground vehicles, land, and fill them up, Thumm said. Many of the Corps' ground vehicles can run on aviation fuel, he said.

This new capability will extend the range of combat aircraft without having to turn to other services or allies for aerial refueling, according to the Corps' 10-year aviation plan released this fall.

This will make the air combat element more independent and flexible since it won't have to rely on other services' tankers, and because the Osprey doesn't require a well-developed airstrip like fixed-wing aircraft, Thumm said.

A prototype refueling system was tested in August, 2013 in Texas. In that evaluation, an Osprey equipped with tanks and a refueling hose flew as fighters trailed behind it. The aircraft "safely deployed, held stable, and retracted the refueling drogue as an F/A-18C and an F/A-18D Hornet flew just behind and to the side of the aircraft," Boeing, one of the companies that created the V-22, reported in a news release.

Boeing deferred questions to its partner, Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc. Bell, in turn, referred questions back to Boeing.

Giving the V-22 this new capability won't pigeon-hole the aircraft as a tanker and the Osprey will primarily be used to fly Marines and their gear. The tanker system is a piece of roll-on, roll-off equipment that will be temporarily installed on a particular aircraft, allowing it to switch between different types of missions, Thumm said.

"What's most important is Marines getting in and out of the zone with the equipment that they need. Second, it's being able to support those Marines, and a part of that is the Joint Strike Fighter and the close air support that they provide, and us giving gas to the Joint Strike Fighter helps that," Thumm said.

The tanker system's drogue will descend from the Osprey's hatch to the aircraft that will be refeuled. Pictures of test flights show the system using a flexible hose, rather than a rigid boom, to connect the V-22 tanker to other aircraft.

The tanker capability is one of the latest modifications to the V-22. Since it entered operations in 2007, the Corps has added an optional belly-mounted machine gun to the aircraft, and they're now trying to develop a missile system to increase the Osprey's firepower.

The Corps' increased use of Special Purpose – Marine Air-Ground Task Forces is driving the demand for V-22s with more capabilities, officials said.

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

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TerraN_EmpirE said:

They Should They really should and on LHA/LHD if they then add AEWV22's then the LHA's could become baby Carriers.

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Pentagon’s New Kill Vehicle Strategy Expected Soon
MDA eyes new kill vehicle as next step in GMD evolution
Jan 2, 2015Amy Butler | Aviation Week & Space Technology
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The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is weighing two options for the long-awaited procurement of a new Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV)—dubbed the Redesigned Kill Vehicle—for its Ground-Based Missile Defense system, a shield for the U.S. against ICBM attack.

In 2014, the GMD program was under intense scrutiny until its successful intercept of a complex, long-range target in July, ending an unsuccessful flight test streak that stretched from December 2008.

The test allowed program officials to turn their attention toward envisioning an improved, more reliable vehicle. Previously, they were consumed with trying to fix reliability problems and a decade-long problem with EKV vibrations impacting the inertial measurement unit in the guidance section.

The procurement strategy likely will be released with the fiscal 2016 budget plan early next year. The Pentagon is exploring two options: a full competition or picking the best attributes of existing design options and having the government manage them to produce a best-of-breed option, MDA Director Vice Adm. James Syring said in December.

MDA is also expected to soon release a request for proposals for a new Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), which will be installed in Alaska; a contract award is slated by the end of fiscal 2015.

MDA is also finalizing details on a renegotiated sustainment contract with Boeing for the GMD system. Details have not been disclosed, but it is potentially worth billions over the course of several years. Officials intend to refocus the incentive fees on reliability and mission success. The contract, awarded in late 2011, originally focused on reducing cost; some feel that introduced too much risk into the exacting work needed for the system.

While GMD is specifically a U.S. program, air and missile defenses remain in great demand globally, largely because of the proliferation of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles globally and political instability in regions such as Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea.

Contracts with Raytheon for the PAC-3 air and missile defense system are expected to be finalized with Saudi Arabia and South Korea. They are expected to be combined in a large contract with additional U.S. buys. Meanwhile, U.S. orders will continue for the Lockheed Martin PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor, an upgraded missile.

Washington is also expected to solidify terms in the next buy of Lockheed Martin Terminal High-Altitude Air Defense (Thaad) systems next year. Thaad radars, the AN/TPY-2 built by Raytheon, are continuing to meet with high demand, as the Pentagon deploys them globally as early warning sensors.

Germany is expected in the first half of the year to down-select between the Medium Extended Air Defense System and PAC-3 for its air and missile defense requirement. Germany—along with Italy—was partnered with the U.S. in developingMeads, which offers 360-deg. coverage for deployed forces, but the U.S. pulled out of the production phase. This has left Germany and Italy struggling to continue the project.

Poland is also expected to make a decision on its air defense needs. After downselecting Lockheed Martin’s Meads out of the competition in 2014, Warsaw is looking at whether to buy Raytheon’s PAC-3 or a Thales/MBDA Aster 30-SAMP/T system.

A version of this article appears in the December 29, 2014/January 14, 2015 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology.

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Bradley Cooper's aim is true in 'American Sniper'
Claudia Puig, USA TODAY 3:53 a.m. EST December 24, 2014

USA Today Movie Critic Claudia Puig discusses "American Sniper" and tell you whether to "Catch It," "Rent It," or "Skip It" in this week's edition of The Screening Room.


Clint Eastwood has delved into the fog of war in such hypnotically powerful films as Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers.

Now, he takes to the subject again in American Sniper, loosely based on the true story of celebrated Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle, about his sobering experiences in the Iraq War (*** out of four; rated R; opens in select cities Thursday, wide on Jan. 16).

The film takes a direct approach to Kyle's experiences on the battlefield. But Kyle's (Bradley Cooper) life loses focus after he returns stateside. After four tours of duty, he's more comfortable behind a scope on a rooftop in Fallujah than at home with his family. Kyle is battle-scarred, alternately remote and lashing out.

Without a gun in his hand, he's only half himself.

It's little wonder that it's tough for Kyle to adjust: Ever methodical and alert, he had more confirmed kills —160 — than any other serviceman. The film celebrates Kyle's sniper skills as much as it laments how war changes his demeanor and emotional state.

We get a glimpse into Kyle's psyche as the film features moments from his childhood, explains his decision after 9/11 to join the military and traces the evolution of his relationship with his wife, Taya (Sienna Miller). Once the couple are married, Taya is relegated to the margins of the story, and while the pair have chemistry, the audience doesn't get enough insight into her mind-set.

It's clearly Cooper's show. Substantially bulked up and affecting a believable Texas drawl, Cooper embodies Kyle's confidence, intensity and vulnerability. He's thoroughly convincing in his portrayal of a man consumed by thoughts of soldiers he was unable to save.


Eventually, Kyle finds a way to incorporate his wartime experiences by spending time with wounded veterans. He takes them shooting, perhaps as much for himself as for them.

Among the film's best scenes are those of Kyle with his finger resting on the trigger as he focuses unwaveringly on his target. The audience feels his tension, as well as the crushing weight of split-second decisions. A mother and boy may be wearing suicide vests: Does he fire at them without being 100% certain? If he waits for more information, does he risk his men being wounded or killed? It's hard to imagine a tougher dilemma.

While action scenes are riveting, what doesn't work as well is an enemy sniper character named Mustafa (Sammy Sheik), a mysterious villain who shows up and disappears as if on cue.

Eastwood uses sound and silence to intensify the suspense and underscore Kyle's ethical quandaries, and he allows for brutal violence and gritty firefights to rip through sequences.

American Sniper's wartime sequences are well-paced and harrowing, reminiscent of those in 2008's The Hurt Locker. Like that film, Sniper can be interpreted fr either as a patriotic salute or as an incisive anti-war movie. In either case, it's a powerful, moving and tragic tale.

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Green Berets involved in friendly fire won't be punished
By Stephen Losey, Staff Writer 1:23 p.m. EST December 31, 2014
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(Photo: Jose Luis Magana/The Associated Press)
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Two Green Berets who were involved in a deadly friendly fire incident earlier this year in Afghanistan will not be punished.

After a review, Lt. Gen. Charles Cleveland, commanding general of Army Special Operations Command, decided not to relieve the team leader and team sergeant of the Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha, which was involved in a June 9 bombing in Zabul province that killed five American soldiers and one Afghan soldier, according to a Dec. 31 statement from Army Special Operations Command spokesman Lt. Col. Mark Lastoria.

An investigative report by U.S. Central Command investigating officer Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, released Sept. 4, concluded that the team's key leaders — including the two Green Berets — mixed up friendly and enemy locations and incorrectly believed the targeting system of a B-1B Lancer called in for close-air support could identify friendly locations.

The six soldiers were part of a larger team that came under attack while trying to disrupt insurgent activity and improve security for local polling stations for runoff elections. Those troops splintered off to climb to higher ground to maneuver on the enemy, Harrigian said in the report.

The team's Air Force joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) told the B-1B that friendlies were marked with infrared strobes, and that locations without strobes were enemy positions, the report said. The aircrew did not see any infrared strobes on the ridgeline where the ill-fated team was positioned.

But the troops on the ground and the aircrew incorrectly thought the bomber's Sniper pod could detect the friendly markers, when it actually could not, the report said. The night vision goggles used by the bomber's pilots could only detect the strobes at up to 7,000 meters, but they were too far away to see them.

The fact that the six soldiers had moved to the ridgeline also was not effectively communicated to the JTAC and the ground force commander, Harrigian said in the report. This led the team to incorrectly identify muzzle flashes on the ridgeline as coming from enemy fire, he said, and that incorrect target information was accepted by the aircrew.

The B-1B dropped two bombs on the ridgeline, killing all six.

"The key members executing the close-air support mission collectively failed to effectively execute the fundamentals, which resulted in poor situational awareness and improper target identification," Harrigian wrote. "While this complex combat situation presented a challenging set of circumstances, had the team understood their system's capabilities, executed standard tactics, techniques and procedures and communicated effectively, this tragic incident was avoidable."

The soldiers killed in the airstrike were Staff Sgt. Jason McDonald, Staff Sgt. Scott Studenmund, Spc. Justin Helton, Cpl. Justin Clouse, Pvt. Aaron Toppen and Afghan National Army Sgt. Gulbuddin Ghulam Sakhi.

In the Dec. 31 statement, Lastoria said "steps will be taken to significantly reduce the chances of this type of incident from happening again."

When asked what steps would be taken, Army Lt. Col. Chris Belcher, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said in a Dec. 31 email that "leadership placed an emphasis on ensuring that coordination measures for close air support were integrated into all phases of planning, rehearsal and execution of missions. They have also reviewed tactics, techniques and procedures for mission planning, rehearsal and execution to ensure that all appropriate control measures for close air support are being implemented."

Belcher would not offer further details to maintain operational security.

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