http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/technology_news/4255236.html
...there have been key changes in the invisible, electronic front lines that most observers don’t talk about. The newer systems used in combat by the U.S. Navy today are the forebears of gear that will be used on new warplanes and unmanned aircraft.
The world of electronic attack is esoteric even among defense wonks. There are three basic EA missions: protecting friendly aircraft by finding and disrupting antiaircraft radars; jamming enemy communications to support ground forces; and, most recently, serving as a communication link to provide information to commanders, other aircraft and troops on the ground.
...
Prowlers currently flying from carriers and land bases still use vacuum tubes in three separate transmitters, says Capt. Steven Kochman, head of the Naval Air System Command’s program executive office for tactical aircraft. But that’s changing as the Navy installs new electronic attack equipment. Among the improvements is a single solid-state low-band transmitter flexible enough to be used against a host of radar and communication targets. “It’s all about reliability,” Kochman says. “[The older systems] took a lot of care and feeding.”
Continuing upgrades to the Prowler include new communication links that can pass along or receive details from soldiers or other pilots about the location of friendly and enemy forces and threats from missiles and antiaircraft guns. The Marine’s Prowlers may get a targeting pod, called LITENING, that has a laser designator to guide bombs, as well as an automatic moving target tracker and infrared sensors that can see in all weather, day or night. New communications jammers, called Corporal, are also being developed. All Navy and Marine Prowlers will receive these upgrades by 2013—just before they are set to retire.
...
Kochman says the Navy is interested in giving the next-generation F-35 (aka the Joint Strike Fighter) the power to participate in electronic attack.
No comments:
Post a Comment