USAF formally revives B-52 jammer with five-year study

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/06/26/224920/usaf-formally-revives-b-52-jammer-with-five-year-study.html

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The USAF plans to spend $68 million over the next five years to improve the technical maturity of the contracts involved. On 23 June, Boeing received a contract worth nearly $15 million to complete aircraft integration studies for new phased-array pods called core component jammers (CCJ) and advanced exciters.

Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems division, Boeing's previous competitor for the original SOJS contract, is now Boeing's subcontractor.

Potential suppliers for the CCJ - EDO, ITT, Northrop's Electronic Systems division and Raytheon - are being awarded separate contracts to develop the new jamming systems...

AFCYBER headquarters staff to operate virtually

Air Force Cyber Command officials announced their intent to spread out headquarters staffing among nine locations so it can meet the 45 percent manning requirements needed for initial operations.

"Normally, a major command headquarters will house all its staff functions at one place, but because the final basing decision for AFCYBER has not been determined, the command will operate in a virtual environment," said Maj. Gen. William T. Lord, the commander of the AFCYBER (Provisional).

He said this action will allow some personnel to be assigned to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. -- the interim headquarters location for the command -- and minimize relocation actions at the other places for the rest of the proposed 450-person HQ staff. Of the original 540 positions allocated for AFCYBER HQ staffing, about 90 of those positions were moved to man positions in the 24th Air Force and subordinate wings.

Thus the command will assign about 240 positions and fill them during the summer so it can declare initial operations capability by Oct. 1. It is not known at this time whether the rest of the 450 authorizations will also be assigned to the identified locations, or to new ones after that date, or be on hold until the final basing location is decided.

"We'll be operating in this virtual construct until the final basing decisions are made, which is expected to be announced by September of 2009. At that time the Air Force may be decide to keep AFCYBER in this construct, relocate all its staff to one place or perhaps a combination of the two," General Lord said. "What this virtual command will do for us is minimize environmental impacts to all involved while be able to move forward in building this command. The virtual construct is not intended to foreclose or presuppose any options for permanent basing."

During this process there are no new billets being created and there are no net increases in the number of people at these locations. Movements will result from a limited number of permanent change of sation actions, or, as in most cases, permanent change of assignments (same base but different organization) and through temporary duty assignments.

The numbers listed at the locations represent the authorizations being assigned as HQ staff at the time the command declares IOC.

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The locations and proposed numbers for authorizations are:

Barksdale Air Force Base, La. -- 36 billets. As the current location of the provisional command, the interim capability for the HQ staff will remain there until the final basing location is established. This will facilitate integrations with the Air Force Network Operations Center, a new 608th Air Operations Center and the command structure that provides forces to combatant commands.

Scott AFB, Ill. -- 69. Many of the A1-manpower and personnel functions, as well as the A6-communications functions are currently being done by members assigned to the Air Force Communications Agency. Those authorizations will be recoded to support the headquarters functions.

Langley AFB, Va. -- 58. Billet transfers will come from both the Air Combat Command and Global Cyberspace Integration Center. Much of the A5-plans and requirements and A8-strategic plans and programs functions for cyberspace already occur here.

Lackland AFB, Texas -- 43. This is the location of the Air Force Information Operations Center and the 67th Network Warfare Wing. This will allow for the leveraging of the A2-intelligence and the A3-air, space and information operations capabilities.

Tinker AFB, Okla. -- 5. The 3rd Combat Communications Group and the 38th Engineering and Installation Group are located here. Along with HQ, A3 and A6 functions, there will also be elements of A4-logistics that will work contracting issues for combat communications and engineering and installation requirements.

Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. -- 20. Davis-Monthan houses the 55th Electronic Combat Group. Interim capability for the new Electronic Warfare Wing headquarters will be established here to leverage the preponderance of EW forces gained by AFCYBER.

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio -- 13. This is where the most significant Air Force procurements are channeled as well as the leading Air Force Research and Development Center for cyberspace. The command will leverage its A4-logistics and A7-installations and mission-support functions here.

Hanscom AFB, Mass. -- 7. This is the location for major research and development operations as well as the program office for a large number of communications and cyberspace initiatives.

Griffiss ANGB (Rome Labs), N.Y. -- 2. Rome Labs currently conducts leading research for information operations and cyber warfare and these authorizations will take advantage of R&D efforts to advocate for the development of cyber capabilities.

Peterson AFB, Colo. -- 7 (tentative). Discussions are underway for achieving capabilities with space-related resources.

"Again, this represents the minimum capability required to activate the command and gain units," said the general. "We must move forward to provide people the right chain of command, the right leadership and be able to meet the Air Force's timeline on schedule."

See original story at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123104128.

Air Force aims to improve electronic warfare capabilities

Controlling the electromagnetic spectrum to deny or attack an adversary -- that is electronic warfare, and the Air Force is in search of ways to maximize that capability.

Air Force leaders started the Electronic Warfare Life Cycle Management Group to establish a uniform approach to the research, development and evaluation of electronic warfare hardware, software, techniques and capabilities.

Col. Tim Freeman, the group's co-chairman, compared the electronic warfare community to a symphony orchestra.

"For years, Air Force electronic warfare has been like an orchestra warming up, and the (group) will be the conductor that brings it all together," said Colonel Freeman, commander of the 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

Before the group was established, there was no mechanism to pull together an enterprise view at how the Air Force conducts electronic warfare, he said.

"The result was that people were doing great things, but it was inefficient. In some cases, different organizations were paying different contractors to do the exact same things only because they weren't talking to each other," Colonel Freeman said.

The group's goal is to find commonalities across weapons systems that will allow standardization and interface among electronic warfare programs.

"It's all about aircraft survivability in combat," said Col. Robert Schwarze, chief of electronic warfare and cyber requirements at the Pentagon and co-chair of the warfare management group. "We maintain 56 electronic warfare systems (that use) 34 different computer languages. We thought, 'Hey, that's pretty stupid' and we're trying to make it better."

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, F-22 Raptor and B-1B Lancer are among the aircraft that have specific electronic warfare capabilities, but the Air Force currently can not transfer capabilities across multiple platforms.

If one aircraft type has a tremendous capability against a particular threat, the Air Force has to regenerate that separately for other platforms because no hardware or data standard exists. This requires additional research, manpower and money.

The group has a tiered structure with four echelons that includes all of the Air Force's electronic warfare organizations. The first echelon is the Senior Advisory Group, made up of general officers and senior executive service members, which is the decision-making body of the group.

The second echelon, the Technical Advisory Group, is the advisory and oversight body made up of colonels and senior civil service members. The final two echelons include the Electronic Warfare Product Group Manager, and System and Technique Evaluation Development teams.

"The (group) will help find ways to use the money we have more effectively, eliminate duplication of efforts and streamline processes," Colonel Freeman said. "This is probably the most prolific change in electronic warfare in the Air Force in 30 years. (We're) going to...make decisions that will keep the rest of the fleet, from an electronic warfare perspective, viable in the 21st Century."

See original story at http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123103791.

Israeli Jam Session (UAV-based Electronic Attack)

Excerpt from Aviation Week blog:

...Israel-based Elisra has developed countermeasure, or “self-protection” as they call it, systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The electronic intelligence system (ELINT), called the AS210, enables a fleet of UAVs to not only detect, identify and track incoming threats, but to defend against those threats...There are three layers to the AS210, Davidi said, area protection and self protection (one system relying on radio frequency and the second on infrared).

The area protection system is essentially a jamming system comprising a receiver, algorithm generator and a jammer...The Elisra system weighs in at 36 kg. “It’s the same one as in our F-16s,” he said. The jamming system covers a radius of about 120 km. “All the UAVs within that area will be protected.” The jamming system emits tracking information that creates a “ghost” UAV. It sends false vector, velocity, and other information to enemy radar.

The RF self-protection system has a chaff dispenser instead of a jammer, as does the IR system.

The IR sensor detects not only radiation from potential missiles, but can differentiate the heat source. The system relies on a unique algorithm to calculate the movement behind the IR emission and determine whether it’s a missile or a campfire. And if it is a missile, in which direction it’s headed. The RF package weighs about 12 kg and IR sensor package is 20 kg...

See full blog post at:

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3Af04f0b2e-eef1-4036-b56e-4b5c0946c902

Cobham Buys M/A-COM for $425M

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3525558&c=EUR&s=TOP

LONDON - British aerospace and defense company Cobham has taken its acquisition spending in the U.S. this year past the $1 billion mark with the announcement here that it is buying M/A-COM from Tyco Electronics for $425 million.

M/A-COM is a world leading radio frequency components and subsystems suppliers with revenues in the year to September 2007 totaling $477 million. Just under 40 percent of that is in the aerospace and defense sector.

Cobham said it intends to sell off the commercial sector of the business, as it is noncore. Based on the encouraging levels of interest expressed by other bidders during the Tyco auction of M/A-COM, it expects a quick sale of the business, it said.

The aerospace and defense portion of the business employs some 1,000, based principally in California and Massachusetts. Company supplied systems can currently be found on the Joint Strike Fighter, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and Integrated Defense Electronic Countermeasures...

ViaSat to add Link 16 capability to Air Force Joint Communication Simulator

NEWS RELEASE

ViaSat Inc. (Nasdaq:VSAT) has received a $3.97 million Task Order (TO) for modification of the Joint Communication Simulator (JCS) under an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the U.S. Air Force. The JCS enables accurate analysis of communication system performance without the expense of in-flight testing. This award continues to expand the simulation system capabilities to include new operating modes and communication, navigation and intelligence signals, including integrating Link 16 into government RF communication simulators.

"Link 16 is the preferred tactical data link between coalition forces and this development increases the utility of the JCS by adding this key communication signal to the RF simulation environment," said Greg Norton, program manager, ViaSat Simulation Systems Group.

For more than 10 years ViaSat has been developing and delivering communication, navigation, and identification (CNI) test systems to DoD customers. RF stimulation from ViaSat goes beyond ordinary simulation and computer modeling techniques to actually stimulate the avionics environment with real signals of RF energy, including RF jamming and background signals.

JCS systems are located at the Air Force Flight Test Center's (AFFTC) Electronic Warfare Avionics Test and Integration Complex (ATIC) at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), California and the Air Combat Environment Test and Evaluation Facility (ACETEF) at the Naval Air Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD), Maryland.

For more information, see www.viasat.com/government-communications/rf-signal-stimulation.

Sources Sought for Radar Threat Signal Simulator Portable Calibration Unit

The 412 Electronic Warfare Group (EWG), Edwards AFB, CA, intends to solicit a order for a Portable Calibration Unit. The contractor shall perform to build, integrate, test, deliver, install, and verify a Portable Calibration Unit (PCU) for the CEESIM (Combat Electromagnetic Environment Simulator) radar threat signal simulators at the Benefield Anechoic Facility (BAF), Edwards AFB, California.

The basic CEESIM design is composed of a digital simulation and control component, called the Digital Generation System (DGS), and RF generation components, in the form of RF generator channels and RF transmit carts. To ensure the accurate RF representation of simulated signals, each CEESIM channel must be calibrated. Channels are calibrated one at a time using software executing on the DGS component, and using “monitor and calibration” racks containing software-controlled test equipment. During real-time execution of the simulation, a DGS is fully utilized to control the connected RF channels. Hence, if all simulators are being used for their intended purpose, no calibrations can be performed on remaining RF channels not being utilized. Furthermore, with only two sets of monitor and calibration racks, no more than two channels can be calibrated simultaneously in the best case.

The Portable Calibration Unit provided by this contract will be used to perform RF channel calibration independent of the valuable DGS and test equipment rack assets. Off-the-shelf test equipment will be used for calibration measurements. All relevant calibration functionality provided by the baseline CEESIM system will be available (frequency calibration, transmit linearization, transmit alignment, HFIM linearization, & HFIM DC offset adjustment), and with multiple PCUs, calibration of several RF channels will be possible simultaneously with real-time simulator operation.

The contract will consist of requirements that are detailed in the attached Performance Work Statement (PWS). This requirement is for ALL services identified in the PWS. Any qualified and interested companies responding to this announcement must be able to support all areas. NO partial support responses from industry will be accepted. The Government is seeking only, qualified, experienced sources interested in performing the services identified in the attached PWS. The contractor must have current expertise in the electronic warfare systems.

See additional details including statement of work at https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=c5d5937e3aad9527c3e4be0d7c409747&tab=core&_cview=0.