Latest news with #RonFlanders
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MQ-28 Ghost Bat Is Of 'Strong Interest' To The U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy is touting the U.S.-Australian MQ-28 Ghost Bat 'loyal wingman' type drone program as a model for future industrial partnerships, while confirming continued U.S. military interest in the drone. The fact that the Navy is now speaking about this is notable, on the one hand because the MQ-28 has so far been seen primarily as a program of interest for the U.S. Air Force, and on the other because the Navy is currently still working to define its carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) plans. Asked by TWZ about what the Navy is seeking to get from the MQ-28, and its wider goal for the platform, Capt. Ron Flanders, Public Affairs Officer at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (RDA), said: 'The partnership between the United States and Australia on the MQ-28 represents a new model of joint development, where allied nations co-design and co-produce high-end military capabilities. The U.S. has expressed strong interest in leveraging the MQ-28's AI-driven autonomy and modular design for future air combat operations.' The joint development of high-technology military hardware, as referenced in the first part of this response, is not restricted to the MQ-28, of course, and there are already other big-ticket programs involving U.S. and Australian collaboration. The second part of the answer is somewhat more intriguing, since it does suggest that the Navy may well also be looking seriously at how it might be able to leverage the MQ-28 — and related technologies. It only emerged in 2019 that Australia was working together with Boeing on the MQ-28, originally referred to as the Airpower Teaming System (ATS). The first flight of one of these drones occurred in 2021. Meanwhile, three Ghost Bat prototypes are known to have been built and flight-tested in Australia. As it now stands, Boeing is planning to build the MQ-28 in Queensland, Australia, and provide them to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), as an important part of the service's future plans. As of 2022, the RAAF said it wanted to acquire at least 10 MQ-28s by the end of 2025, at which point it would begin flying them operationally. Last month, Boeing provided an update on the program, pointing to plans for a series of flight-test demonstrations later this year, which will include MQ-28s teaming with crewed assets, such as E-7 Wedgetail and F-35 stealth fighter, to complete operationally relevant missions. As of March of this year, the test team had recorded 100 test flights. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force has also said it will make use of a Ghost Bat for testing purposes, with the design serving as what it describes as a 'technology feeder' for the service's CCA program. In February of last year, the Australian Department of Defense disclosed that it had 'signed a CCA development project arrangement with the United States on 30 March 2023.' While this was widely presumed to relate to the Air Force CCA program, it could also refer to the Navy effort. However, while the U.S. Air Force has now chosen its two CCA designs —at least competing for Increment 1 of that effort — the U.S. Navy is taking a more circumspect approach, as we discussed in depth only recently. At this point, it's also worth noting that Increment 2 of the Air Force's CCA effort could be the first to include foreign participation, something the service has confirmed in the past. This could well provide another opportunity for the MQ-28 with the Air Force. Meanwhile, the Navy still plans to develop and field carrier-based CCAs that will work alongside the service's fighter aircraft in a force-multiplying role, but, for the time being at least, the service is focusing more on its MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone, and its supporting infrastructure, while allowing the other services, especially the U.S. Air Force, to prove out the CCA concept. It's this approach that makes the Navy's statement on the MQ-28 all the more interesting, suggesting that the Ghost Bat could find a way into the service's CCA thinking. On the other hand, there is evidence that the Navy is currently interested in cheaper and more disposable CCAs than the Air Force, which is pursuing a much higher-end capability with unit costs in the tens of millions. That would appear to count against the MQ-28, which is a larger and more expensive design. Boeing has already pitched the MQ-28 for carrier-based applications, with a rendering of a variant or derivative of the drone with a visible tail hook shown landing on a carrier in a briefing put together by the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Boeing subsequently confirmed that this was a company image, and as such could be intended for the U.S. Navy, too. .@RoyalNavy briefing on future unmanned rotary capabilities at #IMHelicon, but note the carrier landing MQ-28 Ghost Bat… #drone #drones — Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) February 21, 2023 'We are studying future options to meet the forecast capability requirements both locally and internationally,' Boeing told TWZ in 2023, in response to questions about this particular development. 'We cannot disclose specific variant details.' Overall, the design of the MQ-28 emphasizes a high degree of modularity, including a rapidly swappable nose section. It also make extensive use of open-architecture mission systems, as you can read more about here. Should the U.S. Navy — or another customer — decide to pursue the development of a carrier-based MQ-28, these factors would make that process easier. Whether it's the Navy or the Air Force, TWZ has previously laid out a detailed case for how the trilateral Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) defense cooperation agreement, specifically, could provide an ideal framework for cooperation on the Air Force CCA program, and the same applies to the Navy's version of the same program, or another adjacent effort. There is also emerging evidence indicating that the U.S. Navy is already involved in the MQ-28 test program as it seeks to define its CCA requirements. An official biography of Cdr. James Moore Licata, callsign 'Two Times,' states that, in February 2023, he reported to the 'Ghost Wolves' of Air Test & Evaluation Squadron 24 (UX-24) at Webster Naval Outlying Field, Maryland, to assume the role of Government Flight Test Director for Advanced Development efforts. Here, Licata 'served as the military Test and Evaluation lead for U.S. Navy Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) and the U.S. Navy's principal test representative in the CCA Development Project Arrangement between the United States and Australian governments.' Licata left that assignment in February of this year, joining Air Test & Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31) at China Lake, California, as Chief Test Pilot. While the biography doesn't mention MQ-28 by name, the description of a 'CCA Development Project Arrangement' involving the U.S. and Australian governments suggests that Ghost Bat would have been at least a major focus of that effort. The U.S. Navy and RAAF also operate the MQ-4C Triton high-altitude long-endurance drone, providing further options for cooperation in the uncrewed realm. On the other hand, the Australian government specifically refers to the MQ-28 as a CCA, something that would not apply to the Triton, for example. It's also worth noting that an MQ-28 has been in the United States for some time, for testing, and this and the MQ-25 demonstrator have been sighted together at MidAmerica Airport outside of St. Louis, Missouri. As you can read about here, the first photos of a Ghost Bat in the United States, which were published by Boeing in 2023, showed the two drones side-by-side at this location, also pointing to potential crossover with the Navy's MQ-25. In particular, the MQ-25 program will feed into Navy CCA efforts in terms of developing the infrastructure required to operate fixed-wing drones on a regular basis from carrier decks. TWZ has reached out to the Australian Defense Department's representative in Washington, DC, to find out more about the Navy's relationship with the MQ-28. However, the U.S. Navy is clearly looking at the MQ-28, even if only on a test and evaluation basis. However, based on the versatility of the design and the fact that Boeing has already explored, at some level, what it would take to make it carrier-compatible, the drone could well be of deeper interest to the Navy as it sets about defining its CCA requirements. Contact the author: thomas@
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Navy Axes Its Hypersonic Anti-Ship Cruise Missile Plans
The U.S. Navy has halted plans to acquire an air-launched, air-breathing hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile, citing cost and industrial base factors. The service says it is now taking a second look at its requirements with a new focus on affordability. The Navy's work toward the acquisition of what it had dubbed the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (HALO) missile traces back to at least 2021. The service previously described it as a critical capability that needed to be fielded before 2030. Naval News was first to report that the plans for HALO, also known as the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare Increment 2 (OASuW Inc 2), have now changed. 'The Navy cancelled the solicitation for the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (HALO) Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) effort in fall 2024 due to budgetary constraints that prevent fielding new capability within the planned delivery schedule,' Navy Capt. Ron Flanders, a spokesperson for the service, told TWZ today. 'The decision was made after the Navy conducted a careful analysis, looking at cost trends and program performance across the munitions industrial base compared to the Navy's priorities and existing fiscal commitments.' 'We are working closely with our resource sponsors to revalidate the requirements, with an emphasis on affordability,' Flanders continued. 'The Navy is committed to its investment in Long Range Fires to meet National Defense objectives, with priority emphasis on fielding continued capability improvements to the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM).' Lockheed Martin's LRASM, originally developed as OASuW Increment 1 and based on the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) design, is a highly capable stealthy anti-ship cruise missile, but it is also a subsonic design. A subvariant with significantly extended range and other upgrades is now in development, as you can read more about here. It's also worth noting here that the Navy has fielded an air-launched version of the multi-purpose Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), called the AIM-174B. When surface-launched, SM-6 can be employed against aerial threats, as well as targets at sea and on land. It is possible that AIM-174B could be used as a high-speed anti-ship missile, as well. The Navy had awarded initial HALO contracts to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin in 2023, though details about the designs that either company had been working on as part of this effort remain scant. However, they are both widely believed to be powered by advanced ramjet or scramjet engines. Both companies also notably took part in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Hypersonic Airbreathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) program, which was run in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force. Raytheon was part of a team that also included Northrop Grumman. HAWC subsequently fed into the Air Force's Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) program. Raytheon, working again with Northrop Grumman, has been under contract to develop HACM since 2022. The Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets were expected to be the first aircraft armed with HALO. The service had also previously indicated that HALO could evolve into a ship and submarine-launched weapon after its initial introduction as an air-launched munition. 'OASuW Inc 2/HALO will be a carrier-suitable, higher-speed, longer-range, air-launched weapon system providing superior Anti-Surface Warfare capabilities. The program is part of the Navy's Long Range Fires investment approach to meet objectives of the National Defense Strategy,' Navy Capt. Richard Gensley, then Precision Strike Weapons (PMA-201) program manager within Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), told TWZ just last June. 'As a key component of this strategy, OASuW Inc 2/HALO addresses advanced threats from engagement distances that allow the Navy to operate in, and control, contested battle space in littoral waters and Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) environments.' Previous Navy budget documents had also described HALO as being essential to help 'counter the evolving near-peer threat capability.' Russia and China have both been actively developing and fielding a growing number of hypersonic and otherwise high-speed anti-ship missiles that can be launched from air, sea, and ground-based platforms. This includes air-breathing hypersonic cruise missiles, most prominently Russia's Zircon, and anti-ship ballistic missiles. Hypersonic speed is typically defined as anything above Mach 5. What has now happened to the HALO effort is the latest high-profile stumble for hypersonic weapons developments across the U.S. military while potential adversaries continue to make progress in this realm. The status of the Air Force's AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) remains murky following the ostensible end of work on that program last year. The Army's Dark Eagle hypersonic missile program has also been beset by delays, with the service only conducting its first successful launch of that weapon from a trailer-based launcher in December 2024 after years of setbacks. Dark Eagle is the Army end of a joint program with the U.S. Navy, which is set to eventually see the same missiles integrated into Zumwalt class stealth destroyers and Block V Virginia class submarines. The Navy refers to its portion of that program as the Intermediate Range Conventional Prompt Strike (IRCPS) weapon system. ARRW, Dark Eagle, and IRCPS are also unpowered boost-glide vehicle hypersonic weapons, which are in an entirely different category from air-breathing hypersonic cruise missiles, as you can read more about here. Questions have also been raised about potential risks with the Air Force's HACM program. In 2023, the Air Force said it was canceling ARRW to refocus resources on HACM, though significant testing of the AGM-183A continued afterward. HACM is also directly intertwined with U.S.-Australian cooperation on hypersonic weapons through the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE) program. In addition, the Navy's citing of cost and industry factors as contributing to the cancellation of the HALO solicitation last year underscores broader issues facing the U.S. military. Concerns are steadily growing about the ability of America's armed forces to bolster stockpiles of key precision munitions, as well as sustain those inventories during any future protracted high-end fight, such as one in the Pacific against China. Ongoing campaigns against threats emanating from Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, as well as in the broader defense of Israel, are already seeing munition expenditure rates that are causing growing alarm, including from the U.S. military itself. There is now steadily growing interest in lower-cost precision munitions across the board, but these are intended to supplement, not supplant more exquisite capabilities like what the Navy had hoped to acquire with HALO. How the Navy's air-launched hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile ambitions now evolve, and what more affordable pathways to a relevant capability there might be, remain to be seen. Contact the author: joe@
