Latest news with #SeaAirSpace2025
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Top secret US spy drone gets deadly laser that MELTS missiles mid-air amid fears of World War III
A US weapons company has unveiled a first-of-its-kind laser that can be mounted onto spy drones, allowing them to melt missiles in mid-air. General Atomics unveiled the new defense technology at the Sea Air Space 2025 event in National Harbor, Maryland this month. The company equipped its MQ-9B SkyGuardian — an autonomous intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drone — with this laser. It currently emits about 25 kilowatts of energy, enough to disable or destroy small targets. This system could help the US military take down large groups of low-cost, disposable drones. But General Atomics claims it could be scaled up to as much as 300 kilowatts, which could take down large aircraft and missiles by melting or burning through their critical infrastructure. What's more, the laser can emit both pulsed and continuous bursts of energy and is capable of operating in all types of environments. At the event, video footage showed the MQ-9B using the laser to shoot down incoming attack drones similar to Iran's Shahed 'kamikaze' drones, which were heading toward a navy ship for the purposes of this demonstration. Using a laser-equipped drone to destroy small attack drones or cruise missiles would save the military thousands of dollars, as expensive, non-reusable missiles are currently used to conduct this type of defense. A laser beam can't be directly destroyed, and it will keep inflicting damage as long as it has power. But the biggest caveat to this technology is that a drone's power supply is limited, which means the laser could falter in the field. The MQ-9B drone is capable of flying for more than 40 hours on a single charge, but the addition of the laser will likely reduce its battery life, though its unclear by how much. Still, the development of this system marks an important step toward operationalizing airborne high-energy lasers (HEL) for defense. The US military has been working toward this goal for years, but faced numerous technological, logistical and financial hurdles that staunched progress. The Air Force's Self-protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program, which aimed to develop technologies that could protect aircraft from incoming missiles, was scrapped in 2024 without a prototype or test flights to show for their efforts. But the Air Force Research Lab, which launched the project, said it had made 'significant advances in the readiness of airborne HEL technology.' It's possible that some of these gains informed the design of MQ-9B's new laser, though General Atomics' technology is the result of an entirely separate research and development effort. The MQ-9B drone is capable of flying for more than 40 hours on a single charge, but the addition of the laser will likely reduce its battery life, though its unclear by how much The company's breakthrough comes at a time when the need for this system may be greater than ever, as swarming drones and kamikaze-style attacks like the ones seen in Ukraine and the Middle East are becoming cheaper, faster and more common. In recent months, Russia has doubled down on its use of Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones against Ukraine, using them to target civilian infrastructure and residential areas. From August 1, 2024 to March 1, 2025, Ukraine recorded that Russia launched 15,011 Shahed-type strike drones, according to the Institute for Science and International Security. Traditional defense mechanisms like missiles are too expensive and too slow to handle a multitude of small, fast-moving threats. But a laser can tackle this type of assault efficiently, precisely and cost-effectively.
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lockheed Pitches Containerized Launchers To Help Close Australia's Air And Missile Defense Gaps
Lockheed Martin wants containerized missile launchers to enhance a new overarching battle management architecture intended to help fill gaps in Australia's air and missile defenses. Containerized launchers might also offer Australia's armed forces new ways to engage targets on land and at sea, as well as in the air. Edward Dobeck, Director of Launching Systems at Lockheed Martin, talked about his company's work with the Australian Defense Force and what else it is doing relating to containerized launchers in an interview with TWZ's Howard Altman from the floor of the Navy League's Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition last week. 'So, we've been having a lot of good conversations with different countries in Europe and Asia about their need to provide launchers that are distributed,' Dobeck said. 'One of the most immediate [examples] is part of the Australia AIR6500 program. So we've been talking and giving them estimates specifically for containerized launching solutions as part of that.' Last year, Lockheed Martin received a contract valued at $500 million Australian dollars (roughly $312 U.S. dollars, at the present rate of exchange) to lead work on a new Joint Air Battle Management System as part of the first phase of the AIR6500 program. 'This system will provide [the Australian Department of] Defence with an advanced integrated air and missile defence capability, using next-gen technologies, to combat high-speed threats,' according to a press release put out in April 2024. No explicit mention was made of new launchers potentially being part of the AIR6500 plan at that time. AIR6500 is eventually expected to include a layered array of sensor and interceptor capabilities, as well as the command and control architecture linking it all together. The Australian Department of Defense had also released a major strategic review in 2023 that called for accelerating the acquisition of 'medium-range advanced and high-speed missile defence capabilities' and said that 'in-service, off-the-shelf options must be explored.' Australia's present air defense capabilities are currently limited to Swedish-designed RBS 70 short-range surface-to-air missiles, which can be employed from shoulder-fired and pedestal launchers, and the country's trio of Hobart class anti-air warfare-focused destroyers. The Australian Army is in the process of acquiring an enhanced version of the U.S.-Norwegian National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) that includes ground-based launchers for AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ARMAAM) based on the 4×4 Hawkei vehicle. Containerized launchers from Lockheed Martin could be one off-the-shelf option for helping Australia's armed forces more readily acquire longer-range surface-to-air missile capabilities that it does not currently have. The Typhon system the company has developed for the U.S. Army, which includes four-round trailer-mounted containerized launchers derived from the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System, can fire the very capable SM-6, as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles. The SM-6 has the ability to engage a variety of air and missile threats, including a limited capability against hypersonic boost-glide vehicles in the terminal phase of flight. It can also be employed in a ballistic mode against targets at sea and on land. There is also Lockheed Martin's Mk 70 Expeditionary Launcher, also known as the Payload Delivery System, developed for the U.S. Navy. The Mk 70 is extremely similar in form and function to the launchers for the Army's Typhon system, and can also fire the SM-6. Lockheed Martin has also demonstrated the ability to fire the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor originally developed for the Patriot surface-to-air missile system from the Mk 70 and, by extension, other Mk 41-derived launchers. Variants of the Mk 41 VLS are already in Royal Australian Navy service on Anzac class frigates and Hobart class destroyers, and will be part of the armament package on the country's forthcoming Hunter class frigates. In general, 'there is a very strong alignment between countries that have Mk 41[-equipped] navies and [ones] that have a desire to add additional cells and firepower to some of their vessels based on a containerized solution,' Lockheed Martin's Dobeck said. In addition, 'some of the countries that we've been talking to are much more interested in the land-based solution and providing that Mk 41 capability on land.' 'We continue to see a lot of international interest in the European and the Asian market for this kind of capability that's going to be able to bring them the tried and true capability of Mk 41 vertical launch in a containerized system,' he added. Australia's armed forces are set to get an up-close look at one of the U.S. Army's Typhon systems in action later this year. A live-fire shot from Typhon is currently planned to be part of this year's iteration of the biennial Talisman Sabre exercise. Typhon highlights the potential for new containerized launchers to bolster Australia's long-range land attack and anti-ship capabilities, as well as part of the future AIR6500 air and missile defense architecture. The Royal Australian Navy is now in the process of integrating Tomahawk onto its Hobart class destroyers and expects to arm its Hunter class frigates with those missiles, as well. Tomahawk is a core part of the arsenal on U.S. Virginia class nuclear-powered attack submarines, a number of which Australia is currently in line to receive through the trilateral Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) security cooperation agreement. The Australian military is otherwise looking to expand its land-based long-range strike capabilities through to acquisition of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles from the United States. Loaded with Tomahawks, a containerized Mk 41-based launcher could hold targets on land and at sea at risk anywhere within a roughly 1,000-mile bubble around where it is deployed. The ability to launch SM-6s, PAC-3s, and potentially other missiles would only increase their operational flexibility. Containerized launchers have additional benefits when it comes to speed and distribution of deployment, as well as personnel and logistical footprints, especially if networked to a larger command and control architecture. The capabilities offered by a new array of containerized launch systems could be particularly valuable for Australia, which has extensive coastlines to defend at a time when the Chinese military is becoming assertive in its part of the Pacific. Australia's armed forces would also benefit from these capabilities in the event they join other allies and partners in expeditionary operations, especially elsewhere in the broad expanses of the Indo-Pacific in response to any number of contingencies. What role containerized missile launchers might play in Australia's future AIR6500 plans remains to be seen, but they could be on the horizon for the country's armed forces beyond the air and missile defense role, as well. Howard Altman contributed to this story. Contact the author: joe@
South China Morning Post
13-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
US looks to South Korea as it tries to revive shipbuilding and catch up to China
The United States is looking to South Korea as it tries to boost shipbuilding capacity in response to the 'desperate reality' of China's rapid navy build-up , a move that could strengthen US power projection in the region, analysts say. Advertisement South Korean shipbuilding giant HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) on Monday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with US firm Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII). HHI said the 'ship alliance' was signed during this week's Sea Air Space 2025 defence exhibition in Washington. It said the aim was to 'maximise the production efficiency of shipbuilding, while sharing know-how and capabilities to improve shipbuilding costs and delivery times'. 'We expect that cooperation between the representative shipbuilding companies of Korea and the US, who are blood allies, will not only develop the shipbuilding industry of both countries but also greatly contribute to strengthening security cooperation,' said Joo Won-ho, chief executive of naval and special shipbuilding at HHI. The cooperation will include promoting process automation and the introduction of robots and artificial intelligence to build a digital shipyard, according to the HHI statement. HII and HHI, two of the world's leading shipbuilders, signed a memorandum of understanding this week during the Sea Air Space expo in Washington. Photo: Handout HHI is one of the world's largest shipbuilders, with a market share of about 10 per cent, according to its website. It has the capacity to build naval surface and underwater combatants and auxiliary vessels.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
First Constellation Frigate Only 10% Complete, Design Still Being Finalized
The first Constellation class frigate for the U.S. Navy is just 10 percent complete more than two years after construction began and nearly five years after the award of the initial contract for the ship. The work is also continuing despite the continued absence of a firm functional design for the vessel, which is still weeks or even months away from being finalized and approved. Major changes to the Constellation's configuration compared to its parent Franco-Italian Fregata Europea Multi-Missione (FREMM) have already led to serious delays and cost increases, and there are growing questions about the program's future. A key program goal had been to take an in-service design that would only need relatively minor modifications to make it ready for Navy use, which would help keep the work on schedule and budget. The opposite has now happened. Mark Vandroff, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at Fincantieri Marine Group, confirmed the state of progress on the construction of the USS Constellation and otherwise provided an update on the program to TWZ's Howard Altman on the floor of the Navy League's Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition earlier this week. 19FortyFive had first reported that the lead ship in the Constellation class was only 10 percent complete last month, citing an anonymous source. 'First ship is under construction up in Marinette[, Wisconsin], roughly 10 percent done,' Vandroff said. We're 'working working to finalize the design with the Navy. That has been progressing. We've made a lot of progress in the last year, and we expect to have the functional design wrapped up here in late spring, early summer.' The Navy first announced in 2020 that it had picked Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Italy's Fincantieri, to build the Constellation class. Construction of the USS Constellation began in August 2022. The Navy currently has a total of six of the ships on order, out of what is still expected to be an initial tranche of at least 10 of the frigates. The first example is currently slated to be delivered in 2029. 'What I would say is, with the Navy, we're converging the design,' Vandroff added when asked specifically for an update on changes to the Constellation class design from the parent FREMM. 'You know, we're responsible for producing the functional design. The Navy has to approve the functional design. So, as we go back and forth to get our design to be fully approved by the Navy, we're converging on that final design.' The Constellation class design has already grown significantly in physical size and total displacement over the baseline FREMM configuration, which has prompted concerns about expected performance. Substantial changes have also been made to the overall configuration, and there is understood to now only be some 15 percent commonality between the design for the Navy and its Franco-Italian parent. The original goal was 85 percent commonality. The design changes have also contributed to major delays and cost growth. The original plan was for USS Constellation to be delivered in 2026. The Navy had also been aiming for a unit cost of $1 billion, or potentially even less, as production of the frigates ramped up. More recent estimates have put the price tag for each of the ships at around $1.4 billion. It is important to stress here that the Navy ran the FFG(X) frigate competition that led to the Constellation class with an explicit focus on proven, in-production designs to help reduce the risk of cost growth and schedule delays. FREMM variants are in active service today with the Italian, French, Egyptian, and Moroccan navies. More are under construction, including for the Indonesian Navy. Other factors, including broad global economic disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and U.S. shipbuilding industry workforce issues, have also hampered work on the Constellation class. There has been talk in the past about hiring a second shipyard to help produce the frigates, as well as bringing allies and partners into the program, which could help further drive down unit costs through economies of scale. 'So, in the facility upgrades that we made in Marinette, we're very confident that we have enough space, the right space, the right technology, to build two frigates a year for the United States Navy workforce,' Fincantieri's Vandroff told TWZ. 'I think we have the same issues as pretty much everyone else in the American shipbuilding industry. We would certainly like more workers. We would certainly like more workers in the steel trades. There's a nationwide shortage on welders, shipfitters, [and] to a lesser degree, electricians.' 'We've been making progress on that, but that is one of the challenges that we're working through, just like any other shipyard.' The Constellation class is hardly the only Navy shipbuilding program contending with delays and cost growth. The U.S. shipbuilding industry, when it comes to producing military and commercial vessels, has also been steadily contracting for decades now. In recent years, naval shipyard capacity, or the lack thereof, in the United States, which also has impacts on maintaining and modernizing existing vessels, has become a cause celebre. This was underscored just yesterday by a new executive order from President Donald Trump. 'The commercial shipbuilding capacity and maritime workforce of the United States has been weakened by decades of Government neglect, leading to the decline of a once strong industrial base while simultaneously empowering our adversaries and eroding United States national security,' the executive order, titled 'Restoring America's Maritime Dominance,' declares in its opening. 'Both our allies and our strategic competitors produce ships for a fraction of the cost needed in the United States. Recent data shows that the United States constructs less than one percent of commercial ships globally, while the People's Republic of China (PRC) is responsible for producing approximately half.' TWZ has previously reported in great detail on the massive and worrying disparity between the United States and China when it comes to shipbuilding. The new executive order directs 'the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland Security' to 'conduct a review of shipbuilding for United States Government use and submit a report to the President with recommendations to increase the number of participants and competitors within United States shipbuilding, and to reduce cost overruns and production delays for surface, subsurface, and unmanned programs' within 45 days. 'This report must include separate itemized and prioritized lists of recommendations for the United States Army, Navy, and Coast Guard.' Much of the rest of the executive order is in line with the proposed Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security for America Act, or SHIPS Act, that a bipartisan group of legislators put forward last year and that you can read more about here. 'We will set realistic, achievable schedules, and we will commit to them. We will eliminate the waste and inefficiencies that drain resources without delivering results. We will demand accountability from our shareholding enterprise, because every dollar, every day … counts,' recently confirmed Secretary of the Navy John Phelan also told a gathering at the Sea Air Space 2025 convention earlier this week. 'To avoid repeating mistakes of poorly executed programs, we will work closely with the shipbuilding industry to calculate risk more effectively, ensure that every dollar spent on defense leads to tangible, measurable results.' 'Change is coming, and my responsibility is to make sure that we have the right people in the right seats on the right platforms,' he added. How any of this may impact plans for the Constellation class, specifically, remains to be seen. 'We are at a tipping point with Constellation. It started out saying we're going to take the FREMM concept, 85 percent complete, we'll add our 15 percent to it, and then we'll go right to construction,' Rob Wittman, a Republican in the House of Representatives from Virginia who is currently Vice Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said during a panel discussion at Sea Air Space 2025 yesterday. 'We look right now, [it is] over cost, over budget, because that is reversed. Now it's 15 percent the original design [and] 85 percent add-ons.' 'The question is, are we at a point where we either quickly recover and get back on track with this, get back to schedule, get back to budget – I don't know that you could make up schedule – or do you say, maybe we're too far along with this, and we go in a different direction,' Wittman continued. 'The Navy is going to have to ask that question now. It can't push it off in the future.' Members of Congress have already been ever-more outspoken about their displeasure with the state of the Navy's Constellation class program. Big decisions regarding the Navy's frigate plans look increasingly to be on the horizon with the USS Constellation just 10 percent complete and still years away from being delivered. Howard Altman contributed to this story. Contact the author: joe@
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Yahoo
Every Marine A Drone Pilot: Individual Lethality To Go From Meters To Kilometers
The increasing prevalence of weaponized drones, especially first-person-view (FPV) kamikaze types, and other man-portable precision munitions could lead to a change in the U.S. Marine Corps' famous mantra of 'every Marine a rifleman,' according to the general who oversees the training of the service's new recruits. Marine Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson, who is currently head of Marine Corps Training and Education Command (TECOM), talked yesterday about how the evolving nature of modern warfare is also impacting the very core of his service's warrior ethos. Watson's remarks came during a panel discussion on Marine Corps modernization at the Navy League's Sea Air Space 2025 exhibition. 'One of our mantras, kind of bumper stickers, which has real meaning for us culturally as a service, is sort of 'every Marine [a] rifleman,'' Watson said. Now, 'the idea [is] that any Marine, using a precision weapon, can kill somebody who needs killing at ranges up to 500 meters.' 'You think about that, and that's still important, right, being able to achieve combat overmatch at that echelon,' he added. 'But now, if you use technology, that same Marine can be just as lethal at ranges out to 15 to 20 kilometers and beyond.' 'And one of the initiatives we partnered on here is this Marine Corps Attack Drone Team,' the TECOM commander continued. 'It started down at Quantico, with the partnership between [the] Marine Corps Warfighting Lab[oratory] and [the] Weapons Training Battalion, and they are using FPV drones, first-person-view drones. And they are paving the way for some of the policy, technology, and fiscal challenges into how we bring these in, at scale, and we turn a rifleman into somebody who cannot just kill an adversary with a precision weapon at 500 meters, but can do it out at 15 to 20 kilometers.' The Corps first announced the establishment of the experimental Marine Corps Attack Drone Team (MCADT) at the service's base in Quantico, Virginia, earlier this year. 'The creation of MCADT comes in response to the rapid proliferation of armed first-person-view drone technology and tactics observed in modern conflicts, particularly in Eastern Europe. As emerging threats continue to evolve, the Marine Corps is prioritizing the integration of FPV drone capabilities to enhance lethality and operational effectiveness across the Fleet Marine Force,' according to a press release the Marine Corps put out in March. 'MCADT's impact extends beyond competition. FPV drones offer squad-level lethality up to 20 kilometers for under $5,000, compared to more expensive weapons systems with less capability. This provides a cost-effective and scalable solution for modern combat.' Per the release, MCADT has three main tasks: 'Develop and refine armed FPV drone training for Marines across the Total Force.' 'Inform service-level requirements to ensure the rapid fielding of cutting-edge FPV technologies.' 'Enhance individual and unit lethality through hands-on instruction during competitive training events.' As alluded to in the March press release, FPV kamikaze drones, as well as ones capable of dropping small munitions on their targets, are in widespread use on both sides of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which has helped popularize their increased use globally by both nation-state armed forces and non-state actors. It is important to note, as TWZ regularly does, that the threats posed by weaponized uncrewed aerial systems, including small modified commercial designs, far predates the war in Ukraine. Reposting this video showing a Russian T-80BVM tank with a roof screen and deploying smoke surviving multiple FPV hits and — Rob Lee (@RALee85) December 13, 2023 A Ukrainian drone from the 79th Air Assault Brigade drops a 40mm HEDP grenade on a Russian UR-77 Meteorit, causing a catastrophic payload explosion. — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) August 14, 2023 FPV drones are not the only kinds of precision munitions individual Marines, or at least very small Marine units, can expect to be armed with in the near future. 'Things like Organic Precision Fires [OPF], loitering munitions, one-way-attack drones,' are key modernization priorities for the Corps, Marine Lt. Gen. Eric Austin, head of Marine Corps Forces Command, also said during yesterday's panel discussion. The Marine Corps is currently in the process of acquiring multiple tiers of loitering munitions through its OPF effort, including types that individual Marines can employ and larger designs fired from ground vehicles and small watercraft. Teledyne FLIR Defense's Rogue 1, seen in the video below, is one of the loitering munitions the Marine Corps is acquiring now. 'If you think about the old movies, videos of people in combat, Marines, soldiers, in combat, they carried a hand grenade or two on their vest, right, that they could throw as far as they could throw it, as accurately as they could throw it,' Marine Maj. Gen. Jason Woodworth, another one of the panelists, said. 'Now we're getting to a point where they're going to be able to carry a guided hand grenade, throw it up in the air with loiter capability, and somebody behind them is going to be able to guide that to everyone in this room. So everyone in this room has a hand grenade that is guidable onto the four of us up here, right?' Woodworth, who is currently head of Marine Corps Installations Command and Assistant Deputy Commandant, Installations & Logistics (Facilities), pointed out that Marines are facing down the prospect of opponents with the same kinds of capabilities and will need to be able to defend themselves. The Marine Corps is actively working to acquire an array of counter-drone capabilities to protect installations and units abroad and at home. Efforts similar to the MCADT aimed at expanding the use of FPVs and other kinds of weaponized drones, particularly among smaller combat units, are also now emerging elsewhere across the U.S. military, including within the U.S. special operations community. Other branches of America's armed forces are also working to acquire large numbers of loitering munitions, as well. Collectively, this work continues to highlight how the U.S. military is still very much playing catch-up when it comes to broader fielding of uncrewed capabilities, as well as the means to defend against, even while acknowledging growing global trends. Depending on how the Marine Corps' modernization efforts proceed now, it may be long before the service's 'every Marine a rifleman' addage also evolves. Contact the author: joe@
