Posts Tagged ‘Raytheon’
With High-Energy Lasers Too Heavy to Fly, Raytheon Plans Lighter Ones That Jam Rather Than Blast
Raytheon, which built a laser that last year, is one of several defense firms working on lasers that take a somewhat more passive approach, such as disabling a missile’s guidance system to prevent it from connecting with its target. Raytheon is developing common infrared countermeasures (CIRCM) systems to be installed on Army and Navy helicopters, and large-aircraft infrared countermeasures systems for the Air Force.
The Quiet Eyes Laser Turret Assembly directs a quantum cascade laser to disable missiles, the company said. It is designed to be installed on any type of airplane, and recently passed a test at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in a C-130 Hercules.
The company is also using off-the-shelf, lightweight fiber lasers that can go on any helicopter, which would solve the weight problem that has plagued airborne laser systems. Previous directional infrared countermeasures were deemed too heavy for any helicopter except the CH-47 Chinook, but Raytheon’s new generation is designed to fit helicopters down to the size of the Bell AH-1Z Cobra, according to the company. Raytheon unveiled its technology at the Paris Air Show today.
The CIRCM laser would use low-power lasers to jam missile guidance systems — a few dozen watts, rather than tens of thousands of watts, like the laser weapon system demonstrated last year. The CIRCM energy beam can vary in width, output, modulation and frequency, allowing a wide range of possible uses.
This means the laser could be customized to seek out and cripple an enemy system dependent on electronics — whether it’s a guided missile or an aircraft. Raytheon is even working on outfitting missiles with electronics-disabling capabilities, rather than just explosives, according to .
Other defense firms including ITT, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin are also working on CIRCM systems, in response to an Army draft request for proposals.
The Army expects to pick one by late September, and the winning contractor will have 21 months to test and demonstrate its technology. The Navy will adopt the Army’s choice, according to Raytheon.
[]
Real-Life Iron Man Exoskeleton Gets a Slimmer, More Powerful Sequel
Not so coincidentally, Paramount Pictures was on hand to talk about the suit's connections to Iron Man 2, which comes out on DVD/Blu-ray this week. But unlike Iron Man 2, which was all about more (more villains! More length! More plotlines!), the XOS-2 is all about less: Less energy required, less heavy, and less muscle required to lift objects.
Most importantly, the ratio between actual and perceived weight lifted is much improved, going from 6:1 in the XOS-1 to a whopping 17:1 in the XOS-2. A 50-pound weight feels like only three pounds, and a 200-pound weight feels like only 12. Test engineer Rex Jameson (that name even sounds like a superhero, doesn't it?) was able to punch through four one-inch boards strapped together, and repeatedly lifted a 200-pound artillery shell.
But the suit also requires 50 percent less energy, a major upgrade, and weighs about 10 percent less, at 195 pounds, which should come in handy in the suit's most likely future applications, especially military and construction. The suit allows for faster, more precise, and more portable moving of heavy objects than a large machine, allowing a worker to pick up and move heavy objects all day without fatigue. One suited worker, says Raytheon-Sarcos, can do the work of two to three non-suited workers.
Though the suit weighs 195 pounds, Jameson says it feels extremely lightweight, almost like a winter jacket.
The XOS-2's practical applications are obvious, but its funding is not. The project has received $4 to $8 million a year from DARPA, but the government hasn't approved funding through other channels quite yet.
Raytheon Creates Patriot Missile System iPhone App to Keep Launch Crews’ Skills Sharp
"Patriot Drill Crew" takes soldiers through the steps of setting up a Patriot launcher via a series of screens that present the user with various scenarios and three multiple choice questions related to that scenario. Answer correctly and you move on to the next scenario. Answer incorrectly and a virtual drill sergeant gives you a stern talking to about your incompetence (and perhaps your mother). No word on whether Raytheon optioned R. Lee Ermey for the role.
This isn’t Raytheon’s first military app and it shouldn’t be the last. The company said last year it would develop several apps for both training and use in the field that would make the iPhone a veritable tool of warfare. Thus far we haven’t seen a whole lot on that front, but ostensibly one of those apps would train soldiers on how to correctly hold the phone so as not to lose reception.
[]
Video: Raytheon’s Ship-Mounted Laser Weapon Incinerates a UAV in Flight
The tests, conducted in May and June, show the LaWS illuminating and then heating the underside of a drone aircraft shortly before it goes up in flames and loses trajectory, plummeting into the ocean below. Guided by Raytheon's Laser Close-in Weapon System (CIWS), a sensor suite that locks onto and guides the energy weapon, LaWS shot down three similar drones during the tests, which mark the first time a solid-state laser has shot down an aircraft on the wing over open seas.
There are three significant parts to this story. First, it's important to note that LaWS is a solid-state laser rather than a chemical laser, which means it's not quite so hazardous to handle and requires less energy to use. It's also smaller, which makes it a lot more feasible to pack onto a naval vessel. Second, solid-state lasers are generally weaker than chemical lasers, and that problem is compounded by the moist air in ocean climates, as that moisture can absorb laser energy and weaken the beam. So proving this solid-state technology can work at sufficient strengths over the ocean is a serious milestone.
But most importantly, Raytheon demonstrated that a laser integrated into the Navy's Phalanx anti-missile defense system -- a weapons system already mounted on many naval vessels -- can hit a moving target from the deck of a ship, which itself is moving and rolling along with the ocean. That's pretty sharp shooting, and it could arm U.S. seamen with a greatly enhanced last line of defense during aerial and ballistic missile warfare at sea.
Of course, what works on a moving naval platform also works from stationary, land-based positions, and Raytheon is also looking to mount the system on trailers much as Boeing has done with its Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated experiments . That system, along with some of Boeing's , shot down several UAVs last year. But if Raytheon can do it in a smaller, less energy-intensive package the military might find that more compact solid-state lasers are the future.
Check out the CIWS roasting a drone below.
[ via ]
NSA Launching “Perfect Citizen” Surveillance Program to Monitor Private Networks for Cyber Attacks
Both the NSA and Raytheon, who was awarded the initial contract to develop the surveillance effort (valued at up to $100 million), are naturally being very hush-hush about Perfect Citizen. But according to the , it seems the system would rely on a series of sensors physically installed within networks that would allow the NSA to monitor activity for the telltale signs of an impending cyber attack.
The NSA insists the failsafe measures would only kick in when suspicious activity arises and would not continuously monitor the data streaming through a private company's networks. But there's a Big Brother aspect to Perfect Citizen that has some in government and industry grumbling about an intrusion by the government in to private affairs.
But it might be the kind intrusion that is necessary. Government officials are constantly worried about the capabilities of Chinese cyber warriors (not to mention those employed by rogue states or terror groups), and the patchwork nature of American utilities and other key infrastructure providers makes it nearly impossible for the government's security arms to provide a common defense. One military official claims the violation of privacy is no greater than that caused by traffic cameras, as the sensors will more or less keep an eye out for suspicious patterns in network traffic among other things.
For now, Perfect Citizen is not a mandatory program, and that should allay some privacy concerns. The look of the finalized program is still unclear, as the NSA is working with private companies to persuade them of the gravity of the threat and come to agreeable terms with the government on how best to implement the sensors. Some companies might install their own sensors and then offer the NSA restricted access, a deal that might be far more agreeable to those IT departments worried about having Big Brother wandering the cyber hallways.
[]