French Hypersonic Cruise Missiles: A Work in Progress

07/22/2021

By Pierre Tran

Paris – Onera and European missile builder MBDA are due to conduct the first test flight of a full-scale prototype of a French hypersonic cruise missile in the U.S., with help from NASA and the U.S. Air Force, an official of the French research agency said July 9.

The test flight of a four-meter long missile aims to study hypersonic propulsion in the Lea flight experiment project, backed by Onera and MBDA, the official said. The test flight  is due to take place “in a few months,” at a US air force base on the East coast.

The propulsion system, powered by a hydrogen-methane fuel, is due to perform five to 10 seconds in flight, allowing calculation of the performance. Work on Lea has been conducted on the ground, including wind tunnels, over the last 20 or so years.

The official was standing at a small-scale model of a Lea experimental cruise missile, one of the displays at a showcase of Onera’s work on civil and military technology at the Aero Club de France, an association of French aerospace.

That was the first time a model of the Lea project has been publicly displayed, an Onera spokesman said.

There would have been a high level approval and security clearance for that public display of Lea, and the small-scale model would be different from the missile due to fly in the flight test, a source familiar with the project said. Any published pictures of the ASMP/A have been airbrushed to remove details of the airborne nuclear-tipped missile built by MBDA.

Onera “has never stopped working” on upstream studies on the missile vehicle and engine, to design hypersonic propulsion, the official said. The flight test will help define base options on the missile, expected to fly at Mach 6 in the flight tests.

The ground tests included those conducted at the Onera wind tunnels at Modane in the French Alps.

Work on Lea is intended to help MBDA design and build a scramjet cruise missile which will succeed the ASMP/A, the airborne nuclear deterrent carried by the Dassault Aviation Rafale fighter jet.

The successor to the ASMP/A missile will be fitted on the next generation fighter, a key element in the European future combat air system backed by France, Germany and Spain.

Onera and MBDA said in a 2009 Nato research note, planned flight tests of Lea were to use a Russian Tupolev Tu-22 M3 bomber to launch the test missile, which would have flown 20-30 seconds at Mach 4 to 8 over 30-40 km before crash landing. The booster on the test missile would have been based on the Russian Raduga AS4 missile.

The Tu-22 is also known as Backfire bomber.

Lea is a “French R&T effort for hypersonic air-breathing propulsion … focusing on needed technologies for the propulsion system and acquisition of aero-propulsive balance prediction capability,” the note said.

While much of the work on Lea could be conducted in combustion chambers on the ground to test “performance and thermo-mechanical strength,” a flight experimental program (was) “a mandatory step towards future operational developments,” the note said. The flight test program started in January 2003 and had been due to end in 2015, after four flight tests flying between Mach 4 and 8.

Another Onera display was a Simagaz infrared camera for multi-spectral gas detection, mounted as a one-kilogram payload on a UAV. The research agency has three prototypes of the gas detector.

The camera sees gas emissions in four IR spectral bands and uses software to give an overall image in color. Onera developed the software, and worked with IR camera specialist Noxant, oil company Total, as well as Lynred, a specialist on infrared technology, and Bertin Technologies, a high tech company.

A military application would be to detect gas weapons, while civil companies such as Total could detect gas leaks. The IR camera, which can be fitted to any commercial UAV, is at technology readiness level 5-6, and calls for a further two to five years of development, an Onera official said.

Primagaz is one of 18 high tech projects Onera is backing with partners Ecole Polytechnique, SATT, and Starburst in the Blast campaign. The Blast program offers support to companies working on high tech projects for aviation, defense, space, and enabling technology. BPI France, a state-owned investment bank, also supports the campaign.

Ecole Polytechnique is an élite university, whose students in uniform marched  in the military parade on the Champs Elysées on the July 14 Bastille Day celebration. SATT seeks to help university researchers find a market for technology, and Starburst helps business start-ups find financial backers.

Exercise Sea Explorer

Exercise Sea Explorer is the 2nd of 3 exercises in the annual Sea Series to hone and certify Australia’s Amphibious Forces.

The first exercise, Sea Horizon, was a planning exercise in preparation for the subsequent Sea Explorer and Raider exercises.

During Exercise Sea Explorer, almost 1800 soldiers, sailors and aviators aboard HMAS’ Canberra and Choules practiced amphibious landings of soldiers, vehicles and equipment onto Cowley Beach in North-eastern Queensland from 2-15 June, 2021.

Ch-53K Egress Training

U.S. Marines with Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, participate in egress training in the CH-53K “King Stallion” at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, April 28, 2021.

Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 (VMX) is training Marines on the CH-53K to improve proficiency and familiarize all elements of the Marine Expeditionary Force with the aircraft.

The CH-53K will be considered the most powerful helicopter in the Department of Defense and is scheduled to completely replace the CH-53E Super Stallion by 2030.

MCAS NEW RIVER, NC.

04.28.2021

Video by Sgt. Mikayla Perez 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing

Carter Hall Conducts Flight Operations

07/21/2021

ARABIAN GULF (July 10, 2021) Sailors assigned to the Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) chock and chain a UH-1Y Huey, attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 162 (Reinforced), during flight operations in the Arabian Gulf, July 10, 2021.

Carter Hall is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and Pacific through the western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Sawyer Connally)

 

Summer Fury 21: 3rd Marine Air Wing Works Maritime Strikes

by 1st Lt. Charles Allen

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – (July 7, 2021) Marines with 3rd Marine
Aircraft Wing begin Exercise Summer Fury 21 with a long-range maritime strike off the coast of
Washington. Summer Fury is the largest Marine aviation exercise on the West Coast, and provides 3rd  MAW opportunity to improve warfighter readiness in support of a Marine Expeditionary Force maritime  campaign.

From July 7 to July 9, 3rd MAW will execute a long-range maritime strike against a simulated enemy  naval surface combatant. With the support of the Port of Moses Lake, 3rd MAW will demonstrate its capability to conduct fixed-wing strike operations with F/A-18C Hornets and F-35B Lighting IIs against adversarial naval combatants in a distributed, maritime environment.

“The Summer Fury long-range strike is an opportunity for 3rd MAW to execute a maritime strike against  an enemy surface combatant while being supported by an aerial-delivered forward arming and refueling  point,” said Lt. Col. Duncan A. French, 3rd MAW lead operations planner. “The concepts and tasks  inherent in this mission are critical to the success of a fight against a peer adversary.”

3rd MAW, with a combination of organic aircraft and joint enablers, will conduct Summer Fury from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Kirtland Air Force Base, and  surrounding key locations along the western United States.

This exercise will showcase the aviation combat power of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and all its  functions,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, 3rd MAW commanding general. “You will see  expeditionary naval combat power across a wide range of terrain and combat scenarios. From  sophisticated communications systems to expeditionary basing to the decisive power of 5th generation  platforms, our leading-edge tactics and capabilities are honed to a fine edge. Make no mistake about it,  3rd MAW is ready to fight and win- whenever and wherever that fight takes us.”

Summer Fury 21 will continue until July 30, during which 3rd MAW squadrons will execute additional  missions, including support of advanced naval bases and anti-air warfare, culminating in a missile shoot,  all while maintaining a variety of distributed command and control centers.

3rd MAW continues to “Fix, Fly and Fight” as the Marine Corps’ largest aircraft wing, and remains  combat-ready, deployable on short notice, and lethal when called into action.

This article was published by 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing on July 8, 2021.

An Update on the Coming of the CMV-22B to the Fleet: July 2021

07/20/2021

By Robbin Laird

Recently, I had a chance to talk with Captain Dewon “Chainsaw” Chaney, the Commander of COMVRMWING (or Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Wing).

My last conversation was in April of this year, and the first one last year.

With the CMV-22B to be first deployed on the USS Carl Vinson later this year, the pairing of the F-35C with the CMV-22B providing a significant upgrade to the air wing onboard the carrier is close to becoming a reality.

According to Captain Chaney, “operational test requirements for the CMV-22B are almost complete.”

And they are on track for deployment with the Vinson.

We then discussed the challenge for the flight deck personnel in preparing for the CMV-22B.

Unlike the C-2, the new aircraft is not a catapult aircraft, and we discussed how the flight deck personnel are adjusting to the coming of the Osprey to the flight deck.

Captain Chaney noted that the major adjustment was to being prepared for the downwash generated by the landing of the Osprey on the flight deck.

“Because of the downwash created by a helicopter, some similar things happen when a V-22 lands.

“That requires canopy disciplines, panel disciplines, in terms not having have open panels, and any loose gear on the deck as the Osprey comes in.

“That’s the biggest mindset shift for the flight deck personnel.”

In the scheme of things, the Navy’s Osprey then is not providing unknown challenges for flight deck operations.

And because the aircraft can land day or night, it comes, and it goes. It is not anticipated to be spending its time on the flight deck in any case.

This reaches into the maintenance side of the equation as well.

The vast majority of maintenance will be done ashore at Navy maintenance facilities.

Indeed, “Chainsaw” had just returned from an overseas trip working with ashore installations and personnel to prepare for the coming of the Navy’s Osprey.

I did suggest that the commonality between the USMC and U.S. Navy’s Ospreys provided some options for how to manage at sea maintenance as well.

For example, I was struck when onboard the LHA-6 class how the Osprey can be maintained below the flight deck. Although the Navy has not yet focused on this idea, it clearly could be done, notably as the focus on wider fleet operations encompassing the amphibious fleet gets worked.

As Captain Chaney noted: “There is much in common between the two Osprey variants.

“Structurally, there are not many parts different between the two variants.

“The biggest difference between the two variants are the fuel cells.

“The fuel cells on the Navy’s version are larger and thus require different parts.”

“Chainsaw” did note that because the preparation for deployment onboard the Vinson was being worked off the coast of Southern California, there were lessons yet to be learned in the challenging waters of the wider Pacific.

“You have to remember that most of the training has happened off of the coast of Southern California.

“There really hasn’t been a lot of bad weather or pitching and rolling decks.

“But I don’t anticipate that with all of the years of Osprey experience under the Marine Corps and Navy’s belt that these challenges are show stoppers.”

Having spent significant time at the Navy’s air warfare center or NAWDC, I asked “Chainsaw” where he thought the Osprey would fit in.

It must be remembered that NAWDC is in transition as the Navy works the broader blue water fleet combat operations.

With the new non-N programs, MISRs and dynamic targeting, how would an Osprey affect fleet operations?

According to “Chainsaw,” the CMV-22B and its impact on the fleet and NAWDC are cleverly works in progress.

He believed that the aircraft would be slotted into the rotary wing segment of NAWDC initially.

But the Osprey is anything but a rotorcraft and here Captain Chaney noted that the coming of the Osprey provided a significant opportunity for innovation for both the fleet and NAWDC.

With the Osprey TTP development at NAWDC, it will significantly impact fixed and rotorcraft thinking about the current force and the future force.

In other words, it is part of what I have referred earlier as the integratable air wing, or as the air wing gets new platforms, it is expanding options, not simply adding replacement aircraft to current wing or carrier ops.

It is part of the template for change for the Navy’s tiltrotor and rotorcraft communities.

Operating in concert with the CMV-22B will help the Navy’s rotorcraft community reshape their template to get better now and to prepare for the future more effectively.

A final issue we discussed was the way ahead for the CMV-22B within the fleet.

Numbers of aircraft are an issue as the Navy has to train their maintainers and to be able to have aircraft involved air wing transformation in places like NAWDC.

I have focused in other articles on ways the CMV-22B could support wider fleet operations, as it does not need to land only on carriers enabled with special launch and recovery systems.

As “Chainsaw” put it: “The Osprey provides flexible options for austere support.

“I think we’re going to need that as we look toward the future and where we’re potentially going to operate, where we may be forced to operate, depending on the evolving combat situation.”

CMV22B Carrier Ops from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.

02.10.2021

Video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Josiah Kunkle
USS Carl Vinson

Sailors assigned to Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and Carrier Air Wing TWO conduct flight operations with the CMV-22B Osprey from the “Titans” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30.

Featured Photo: A Navy CMV-22B Osprey from the “Titans” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30 fuels a MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter, assigned to the “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 4, stationed in San Diego. The CMV-22B is the U.S. Navy version of the Osprey, a multi-engine, dual-piloted, self-deployable, medium lift, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) tilt-rotor aircraft. The Air Delivered Ground Refueling (ADGR) evolution was a first for HSC 4, en route to Naval Air Station Fallon. Air Wing Fallon is part of the predeployment training cycle for Navy’s carrier air wings. HSC-4, along with VFA-2, VFA-192, VFA-113, VFA-147, VAQ-136, VAW-113, and HSM-78 comprise CVW-2 and are detached to NAS Fallon in order to sharpen their warfighting readiness through a rigorous 5-week curriculum. The training conducted during Air Wing Fallon drives air wing integration and ensures that all CVW-2 squadrons are ready to conduct the full range of military operations when they deploy later this year. HSC 4 provides vertical lift search and rescue, logistics, anti-surface warfare, special operations forces support, and combat search and rescue capabilities.

EL CENTRO, CA, UNITED STATES

03.27.2021

Photo by Chief Petty Officer Shannon Renfroe 

Navy Public Affairs Support Element West

Also, see the following:

The Way Ahead for the CMV-22B: The Integratable Air Wing and the USS Carl Vinson

The CMV-22B Comes to the Large Deck Carrier

The Coming of CMV-22B to the Fleet: Next Steps

 

First Patriot Missile Launch in Australia

US military personnel completed the first ever Patriot surface-to-air missile firing on Australian soil at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021(TS21).

Held every two-years. TS21 is the largest bilateral training activity between Australia and the United States, and is aimed at testing Australian interoperability with the United States and other participating forces in complex warfighting scenarios.

In addition to the United States, this year’s exercise involves participating forces from Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The exercise includes a Field Training Exercise incorporating force preparation (logistic) activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, urban operations, air combat and maritime operations.

Activities will peak from 18 – 31 July across Queensland.

Sea Breeze Insert 2

07/19/2021

Bulgarian Special Operators prepare to repel from a U.S. Air Force CV-22B Osprey assigned to the 352d Special Operations Wing during a fast-rope insertion and extraction exercise during operation Sea Breeze 21 at Ochakiv, Ukraine, June 29, 2021.

This is the 21st iteration of the exercise which is an annual Ukraine and U.S. co-hosted multinational maritime exercise held in the Black Sea region and is designed to enhance interoperability of participating nations, strengthening maritime security in support of stability within the region. (U.S. Air Force video by Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Nelson)