Modern Infantry Equipment Updates

[Kunal Biswas]

Intelligent Mortar Rounds.

[h=1]STRIX Intelligent mortar system.[/h]

Projectile guidance technology has already been used since 1994 in 120 mm mortars, with the IR homing Bofors/Saab Strix. This weapon can engage targets at a range of 7 km, operates in an autonomous heat-seeking mode which can intelligibly recognize targets and discriminate targets among decoys and burning targets. Strix has been in service with the Swedish Army since 1994 and also has been ordered by the Swiss Army. It is optimized as an anti-armor weapon, defeating targets with top-attack.




Hmm.. Who uses mortar ?

Infantry ! 8)

 

[Zebra]

@ KB ,

kindly share your views about mortar boats .

the thread : Mortar Systems . (Military Multimedia)

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

The Saab Bofors Dynamics STRIX is a Swedish guided projectile fired from a 120 mm mortar.

STRIX is fired like a conventional mortar round. The round contains an infrared sensor that it uses to guide itself onto any tank or armoured fighting vehicle in the vicinity where it lands.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

[h=1]MONAX (MONAX)[/h] [h=2]4G Wireless to the Tactical Edge[/h]
MONAX is a powerful, new communications system that combines the convenience of smartphone technology with the power and flexibility of a secure, highly portable infrastructure. MONAX gives our nation's warfighters the convenient and immediate communication capability they need to achieve mission success.


The 4G wireless system, consists of a unique portable MONAX Lynx sleeve that connects touch-screen COTS smartphones to the MONAX XG Base Station infrastructure on the ground or in airborne platforms, offering uninterrupted service to warfighters in the field.


This COTS based, smartphone enabling interface operates anywhere in theater. MONAX uses a secure RF Link, protected through strong exportable encryption enabling the transfer of pertinent and sensitive information with speed and ease. With improved, flexible range and penetration delivering superior link performance in voice, video and data transmission, MONAX ensures that the information soldiers need at "the first tactical mile" is only one click away.


MONAX offers a rich set of applications and governance, leveraging commercial smartphone application development and application store model. Applications can be easily written or re-hosted on a smartphone, reviewed/approved for mission effectiveness, hosted in a 24x7 app store and made available to the warfighter.





Lockheed Martin IS&GS

 

[Kunal Biswas]

IAI developed something similar.

Fireball - Precision Mortar Munition

Fireball is a laser homing 120/121mm mortar bomb, (the system also fits into a 81mm mortar bomb diameter). It is designed for first-shot, first hit capability and can be used with rifled or smooth bore tubes.​

Firing the Fireball requires no ranging, as the weapon uses a unique guidance method that provides course adjustment by gliding, extending range capability. The bomb to detects the target as it glides to the laser detection "basket", by GPS navigation, where it acquires the target and diving for the kill. The target's GPS location is fed to the bomb before launch and provides for improved hit accuracy over standard mortar bombs, when laser designation is not available. With laser designation, the bomb can reach an accuracy of 1 meter CEP or less, attacking stationary or moving targets. Fireball uses various warhead fusing options - fragmentation, against soft targets, percussion against armor and penetration type for defeating bunkers and targets inside buildings. The weapon is designed to score a single-shot target kill in urban environment, utilizing a steep trajectory minimizing collateral damage. Due to the unique aerodynamic design, Fireball has almost twice the range of conventional mortar bombs, (up to 15 km).

The system is currently in development stage. All its critical components have already been tested under high G loading and actual mortar firing. further system tests are planned soon. A variant of the Fireball is also considered for tube artillery (152, 155mm).

Fireball - Precision Mortar Munition​

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Bhadra]

Kunal,
Strixs in Mor is a very old name existing for last 30 years with good technologies but not much in business. The problem is who will blow up their purse in firing 122m or 81 mm when the same can be done cheaper by mainstay field arty pieces.

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Kunal,
Strixs in Mor is a very old name existing for last 30 years with good technologies but not much in business. The problem is who will blow up their purse in firing 122m or 81 mm when the same can be done cheaper by mainstay field arty pieces.

Field Arty or Mortar rounds are not guided, hitting tanks with precision with regular rounds in indirect fire have very less probability which is close to zero in most cases, this is where Strixs and Bonus rounds are effective..

Infantry stays every where if not arty and Mortars are part of Infantry, A 120mm / 81mm Anti tank round hitting enemy tanks or Support Vehicles silently is a very powerful capability and a horror for enemy, Mortar deployment can be anywhere and its lot portable just like infantry..

 

[Kunal Biswas]

 

[Kunal Biswas]

M395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM)

M395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM) is under development at ATK. The weapon will provide the tactical commander with 'surgical' strike capability, to destroy high value / high risk targets. The new bomb retains the dimensions and logistics of standard 120mm bombs. The PGMM projectile flies ballistically to a laser-designated target, maneuvers in flight, and delivers its warhead for maximum effectiveness while minimizing collateral damage. Its modular design allows enhancements to meet future combat soldier requirements in range and lethality. For guidance it uses quadruple laser sensors, located at four slotted windows around. Once a laser spot illuminated the target is detected, miniature charges attached around the bomb's outer skin are activated to adjust the bomb's trajectory to accurately hit the target. ATK also utilized the advanced MOFA fuse to achieve optimal terminal effect when defeating bunkers and built-up targets.

Using such munitions could increase the future effective range from 0.5 up to 15km. PGMM will not use rocket assistance for range enhancement, but utilize aerodynamic surfaces for the mid-course gliding. On the terminal phase, a semi-active laser homing seeker acquires the target and guide the munition to impact. Initial productions of the PGMM will be equipped with semi-active laser seekers, and be capable of a range of 7.5 km.

Follow-on systems could have optional thermal imager, and extended range capability, as well as more choices for fuzes and warheads. The IR seeker will detect and classify targets, process the information automatically into navigation (GPS), guidance and control subsystems to ensure first-hit-on-target. A self-destruct mechanism eliminates the collateral damage from duds, for advancing troops.


PGMM Passes PDR

By early January 2006 ATK and the U.S. Army have successfully completed the preliminary design review (PDR) of the Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM). The PDR is one of several milestones in the program launched in late 2004. The next milestone is the critical design review in 2006. According to the schedule, low rate initial production is to begin in 2008, leading to the fielding of the new munition by 2010. The Army is considering an earlier fielding date of 2009 given success in system demonstrations planned for 2006-07.

PGMM will give U.S. soldiers unmatched precision capability in a standard 120mm mortar. Launched from the currently-fielded 120mm mortar tube, PGMM will fly in excess of seven kilometers and hit its target with one meter accuracy. "PGMM will give the maneuver commander his own multipurpose indirect fire precision strike munition. This highly affordable munition will quickly eliminate high value targets without causing collateral damage," said LTC (P) Andre Kirnes, Product Manager for Mortar Systems.


XM395 PGMM precision mortar munition

 

[Kunal Biswas]

World famous assault rifle makers Izhmash and Israeli Weapons Industries (IWI) have introduced new variants to their legendary rifles within months of one another. Izhmash's Kalashnikov and IWI's Uzi are the favorite weapons of dismounted soldiers and special forces.


The IWI, after 56 years introduced the Uzi Pro sub-machine gun in November 2011 while two months later Izhmash introduced the latest addition to the Kalashnikov family, the AK-12.

Introduced in January, Izhmash's fifth generation rifle was designed to replace the ageing AK-74. The new variant is equipped with Picatinny rails to mount optical, and night sights, grenade launchers, target indicators and other special equipment. It also has three firing modes: single shot, three-shot burst and automatic fire and is designed to be used by both left-handed and right-handed people, and can be easily handled with one hand - the most significant change from its predecessors.

The Russian Defense Ministry hasn't shown as much interest, ordering only 100 rifles to be tested in-house.

Meanwhile, its competitor the Uzi Pro has met with better reviews since its introduction, the original Uzi, the Pro uses a 9-mm caliber. Styled after the Tavor, the latest variant works with or without a silencer, and the bottom-half of the gun is made out of polymer to reduce weight. It retains the same blowback operated, closed bolt, select-fire action but with side-mounted bolt handle, and the most important change is the replacement of the older stamped steel trigger housing with more lightweight polymer pistol grip / trigger housing unit of more ergonomic shape.

Like the AK-12, the Uzi Pro is designed for ambidextrous individuals and was improved on using modern ergonomic design.

Past sales -- Some 5 million the AK-74 rifles have been built since the 1970's with unlicensed copies produced in Bulgaria, East Germany and Romania. Besides former Soviet republics and eastern European countries, Mongolia, North Korean Special Forces, and Vietnamese People's Naval infantry use AK-74s.

The Uzi, however, is twice as popular with over 10 million rifles currently in use in over 90 countries including India, France, Somalia, Iran, Israel and Zimbabwe among others.

Online Reaction -- While weapons enthusiasts who've eagerly awaited the AK-12 agree that it possesses all the features of a western assault rifle, they have termed the latest Kalashnikov rifle "ugly". The firearmblog.com which details both rifles has its report on the AK-12 called the rifle "downright ugly".

Meanwhile, the Uzi Pro has met with a more subdued reaction from the online community.


http://www.defenseworld.net/go/defensenews.jsp?catid=18&id=6623

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Extreme Accuracy Tactical Ordnance

Exacto' for ' Extreme Accuracy Tactical Ordnance ' is a guided 12.7mm (0.5"³) projectile under development by DARPA. The program objective is to demonstrate how rifle accuracy and range can be extended by using guided small caliber projectiles. The program focuses on the .50 caliber round, fired by current 'anti material' rifles (like the Barret), equipped with an optical sight and control systems that will more than double the range over current sniper systems, while allowing the sniper to prosecute moving targets even in high wind conditions – a capability unavailable with today's weapons.

The system will be able to guide a maneuverable projectile through its flight, as the shooter continues to track the target, delivering guidance corrections to the projectile. Once such capability is matured, Exacto will not be limited to sniper rifles, but could also be employed with vehicle or ship mounted weapon stations, as well as airborne automatic cannons, including 0.5 machine guns or 20mm cannons, that, for the first time, could yield extremely accurate fire from long distance.

The program recently completed its first phase by achieving a successful proof of concept with a high fidelity hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation. Currently at Phase II, under a $25 million contract, Teledyne Scientific & Imaging will build and test a complete system, including the optical sight, guidance system and guided .50 caliber projectiles, to be tested in actual firing by 2012.

The U.S. military has been after guided bullets for years. Now, government researchers have finally made it happen: A bullet that can navigate itself a full mile before successfully nailing its target.The breakthrough comes courtesy of engineers at Sandia National Laboratory, who've successfully tested a prototype of the bullet at distances up to 2,000 meters — more than a mile. The photo above is an actual image taken during one of those tests. A light-emitting diode was attached to the bullet, showing the amazing pathway that the munition made through the night sky.Each self-guided bullet is around four inches in length. At the tip is an optical sensor, that can detect a laser beam being shone on a far-off target. Actuators inside the bullet get intel from the bullet's sensor, and then "steer tiny fins that guide the bullet to the target." The bullet can self-correct its navigational path 30 times a second, all while flying more than twice the speed of sound.

The bullet contains an optical sensor, CPU, battery and electromagnetic actuated fins. It is able to track laser designated targets out to 2,000 meters.The CPU tracks laser designed targets using the optical sensor in the nose and can make changes to its flight as often as 30 times per second....Computer simulations indicate that the bullet could theoretically get within 8" of a target at 2,000 meters.

EXACTO - Effective Sniper Fire at 2500 m' | Defense Update

 

[jackhammer2]

@Kunal sir What was so great about the Vest it just gives NIJ Level IIIA protection I mean there are many Indian made vest which gives even more protection with comfort????

 

[Kunal Biswas]

@Kunal sir What was so great about the Vest it just gives NIJ Level IIIA protection I mean there are many Indian made vest which gives even more protection with comfort????

The Protection level have nothing to do with the deign of vest but the plates inserted..

The reason i admire this vest coz of its deign, you can have all the needed stuff in it with the plates still its compact and not big which restrict your flexibility...

 

[Kunal Biswas]

[h=2]Saab Unveils Amazing 'Magic Maps' for Military [/h]
FoxNews.com can exclusively reveal this never-before-seen military technology, which can create an incredibly detailed and accurate 3D map of a battlefield and -- with the help of footage from a nearby drone as an overlay -- provide real-time information on the war zone. These maps are "geo-referenced," meaning they incorporate latitude, longitude and height, and they're accurate to within an amazing four inches.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...ry/?test=faces

8)

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Read the article posted above or read this:
Rapid 3D Mapping - Generation of highly detailed aerial 3D maps

 

[Kunal Biswas]

On-Demand Satellite Imagery Envisioned for Frontline Warfighters

March 12, 2012

DARPA seeks expertise from mobile phone, medical pneumatics, industrial machinery, optics and automobile racing communities to build inexpensive, "disposable" satellites for timely overhead imagery

Today, the lowest echelon members of the U.S. military deployed in remote overseas locations are unable to obtain on-demand satellite imagery in a timely and persistent manner for pre-mission planning.

This is due to lack of satellite overflight opportunities, inability to receive direct satellite downlinks at the tactical level and information flow restrictions.

DARPA's SeeMe program (Space Enabled Effects for Military Engagements) aims to give mobile individual US warfighters access to on-demand, space-based tactical information in remote and beyond- line-of-sight conditions.




If successful, SeeMe will provide small squads and individual teams the ability to receive timely imagery of their specific overseas location directly from a small satellite with the press of a button — something that's currently not possible from military or commercial satellites.



"We envision a constellation of small satellites, at a fraction of the cost of airborne systems, that would allow deployed warfighters overseas to hit 'see me' on existing handheld devices and in less than 90 minutes receive a satellite image of their precise location to aid in mission planning," said Dave Barnhart, DARPA program manager. "To create inexpensive, easily manufacturable small satellites costing $500K apiece will require leveraging existing non-traditional aerospace off-the-shelf technologies for rapid manufacturing, such as the mobile phone industry's original design manufacturers, as well as developing advanced technologies for optics, power, propulsion and communications to keep size and weight down."

DARPA hosts a Proposers' Day on Mar. 27. The following technology areas and non-traditional space communities are sought for the SeeMe program:

* Rapid, low-cost manufacturing technologies (mobile phone industry original design manufacturers)
* Propulsion technology (automobile racing industry nitrous oxide high-pressure cold gas technology)
* Solid state components (industrial machinery electronics components)
* Valve technology (medical pneumatic valve industry)
* Advanced optics (developers of non-traditional RF membranes and visual apertures)


The SeeMe constellation may consist of some two-dozen satellites, each lasting 60-90 days in a very low-earth orbit before de-orbiting and completely burning up, leaving no space debris and causing no re-entry hazard.

The program may leverage DARPA's Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program, which is developing an aircraft-based satellite launch platform for payloads on the order of 100 lbs. ALASA seeks to provide low-cost, rapid launch of small satellites into any required orbit, a capability not possible today from fixed ground launch sites.

"SeeMe is a logical adjunct to UAV technology, which will continue to provide local or regional very high-resolution coverage, but which can't cover extended areas without frequent refueling," Barnhart said. "With a SeeMe constellation, we hope to directly support warfighters in multiple deployed overseas locations simultaneously with no logistics or maintenance costs beyond the warfighters' handhelds."

Interested proposers may view the Proposers' Day special notice here.



2012/03/12 ON-DEMAND SATELLITE IMAGERY ENVISIONED FOR FRONTLINE WARFIGHTERS

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Marines and Soldiers Are About to Get a Better Helmet

The Marine Corps and Army have tapped Ceradyne Inc., to make the first of the new Enhanced Combat Helmets, ending a five-year search for a brain bucket capable of stopping rifle rounds.

The Marines and Army have given the green light to Ceradyne to build 8,600 ECHs, which will be split between the services. Fielding won't begin until after the services approve the ECH for full-rate production, a decision scheduled for May, according to a recent press release.

The ECH is a protective helmet consisting of a ballistic protective shell, pad suspension system and four-point chinstrap/nape strap retention system. This helmet fully exploits the latest lightweight material technology, Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene materials, to provide increased small arms protection above what is currently provided by the Marine Corps Lightweight Helmet (LWH) and the Army Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH). This material provides a higher degree of ballistic protection than Kevlar and Twaron, fibers used in both the LWH and ACH. It also provides enhanced protection against fragments.

In 2007, the Army and Marine Corps began looking into how to make current helmets stronger without increasing weight. Both could withstand a direct hit from a 9mm pistol round and some bomb fragments, but senior officials in both services wanted improved protection against rifle shots.

The contract award comes after the Ceradyne ECH suffered failures in the First Article Test process early last year. I guess we'll have to trust that the problems were resolved. The Marines are expected to receive 38,500 helmets, while the Army will buy a total of 200,000 helmets. The Navy is expected to procure 6,700 helmets as well.

Read more: http://kitup.military.com/2012/03/marines-soldiers-helmet.html#ixzz1pV624jUQ
Kit Up!




We want this too..

 

[Ray]

We want this too..

Wanting and getting are two different things!

Just joking!