Page 46 - Australian Defence Mag Jul-Aug 2020

46 WEAPONS 5TH GEN
JULY/AUGUST 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
The next major stand-alone weapons project will be a mar- itime strike weapon under Air 3023 Phase 1, which will also deliver in the 2023-2024 timeframe. While not an approved program at the present time, a lot of thought is being given to which weapon, or mix of weapons, will best suit ADF require- ments. One manifestation of this thinking is the recent US Defense Security Co-operation Agency notification of US Gov- ernment approval for potential acquisition of the JASSM-based Lockheed Martin AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), which is one contender for the requirement.
BELOW: PThe Israeli Air Force uses the SPICE 1000 (pictured) and SPICE 2000 smart weapons on its F-15 and F-16 fleets and is now operational testing the SPICE 250, which are specifically designed for operations in GPS denied or degraded environments.
capability and other Advanced Growler features, such as an enhanced anti-radiation missile are also likely to fea- ture on the RAAF’s shopping list in the future. Against this latter requirement, Northrop Grumman is develop- ing an enhanced AARGM-ER (Extended Range) for the US Navy and is one future possibility for the RAAF also.
HYPERSONICS
Peering into the crystal ball even deeper, emerging and ma- turing technologies, such as hypersonics and artificial intel- ligence have potential to transform weapons systems as we understand them today. Hypersonics is one of the major de- velopments around the world and the US hypersonics weap- ons program may be what President Donald Trump recently referred to as a ‘super-duper’ weapon under development.
“Certainly, one of the things we’re keen on is increased range, or stand-off capability and that will also go with an in- crease in speed. The maturity of hypersonics technology is something we’re watching very closely and, if you look at other trends in warfare – for example swarming capability, network- ing, artificial intelligence and configurable warheads – that’s clearly where weapons are headed,” AIRCDRE Maso added.
“I think we’ll see weapons becoming much smarter, they will have to operate at a distance from the launch platform just because of the way threats are evolving. That will play out over the next few years, as many of those technologies mature. We’re going to see a step-change in weapons over the next few years and the options available to us will open
“We want to move ahead and find weapons that are rele- vant for at least the next decade,” AIRC- DRE Maso explained. “We would not have asked the US Government (about LRASM) if we weren’t interested in it, but the actual decision is one for the
“I THINK WE’LL SEE WEAPONS BECOMING MUCH SMARTER, THEY WILL HAVE TO OPERATE AT A DISTANCE FROM THE LAUNCH PLATFORM JUST BECAUSE OF THE WAY THREATS ARE EVOLVING.”
Australian Government to make.” Australia has also shown interested in the Raytheon Joint Strike Missile, de- veloped for the F-35 in partnership with Kongsberg Defence Systems of Norway and expected to complete testing in the 2023-2024 period. Australia signed an agreement with the Norwegian Minis- try of Defence at the Avalon Airshow in February 2015 to co-operate in develop- ment of the missile, and BAE Systems Australia contracted at the same time to develop a passive radar frequency sensor
to complement JSM’s infra-red seeker.
Further beyond Air 3023 the Growler Block II (Ad-
vanced Growler) will add additional capabilities to US Navy aircraft and, if Australia is to remain in lockstep, these could also flow through to RAAF Growlers. Aus- tralia is also a co-operative partner in the mid-band and low-band elements of Next Generation Jammer
RAFAEL