By B.C. Kessner
Delays in the production and delivery of the still-contested KC-X Tanker could lead to service life extension of the KC-135 and the introduction of Northrop Grumman‘s [NOC] Directional Infrared Counter Measure (DIRCM) as a way to protect the KC-135s from modern surface-to-air missiles, the company said Monday.
“The Air National Guard is looking at using that [DIRCM] pod for installation on KC-135,” Jack Pledger, Northrop Grumman’s IRCM business development director, said during a press briefing at the Air Force annual conference at National Harbor. Once that program is approved, the system could be ready to fly on routine Air National Guard refueling missions later this year, he added.
The fizzled next-generation tanker program had requirements to include LAIRCM, one of DIRCM’s many pseudonyms, Pledger said. If the older tankers have to maintain their mission longer into the future, and given the proliferation of man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADs, DIRCM could provide an economical, proven solution for protecting these assets, and more importantly, their aircrews, he added.
After a single MANPAD downed a DHL transport aircraft departing Baghdad in November 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated a program looking at protecting civilian aircraft with countermeasure systems.
Northrop Grumman put into a single pod all of the federated components typically found on laser-based IRCM-equipped military aircraft. From 2007-2008 the DIRCM pods– commercially known as Guardian–accumulated 22,000 hours of flight time aboard 11 different FedEx jets, proving they could integrate easily into commercial airframes and operations without causing problems, Pledger said.
“We found that technicians could install or remove the pod in less than 10 minutes once the aircraft had been modified to include hard points for attachment,” he said.
Although results were good and a lot of data was collected that could be used for future applications, DHS has not moved forward with the program after tests ended last year.
In preparation for KC-135 tests, the company has done flow fill testing and work with mock-ups on the ground to demonstrate that the pod should not interfere with refueling equipment and activities. Once Air Mobility Command approves the project, there would be aircraft modifications and additional tests to make sure the pod was not creating any airflows that could generate a problem, Pledger said. “And, within a few days we would be ready to fly,” he added.
“The pod is ready to go, the kit has been manufactured to go on an airplane and the Guard Bureau is ready to move out,” Pledger said.
The stand-alone directional system focuses a very narrow beam, in DIRCM’s case a laser, into the seeker of an inbound surface-to-air missile. It is a complete system in that it can detect possible threats, track and verify threats as targets, and initiate laser jamming across the full IR spectrum used by seekers. This is all done autonomously within 2-3 seconds from the firing of the missile, Pledger said.
Similar systems have been operational since 1999, and lasers were incorporated and used successfully in combat since 2003. It can be tailored for a wide variety of aircraft, from small, single engine helicopters to the largest multi-engine transports.
It is a capability being sought by the Army and other operators of small rotary-wing aircraft, Pledger said. Because of the high numbers of aircraft, the cost of a self- protection suite has to remain low. These aircraft also have limited ability to carry extra weight and little to spare in terms of power to operate such systems. “But they are particularly vulnerable because they routinely operate in the MANPAD’s [lower altitude] sweet spot,” Pledger said.
There are several programs and initiatives underway, including the CDAS technology demonstration program in the United Kingdom, and the Common IR Countermeasures (CIRCM) program with the U.S. Army.
Competitive prototyping is underway and requests for proposals are expected from the Army for CIRCM in December, with full development in 2010, Pledger said. While the Army has the lead, the system could also meet the needs of the Navy and Marine Corps, he added.
There have been inquiries on the possibility of fitting the pod on A-10 aircraft as well, Pledger said.
All programs are being designed to accommodate spirals, or upgrades to keep the system relevant as future threats evolve, he added. The company is thinking about the next- generation of the laser, but Pledger was unable to comment further on that.
There is also the possibility of combining DIRCM with a host of subsystems including radar, radio frequency jammers, and forward looking infrared (FLIR) into a common integrated situational awareness suite. So far, there is not a program to support such and effort, but Pledger is convinced that there will be.
For now, provided the KC-135 test gets approved and works as planned, the company is assuming that a program to protect the venerable tankers will follow.