27-03-2010, 22:45
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מומחה לתעופה, תעופה צבאית, חלל ולווינות. חוקר בכיר במכון פישר
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חבר מתאריך: 02.07.05
הודעות: 11,676
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נורת'רופ גרומאן מפתחת חיישן א"א לזיהוי שיגורים, שיותקן על כטב"ם
בתגובה להודעה מספר 1 שנכתבה על ידי blancoynegro שמתחילה ב "גלובס: ישראל מבקשת לפתח מל"ט נושא חיישני אינפרא-אדום לזיהוי טילי אויב"
Northrop Pushes UAV-Based
Ground-Target Tracker
By BARBARA OPALL-ROME
— Northrop Grumman is pushing to demonstrate an unmanned, long-endurance ballistic missile surveillance system very similar to the Israeli UAV-mounted infrared sensor, but its UAV-mounted proposal has languished for more than two years as an unresolved agenda item for future
U.S.-Israeli cooperation. Based on the company’s Global Hawk UAV, the proposed Air Borne Infra Red Surveillance (ABIRS) System aims to
introduce a flexible, responsive, high altitude layer to the myriad land-, sea-,
air- and space-based sensors that support national and regional missile
defense requirements. Presented publicly in February at a European
missile defense conference in Prague, the Northrop concept puts a multispectral package of long-wave, mediumwave and visible-wave sensors onto the high-flying, long-endurance Global Hawk. In an abstract of his presentation in Prague, Northrop executive Randy Hall characterized ABIRS as “an affordable, inherently mobile, near-term capability … by generating multispectral sensor information and track data required for missile defense
battle actions, especially supporting ascent phase intercepts. ”Over the past two decades, detecting and discriminating warheads from decoys and debris is critical to enabling mid course intercepts,” Hall said. The planned Space Tracking Surveillance System (STSS) ultimately will provide such a capability but won’t become operational until 2019. The ABIRS-equipped Global Hawk provides an interim capability pending STSS deployment, he said, as well as additional missions in space situational awareness, technical intelligence and battle damage assessment. Northrop vice president and Global Hawk program manager Carl Johnson said the concept calls for four ABIRSequipped Global Hawks to be deployed in long-duration orbits, with the flexibility to move around the globe as threats evolve. Three such orbits, or a total of 12 ABIRS systems, could provide continuous 24-hour global coverage at safe standoff altitudes of above 60,000 feet. “We’ll have the flexibility to move around the globe and put the orbit where you think
the threat is evolving,” Johnson said. Johnson acknowledged the company’s
ABIRS proposal is not funded, but said funding provided in the Pentagon’s 2010 budget could support a prototype demonstration. Northrop executives said they will propose using NASA assets and their own Global Hawk production capabilities to conclude prototype demos by 2012.
Rival to Israeli-Proposed ABEWS? Israeli government and industry sources
said the Northrop-proposed ABIRS appears to be much more costly and ambitious than the Israeli-proposed UAV system under review at the Pentagon. Nevertheless, many here expressed concern that the U.S. option would reduce Israel’s chances of getting Missile Defense Agency (MDA) approval for multilayer funding of its Airborne Early Warning Sensor
(ABEWS) as part of the joint Arrow System Improvement Program.
“Our sensor package already exists, as does the Eitan [Heron TP] platform. But MDA might want us to use the American ABIRS sensor on our platform as a condition for funding,” an Israeli official said. When asked about the likelihood of Israel proceeding on the missile-sensing UAV without U.S. assistance, Uzi Rubin, a former director of the Israel Missile Defense
Organization, replied: “It seems reasonable to assume so, as this is a crucial
part of any future defense against the more sophisticated and evolving missile threat.
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