LRASM Overview.-

LRASM is an autonomous, precision-guided anti-ship standoff missile leveraging off of the successful JASSM-ER heritage, and is designed to meet the needs of U.S. Navy and Air Force warfighters. Armed with a penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead, LRASM cruises autonomously, day or night in all weather conditions. The missile employs a multi-modal sensor suite, weapon data link, and enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to detect and destroy specific targets within a group of numerous ships at sea.

Lockheed Martin is executing a LRASM contract, funded by DARPA and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), to demonstrate tactically-relevant prototypes of a next generation anti-surface warfare weapon that can be either air or surface launched. The long range capability of LRASM will enable target engagement from well outside the range of direct counter-fire weapons. LRASM will also employ active and passive survivability features to penetrate advanced integrated air defense systems. The combination of range, survivability and lethality ensures mission success. The LRASM is expected to enter into serial production in 2015.

LRASM technology will reduce dependence on ISR platforms, network links, and GPS navigation in aggressive electronic warfare environments. This autonomous capability means the weapon can use gross target cueing data to find and destroy its target in denied environments.



Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) prior to being loaded onto a B-1 Bomber June 12, 2013, at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.

The LRASM development programme was jointly initiated in 2008 by the DARPA and ONR, to penetrate more sophisticated air defence systems of enemies from long range. The development programme was planned in two phases; the study and design phase (phase one), and the demonstration phase (phase two). The nine month first phase of the project included the complete concept development, primary design, cost estimation and analytical support for the development. The 27-month second phase covers detailed design, critical design review (CDR), material procurement, fabrication, integration and testing.

DARPA/ONR selected three contractors for the LRASM development programme. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Strike Weapons located in Orland was selected for LRASM-A prototype demonstration. Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control Tactical Missiles, based in Grand Prairie, is responsible for LRASM-B prototype weapon system demonstration. BAE Systems, Information and Electronic Systems Integration, based in Nashua, was selected for the design and development of onboard sensor systems.

Each division of Lockheed Martin was awarded a $9.7m study contract by DARPA, for the design of the LRASM, in 2009. Lockheed Martin was also awarded two demonstration phase contracts, totalling $218m, in January 2011. The first $60.3m contract received by the Lockheed Martin LRASM-A team involves the execution of two air-launched demonstrations, while the $157.7m second contract awarded to LRASM-B team includes four Vertical Launch System (VLS) demonstrations of LRASM for the US Navy.

Unlike current anti-ship missiles the LRASM will be capable of conducting autonomous targeting, relying on on-board targeting systems to independently acquire the target without the presence of prior, precision intelligence, or supporting services like Global Positioning Satellite navigation and data-links.

Lockheed Martin conducted the first captive carry flight test of LRASM at various altitudes and speeds in July 2012. The flight test was conducted to find the LRASM's ability to detect, classify and recognise targets.

In March 2013, DARPA awarded a $71m modification contract to Lockheed Martin for conducting additional air-launched LRASM flight test from a B-1B Lancer. Under the contract, the company also provides risk reduction efforts to test the electromagnetic compatibility of the missile and follow-on captive carry sensor suite missions.

The LRASM programme was initially focused on the development of two variants, the LRASM-A and LRASM-B. The LRASM-A was designed based on Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) airframe, and included added sensors and systems. The LRASM-B was designed for high-altitude and supersonic speed over stealthy penetration. The LRASM-B development was, however, cancelled by DARPA in 2012.

B-1 test squadron demonstrates anti-ship missile.

The LRASM is designed to be launched by Mark 41 Vertical Launch System aboard most of the US Navy vessels and fixed wing aircraft. It can be fired from outside direct counter-fire ranges with maximum possibility of target hit. The LRASM is designed to carry a 1,000lb penetrating blast fragmentation warhead. The self-directed sensing, advanced signature control and dynamic response features allow the missile to approach targets, while defeating air defence systems.

The LRASM is equipped with a multimodal radio-frequency sensor suite for detecting targets. It includes a weapon data link for better communication with operators, and an improved digital anti-jam global positioning system to discover and destruct multiple specific targets. An electro-optical seeker installed in the missile provides positive object recognition and accurate targeting during the terminal phase of flight. The on-board targeting systems installed on the LRASM help the missile autonomously obtain the target without the support of prior, precision intelligence, or other supporting services.

The LRASM is slightly modified from the original JASSM-ER to incorporate a multimode "radio frequency" sensor. The LRASM also incorporates a new weapon datalink, an altimeter and an uprated power system. However, it is largely the same weapon system as the JASSM-ER, with no other changes to the airframe or outer mould line. For the anti-ship role, the weapon can either be cued by the launch platform or receive updates via its datalink. But even if the weapon is only given a general area in which to find its quarry, its onboard sensors will be able to locate and attack an enemy warship. To defeat the increasingly sophisticated air defences of modern warships, the LRASM will fly towards its target at medium altitude, before dropping down to low altitude to act as a sea-skimming stealth cruise missile during the terminal phase of the engagement. The JASSM-ER has a range of more than 500nm (925km), but publicly DARPA will only say the LRASM has a range greater than 200nm.

This year, DARPA and the ONR will conduct test flights of instrumented versions of the new weapon from the B-1. In 2014, the programme will also conduct vertical launches from the Mk 41 vertical launch system found on US Navy warships such as Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers, from a so-called "desert ship" at the White Sands missile range in New Mexico. For the surface launch capability the weapon is slightly modified to incorporate a jettisonable Mk 114 rocket booster on the tail-end of the missile. Once the rocket boosts the weapon up to medium altitude, the surface-launched LRASM will operate like an air-launched version. Lockheed has also explored concepts for a submarine-launched variant of the LRASM but the first priority is the air-launched weapon, followed by the surface-launched variant.

The Martin Ocean Transports.-

The Martin M-130 was a commercial flying boat designed and built in 1935 by the Glenn L. Martin Company in Baltimore, Maryland, for Pan American Airways. Only three M-130s were built: the China Clipper, the Philippine Clipper and the Hawaii Clipper. A fourth flying boat (designated as M-156) called the Russian Clipper was built for the Soviet Union which was essentially identical to the three Pan Am models except that it had a larger wing (giving it a longer range) and twin vertical stabilizers. Martin designated them as the Martin Ocean Transports, but to the public they were all referred to as the China Clipper, a name which evolved into a generic term for Pan Am's entire fleet of large flying boats.

The Glenn L. Martin Company was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company that was founded by the aviation pioneer Glenn Luther Martin on August 16, 1912. The Martin Company produced many important aircraft for the defense of the United States and its allies, especially during World War II and the Cold War.

Martin started out building military trainers in Santa Ana, California, and then in 1916, Martin accepted a merger offer from the Wright Company, creating the Wright-Martin Aircraft Company in September. This new company did not go well, and Glenn Martin left it to form a second Glenn L. Martin Company on September 10, 1917. This time based in Cleveland, Ohio. Later, its headquarters would be moved to Baltimore, Maryland.

During the 1950s and 60s, the Martin Company moved gradually out of the aircraft industry and into the guided missile, space exploration, and space utilization industries. In 1961, the Martin Company merged with the American-Marietta Corporation, a large sand and gravel mining company, forming the Martin Marietta Corporation. Then, in 1995, Martin Marietta merged with aerospace giant Lockheed to form the Lockheed Martin Corporation.

Cosecha de cualidades.-

The new KC-130J Super Hercules tanker offers the U.S. Marine Corps increased utility and much needed improvement in mission performance. As a force multiplier, the J-model tanker is capable of refueling both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft as well as conducting rapid ground refueling. The refueling speed envelope has been widened from 100 to 270 knots (500 km/h) indicated airspeed, offering more capability and flexibility. Offload rates per refueling pod can be up to 300 gallons per minute simultaneously. The KC-130's offload is significantly greater than previous Hercules tankers. As an example, at 1,000 nautical miles (1,852 km), the fuel offload is well over 45,000 pounds (20,412 kg).

Since its combat debut in Afghanistan in 2010, Marine crews flying a specially configured armed intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or ISR, variant of the KC-130J Super Hercules tanker called Harvest HAWK (Hercules Airborne Weapons Kit), have been very busy. With its long loiter time, multiple radios, sensor to find and track insurgents or vehicles, and, most importantly to the Marines on the ground, its ability to launch a laser-guided Hellfire or Griffin missile and have those weapons hit exactly where and when needed, Harvest Hawk quickly became a Big Stick.

Harvest Hawk is an accelerated Marine Corps program to meet an urgent needs statement from the Marine ground combat element in theater. It is MIR (Multi-sensor Imagery Reconnaissance) tied to CAS (Close Air Support) in a permissive air environment that is persistent beyond any other platform. With the addition of the Marine Corps's ISR / Weapon Mission Kit, the KC-130J will be able to serve as an overwatch aircraft and can deliver ground support fire in the form of Hellfire or Griffin missiles, precision-guided bombs, and eventually 30mm cannon fire in a later upgrade.

In modern warfare, overwatch is the state of one small unit or military vehicle supporting another unit, while they are executing fire and movement tactics. An overwatching, or supporting unit has taken a position where it can observe the terrain ahead, especially likely enemy positions. This allows it to provide effective covering fire for advancing friendly units. The term overwatch originates in U.S. military doctrine.

Externally, what sets Harvest Hawk apart from other KC-130Js is underneath the left wing. Instead of a KC-130J hose refueling pod on the outboard wing station, there is an M299 quad-mount Hellfire missile launcher from an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter.

The AGM-114P Hellfire II, with a twenty-pound high-explosive antitank warhead, is the primary weapon for Harvest Hawk. In the first two Harvest Hawk deployments, one each from VMGR-352 at MCAS Miramar, California, and VMGR-252 at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina, crews launched more than 100 Hellfires, recording nearly all direct hits. The typical loadout is four Hellfire missiles and 10 Griffin GPS guided missiles.

The electro-optical, infrared, and laser targeting sensor, called a Target Sight Sensor, or TSS, on Harvest Hawk comes from an AH-1Z Super Cobra and is mounted in an empty external fuel tank on the left inboard station. The sensor can see individual targets clearly from more than ten miles away.

The Harvest Hawk fire control console, or FCC, and the mission computer from the Navy’s SH-60 Seahawk multipurpose helicopter are mounted to a reinforced 463L cargo system pallet installed in the KC-130J’s cargo compartment. The aircraft retains its original capabilities in refueling and transportation. The entire system can be removed in less than a day if necessary.

In Harvest Hawk, two additional display monitors are permanently installed on the flight deck primarily to allow the pilot to see the sensor images the fire control officer is watching and to allow the copilot to look at the FalconView display that combines aeronautical charts, satellite images, and elevation maps along with other information. The pilot also has a consent-to-lase and fire button located near the throttles.

The final component in the Harvest Hawk kit is the launcher, avionics, and associated equipment for the AGM-175 Griffin missiles. These missiles, which have a smaller warhead and less powerful rocket motor than Hellfire, were originally housed in a cargo ramp-mounted box launcher, shown here. To fire this missile, crews would have to go on oxygen and depressurize the aircraft prior to lowering the ramp for launch. Because of the increased difficulty and the missile’s shorter range, Griffins were launched against targets only about ten percent of the time.

Harvest Hawk aircraft now have a dual missile launcher for Griffin located in the left paratroop door along with what is called a wine rack that holds ten missile launch tubes. This launcher, called a Derringer Door, allows the crew to keep the aircraft pressurized during launch. A third type of weapon, the GBU-44 Viper Strike glide bomb, is now being tested on Harvest Hawk. Viper Strike, which is used primarily by Special Operations Forces, is also launched through the Derringer Door.

The seven-member Harvest Hawk crews, by necessity, become an integrated team. The aircraft commander is the airborne supervisor of flying, deconflicting the airspace and clearing out friendlies—other US or coalition aircraft—prior to a missile launch. He also helps develop the target attack plan with the fire control officer and, once the aircraft is in position, gives consent first to fire the targeting laser and then to launch the missile.

The copilot is in charge of the basics—navigating and flying the aircraft, using the aircraft’s seven radios to communicate with air assets, ground commanders, and, as necessary, higher command headquarters. The crewmaster, a flying crew chief who normally runs the refueling panel, changes the radio frequencies and looks out the window as another set of eyes.

 In the aircraft’s cargo compartment, the primary fire control officer, or FCO locates, tracks, and designates the targets; coordinates surveillance; and talks directly with troops on the ground. The second FCO, sitting next to the primary FCO at the fire control console, is the backup.

During an attack, the combined job of the Harvest Hawk flight deck crew and the fire control officers is to get the aircraft in the optimal position to shoot. The aircrew adjusts each attack depending on the target. Once the target is designated and locked, the aircraft is in position, and the pilot has received permission from battalion to fire and then has given his consent to fire, the FCO lifts the cover on the Hellfire launch button and pushes it.

A Hellfire missile launch in Afghanistan captured with a crewmember's cell phone. “After all the radio chatter and making sure we have the target correlated, it gets very quiet when the FCO says ‘Rifle’ and the missile goes off the rail. It’s an adrenaline rush.”
— Capt. Josh Mallon, Harvest Hawk pilot and VMGR-252 weapons officer.

Three KC-130J aircraft have been modified as Harvest Hawk, with one assigned to VMGR-252 at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. Another aircraft is currently assigned to the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division test facility at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, and one is with VMGR-352 at MCAS Miramar, California;Current plans call for three additional Harvest Hawk kits, making a total of six operational aircraft. Four additional operational KC-130Js will be wired to accept the Harvest Hawk equipment.

A recently installed desktop Harvest Hawk fire control console simulator prepares the crew members for the five qualification flights. The second simulator event for a new fire control officer is with the aircraft commander, and the two train side by side. The simulator schooling covers the same profiles as the actual training flights: day weapons employment; integrating with ground forces on close air support and multi-image sensor imagery reconnaissance missions; and urban CAS where shot geometry and zero civilian casualties are important considerations.

The Harvest Hawk instructors sit on the flight deck or behind the student fire control officers and often simulate communications from the ground forces. But more and more, training flights are with actual ground forces the Harvest Hawk crew will be working with in theater. There is high demand to train with Harvest Hawk.

The Harvest Hawk instructors, who sit on the flight deck or behind the student fire control officers, often simulate communications from the ground forces. Students go through five training flights: day weapons employment; integrating with ground forces on close air support and multi-image sensor imagery reconnaissance missions; and urban CAS where shot geometry and zero civilian casualties are important considerations. The capstone is a live fire mission in which each FCO launches a Hellfire and a Griffin.

During a detailed debrief after a flight, students own up to mistakes, review the attack profiles with the instructors, and go over how each mission element could have been done better. Details are important. After one mission, one instructor told the students what level to set the volume on the radios—the more important radios should be kept at a higher volume. The urgency of the Harvest Hawk mission is emphasized during training.

"It’s important for a crew to get a well-planned shot off quickly. The consequences of a missile being on target thirty seconds late versus being on target three minutes late because the aircraft had to go around are dramatic for that Marine on the ground."
— Capt. Michael Wyrsch, a Harvest Hawk fire control officer and former AV-8B pilot who will soon enter F-35 pilot training.

“Before Harvest Hawk got to Afghanistan, naysayers called it useless. But we have effectively connected Harvest Hawk to the Marine ground force. While we were in Afghanistan, we flew just about every day watching, relaying information, or prosecuting targets. Units all over Helmand Province regularly began requesting us by name. The British began calling us the Helmand Rock Stars.”
— Capt. Dusty Cook, a VMGR-252 Harvest Hawk pilot, who will be one of three Marine Aviators flying Fat Albert, the C-130 support aircraft for the Navy's Blue Angels aerobatic team, in 2014.

16 Razones.-

16 son las Razones que Lockheed Martin encuentra para que se seleccione al C-130J Super Hércules  con objeto de satisfacer las necesidades de transporte aéreo de un país, ya sea modernizando antiguas flotas de Hércules o como nuevo operador en busca de un transporte de probado rendimiento y capacidad.

15 De esas razones residen en los quince países que ya han tomado la decisión de operarlo: Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Australia, Italia, Dinamarca, Noruega, Canadá, India, Qatar, Omán, Irak, Túnez, Israel (realizando ahora ensayos de vuelo de cara a recibir el primer aparato durante el verano), Kuwait y Corea del Sur (que recibirán los suyos a partir de 2014).

La razón número 16 se encuentra en el millón de horas de vuelo que el Super Hércules ha realizado desde el 5 de abril de 1996, fecha en que realizó el primer vuelo, hasta el final de abril de 2013.

La Mofeta.-

Skunk Works es el alias con el que habitualmente se denomina a los Programas de Desarrollo Avanzado de Lockheed Martin, responsables de gran parte de los más famosos diseños de aeronaves dotadas de la más alta tecnología, como el SR-71, U-2, F-117, F-22 y F-35.

Skunk Works, o literalmente, los trabajos de la mofeta, es un término usado en ingeniería y otros campos técnicos para describir a un grupo dentro de una organización al cual se le da un alto grado de autonomía y libertad burocrática para completar trabajos en proyectos avanzados o secretos.