American Defence & Aerospace Industry

American defence industry is the leading in its field, both qualitatively and quantitatively. ADF has a huge production power. American tanks are more armoured, and the aircrafts have longer range, and carry a wide range of weapons, while the American communication systems are the most developed.

Boeing: One of the many examples of the American dream, and the largest producer of civil and military aircrafts in the world. The company designs and builds helicopters, electronic and defence systems, satellites, and it is a leader of an aerospace shuttle program, and the international aerospace station. Boeing employs more than 150,000 people. The company that enjoyed a USD 61.5 Billion in revenues in the year 2006 has many divisions:

• Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which is concentrating now upon B787 Dream liner, and B 747-8.
• Boeing Integrated Defence Systems, which is considered the second largest defence company in the world. The company designs, produces, and modifies fighter jets and bombers, helicopters, military transport planes, and rockets.
• Boeing Capital Trust, which provides financing to foreign companies to facilitate Boeing’s aircraft purchases.

Lockheed Martin: An advanced technology company employing more than 140,000 people worldwide. The three main fields of the company are: Aeronautics, Space Systems, and information technology systems. Activities of this company comprise fighter planes, surveillance and special operations planes, satellite designing, and strategic rocket systems. Lockheed will be a co-maker of the Orion space vehicle, which will replace the Space Shuttle in space missions.

Northrop Grumman: The maker of the famous F-18 Hornet, and the early warning plane Hawk Eye, surveillance systems, rocket defence systems, advanced radar systems. General Dynamics: The maker of the famous F-16 fighter jet consists of four divisions: Marine Systems, Combat Systems, Information Systems and Technology, and Aerospace Division. The company earned USD 12 Billion in military sales. In the civil side it has Gulfstream Aerospace.

Raytheon: This Company specializes in advanced defence electronic systems. Since its establishment in 1922, the company produced the main components of radio and television, and transistors. The company comprises the following divisions: Integrated Defence Systems, Intelligence and Information Systems, rocket systems, network systems, airborne space systems.

Pratt & Whitney: Is one of the main pillars of the United Technologies Group, and one of the most important producers of aircraft engines for both military, and civil, aircraft. The company produces all kinds of jet turbo engines: turbojet, turbofan, and turboprop. Sikorsky: Is the famous leader in helicopter industry. The American army relies upon BlackHawk helicopters in its diversified operations.

SOFEX 2008: Preview

The seventh session of SOFEX was held in the period of 31 March and 4 April, 2008, in Jordan. Forty five countries participated in the show. More than 75 Jordanian companies’ participated in the current session, while international companies enjoyed larger areas for their exhibitions.

The American pavilion consisted of 53 companies. The most important of which are Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Harris, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Colt Defence, and Sikorsky. In the British suite the leading company was BAE Systems. Thales was the leading French company present, and Rosoboronexport was the prominent Russian Federation company, while Rheinmetall, and Karcher were the leading German companies. Other companies from Switzerland, Sweden, and Spain were present also.

Main Highlights of SOFEX 2008:

• King Abdullah II visited the show, and stopped in KADDB (King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau).
• H.M. King Abdullah sponsored a special show conducted by the Special Operation Forces, in which a successful operation of liberating hostages was simulated.
• The Turkish company Rocketsan introduced its guns, missiles, and rocket launchers.
• Northrop Grumman held negotiations with KADDB for a possible project designing and building of robots. The company introduced its unmanned mine detecting vehicles.
• A helicopter assembling plant will be established, as a new partnership between a Russian company and a Jordanian company.

Importance of SOFEX: SOFEX is the largest fair of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa Area. Purchases from Middle East area comprised 60% of all the world’s purchases of defence equipment. Special equipment designed for fighting terrorism, and keeping internal security, are displayed in SOFEX. World media covered the many activities of SOFEX with hundreds of reporters. HH Prince Faysal Ben Al-Hussein supervised all the activities.

SOFEX 2008 witnessed high increase in the number of participating companies, and some of which declared increased participation to more than 50% compared to SOFEX 2006.

Many public and private sector companies supported SOFEX 2008, including KADDB, a communication company, Royal Jordanian, and many other companies.

Jordan Political and Defensive Strategy

Jordan has a strategically important location, because it is in the heart of the Arab part of the Middle East. The vast majority of its 92,300 Km2 area is desert, with a population of six million people. The country has a small coast of not more than 26 Km. The country’s GDP in 2006 reached USD 30 Billion, with a growth rate of 6.3%. Public debt reached USD 21 Billion.

Strategy:

1. Permanent development through a thriving economy. Developing human resources in Jordan is an important target for the government, which aims to attain a growth rate of 6, or 7% per year.
2. Foreign policy that avoids tensions with other countries, aiming at increasing the number of friends, and having zero enemies.
3. Iron Fist Policy of developing armed forces, and by maintaining discipline and continuous training for its 100,000 soldiers. Jordan’s Special Forces has three brigades (special operations), two independent brigades, one mechanical brigade, and 1 artillery brigade.

Jordan’s Special Operations Forces are considered the best trained in the Middle East area. The army has hundreds of tanks, anti-armour rocket launchers, and armoured vehicles. The army has an air defence capabilities consisting of 14 Hawk batteries with 532 rockets, in addition to another Russian -made batteries.

Air Force: Jordan will acquire new F-16 fighter planes.

Defence Industries: Jordanian Army used to carry all maintenance for its vehicles. Maintenance workshops were established long ago. Army engineers were given the chance, and capability, of turning old and malfunctioning weapons into developed ones. King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau was established in 1999, where the best of engineers work hard with high professional standards. KADDB succeeded, for example, in turning old Santorium tanks into heavy armoured personnel carriers.

The National Security Wall in Jordan is a strong one, thanks to wise foreign policy, and to a defence ideology based on hard training. Time has proved that this strategy is the most suitable for a small country. Three problems prevail: scarcity of water, terrorism, and the world’s economic crisis.

Vehicular Radio Communications

Communications are to armies the same as nerves to the human body. It is a means of relaying a piece of information from a person to another. Wars in the past century necessitated establishing, and developing, communications systems. Modernization efforts to this equipment are still going on, in order to get clear radio transmissions free of interference.

Military Communications. The secrecy of military communications is considered very important, because it contains secrets that should not reach the hearing of the enemy. Various radio stations are set in order to facilitate these communications. Portable and fixed radio equipment is the main media insuring reliable communications between various army units in the battlebields. Military commanders command their units by means of military communications. Signal corps, operating with each army unit ensure making radio interference on enemy communications, and eliminating same from their units’ transmissions.

Radio Equipment and combat vehicles: Communication systems for combat vehicles resemble fixed and portable ones, but differ slightly in its weight and volume, and its range of transmission, which varies from 50 to 100 Watts. Additional equipment is usually fitted in armoured vehicles such as, loud speakers. There are three kinds of radio communications: Strategic, Tactical, and via-satellite. We have four frequency ranges: High, Very high, Ultra high, Ultra-Ultra high frequencies. Vehicles are now equipped with integrated computers, and Ground Positioning Systems.

Harris: The largest producer of tactical radio equipment. The company introduced the AN/VRC-110 vehicular radio, with its high performance. It operates on multi channels., and its frequency range varies from 30 to 90 MHZ, with 50vWatt power. Harris has another radio system RF-5800, with its frequency range of 30- 512 MHZ. It receives and transmits information within 25 programmed networks. This radio has internet access, and the regular telephone network access capability.

Rhode & Schwarz: This company produces a wide range of tactical radios, such as: Multiband, and multirole, M3TR. It could be mounted on various vehicles, and has a 1.5- 512 MHZ frequency range, so it is capable of covering HF, VHF, UHF frequencies. The company introduced an advanced generation of radio software, which consists of Series 4000, for land and naval applications, and Series 3000 for air applications. The company introduced also M3 Tactical Radio.

Motorola: A leading company in the field of radio communications since more than seventy years. Motorola was the first to introduce talkie-walkies. The company is concentrating nowadays on the civil and commercial sectors. Its MCS 2000 system can be mounted on civil and military vehicles. It operates on VHF and UHF frequencies, and covers many bands. Motorola has a multiband Astro system that insures high precession communications on many bands, and very high frequencies.

Four-wheel Drive Armored Vehicles

Light armoured vehicles are considered basic means of transport, and light fighting. These vehicles are characterized by their speed, reliability, and capability of moving over rugged land. These vehicles are mostly 4WD, and are used in surveillance, and internal security operations. Here below are some types of light armoured vehicles:

• Bushmaster ADI: These Australian- made vehicles are used to transport infantry soldiers speedily. There are many derivatives of these vehicles such as emergency units, and mortar 81 mm carriers. These vehicles have anti- mines armour.
• Alvis OMC RG-32 M: Developed first as a multi- role private field project. It is equipped against 6 Kg mines, and it is used heavily by UN peace keeping force. The vehicle is capable of carrying the driver plus four men. Its dimensions are L: 4.6 m, W: 1.8, H: 1.95. The maximum speed is 120 Km/hr.
• ARG Fenek: This Dutch-made vehicle was designed for surveillance operations. The vehicle has sensors that give it day and night vision. It has a distance meter. The vehicle possesses many additional characteristics.
• M1117 Cadillac Gage: Since 2000 Textron Marine & Land Systems made 132 units of these vehicles. The vehicle has an independent suspension system, and a central system to control tires’ pressure.
• Iveco LMV: The British army uses this Italian-made multi- role vehicle as a command and link vehicle.
• KMW Dingo: Fully defended German made vehicle. It has many cooling and heating systems. The vehicle carries a 7.62 mm, or 12.7 guns, and its maximum speed is 90 Km/hr. The German army will acquire 1600 of these vehicles

  Many other armoured vehicles exist, such as: MOWAG Eagle, O’Gara Hess-1114M, Otokar Cobra, Panhard VBL, Renault Trucks VAB, MRAP.

  
  

  Advanced Maritime Radars

  

  Most medium sized naval fleets are facing many exceptional challenges in its efforts to meet their many responsibilities.

  A new generation of maritime radar was introduced. The new MF Radars, such as Hercules, Cybar, Embar, or Simpson. Israeli naval fleet has advanced radar equipment, including 3D radars, and automatic radars capable of detecting AMDR rockets. This modern equipment can stand to the challenge of the modern Sea-skimming rockets, and anti radiation missiles. STG Radars are capable of pursuing highly manoeuvring rockets, and guiding anti air targets.

  Modern military ships have air and surface scanning radars capable of detecting incoming targets and their direction. CEA-SMDR is a radar capable of detecting submarines. Other radars are used to guide surface-to-air missile to intercept air targets.

  Special ship-detecting radars can be divided into 2-dimentionial and 3-dimensional. Three-dimensional radars, such as AWS-9 (made by BAE Systems), and Smart-S (made by Thales Holland), solve all the problems faced with 2-dimentional radars. These radars provide 3-dimensional coverage with an angle of 70 degree, or 150 Km.

  AM RAN 30X/I (made SELEX Sistemi Integrati) is another such modern radar. Thales Holland developed similar Guided Electro Visual maritime radar, which is equipped with electro-visual sensors.

  New generation of military ships, such as the ones in Chinese, French, German, Italian, British, and American fleets, use advanced PAR radars. Germany and Holland are cooperating to develop a new APAR system, which would be equipped with 3424 transmitter/receiver units. This system uses ICWA technology, which enables the system to guide many rockets to many targets at the same time. AAW is another advanced system chosen by Danish Navy. The system MFR Hercules was developed by Thales, and would be mounted on the frigates of Singapore navy, and French navy (on its new FREMM frigates.

  
  

  Naval Missiles and Guns

  

  

  Guns and missiles play an important role in modern sea wars. Both types are needed in the various missions executed in this type of wars.

  Many factors affect the decision of what weaponry systems suit the military ships. Among these factors are the capacity of inflicting damage to enemy targets, cost of servicing, easiness of maintenance, volume, weight, and cost.

  Twenty first century missions require three missions of the naval fleet: inflicting a strategic strike, stopping any advance of enemy forces, and providing a heavy fire support. Long-range missiles and cannons are needed in order to inflict the strike, and to prevent enemy advance. Cannons would be able to provide superior strikes. These strikes would be controlled by the commander who resides on the coast in real time.

  United States is investing large sums of money in developing its assets of the naval air force, while other countries are investing money in order to acquire modern anti-ship missiles. Some American frigates are substituting its missile system with 76 mm guns, and some helicopters. Cannons are more important now than they were in any other time since WW2. Missing a target, when firing a missile, is a lot costlier than missing the target by guns. Modern guns are lighter in weight, and more efficient than they were in the past, also they possess longer range, and are more precise, while requiring smaller teams to maintain.

  Raytheon Missile Systems is developing PHALANX, and Sea RAM, programs. Sea Ram can be mounted in the front of the ship, while PHALANX is mounted in the rear. PHALANX systems are mounted in more than 600 ships. The radar CIWS is being developed by Raytheon, and the American navy intends to be used with the above systems.

  Naval guns are a low cost, and efficient, naval weapon. Guns use many types of ammunition, which could be loaded while the ship is sailing. The volume of the cannons depends upon the mission required. The number of cannons (one or two) depends upon the mission of the ship.

  Electro-Magnetic guns would make a dramatic change in gun firing. Electro-Magnetic forces are used to bring a new type of shots to high speed in the first stage of firing.