Global Force 2023 — The Army is ramping up efforts to protect sites from incoming aerial threats with plans to find a second kinetic interceptor for a new ground launcher and to move forward acquiring a high-energy laser in the 100-plus kilowatt range.
With the rise of relatively cheap aerial threats like suicide drones, the service’s air defense effort, especially its Indirect Fire Protection Capability (IFPC), is certain to be a topic of much discussion at this year’s Association of the US Army’s Global Force show here in Huntsville, Ala., which officially began today.
Currently, the IFPC umbrella includes several programs, including IFPC Increment 2 — Dynetics’ Enduring Shield air defense missile launcher paired with Raytheon’s ground-launched AIM-9X Sidewinder missile — and directed energy weapons (both lasers and high-powered microwaves). This year service has issued two separate solicitations to make advancements in both arenas.
For its IFPC Increment 2 initiative, the Army wants a second interceptor that can also be fired from the Enduring Shield launcher.
“The new interceptor will utilize an open system architecture approach to establish lethal kinetic effects against select targets within the IFPC Inc 2 threat set, specifically supersonic cruise missiles and large caliber rockets,” the service wrote in January. “The new interceptor requires future capability growth with minimal levels of system redesign to address objective level threat sets.”
The weapon should also be able to target unmanned aerial systems and subsonic cruise missiles. Although this is not a formal solicitation yet, in separate document answering industry questions, the Army said its tentative plan is to award companies with prototyping contracts. Then in the fiscal 2025 to 26 timeframe, it plans to conduct a technology demonstration to include a digital simulation and either a hardware-in-the-loop, and/or a live fire demonstration.
If the program proceeds as planned, a winner “can assume the start of production for the 8,000 interceptors to begin in FY29,” the service told industry in response to one question.
“The intent is that the mixed load capability will exist at the launcher,” it later added. “Each launcher will be capable of having both type of missiles in a mix of (all up round magazines).”
Ready to compete again for a part of the program is Rafael Defense, the Israeli company that lost the IFPC Inc 2 program during the initial competition with its Iron Dome and Tamir interceptor bid.
Retired Brig. Gen. Ariel Karo, Rafael’ executive vice president for marketing and business development, told Breaking Defense in February that his company will vie for the contract with a “subversion” of its Tamir interceptor that meets the new requirements.
Beyond Kinetic
In addition to fielding a kinetic launcher and interceptors, the service is working on a IFPC high-energy laser and high-powered microwave programs (HPM).
For the former, the service wants the IFPC-HEL system to protect fixed and semi-fixed sites from incoming cruise missiles, rockets, artillery and mortars, UAS, and other aerial threats.
The Army has been eyeing such a capability for several years, but earlier this month its Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office requested industry submit white papers for 100 kW+ class lasers and said it plans to award at least one company with a prototyping contract.
“IFPC-HEL is intended to protect fixed and semi-fixed sites from cruise missiles, rockets, artillery, and mortars; unmanned aerial systems; and rotary and fixed-wing threats,” the service wrote.
“This effort will provide up to four complete HEL weapon systems (e.g., HEL, beam control, beam director, battle management, and power and thermal management), integrated onto a government furnished property platform,” the service wrote. “The HEL weapon systems must be delivered no later than 20 months after award.”
Those HEL weapon systems will then be used on live fire testing against “operationally relevant targets.”
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Interested companies have until Friday to respond, and several have been working on similar Department of Defense projects including Lockheed Martin with its 300-kW laser.
In addition to its laser ambitions, the Army is pursuing an IFPC-HPM program. Epirus, a technology company developing directed-energy weapons, announced in January that it had won a $66.1 million contract to deliver four of its Leonidas high-powered microwave prototypes to the Army for testing against swarms of aerial drones.
While this is one line of effort with the government for an established program, General Dynamics Land Systems has also been working with Epirus on a separate initiative to integrate the Leonidas high-power microwave onto A1 Stryker combat vehicles to provide soldiers with a more mobile weapon. The duo unveiled the design last year and are now in the process of increasing the number of arrays from 9×9 row and column configuration to a 12×12 one.
“We’re still working on the design,” Kendall Linson, GDLS’s manager for US business development for Stryker, said during a March 21 interview, but noted that enhanced power configuration could be ready in 2024.
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