http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_smith/20000112_xcsof_navy_cant_.shtml The United States Navy is now totally dependent on missiles purchased from Russia. Despite a stormy political relationship between Moscow and Washington, the U.S. Navy has ordered more Zvezda MA-31 target drones from Russia. The only U.S. firm that manufactured U.S. Navy target missiles, Allied Signal Target Systems, is closing its doors and going out of business. Curiously, the Russian missile costs more, does not meet the original U.S. Navy specifications and can only be launched from aircraft. Without the Russian target drone, the U.S. Navy will not have any targets to test its multi-billion dollar Aegis warships. "The (Allied Signal) Vandal and MA-31 targets are used to represent two different threats identified in the Supersonic Sea Skimming Target (SSST) Operational Requirements Document," states a December 1999 U.S. Navy response to this reporter. "The SSST "C" target will eventually replace both targets. Until the SSST "C" is fielded, requirements for SSST targets will be satisfied through the use of the existing inventory of Vandal targets and limited procurement of the MA-31 targets. This plan is a result of the date for the fielding the SSST "C" slipping over the years," states the reply from the Naval Air Systems Command. Documents obtained by using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from the U.S. Navy show that the missile does not meet the original range requirements. According to the U.S. Navy "Foreign Comparative Testing Contract" published in 1995, the Russian MA-31 "will be capable of meeting the following range requirements... 25 nmi (nautical miles) at an altitude of 30 ft and at full throttle." According to the official Navy response prepared in December 1999, recent tests demonstrated that the Zvezda MA-31 travels only "16 miles" in the critical low altitude attack mode. The Navy also noted that the American target drone, the Vandal, outperforms the Russian missile. Unfortunately, since the U.S. drone is launched from a land base, most of the extra range is wasted. "The (Allied Signal) Vandal target has a range of 43 - 45 miles in a sea skimming role. Much of this range is used to get the target into position for the user from the land based launcher," states the Navy reply. However, the U.S. Navy allegedly solved the position problem in 1996. In Oct. 1996, the U.S. Navy purchased an expensive robot warship designed to fire Allied Vandal target missiles from any location. The new warship is not designed to fire the Russian MA-31 missile. The Aerial Target Launch Ship (ATLS) cost $3.6 million and was built by Halter Marine Industries in Mississippi. The ATLS is currently stationed at Point Mugu, California. According to the ship's designer, Jeffrey Blume, head of the Surface Targets Division at Point Mugu, the ATLS warship allows for the launch from undisclosed sites of aerial targets. "It's called `video game syndrome,'" explained Blume. "If your kid plays video games long enough he'll know when the bad guy is going to pop out on the screen. That's what can happen on ranges. One of the advantages of remotely launching an aerial target is that you can launch it anywhere on the range and the shooters just know that there's a threat out there, they don't know where it's coming from." Videogames aside, the Navy claims the Russian missile is a realistic threat. "The MA-31 replicates a threat with higher speeds, higher g maneuvers and g onset rates, and smaller in size. The MA-31 also provides a very challenging and representative anti-radiation missile profile," asserted the official Navy reply. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy is also suffering from a glut of old missiles that could serve as target drones. The early Standard and Sparrow missiles are now retired, and several thousand are scheduled to be destroyed at great taxpayer expense. In addition, the U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat fighter jet is also scheduled to be retired along with hundreds of long-range AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. Could a U.S. Navy missile from existing stocks match the MA-31 performance? "We have not precluded industry from considering either Sparrow or Phoenix (or any other missile) as a potential to our SSST requirements," states the Navy reply. China and Russia are preparing to enter into a joint venture to produce a deadly new version of the same Zvezda missile. Jane's Defense Weekly reported that China is seeking to buy a second batch of 40 Sukhoi Su-30MKK super-sonic strike-fighters to supplement its initial order for 40 aircraft, which was concluded in August 1999. The SU-30MKK sale is reported to include air to air missiles, laser-guided bombs, and large numbers of the Zvezda Kh-31P mod-2 super-sonic cruise missile. The new Zvezda Kh-31P mod-2 being sold to China is designed specifically to attack U.S. Navy Aegis warships and U.S. Army Patriot radar batteries. The missile being sold to China is reported to have a range of 125 miles - over seven times farther than the missiles sold to America. The Navy supersonic drone project has been plagued by delays, "slipping over the years" until it slipped out of sight. The Russian missile deal is filled with political risk. A single "Nyet" from a hostile Russian Navy Admiral can now put American sailors in harm's way, leaving the U.S. Navy with untested warships and untrained crews. "CAN DO" used to be the motto of all U.S. Navy surface warriors. The Navy "Can Do" spirit stood for being able to achieve and perform against impossible odds. Unfortunately for America, the missile deal made with Russia now represents what the U.S. Navy can't do. CORRECTION: Zvezda Strella, the Russian missile maker, is not related to RD & PE Zvezda the ejection seat manufacturer. However, both Russian firms are currently receiving U.S. Defense Department funding. Zvezda RD & PE currently manufactures the K-36 ejection seat for the top Russian jet fighters, the Sukhoi SU-27 "Flanker" and the MiG-29 "Fulcrum". The Zvezda K-36 seat is deployed on Russian MiG and Sukhoi jet fighters sold to around the world, including Cuba, North Korea, China, India, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Vietnam. The K-36 is also in operation with MiG and Sukhoi aircraft units operating against Chechen rebels inside Grozny. Zvezda RD & PE also manufactures life support equipment, including spacesuits for the MIR cosmonauts and for the International Space Station. According to the official statement from multi-billion dollar U.S. defense contractor, BF Goodrich, the Russian Zvezda RD & PE firm will be working on American military contracts. In December 1999, BF Goodrich acquired exclusive U.S. manufacturing rights to the advanced Zvezda K-36 ejection seat. The move followed BF Goodrich's purchase of the ACES2 ejection seat division from Boeing. The two purchases make BF Goodrich the sole U.S. domestic manufacturer of crew escape "ejection" seats used in modern jet fighters. "The company expects that it will be able to offer these (Zvezda) advanced ejection seats within two-to-three years for use on U.S. built aircraft," states the official news release issued at BF Goodrich Headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. "The (U.S./U.K) Joint Strike Fighter, which is currently in development, and retrofit opportunities for the (U.S. Air Force) F-5 and the T-38 aircraft, are excellent applications for the (Russian) K-36/3.5A ejection seat." ================================================================ source documents http://www.softwar.net/kh31p.html ================================================================ Pcyphered SIGNATURE: F1DEC6A08FE3C2E816DAF50BD107BFC45A88F6557A0CB9DBC36A0D0783A2D60F 424BDE84DE327FEB63ACD84362C8CB6A803841FFCDAF1B88B1FCD920EB808A57 FC087E40B89318B2 ================================================================ SOFTWAR EMAIL NEWSLETTER www.softwar.net 01/12/00 *** to unsubscribe reply with "unsubscribe" as subject *** ================================================================
