超级军网日本年底决定是否引进全球鹰
来源：百度文库 编辑：超级军网 时间：2024/04/27 15:24:43
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/g ... 0On%20Global%20Hawk
Japan To Decide This Year On Global Hawk Order
Sep 24, 2010
By Bradley Perrett
BEIJING – Japan is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to order four Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance aircraft that could later be upgraded to reinforce the country’s anti-ballistic missile defenses.
The decision, which has been brewing for years, is due to appear in the National Defense Program Guideline, which will set out future military policy when it appears this year, program officials say.
The Japanese military’s joint staff office is studying the possible order, reflecting its status as a national program. A force of four could provide a continuous patrol, even with one in deep maintenance.
The navy is arguing that Japan is not ready to deploy such unmanned aircraft and should therefore defer the decision. Doing so would open the possibility of buying the navy’s preferred version of the Global Hawk, the MQ-4C, which is still under development for the U.S. Navy as a specifically maritime-oriented patroller.
The air force is pushing for an early move in which Japan would order the RQ-4B Block 30, the current U.S. Air Force production version. Japanese sensors are not ready and would, in any case, need time for integration. If the aircraft were ordered under the imminent policy statement, they would be delivered to the current U.S. production standard, perhaps with sensitive equipment or software omitted.
Japanese industry could then take as much time as needed to develop sensors that would later be retrofitted to the RQ-4s, perhaps replacing some original equipment. That approach is considered essential, since Japanese sensor development could be quite protracted.
That retrofit could eventually include the Japanese Airboss infrared missile detection and tracking system. The sensor was successfully tested in December 2007 on a Japanese UP-3C, a converted maritime patrol aircraft.
A large sensor with a 60 cm. (24 in.) aperture, the Airboss is heavier than equivalent U.S. equipment. But studies of its structural and electrical requirements show that an RQ-4B could carry two in pods under its wings, one on each side. Mitsubishi Electric and NEC are involved in the development of the Airboss.
In the missile-defense role, Japanese RQ-4s would operate purely as a sensor aircraft, cueing the sensors of another aircraft, such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Predator, or ships that would fire the missiles.
No variant of the RQ-4 is likely to be armed at any time during the type’s production life, says one industry official. The governments of countries that are friendly to the U.S. are willing to let the aircraft fly over their territory in part because it does not carry weapons. If there were an armed version, it might be indistinguishable on the ground from the unarmed versions.
The defense ministry’s budget request for the fiscal year beginning in April 2011 includes funding for studies and research on unmanned aircraft. The money would pay for investigations into the foreign operation, sustainment and maintenance of high-altitude, long-endurance drones.
Japan has been working on its own surveillance drone in that category since 2001 as part of a program called the Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study. That aircraft would fly higher than a Global Hawk, but the government’s serious evaluation of the need for an RQ-4 order indicates that the indigenous drone is progressing slowly, if at all. The U.S. Defense Department has argued against Japan building its own aircraft.
An increase in the Japanese submarine fleet may also be announced in the new defense guideline, local media report. Japan has maintained a fleet of 18 submarines, including two for training, since 1976, but that is set to rise to 20.
The change can probably be effected quite easily, since the country builds one submarine a year. It keeps each in service for an unusually short life of 18 years, providing a fleet of 18. The larger fleet can be achieved simply by stretching the service life of each boat to 20 years, which would still be a bit short by international standards.
Photo: Northrop Grummanhttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/g ... 0On%20Global%20Hawk
Japan To Decide This Year On Global Hawk Order
Sep 24, 2010
By Bradley Perrett
BEIJING – Japan is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to order four Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance aircraft that could later be upgraded to reinforce the country’s anti-ballistic missile defenses.
The decision, which has been brewing for years, is due to appear in the National Defense Program Guideline, which will set out future military policy when it appears this year, program officials say.
The Japanese military’s joint staff office is studying the possible order, reflecting its status as a national program. A force of four could provide a continuous patrol, even with one in deep maintenance.
The navy is arguing that Japan is not ready to deploy such unmanned aircraft and should therefore defer the decision. Doing so would open the possibility of buying the navy’s preferred version of the Global Hawk, the MQ-4C, which is still under development for the U.S. Navy as a specifically maritime-oriented patroller.
The air force is pushing for an early move in which Japan would order the RQ-4B Block 30, the current U.S. Air Force production version. Japanese sensors are not ready and would, in any case, need time for integration. If the aircraft were ordered under the imminent policy statement, they would be delivered to the current U.S. production standard, perhaps with sensitive equipment or software omitted.
Japanese industry could then take as much time as needed to develop sensors that would later be retrofitted to the RQ-4s, perhaps replacing some original equipment. That approach is considered essential, since Japanese sensor development could be quite protracted.
That retrofit could eventually include the Japanese Airboss infrared missile detection and tracking system. The sensor was successfully tested in December 2007 on a Japanese UP-3C, a converted maritime patrol aircraft.
A large sensor with a 60 cm. (24 in.) aperture, the Airboss is heavier than equivalent U.S. equipment. But studies of its structural and electrical requirements show that an RQ-4B could carry two in pods under its wings, one on each side. Mitsubishi Electric and NEC are involved in the development of the Airboss.
In the missile-defense role, Japanese RQ-4s would operate purely as a sensor aircraft, cueing the sensors of another aircraft, such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Predator, or ships that would fire the missiles.
No variant of the RQ-4 is likely to be armed at any time during the type’s production life, says one industry official. The governments of countries that are friendly to the U.S. are willing to let the aircraft fly over their territory in part because it does not carry weapons. If there were an armed version, it might be indistinguishable on the ground from the unarmed versions.
The defense ministry’s budget request for the fiscal year beginning in April 2011 includes funding for studies and research on unmanned aircraft. The money would pay for investigations into the foreign operation, sustainment and maintenance of high-altitude, long-endurance drones.
Japan has been working on its own surveillance drone in that category since 2001 as part of a program called the Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study. That aircraft would fly higher than a Global Hawk, but the government’s serious evaluation of the need for an RQ-4 order indicates that the indigenous drone is progressing slowly, if at all. The U.S. Defense Department has argued against Japan building its own aircraft.
An increase in the Japanese submarine fleet may also be announced in the new defense guideline, local media report. Japan has maintained a fleet of 18 submarines, including two for training, since 1976, but that is set to rise to 20.
The change can probably be effected quite easily, since the country builds one submarine a year. It keeps each in service for an unusually short life of 18 years, providing a fleet of 18. The larger fleet can be achieved simply by stretching the service life of each boat to 20 years, which would still be a bit short by international standards.
Photo: Northrop Grumman
Japan To Decide This Year On Global Hawk Order
Sep 24, 2010
By Bradley Perrett
BEIJING – Japan is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to order four Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance aircraft that could later be upgraded to reinforce the country’s anti-ballistic missile defenses.
The decision, which has been brewing for years, is due to appear in the National Defense Program Guideline, which will set out future military policy when it appears this year, program officials say.
The Japanese military’s joint staff office is studying the possible order, reflecting its status as a national program. A force of four could provide a continuous patrol, even with one in deep maintenance.
The navy is arguing that Japan is not ready to deploy such unmanned aircraft and should therefore defer the decision. Doing so would open the possibility of buying the navy’s preferred version of the Global Hawk, the MQ-4C, which is still under development for the U.S. Navy as a specifically maritime-oriented patroller.
The air force is pushing for an early move in which Japan would order the RQ-4B Block 30, the current U.S. Air Force production version. Japanese sensors are not ready and would, in any case, need time for integration. If the aircraft were ordered under the imminent policy statement, they would be delivered to the current U.S. production standard, perhaps with sensitive equipment or software omitted.
Japanese industry could then take as much time as needed to develop sensors that would later be retrofitted to the RQ-4s, perhaps replacing some original equipment. That approach is considered essential, since Japanese sensor development could be quite protracted.
That retrofit could eventually include the Japanese Airboss infrared missile detection and tracking system. The sensor was successfully tested in December 2007 on a Japanese UP-3C, a converted maritime patrol aircraft.
A large sensor with a 60 cm. (24 in.) aperture, the Airboss is heavier than equivalent U.S. equipment. But studies of its structural and electrical requirements show that an RQ-4B could carry two in pods under its wings, one on each side. Mitsubishi Electric and NEC are involved in the development of the Airboss.
In the missile-defense role, Japanese RQ-4s would operate purely as a sensor aircraft, cueing the sensors of another aircraft, such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Predator, or ships that would fire the missiles.
No variant of the RQ-4 is likely to be armed at any time during the type’s production life, says one industry official. The governments of countries that are friendly to the U.S. are willing to let the aircraft fly over their territory in part because it does not carry weapons. If there were an armed version, it might be indistinguishable on the ground from the unarmed versions.
The defense ministry’s budget request for the fiscal year beginning in April 2011 includes funding for studies and research on unmanned aircraft. The money would pay for investigations into the foreign operation, sustainment and maintenance of high-altitude, long-endurance drones.
Japan has been working on its own surveillance drone in that category since 2001 as part of a program called the Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study. That aircraft would fly higher than a Global Hawk, but the government’s serious evaluation of the need for an RQ-4 order indicates that the indigenous drone is progressing slowly, if at all. The U.S. Defense Department has argued against Japan building its own aircraft.
An increase in the Japanese submarine fleet may also be announced in the new defense guideline, local media report. Japan has maintained a fleet of 18 submarines, including two for training, since 1976, but that is set to rise to 20.
The change can probably be effected quite easily, since the country builds one submarine a year. It keeps each in service for an unusually short life of 18 years, providing a fleet of 18. The larger fleet can be achieved simply by stretching the service life of each boat to 20 years, which would still be a bit short by international standards.
Photo: Northrop Grummanhttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/g ... 0On%20Global%20Hawk
Japan To Decide This Year On Global Hawk Order
Sep 24, 2010
By Bradley Perrett
BEIJING – Japan is expected to decide by the end of the year whether to order four Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawk surveillance aircraft that could later be upgraded to reinforce the country’s anti-ballistic missile defenses.
The decision, which has been brewing for years, is due to appear in the National Defense Program Guideline, which will set out future military policy when it appears this year, program officials say.
The Japanese military’s joint staff office is studying the possible order, reflecting its status as a national program. A force of four could provide a continuous patrol, even with one in deep maintenance.
The navy is arguing that Japan is not ready to deploy such unmanned aircraft and should therefore defer the decision. Doing so would open the possibility of buying the navy’s preferred version of the Global Hawk, the MQ-4C, which is still under development for the U.S. Navy as a specifically maritime-oriented patroller.
The air force is pushing for an early move in which Japan would order the RQ-4B Block 30, the current U.S. Air Force production version. Japanese sensors are not ready and would, in any case, need time for integration. If the aircraft were ordered under the imminent policy statement, they would be delivered to the current U.S. production standard, perhaps with sensitive equipment or software omitted.
Japanese industry could then take as much time as needed to develop sensors that would later be retrofitted to the RQ-4s, perhaps replacing some original equipment. That approach is considered essential, since Japanese sensor development could be quite protracted.
That retrofit could eventually include the Japanese Airboss infrared missile detection and tracking system. The sensor was successfully tested in December 2007 on a Japanese UP-3C, a converted maritime patrol aircraft.
A large sensor with a 60 cm. (24 in.) aperture, the Airboss is heavier than equivalent U.S. equipment. But studies of its structural and electrical requirements show that an RQ-4B could carry two in pods under its wings, one on each side. Mitsubishi Electric and NEC are involved in the development of the Airboss.
In the missile-defense role, Japanese RQ-4s would operate purely as a sensor aircraft, cueing the sensors of another aircraft, such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Predator, or ships that would fire the missiles.
No variant of the RQ-4 is likely to be armed at any time during the type’s production life, says one industry official. The governments of countries that are friendly to the U.S. are willing to let the aircraft fly over their territory in part because it does not carry weapons. If there were an armed version, it might be indistinguishable on the ground from the unarmed versions.
The defense ministry’s budget request for the fiscal year beginning in April 2011 includes funding for studies and research on unmanned aircraft. The money would pay for investigations into the foreign operation, sustainment and maintenance of high-altitude, long-endurance drones.
Japan has been working on its own surveillance drone in that category since 2001 as part of a program called the Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Study. That aircraft would fly higher than a Global Hawk, but the government’s serious evaluation of the need for an RQ-4 order indicates that the indigenous drone is progressing slowly, if at all. The U.S. Defense Department has argued against Japan building its own aircraft.
An increase in the Japanese submarine fleet may also be announced in the new defense guideline, local media report. Japan has maintained a fleet of 18 submarines, including two for training, since 1976, but that is set to rise to 20.
The change can probably be effected quite easily, since the country builds one submarine a year. It keeps each in service for an unusually short life of 18 years, providing a fleet of 18. The larger fleet can be achieved simply by stretching the service life of each boat to 20 years, which would still be a bit short by international standards.
Photo: Northrop Grumman