Lockheed Martin's Gray Wolf

Lockheed Martin received a $110 million, five-year Phase 1 contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop and demonstrate a new low-cost cruise missile called Gray Wolf.

"Lockheed Martin's concept for the Gray Wolf missile will be an affordable, counter-IAD missile that will operate efficiently in highly contested environments," said Hady Mourad, Advanced Missiles Program director for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Using the capabilities envisioned for later spirals, our system is being designed to maximize modularity, allowing our customer to incorporate advanced technologies such as more lethal warheads or more fuel-efficient engines, when those systems become available. Our AFRL customer will benefit from decades of Lockheed Martin experience in building high-quality, low-cost systems like GMLRS, while capitalizing on the experience of our team in developing and integrating advanced cruise missiles such as JASSM and LRASM on military aircraft," Mourad said.

The Gray Wolf program consists of four spiral-development phases that allow for rapid technology prototyping and multiple transition opportunities. This first phase, defined by an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, is anticipated to run until late 2019. Initial demonstrations will be from an F-16 aircraft. In addition to the F-16, the system will be designed for compatibility with B-1, B-2, B-52, F-15, F-18 and F-35 aircrafts. This program seeks to develop low-cost, subsonic cruise missiles that use open architectures and modular design to allow for rapid prototyping and spiral growth capabilities. The AFRL is developing the missiles to feature networked, collaborative behaviors (swarming) to address Integrated Air Defense (IAD) system threats around the world.

Estado actual de la disuasión nuclear

El pasado 5 de mayo, los comandantes supremos del U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), del Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) y del U.S. Submarine Forces han participado en un simposio acerca del estado actual de las fuerzas de disuasión nuclear, organizado por la University of Central Missouri (Warrensburg, Missouri).

En palabras del Almirante Cecil D. Haney, comandante supremo del USSTRATCOM, "La disuasión estratégica constituye uno de los pilares del futuro de nuestra nación, y debe ser considerado un asunto de máxima prioridad". Haney hizo especial hincapié en la importancia de la disuasión nuclear como elemento fundamental de la estrategia defensiva estadounidense, recalcando la necesidad de mantener unas fuerzas nucleares tan fiables como preparadas: "Aunque se ha disminuido el número de cabezas nucleares, el peligro no ha disminuido," afirmó Haney. "Vivimos en un mundo donde la amenaza se ha visto incrementada, lo cual implica disuadir a múltiples países de manera simultanea y en múltiples escenarios."

Uno de esos escenarios es el mar, donde la U.S. Navy dispone principalmente de una fuerza de submarinos nucleares armados con misiles balísticos dispuestos en todo momento para ser disparados. A este respecto, el Vicealmirante Michael Connor, comandante de las U.S. Submarine Forces, habló sobre la triada nuclear y el papel de la U.S. Navy en la disuasión estratégica: "La demostrada capacidad de la triada constituye un aviso para potenciales adversarios de que no sería una buena idea llegar a un conflicto, ya fuese nuclear o convencional," dijo Connor.

Otro escenario es el espacio aereo, donde la USAF dispone de bombarderos B-2 y B-52, así como de misiles balísticos intercontinentales Minuteman III, que constituyen las otras dos piezas de la triada. Ampliando los comentarios de su contraparte, el Teniente General Stephen Wilson, comandante supremo del AFGSC, hizo especial hincapie en el hecho de que las armas nucleares han detenido la posibilidad de una guerra a gran escala entre las grandes potencias mundiales, lo cual exige siempre mantenerlas al día para evitar un desastre a gran escala.

S-300 in Syria: Efectiveness doubtful

The potential delivery of Russian S-300s to Syria might complicate the majority of military options being considered by the U.S. and Israel for the Syrian conflict. However, for several reasons are there serial doubts whether the S-300 would be fully efficient in real combat conditions. Let us see why.

Serial reasons for serial doubts

• Military experts in the U.S. and Israel are familiar with the S-300 because their air forces have trained to suppress air defences armed with this system in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Greece.
• In the last decade, Israel was designing and arming itself with the ITALD system (Improved Tactical Air Launched Decoy), which is able to decoy radar as well as the S-300 command-and-control systems.
• Even armed with S-300s, Syria would not likely stop more advanced “stealth” aircraft, such as the U.S. Air Force’s F-22, F-35 and B-2, which are not visible on the system’s radar.
• The recent raids by the Israeli Air Force against selected targets in Syria suggest that it would be easy to destroy any S-300 batteries employed there.
• It is also clear that in case Russia is determined to deliver the S-300s, additional Russian advisors and experts would be needed.
• All these factors taken into account might work against Russia making a final decision to deliver the S-300s.

Conclussions

• Under the point of view of many analysts, the S-300 issue seems to be more of an element of disinformation used by Russia to strengthen its position vis-à-vis the West to deter military intervention in Syria.
• There are no doubts that if Russia delivers the S-300s to Syria in the face of U.S., NATO and Israel military engagement, there would be a real combat test of this system.