Details about upgraded Ariete MBT engine

As we know, Italian Army planning to the upgrading its MBT Ariete (we already wrote about this program, link - იტალიური Ariete-ს მოდერნიზაციის პროგრამა). Below is the some very interesting details about new engine of Ariete MBT.

Sorry about direct translation, but this is what we have:

Focus on the CIO (Consorzio Iveco Leonardo) update program on the Aries AMV (Ammodernamento di Mezza Vita of the Ariete - Mid Life Update) for the EI. As mentioned, the program is well underway, with the work areas well outlined and set up, with the delivery of the prototypes expected in the course of 2021. At present there are various info (1)

as regards above all the powertrain, which for obvious reasons (due to timing and thousands H of bench tests), is not a new concept, but is a complete re-engineering of the current V12 MTCA (Modular Turbocharger Aftercooler), in fact (2)

during the renovation, #IVECO is implementing substantial changes to the original engine block in V12 architecture; among the many works in progress are: - the replacement of the mechanical feed pump with an electronically controlled Commonrail type (3)

- the displacement will be increased from the current 26L to 30L by changing cylinders, pistons and crankshaft, increasing the stroke of the cylinders. It should be mentioned that most of the new mechanical components come from the turbo Vector V8 of the new Centauro 2. (4)

With the adoption of the new mechanical components and the complete reconstruction of the powertrains, we go from the current 1250hp (1270 in emergency situations through overboost) to 1500hp, such as to guarantee a pot / weight ratio of 24hp / t with all the protection kits installed 4

(PSO Peace Support and War); i and 25 hp / t with the War kit only. The modified engine has the designation "V12AMV". Given the increase in engine torque, improvements were also made to the IVECO automatic gearbox (license #ZF) (5)

In fact, the German company has already studied the modifications necessary to receive the greater torque in entry and its distribution. New gearboxes are already planned by ZF through a specific kit. It should be noted that the updated engine will offer a value (6)

Almost three times higher torque at low rpm, which will make the undercarriage much more responsive even in the execution of the "pivot" maneuver. - Completely redesigned the braking system and its subsystems through the use of advanced components (7).

As a result of the increase in weight and the greater drive torque, 20% wider tracks are also provided to offer the undercarriage a lower footprint and will allow it to more easily overcome soft ground. (8)

PS: My next Aries focus will be on the tower and all the new electronic systems that are being implemented on the chariots. 

 

In original you can read on the Ciro Nappi's tweet:

🇮🇹Focus sul programma di aggiornamento del #CIO sull'#Ariete AMV per l'EI. Come detto, il programma si trova ben avviato, con le aree di lavoro ben schematizzate ed impostate, con la consegna dei prototipi prevista nel corso del 2021. Allo stato attuale si hanno diverse info (1) pic.twitter.com/FVkRwiM0zo

— Ciro Nappi (@CiroNappi6) December 15, 2020

gatewayONE and attritableONE test moves joint force one step closer to “IoT.mil,” demonstrates F-22, F-35 first secure bi-directional data sharing

A U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor and F-35A Lightning II fly in formation with the XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle over the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground testing range, Ariz., during a series of tests Dec. 9, 2020. This integrated test follows a series of gatewayONE ground tests that began during the inaugural Department of the Air Force on-ramp last year in December. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. James Cason)

WASHINGTON (AFNS) - On Dec. 9, the joint force took another step toward achieving a military Internet of Things when fifth-generation aircraft overcame long standing connectivity limitations to share actionable operational data in their native secure digital “languages” with and through multiple sources for the first time.

This test was the latest demonstration of the transformative warfighting impact of the open architecture underpinning the Advanced Battle Management System.

The joint effort included a Marine Corps F-35B variant and the Air Force F-22 Raptor and F-35A Lightning II variant flying with an attritableONE XQ-58A Valkyrie for the first time. The primary tests took place at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona with preparatory tests at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

Lt. Col. Kate Stowe, gatewayONE program manager at the Air Force Lifecycle Management Center, set out with 18 test objectives and successfully achieved nine.

“Testing is all about pushing the limits of what’s possible, finding out where the toughest challenges are, and adapting creative solutions to overcoming difficult problem sets,” Stowe said. “The real win of the day was seeing the gatewayONE establish a secure two-way translational data path across multiple platforms and multiple domains. That’s the stuff ABMS is all about.”

An XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle launches at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Dec. 9, 2020. The acquisition team – comprised of Air Force Research Laboratory and Air Force Life Cycle Management Center personnel working in conjunction with Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.’s 46th Test Squadron – came together to conduct the historic test. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua King)

Fifth-generation fighters are typically limited to communicating with each other and to command and control centers via legacy tactical data connections, not in their native, but incompatible digital “languages” – Multifunctional Advanced Data Link for F-35 and Intra-Flight Data Link for the F-22. Not only can gatewayONE translate between those formats, in this test it moved data that is normally relegated to an operations center or tactical ground node, directly pushing it into the cockpit at the edge of the multi-domain battlespace for the first time.

Additionally, the test pushed the position data of each platform outside of the aircraft’s close-proximity formation through gatewayONE, which enables battle managers on the ground or in the air to better orchestrate operations. The gatewayONE payload also passed tracks or cues from ground operators to both fighters and passed a cue from the F-35A to the F-22 for the first time. These bi-directional communications pathways occurred in the platforms’ native digital “languages” and the data was displayed through the aircrafts’ organic systems.

“The gatewayONE payload really showed what’s possible and helped us take a big step towards achieving (Joint All-Domain Command and Control),” said Lt. Col. Eric Wright, a 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron F-35 pilot. “This critical capability provides additional connections between our advanced fighters and other forces and battle managers across all domains. The future is promising, and gatewayONE will allow the F-22 and F-35 to connect to and feed data sources they've never before accessed. Those future connections will bring additional battlefield awareness into the cockpit and enable integrated fires across U.S. forces.”

Additional successful tests during the week included establishing a communications pathway between the KC-46 Pegasus tanker and a ground node using commercial internet routing standards over the Tactical Targeting Network Technology waveform and the F-35B sending full-motion video to a ground controller.

“If fifth-generation platforms are going to be quarterbacks of a joint-penetrating team, we have to be able to communicate with those quarterbacks in an operationally relevant manner and enable data sharing between them, to them, and from them. For years people said it couldn’t be done. Today the team turned another page toward making the impossible possible,” said Preston Dunlap, Air and Space Force’s chief architect. “In just 12 months, the team has opened the door to a world where we can put the power of an operations center into the cockpit at the tactical edge.”

Full story - gatewayONE and attritableONE test moves joint force one step closer to “IoT.mil,” demonstrates F-22, F-35 first secure bi-directional data sharing

A remote control operator speaks into a radio at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz. during a XQ-58A Valkyrie test flight, Dec. 9, 2020. The operator controlled the aircraft during a test flight where it flew alongside the Air Force F-22 Raptor and F-35A Lightning II for the first time. This integrated test follows a series of gatewayONE ground tests that began during the inaugural Department of the Air Force on-ramp last year in December. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua King)

Iranian UAVs from 80s

 Early models of Iranian UAVs during Iran-Iraq war  (via M.S.A.I)

Homemade Jammer/IR light device on the Armenian T-72B

Homemade Jammer/IR light device on T-72B of Artsakh Defence Army

 

Inflatable K1A1 and M1A1 at ADEX 2017

 Inflatable K1A1 and M1A1 at ADEX 2017

K1A1

On the table is wrote K1A1, but its looks like M1 Abrams

Su-57 on Assembly line

Su-57 on Assembly line of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant. 

The new russian Chemical Oxygen Iodine Air Defense Laser (COIL)

In internet leaked the picture of the secret russian laser system. On the pic we can see the direct energy weapon system, which one use the high energy Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser (COIL). Laser system is on BAZ chassis and was spotted at NPO Advent’s facility in St. Petersburg.

The laser can destroy target at 5km range and its output wavelength is 1315 nm.

 

First clear pic of Makran ESB Iranian Expeditionary Warship

The commander of the Iranian Navy has said that they plan to soon launch a new ship designed to support Iran’s international operations and act as an forward operating base.

According to naval analyst H.I. Sutton, the Iranian navy is about to launch their latest addition, the I.R.I.N.S Makran. The ship is a conversion of a tanker and has been reequipped with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles to give it some defensive and offensive capabilities.

However, the purpose of the ship is not to conduct combat operations itself, but to support other forces in their own missions. In this way the Makran is analogous to the U.S. Navy’s Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB).

Emerald Flag exercise begins

Emerald Flag, Eglin’s first native multi-domain test exercise, was conduct Dec. 1-5 on the Eglin test and training range.

This inaugural event brings more than 25 agencies to participate. It is a collaborative multi-service effort focused on increasing the effectiveness of the joint domain warfighter.

“The goal is to align DoD resources across the Florida panhandle and enable multi-domain test and experimentation to prepare the warfighter for a 21st-century fight,” said Maj. Alexander Hillman, 45th Test Squadron.

The event incorporates ground, space, cyberspace and air platforms. The test connects those different platforms to improve the speed and flow of information.

Another large aspect of Emerald Flag is the integration of Eglin’s five Ws: weapons, water, webs, widgets, and warfighters, according to Hillman.

Weapons testing is part of the 96th Test Wing’s primary mission.

Water is a unique Eglin capability that can be utilized in missions on the Eglin Test and Training Range.

Webs is the battlespace of the 96th Cyberspace Test Group in their role in delivering cyberspace capabilities.

Widgets refer to development programs from the Air Force Research Lab seeking to exercise or demonstrate their progress in a realistic test environment.

Warfighters is a reference to the 53rd Wing’s operational test presence.

Eglin has the unique capability of integrating across and amongst these five Ws and enabling a development environment for the agencies participating in Emerald Flag, according to Hillman.

This demonstration environment concept originated from within the 96th Test Wing and AFRL’s Munitions Directorate, the Armament Directorate and the 53d Wing were integral in shaping the event.

This week’s event planning began in the middle of the COVID-19 shutdown in March. The Emerald Flag event team judges its success based on the number of unique multi-domain and interoperability test points conducted during testing.

For the exercise USAF prepared the various type of targets:

The soviet T-72 MBTs

2P25 TEL and 1S91 Radar of the Soviet 2K12 "Kub" Air Defence System

 U.S. Air Force photo/1st Lt Karissa Rodriguez

Russian Strategic Missile Forces first time show newest Avangard ICBM.

Russian Strategic Missile Forces (РВСН РФ - Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Федерации) first time show newest Avangard ICBM. The missile is displayed in the Museum Of The Strategic Missile Troops In Balabanovo.

The Avangard has a range of over 6,000 km, weighs approximately 2,000 kg, and can carry a nuclear or conventional payload. One TASS report said that the HGV’s nuclear warhead is “more than 2 megatons in TNT equivalent.” As a boost-glide weapon, the Avangard is carried to its apogee by a ballistic missile. This carrier is currently the SS-19 “Stiletto” (UR-100NUTTH), but will later be replaced by the R-28 “Sarmat.” Russia had initially planned to mount the Avangard on the road-mobile RS-26 “Rubezh” (SS-X-31) but chose to use the silo-based R-28 “Sarmat” after the Rubezh was delayed due to financial constraints.

Once boosted to its suborbital apogee of around 100 km, the glide vehicle separates from its rocket. It then cruises down towards its target through the atmosphere. In his March 2018 speech, Vladimir Putin claimed the HGV can maintain atmospheric speeds of up to Mach 20 (6.28 km/s) and can maneuver. This maneuverability could make Avangard’s trajectory unpredictable, complicating intercept attempts after its boost phase.