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Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
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1

Introduction

CONTEXT

The Office of Naval Research's (ONR) Air and Surface Weapons Technology (ASWT) program resides within the Strike Technology Division (Code 351) of the Naval Expeditionary Warfare Science and Technology Department (Code 35). In 2002 the ASWT program is funded at $73.6 million, which is approximately 24 percent of the Strike Technology Division budget. Like all of ONR, the ASWT program began a major funding transition in FY02, when most of ONR's 6.3 funding (advanced development) and about half of its 6.2 funding (exploratory development) were dedicated to 12 major program areas called Future Naval Capabilities (FNCs). The purpose of the FNCs is to focus advanced technology development at ONR on naval force capabilities that have been identified by a cross-functional group of naval operators, naval development and support organizations, and ONR program managers as having a high priority for the future. The remaining half of ONR's 6.2 funding and most of its 6.1 funding (basic research) are concentrated into discovery and invention (D &I) thrusts that will provide technologies, some of which will go into future FNCs. The ASWT 2002 budget is divided as follows: (1) D&I at $19.9 million, (2) FNC at $36.5 million, and (3) other 6.2 and 6.3 at $17.2 million.1 Code 351 provided current and projected budget figures through FY03 for each of these areas (Table 1.1).2

The goals of the ASWT program are to develop and transition enabling air and surface weapons technologies that provide the fleet affordable conventional weapons systems capable of meeting the need for upgrades of today's air and surface weapons and that lay the foundation for weapons of

1  

There are currently no ONR ASWT program efforts funded at the 6.1 level. Approximately $5 million is funded by Code 351 for 6.1 intelligent autonomy efforts.

2  

This information was provided at the end of the meeting, making it difficult to understand the level and detail of resources applied to air and surface weapons within ONR and throughout the Department of the Navy. While the read-ahead material provided adequate technical insight into the program of record, it did not provide an adequate framework for which the technical program was funded upon.

Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×

TABLE 1.1 ONR 351 Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program Budget Through FY03 (millions of dollars)

 

2000

2001

2002

2003

Area

6.2

6.3

6.2

6.3

D&I

FNC

Other 6.2/6.3

D&I

FNC

Other 6.2/6.3

Ordnance

7.1

4.4

7

4.7

1.8

6.9

4.7

1.8

8.8

15

Directed energy

0

0

0

0

1

5

0

1.9

0

0

Guns

0.4

0

0.8

0

0.2

0

0

0.4

1.2

0

Projectiles (guns)

0

2

0

0

4.9

0

0

0.5

0

0

Launchers

0

5.1

0

5

0

0

0

0.5

0

0

Guidance and control

4.4

14.4

4.4

4.2

1

11.7

0

1.2

14.5

0

Targeting

7.5

0.7

7.5

0.9

1.7

11.4

0

0.6

13.6

0

Systems technology investigations

2.4

0

3.2

0

1

0

0

0

0

0

Propulsion

3.2

2.7

3.3

4.3

7.7

1.5

7.5

5.7

8.5

10

Airframes (hypersonics)

2.2

0

2.7

0

0.6

0

5

0

0

10

Subtotal

27.2

29.3

28.9

19.1

19.9

36.5

17.2

12.6

46.6

35

TOTAL FOR YEAR

56.5

48.0

74.2

94.2

SOURCE: Graff, Gil Y., Office of Naval Research. 2002. Vugraph, “Air and Surface Weapons Investment by Technology Area Thrusts: Categories, ” in Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program Overview, briefing to the committee on May 14.

Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×

TABLE 1.2 ONR 351 Air and Surface Weapons Technology Thrust Objectives

Thrust

Objective

D&I Thrust

Ordnance

To improve the performance of tactical ordnance through the use of reactive energetic materials that increase lethality and enhance kill assessment and to develop adaptive dial-a-yield ordnance that can adapt to various target types with the same munition.

Directed energy

An area just recently reactivated after a 10-year hiatus to evaluate the advances in free electron laser technology applications to the Navy in the marine environment.

Gun weaponry

To develop a broadly applicable technology base for affordable long-range precision gun weapons to support Marine expeditionary operations.

Precision targeting and guidance

To develop technologies that will improve the performance of tactical airborne and shipboard weapon fire control systems, including better methods for fusing imagery from different sources and improving the ability to provide digital elevation data with sufficient resolution for correlating imagery from various types of imaging sensors.

Propulsion and aeromechanics

To demonstrate the critical technologies required for a Mach 5 to 6 air-breathing strike weapon with a range of 400 to 700 nm carrying penetrating ordnance (hypersonic weapons technology program) and to establish a national rocket propulsion technology development and demonstration program with participation by Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and industry to provide revolutionary advancement in rocket propulsion performance and operational capabilities (integrated high-payoff rocket propulsion program).

TCS FNC Thrust

Cruise missile real-time retargeting

To develop the technology for cruise missile LADAR seekers and to accurately target or divert weapons to time-critical targets at low cost.

Image and video analysis

To reduce the time required to exploit tactical imagery from SHARPs and Global Hawk-type surveillance systems for targeting and damage assessment of time-critical relocatable targets.

Enhanced target acquisition and location system

To provide an improved and lower cost target locating capability for forward observers and forward air controllers employing a gyrocompass and eye-safe laser range finder/illuminator.

Precision strike navigation

To demonstrate a hybrid module for the electro-optical portion of an interferometric fiber optic gyro that will radically reduce the cost of these devices for tactical weapons while retaining the accuracy.

Mission responsive ordnance

To develop and demonstrate ordnance and dispensing technology that will enable a single cruise missile payload to act as a unitary weapon, an area weapon, or a multiple discrete target killer.

High-speed antiradiation demonstration

To demonstrate an increased-performance ducted rocket and steering system compatible with the advanced antiradiation guided missile and suitable for transition to system development demonstration.

Weapons imagery link

To develop and demonstrate an improved data link for imagery-guided weapons such as SLAM (ER), including antijam increased data throughput and reduced latency.

Gun barrel erosion (and fatigue)

To develop next-generation gun barrel design solutions to increase barrel life and performance for higher-performance, naval gun-launched munitions by use of refractory coatings and composite barrel materials.

NOTE: Acronyms used are defined in Appendix C.

Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×

tomorrow. Within the ASWT program, technology investments are concentrated into five D&I thrusts (ordnance, directed energy, gun weaponry, precision targeting and guidance, and propulsion and aeromechanics) and into the air and surface weapons aspects of one FNC—Time Critical Strike (TCS). The objectives of these thrusts are summarized in Table 1.2.

NOTE: Acronyms used are defined in Appendix C.

The stated S&T investment strategy for Code 351 is to select and support crucial S&T that provide evolutionary or revolutionary solutions to aircraft, air- and surface-launched weapons, and advanced sensor systems.

The committee was charged with evaluating the ASWT program represented by more than 20 individual efforts that were presented over 2 days, May 14 and May 15, 2002. The committee selected the following evaluation criteria based on its experience in conducting similar reviews:

  • Appropriateness of the investment strategy within the context of Navy and Marine Corps priorities and requirements;

  • Impact on and relevance to Navy and Marine Corps needs;

  • Scientific and technical quality of the work; and

  • Progress by ONR since the 1999 review.3

The committee was also asked to recommend new areas that should be considered for inclusion in future ASWT program activities.

ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT

In Chapter 2, the committee provides some general observations on the future of naval air and surface weapons technology and on the ASWT program. Chapters 3 and 4 pertain to the D&I and FNC thrust areas, respectively. Each begins with an overview of the thrust and then proceeds to the findings and recommendations for each project presented to the committee at its May 2002 meeting.

3  

This is the second cycle in NSB's review of ONR's Air and Surface Weapons Technology program; the first cycle was conducted in 1999 (Naval Studies Board, National Research Council. 1999. 1999 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.).

Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×
Page 10
Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×
Page 11
Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×
Page 12
Suggested Citation:"1. Introduction." National Research Council. 2002. 2002 Assessment of the Office of Naval Research's Air and Surface Weapons Technology Program. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10594.
×
Page 13
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The Office of Naval Research (ONR) contracted with the Naval Studies Board (NSB) of the National Research Council (NRC) to establish a committee to review ONR's Air and Surface Weapons Technology (ASWT) program. The committee convened on May 14 and 15, 2002, and reviewed more than 20 science and technology (S&T) efforts that were presented as constituting the ASWT program. The committee then met separately on May 16, 2002, to formulate its findings and recommendations. This report represents the consensus views of the committee and is based on the information presented prior to and at the review, as well as on the committee members' accumulated experience and expertise in military operations, systems, and technologies.

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