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Dragonfire has the potential to revolutionize indirect fire support

The Dragon Fire II automated 120mm mortar weapon system. (U.S. Military photo)

November 02, 2005

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Dragon Fire II (DF II) is an automated 120mm mortar weapon system that has the potential to revolutionize indirect fire support. Due to its high degree of automation, quick response time, lethality, and mobility the DF II will provide the maneuver commander capabilities never before realized. The DF II is a 120mm mortar weapon system program sponsored by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. The program is managed by the Office of the Product Manager for Mortars Systems and is being designed and developed at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ by the Armament Engineering Technology Center.

The Dragon Fire II is a highly automated indirect fire support weapon system. The DF II integrates the automated 120mm 2R2M (Recoiling Rifled Mounted Mortar) mortar, developed and produced by Thomson Daimler-Benz Aerospace (TDA) Armements SAS, a modified M95 Mortar Fire Control System, adapted for US Marine Corps use including incorporation of the NATO Ballistic Kernel (NABK), M93 Muzzle Velocimeter, PLGR Global Positioning System, integral digital communications via AFATDS, and automated aiming and pointing software into a highly responsive, extremely accurate weapon system. The system’s high degree of automation reduces the manpower required to operate the system and decreases the weapon’s response time to less than 30 seconds. The system’s pointing accuracy is improved to less than 3 mils, with the potential of being as low as 1 mil. The uniqueness of this system is the integration of these capabilities into one automated system capable of providing effective, timely and accurate fire support to maneuver and armored units.

The DF II uses a complete family of rifled mortar ammunition (HE, Smoke, Illumination, IR Illumination, Practice and Rocket Assisted) , as well as being capable of firing US smoothbore ammunition, providing the capability of engaging targets out to 8,200m (unassisted) and 13,000m (rocket assisted). The MFCS was modified to meet the operational requirements of the U.S. Marines Corps. Weapon control software and electric actuators developed by GD-OTS were added to allow for automated gun aiming and pointing. The system is capable of being towed by the HMMWV, 2 1/2 ton Medium Tactical Vehicle and the Interim Fast Attack Vehicle and can be internally transported by the MV-22 and the CH-53 helicopter. The DF II digitally communicates with the Forward Observer (FO) and/or the Fire Direction Center (FDC) using AFATDS over SINGARS radios. The system uses the NATO ballistic kernel (NABK) to generate a ballistic solution. The NABK is being updated to include all US 120mm smooth bore ammunition and the French 120mm rifled ammunition both of which can be fired from the DF II.

The DF II functions as follows: A fire mission is sent digitally to the DF II by the FO or the FDC. Upon receiving the fire mission the system calculates the ballistic solution, aims and points the weapon, loads a round using a semi automatic loading device (SALD), and fires a round on target. The SALD must be manually reloaded after each round in fired. The system is capable of firing up to 10 rounds/min. for one minute and 4 rounds /min. thereafter.

The DF II offers many advantages over existing mortar systems, several of which are listed below:

Low profile (approximately 35 inches) increasing system survivability Light weight and automated systems reduce manpower requirements for emplacement, displacement and operation Remote operation (via wireless link) allow most crew members to remain under cover System accuracy (less than 3 mils) Improved response time (less than 30 sec.).

The system is being specifically designed for modularity to support conventional and emerging maneuver missions. The DF II is capable of being ground emplaced or mounted in and fired from the back of a modified Light Armored Vehicle (LAV). This gives the system great flexibility, allowing it to keep pace with mechanized forces providing accurate and responsive organic indirect fire support. Whether employed in the ground mounted or mobile configuration, the DF II is capable of conducting independent fire missions, or several systems can be linked together to provide mass fires on one target. Each weapon is capable of acting as the FDC, controlling up to 18 other systems making the system versatile and providing responsive indirect fire support.

The DF II’s accuracy is largely due to the following factors:

The use of spin stabilized ammunition Platform stability Improved fire control system, i.e. MFCS with the NABK Incorporation of MET data and lot to lot muzzle velocity variations in the ballistic solution Highly accurate traverse and elevation servo motors A highly precise inertial measurement unit

The advancements made in Dragon Fire II will greatly advance the state of the art in indirect fire support systems in general, and mortar systems specifically. These advancements can be applied to indirect fire systems across the board, as well as many direct fire systems, and have the potential to significantly improve the accuracy, responsiveness, and lethality of weapon systems.

Computers Help Families Keep in Touch

Family members wave to sailors aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz as it passes the missing man memorial at Hickam Air Force Base, and enters Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for a brief port visit, Oct. 30, 2005. Nimitz is returning to her homeport of San Diego after a regularly scheduled deployment in support of the global war on terrorism. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan C. McGinley)

November 02, 2005

GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Through the efforts of Operation Homelink, personnel stationed at Naval Construction Battalion Center, Gulfport, were able to receive 100 free, refurbished computers.

The PCs, which are valued at more than $30,000, were given away during a four-hour period Oct. 28 to military families impacted by Hurricane Katrina, particularly those who have a service member preparing to deploy overseas.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for our troops who suffered loss," said Cmdr. Rodney Duggins, supply officer at the Seabee base. Northrop Grumman, one of the government’s largest providers of information technology systems and services, donated all 100 computer systems.

Each command on base was allocated a percentage of the computers, based on the command’s size. A master list of eligible personnel was generated, and each service member had only to fill out an application form before picking up a computer station.

"It’s amazing," said Storekeeper 1st Class Frisly Garcia of the 22nd Naval Construction Regiment. "For the kids at home, it’s the best thing we’ve ever had. We can use it for our daughter to do homework, too."

While most service members have access to e-mail on ships or other remote outposts, the situation often is different for their families back home.

So far Operation Homelink has been able to successfully link more than 1,100 families with their troops overseas. Spouses or parents of troops within the junior-level pay grades of E-1 to E-5 are eligible to receive donated computers.

Operation Homelink’s technology partners provide professional refurbishment services and ensure existing information is wiped clean from the computers’ hard drives. The computers then are tested, reloaded with new operating systems and modems, and shipped in bulk to the selected base.

Although Operation Homelink is unable to accept individual requests for a computer, the organization works with corporations such as Northrop Grumman, who decide which base they would like to support.

"This is a great way to help military families, as well as hurricane victims," said Dan Shannon, founder and president of Operation Homelink. Businesses wanting to help support local military communities with donations of computers should visit www.operationhomelink.org, Shannon added.

Operation Homelink, a non-profit organization, was founded three years ago in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The program is based in Chicago.

By Michelle Fayard - Commander, 1st Naval Construction Division Public Affairs

Soldiers search for missing Ohio reservist in Iraq

Tue, Nov. 01, 2005

Associated Press

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Members of a U.S. Army unit have been spending their time searching for an Ohio soldier missing in Iraq for more than a year.

To the troops of the Army's 10th Mountain Division, finding Army Reserve Sgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, has become a quest that defines their values as soldiers.

"He needs to go home to his family," First Sgt. Joseph Sanford told an Iraq-based reporter for The Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y. "And there needs to be closure for his family. Those are the two things we're trying to bring: closure to his family, and a way to send this young man home."

Maupin has been missing since April 9, 2004, when his fuel truck convoy was ambushed by insurgents west of Baghdad after leaving camp. A week later, Arab television network Al-Jazeera released a videotape showing Maupin sitting on the floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

That June, Al-Jazeera released another tape purporting to show a U.S. soldier being shot. But the tape was dark and grainy and showed only the back of the victim's head, and did not show the actual shooting.

The Army ruled it inconclusive, saying it could not determine if the man was Maupin or even if it was an American soldier.

The Army lists Maupin as "missing-captured."

"We will not stop looking," Army spokeswoman Maj. Elizabeth Robbins said Tuesday.

Thirty-two members of the Fort Drum, N.Y.-based unit spent seven hours Saturday inching over terrain, overturning rocks and probing bushes on a stretch of land between two highways in the Abu Ghraib section west of Baghdad.

A tip had suggested that Maupin's body might be there, so they parceled the tract into sections and moved systematically through them. It was the third day of searching the area.

They had dug 45 holes and bagged and tagged 10 items that could hold the answers to Maupin's fate, including a scrap of military clothing. Each will be shipped to a lab for analysis.

"The physical search is the key," said Sanford, 38, a native of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "It's all hands-on. It's picking up every rock, it's looking under every bush, it's turning over every piece of clothing or trash that we find out there."

Sanford cited the Warrior Ethos, in which a soldier vows never to leave a comrade behind.

"When it all comes down to it, it's about the man on your left and the man on your right," Sanford said. "It's all about protecting their flanks and making sure they get home."

Sgt. Bryan Hatfield, 27, of Oklahoma City, said hope of finding Maupin keeps him searching.

"We may go out there day after day, time after time, scouring the grounds ... then comes that one time, you might find something, and it'll be worth it," Hatfield said. "The hope is always there that, yeah, he could be here. So I'll go and look."

The search was welcome news to Maupin's father, Keith.

"It makes me feel better to know they are looking," he told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Monday night. "I believe they were looking the whole time, but they don't say much, they always say it's classified."

Keith Maupin said his Army contact told him it wasn't yet known if anything found was connected to his son. "But we remain hopeful and pray for the best," he said.

Sanford said he will continue to look for Maupin as long as he is deployed in Iraq.

"I never met Sergeant Maupin, but I've looked at his picture, and I've read the reports about him," Sanford said. "He's got a family. He's got a mother and a father, and they love him, and they want him to come home. His parents haven't given up, and I don't think we have the right to."

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/13047892.htm