JCSP Paper - Overview of Precision Strike Capability for CP-140M and CC-130J

[Eye In The Sky]

To add, the ATL 2 dropped its first bombs on target almost 2 years ago.  There is the opportunity to make this happen as part of Block 4 or do a *4.5* mod...add in something like the MX-20D...voila. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gkHIAcDddw  not exactly what we're looking for, but...more than we are doing in the RCAF.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnO4alX7McE

First Air Strike with GBU-12 Against ISIL in Iraq for French Navy ATL2 Maritime Patrol Aircraft

The Marine Nationale (French Navy) announced that one of its Atlantique 2 (ATL 2) Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) taking part in Operation Chammal (name of the French military operation in Iraq against ISIL) hit a target with a GBU-12 laser guided bomb. The strike mission which took place on August 19 2015 was a first for a French Navy MPA during Operation Chammal.

The Marine Nationale (French Navy) announced that one of its Atlantique 2 (ATL 2) Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) taking part in Operation Chammal (name of the French military operationin Iraq against ISIL) hit a target with a GBU-12 laser guided bomb. The strike mission which took place on August 19 2015 was a first for a French Navy MPA during Operation Chammal.

The French Navy didn't provide details but the Mirage 2000 probably laser designated the target to the GBU-12 dropped by the ATL2 even though the French MPA can now self designate its own bombs thanks to the Wescam MX-20D electro-optical turret :tempertantrum:. Not all ATL2 are fitted with this gimbal however (only ATL2 Standard V aircraft).

While stike missions are a new thing for the French ATL2, they've been deployed on theater since the beginning of Operation Chammal and prove to be valuable assets for ISTAR (Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) missions. They also act as forward air control for aircraft on theater.

 

[Cloud Cover]

Not wanting to start a new thread, but it looks like the USN liked what the French did with their MPA:

“ The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), PMA-290 (Program Office for P-8A aircraft), is soliciting information from industry to determine potential contractors who have the skills, experience, qualifications, and knowledge required to perform aeromechanical and software integration of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto the P-8A aircraft, with the potential to include, but not limited to, the following additional weapon systems: 500 lb to 2,000 lb class of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) variants, Mk62/63/65 mines, Small Diameter Bomb (SDB-II), Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD), Bomb Rack Unit BRU-55, and Universal Armament Interface (UAI)”

https://beta.sam.gov/opp/e0453399274345038d1f3772d70e3392/view?index=opp&page=1&organization_id=300000188

 

[daftandbarmy]

You mean like the FW 200 Condor.... finally?  ;D

"With the advent of war, the Fw 200 Condor series was utilized as a successful maritime reconnaissance bomber and VIP transport (Hitler and Himmler were both reported users of the Fw 200 for this purpose). Excelling in disruption of Allied shipping lanes throughout the Atlantic and the Arctic, the Fw 200 Condor was fitted with anti-shipping armaments including anti-ship mines. Later variants, the Fw 200C-6 and 200C-8 would be fitted with the Henschel Hs 293 anti-ship guided missile controlled by an integrated missile control radio onboard." https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=237

 

[NavyShooter]

King Solomon was purported to have said "There is nothing new under the sun." 

I see we have attained 1940's technology again!

 

[Cloud Cover]

As long as the Canadian government doesn’t select the 140 as the winner of the fighter competition, the RCAF may have a chance of moving into the 1990’s technology space.

 

[MarkOttawa]

More, further links at original:

Navy To Greatly Expand P-8 Poseidon's Mission With New Missiles, Mines, Bombs, And Decoys
The plan reflects the better part of a decade of debate about expanding the roles and missions of these maritime patrol aircraft.

The U.S. Navy says that it is interested in dramatically expanding the arsenal of weapons that its P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft are capable of carrying. The service says that it wants to start by integrating the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile, or LRASM, on the planes, but then potentially move on to add various air-launched naval mines, precision-guided bombs, and the Miniature Air Launched Decoy, or MALD, to the available loadout options. There has been a debate within the Navy for years about giving the P-8As the ability to employ more types of munitions and other stores, which could turn these aircraft into arsenal ships of sorts capable of performing missions beyond anti-submarine, anti-surface warfare, and search and rescue, something The War Zone has been following for years now.

On Jan. 28, 2020, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) issued a notice on the Federal government's new central contracting website beta.SAM.gov, asking for contractors to submit information about their capabilities for integrating LRASM and the various other weapons onto the P-8A. LRASM, which is derived from the AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) land-attack cruise missile, entered service last year on the Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, as well as the U.S. Air Force's B-1B Bone bombers [emphasis added].

"The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), PMA-290 (Program Office for P-8A aircraft), is soliciting information from industry to determine potential contractors who have the skills, experience, qualifications, and knowledge required to perform aeromechanical and software integration of the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto the P-8A aircraft," the contracting notice reads. There is also "the potential to include, but not limited to, the following additional weapon systems: 500 lb to 2,000 lb class of Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) variants, Mk62/63/65 mines, Small Diameter Bomb (SDB-II), Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD), Bomb Rack Unit BRU-55, and Universal Armament Interface (UAI). Engineering tasks for this effort includes, but are not limited to upgrades to the Boeing Tactical Open Mission Systems (TOMS) and Stores Management Computer (SMC) software and interfaces, test planning, execution, data reduction, and reporting on flight test efforts."

At present, the P-8A's armament options consist of the AGM-84D Harpoon anti-ship missile and the Mk 54 air-launched lightweight torpedo. The Navy is also already working on integrating Mk 54s with the High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapon Capability (HAAWC) kit onto the aircraft, which you can read about in more detail in this past War Zone piece. HAAWC adds pop-out wings and tail fins to the standard torpedoes, which will allow Poseidon crews to employ them from a standoff range...
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32071/navy-to-greatly-expand-p-8-poseidons-mission-with-new-missiles-mines-bombs-and-decoys

Mark
Ottawa

 

[Eye In The Sky]

I'm a big fan of making a weapons platform as multi-functional as possible;  flexibility.  MPAs of the modern world are really muti-mission aircraft and should be multi-mission combat capable.  IMO, we stopped short of the 'combat' part.

No doubt, the RAAF, RAF and others would benefit from the strengthening of the P-8 fleet.  The RAF just brought their first P-8 home today (1 of 9 for their fleet).  I'm really hoping for some exchange positions or even some foreign recruiting.  ;D