What's the status on the CUDA program

[spikef22]

I really haven't heard anything about it lately did it get canceled?

[SpudmanWP]

CUDA was a company-sponsored program and not a government program.

The only gov doc that I have seen where something "looked" like a CUDA were these:

[cantaz]

SACM is also notionally scheduled after the AMRAAM replacement, so we're likely to see some sort of T3-realization before the CUDA.

[bring_it_on]

The T-3 is/was a test program, it was not a production program. The nomenclature would be different as the T3 proved what it set out to (the report lies with the USAF). Its up to the USAF to funnel requirements for a next generation weapon in the air-to-air arena and as the SACM slide shows its a candidate for the ADI. The Aviation Week article from Bill-sweetman also claimed 2 lockheed missiles (BVR) for the ADI programs so it is entirely possible that a CUDA/SACM like missile is pursued first. In fact, given General Hostage's comments on magazine depth (We are addressing them but we do not want to alert our enemy etc etc etc) some time ago at AFA it may just be the case that they develop a SACM like thing first.

FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Lockheed Martin is showing three conceptual air-launched missiles at the Air Force Association (AFA) show outside Washington this week, two of which are air-to-air weapons.

The Supersonic Testbed Risk Reduction (SSTRR) represents work on a future weapon in the same size class as the AIM-120 Amraam. The company is carrying out trade studies involving air-breathing and rocket propulsion, including multi-pulse motors, hit-to-kill technology and different guidance technologies. “Everyone wants everything,” a Lockheed Martin engineer explains. “If everyone in the room is crying, we’ve got it about right.”

On show for the first time at AFA is a model of Lockheed Martin’s Cuda, a so-called “Halfraam” weapon about half as long as an Amraam and compact enough to fit six missiles into each bay of the F-35 or F-22. Cuda draws on the hit-to-kill technology used on the PAC-3 missile, is designed to have a radar seeker and has both movable tails and forward attitude control motors for high agility. The company is not disclosing Cuda’s design range, but one variation of the concept is a two-stage missile with a similar total length to Amraam, presumably with the goal of covering a wide range envelope with a single missile design.

Both Cuda and SSTRR are being supported by independent research and development money and are being pushed as concepts of interest under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Air Dominance Initiative project.

Also being shown here is Lockheed Martin’s concept for the U.S. Air Force’s High Speed Strike Weapon, the planned operational follow-on to the X-51A scramjet demonstrator. The two-stage weapon has an inward-turning inlet and circular-section engine, described as being more volumetrically efficient than the demonstrator’s wedge shape.

http://aviationweek.com/awin/lockheed-r ... e-concepts

[cantaz]

I'm well aware that the T3 was a test program, I use the name the same way people tend to use CUDA when talking about the SACM.

I don't remember which pdf it's in, but there's a timeline for future USAF A2A weapons floating around, and AMRAAM replacement came before the SACM.

[spazsinbad]

17 Sep 2013 Credit: Bill Sweetman/AWST http://aviationweek.com/site-files/avia ... eetman.jpg [F-35A - CTOL]

[popcorn]

Interesting internal loadout possibility :
4 x SDB-2 O or 1 x 2000lb-class weapon
2 x T-3 based missile
4 x CUDA

[sferrin]

CUDA was such a sweet concept. Unfortunates it appears to have gone nowhere.

[bring_it_on]

CUDA was such a sweet concept. Unfortunates it appears to have gone nowhere.

Think of this way, Arati Prabhkar announced the ADI in 2013, and said they we;'ll begin to see activity in a couple of years. The CUDA was a proposal for the ADI, and this year in the FY16 discussions we heard of the AII which spun off from it and is a X plane program. They are moving towards air-dominance initiative and investing in technologies and developing capability, but we may not hear of it as much as we would like. The Fifth gen fleet will be significant by 2025 and it wouldnt be unreasonable to expect them to be working on projects and proposals now that they may wish to have in advanced stages of development around that timeframe.

[Dragon029]

Saying that CUDA and T-3 have gone nowhere is premature.

This for example was posted in March this year and appears to reference SACM / CUDA, KICM and T-3, or whatever those programs have since begun.

I think they're simply continuing to be developed similar to how HELLADS has had multiple programs that seemingly ended in nothing, only to reappear as new programs with new improvements. I expect that we'll see the results of these programs come in time for the F-35's Block 5 update; it's sort of like we're waiting for China and Russia to unveil some more of their systems so that we can tweak these systems to be more proficient against them.

[popcorn]

Saying that CUDA and T-3 have gone nowhere is premature.

This for example was posted in March this year and appears to reference SACM / CUDA, KICM and T-3, or whatever those programs have since begun.

I think they're simply continuing to be developed similar to how HELLADS has had multiple programs that seemingly ended in nothing, only to reappear as new programs with new improvements. I expect that we'll see the results of these programs come in time for the F-35's Block 5 update; it's sort of like we're waiting for China and Russia to unveil some more of their systems so that we can tweak these systems to be more proficient against them.

I can see them working to mature these key technologies. 5Gen platforms merit a new generation of missiles.

[bring_it_on]

They have yet to disclose "What next after Aim-120D". I think the procurement ends around 2022-2024 time-frame so a lot of what they are doing in the air dominance initiative and other allied efforts will help in determining what they do. They'll obviously not drop all plans to buy missiles post Aim-120D acquisition so they should have something in development (either as a new program or an upgraded Aim-120E version) shortly.

The Eglin article is interesting. LRS-B will have access to a lot of RTD&E funding, and if they are planning to add SACM like weapons to it, it makes some sense to pursue that missile first.

[madrat]

SACM has a lot of promise for small platforms, too. Even small jets like F-5 Tiger III and FA-50 Golden Eagle could be fitted with them if their packages are compatible. Wouldn't an FA-50 size plane with 2-4 SACM be formidable for air policing?

[count_to_10]

There is a certain irony here: sometimes, when you see a concept appear to fall of the face of the Earth, it isn't because it went no-where, but rather because it became something important enough to make secret.

[sferrin]

There is a certain irony here: sometimes, when you see a concept appear to fall of the face of the Earth, it isn't because it went no-where, but rather because it became something important enough to make secret.

When's the last time that happened?