Adaptive engine work feeds sixth-gen fighter design, says US Air Force

On the same subject

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  December 16, 2022 | International, Aerospace

  Gripen officially joins Brazil’s operational fighter fleet

  The Gripens will become operational and officially part of the line-up of fighter jets belonging to the 1st Aviation Group.

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  November 7, 2019 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Are banned Chinese cameras watching the US military?

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Amid news that thousands of banned Chinese-made surveillance devices are in use across American government installations, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is asking the Pentagon to identify the Chinese gear in use at U.S. military facilities. In a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper made public Wednesday, Rubio said the Trump administration needs a comprehensive strategy to address the threats posed by foreign-sourced components and subcomponents. “The Department of Defense must act quickly to identify and remove this equipment as every day that passes only provides our adversaries additional time to infiltrate and exploit our national security networks as well as the ability to monitor U.S. military activities that may be of interest,” Rubio said. The letter comes after Forbes reported the government has made little progress complying with a legally mandated ban on Chinese surveillance tech. Government contractor Forescout found 3,500 devices from from telecom giants Huawei and ZTE, as well as surveillance camera-makers Dahua and Hikvision, on U.S. government systems a month before the ban was to take effect. Language in the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act banned the procurement of Chinese-produced cameras and associated electronics to ensure U.S. government installations are not at risk of surveillance by potentially malicious Chinese technology. The provision also prohibited the renewal of any contracts currently in use across the federal government. “As you continue to posture the Department of Defense in the era of great power competition, we must remain vigilant to attack from every possible source,” Rubio said in his letter to Esper. “I strongly urge you to implement a comprehensive and proactive approach meeting the requirements of the ban cited in the FY 2019 NDAA." Among other questions, Rubio's letter asked what steps the DoD has taken to address the NDAA's ban on procurement, whether the department has considered removing the technologies, and whether the future will bring further prohibitions on additional products or manufacturers. Rubio wanted to know whether the DoD has a way to purge nontraditional surveillance gear automatically. “How would you detect non-traditional IP-connected products, those beyond, if future prohibitions on such products materialize?" https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/11/06/are-banned-chinese-cameras-watching-the-us-military/

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  March 20, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  DOD Releases Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Proposal

  On March 11, 2019, President Donald J. Trump sent Congress a proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Budget request of $750 billion for national security, $718.3 billion of which is for the Department of Defense (DoD). The FY 2020 Budget maintains momentum from the sustained funding increases enacted in FY 2017, FY 2018, and FY 2019 to repair damaged readiness, and the Budget marks a key next step in how we operationalize the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Deterring or defeating great power aggression is a fundamentally different challenge than the regional conflicts involving rogue states and violent extremist organizations we faced over the last 25 years. The FY 2020 Budget is a major milestone in meeting this challenge and resourcing the more lethal, agile, and innovative Joint Force America needs to compete, deter, and win in any high-end potential fight of the future by: investing in the emerging space and cyber warfighting domains; modernizing capabilities in the air, maritime, and land warfighting domains; innovating more rapidly to strengthen our competitive advantage; and sustaining our forces and building on our readiness gains. This budget is about projecting power through competitiveness, innovation, and readiness. It fully recognizes that future wars will be waged not just in the air, on the land, and at sea, but also in space and cyberspace, increasing the complexity of warfare. It modernizes capabilities across all warfighting domains to enhance lethality, including the largest ship building request in 20 years and the largest research and development request in 70 years, focusing on technologies needed for a high-end fight. This budget sustains our forces by funding a 3.1 percent military pay raise, the largest in a decade. Congressional approval of the FY 2020 Budget will help us meet current operational commitments and outpace the threats posed by China and Russia through maintaining our competitive advantage, even as DoD spending remains near a record low as a share of the U.S. economy. Specifically, the Department's FY 2020 budget builds the Joint Force's capacity and lethality by investing in: Cyber ($9.6 billion) Supports offensive and defensive cyberspace operations - $3.7 billion Reduces risk to DoD networks, systems, and information by investing in more cybersecurity capabilities - $5.4 billion Modernizes DoD's general purpose cloud environment - $61.9 million Space ($14.1 billion) Resources the initial establishment of the United States Space Force - $72.4 million 4 National Security Space Launch (aka EELV) - $1.7 billion 1 Global Positioning System III and Projects - $1.8 billion Space Based Overhead Persistent Infrared Systems - $1.6 billion Air Domain ($57.7B) 78 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters - $11.2 billion 12 KC-46 Tanker Replacements - $2.3 billion 24 F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets - $2.0 billion 48 AH-64E Attack Helicopters - $1.0 billion 6 VH-92 Presidential Helicopters - $0.8 billion 6 P-8A Aircraft - $1.5 billion 6 CH-53K King Stallion - $1.5 billion 8 F-15EX - $1.1 billion Maritime Domain: $34.7 billion and the largest budget request in more than 20 years for shipbuilding COLUMBIA Class Ballistic Missile Submarine - $2.2 billion 1 CVN-78 FORD Class Aircraft Carrier - $2.6 billion 3 Virginia Class Submarines - $10.2 billion 3 DDG-51 Arleigh Burke Destroyers - $5.8 billion 1 Frigate (FFG(X)) - $1.3 billion 2 Fleet Replenishment Oilers (T-AO) - $1.1 billion 2 Towing, Salvage, and Rescue Ship (T-ATS) - $0.2 billion 2 large unmanned surface vehicles - $447 million Ground Systems ($14.6 billion) 4,090 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles - $1.6 billion 165 M-1 Abrams Tank Modifications - $2.2 billion 56 Amphibious Combat Vehicles - $0.4 billion 131 Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles - $0.6 billion Multi-domain and nuclear triad ($31 billion) B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber - $3.0 billion Columbia Class Submarine - $2.2 billion Long-Range Stand-Off Missile - $0.7 billion Ground Based Strategic Deterrent - $0.6 billon The FY 2020 Budget funds preferred munitions at the maximum production rate. 40,388 Joint Direct Attack Munitions - $1.1 billion 10,193 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System - $1.4 billion 125 Standard Missile-6 - $0.7 billion 1,925 Small Diameter Bomb II - $0.4 billion 9,000 Hellfire Missiles - $0.7 billion 430 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile - $0.6 billion 48 Long Range Anti-Ship Missile - $0.2 billion Highlighting the enduring importance of missile defeat and defense, the FY 2020 Budget funds the sustainment of the surge in missile defense investment we undertook in FY 2018 and FY 2019, while also investing in Missile Defense Review efforts at $13.6 billion. The missile defeat and defense investments for FY 2020 include: 37 AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (SM-3) with Install - $1.7 billion Support for Missile Defense Review (e.g., Land-Launched Conventional Prompt Strike, Extended Range Weapon, Space-based Discrimination Sensor Study) - $1.5 billion Ground Based Midcourse Defense - $1.7 billion 37 THAAD Ballistic Missile Defense - $0.8 billion 147 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancements - $0.7 billion The FY 2020 Budget continues the Department's emphasis on innovation and technology, which will enhance our competitive advantage. The Budget highlights emerging technology projects including: Unmanned / Autonomous projects to enhance freedom of maneuver and lethality in contested environments - $3.7 billion Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning investments to expand military advantage through the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) and Advanced Image Recognition - $927 million Hypersonics weapons development to complicate adversaries' detection and defense - $2.6 billion Directed Energy investment to support implementation of directed energy for base defense; enable testing and procurement of multiple types of lasers; and increase research and development for high-power density applications - $235 million The FY 2020 Budget increases the readiness, lethality, and agility of the Joint force by increasing our military end strength. Funds readiness to executable levels across services - $124.8 billion Total military end strength will increase from FY 2019 projected levels by approximately 7,700 in FY 2020 Active end strength will increase by approximately 6,200 from FY 2019 projected levels to FY 2020, with the largest increase in the Air Force Reserve Component end strength will increase by approximately 1,500 from FY 2019 projected levels to FY 2020, with the largest increase in the Army Guard and Reserve The FY 2020 Budget provides the largest military pay raise in 10 years and robust support to our most valued asset—our military members—and their families. The Budget: Provides a competitive compensation package Includes a 3.1 percent military pay raise Continues to modernize and transform our Military Health System Continues family support programs with investment of nearly $8 billion for: Spousal/community support Child care for over 180,000 children Youth programs serving over 1 million dependents DoD Dependent Schools educating over 76,000 students Commissary operations at 236 stores Facilities investment is a continuing area of emphasis. This funding: Supports the National Defense Strategy by investing in key operational and training facilities Enables timely maintenance of critical infrastructure Improves Quality-of-Life for Service Members and their families Provides funding for Marine Corps and Air Force hurricane-related facility repairs at Camp Lejeune and Tyndall Air Force Base The FY 2020 Budget contains critical funding for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and an emergency budget request, totaling $173.8 billion, which is subject to the same congressional oversight requirements as the base budget. These pieces of the request are vital to our budget as a whole and our ability to support the National Defense Strategy. The FY 2020 OCO/Emergency request contains four categories: Direct War Requirements: Combat or combat support costs that are not expected to continue once combat operations end - $25.4 billion OCO for Enduring Requirements: Enduring in-theater and CONUS costs that will remain after combat operations end - $41.3 billion OCO for Base Requirements: Funding for base budget requirements in support of the National Defense Strategy, financed in the OCO budget due to the limits on base budget defense resources under the budget caps in current law - $97.9 billion Emergency Requirements: Funding for military construction for emergencies, to include border security and reconstruction efforts to rebuild facilities damaged by Hurricanes Florence and Michael - $9.2 billion Long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia are the principal priorities for the Department, and require both increased and sustained investment, because of the magnitude of the threats they pose to U.S. security and prosperity today, and the potential for those threats to increase in the future. 2018 National Defense Strategy The entire budget proposal and additional material are available at: http://www.defense.gov/cj. https://dod.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1782623/dod-releases-fiscal-year-2020-budget-proposal/source/GovDelivery/