After Army canceled helo program, industry had to pivot

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  October 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  NGC Demos Advanced Capabilities at Northern Edge 2019

  Northrop Grumman's air dominance technologies bring new capabilities to U.S. warfighters Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), together with military partners at Northern Edge 2019, successfully displayed advanced capabilities in air-to-air, air-to-surface and maritime tactical scenarios that address key warfighting gaps in advanced strike; intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR); and electronic warfare. Northrop Grumman's reconfigurable flight test aircraft significantly reduces the technology development process, bringing advanced capabilities to warfighters faster, more affordably and reliably. “Northrop Grumman is developing agile and affordable technologies that address the advanced strike, ISR and multi-domain command and control needs for our customers,” said Tom Jones, vice president and general manager, airborne C4ISR systems, Northrop Grumman. “Using reconfigurable flight-test aircraft outfitted with advanced sensors and cognitive artificial intelligence capability at events such as Northern Edge speeds up the development process significantly.” Northern Edge is the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's biennial joint training exercise, held May 13-24 at the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex and the Gulf of Alaska. It involves all U.S. military services and agency partners, as well as virtual participants from stateside and overseas bases. The exercise is designed to enhance air warfare and interoperability among the services in a highly contested environment. Celebrating 10 years of participation at Northern Edge this year, Northrop Grumman has consistently demonstrated leading technology capabilities at the joint military-industry exercise. Innovative solutions tested at earlier Northern Edge exercises include auto target recognition and combat identification; advanced electronic protection and attack; cognitive mission computing; maritime search and track; long-range surface-to-air missile detection; and infrared search and track. Northrop Grumman also demonstrated Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) gateways and multi-level secure live, virtual and constructive training. Many of these capabilities are now fielded on U.S. platforms, providing a significant warfighting advantage to Air Force, Navy and Marine aircrews. Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews , for more information. http://www.asdnews.com/news/defense/2019/07/10/ngc-demos-advanced-capabilities-at-northern-edge-2019

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  September 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Easy Aerial Selected Finalist in USAF AFWERX FUSION Challenge

  AFWERX, the catalyst for fostering innovation within the U.S. Air Force, announced Easy Aerial as one of the top 92 participating teams selected from across the globe competing to build the Base of the Future Challenge. The AFWERX Challenge is centered around six topics – Base Security, Installation Resilience, Leveraging Technology for Operational Effectiveness, Reverse Engineering, Culture of Innovation, and Airman and Family Wellbeing. The proposals selected to advance represent innovative solutions ranging from new base security technology and VR training modules to virtual assistants and apps designed for wellness and leadership development. Located in Brooklyn, New York, Easy Aerial is competing in the Leveraging Technology for Operational Effectiveness Challenge alongside a diverse group of teams – originating from the vast regions of North America, Europe, Australia and other allied countries – that represent entrepreneurial startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academic institutions and research labs all vying to build the Base of the Future and modernize the Department of Defense. “The AFWERX Base of the Future Challenge is critical to our mission of increasing collaboration between large businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate solutions for the Air Force,” stated Mark Rowland of AFWERX. “On behalf of AFWERX and the Department of Defense, we congratulate the teams advancing to the next phase. Their contributions are invaluable and have the potential to create game-changing results across the Air Force enterprise.” The Leveraging Technology for Operational Effectiveness Challenge strives to leverage artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing and machine learning to build an Air Force base that becomes a leader in innovation. With the rebuild of the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, the U.S. Air Force has the potential to create an installation that will be a model for Air Force bases of tomorrow by implementing state of the art operational technology, automation, artificial intelligence, digital integration, and cybersecurity to build the newest installation and ensure it becomes a premier innovation hub for industry and government. Designed and manufactured in the United States, Easy Aerial drone-based monitoring and inspection solutions are fully autonomous, all-weather capable, portable, rugged, and specifically designed for military applications. The company has developed an autonomous solution for rapid maintenance inspection of large aircraft. The system features a tethered drone attached to a self-directing base station that moves around an aircraft capturing and securely storing high-resolution images and video from multiple angles. The system dramatically reduces the time needed for current routine and emergency maintenance inspections in large hangars with scaffolding erected around the aircraft. The AFWERX Fusion 2020 Showcase recently featured 370 of the participating teams selected from a record-breaking 1,500+ submissions received for the Base of the Future Challenge. Throughout the event, teams pitched their solutions to a panel of subject matter experts from the relevant sectors of the Air Force. The top 92 selections were identified and invited to further engage with the Air Force during the week of August 31 with the hope of obtaining contracts. The Base of the Future theme was inspired by Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, which was decimated by Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm that occurred in 2018. For decades, Tyndall had been home to many generations of Airmen and their families. In the storm's aftermath, nearly 500 buildings were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Fortunately, Congress approved a $3 billion military construction rebuild program, sparking hope that Tyndall would re-emerge stronger than ever before. The aspirational initiative seeks to create a robust installation that will become a universal symbol of innovation and excellence that can scale across the U.S. Air Force. To learn more about the Base of the Future Challenges, click here. ABOUT AFWERX Established in 2017, AFWERX is a product of the U.S. Air Force, directly envisioned by former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Her vision of AFWERX — to solve some of the toughest challenges that the Air Force faces through innovation and collaboration amongst our nation's top subject matter experts. AFWERX serves as a catalyst to unleash new approaches for the warfighter through a growing ecosystem of innovators. AFWERX and the U.S. Air Force are committed to exploring viable solutions and partnerships to further strengthen the Air Force, which could lead to additional prototyping, R&D, and follow-on production contracts. Source: Press Release Posted in News, Tethered and tagged drones, uav, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned aircraft systems on September 7, 2020 by The Editor. https://www.uasvision.com/2020/09/07/easy-aerial-selected-finalist-in-usaf-afwerx-fusion-challenge/

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  September 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  USAF Inches Closer To KC-46 Vision System Decision

  Lee Hudson The head of the U.S. Air Force's mobility fleet needs more data from Boeing on the KC-46 Remote Vision System (RVS) upgrade plan to determine if an interim fix is worth taking the maintenance downtime. Boeing is upgrading the RVS to version 1.5, which is now renamed the enhanced RVS that the company promises will deliver sharper imaging, Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost told reporters Sept. 14. “But the proof is in the pudding when it comes to whether or not it actually would provide additional operational capability or additional safety,” she said. Van Ovost and the head of the Pentagon's operational test and evaluation office met with Boeing on Sept. 4 for KC-46 briefings. Toward the end of September, Van Ovost expects a briefing on why the Pentagon should implement enhanced RVS at no cost to the Air Force. Air Force Research Laboratory personnel will participate in the discussion on whether the service should pursue enhanced RVS or wait until 2.0 comes online, she said. Boeing began flight testing the enhanced RVS in June, which includes numerous software changes and a few hardware updates. If the government opts not to deploy the upgrade, the fixes identified for RVS 1.5 will flow into the 2.0 version that is slated for fielding in the second half of 2023. “If the Air Force decides to deploy initial RVS enhancements we could provide aircraft with those during the second half of 2021 (calendar year),” Mike Hafer, KC-46 global sales and marketing at Boeing, said in a Sept. 15 statement. “The full suite of state-of-the-art enhancements, commonly known as RVS 2.0, should be installed in tankers we deliver starting in late 2023 or early in 2024.” https://aviationweek.com/shows-events/afa-air-space-cyber-conference/usaf-inches-closer-kc-46-vision-system-decision