Air Force launches $100K challenge for ‘space awareness innovators’

On the same subject

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  October 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Deux premiers Dassault ATL2 pour la Marine

  La ministre des Armées, Florence Parly, a salué la livraison des deux premiers avions de surveillance Dassault Aviation ATL2 mis au standard 6 et arrivés sur la base de Lann-Bihoué en juillet et août derniers. Florence Parly, ministre des Armées, s'est vue présenter les nouvelles capacités des avions de surveillance maritime Dassault Aviation ATL2 mis au standard 6 lors d'un vol de deux heures. Les deux premiers ATL2, le prototype et le premier de série, respectivement arrivés à Lann-Bihoué les 18 juillet et 27 août dans leur version logicielle finale, "ont été minutieusement testés par une équipe intégrée associant le centre d'expertise et d'essais DGA Essais en vol, le centre d'expérimentations pratiques et de réception de l'aéronautique navale (CEPA/10S) de la Marine nationale et Dassault Aviation". "L'expérimentation opérationnelle de la Marine, débutée à Istres en parallèle des dernières phases d'essais, se poursuit à Lorient pendant les dernières vérifications contractuelles effectuées par la DGA en vue de la qualification. Elle a pour but d'élaborer les tactiques d'emploi permettant d'utiliser au mieux les nouvelles capacités de l'aéronef", indique le ministère des Armées qui poursuit :" La mise en service opérationnel du standard 6 est prévue fin 2021, après la formation des équipages, la transformation d'un premier lot d'aéronefs, et la livraison du simulateur à terre pour l'entraînement tactique de nouvelle génération (SIMTAC NG), en cours de réalisation sous la conduite de la DGA". Les chantiers de mise à hauteur au standard 6 s'effectuent en parallèle par Dassault Aviation (6 chantiers en plus de l'avion prototype) et le Service industriel de l'aéronautique (SIAé) du ministère des Armées (11 chantiers). "Au-delà du traitement des obsolescences d'un avion conçu dans les années 1980, la rénovation porte principalement sur le remplacement de certains matériels par des équipements numériques issus des meilleures technologies actuellement disponibles : calculateur tactique, systèmes de renseignement optronique et acoustique, consoles des opérateurs, radar. En particulier, le nouveau radar Searchmaster bénéficie de la technologie d'antenne active développée par Thales pour le Rafale. Naval Group est également impliqué avec le logiciel de traitement de l'information, ainsi que le SIAé pour la rénovation des consoles de visualisation", souligne le ministère des Armées qui rappelle que si les ATL2 sont "prioritairement destinés à la maîtrise du milieu aéromaritime via la lutte contre les sous-marins et les navires de surface, de la zone littorale jusqu'au grand large", ils peuvent aussi "constituer un appui aux opérations aéroterrestres gr'ce à leur capacité à mener des actions de renseignement et de frappes au sol". https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/deux-premiers-dassault-atl2-pour-la-marine-21912

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  July 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Australia plans US$190 billion defence boost over decade

  Rod McGuirk The Associated PressStaff CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA -- Australia's prime minister on Wednesday announced 270 billion Australian dollars (US$190 billion) in additional defence spending over the next decade, which will include long-range missiles and other capabilities to hold enemies further from its shores. Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned that the post-pandemic world will become more dangerous and announced a renewed focus on Australia's immediate region, although its military would be open to joining U.S.-led coalitions as it did in Afghanistan and Iraq in campaigns that were in the Australian national interest. Australia had not seen such economic and strategic uncertainty in the region since the Second World War for reasons including tensions between the United States and China, he said. "This simple truth is this: Even as we stare down the COVID pandemic at home, we need to also prepare for a post-COVID world that is poorer, that is more dangerous and that is more disorderly," Morrison said. Tensions over territorial claims were rising between India and China and in the South China Sea, Morrison said. "The risk of miscalculation and even conflict is heightened," Morrison said. "Regional military modernization is at an unprecedented rate." "Relations between China and the United States are fractious at best as they compete for political, economic and technological supremacy," he added. Rory Medcalf, head of the Australian National University's National Security College, said the announcement showed Australia was "getting serious about deterrence and the prospect of armed conflict in the Indo-Pacific region." "It was only a matter of time before the Australian government made a choice about the kind of defence force that we're going to have in the 21st century with the rapid deterioration in the strategic environment in recent years," Medcalf said. "The government has accepted that the Australian military needs to be able to attempt to deter armed conflict through its capabilities and to be able to fight in our region if we have to," he added. Australia will invest in more lethal and long-range capabilities that will hold enemies further from its shores, including longer-range strike weapons and offensive cyber capabilities. To increase maritime strike capability, Australia will buy the AGM-158C anti-ship missile from the U.S. Navy at an estimated cost of AU$800 million, the government said. The new missile is a significant upgrade from Australia's current AGM-84 air-launched Harpoon anti-ship missile, which was introduced in the early 1980s. It has a range of 124 kilometres (77 miles), while the missile being purchased can exceed 370 kilometres (230 miles). The new missile will initially be used on the F/A-18F Super Hornet jet fighters but can be used by other defence aircraft. Training on the weapon system would begin next year, the government said. Australia will also invest in advanced naval strike capabilities, including long-range anti-ship and land strike weapons, and will buy long-range rocket artillery and missile systems to give the army an operational strike capability. It also plans to develop and test high-speed, long-range strike weapons, including hypersonic weapons. The announcement comes as Australia's relationship with China, its most important trading partner, is under extraordinary strain over Australian calls for an independent investigation of the pandemic. The United States, Australia's most important security partner since the Second World War, remains "the foundation of our defence policy," Morrison said. "Of course we can't match all the capabilities in our region," Morrison said. "That is why we need to ensure that our deterrence capabilities play to our strengths." https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/australia-plans-us-190-billion-defence-boost-over-decade-1.5006902

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  November 14, 2022 | International, C4ISR

  Robust cryptographic policies will help save military software systems

  How can we build resilient software systems out of unreliable parts?