Air Force’s ‘WiFi in the sky’ provides a backbone for Gaza airdrops

On the same subject

• 

  April 3, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Air Force small business program seeks technologies to help counter COVID-19

  by Sandra Erwin In response to the SBIR solicitation, a space startup is developing a geospatial intelligence-based tool that can help governments identify infected areas. WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force Small Business Innovation Research office has posted a new solicitation that includes COVID-19 countermeasures as an area of interest. The March 30 Small Business Innovation Research solicitation, like most SBIR calls, is open to proposals on any topic that addresses a defense-focused need. But this is the first one that includes COVID-19 “defeat and mitigation related to Air Force operations and activities” as an area of interest. Proposals are due April 30. This SBIR is for “direct to Phase 2” contracts of up to $1 million over 27 months. Phase 1 awards are for early research work whereas Phase 2 are for technologies that are relevant to defense needs but also have commercialization potential. Some Air Force SBIR programs require matching funds from private investors. According to the March 30 solicitation, companies can compete for $1 million Air Force awards but private matching funds are not a requirement. The SBIR solicitation is an opportunity for startups in space and defense to adapt technologies for COVID-19 response, Shawn Usman, an astrophysicist with Rhea Space Activity, told SpaceNews. Usman said Rhea Space Activity has partnered with Illumina Consulting Group and Dynamic Graphics to offer a geospatial intelligence-based tool that can help governments identify infected areas much faster than is currently possible. “We can provide operational, real-time data analysis and alerting capabilities to federal, state, and military emergency operations centers,” he said. “Our solution will collect publicly available information, including social media and adware data, and correlate it with other data sets from public health organizations to create alerts detailing the emergence of COVID-19 hotspots.” Using open-source analytics and satellite collected geospatial information it would be possible to “readily confirm COVID-19 infected population areas, and will provide first responders with much more detailed, real time information to formulate their own reaction plans,” Usman said. https://spacenews.com/air-force-small-business-program-seeks-technologies-to-help-counter-covid-19/

• 

  June 6, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed picks engine to bolster interim tanker case for US Air Force

  The Air Force is considering skipping a competition for its interim tanker and instead buying more modified KC-46s for Boeing.

• 

  January 18, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Japan to cease in-country assembly of F-35 jets

  By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has confirmed it will not use in-country final assembly facilities for its next lot of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets. A spokesperson from the U.S. ally's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, told Defense News it will instead acquire aircraft imported from overseas for its upcoming fiscal 2019 contract. The ATLA spokesperson referred Defense News to Japan's Defense Ministry when asked why Japan will stop local assembly and checkout for its F-35s. The ministry has yet to respond to inquiries. However, the recent defense guidelines and five-year defense plan released by the Japan government in late December said the country wants to “acquire high-performance equipment at the most affordable prices possible” and “review or discontinue projects of low cost-effectiveness.” The Japanese government earlier that month approved the country's defense budget, which includes $612.35 million for the acquisition of six F-35As for the upcoming Japanese fiscal year that runs from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. The budget additionally allocates $366.12 million for “other related expenses,” which include maintenance equipment tied to Japan's F-35 program. Japan has taken the local final assembly and checkout, or FACO, route since 2013 for the final assembly of F-35As it previously ordered. According to the ATLA spokesperson, the FACO facility, which is operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will continue to carry out production work until FY22 to fulfill the F-35As contracted by Japan between FY15 and FY18. Japan has struggled to sustain its local industrial base, with recently released defense guidelines acknowledging it needs to overcome “challenges such as high costs due to low volume, high-mix production and lack of international competitiveness.” According to Japanese budget documents, the country agreed to purchase 24 of the F-35As, with each aircraft costing an average $144.2 million, although the cost per aircraft has been on a downward trend, with the FY18 batch costing $119.7 million each. (Both figures are based on current exchange rates and do not take into account currency conversion fluctuations.) In addition to the 42 F-35As, Japan has also indicated it intends to procure a further 105 F-35s, which will include 42 of the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant. The defense plan has called for the acquisition of 45 F-35s over the next five years, of which 18 will be F-35Bs. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/01/17/japan-to-cease-in-country-assembly-of-f-35-jets