July 9, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Air Force awards JADC2 contract worth nearly $1B | Federal News Network
The Air Force now has about 100 companies working on different maturation aspects.
August 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace
B-21 Avionics Testbed Aircraft Now Operating, USAF Official Says
The U.S. Air Force has commissioned a flying testbed aircraft to test the avionics system and software for the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber, a senior official said on Aug. 13.
The first B-21 test aircraft is still being assembled in Palmdale, California, but the flying testbed allows the stealth bomber program to “buydown risk,” said Randall Walden, director of the Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office, which is managing the program.
“We have a flight test aircraft that we've been hosting some of these subsystems on,” Walden said. “We're doing it kind of in a parallel approach, working out some of the bugs with the software as well as the subsystems.”
Walden, speaking to the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute, did not identify the flying testbed, but his remarks come two months after the appearance of a green Boeing 737 owned by the Air Force with registration N712JM.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 program also used a 737 to check out avionics and mission systems before test flights of the stealth fighter started in 2006.
“When you can buydown risk with subsystems on even another platform, no matter what it is like you get into the air and use some of the software and work those bugs out it goes a long way,” Walden said.
The Air Force expects to field the B-21 in the mid-2020s, about a decade after awarding the engineering and manufacturing development contract to Northrop in 2015.
The development program remains on track, but Walden is eager to begin testing as soon as possible.
“All of the tough critical designs, all of the hard engineering, is behind us,” Walden said. “I know we're not going to be immune from design flaws. We're going to have to work through those, and we're doing some of that today. I want to find out what those design deficiencies are as fast as I can to get on with the solution.”
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August 13, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land
Army validates design for future helicopter engine, remains on track despite COVID
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army has validated its design for its future helicopter engine, and the program remains on schedule to deliver the first engine for testing in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, according to service officials in charge of the effort. The Improved Engine Turbine Program (ITEP) has seen a long — and often delayed — journey as the service wrestled with funding and development strategies for several years. ITEP will replace current engines in both UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters Since awarding a contract to General Electric Aviation in February 2019, the program has pushed forward on schedule, despite a protest from a competing team comprised of Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney, which paused work for roughly three months. And, while the Coronavirus pandemic caused some anxiety among Army officials trying to keep the program on track, those in charge were able to complete the critical design review, conducted 100 percent virtually, according to Army spokesman David Hylton. The ITEP Critical Design Review (CDR) was a multi-month process that consisted of three phases, Hylton told Defense News in a written statement. The engine control system component CDR was completed on June 5, followed by the software CDR on July 17 and the engine systems CDR on July 24, he said. The Army and GE are making “tremendous efforts to keep COVID-19 impacts from delaying the program,” Hylton wrote. GE is now working toward a test readiness review ahead of the first engine test. “We are full steam ahead in terms of understanding where we need to go next with respect to the design, Col. Gregory Fortier, who is in charge of the program office for the Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, said during a media briefing last month. The Army has “no reason to believe we will not fly” in fiscal 2023, he said. According to FY21 Army budget request justification documents, the service plans to fly an aircraft with an ITEP engine installed in the first quarter of FY23 followed by a low-rate initial production decision in the fourth quarter of FY24. A full-rate production decision is expected in FY26. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/08/12/army-validates-design-for-future-helicopter-engine-remains-on-track-despite-covid/
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May 1, 2019 | International, Naval
VT Halter Marine Nabs $1.9 Billion Contract To Build Polar Security Cutters
The Coast Guard and Navy on Tuesday awarded VT Halter Marine a potential $1.9 billion contract to begin detailed design and eventually construction on up to three Polar Security Cutters (PSCs) for the Coast Guard, the first new heavy polar icebreakers for the service... https://www.defensedaily.com/vt-halter-marine-nabs-1-9-billion-contract-build-polar-security-cutters/homeland-security/