‘Back to the ‘80s’ as French navy prepares for new threats

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  June 12, 2018 | International, Naval

  Lockheed, Austal USA serve up new batch of LCS amid frigate competition

  The littoral combat ship program continues to push ships to the fleet as the program begins to wind down ahead of the Navy's planned transition to a future frigate. In Marinette, Wisconsin, Lockheed and Fincantieri's latest mono-hull LCS, the Sioux City, completed acceptance trials in Lake Michigan, according to May 31 announcement. That ship is preparing to commission in Annapolis, Maryland, in the Fall after some weather and mechanical delays pushed back trials. The Sioux City is the sixth mono-hull LCS. Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama, in May delivered its eighth trimaran LCS, the Tulsa, and the second LCS delivered by the yard this year. The first one, the Manchester, was commissioned May 26. Both yards are still churning on a backlog of LCS. The ships will be coming fast and furious over the next couple of years as Austal, Lockheed and Fincantieri all pursue strategies to secure the contract to build the Navy's future frigate, known as FFG(X). At Marinette, the yard has seven other ships in production as well as one in long-lead procurement. Austal is working on five other LCS and the last three expeditionary fast transport ships of the 12 ordered. Between the two shipyards, there are no fewer than three proposals for the FFG(X). Fincantieri is pushing hard to make FREMM the Navy's next frigate, which would likely be built at Marinette. You can read all about the FREMM below: Lockheed is also likely eyeing Marinette for its proposal for FFG(X), a variant of the Freedom mono-hull LCS, for which it is the prime contractor. Austal is likewise proposing a variant of its trimaran LCS and the stakes for that shipyard are especially high since it is coming to the end of both its programs. Lockheed and Fincantieri are anticipating an order of a Freedom LCS variant multi-mission surface combatant for Saudi Arabia's naval recapitalization. All three of the contractors are among five competing for the FFG(X) contract. Navantia and Huntington Ingalls are the other two. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/06/11/lockheed-austal-usa-serve-up-new-batch-of-lcs-amid-frigate-competition/

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  February 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Magellan Aerospace Opens New Manufacturing and Assembly Plant in India

  BANGALORE, India, Feb. 19, 2019 /CNW/ - Magellan Aerospace Corporation ("Magellan") announced today, the opening of the company's manufacturing and assembly facility in India. The new 100,000 square foot Magellan Aerospace (India) Pvt. Ltd. facility, constructed on seven acres in Hitech Defence and Aerospace Park (Aerospace SEZ Sector) in Devanahalli, near the Bangalore International Airport, was completed at the end of 2018 and the process of installing and commissioning the high speed machining centres is underway. Magellan's new cellular machining and assembly plant will specialize in high speed milling and turning of aerostructure and aeroengine components produced from both aluminium and hard metal materials. Combined with comprehensive processing and hard metal machining capabilities from Magellan's two longstanding joint ventures in India, API Surface Treatments and Triveni Aeronautics Pvt. Ltd., Magellan is one of the largest suppliers of 'Make in India' manufactured commercial aircraft components today. Magellan established a presence in India's aerospace sector more than a decade ago and has continued to invest and grow their footprint. The plant will create up to 120 high technology and support positions, and will be equipped with a comprehensive range of high speed 4/5-axis machining centres, selected to optimise manufacturing, competitiveness and efficiency. The completion of Magellan Aerospace (India) in 2018 marked the close of phase one of a two-phase construction plan that will see the facility grow to 140,000 square feet in the future. Mr. Haydn Martin, Vice President, Business Development, Marketing and Contracts, Magellan Aerospace said, "Magellan is excited to officially launch this important new venture in India at the Aero India 2019 show". "This new facility, coupled with Magellan's extensive machining operations in Europeand North America offer an exceptional and full range of solutions for our customers in meeting their operational and value requirements." About Magellan Aerospace Corporation Magellan Aerospace Corporation is a global aerospace company that provides complex assemblies and systems solutions to aircraft and engine manufacturers, and defence and space agencies worldwide. Magellan designs and manufactures aeroengine and aerostructure assemblies and components for aerospace markets, advanced proprietary products for military and space markets, and provides engine and component repair and overhaul services worldwide. Magellan is a public company whose shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: MAL), with operating units throughout North America, Europe, and India. Forward Looking Statements Some of the statements in this press release may be forward-looking statements or statements of future expectations based on currently available information. When used herein, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "believe", and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions made by the Corporation in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that the Corporation believes are appropriate in the circumstances. Many factors could cause the Corporation's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those described in the "Risk Factors" section of the Corporation's Annual Information Form (copies of which filings may be obtained at www.sedar.com). These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Corporation's forward-looking statements. The Corporation has no intention and undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. SOURCE Magellan Aerospace Corporation https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/magellan-aerospace-opens-new-manufacturing-and-assembly-plant-in-india-898048682.html

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  August 3, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Soldiers tout new network tool as a ‘game changer’

  Andrew Eversden The Army's first iteration of new network tools, known as Capability Set '21, was heavily influenced by existing network gaps identified by the 82nd Airborne on more than a year's worth of deployments. According to Capt. Brian Delgado, S6 of the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team, the “biggest game changer” for soldiers in the field provided in the integrated tactical network kit of Capability Set '21 was the secure but unclassified environment. The SBU environment allows soldiers to more easily share and receive information. In the current network, information that flows through the network is classified, and many lower-level users don't have proper clearances. “Army operational construct requires battalion formations to conduct combined arms missions, but today's network does not support the battalion's organic capacity to deconflict an air picture, nor an ability to combine dismounted, mounted, fires, intelligence and air pictures into a combined operating picture (COP),” Delgado said. “Part of this challenge is due to the fact that dismounted and most mounted COP tools like Nett Warrior (NW) and Joint Battle Command-Platform resided on the Secret enclave. The vast majority of users at the tactical level do not possess Secret clearances, which makes sharing and receiving key information difficult.” Capability Set '21 lets soldiers securely share controlled unclassified information across the network, allowing war fighters on the ground to receive important information regardless of their security clearance. With the new tools, the Army moved from a 100 percent classified network to a 75 percent SBU network. “This means we now were able to use software applications at the Unclassified level in a tactical environment. SBU allowed the utilization of tactical software like the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) to provide a [combined operating picture] down to the lowest level of leaders,” Delgado said. Col. Garth Winterle, project manager for tactical radios at Army Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, said in a May interview with C4ISRNET that the SBU architecture ”opens the door for a lot of different things,” including improved information sharing with coalition partners. The integrated tactical network kit also unifies the disparate operating picture into a single digital operating picture. The combined operating picture “directly reduces risk in the clearance of fires, combat air support and maneuvering in widely dispersed formations,” Delgado said. “It allowed battalion commanders to fight teams in a dispersed manner that would have been impossible with legacy systems, and therefore greatly reduced the risk to the battalion combat power that enemy indirect fires commonly present,” Delgado added. Capability Set '21 was focused on solving immediate network capability gaps with current technology, while also making network hardware far more expeditionary and while improving network transport capabilities. The capability set includes new radios as well as smaller and lighter servers and satellite terminals. It was designed through collaboration between Army PEO C3T and the Army Network Cross-Functional Team. The Army completed critical design review of Capability Set '21 earlier this year and started procuring new tools this month. Right now, the “majority” of the Army's command-and-control systems sit on large vehicles that aren't useful on expeditionary operations, Delgado said. With the new technology, the integrated tactical network “separated these systems from vehicles, allowing for more network access during early expeditionary operations that we performed,” reducing the reliance on vehicles and allowing soldiers to dismount systems based on needs. Delgado said the new integrated tactical network, or ITN, hardware is “orders of magnitude” smaller than existing tools, providing more flexibility in how units choose command-and-control equipment for operations. “We were able to load a battalion tactical operations center worth of equipment onto a nonstandard small tactical vehicle, and then move it in a matter of hours onto a UH-60 [Black Hawk helicopter] to function as a true command aircraft,” Delgado said. The Capability Set '21 ITN kit also includes radio waveforms that are more resilient, and it allows for data transmission. The 82nd Airborne has previously been reliant on the Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System as well as the Soldier Radio Waveform for tactical radio communications, but Delgado said that both had “limitations regarding their effectiveness and survivability for distributed formations,” and that they didn't allow for SBU transmissions. The Army is investing several new radios with more resilient waveforms as part of its modernization initiative, including the two-channel leader radio. “The ITN presents a significant increase in radio resiliency while operating in a contested environment. Most noteworthy are a resistance to tactical jamming, and a near-complete inability of the enemy to ... find radio broadcasts,” Delgado said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2020/07/31/soldiers-tout-new-network-tool-as-a-game-changer/