June 17, 2019 | International, Aerospace
NASHUA, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BAE Systems has been awarded contracts by The Boeing Company to supply the Vehicle Management Control System and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) System for the MQ-25.
“BAE Systems leads the industry in high-integrity fly-by-wire and mission-critical IFF technologies,” said Corin Beck, director of Military Aircraft Systems at BAE Systems. “Our relationship with Boeing started more than four decades ago and has resulted in aircraft that have some of the most advanced avionics and reduced size transponders in the world.”
The Vehicle Management Control System will control all flight surfaces and perform overall vehicle management duties for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial vehicle. The IFF product ensures operation in contested environments by reliably identifying both coalition and enemy vehicles.
The MQ-25 is the U.S. Navy's first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft and is designed to provide a much-needed refueling capability. The contract supports Boeing's engineering and manufacturing development program to provide four MQ-25 aircraft to the U.S. Navy for Initial Operational Capability by 2024.
“The MQ-25 program is vital because it will help the U.S. Navy extend the range of the carrier air wing, and Boeing and our industry team is all-in on delivering this capability,” said Dave Bujold, Boeing's MQ-25 program director. “The work we're doing is also foundational for the future of Boeing – where we're building autonomous systems from seabed to space.”
BAE Systems is an industry leader in the design, development, production, and support of highly reliable flight control systems for commercial and military aircraft. It was the first to introduce fly-by-wire in both military and civil applications. BAE Systems is also a world leader in IFF equipment and this program expands its footprint to approximately 150 platforms worldwide.
July 18, 2024 | International, Land
Under this two-year, $15.4 million contract, Parsons will prepare a series of preliminary design packages for the RFAAP manufacturing facility.
April 21, 2021 | International, Land
Rheinmetall’s South African subsidiary Rheinmetall Denel Munition and Northrop Grumman signed a 10-year strategic partnership agreement to this effect in February 2021
June 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey's inability to produce a fully indigenous engine is harming some of the country's otherwise successful domestic defense programs, according to industry and government officials. “We had it 15 years ago, we had it 10 years ago and we are still having it,” said a former defense industry chief. “It's our chronic engine problem.” A government procurement official agreed, telling Defense News that “at best the problem causes major delays, and at worst it can be an existential threat [to programs].” The Altay, a multibillion-dollar program for the production of Turkey's first indigenous tank, has long been delayed due to difficulties surrounding the engine and transmission used to power the new-generation tank. BMC, a Turkish-Qatari joint venture that in 2018 won the serial production contract for the Altay, said in October 2020 that the tank would be fielded within 24 months. The original target was to have the Altay in the field this year 2020. Today, procurement officials and industry sources say even 2022 is an optimistic deadline. Western countries with power pack technology, particularly Germany, have been reluctant to share technology or sell to Turkey for political reasons. “Lack of a feasible power pack [engine and transmission] is depriving the program of any sensible progress,” noted an industry source. Turkey also needs an engine for the new-generation TF-X fighter jet as well as indigenous helicopter models in the making. At the center of these engine efforts is Tusas Engine Industries, a state-controlled engine maker. TEI announced June 19 that it successfully tested its locally made TJ300 miniature turbojet engine, which the company produced for medium-range anti-ship missiles. The engine features a thrust rating of 1.3 kilonewtons. Company officials say the TJ300 engine's more advanced, future versions could power larger anti-ship cruise missiles and land-attack cruise missiles. Turkey hopes to power its anti-ship and land-attack cruise missiles with locally developed engines. “The effort is about ending dependency on imported designs,” a TEI official said. Turkey currently imports miniature air-breathing engines from Microturbo — a unit of French company Safran — to power its domestically developed cruise missiles. Separately, Turkey's Kale Group is developing a larger, albeit miniature turbojet engine called the KTJ-3200. It has a 3.2-kilonewton thrust rating, and will power the Atmaca and SOM missile systems. On a much bigger scale, Kale Group has ambitions to develop an engine to power the TF-X. In 2017, Kale Group and British company Rolls-Royce launched a joint venture to develop aircraft engines for Turkey, initially targeting the TF-X. But the £100 million (U.S. $124 million) deal was effectively put on hold due to uncertainties over technology transfer. In December, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoğlu said the government is keen to revive talks with Rolls-Royce. When asked for an update on negotiations, a Rolls-Royce spokesperson told Defense News: “We submitted an engine co-development proposal to Turkey, but the customer has not elected to pursue this to date.” A year before the Kale Group-Rolls-Royce partnership, Turkish Aerospace Industries — a sister company of TEI — signed a $125 million heads of agreement with U.K.-based firm BAE Systems to collaborate on the first development phase of the TF-X. Turkey originally planned to fly the TF-X in 2023, but aerospace officials are now eyeing 2025 at the earliest. TEI is also developing the TS1400, a turboshaft engine it intends to power the T625 Gökbey, a utility and transport helicopter developed and built by TAI. The Gökbey currently flies with the CTS-800A turboshaft engine supplied by Light Helicopter Turbine Engine Company, a joint venture between American firm Honeywell and Rolls-Royce. The Gökbey made its maiden flight in September. TEI says it successfully tested the “core” of its TS1400 turboshaft engine and plans to deliver the prototype to TAI in late 2020. But analysts remain cautious. “These efforts may eventually fail to materialize without meaningful foreign know-how,” said a London-based Turkey specialist. “Or they may come at costs not viable for mass production.” Andrew Chuter in London contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2020/06/26/turkeys-chronic-engine-problem-is-harming-defense-projects-warn-officials/