November 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace
by Carlo Munoz
BAE Systems has secured several US Army research and development pacts that are designed to help create advanced technologies to team manned, unmanned, and autonomous aircraft in future combat operations. The company's FASTLabs research directorate was awarded the army contracts, totalling USD9 million, which will focus technology development projects for human-machine interface, resource capability, and situational awareness management on the service's Advanced Teaming Demonstration Program (A-Team).
The three focus areas in which BAE Systems' engineers were contracted to take on under the A-Team programme are “designed to advance manned and unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities that are expected to be critical components in the U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program,” according to a company statement issued on 3 November.
Company officials anticipate the development of a “highly automated system to provide situational awareness, information processing, resource management, and decision making that is beyond human capabilities”, the statement said. “These advantages become exceedingly important as the Army moves toward mission teams of unmanned aircraft that will be controlled by pilots in real time,” it added.
A majority of BAE Systems' A-Team work will leverage the company's Future Open Rotorcraft Cockpit Environment Lab, which will host “simulation tests and demonstrations with products from different contractors” vying to integrate their MUM-T applications into the army's FVL programme. Teaming of manned and unmanned aerial assets was a key objective of the army's initial capstone exercise for Project Convergence.
March 7, 2024 | International, Land
There are bipartisan calls to hit the breaks as defense spending nears $1 trillion. Others say that amount is not enough to fund U.S. strategy worldwide.
October 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Brian Kim SEOUL — Research on the long-awaited upgrade of Chinook helicopters flown by the South Korean military shows it would be cheaper to buy new aircraft, according to a local lawmaker. Rep. Min Hong-chul of the ruling Democratic Party revealed the result of the latest preliminary research on the Chinook upgrade during a parliamentary audit of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration on Oct. 20. The lawmaker, who sits on the National Assembly's Defense Committee, said the research concluded in September that the cost of upgrading 17 of the 43 CH-47D Chinook helicopters would be about 1.35 trillion won ($1.2 billion), which is higher than the estimated cost of 1.22 trillion won for buying new ones. The upgrade cost is partly driven by the fact that Chinook manufacturer Boeing no longer produces parts for older variants, like those owned by South Korea, so specially ordered parts could prove expensive, Min said, citing the research conducted by the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, which is affiliated with DAPA. Furthermore, some Korean military task equipment such as the Korean Variable Message Format data link cannot be installed on the upgraded helos due to incompatibility, the research suggested. “A series of reverses and delays on decision-making have foiled key arms acquisition projects, including the Chinook upgrade,” Min said, expressing concern about an operational gap in military transport trainings and missions. South Korea operates about 50 Chinooks, with some of them in service for up to 50 years. With some parts of the older Chinook no longer being produced, the South Korean fleet's operational rate has suffered, according to the lawmaker. For instance, the Air Force's Chinook utilization rate from the first half of the year was around 40 percent. DAPA is expected to hold a meeting soon to decide whether to buy new heavy-lift helicopters rather than upgrade the existing fleet. But industry sources expect buying new helos would take more time and end up costing more, depending on the variant. “To get Block I CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters, which have been on the shopping list of the South Korean Army, the letter of offer and acceptance should be issued by July next year at the latest, but it would be very difficult to finalize the decision-making procedures within the timeline,” said Ahn Seung-beom, a military analyst and writer with Defense Times Korea. “[If it doesn't] buy Block I, South Korea has an option to get Block II, which is to be produced for the U.S. Army first, and then it could take more time and costs to get the up-to-date, heavy-lift helicopters.” A source at Boeing told Defense News that both cost and an export license stand in the way of South Korea's CH-47F Block II purchase. “The development of the CH-47F Block II is still underway, so the price cannot be expected at this moment,” the source explained on condition of anonymity. “The U.S. Army has yet to place an order for the new cargo helicopters, so it's unclear how many aircraft would be produced.” It's also unclear if a foreign sale will receive approval, the source added. “The U.S. government strictly controls arms technology, so getting an export license for key weapons systems is a hurdle.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2020/10/27/south-korean-study-finds-chinook-upgrade-more-expensive-than-buying-new-helos/
April 30, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security
Andrew Eversden The Department of the Interior awarded a $95 million contract to NTT DATA Federal Services to modernize one of its critical information systems, the company announced April 28. The five-year contract will modernize Interior's Technical Information Management System, or TIMS, which automates business and regulatory functions for the department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management as well as its Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. The latter, BSEE, maintains the system. Under the contract, NTT DATA will “provide operations support, infrastructure and application maintenance, security, cloud transformation and other IT services.” TIMS was established in the 1990s, according to an Interior privacy impact assessment from 2018. The system supports the core mission of the two bureaus and enables the four regional offices and the Virginia headquarters to share and combine data, print maps, and standardize forms and other documents. The system is also used by the Office of Natural Resource Revenue, oil and gas stakeholders, and state and local governments. "NTT DATA is honored to help the Department of the Interior take full advantage of new and emerging technologies to promote safety, protect the environment and conserve resources offshore,” said Tim Conway, NTT DATA's president of public sector work. “Our team is committed to working with BSEE to deliver on their important mission of oversight and enforcement in these areas by leveraging automation, agile development and innovation to streamline operations.” In the long term, the Interior Department wants to merge TIMS' daily operations with the system's maintenance cycle, while adding new developments, the NTT DATA news release said. According to USAspending.gov, NTT DATA is a subprime contractor on several multimillion contracts with the departments of Justice and Homeland Security as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development. https://www.federaltimes.com/home/2020/04/29/interior-department-inks-95m-dollar-deal-to-modernize-it-system-from-1990s