October 3, 2019 | International, Aerospace
PAR LAURENT LAGNEAU
Outre le renouvellement de ses véhicules blindés, confié à la « Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team », l'US Army a également lancé le plan Future Vertical Lift, lequel doit lui permettre de remplacer une grande partie de ses voilures tournantes ères à l'horizon 2028/30.
En avril, dans le cadre du Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft [FARA], un sous-programme de ce plan, l'US Army a pré-sélectionné cinq industriels qui devront chacun présenter un prototype. Ont donc été retenus Karem Aircraft [associé à Raytheon et Northrop Grumman], Boeing, AVX Aircraft [avec L3], Sikorsky [groupe Lockheed-Martin] et Bell [filiale de Textron].
Selon les spécifications de l'US Army, ce futur hélicoptère d'attaque doit loger dans la soute d'un avion de transport C-17, voler à la vitesse de 200 noeuds, présenter une architecture modulaire, mettre en oeuvre des drones et se passer, le cas échéant, d'équipage pour certaines missions, en particulier dans les environnements fortements contestés. Et son coût devra être « abordable ».
Depuis, et alors que Boeing et Karem Aircraft sont encore discrets sur les intentions, AVX Aircraft a présenté le concept Compound Coaxial Helicopter [CCH], qui repose sur un hélicoptère doté de commandes de vol électriques, d'un rotor contrarotatif et de deux turbines. Quant à Sikorsky, il mise sur son S-97 Raider, également muni d'un rotor contrarotatif, complété par une hélice propulsive.
De son côté, le 2 octobre, soit après avoir annoncé un partenariat avec Collins Aerospace pour le système de mission et l'avionique, Bell a levé le voile sur le « 360 Invictus » [tiré du mot latin signifiant « invicible » ou du poème du même nom signé William Ernest Henley?].
Reprenant des technologies développées pour le Bell 525 Relentless, notamment au niveau du rotor, cet appareil serait en mesure de voler à une vitesse supérieure à 185 noeuds [cela dépendra de sa configuration]. Côté armement, il sera équipé d'un canon de 20 mm et pourra emporter des missiles air-sol. Son rayon d'action devrait être de l'ordre de 135 nautiques, avec la possibilité de rester 90 minutes sur zone.
« La lutte multi-domaines sera complexe et notre équipe fournit une solution hautement performante et à faible risque pour répondre en toute confiance aux exigences opérationnelles avec une flotte durable », a fait valoir Vince Tobin, le directeur des affaires militaires chez Bell.
En effet, disposant de commandes de vol électriques, le Bell 360 Invictus fera appel à des technologies déjà éprouvées ainsi qu'à quelques innovations issues de programmes civils et militaires. Procéder de la sorte permet ainsi à l'industriel d'être très compétitif en terme de coûts, l'US Army ayant fixé à 30 millions de dollars le prix unitaire de ses futurs hélicoptères d'attaque et de reconnaissance.
Les autres constructeurs qui ne l'ont pas encore fait devraient prochainement abattre leurs cartes, la prochaine phase du programme FARA devant commencer en 2020, après la sélection de deux concepts.
May 24, 2023 | International, Aerospace
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy renewed his appeal on Wednesday for U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets, saying their appearance with Ukrainian pilots would be a sure signal from the world that Russia's invasion would end in defeat.
March 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
By THERESA HITCHENS on March 25, 2020 at 3:22 PM WASHINGTON: Congress is likely to approve almost $9.4 billion for the Defense Department to use to attack COVID-19 — a sum that includes direct operations and maintenance funding to the services, the National Guard and reserves. There is an additional $1 billion in the bill that may be made available for contracting under the TRICARE health care program — bringing the entire package to $10.4 billion. The DoD funding is part of the $2 trillion relief deal being beaten out between the White House and Congress, that includes significant assistance to the defense industry. “The administration's thinking about how to use the military has evolved substantially from the supplemental proposal the administration submitted just last week,” notes Mark Cancian, a defense budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “In that proposal, DoD's funding consisted of an $8.3 billion transfer account. DoD would later decide where to put the money. In this bill, the amount has grown to $10.4 billion, and the destination accounts have been specified, though there is still a lot of uncertainty and slushy-ness.” According to the draft bill obtained by Breaking Defense, the biggest chunk goes to the Defense Health Program “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically or internationally.” The program is allocated $3.8 billion, of which $3.4 billion is for operations and maintenance; $415 million is for research, development, test and evaluation. The funds will remain available until Sept. 30, 2020. The TRICARE funds are provided in a separate section, but will be available until Sept. 30, 2021. The Defense Working Capital Fund — which allows DoD to make investments in things like depot maintenance, transportation, and supply management in the near term and recoup the costs through future year pricing deals — gets $1.5 billion. The bill would add $160 million in O&M funding to the Army budget; $360 million to the Navy; $90 million to the Marines; and $155 million to the Air Force. Defense wide O&M funds would be pumped up by $828 million. The Army National Guard is set to receive $187 million in O&M dollars and the Army Reserve is allocated $48 million; the Air National Guard would receive another $76 million. The Army and Air National Guards also would receive a plus up of $750 million and $480 million respectively in military personnel funds. Apart from new funds, the draft bill would allow President Donald Trump to extend the tenure of Air Force Chief Gen. David Goldfein, Space Force Chief Gen. Jay Raymond, and National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel, among other military leaders set to retire — a move apparently made to avoid a change of hands during the current crisis. The extension can be for up to 270 days. Goldfein currently is set to retire in June. Raymond is doubled-hatted as chief of the Space Force and head of Space Command, but only for a year as mandated by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. Further, while DoD is given wide latitude to move the new money around to where it is needed, it specifically bans any funds being moved to fund Trump's southern border wall by preventing any transfer to DoD “drug interdiction or counter-drug activities.” Finally, Cancian noted that the language gives DoD “flexibility on contracts and contract decision authority.” The bill would allow DoD Secretary Mark Esper able to delegate authorities for emergency transactions at his discretion. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/covid-19-congress-likely-to-slate-9-4b-to-dod-for-response
August 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — A Ukrainian cargo plane that landed in Israel Aug. 3 carried trucks that will be used to support Iron Dome battery testing ahead of delivery in the United States, U.S. Army Futures Command confirmed. The Ukrainian plane was used to transport the trucks because of its capability to meet load requirements and delivery timelines, an AFC spokeswoman told Defense News. The U.S. Army has bought two Iron Dome batteries to fill a cruise missile threat gap as an interim solution while it continues to shape its future Indirect Fires Protection Capability being developed to battle against not just cruise missiles but unmanned aircraft threats, rockets, artillery and mortars. Congress mandated the Army buy and field two batteries no later than the end of fiscal 2020. The Oshkosh vehicles will be mated with the Iron Dome system and then be delivered to the United States in that form following factory acceptance testing in Israel. The first battery is expected to be shipped to the United States in December and the second in February, Brig. Gen. Robert Rasch, the U.S. Army's program executive officer for missiles and space, said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium Aug. 4. While the Army has said it will not buy all-up Iron Dome systems as part of the IFPC program, officials developing the capability are considering incorporating parts of Iron Dome in the final solution. The service will conduct a shoot-off of best available options for integration into an enduring IFPC solution in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. Rasch stressed the Army won't throw away its Iron Dome systems when IFPC comes online, but instead the service will continue to use the systems because it plans to ensure the batteries are interoperable with U.S. command-and-control capabilities. The Army plans to field Iron Dome by the end of the year, but it will still take time to train troops on the system before deployment. Some lawmakers are urging the Army to rapidly deploy the systems to the Middle East, arguing U.S. and coalition forces there need the protection from Iran and its proxies. As equipment to complete U.S. Iron Dome batteries arrived in Israel, American firm Raytheon Technologies and Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems have formed a joint venture to build the Iron Dome missile defense system in the United States. Under the name Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems, the partnership is being set up to build a first-ever Iron Dome “all-up-round” facility stateside. The facility will build Iron Dome systems, the Tamir interceptor and launcher, and the SkyHunter missile (the U.S. version of Tamir). Seth Frantzman, Defense News Israel-based correspondent, contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/smd/2020/08/04/american-trucks-land-in-israel-to-support-iron-dome-testing-ahead-of-us-army-delivery/