August 6, 2018 | International, Aerospace

Bell Pushes V-280 Gunship, Shipboard Variants: Recon In Works

One variant, in Army colors, has missile racks sticking out of what was originally the passenger cabin — a conversion that units could potentially install or remove as needed in the field. The other, with Marine Corps markings, is a sleeker thoroughbred gunship with internal weapons bays, stealth features, and folding wings to fit in shipboard hangars.

ARLINGTON: How new is Bell Helicopter's shiny showroom — excuse me, Advanced Vertical Lift Center — minutes from the Pentagon and the Capitol? Between the time I arrived this morning and the time I headed out, they installed two huge mockups of their high-speed V-280 Valor tilrotor. But these aren't land-based troop transports like the prototype Bell's already flying for the Joint Multi-Role (JMR) demonstration program. They're heavily armed gunships.

One, in Army colors, has missile racks sticking out of what was originally the passenger cabin — a conversion that units could potentially install or remove as needed in the field. The other, with Marine Corps markings, is a sleeker thoroughbred gunship with internal weapons bays, stealth features, and folding wings to fit in shipboard hangars.

Bell showed off these mockups before, but there's almost no imagery available online, so when executives said I was free to take photos, I had my phone out at once. Equally interesting was what they said about another design they've still got under wraps: Bell's contender for the Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft(FARA), a scout light, small, and agile enough to avoid detection by flying down city streets.

https://breakingdefense.com/2018/08/bell-pushes-v-280-gunship-shipboard-variants-recon-in-works/

On the same subject

August 31, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

Armaments consortium launches new path to field high-tech prototypes
By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The National Armaments Consortium, along with the DoD Ordnance Technology Consortium and Army Contracting Command-New Jersey, is taking steps to fast-track their armament prototyping efforts, it was announced Thursday. A year after the Army's high-profile reorganization to more quickly field cutting-edge weapons technologies, the Charleston, South Carolina-based National Armaments Consortium ― made up of 900 companies and academic institutions ― wants to better sync with both the government's increased demand and its actual bandwidth for turning research into prototypes. Pentagon modernization efforts have prioritized, in recent years, long-range precision fires, hypersonic and extended-range missiles, and anti-jam GPS devices ― all of which fall in the lane of the armaments consortium, said National Armaments Consortium Executive Director Charlie Zisette. “Armaments is kind of where the rubber hits the road for our war fighter because we're dealing with everything in the kill chain, protection and survivability,” Zisette told Defense News. “All of these things created a fairly large demand signal for modernization of our systems and components.” The 20-year-old NAC is one of a growing number of Pentagon-sponsored consortia that work to translate the government's notional requirements into technological breakthroughs and business opportunities. Consortia members will work with the government through collective “other transaction agreements” or “other transaction authorities.” These OTAs have become a popular tool to allow the government to communicate more openly about its needs and to work with nontraditional defense contractors whose innovations the Department of Defense wants to harness. According to Zisette, the NAC has 650 active projects at various stages to solve tough problems like developing a new heat-resistant composite material, new types of explosives and a complex long-range precision artillery system. So far this year, its efforts have led to 150 new-start acquisition programs, half awarded to “non-traditionals.” Historically, the NAC would release one annual solicitation based on government requirements, and host one annual collaboration event for NAC members to tout their technologies and ask government representatives about requirements. NAC also hosts a members-only online collaboration portal along similar lines. But something had to change. Amid the DoD's modernization efforts, the NAC has grown such that there would be 350 government solicitations and upward of 1,400 whitepapers, almost simultaneously. It was a “huge bow wave” that overwhelmed the procurement, legal and program staffs involved, Zisette said. “It became too much for the Department of Defense, so we were seeing our award-cycle times getting stretched out,” he said. “We realized we had to level that workload out: put in more agreements officers and contracts specialists so we could ... get quickly through the process itself.” The NAC unveiled Thursday it will initiate faster deadlines to develop prototypes, but it will also move to monthly solicitation releases and three virtual collaboration events per year instead of one. Other consortia will often either deal with requirements on an annual or ad hoc basis, meaning they're emailed out as they're developed. To Zisette's knowledge, no other DoD-sponsored consortia have monthly solicitation releases like the NAC is planning, but the idea for tri-annual events was something Zisette borrowed. “The total model will be a pathfinder,” he said, “but absolutely leveraging some of the best practices and input from across the department.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/08/27/armaments-consortium-launches-new-path-to-field-high-tech-prototypes/
June 18, 2019 | International, Naval, C4ISR

UK sets out vision for ‘Intelligent Warship’ technologies
Richard Scott, London The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is soliciting proposals for novel concepts aimed at integrating 'intelligent systems' into future warships. Being competed through the MoD's Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) programme, the Intelligent Ship programme is seeking to mature innovative technologies and techniques applicable to ship classes in the 2040+ timescale. A budget of GBP1 million (USD1.3 million) is available to fund multiple Phase 1 proposals, with an additional GBP3 million potentially available to fund follow-on phases. Released on 12 June, the Intelligent Ship competition document has set out to de-risk and evaluate technologies and approaches that could enable alternative, revolutionary future fleet concepts that can maintain or enhance UK military advantage. "This aim is based on a future vision where elements of automation, autonomy, machine learning and artificial intelligence [AI] are closely integrated and teamed with human decision makers," said the MoD. It added, "It is expected that this will ensure timely, more informed and trusted decision making and planning, within complex, cluttered, contested and congested operating and data environments." Phase 1 proposals are sought to improve automation, autonomous functions, AI-enabled decision aids, or alternative human-machine interfaces, and how they could improve speed and/or quality of decision-making and mission planning in a future operating environment. Proposals may also aim to demonstrate innovative system and platform design options that could enable the exploitation of intelligent systems in alternative platform concepts. The competition document has set out six specific 'challenge' themes: mission planning and decision aids, information fusion, sensor and information management, novel human-machine interfaces, human-machine teaming (applied to challenges 1-4), and integration. Phase 1 submissions are due on 23 July. Potential further phases are expected to include the development of an evaluation environment to enable demonstration of quantification of the selected intelligent functions. https://www.janes.com/article/89315/uk-sets-out-vision-for-intelligent-warship-technologies
November 22, 2017 | International, Aerospace

What’s happening with the RCAF’s helicopter contribution to the United Nations?
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN More from David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen The Canadian government highlighted at the recent Vancouver UN meeting its plan to have RCAF helicopters sent on United Nations missions. Canadian government statements talked about an Aviation Task Force of armed helicopters while government staff provided details that the rotary contribution could include four armed helicopters and two “utility helicopters.” Armed helicopters? That specific phrase was selected because the UN had asked for attack helicopters. Since Canada doesn't have attack helicopters, government officials figured they would use the phrase “armed” to make it appear like they were meeting UN needs. So Defence Watch asked what exactly the RCAF is committing to the UN. The armed helicopters will be Griffons, equipped with door guns, according to the Canadian Forces. The “utility” helicopters will be RCAF Chinooks. (the phrase utility helicopter in the Canadian context tends to refer to Griffons but in this case the government is using “utility” to refer to Chinooks). And when or where will these helicopters be deployed? No one knows. It could be a couple of years. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/whats-up-with-the-rcafs-helicopter-contribution-to-the-united-nations

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