June 5, 2020 | Local, Aerospace

BELL TEAMS WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS FOR U.S. ARMY FUTURE ATTACK RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT PROGRAM

Team Invictus brings together programmatic and operational expertise to deliver a transformational, affordable scout aircraft to soldiers, the Bell 360 Invictus

Fort Worth, Texas (June 4, 2020) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, has announced agreements with nine premier aerospace industry leaders to form Team Invictus. The companies are producing the Bell 360 Invictus prototype submission as part of the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. Each industry partner brings unique experience and technological expertise to provide a low-risk path for the Army's acquisition of a lethal, affordable rotorcraft with advanced mission systems to modernize aviation for multi-domain operations (MDO).

“Team Invictus is working together to show how cutting-edge technology will give soldiers the ability to confidently operate in the complex and contested battlespace of multi-domain operations,” said Chris Gehler, vice president and program director for FARA at Bell. “Future Vertical Lift is critical for the Army's ability to win in multi-domain operations with FARA defeating defensive layers and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) exploiting opened areas to achieve operational objectives.”

Team members are working closely together to deliver the Bell 360 Invictus prototype using a configuration that emphasizes operational availability, sustainability, and maintainability. The members of Team Invictus include:

Astronics Corporation for a modular framework of airframe power generation, conversion, and distribution products

Collins Aerospace for integration of a new generation of avionics hardware and software featuring cyber-hardened and digital backbone solutions to configure and integrate mission systems

GE Aviation for the 3,000-SHP T901 engine and working on the aircraft Health Awareness System (HAS)

ITT-Enidine Inc. for the passive Liquid Inertia Vibration Eliminator (LIVE) units for all modes of operation including high speed

L3Harris Technologies for the WESCAM™ MX-15D, an advanced, stabilized multi-sensor, multi-spectral imaging and targeting system

Parker Lord for rotor dampers, the main rotor CF bearing, the tail rotor tension torsion strap, and the Active Vibration Control (AVC) System

Mecaer Aviation Group, Inc. for a fully retractable, tail dragger landing gear system

MOOG Inc. for flight control computer (FCC) electronics, software, and flight control actuation, critical components of the Bell fly-by-wire, Flight Control System (FCS)

TRU Simulation + Training for a high-fidelity flight simulator that gives pilots a true sense of the aircraft flight controls

Team Invictus is applying digital design and manufacturing technologies, including maintenance as part of the design process, and use of emerging commercial practices to bring a holistic view of digital models, processing and analysis to reduce lifecycle maintenance and servicing requirements—and thus reducing sustainment costs.

“Each team member brings a capability that is vital to the success of the Bell 360 and we are honored to have proven, capable, and well-respected industry partners on Team Invictus,” stated Gehler. “This is an outstanding industry team, and we are working diligently to produce a FARA weapon system that is operationally effective and affordably sustainable, as well as complementary and in many ways common to the FLRAA program.”

Following the selection of the Bell 360 Invictus for the competitive prototype in March 2020, Team Invictus continues to rapidly move forward. Team Invictus' collective expertise reduces program risk while preserving the Army's FARA schedule leading to a first flight targeted for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.

To learn more about Bell 360 Invictus and FVL, please visit the Bell 360 Invictus website, and follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

https://news.bellflight.com/en-US/189083-bell-teams-with-industry-leaders-for-u-s-army-future-attack-reconnaissance-aircraft-program

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February 4, 2019 | Local, C4ISR

DEFENDING DEMOCRACY EVENT SUMMARY - Confronting Cyber Threats
Over the past decade, the cyber security of elections and democratic institutions has become a critical issue both at home and globally. Canadian elections have proved to be relatively robust so far. Be that as it may, in 2017 Canada's Communications Security Establishment reported a series of major threats to the country's electoral system, including media manipulation and data privacy. Moreover, the urgency of addressing cyber security is clear from incidences of interference in countries as diverse as the United States, Kenya, Estonia and Latvia. This day-long workshop sponsored by the Royal Military College of Canada, SERENE-RISC, the CDA Institute and the Telfer School brought scholars and experts in the field together at the University of Ottawa to explore the range of security challenges posed by new and emerging technology, what solutions are out there and what role Canada's defence community can play in combating these new threats. The CDA Institute provided rapporteurs to record the day's proceedings and their summaries can be found here. https://cdainstitute.ca/17931/
June 15, 2018 | Local, Naval

It's make or break time for Canadian Surface Combatant bidders
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The companies bidding on the Canadian Surface Combatant program will provide Irving Shipbuilding with their “cured” bids by July 21. Earlier this year, Postmedia reported that all three bidders in the competition failed to meet some of the federal government's requirements. The problems centre around technical issues. Some are minor but in other cases there is a view among defence industry officials that Canada is asking for too much in some areas such as radar, which may be causing problems with meeting requirements. Public Services and Procurement Canada spokeswoman Michèle LaRose earlier said the bids received for the Canadian Surface Combatant project have not been disqualified. Three bids have been received. The federal government and Irving Shipbuilding are still evaluating the proposals, she added. LaRose pointed out that the evaluation is at the second stage in the process. Government officials say that involves what is known as “the cure process” in which bidders will be given details of how their proposals have failed to meet the stated criteria. They will then be given only one opportunity to fix issues with their bids. So those fixes are to be submitted by July 21, according to industry representatives. If the bids are still considered “non-compliant” after the cure period they “will be eliminated from the competition,” according to the federal government. The budget for the Canadian Surface Combatant project is estimated by the federal government to be between $55 billion and $60 billion. That is a range but specific costs won't be known until contacts are signed and more details worked out. Fifteen warships will be built. Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Department of National Defence, told Defence Watch he expects a winning bid to be selected by the end of this year. http://calgaryherald.com/news/national/defence-watch/it-is-make-or-break-time-for-canadian-surface-combatant-bidders/wcm/49777bbd-d1e9-44df-88f8-603850e12ae3
July 10, 2019 | Local, Aerospace

Airbus and Boeing ready to drop the Canadian fighter jet tender?
CLÉMENT CHARPENTREAU Airbus and Boeing might consider withdrawing from the tender launched by Canada for new fighter jets. Both manufacturers allegedly believe that the process has been rigged in favor of Lockheed Martin. Sources in the industry quoted by Reuters said that in recent weeks Boeing, Airbus, and Saab, three competitors in the Canadian tender, have officially complained about the way in which the tender seems to favor the fourth candidate, Lockheed Martin. In 2015, one of the campaign promises of the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to reduce the procurement budget to replace Canada's aging fleet of F-18s, which would mean not purchasing the F-35. Instead, the country would acquire "one of the many, lower-priced options that better match Canada's defense needs". Given this favorable context, Dassault Aviation had initially decided to also be in the run. However, in November 2018, the French manufacturer withdrew its candidacy. CEO Eric Trappier explained the decision in a hearing with the French parliament, on May 22, 2019: Full article: https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/22815-airbus-and-boeing-ready-to-drop-the-canadian-fighter-jet-tender

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