Bezos' space company teams with Lockheed, Boeing for NASA moon lander pitch

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  January 10, 2019 | International, C4ISR

  U.S. Air Force Contracts Lockheed Martin To Continue GPS Ground Control System Sustainment

  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., January 9, 2019 – The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) the GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract to continue to sustain and further modernize the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation's ground control system through 2025. This is the follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin's current GCS contract awarded in 2013. Under the GCS II contract, the continued upgrade of the GPS Architecture Evolution Plan Operational Control Segment (AEP OCS) will allow GPS' legacy ground control system to support GPS III satellite on-orbit operations, developed under the GPS III Contingency Operations (COps) program. COps will enable the AEP OCS to support the positioning, navigation and timing missions of the Air Force's new GPS III satellites, which began launching in 2018. In addition, GCS II will sustain the operational M-code capability being deployed in 2020 that is in development under the M-code Early Use (MCEU) contract. Operational M-code is a critical warfighter capability to support missions in contested environments. Under the GCS contract, Lockheed Martin executed numerous engineering modifications to the OCS, including the COTS Upgrade 3(CUP3)/Ground Antenna Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) Interface Technology Refresh (GAITR) upgrade, the Remote Site COTS Network (RSCN) project, the GPS Information Protection Reinforcement (GIPR) project, the COTS Upgrade #2 (CUP2) project, and Red Dragon Cybersecurity Suite (RDCSS). These projects modernized the infrastructure, improved the cyber posture and added mission capability. The GCS II contract continues that commitment to evolving the OCS to address today's mission needs. Under GCS II, LM will continue to manage the technical baselines for the OCS and GPS Information Network (GIN) and regularly procure, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, and install software and hardware modifications into the GPS operational baseline. Focus areas will be performing a technical refresh of the GIN and increasing the resiliency of the OCS. “Lockheed Martin's experience integrating GCS projects as well as the system engineering and software integration performed on GPS III Contingency Operations (COps) and M-Code Early Use (MCEU) position us well to deliver GCS II,” says Maria Demaree, VP/GM Mission Solutions for Lockheed Martin Space. “We look forward to supporting the Air Force as it deploys the next generation GPS III satellites and their new capabilities for our warfighters.” For additional GPS Ground Control System information, photos and video visit: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/gps.html. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. https://news.lockheedmartin.com/news-releases?item=128657

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  October 9, 2018 | International, Land

  Army leans on scientists to push the boundaries of munitions range, precision, lethality

  By: Todd South Army researchers are speeding up development on key conventional munitions, from field artillery to long-range missiles, and making them more deadly when they land. At a panel hosted by Defense News at the annual Association of the United States Army annual meeting, commanders with the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command, Program Executive Office-Ammunition and the Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team gave a few updates on those efforts. Brig. Gen. Alfred Abramson III, head of PEO Ammo and Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, told audience members that his researchers are finding the quickest ways to go after extending ranges, saying that the XM1113 round will be “critical” for the conventional artillery in the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program, a centerpiece of artillery modernization. Abramson noted that the existing M795 High Explosive artillery round, the base of the 155mm munition portfolio, includes about 614,000 rounds in the nation's stockpile. But those rounds only reach out to about 30 kilometers. The problem developers face in pushing the ranges of conventional rounds is keeping them both accurate and having a real effect when they strike, he said. “You want to push it out to 70 kilometers and ensure it's not just a long-range paintball,” Abramson said. The XM1128 pushes those ranges to about 40 kilometers currently. But work with “lithographic fragmentation technology,” Abramson said, makes the round more lethal on target. Col. John Rafferty, director of the LRPF CFT, said that recent testing has gotten 155mm artillery rounds to the 60-kilometer range at the Yuma, Arizona, testing facility. Abramson said that his organization has seen a significant spike of about $2.5 billion for fiscal years 2017 to 2022 funding for ammunition and armament systems products. Another $1.5 billion has been allotted to update the aging ammunition manufacturing plants across the Army, he said. Recent Overseas Contingency Operations funding for 2019 was marked at about $4.1 billion simply to replenish munitions consumed during combat. What's being done to advance the science? Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, commanding general of U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, said that over the past year, $900 million was realigned for science and technology development for the LRPF initiatives, and another $500 million was also realigned for the Air Missile Defense CFT. His organization just completed a six-month study of energetics propulsion that included a detailed study of adversary capabilities and advancements over the past two decades. It also looked at how those advances were achieved and what gaps exist in the United States' armaments, he said. While the study has not yet been released to the public, he said two non-technical gaps that the United States must correct are in their ability to collaborate with global partners and science, chemistry and energy experts within government. Further down the development pipeline he said was a shortfall in transitioning the research to the PEOs for development and fielding. One tech challenge is the existing stockpiles. As the developers push the capacities of conventional rounds and their systems they must also maintain “backwards compatibility” with the substantial munition stockpiles, he said. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/08/army-leans-on-scientists-to-push-the-boundaries-of-munitions-range-precision-lethality

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  June 12, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Dassault Aviation poursuit sa stratégie d'implantation en Belgique

  Dassault Aviation a profité du salon Eurosatory pour signer ce 12 juin un protocole d'entente avec Thales Belgium pour l'implantation d'un centre d'excellence dédié à la cybersécurité en Belgique. Cet accord s'inscrit dans le cadre des compensations industrielles liées à l'offre française de Rafale pour les forces aériennes belges. Les offsets liés au contrat prévoient au moins 20 milliards d'investissements sur 20 ans et concerneraient quelques 5 000 emplois. Dassault Aviation n'exclut pas un "regain d'activité" et une augmentation de ces chiffres en cas de signature. Quatre-vingt accords ont d'ores et déjà été signés par la Team Rafale pour renforcer les partenariats industriels entre les deux pays. Parmi les coopérations envisagées, des centres de recherche sur l'interface homme-machine, la fabrication additive ou encore la simulation numérique, mais aussi la fondation d'un "centre de l'innovation" dans le domaine de la maintenance prédictive, ainsi que la mise en place d'un centre de maintenance Rafale. Ces accords de coopération seront mis en place en cas de victoire du GIE Rafale en Belgique, "Les activités pourront être lancées immédiatement", explique-t-on chez l'industriel - qui dit rester confiant sur ses chances d'attribution du contrat, estimé à 3,6 milliards d'euros. La France avait présenté à l'automne dernier une proposition "d'État à État" à la Belgique, sortant de fait de l'appel d'offres lancé en mars 2017 pour l'acquisition de 34 nouveaux avions de combat. Face à la proposition française, Lockheed Martin et son F-35, ainsi que le consortium Eurofighter - la compétition semblant davantage se jouer entre les avions français et américain. https://www.journal-aviation.com/actualites/40676-dassault-aviation-poursuit-sa-strategie-d-implantation-en-belgique