Boeing in talks to buy supplier Spirit Aero as it delays production hikes

On the same subject

• 

  December 2, 2020 | International, Land

  Scorpion : Griffon Command Post is qualified

  Satory, France, November 26, 2020 - On 13 November 2020, the French Delegation for Armaments (DGA) qualified the command post vehicle (EPC) variant of the GRIFFON vehicle. At the same time, the first examples are being submitted for acceptance by the DGA's quality department at the Roanne site. Therefore, the three first GRIFFON EPC have been delivered to the Army technical section (STAT) which will continue the operational evaluation of this equipment with its rapid deployment within the regiments in sight. The GME (temporary grouping of companies) EBMR (Engins Blindés Multi-Rôles) comprised of Nexter, Arquus and Thales is fully mobilized on the production of the first 35 series GRIFFON EPCs to be presented to verification operations by the end of 2020. Ultimately, the SCORPION program calls for the acquisition of 333 units of this variant, half of which will be delivered by 2025. As a reminder, the SCORPION program aims to modernize the Army's combat capabilities and in particular to improve command through new information resources. The GRIFFON EPC can accommodate a pilot and a gunner in the front, and five soldiers in the rear of the vehicle. From an external point of view, the silhouette of the EPC does not differ from the VTT Félin variant (troop transport vehicle). Only the armament changes, with the integration on the roof of a new-generation T2 remotely operated turret armed with a 7.62mm caliber. Inside, on the other hand, the GRIFFON EPC is fully equipped to accommodate a command post: communication means, large screens, a board and a printer. This variant is designed to accommodate latest-generation electronic equipment for collaborative combat: the vetronics common to the SCORPION platforms, the CONTACT joint radio, the SCORPION Combat Information System (SICS), the ANTARES optronic system offering the crew a 360° vision of the environment, as well as a gunfire location detector (or SLA, for Acoustic Localization System). In addition, the air-conditioning system adapts to all environments to guarantee crew's comfort and the proper functioning of onboard electronics. Thanks to its level of protection and mobility, the EPC variant of the GRIFFON enables a command post to be deployed quickly at the heart of operations. The force commander can thus conduct an engagement or monitor the progress of a regimental or brigade-level action. The arrival of the GRIFFON EPC is complementary to the GRIFFON VTT Félin, with the goal of projecting a joint battle group (GTIA) into a foreign theatre of operations by 2021. Stéphane Mayer is delighted, on behalf of the GME formed by the three companies Arquus, Thales and Nexter (of which he is Chairman and CEO), that this new milestone has been reached on time: "this qualification marks a new stage in the modernization of the French Army's equipment". View source version on Nexter : https://www.nexter-group.fr/en/actualites/nos-dernieres-actualites/scorpion-griffon-command-post-qualified.html

• 

  June 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Other Defence

  Israel’s Rafael integrates artificial intelligence into Spice bombs

  By: Seth J. Frantzman and Kelsey D. Atherton Rafael Advanced Defense System's Spice bombs now have a new technological breakthrough as the Israeli company enables its Spice 250 with artificial intelligence alongside automatic target recognition to be used with scene-matching technology. The Spice 250, which can be deployed on quad racks under the wings of warplanes like the F-16, has a 75-kilogram warhead and a maximum range of 100 kilometers with its deployable wings. Its electro-optic scene-matching technology — which involves uploading terrain data onto the bomb and combining it with real-time electro-optic imagery — allows the weapon to work in GPS-denied environments. And the bomb can use this autonomous capability to navigate and correct its location, according to Gideon Weiss, Rafael's deputy general manager of marketing and business development at the company's air and C4I division. With its AI and “deep learning” technologies, the weapon has the ability to identity moving ground targets and distinguish them from other objects and terrain. This is based on 3D models uploaded to the bomb as well as algorithms. As the weapon identifies and homes in on its target, such as a convoy of vehicles, it separates the convoy of interest from other vehicles it has “learned” to ignore. “The deep-learning algorithm is indifferent to the actual data fed to it for modeling targets of interest and embedding their pertaining characteristics into the system," Weiss said. "However, the more the data used for modeling is representative of the target of interest, the more robust the recognition probability will be in real life.” Rafael has completed the development and testing phase of the Spice 250, including flight tests, which have “proven the robustness of the ATA and ATR, so it is mature for delivery,” Weiss said, using acronyms for automatic target acquisition and recognition. Asked if the ATR algorithm will select a secondary target if the computer cannot find the initial human-selected target, Weiss said: “This goes into the area of user-defined policies and rules of engagement, and it is up to the users to decide on how to apply the weapon, when and where to use it, and how to define target recognition probabilities and its eventuality.” Automatically selecting a secondary target may eventually become part of the upgrade profile for the munition, if customers express significant interest in the feature. With a two-way data link and a video-streaming capability, the bomb can be aborted or told to re-target up until a “few second before the weapon hits its target,” Weiss explained. That two-way data-link, enabled by the weapon's mounting on a Smart Quad Rack, or SQR, will enable future deep learning to be based on data extracted from earlier launches. Data recorded will include either live-streaming video or a burst of still images of the entire homing phase up until impact. “These are automatically and simultaneously recorded on the SQR — enabling two functions: (a) real-time and post-mission BDI (Bomb Damage Indication); (b) post-mission target data extraction for intel updates, etc.," Weiss said. "The ATR capability, including its deep learning updates, must be more agile than the enemy's ability to conceal and/or change its battlefield footprint, tactics, appearance or anything else which might impede the ATR from accurately recognizing and destroying targets.” The Spice family of weapons is operational with the Israeli Air Force and international customers. https://www.defensenews.com/artificial-intelligence/2019/06/17/israels-rafael-integrates-artificial-intelligence-into-spice-bombs/

• 

  July 8, 2024 | International, C4ISR

  Defense Innovation Unit project makes supercomputers more accessible

  Two commercial firms demonstrated that they could provide high-performance computing tools on the cloud.