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  May 22, 2020 | International, Land

  KMW, Nexter and Rheinmetall get the go-ahead for initial MGCS architecture study

  May 20, 2020 - Standing for Main Ground Combat System, MGCS is a joint Franco-German defence project. The programme, to be implemented under German political leadership, is tasked with developing a main combat system to succeed the Bundeswehr's Leopard 2 and the French Army's Leclerc starting in 2035. Making the start of the MGCS procurement programme Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), Nexter Systems and Rheinmetall AG established an ARGE in December 2019. Now, the partners and the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw), acting in the name of Germany and France, have signed a contract for the “System Architecture Definition Study - Part 1” (SADS Part 1). This contract sounds the industrial starting gun for a MGCS Demonstration Phase At the Franco-German Ministerial Council meeting in Toulouse on 16 October 2019, the defence ministers of both nations, Florence Parly and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, emphasized their commitment to developing the MGCS. The ARGE is a German acronym standing for Arbeitsgemeinschaft, or “working group”. Under German law, the ARGE serves as the contractual partner of the procurement authority (BAAINBw) during the first phase of the programme. Officials of the three companies represent the ARGE vis-à-vis third parties. The aim of the study is to harmonize the final MGCS concepts of the previous phase, to analyse further details, and to propose a common multi-platform architecture. The three contractual partners will assess various aspects of different concepts: technical feasibility in the projected timeframe allotted for the programme; ability to fulfil the operational needs of both armies; efficiency and compatibility with national “systems of systems” (SCORPION for France and Digitization of Land-Based Operations (D-LBO) for Germany). Workshares in the SADS Part 1 are to be distributed equally between France and Germany on a fifty-fifty basis. The first phase of architecture work is expected to last 18 months. View source version on Rheinmetall : https://www.rheinmetall-defence.com/en/rheinmetall_defence/public_relations/news/latest_news/index_23936.php

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  July 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR

  L3Harris Technologies Awarded $380 Million IDIQ Contract for WESCAM MX™-Series Products and Support

  July 22, 2020 - The Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) has awarded L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) an eight-year, $380 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to procure WESCAM MX-Series products and services in support of global U.S. Army surveillance and targeting operations. The contract enables continued upgrades and support for the U.S. Army's robust installed base of fixed-wing, aerostat and unmanned platforms while supporting expanding Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirements. “L3Harris is proud to once again supply its WESCAM MX technologies and solutions to the U.S. Army, as it highlights our role as a trusted global supplier of advanced imaging solutions to the defense industry,” said Sean Stackley, President, Integrated Mission Systems, L3Harris. “Through this contract, our highly specialized optics and leading technologies can continue to meet the needs of emerging mission portfolios, including time-sensitive response operations.” L3Harris' WESCAM MX-Series products have successfully supported U.S. Army aviation programs for more than two decades. WESCAM MX-Series systems have logged over 4 million hours of combat operations with the U.S. Army and continue to be a resource in on-going global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. L3Harris' portfolio of WESCAM MX-Series systems provide high-precision situational awareness – while delivering an advanced capability to collect critical mission information that assist in overcoming emerging threats. In addition to the U.S. Army, WESCAM MX systems are operational within the U.S Navy and Air Force Special Operations Command where they continue to support programs in the fight against global terrorism. The CCC is Canada's government-to-government contracting organization for sales of defense and security technology and expertise from Canada. Each CCC contract provides the U.S. DOD with the Government of Canada's assurance that the contract will be fulfilled in accordance with its terms and conditions. About L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers' mission-critical needs. The company provides advanced defense and commercial technologies across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. L3Harris has approximately $18 billion in annual revenue and 48,000 employees, with customers in more than 100 countries. L3Harris.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the value or expected value of orders, contracts or programs and about our system capabilities are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. L3Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200722005473/en/

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  December 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land

  Bell’s V-280 Valor hits 200 hours of flight time 3 years after first flight

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Bell's technology demonstrator designed to show the Army the realm of the possible in Future Vertical Lift capability has flown 200 hours since its first flight three years ago, according to Keith Flail, the company's executive vice president for advanced vertical lift systems. The V-280 Valor tiltrotor parted ways with the tarmac for the first time on Dec. 18, 2017, at 1:59 p.m. CDT at a Bell facility in Amarillo, Texas. Defense News reported the flight as the aircraft was still in the air, but the aircraft logged roughly 15 to 20 minutes before returning to solid ground. Since then Bell's clean-sheet-designed aircraft has flown more than 150 sorties, Flail told Defense News in a recent interview, and the extensive effort has driven down risk for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program for the U.S. Army. Valor hit the 200 flight hour mark on Dec. 4, Flail said. The Army wants to field FLRAA — an aircraft expected to fly twice as fast and twice as far as a conventional helicopter — by 2030. Bell is gearing up to compete head-to-head with a Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky and Boeing team, which built the only other flying technology demonstrator in the effort leading up to a program of record. The SB-1 Defiant coaxial helicopter flew for the first time in March 2019 after struggling with rotor blade manufacturing problems and working through other more minor kinks. Both companies have entered a competitive development and risk reduction phase awarded in March 2020 ahead of the FLRAA program. The Army announced this month that it intends to proceed into a competition between just Sikorsky-Boeing and Bell to produce FLRAA. Valor has been put through its paces, completing key performance parameters and continuing to prove out possible threshold and objective requirements for FLRAA. The aircraft had its first public flight in June 2018 where it reached cruising speeds of 195 knots and was put through its paces in hover mode. In May 2019, the aircraft completed low-speed agility maneuver testing — which made up the final key performance parameters left to prove out with the system as part of the technology demonstration phase. Valor flew autonomously for the first time a year ago. The aircraft performed an autonomous takeoff, conversion into cruise mode, precision navigation to various waypoints, loiter maneuvers, conversion into vertical-takeoff-and-landing mode, and landed autonomously. Other achievements include demonstrating an integrated system from Lockheed Martin that provides the pilots and aircrew a 360-degree view through the skin of the aircraft in the spring of 2019. And in early 2020, Bell also integrated the Tactical Common Data Link and transmitted information between Valor and the ground station to include basic flight data and showed it would be able to provide targeting information to help long-range precision fires weapons hit targets more accurately, according to a Dec. 17 company statement. In the same flight, Bell demonstrated sling-load capability, Flail said. “During a single sortie, the team performed multiple cargo lifts to demonstrate the procedure and coordination of ground crew, aircraft, crew chief, pilots and the behavior of the loads for the V-280,” the statement notes. Over the course of the technology demonstration period, Flail added, the aircraft was also able to show its reliability and availability. “This configuration of tiltrotor really shows how robust it is in terms of reliability and availability because one of the tricks with proving that is you have to accumulate enough data to show that you do have a reliable system,” he said. “A lot of your critical items, your gearboxes and your blades ... those are typical cost drivers downstream and today, we still have the original six blades and gearboxes on this aircraft.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/12/17/bells-v-280-valor-hits-200-hours-of-flight-time-3-years-after-first-flight/