December 4, 2024 | International, Land
New Army-funded tech creates realistic terrain, avatars in simulations
The same institute created Oscar-winning facial scanning tech for major Hollywood films like "Blade Runner 2049" and "Avatar."
July 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Construction of first permanent US F-35 campus in Europe begins at Lakenheath
RAF LAKENHEATH, England — A $205 million construction project to prepare RAF Lakenheath for the arrival of two squadrons of U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jets in 2021 officially got underway Monday.
The commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe - U.S. Air Forces Africa, Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, and other dignitaries plunged shovels into dirt at what will become the first permanent site for U.S. F-35s in Europe.
U.K. firms Kier and VolkerFitzpatrick will build a flight simulator facility, maintenance unit, hangars and storage units at the site, in time for the arrival of 48 F-35s in November 2021. The Royal Air Force currently has nine F-35s at RAF Marham, about 25 miles north of Lakenheath.
“This will be a great opportunity to reinforce together how we will train, execute and operate on a daily basis, and allow us to deepen what is a critically important relationship,” Harrigian said at the groundbreaking.
The project is the first in a broad program to support Air Force operations in the U.K. A further $1 billion is expected to be invested in the program over the next seven to 10 years, said the Defense Infrastructure Organization, which last year awarded the contract for the F-35 campus.
“The project team is in good shape — we are on schedule for completion in 2021,” Kier's managing director of aviation and defense James Hindes was quoted as saying by The Construction Index, an industry website.
The completed campus will host around 1,200 U.S. airmen. Currently, more than 9,100 U.S. servicemembers are based in the U.K, according to Pentagon data.
Recent problems with engine delivery of the F-35A are not expected to delay the arrival of America's newest fighter jet at Lakenheath, a 48th Fighter Wing spokeswoman said Monday.
Of the 81 engines that were delivered in 2018, 86% were late, according to a Government Accountability Office report in April. That was up from 48% that were not delivered on time the previous year, when fewer engines were delivered.
The delays were due in part to an increase in the “average number of quality issues per engine”— 941 in 2018 against 777 a year earlier, the GAO report said.
United Technologies' Pratt and Whitney unit, the only company to make the engines, is under a corrective action request from the Defense Contract Management Agency for “poor delivery performance,” according to a July report by Bloomberg News.
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September 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace
U.S. Army Reveals Mystery UAS Payload Called Blasphemy
Steve Trimble September 09, 2020 The U.S. Army has revealed a mysterious new payload called Blasphemy for the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. MQ-1C Gray Eagle. The name of the payload appeared in public for the first time on a presentation slide displayed by a panel of Army unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) program managers during the virtual AUVSI Defense Systems conference on Sept. 9. Blasphemy appeared as one of several payloads listed on the slide, but no other information about it was provided. When asked a follow-up question during the question-and-answer period seeking details about the new payload, the Army program manager demurred. “I think we're going to skip that one,” said Lt. Col. David Benjamin, the Army's product development manager for the MQ-1C program. The slide showed the Blasphemy payload loaded on to the same pylon as the Multi-Function Electronic Warfare (MFEW) pod. The Army plans to deploy the MFEW-Air Large pod on the MQ-1C next year, but hasn't before revealed any plans for a payload called Blasphemy. The slide showed a list of “integrated capabilities” for the MQ-1C in fiscal 2020. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/sensors-electronic-warfare/us-army-reveals-mystery-uas-payload-called-blasphemy
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April 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Boeing to reopen the KC-46 and P-8 production lines
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Boeing will restart production of the P-8 and KC-46 on Monday after a three-week pause in operations spurred by the spread of the novel coronavirus in Washington state. The company temporarily shut down operations in the Puget Sound region on March 25. Boeing's sites in Washington focus primarily on the development and production of commercial airliners and militarized variants of those aircraft, such as the KC-46 tanker made in Everett and the P-8 submarine hunting plane made in Renton. While the resumption of operations will focus on defense programs, the company will also reopen the facilities necessary for 737 MAX storage as well as other laboratories and functions deemed as essential. “Boeing's work supporting the Department of Defense as a part of the defense industrial base is a matter of national security and has been deemed critical. The work we do directly supports the servicemen and women protecting the nation around the clock – and they are counting on us to get it done,” the company said in a statement. The phased re-opening of Boeing facilities will help support its supply base and will ensure the company has enough protective equipment available for the 2,500 employees who will return to work, the company said. Boeing will also enact additional health checks at the Puget Sound sites, including wellness checks at the start of every shift, staggered shift times, additional handwashing stations and cleaning supplies, and a requirement that employees wear a mask at work to comply with state guidance. The company's Ridley Park, Penn.-facility remains closed. That site produces military helicopters including the H-47 Chinook cargo helicopter, the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft as well as the MH-139A Grey Wolf, which will be used by the Air Force to defend missile fields. Monday's reopening is especially good news for the KC-46 program, as the production line is already making tankers at full rate. Boeing has delivered 33 tankers to the Air Force so far, with the production of a total 179 KC-46s expected to be produced in the program of record. Will Roper, the Air Force's acquisition executive, said in March that the pause in KC-46 production wouldn't become a problem unless it extended past a month. “We've tried to make it very clear to our industry partners that we expect them to do whatever is necessary to keep our critical defense-industrial base workforce and their families healthy,” Roper said then. “The standing back up will be important too, because that sends a message to our adversaries that a domestic crisis is not a time of opportunity nor does it create a readiness bathtub in the future.” https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/04/13/boeing-to-reopen-the-kc-46-and-p-8-production-lines/