September 21, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Argentina eyes surplus CH-46 helicopters as Mi-17 replacement
Argentina was unable to perform maintenance on its Mi-17s because of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine.
April 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
COVID-19 Alters DOD View Of Supply Chain
Lee Hudson
The spread of the novel coronavirus has changed the way the Defense Department views its supply chain and the military is beginning to understand where the industrial base is “hyper efficient but very brittle,” according to the U.S. Navy acquisition executive.
The Pentagon is discovering there are components made by either a single supplier or an overseas supplier that is impacted by COVID-19, Hondo Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters April 28.
Geurts said the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the Pentagon to dig deeper into understanding various supply chain elements. This allows the military to begin making deliberate choices in where it needs additional “resilience” or “flexibility, he said.
“We meet now weekly at the department level to have a look through industrial base concerns, issues, hot spots or strategic challenges,” Geurts said. “That's one of the areas that I view, when we come out of this, that needs to be a normal course of business.”
The Pentagon identified Mexico and India as countries where the defense industrial base is being hit hard by supplier closures, Ellen Lord, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters April 20.
Geurts said it is not that other nations do not deem defense work as essential, but they are facing different circumstances with the novel coronavirus. His team is looking at various programs where there are overseas supply chains and understanding how they are operating or not during this time.
The Navy not only has many contracts with suppliers in Mexico, but also in Italy and Spain.
“We're just keeping an eye on it,” Geurts said. “We have flexibility and may have programs that rephase elements of construction or use stock we have on hand.”
Separately, since commercial aviation is being hard hit by COVID-19, the Pentagon is specifically focusing on propulsion contractors to put in orders during this time by rephasing work.
For example, the military did not intend to purchase an engine until three months from now, but because of the global pandemic will submit an order early.
“There'll be a natural limitation of funding, so we can't do that infinitely, but we're looking to leverage all the different tool sets we have,” Geurts said.
https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/supply-chain/covid-19-alters-dod-view-supply-chain
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October 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Thales launches small AESA radar for small aircraft
Christina Mackenzie PARIS – Thales launched on Oct. 16 its new AirMaster C, a compact, active electronically scanned array (AESA), airborne surveillance radar for small and medium-sized platforms. Although the radar's design phase has been finalized it still needs testing airborne. Nevertheless, Stéphane Lavigne, a sales director at Thales, said that the French Armed Forces Ministry had already notified its intention to buy the equipment for the future light joint army helicopter, the Guépard, developed by Airbus Helicopters and due to enter service in 2026. Jon Bye, Thales' head of customer marketing, said that the AirMaster C would ensure customers got “that great picture, first time, every time.” The active antenna radar is based on SiGe (silicon-germanium) technology fully validated in 2019. Thales says SiGe is “much more energy efficient than other technologies used for AESA radars, and allows the radar to self-cool.” François Arpagaus, the company's airborne surveillance product line director, said that AirMaster C is easy to integrate, less complex to operate and would allow users to “see more, more of the time” thanks to “multi-polarization” which allows the radar to automatically select the optimal settings for each mission. The radar was designed for a small footprint, making it 30 percent lower in size, weight and power than other radars in its class. It is small, no bigger than two A4 pages side by side, weighs less than 20 kg (45 lbs) and uses about 1 Kw of power. “It's perfect for small and medium-sized platforms, both manned and unmanned,” Arpagaus said. Lavigne said the sensor had been designed with a lot of input from radar users. “The program is launched, we are ready to take orders,” he said, adding that typical delivery time from contract signing would happen within two years. https://www.c4isrnet.com/c4isr/2020/10/16/thales-launches-small-aesa-radar-for-small-aircraft/
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January 11, 2023 | International, Aerospace
US Air Force wants industry input for âinnovativeâ ABMS technologies
The Air Force is specifically interested in commercial gear that is hardened against jamming and can boost data transfer rates and reduce latency.