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October 3, 2018 | International, Aerospace

Disruption in Aerospace and Defense Is Here: Are You Ready?

The next generation of aircraft will be different from anything seen before. Disruptive technologies enabled by digitalization are transforming the industry, creating new business models and empowering new market entrants. The digitalization disruption is here. Are you ready for innovation through simulation?

The aerospace and defense (A&D) industry is challenged to design more fuel-efficient, quieter and safer evolutionary and derivative aircraft to reduce operation lifecycle costs for the airlines. Simultaneously it is wrestling with the rapid revolutions of urban air mobility (UAM) and commercial drones. Global defense spending is increasing as organizations innovate to maintain or establish technology leadership. The new space race has begun as nontraditional companies and new spacefaring nations challenge the historic dominance of government funded agencies. Across the whole industry, these trends demand innovation at a pace never seen before, combined with the globally disruptive cross-industry forces of autonomy, electrification, connectivity and the digital twin, as well as new materials and additive manufacturing. It requires innovation in a design space for which there is no precedent.

Full report: http://images.link.pentonaviation.com/Web/PentonAv/%7B8abc8a86-ee52-4ae3-b46f-5df9036d89fd%7D_Aerospace_and_Defense_Whitepaper.pdf

On the same subject

  • The Corps is going all in on small tactical drones as it preps for future war

    January 22, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    The Corps is going all in on small tactical drones as it preps for future war

    By: Shawn Snow A briefing to Congress in January 2018 on the Corps' family of small tactical droneshighlighted the Marines' desire to incorporate thousands of drones from the battalion level down to the squad. The briefing slides, obtained by Marine Corps Times via Freedom of Information Act request, displayed a wide variety of small tactical drones generally weighing under 55 pounds with an array of capabilities and varying flight radii. Marine Corps Combat Development Command/ Combat Development & Integration, or MCCDC/CD&I, told Marine Corps Times that the slides were no longer current and that “significant updates” have already been made to the Corps' fixed wing and vertical take-off and landing systems. But the drone briefing last January does provide a window into the Corps' desire to stretch the range of its drones, its growing reliance on unmanned systems, its preparation for future warfare, and how the Corps is trying to keep pace with a technology rapidly evolving. “In the near future, maneuver elements will have a blend of VTOL [vertical take-off and landing] and Fixed Wing SUAS [small unmanned aerial system] based on the capabilities,” MCCDC/ CD&I explained. “The idea is to provide capability to lower echelons, understanding there comes with it increased human tasks and gear.” Small tactical drones “organic to tactical maneuver units, generally at the battalion level and below provide battlespace awareness and target development in support of squads, platoons, companies, battalions and Marine Special Operations Teams and Companies,” MCCDC/CD&I said. Included in the brief were the fixed wing Stalker XE and quadcopter Aeryon SkyRanger. These systems have not been highly publicized as being in the Corps' fleet of tactical drone systems, unlike the widely known Instant Eye already fielded across the Corps' squads. Lockheed's Stalker XE is a roughly 26 lbs fixed wing drone with a 50 km range that can fly up to eight hours with a fuel cell. The drone has been in use with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC. According to the briefing slides, MARSOC had high praise for the system, calling it as flexible and a force multiplier. The Aeryon SkyRanger is a quadcopter drone with a roughly 5 km range. Both these drones may find their way into the inventories of conventional Marine forces. However, MCCDC/CD&I said the drones highlighted in the presentation were “representative” platforms based on the capabilities they provide. “For example, the Stalker XE offers a capability desired by the infantry battalions but no decision has been made on a future performer for this capability at that level in the regular Marine Corps formation,” MCCDC/CD&I said. Though, the Stalker XE did participate in the 2017 iteration of the Steel Knight exercise held aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. Moreover, the Corps is about to kick off a field user evaluation with a series of small tactical drones that will include PSI Tactical Robotics' InstantEye Gen 5, Aeryon Lab's SkyRanger, FLIR's PD 100 Black Hornet and Lockheed Martin's Indago, according to Jamie Cosgrove, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command. “The Marines routinely perform field user evaluations (FUE) to determine if the particular system meets their requirements for SUAS,” Cosgrove said. “Based on the FUE, the Marine Corps may end up using a combination of systems to meet their needs.” The evolution and proliferation of drone technology has been moving at light speed, which is creating a slew of challenges for the Corps as it tries to keep pace with advancements and changing dynamics on the battlefield. But MCCDC/CD&I said the Corps' drone acquisition strategy is focused on capability sets and interoperability, not necessarily any specific platform. “Future fielding numbers are in flux pending results of a formal study on SUAS utilization and budgetary decisions,” MCCDC/ CD&I said. “The numbers and types of systems we want to buy is changing as demand increases beyond the Ground Combat Element.” https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/01/18/the-corps-is-going-all-in-on-small-tactical-drones-as-it-preps-for-future-war

  • Heckler & Koch — maker of the Marine Corps M27 — is in dire straits

    June 13, 2019 | International, Other Defence

    Heckler & Koch — maker of the Marine Corps M27 — is in dire straits

    By Ian D'Costa For decades, German arms giant Heckler & Koch has served as the gold standard for military and civilian weapons manufacturing — building revolutionary and oftentimes game-changing rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, submachine guns and pistols for a variety of customers including special operations forces, conventional infantry units and law enforcement agencies. After a lackluster 2018, reports indicate that H&K is now struggling to keep its head above water, with the hopes that boosting sales in FY2019 buys the company at least another year to come out of the red and fix the situation it's in. The Tactical Wire recently reported that German business journals have already predicted the end for what was once one of the most powerful arms manufacturers in the world. In fact, the situation is so bad that, as The Firearm Blog reported just last month, H&K employees jointly voted to increase weekly work hours without paid overtime, as well as nixed a one-off payment of 400 Euros per head for the month of July, so as to provide their beleaguered company some form of relief. H&K's financial woes stem primarily from diminishing sales, so much so that FY2018 would have seen the company tank had it not been for “two bridging loans from an unnamed major shareholder.” As the company's preexisting contracts with various international buyers are fulfilled, it has faced immeasurable difficulty generating new large-scale contracts with any of its products. According to Neue Zürcher Zeitung, after KPMG conducted an audit of H&K in 2018, it was forced to insert a red flag warning that: “the lack of liquidity endangers the continued existence of Heckler & Koch." KPMG went on to state that the only way H&K would survive going forward is to generate a considerable bump in revenue over previous years, or face bankruptcy. Earlier this year, H&K completed production and delivery of the M27 IAR (a derivative of the HK416) to the US Marine Corps. However, contracts with countries in the process of revamping their small arms arsenals, such as Portugal, have failed to materialize with these countries opting for weapons from other manufacturers. 2019 has also seen the imposition of a multi-million dollar fine on H&K by a German court after it was discovered that the company violated Germany's War Weapons Control Act through the illegal sales of rifles to Mexican states affected considerably by drug-trade violence. H&K's hopes more than likely rest in securing a massive contract yet to be tendered by the German government for the long-term replacement of the German army's G36 assault rifles, another H&K product though one which didn't necessarily live up to the next-generation hype that earlier surrounded it. Whether or not H&K will win the contract is a completely different question altogether, as it's also standard German defense procurement procedure to take into account the fiscal health and economic well being of the companies which have bid for larger contracts... and that's not looking too good for H&K. It should also be noted that H&K is currently in the process of reequipping the French army with HK416 rifles to replace the FAMAS bullpup rifle platform with an overall mass order of over 93,000 units. The Norwegian government also contracted the company to supply HK416s to the Norwegian Armed Forces earlier this year. However, that might not be enough to save H&K. Should H&K lose out on the German G36 replacement contract, this could spell the end for the 71 year-old German small arms producer, and a potentially new beginning for a restructured company in its place. https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/gearscout/irons/2019/06/12/heckler-koch-maker-of-the-marine-corps-m27-is-in-dire-straits/

  • Northrop Grumman, MBDA and Saab Demonstrate the Integration of Disparate Missile and Radar Systems into Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Manager

    November 27, 2019 | International, C4ISR

    Northrop Grumman, MBDA and Saab Demonstrate the Integration of Disparate Missile and Radar Systems into Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Manager

    HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Nov. 26, 2019 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC), MBDA and Saab have successfully completed a joint, collaborative effort to demonstrate the ability to integrate MBDA's Common Anti-air Modular Missile (CAMM) family and Saab's Giraffe radar system family into Northrop Grumman's Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS). CAMM was the first non-U.S. missile system to be demonstrated with IBCS earlier this year, and Giraffe represents the first non-U.S. sensor system to be demonstrated. The three companies demonstrated rapid and functional integration during simulated threat scenarios that included simultaneous engagements. Simulated air targets were fed to the Giraffe radar emulator, which passed the radar information to IBCS to assess and track threats. IBCS operators planned and executed optimized engagements based on that data using the CAMM missile emulators which engaged multiple threats simultaneously. IBCS then closed the loop by displaying the outgoing missiles detected and reported by the Giraffe emulators. The event successfully demonstrated both Distributed Fire Direction and Advanced Integrated Fire Control engagements. “Building on lessons learned from the CAMM family integration, we were able to integrate the Giraffe radar onto the IBCS network even more rapidly and cost effectively, continuing to demonstrate the dynamic and flexible nature of IBCS's open architecture in adding capabilities when and as needed,” said Bill Lamb, director, international battle management, Northrop Grumman. “Together we are creating a revolutionary IAMD enterprise that maximizes the combat potential of all sensors and weapons across all domains and fills gaps in today's air defense capabilities.” MBDA's CAMM family is the next generation of air defense missiles for multi-domain applications. Designed to defeat the most challenging of modern and future threats, including saturation attacks by precision-guided munitions and maneuvering high-speed missiles attacking simultaneously from multiple directions, the CAMM family of missiles feature a solid-state active radar seeker, two way data-link, low-signature rocket motor and a 360° soft-vertical launch system. “This represents the latest successful demonstration of the flexibility of the CAMM family, which has been designed from the ground up to operate within a modern network-centric open IAMD architecture. In this event we were able to demonstrate multiple simultaneous engagements of a full range of contemporary threats, using targeting information from networked surveillance sensors,” said Ben Newland, ground based air defence programme head, MBDA. Saab's Giraffe AMB radar delivers key capabilities as part of short- and medium-range surveillance and Ground Based Air Defence. It integrates powerful 3D surveillance radar and C3 functionality in one and the same system and provides forces with swift understanding of the air situation, enabling immediate and effective response to changing threats, new tactics and shifting operational conditions. “We are delighted to see this demonstration of integration of the Giraffe radar onto the IBCS network, contributing both directly to the demonstrated “sense-assess-engage” chain and to the wider Integration Air and Missile Defense with the level of interoperability delivered by IBCS,” said Lars Tossman, vice president and head of Saab business unit Radar Solutions. IBCS creates a paradigm shift for IAMD by replacing legacy stove-piped systems with a next-generation, net-centric approach to better address the evolving complex threat. The system integrates disparate radars and weapons to construct a far more effective IAMD enterprise. IBCS delivers a single integrated air picture with unprecedented accuracy and broadens surveillance and protection areas. With its open systems architecture, IBCS allows incorporation of current and future sensors and effectors and interoperability with joint C2 and the ballistic missile defense system. IBCS is managed by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. With more than 90 armed forces customers worldwide, MBDA is a world leader in missiles and missile systems. In total, the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products already in operational service and more than 15 others currently in development. MBDA is jointly owned by Airbus (37.5%), BAE Systems (37.5%), and Leonardo (25%). Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defence and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers' changing needs. Learn more at www.saab.com. Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information. View source version on Northrop Grumman Corporation: https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/releases/northrop-grumman-mbda-and-saab-demonstrate-the-integration-of-disparate-missile-and-radar-systems-into-integrated-air-and-missile-defense-battle-manager

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