Elbit America awarded surveillance tower contract through U.S. Customs and Border Protection

On the same subject

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  August 9, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Studies Seek to Industrialize Additive Manufacturing for Aerospace

  Lindsay Bjerregaard Oerlikon is partnering with Boeing and Lufthansa Technik to research standardization and qualification of additive manufacturing processes. Oerlikon is pairing up with major aerospace players to make additive manufacturing (AM) a more feasible option for industrialization. The Swiss technology and engineering group has signed agreements this year with Lufthansa Technik (LHT) and Boeing to collaborate on research into ways AM for aerospace can be more easily standardized and qualified. The most recent of these agreements is the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LHT, which aims to establish “robust and repeatable processes for AM in the aircraft MRO industry.” According to a spokesperson for Oerlikon, the collaboration's research seeks to understand what process variability exists when the same component geometries are built on the same machine using the same powder batch, heat treatment, testing conditions and build parameters in different global locations. Oerlikon and LHT will print these components using an Oerlikon-produced IN718 powder alloy on identical printers at LHT Hamburg and Oerlikon's locations in Charlotte, North Carolina and Barleben, Germany. Once the variables are identified, the study's objective is to understand how they can be controlled to achieve repeatable processes—which will ensure that all parts meet quality requirements and reduce the cost of recurring quality validation, according to Oerlikon. The company says this repeatability could also provide potential savings in procurement, warehousing and supply chain management. For now, the partnership is set for a one-year period, but the companies say the scope and timeframe is likely to increase. Meeting the challenges of qualifying AM materials and processes for aerospace is also at the heart of Oerlikon's collaboration agreement with Boeing. The five-year agreement, which was signed in February, seeks to develop standard materials and processes for metal-based AM. The collaboration's research will initially focus on industrializing titanium powder bed fusion AM. The companies say that in addition to meeting qualification challenges, it will enable them to “provide a route for the adoption of AM with a qualified supply chain that achieves quality and cost targets.” Full Article: https://www.mro-network.com/emerging-technology/studies-seek-industrialize-additive-manufacturing-aerospace

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  November 23, 2024 | International, Aerospace

  Embraer Defense and Security chooses Fokker Services Group for C-390M aircraft modification package

  These modifications will prepare the aircraft for use as tactical transport for Special Operations of NATO, fulfilling a broad range of military and humanitarian missions.

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  October 1, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed, Pentagon agree on $70.6M settlement over F-35 parts problems

  Ed Adamczyk Sept. 30 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin will invest nearly $71 million to correct an ongoing problem with spare parts for the F-35 fighter plane, an agreement the Pentagon states. The agreement, announced on Tuesday, will be formalized within two weeks, a Defense Contract Management Agency spokesman said. The deal refers to over 15,000 F-35 spare parts delivered to the U.S. military without "electric equipment logs," which permit the parts to the identified and absorbed into logistics systems. Incorrect or unavailable information delays the uploading of data, and the dispute centered on at least $183 million in Defense Department expenses owing to the problem. The parts in question were rejected for installation only because of the lack of tracking data -- no flaws in safety or manufacturing were inferred, officials said. The action was initiated after the Pentagon's inspector general discovered the problem in a 2019 audit, and recommended that the Defense Department should seek $303 million in refunds. Instead of a direct payment from Lockheed, the defense contractor will "compensate the government with Lockheed Martin investments" to ensure that future spare parts are delivered with accurate EELs, company spokesman Brett Ashworth said. RELATED Lockheed, Boeing and Saab bid on Canada's fighter jet contract The House Oversight and Reform Committee was critical of Lockheed during a July hearing, but on Wednesday, committee members Rep. Carolyn Mahoney, D-N.Y., and Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., applauded the resolution of the dispute. "We applaud the Department of Defense for its efforts to hold Lockheed Martin accountable for failing to meet its F-35contract requirements," Mahoney and Lynch said in a joint statement. "While we believe Lockheed should have reimbursed American taxpayers for a greater share of the funds DOD spent to address the inefficiencies uncovered by our committee's investigation, this is a step in the right direction. We look forward to seeing the final signed agreement that codifies Lockheed Martin's commitment to improving the F-35 program," they said in the joint statement. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/09/30/Lockheed-Pentagon-agree-on-706M-settlement-over-F-35-parts-problems/5021601494979/