September 19, 2023 | International, Aerospace, Land
As part of the contract Elbit Systems will provide several hundred SkyStriker units.
June 1, 2021 | International, Naval
Budget justification documents released by the Navy on May 29 list the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) and the Supersonic Propulsion Enabled Advanced Ramjet (SPEAR) demonstrators as candidates for the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) Increment II program.
September 11, 2018 | International, C4ISR
by Debra Werner PARIS — Fleet operator SES plans to revolutionize satellite purchasing and operations. Instead of buying individual satellites tailored for a specific job at a precise orbital location as it has for decades, the Luxembourg-based company is seeking homogenous satellites with digitally processed payloads it can reconfigure to perform any job in geostationary or medium Earth orbit. “We will only buy one type of satellite going forward,” Steve Collar, SES president and chief executive, told reporters Sept. 10 at the World Satellite Business Week conference here. “Exactly the same spacecraft can be operated at 19.2 degrees, 23.5 degrees, 108 degrees East, it doesn't matter. We can put them wherever we want.” If the SES board of directors approves the plan, SES will solicit proposals by the end of the month and begin purchasing in early 2019 the new 2.5 to 2.9-ton spacecraft offering approximately 12.5 kilowatts of power, said Martin Halliwell, SES chief technology officer, who leads the initiative. Prior to announcing its plan, SES worked with 11 potential satellite vendors and selected three for continued cooperation. Company executives declined to name the vendors. SES is embarking on this campaign because it expects satellites to be an integral part of evolving global communications networks. To perform that role, however, the industry will need to expand satellite production dramatically, Collar said. “If we get the savings we think we will, we will be able to significantly scale our network without spending more or more modestly scale our network and spend less,” Collar said. “We haven't yet decided where that comes out.” To further improve economies of scale, SES is encouraging manufacturers to share the new spacecraft design with other customers. “Let's make the party as big as possible,” Halliwell said. Collar added, “We think it will improve the economics of the whole industry.” SES plans to stack three of its future satellites, which don't yet have a brand name, on rockets. The rockets could then drop them off in medium Earth or geostationary transfer orbit, as needed, Halliwell said. SES operates 56 satellites in geostationary orbit and 16 O3B satellites in medium Earth orbit. The firm plans to launch four more O3B satellites in 2019. SES also is investing more than 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) in O3B mPower, a seven-satellite constellation built by Boeing for internet and data connectivity that is slated to begin launching in 2021. SES's plans to fly the new reprogrammable satellites comes after mPower, Collar said. https://spacenews.com/ses-seeks-interchangeable-satellites
June 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Boeing has awarded a contract to BAE Systems to supply the vehicle management control system and identification friend or foe (IFF) system for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). With the contract, BAE Systems is the latest company to join the industry team for the US Navy's MQ-25 project. MQ-25 is the navy's first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft. The aircraft will provide refuelling capabilities to help extend the combat range of F/A-18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and F-35C fighters. BAE Systems Military Aircraft Systems director Corin Beck said: “BAE Systems leads the industry in high-integrity fly-by-wire and mission-critical IFF technologies. Our relationship with Boeing started more than four decades ago and has resulted in aircraft that have some of the most advanced avionics and reduced size transponders in the world.” The role of the vehicle management control system will be to control all flight surfaces and take care of overall vehicle management duties for the UAV. BAE Systems' IFF system will identify both coalition and enemy aircraft to enable operation in contested environments. Boeing is under an engineering and manufacturing development contract to provide four MQ-25 aircraft to the navy. Boeing MQ-25 programme director Dave Bujold said: “The MQ-25 programme is vital because it will help the US Navy extend the range of the carrier air wing, and Boeing and our industry team is all-in on delivering this capability. “The work we're doing is also foundational for the future of Boeing, where we're building autonomous systems from seabed to space.” In addition, Boeing has awarded contracts to GE Aviation and Parker Aerospace. GE Aviation will supply a stores management solution for the MQ-25 programme. Parker Aerospace is required to supply flight control tail actuation. Other companies to have received contracts for the programme include Harris, Curtiss-Wright's Defense Solutions, and Cubic Mission Solutions. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/boeing-selects-bae-systems-for-mq-25-tanker-programme/