January 27, 2021 | International, Aerospace
DEFENSE
Entretien avec Eric Trappier, Président du GIFAS et PDG de Dassault Aviation
Eric Trappier, Président du GIFAS et PDG de Dassault Aviation, était invité sur Europe 1 mardi 26 janvier. Le dirigeant a souligné que la signature du contrat de vente de 18 avions de combat Rafale à la Grèce, qui s'inscrit dans la continuité d'un partenariat historique, représente également « un tournant », puisqu'il s'agit du premier contrat Rafale signé en Europe. Ce contrat met en évidence l'interopérabilité de l'avion de combat avec les alliés de la France. La construction de 18 avions Rafale (6 appareils destinés à la Grèce et 12 destinés à l'armée de l'Air française dans le cadre d'une commande à venir du gouvernement français afin de remplacer les appareils prélevés en faveur de la Grèce), garantit « un an et demi » de travail dans les usines de Dassault Aviation, et sollicitera « 7 000 personnes » dans ces usines, situées en France. M. Trappier est par ailleurs revenu sur l'importance d'un soutien sur le long terme des compétences et des technologies pour l'ensemble de la filière aéronautique et spatiale, et sur les enjeux de souveraineté qui y sont liés, rappelant le rôle du GIFAS à cet égard. Il a évoqué également le fonds français mis en place dans le cadre du plan de Relance, qui doit contribuer à garantir la sauvegarde de la supply chain et des pépites françaises. Le dirigeant a enfin souligné le caractère crucial de la prise en compte stratégique des enjeux liés à l'espace, pour la défense française et européenne.
Europe1 Matin du 27 janvier
November 4, 2021 | International, Aerospace
The Spanish air force's top military official wants his country to invest more in its military apparatus, to be able to defend itself at home and contribute to its international partnerships.
December 20, 2019 | International, Land
Sterling Heights, Mich. December 18, 2019 - The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $249 million contract modification to complete an additional 60 M109A7 self-propelled howitzers that will bring improved artillery capabilities to the Army's Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191218005087/en/“ We are excited about the opportunity to continue bringing new howitzers and increased survivability to our soldiers,” said Jeremy Tondreault, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Combat Vehicles. “The M109A7 positions the Army to execute its current mission with confidence and support its future needs and requirements as long range precision fires evolve.” The award exercises options on an existing low-rate production contract and includes the completion of an additional 60 M992A3 Carrier, Ammunition, Tracked (CAT) vehicles to accompany the M109A7. The M109A7 and the CAT vehicle sets provide increased commonality across the ABCTs, and have significant built-in growth potential in terms of electrical power and weight carrying capacity. The vehicle design includes a new chassis, engine, transmission, suspension, steering system, a new high voltage architecture and improved survivability, while the vehicle's cannon remains the same as that of an M109A6 Paladin. The M109A7 is supported by the Army as a vital technology enhancement program to maintain the combat capability of its ABCTs. It will solve long-term readiness and modernization needs of the M109 family of vehicles through a critical redesign and production plan that leverages the most advanced technology available today. This state-of-the-art “digital backbone” and power generation capability provides a more robust, survivable, and responsive indirect fire support capability for ABCT Soldiers. The M109A7 is a significant upgrade over the M109A6 as it restores space, weight, and power cooling, while providing significant growth potential for emerging technologies. The initial contract was awarded in 2017. This most recent order brings the total number of vehicle sets — M109A7 howitzers and M992A3 ammunition carriers — to 156, and the total contract value to $1.16 billion. Work on the M109A7 will take place at several facilities within the Company's combat vehicles manufacturing network including: Aiken, South Carolina; Elgin, Oklahoma; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and, York, Pennsylvania. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191218005087/en/
April 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Last week's deal between Boeing and the U.S. Air Force on a fix for the KC-46 could pave the way for the tanker to refuel other aircraft without a person needed to manually control the process, a top service official said Thursday. On April 2, Boeing agreed to fix the KC-46's troubled Remote Vision System by creating an overhauled RVS 2.0 with new hardware and software. Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper told reporters those changes would include the addition of 4K high-definition cameras that will display imagery in color as well as modern processors and LiDAR (light detecting and ranging) sensors that will help improve depth perception. “A proper RVS like that is right on the doorstep to autonomy,” Roper said. “All you have to do is take that data that tells the world inside the jet the reality of geometries between the airplane and the boom outside the jet. Once you have that, you simply need to translate it into algorithms that allow the tanker to tank itself.” The KC-46's Remote Vision System has been a thorn in the side of the aircraft program since 2017, when issues with the system were first discovered. The RVS is basically a suite of cameras, sensors and software that is supposed to allow boom operators sitting inside the aircraft to safety steer the boom into the aircraft needing fuel. But in certain conditions, the system produces distorted imagery that increases the risk of the boom hitting another aircraft. The new LIDAR system will be key to fixing that problem, said Roper, who likened it to a backup camera on a car that also provides cues to a driver for parallel parking or assessing whether a vehicle is aligned flush to a curb. “We'll have something very similar to that for the boom operators, so telling them are they left, right and how close are they getting to the airplane,” he said. “[It's] something very intuitive and easy to work with, and I think that will help significantly with them understanding their distance [from the other aircraft] because LIDAR is extremely accurate.” Because Boeing is locked into a firm fixed-price contract for the development of the KC-46, it will have to pay for the upgrade to RVS 2.0 out of its own pocket, as the Air Force maintains that the current system does not meet requirements. But the service is so confident in the prospect of using the RVS 2.0 as a stepping stone to an autonomous tanker that it included an option in last week's agreement to fund the development of technologies that enable autonomous or semiautonomous refueling. “We have added an engineering change proposal into the deal with a not-to-exceed threshold of $55 million, so that when RVS 2.0 is done, we can then take the next step beyond 2.0 to develop those autonomy algorithms and install them if we think we can certify them for safe use,” Roper said. “We took that step because, one, we're excited about being on the doorsteps of autonomy and, [two], we wanted to send a clear signal in the deal that this is our tanker for the future,” he said. If the Air Force decides to move forward with those design changes, more will need to be done to hammer out the contractual details, said Jamie Burgess, Boeing's KC-46 program manager. “There was no commitment one way or another on who pays for what. But there's definitely a strong partnership between Boeing and the Air Force as far as developing this technology,” he said. Autonomous refueling capability has been of increasing interest to the Air Force over the past few years, as sensing and artificial intelligence technologies grow by leaps and bounds. Boeing previously signaled it could include such technology as part of a menu of potential upgrade options for the KC-46, as reported by FlightGlobal in 2018. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/08/boeings-kc-46-tanker-now-has-a-pathway-for-autonomous-aerial-refueling