Fincantieri in talks about buying Leonardo's naval gun business

On the same subject

• 

  November 27, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval

  GE awarded $1.3M for T700 helicopter engines to Army, Navy, Air Force

  ByChristen McCurdy Nov. 26 (UPI) -- General Electric was awarded a $1.3 million contract modification to deliver T700 helicopter engines for the Army, Navy, Air Force and other agencies. The contract, announced by the Department of Defense on Tuesday, funds delivery of engines for the Army's H-60 utility helicopter, used for air assault, aeromedical evacuation and special operations support, as well as the AH-64 attack helicopter used by the Army for destroying armor, personnel and materiel targets in obscured battlefield conditions. The GE T700 is a turboshaft engine that powers several families of aircraft, including the Blackhawk and Seahawk helicopters. Under the contract, GE will also deliver engines for the H-60 helicopter used by the Navy for anti-submarine warfare, search and rescue and drug shipment interception. The Department of Defense also said in the announcement that the contract will funds delivery of engines for additional unspecified programs of the Air Force, Foreign Military Sales and other government agencies. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order and work is expected to be finished in December 2024. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/11/26/GE-awarded-13M-for-T700-helicopter-engines-to-Army-Navy-Air-Force

• 

  October 5, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

  Israeli defense giant picks five startups to develop future tech

  Seth J. Frantzman JERUSALEM — Israel Aerospace Industries has chosen five startups to work with its engineers and experts to create products with the company, including sensors and artificial intelligence. The five startups are QuantLR, Aigent-Tech, DST, Scopoli, and FVMat. Their work will focus on sensors for tracking people and objects, AI, monitoring systems, and landing gear, among other technologies. IAI produces and supports a variety of defense systems for land, air and naval applications, such as a recent test of the Arrow 2 air defense weapon and a new sea-to-sea missile. “IAI's unique accelerator track allows the startups to work with IAI's technology leaders, realize long-term business potential, leverage breakthrough technologies, and gain access to IAI's customers,” the company said in a statement Oct. 1. Among the companies selected, FVMat focuses on meta-materials, such as the production and design of materials with unique densities and stiffness. The firm will work with IAI on landing gear applications. Aigent-Tech previously developed on-demand ridesharing solutions, and works on navigation and routing technology to improve transit efficiency. QuantLR's website says it works on quantum encryption technologies. DST will work with IAI's Aviation Group on real-time monitoring, while Scopoli will work with the System Missiles and Space Group on solutions for tracking people and objects. IAI said it conducted more than $900 million in research and development activity last year, of which $191 million was used for its own innovation groups. A company spokesperson called research and development the company's “DNA.” Toward that end, it has invested millions of dollars in various collaborations with startups. In February IAI promoted collaboration in intelligence and remote sensing with MassChallenge. Its Elta subsidiary said it would offer participating startups “to hold their proof of concept on ELTA's operational intelligence and radar systems, and will facilitate their access to global customers and markets.” That program targeted startups developing high-frequency sensors, quantum computing, photonics, acoustics, ultrasonic, and other disruptive sensory or data-fusion technology. IAI's new Innovation Center and the selection of five startups are part of the firm's concentration on working with a large number of local startups. The center opened with the help of Starburst Aerospace, which specializes in pre-seed technological challenges, IAI said. The effort is expected to support work on machine learning, quantum computing, radars, sensors, robotics, big data, computer vision, smart cockpits, propulsion, drones, cyber technology and 3D printing. “IAI invests hundreds of millions of dollars every year in in-house R&D of innovative technologies. The Innovation Center is unique in its startup model, which exists inside a stable, well-established company, providing IAI's engineers with a path for testing their ideas and developing proof of concept within weeks,” said Amira Sharon, executive vice president of strategy and R&D. After a public call in August for participants in the center, 90 startups applied. Of those, five have been chosen. “It is a win-win: They get access to what we do operationally, and we become familiar with their technology, and the objective of the accelerator is to bring, in 13 weeks, viable and concrete products,” an IAI spokesperson said. After the 13 weeks, the intention is to continue development and enhance the capabilities. One concept under development is to detect people and objects in complex terrain. But the business development model will vary with each startup, according to IAI. IAI company did not specify how much money would be invested in the projects with which the startups are involved, but IAI's Innovation Center has received several million dollars. IAI at present is not investing in the startups themselves, but rather is teaming with them. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/10/02/israeli-defense-giant-picks-five-startups-to-develop-future-tech/

• 

  May 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Here’s what the Space Development Agency wants from its first 10 satellites

  Nathan Strout The Space Development Agency is seeking proposals for its first batch of satellites, which will make up its initial transport layer — an on-orbit mesh network that will connect space-based sensors with terrestrial shooters. According to the May 1 solicitation, SDA is looking to award two contracts to build a total of 20 small satellites, which will comprise Tranche 0 of the National Security Space Architecture, a proliferated, low-Earth orbit constellation that will fulfill a multitude of military needs, including tracking hypersonic weapons; providing alternative position, navigation and timing data; delivering beyond-line-of-sight targeting; and more. Ultimately, the agency envisions a constellation made up of hundreds of interconnected satellites. Ten of those Tranche 0 satellites will form the agency's initial transport layer. The spiral development approach The agency is taking a spiral development approach to its National Security Space Architecture. Tranche 0 will be a testing and training segment that will demonstrate the integration of the architecture with other war-fighting efforts and inform future SDA developments. Tranche 0 is anticipated to be on orbit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022, with the SDA adding new tranches of satellites every two years, increasing the constellation's size and capabilities. Launch services will be acquired through the Orbital Services Program 4 contract or follow-on contracts. The philosophy behind the spiral approach is that the two-year cycles allow the agency to rapidly put new capabilities on orbit in response to evolving threats. Instead of waiting years for the perfect satellite system, the agency wants to push technologies that are currently ready into orbit as soon as possible, giving war fighters increased capabilities in the near term. With Tranche 0, the SDA wants to achieve periodic, regional, low-latency data connectivity. With Tranche 1, which will add 150 satellites to the constellation, the agency plans to provide persistent regional connectivity. Building a mesh network The National Security Space Architecture will be made up of several layers serving different functions. Tranche 0 will establish the transport layer, a space-based mesh network that will be able to pass data from one satellite to the next. The mesh network will operate as part of the Integrated Broadcast System, the Defense Department's standard network for transmitting tactical and strategic intelligence and targeting data. The key technology that will enable the transport layer are optical inter-satellite cross links, providing approximately 1 Gbps connections between the satellites. Each Transport Layer satellite will have four such cross links — forward, behind, right and left — which will allow them to pass data on to the nearest or next-nearest transport layer satellite operating in the same orbital plane. The satellites will also be capable of cross-plane cross links, meaning they will be able to connect to non-transport layer satellites operating above or below them. Assuming that they also have optical inter-satellite cross links, these non-transport layer satellites would then be able to pass data through the transport layer's mesh network to another satellite or even to a terrestrial shooter. For example, it could work like this: A space-based sensor collects imagery that it wants to pass to a ground-based system, but it is not within range of any ground station. No problem. The sensor would pass on that imagery to a transport layer satellite via an cross-plane optical cross link. The data would then bounce from transport layer satellite to transport layer satellite until it arrives above its destination, where it would then be downlinked to an optical ground terminal or distributed to the appropriate weapons system via the Link 16 tactical data network. In theory, this would allow shooters to receive space-based sensor data in near-real time. Since the SDA plans to continue building on the transport layer in subsequent tranches across multiple vendors, the optical inter-satellite cross links will need to be designed with interoperability in mind. The SDA also wants radio frequency cross links as a backup to the optical cross links. Tranche 0 will include 10 transport layer satellites — three of which will include Link 16 payloads. During an April industry day, SDA Director Derek Tournear said this initial, space-based mesh network will form the space network component to the Defense Department's Joint All-Domain Command and Control enterprise, or JADC2. “The transport layer, which is what the draft [request for proposals] and the industry day was talking about today, is going to be the unifying effort across the department. That is going to be what we use for low-latency [communications] to be able to pull these networks together, and that, in essence, is going to be the main unifying truss for the JADC2 and that effort moving forward. That is going to be the space network that is utilized for that,” Tournear explained. The agency has six goals for its Tranche 0 transport layer: Demonstrate low-latency data transport to the war fighter over the optical cross link mesh network. Demonstrate the ability to deliver data from an external, space-based sensor to the war fighter via the transport layer. Demonstrate a limited battle management C3 functionality. Transfer Integrated Broadcast System data across the mesh network to the war fighter. Store, relay and transmit Link 16 data over the network in near real time. Operate a common timing reference independent of GPS. According to the request for proposals, the SDA plans to award a contract Aug 10, with delivery expected by July 31, 2022. Responses to the solicitation are due June 1. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/05/05/heres-what-the-space-development-agency-wants-from-its-first-10-satellites/