Fincantieri, Leonardo team up on underwater drone effort

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  October 26, 2017 | International, Aerospace, Security

  ICAO traveller identification event highlights key aviation role in combatting terrorism and cross-border crime

  ​ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu delivered the opening address to the ICAO's 13th Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Strategy Symposium, taking place at the UN agency's Montréal headquarters. The world's foremost travel document and identity management event, this latest edition of the TRIP Symposium is seen as an important step in maintaining the global momentum on anti-terrorism priorities recently achieved through the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Montréal, 26 October 2017 – The fight against international terrorist and criminal movements took another step forward this week, as experts and senior officials gathered for ICAO's 13th Traveller Identification Programme (TRIP) Strategy Symposium. “The ICAO TRIP strategy reinforces the global line of defence against international terrorist movements, cross border crime, and the many other threats to the safety and security of civil society and international aviation,” stressed ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu in her opening address to the event. “The main part of our work in this area is conducted under Annex 9 to the Chicago Convention, on Facilitation. Facilitation activities are strongly supportive of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the ICAO TRIP Strategy also significantly contributes to UN Security Council Resolutions 2178 and 2309.” The world's foremost travel document and identity management event, this latest edition of the TRIP Symposium is seen as an important step in maintaining the global momentum on anti-terrorism priorities recently achieved through the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Dr. Liu presented an aviation security brief to the UN Security Council this September, having also been invited to its Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) meeting in July of 2017. Along with enhanced screening and security checks, the CTC has highlighted the important role of airlines in tracking the global movement of higher risk passengers. “Specifically, the CTC recognized the importance of national authorities sharing advanced passenger information (API),” Dr. Liu noted. “And while many States have not yet introduced related API programmes, I would like to remind them all that API sharing became mandatory under ICAO Annex 9 as of 23 October this year.” 2017 TRIP Symposium sessions provided participants with new insights into latest screening and risk-based security measures, while stressing the importance of partnerships and capacity-building as States work to shore up their respective lines of defence. “States' implementation of the TRIP strategy requires coordinated action between many government and industry entities,” Dr. Liu commented, “but we are also aware that TRIP implementation capacities vary from government to government. ICAO and States are addressing this gap by fostering cooperation among both States and industry, intensifying coordination at regional and local levels, and by mobilizing donor contributions.” The extended TRIP planning and implementation guidance needed by States was further addressed at the event through the launch of ICAO's TRIP Compendium. The new and comprehensive reference document showcases related initiatives by partners such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), while further collating a range of additional ICAO guidance material. The 2017 TRIP Symposium coincided with two important ICAO workshops on its Public Key Directory (PKD) and new approaches to API, side-events conducted in partnership with the United Nations' Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (UNCTED) and other international organizations. Panama has recently become the 59th State to take advantage of the PKD's encrypted validation, which maximizes the benefits of ePassport security, but Dr. Liu stressed that ICAO expects to see greater buy-in the months ahead. “Although more than 80 per cent of the ePassports in global circulation are issued by States already participating in the PKD, many are still not taking advantage of it to authenticate the chip-based data,” she reiterated. The 2017 TRIP Symposium was centred around the theme of “Making Air Travel more Secure and Efficient”, reflecting the fact that well-designed security technologies also support the improvement of the passenger experience and the efficiency of facilitation processes more generally. “It is only by ensuring both of these priorities in a balanced way that our proposed solutions will be truly sustainable,” Dr. Liu concluded. While benefitting from the event and its workshops, 2017 TRIP Symposium participants also enjoyed a wide-ranging exhibition showcasing the latest industry technology and process innovations. The event gathered close to 600 officials from 82 States and 14 international organizations and will conclude at ICAO today. https://www.icao.int/Newsroom/Pages/ICAO-traveller-identification-event-highlights-key-aviation-role-in-combatting-terrorism-and-cross-border-crime.aspx

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  February 25, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed unveils new F-21 fighter jet configured for India

  Sanjeev Miglani NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin offered India on Wednesday a new combat jet to be made locally, the F-21, in an attempt to win a large military order worth more than $15 billion. The U.S. defense firm had previously offered its F-16 fighter used by countries around the world for the Indian air force's ongoing competition for 114 planes to be made in India. But Lockheed, unveiling the plan at an air show in the southern city of Bengaluru, said it was offering India a new plane configured for its needs. It would carry technologies from its fifth generation planes, the F-22 and the F-35, the firm said. “The F-21 is different, inside and out,” Vivek Lall, vice president of Strategy and Business Development for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said in a statement. The company will build the plane in collaboration with India's Tata Advanced Systems, the firm said. Lockheed is competing with Boeing's F/A-18, Saab's Gripen, Dassault Aviation's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and a Russian aircraft for the air force order. The deal to replace the Indian Air Force's ageing fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets is one of the biggest contracts for such planes in play. India has a lengthy procurement process, and no decision is expected until well after a national election due by May. Lockheed has offered to move its F-16 production plant at Fort Worth, Texas, to India, if it wins the order in a boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make-in-India plan to build a domestic military industrial base and create jobs. It said it expected to export planes from the proposed plant in India on top of the Indian requirements for an overseas market that it estimated at $20 billion. But the Indian military has had concerns over the F-16 as an old plane and in an earlier competition it lost out to the eventual winner, the Rafale built by Dassault. But Lockheed said the F-21 could be India's pathway to the stealth F-35 fighter, which has entered U.S. service in one of the world's most expensive defense programs. “The F-21 has common components and learning from Lockheed Martin's 5th Generation F-22 and F-35 and will share a common supply chain on a variety of components,” the company said. It said production in India would create thousands of jobs for Indian industry as well as support hundreds of U.S.-based Lockheed Martin engineering, program management and customer support positions. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airshow-india-lockheed/lockheed-unveils-new-f-21-fighter-jet-configured-for-india-idUSKCN1Q90ED

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  October 3, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Australia releases RFI for at least 16 special operations helicopters

  By: Nigel Pittaway MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia's Defence Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group issued a request for information for at least 16 special operations support helicopters. The helicopters will be acquired under Project Land 2097 Phase 4, which has not been formally approved by the Australian government but has been identified as a priority for future defense spending in the 2016 Defence White Paper. The proposed timeline calls for a request for tender in the fourth quarter of 2019, with the major delivery of equipment to follow in 2022. “The project is currently in the exploratory phase, collecting information and proposals to inform concepts for capability realisation,” according to the RFI's cover letter, authored by CASG's acting first assistant secretary of the helicopter division, Brigadier Jeremy King, and the head of land capability at Army Headquarters, Maj. Gen. Kath Toohey. “The project is considering a wide range of procurement options based around a light helicopter as the major system. The acquisition strategy is developmental and is subject to Government approval,” the letter read. According to the RFI, the requirement is for a proven commercial or military off-the-shelf light helicopter, which is already in service with other operators. Other requirements include optimization for use in dense urban environments, capable of rapid deployment by the Royal Australian Air Force's C-17A airlifters, and the ability to be fitted with simple and proven intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment and weapons. The helicopters are intended for use by the Australian Army's 6th Aviation Regiment, based at Holsworthy, south of Sydney, and will complement a squadron of larger NHI MRH-90 Taipan helicopters. The Taipans are replacing the 6th Aviation Regiment's existing Sikorsky S-70A-9 Black Hawk, beginning in January 2019. The RFI does not specify a desired size for the new helicopter, but four are required to be deployed aboard one C-17A. In an earlier update to the Army's major battlefield aviation programs, CASG's first assistant secretary of the helicopter systems division, Shane Fairweather, and Toohey discussed a helicopter in the four-ton class. The primary role of the new helicopter will be to provide an air assault capability by small teams of special forces, with secondary roles including ISR (using electro-optical sensors), fire support and general utility. The RFI calls for a helicopter that can be rapidly reconfigured between these roles. The main base for operations will be at Holsworthy, but the Australian Army is considering the establishment of a permanent detachment of helicopters — referred to in the RFI as the “independent detachment” — in a yet-to-be-decided location. Australia's Special Operations Command has two commando regiments based at Holsworthy and the Special Air Service Regiment based in Western Australia. The RFI calls for four helicopters to be maintained online at Holsworthy, in addition to the independent detachment (four aircraft) and two deployable elements, each of four helicopters. The number of helicopters to be acquired is not specified in the document, but respondents are asked to provide an assessment of how many will be needed to support 16 aircraft online at any given time. The forthcoming RFI was a major focus at the 2018 Land Forces exhibition, held in Adelaide in early September, with several major helicopter manufacturers declaring their intention to respond. Then-head of Airbus Group Australia Pacific Tony Fraser said the European manufacturer intends to offer its 3- to 7-ton H145M helicopter. “We will compete the H145M and we expect it to be a very strong competitor,” he said. Also speaking at Land Forces, Bell's business development director for Australia, Dan McQuestin, revealed that the company intends to bid the 2.5-ton Bell 407GT, an armed version of the popular 407GX civil helicopter. “It's COTS, it's already deployed in the field in the Middle East and maintained through a commercial supply chain,” he said. Boeing Defence & Security's vice president of global sales and marketing for Australia said he was keen to see what the Commonwealth's requirements would be, but the U.S. manufacturer saw its 1.6-ton AH-6i Little Bird as a candidate. “Based on our conversations, we think the AH-6i is a viable alternative for Land 2097 Phase 4,” he said. “We'll see what is in the RFI, but we certainly expect to bid.” Leonardo's helicopter division announced during the show that it will propose the AW109 Trekker helicopter. Other potential contenders include MD Helicopters with its MD530G helicopter, and Northstar Aviation with the 407MRH Lightning, a multirole helo based on the Bell 407. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2018/10/02/australia-releases-rfi-for-at-least-16-special-operations-helicopters