France to double military vehicle order, asking for multiple variants

On the same subject

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  July 9, 2022 | International, Aerospace

  L'Allemagne et la Suède se joignent à la future initiative européenne pour le développement d’un avion de transport européen de nouvelle génération

  DÉFENSE L'Allemagne et la Suède se joignent à la future initiative européenne pour le développement d'un avion de transport européen de nouvelle génération L'Allemagne et la Suède ont rejoint la France pour étudier le développement futur d'un avion de transport européen de nouvelle génération qui pourrait remplacer des types tels que le Lockheed C-130 Hercules et le CASA CN235. Selon un communiqué de presse de l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace, les 3 pays ont signé un accord pour travailler sur la définition d'un futur cargo tactique de taille moyenne (FMTC), qui pourrait conduire au développement d'un nouvel avion de transport européen d'ici 2040. Le document a été signé lors d'un événement à Orléans, où l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace et l'Agence Européenne de Défense ont organisé un séminaire sur le déploiement de la boussole stratégique de l'Union européenne dans le domaine aérien. Le FMTC est l'une des nombreuses initiatives de transport aérien étudiées dans le cadre de l'initiative de coopération structurée permanente (PESCO) de l'Union européenne visant à encourager une plus grande coopération en matière de marchés publics de Défense entre les États membres. Outre les 3 nations partenaires, d'autres pays pourraient encore se joindre au projet, selon les responsables. Un tel avion pourrait incorporer de nombreux éléments de l'A400M, tels que les moteurs, afin de réduire les coûts de développement de la plateforme et de bénéficier d'une approche familiale de la conception. La capacité de la future plateforme serait de 18 à 20 tonnes de fret, contre environ 35 tonnes pour l'A400M. Les futures études de faisabilité industrielle pourraient permettre de lancer le développement d'un tel avion en 2026-2027. Aviation Week du 7 juillet

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  June 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Here’s the newest price tag for DoD’s arsenal of equipment

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Defense Department's portfolio of 121 key defense acquisition programs now has a price tag of $1.86 trillion, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. The number comes from the GAO's annual assessment of Pentagon acquisition, delivered to the public on Wednesday. The figure involves a 4 percent increase over the previous year but also factors in, for the first time, 15 major IT investments ($15.1 billion) and 13 middle-tier acquisition programs ($19.5 billion). The vast majority comes from 93 major defense acquisition programs, or MDAP, worth $1.82 trillion. Of those, 85 MDAPs worth a total of $1.8 trillion are already underway, with the rest expected to enter production in the near future. The $1.8 trillion figure marks the largest level of investment in MDAPs since 2011, and an increase of $44 billion over the department's 2018 MDAP portfolio. The current MDAP portfolio has accumulated more than $628 billion in cost growth over the life of its programs — or 54 percent more than the projected cost when programs began — with schedule growth overshooting targets by 29 percent at an average capability delivery delay of more than two years. Over the last year, 42 MDAPs reported a combined total acquisition cost increase of more than $80 billion. Nine programs that saw cost estimates increase by over 25 percent made up more than half of that total. While some of that is driven by increased procurement numbers, such as with the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile for the Air Force, those changed procurement plans are not the major driver of the cost increase. However, it's not all bad fiscal news: The remaining 43 MDAPs saw a cost decrease of more than $16 billion. And 19 programs that increased procurement managed to drive costs down through those updated plans. One worrisome trend the GAO highlighted is the lack of factoring in cybersecurity to early development of key performance parameters on MDAPs. The watchdog dug into a sample of 42 MDAPs as a test case, it and found that 25 of those programs had zero cybersecurity factored into the key performance parameters. Another 10 programs had one KPP related to cybersecurity, which is unlikely to be enough in the modern, wired world. For the middle-tier programs, which are designed for rapid prototyping and fielding, the GAO warned there is “inconsistent cost reporting and wide variation in schedule metrics” across the programs, adding that this poses “oversight challenges for Office of the Secretary of Defense and military department leaders trying to assess performance.” However, the watchdog agency also said the Department of Defense is in the process of addressing those issues. One notable program challenge identified in the report: The Navy's presidential helicopter replacement program, known as the VH-92A, has yet to “demonstrate that it can meet the requirement to land on the White House South Lawn without causing damage.” Parts of the helicopter are too hot, which will damage the lawn under “certain conditions.” As a result, the program is studying everything from lawn surface treatments to changes in aircraft design. “Due to concurrency in the program, which entered production while simultaneously addressing problems identified during the operational assessment, a design change to address this or other deficiencies discovered in the future may require modifications to units already in production,” the GAO found. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/06/03/heres-the-newest-price-tag-for-dods-arsenal-of-equipment/

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  July 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  F-35 simulators can now team up with other fighter sims for virtual combat

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — U.S. Air Force F-35 pilots at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, will now be able to step into a simulator and train alongside virtual F-16s, F-15s and other aircraft, a Lockheed Martin executive said Wednesday. Air Combat Command formally accepted Lockheed's Distributed Mission Training system on June 22 after a final test on June 18. During that test, four F-35 simulators at Nellis carried out a virtual mission with pilots in F-22, F-16 and E-3 AWACs simulators at other bases, said Chauncey McIntosh, Lockheed's vice president for F-35 training and logistics. “We did originally intend to deliver this in the April time frame, but Nellis Air Force Base did shut down some operations due to the COVID crisis,” he told reporters in a July 1 briefing. “We worked very hard with both the [F-35 Joint Program Office] and the United States Air Force to ensure as soon as the facilities were re-stood up and open, that we were there to deliver this capability.” Although F-35 pilots in a simulator could previously train with up to three other F-35 sims at the same site, the DTS system allows for those pilots to fly digitally with a large number of varying types of aircraft, as long as the simulators can operate on the same network. Lockheed previously connected F-35 simulators to other aircraft sims in its test lab, but the June 18 test was the first time F-35 simulators linked to a mass of other simulators for a virtual mission in a highly contested environment, Lockheed said in a news release. F-15s will also be able to connect into the DMT system. The next step, McIntosh said, will be installing the DMT capability at Naval Air Station Lemoore this fall and to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in spring 2021. Both bases are in California. However, some limitations will still exist, even as new DMT locations are spun up. The capability is “very scalable to other platforms,” McIntosh said, but currently only F-35, F-22, F-16, F-15 and E-3 simulators are supported by DMT. McIntosh also previously told Defense News that the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps as well as the United Kingdom, which also plans to acquire the DMT system, won't be able to train together because they use different networks. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/07/01/f-35-simulators-can-now-team-up-with-other-fighter-sims-for-virtual-combat