GE Gets Contract for First Batch of F-15EX Engines

On the same subject

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  December 2, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval

  E-2D Hawkeye : venir moderniser les moyens de la Marine Nationale

  La DGA a annoncé une commande de trois avions de guet aérien embarqué E-2D Hawkeye à destination de la Marine Nationale. Ils viendront embarquer sur le PANG. Foreign Military Sale. Le Ministère des Armées a rapporté le 20 novembre que la Marine serait prochainement dotée d'avions de guet aérien embarqué E-2D Hawkeye, en remplacement des E-2C actuellement en service. Ce contrat, qui prend la forme d'une FMS, a été formalisé le 4 novembre entre les armées françaises et le gouvernement américain. Prévu depuis plusieurs années, cette commande était inscrite au sein de la LPM 2019-2025 et fait suite à une longue réflexion menée par la Marine nationale, accompagnée par la DGA. Les premières livraisons sont attendues dès 2028. Le retrait du service des E-2C sera corrélé à l'arrivée des E-2D. Moderniser la flotte. Les E-2D Hawkeye, de Northrop Grumman, viendront moderniser la flotte d'aéronefs de la Marine nationale et permettront de remplacer les E-2C Kawkeye, actuellement en service. De par les développements technologiques apportés par ce nouvel appareil, le MinArm parle de « saut de génération ». « Son radar à antenne active, son cockpit et ses liaisons de données sont notamment améliorées et il peut également être ravitaillé en vol », souligne ainsi le Ministère des Armées. Les E-2D seront dotés du radar AN/APY-9 à antenne électronique active, une technologie permettant d'accroître les capacités de détection de l'appareil. Par ailleurs, afin de procéder à une évaluation de la situation maritime, les E-2D emporteront un calculateur, directement développé en France par le SIAé. Enfin, la Marine nationale nous précise que « le système de communication est entièrement modernisé, ainsi que le système de pilotage avec glass-cockpit ». Porte-avions. Tout comme les E-2C qu'ils viendront remplacer, les E-2D Hawkeye seront opérés par la flottille 4F, depuis la base aéronautique navale de Lann-Bihoué. Et tout comme leurs prédécesseurs ils pourront être embarqués sur le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle ainsi que sur le PANG (porte-avions de nouvelle génération). Les travaux d'intégration ont débuté dans ce sens. « Leurs caractéristiques sont d'ores et déjà prises en compte dans la conception du futur porte-avions français. Ils seront donc nativement compatibles », nous explique la Marine, interrogée à ce sujet. MCO. Outre l'acquisition des trois E-2D Hawkeye, la FMS passée avec le gouvernement américain et Northrop Grumman comprend un volet soutien. L'industriel américain sera ainsi en charge de la maintenance des appareils sur les deux premières années. Par la suite, la DMAé prendra le relai et notifiera un nouveau contrat de soutien. Le SIAé s'occupera alors de la cellule et des équipements depuis Cuers et des moteurs depuis Bordeaux. Le montant total du contrat s'élève à 1,850 Md€. Il inclut ainsi « l'acquisition des trois E-2D Francisés, un système d'entraînement et un système de soutien, ainsi que le soutien sur deux années », nous détaille la Marine. https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/e-2d-hawkeye-venir-moderniser-les-moyens-de-la-marine-nationale-23924

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  April 23, 2020 | International, Naval

  Navy Rushes To Get F-35s on USS JFK; Other Ford Carriers Wait Their Turn

  The service's aircraft carrier boss says the COVID economic slowdown hasn't effected building new carriers -- yet. By PAUL MCLEARY WASHINGTON: The Navy's rushed effort to retrofit its newest aircraft carrier to operate the F-35 will create a testbed for the service's other Ford carriers — which have not been built to fly the fifth generation aircraft — as the Navy juggles work on the remaining three big decks. The $11 billion USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) was designed and christened without the capability to fly the 5th generation fighter because of cost caps and the aircraft's infamously delayed development. Those schedule slippages forced the Navy to design and build the ships while the messy F-35 was still undergoing development. In the 2020 NDAA Congress indicated it had had it's fill of delays to the carrier and ordered the Navy to get to work refitting the Kennedy before it sets sail in 2024, forcing the Navy to improvise and refit the just-christened ship. Speaking with reporters today, Rear Adm. James Downey, head of the Navy's carrier programs, said those changes are forcing him to hold off on some early work on the forthcoming USS Enterprise (CVN 80), the third Ford-class carrier, and the USS Doris Miller (CVN 81) to ensure the Kennedy retrofits are done correctly before incorporating them on the other ships which have just started their build cycles. Downey said he's working to accelerate the integration of the F-35 on the JFK and prove out the upgrades in operational testing before doing similar work on the next Ford carrier to be built, the USS Enterprise. That way, all of the bugs will be ironed out on the JFK. The original plan to incorporate the F-35 on the four Ford-class ships was to phase the capability in after the ships were declared operational, and then to refit them as they came into port for overhaul. But Congress, frustrated that the nation's newest class of carrier couldn't operate the nation's newest fighter plane, told the Navy to speed things up. The namesake of the class, the $13.2 billion USS Gerald R. Ford, is currently acting as a training asset off the East Coast, where air wings get carrier certified as the ship continues to iron out remaining issues with its weapons elevators. Simply put, the Ford won't fly the F-35 for years to come. Those electromagnetic elevators have been one of the biggest issues plaguing the ship over the past two years, as the Navy installed them without first testing the new technology ashore, resulting in a ship that had no functioning weapons elevators. And what use is a warship without weapons? It's been slow progress to get them up and running, but the Navy recently certified that just the fifth of eleven elevators is now up and running. The working lifts have logged more than 8,000 cycles over the past several months of operational testing as the Ford acts as the Navy's East Coast training platform to certify pilots. The Ford has been operating one month at sea and one pierside for the last several months, and has launched 2,300 aircraft in that time. Downey said the Ford is keeping to its schedule, and that impending supply-chain issues the services are dealing with as the COVID-19 crisis shutters the global economy shouldn't have any near-term impact on the program overall. “We don't have any real significant concerns right now; we know where the suppliers are,” he said. “Prior to this, we had increased some of our procurements for spares and various materials so we had a pretty steady demand signal.” While the Ford class ships wait for the F-35 upgrades, the 36-year old USS Carl Vinson is undergoing a $34 million refit in Bremerton, Wash. so it can begin flying F-35s by 2021, making the veteran ship the first carrier in the Navy to fly the 5th generation aircraft even before the JFK. While both Nimitz and Ford-class aircraft carriers can operate with F-35Cs aboard, significant modifications are required for both classes to fly and sustain the aircraft for extended periods. Also, the ships will need the capability to push and fuse all the data the F-35s can generate, along with building additional classified spaces, new jet blast deflectors and other refits. Room also needs to be made for Osprey tiltrotor aircraft, which will replace the Navy's C-2A Greyhound fleet that are unable to haul the F-35's heavy engines out to the ship. The USS Enterprise is slated to deploy in 2028 and the USS Doris Miller will be ready to sail in 2032. In January, the Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding a $24 billion contract for the two ships, compared to a predicted cost of $28 billion if the sea service had purchased them separately. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/navy-rushes-to-get-f-35s-on-uss-jfk-other-ford-carriers-will-wait

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  October 11, 2019 | International, Land

  General Dynamics Mission Systems Continues to Provide U.S. Army with Shelters for Austere Environments

  October 9, 2019 - Fairfax, VA. – The U.S. Army has selected General Dynamics Mission Systems to provide current generation Army Standard Family (ASF) Shelters, one-side and two-side expandable, and Modified Extendable Rigid Wall Shelters (MERWS) via a firm-fixed price contract valued at $66 million. The estimated completion date of the contract is June 24, 2024. The shelters will be used worldwide by the Army to support applications such as command posts, kitchens, maintenance shops and medical facilities. Their lightweight design and rugged durability enable them to operate in the most extreme environments. The addition of the MERWS requirements will provide greater shelter capacity for deployable conference and communication centers. In anticipation of the Army's growing requirements, General Dynamics is designing the modernized Army Standard Tactical Shelter (ASTS) to be quickly deployed on the ground or on the Army's Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, enabling rapid deployment and increased mobility. Currently under development, these next generation of ASF shelters will cost significantly less than the current ASF shelters and increase many operating features such as nine-high stacking versus six-high which enables greater transportability. They will have a larger interior operating space and will be lighter than the currently used M1087 Expansible Van, reducing fuel and maintenance costs for the vehicles transporting them. “For over forty years we have provided cost-efficient, durable shelters to meet the changing needs of the Army,” said Jared Strait, a Director of General Dynamics Mission Systems. “The new Army Standard Tactical Shelter – Expandable will provide the Army with the essential flexibility and mobility they need to quickly transport, deploy, and move shelters to support their missions.” General Dynamics Mission Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). For more information about General Dynamics Mission Systems, please visit gdmissionsystems.com and follow us on Twitter @GDMS. View source version on General Dynamics Mission Systems: https://gdmissionsystems.com/en/articles/2019/10/09/general-dynamics-provides-army-shelters-for-austere-environments