GE will provide all F-15EX engines under $1.6B contract

On the same subject

• 

  November 12, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Boeing awarded $9.8B contract for Saudi F-15 support

  By Ed Adamczyk Nov. 11 (UPI) -- Boeing Co. was awarded a $9.8 billion contract to support F-15 fighter planes of the Royal Saudi Air Force, the U.S. Defense Department announced. The deal covers modernization and sustainment of the Saudi fleet of nearly 130 aircraft over the next five years, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. The package of upgrades includes hardware, software, interface design, development, integration, test, installation of future modifications and enhancements to the F-15 Saudi weapon system. The contract also includes an option for an additional five years beyond the inital November 2025 time period. The F-15 was first put into service as a tactical fighter plane in 1978, and is in use by the air forces of the United States, Japan, Israel, Singapore and Qatar. The newest aircraft of the Royal Saudi Air Force are the F-15SA variant, which come with wing-mounted weapons-carrying packages allowing the plane to carry and launch a wider array of new weapons configurations. The Advanced Missile and Bomb Ejection Racks, or AMBER, allow the plane to carry up to 22 AIM-120 missiles, nearly double the capability of previous F-15s. The F-15QA variant to be used by the Qatar Emiri Air Force, regarded as the most advanced current version of the plane, is based on the Saudi design. Earlier this week, the Pentagon awarded two contracts totaling $734.8 million for infrastructure and equipment for the QEAF. The larger of the two deals is a $657.2 million contract for parts and training for Qatar's F-15 program, beginning with the arrival of the first F-15QAs in 2021. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/11/11/Boeing-awarded-98B-contract-for-Saudi-F-15-support/2971605119323/

• 

  February 3, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  La NASA et le Pentagone unissent leurs forces

  Les responsables du gouvernement américain et de l'industrie aérospatiale sont en train de faire tomber les barrières vieilles de plusieurs décennies entre les projets spatiaux civils et militaires, en réponse à l'intensification des menaces étrangères au-dessus de l'atmosphère. Le Pentagone et la NASA unissent leurs forces pour se lancer dans des projets tels que l'exploration de la périphérie de la Lune et la prolongation de la durée de vie des satellites. Ce rapprochement est motivé par les activités menées par Moscou et Pékin visant à mettre à mal les intérêts américains dans l'espace, via leurs armes antisatellites, leurs dispositifs de brouillage et d'autres technologies potentiellement hostiles. Le général John Raymond, chef d'état-major de la Space Force (Force spatiale américaine), a récemment dévoilé un partenariat de recherche avec la NASA visant à protéger les satellites des lasers et des cyberattaques. A terme, selon des responsables gouvernementaux et des dirigeants du secteur, la coopération entre civils et militaires devrait s'étendre à la défense des bases que la NASA a prévu d'installer sur le sol lunaire, ainsi qu'à la protection des opérations commerciales américaines censées y extraire de l'eau ou des minerais. L'Opinion du 2 février 2021 - The Wall Street Journal du 1er février 2021

• 

  November 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, C4ISR

  Navy, AF Order Tactical Radios from L3Harris Technologies

  Posted on November 9, 2020 by Seapower Staff ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, supporting the U.S. Air Force, has awarded L3Harris Technologies an order for nearly 1,000 Falcon IV AN/PRC-163 two-channel handheld tactical radios that will provide Air Force personnel with Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) airmen with advanced communications capabilities, the company said in a Nov. 9 release. The order is part of a five-year Navy Portable Radio Program IDIQ contract received in 2017. The AN/PRC-163 is a multi-channel, software-defined radio that meets the Air Force's requirements for a small, multiband, multifunction and multi-mission tactical radio. The radio's enhanced interface is easy-to-use, and the flexible software-defined architecture enables users to quickly add new waveforms and capabilities such as Mesh ONE. The addition of mission modules allow tailored applications for specific missions such as ISR full-motion video. L3Harris' Falcon IV radios are integrated network systems that can simultaneously communicate over multiple channels and crossband between those channels. They are capable of satellite communications, VHF/UHF/L/S-band and multiple mobile ad-hoc networking waveforms including ANW2, WREN and U.S. Army tactical waveforms. Air Force TACPs can now access mission-critical information at a glance via interface with the Special Warfare Assault Kit, which enables blue force tracking and supports coordination of air-to-ground and ground-to-ground fires using multiple NSA type 1 waveforms. Situational awareness is advanced through the ISR mission module's full motion video capabilities. “L3Harris' AN/PRC-163 provides the TACP community with the most advanced, interoperable handheld radios for the Joint Terminal Attack Controller mission,” said Dana Mehnert, president, Communication Systems, L3Harris. “The radios deliver maximum flexibility in the joint domain and are a critical enabler of the future of the Advanced Battle Management System communications network. The AN/PRC-163 is being fielded by USSOCOM and the U.S. Army, which provides critical networking capability to the JADC2 architecture.” https://seapowermagazine.org/navy-af-order-tactical-radios-from-l3harris-technologies/