November 5, 2021 | International, Land
New AM General chief vows to 'put the full weight of the organization' into pursuing JLTV
AM General has a new CEO. Defense News sat down with him to discuss where he plans to take the business into the future.
September 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
General Atomics nets $7.4B MQ-9 Reaper contract with U.S. Air Force
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A $7.4 billion contract between the U.S. Air Force and General Atomics, announced this week, will field MQ-9 Reaper drones faster, the Air Force said.
The five-year Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution contract for the unmanned surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance and strike-capability aircraft was awarded on Thursday.
It calls for delivery of up to 36 aircraft per year from the San Diego-based company. With a $7.4 billion ceiling, it is expected to reduce the time to deliver operational MQ-9s to operational units by 35%.
The Air Force regards it as one of its most in-demand weapons, an Air Force Life Cycle Management Center statement said on Thursday.
The ARES contract has a pre-negotiated $3.3 billion price-quantity-curve, allowing the Air Force and foreign military sales partners to order between from four to 36 aircraft in a single year.
Foreign Military Sales partners will be allowed to purchase the Dash 21 variant, which is the NATO-exportable version of the MQ-9A.
"ARES is a big deal because it answers the 'mail' as far as how do we deal with hard-to-predict demand signals from our international partners and enable increased responsiveness to U.S. budget dynamics," said Alicia Morales, aircraft production manager with the Medium Altitude Unmanned Aerial System Program Office.
"So, the team came together and figured out the best and most innovative approach to deal with unplanned requirements, so no matter what comes, we are prepared and able to handle it," said Morales, who mapped out much of ARES .
The MQ-9, whose predecessors have been in use since 2001, is the first unmanned aerial vehicle designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.
The Air Force has deployed the UAVs around the world, which were in use in August during a joint Army-Navy training exercise over the Black Sea.
On the same subject
-
-
August 12, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Programmable EO/IR seeker emulator for Electronic Defence Countermeasures effectiveness assessment
Trieste, August 5, 2020 - INSIS, a Fincantieri Group company, has been awarded, under the restricted procedure, the European tender for the supply of a programmable EO/IR (electro-optical/infrared) seeker emulator for Electronic Defence systems countermeasures effectiveness assessment. The supply, requested by the Italian Ministry of Defence - Secretariat General of Defence / National Armaments Directorate (SGD-DNA) - General Directorate of Naval Armaments (NAVARM) - 3rd Department (Combat Systems) - 8th Division - Surface Systems and Weapons - involves the design and development of a support system for verification and validation of techniques to defend against electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) guided missiles, represented by countermeasures such as flares and DIRCM systems combined with evasive manoeuvres actuated by Italian Navy ships. The system, composed of a multi-sensor gyro-stabilized hardware unit, transportable aboard naval ships or deployable in firing ranges, integrated with a software component developed ad hoc for simulation of engagement and tracking techniques typical of various types of missile seekers, will enable assessment of a scenario in which a missile threat, simulated primarily by the system in question, is directed at a naval ship under test. The system will also be designed to support verification and validation of anti-air missile countermeasure systems installed onboard self-protected aircraft or helicopters. The programme will have an overall duration of about 30 months and will end with the performance of field test campaigns carried out in collaboration with the Italian Navy's Naval Experimentation and Support Centre (CSSN-ITE) based in Livorno. View source version on Fincantieri: https://www.fincantieri.com/en/media/press-releases/2020/programmable-eo-ir-seeker-emulator-for-electronic-defence-countermeasures-effectiveness-assessment/
-
March 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Turkish Drones Destroy Russian-Made Air Defense Systems
On Friday, a missile fired by a Turkish drone destroyed a Russian-made Pantsir-S1 deployed by the Syrian Army in Idlib province. This video released by Turkish media, shows an active Syrian Pantsir being destroyed by a Turkish drone. According to Turkish media, the Pantsir radar was active when it was hit, indicating that the system failed to detect the incoming missile. The Syrian Air Defense Force reportedly has more than 30 $14 million Pantsir S1 (SA-22) air defense systems. Russia has also strengthened its Syrian Khmeimim air base with Pantsir systems to prevent air strikes. The systems were deployed in Khmeimim after a series of drone attacks in 2018. Combat unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Turkish military against the Syrian army led to Syria's largest losses, according to the Turkish Ministry of Defense. After Turkey started using drones against the Syrian Armed Forces, Assad's army has lost about a hundred units of armoured vehicles and several hundred military personnel. Russian news outlet Avia.pro writes that, for unknown reasons, Turkish drones are invisible to Syrian air defense systems. According to the news outlet, Pantsir radars are possibly “blinded” by Turkish electronic warfare systems. Reportedly, Turkey has been using it Koral jamming system built by Aselsan, to degrade the effectiveness of Syrian air defense radars. The Koral, which has a range of 124 miles, has support sensors designed to detect and classify other systems in the area, and an electronic attack element designed to jam, deceive and overload enemy sensors The Turkish drones are reportedly using MAM-C and MAM-L ‘micro-munitions'—70- and 160-millimeter rockets respectively, weighing only 14 and 48.5 pounds designed to strike targets illuminated by a laser. These can carry high explosive, armour-penetrating shaped charges, or (on the MAM-L) lung-rupturing thermobaric warheads, while remaining light enough to mount on relatively small drones. The larger MAM-L can also extend range from 5 to 8.6 miles by using GPS or inertial guidance. Syrian air defenses have managed to shoot down at least three Turkish Anka-S drones in February, and Damascus claims as many as six. As these are larger and newer drones, their loss may be keenly felt, but obviously less so than manned aircraft. https://www.uasvision.com/2020/03/06/turkish-drones-destroy-russian-made-air-defense-systems/