In Budget Squeeze, Coast Guard Set to Extend Life of Dolphin Helicopter Fleet

On the same subject

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  July 5, 2018 | International, Naval, C4ISR

  Belgian Navy tests Austrian copter drone for at-sea surveillance

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany ― The Belgian Navy has finished a weekslong series of test flights with Schiebel's CAMCOPTER S-100 drone as part of the sea service's search for new maritime-surveillance and search-and-rescue equipment, the company announced Tuesday. The test plan, which ran June 21 to July 1, constituted an initial step for Belgian officials to identify “the possibilities of such systems and sensors,” Lt. Cmdr. D. Biermans is quoted as saying in the statement. In particular, officials had an eye on the unmanned copter's operation in the country's confined airspace — on land and over water ― and “opportunities for the domain of coastal security and prospects for further developments,” Biermans said. Belgium sports a relatively straight coastline measuring close to 70 kilometers, roughly equivalent in length to that between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida. The European nation is joining a growing trend among navies worldwide to employ UAVs to act as the eyes and ears of military and coast guard vessels. Equipped with a variety of sensors, the aircraft can help spot potential threats and help rescue people lost at sea. “Given the complexity of introducing a [maritime tactical unmanned aircraft system] within the Navy and its impact on the concepts of operation and tactics, this was a first informative step and will be part of a series of tests and experiments with a variety of vehicles and sensors,” Biermans said. Schiebel's CAMCOPTER S-100 has performed “thousands” of takeoffs and landings from aboard more than 30 ships by a host of international customers, company spokeswoman Sanna Raza told Defense News. She declined to say what countries' programs the company is eyeing next, citing confidentiality agreements. Based in Vienna, Austria, Schiebel plans to focus on integrating next-generation sensors to further expand its portfolio in the areas of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, according to Raza. https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2018/07/03/belgian-navy-tests-austrian-copter-drone-for-at-sea-surveillance/

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  December 6, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Safran and MTU agree on way ahead for next-gen fighter aircraft engine

  By: Christina Mackenzie PARIS — A 50-50 joint venture between France's Safran and Germany's MTU will be incorporated by the end of 2021 to manage the development and production of an engine that will power the Next Generation Fighter, a key segment of Europe's Future Combat Air System program, the companies announced this week. Safran Aircraft Engines will be the prime contractor, taking the lead in engine design and integration, while MTU Aero Engines, as the main partner for the first phase of research and technology, will take the lead in engine services. The industrial agreement is based on the principles that were set out in a letter of intent signed between the two companies last February. "This agreement is a major step forward, which reflects Safran Aircraft Engines and MTU Aero Engines' willingness to ensure a strong and effective management of the program relying on a balanced partnership and clear accountabilities,” Olivier Andriès, CEO of Safran Aircraft Engines, and Michael Schreyögg, chief program officer of MTU Aero Engines, were quoted as saying in a joint statement. The agreement lifts the last impediments that were standing in the way of contracts being signed by the French, German and Spanish governments; now companies can get the Future Combat Air System program underway. Joël Barre, the director of France's procurement agency, the DGA, said on Oct. 2 that appointing Safran as prime contractor on the engine program with MTU Aero Engines as principal industrial partner was one of the two elements that remained before launching work on a technology demonstrator for the New Generation Fighter. The other element is organizing the entry of Spain into the program. Although Spain signed up for the program during the Paris Air Show last June, the industrial aspect of its participation has not been settled. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/12/05/safran-and-mtu-agree-on-way-ahead-for-next-gen-fighter-aircraft-engine

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  October 14, 2020 | International, Naval

  US Navy eyes new design for next-generation destroyer

  David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy is looking to build a new generation of destroyers from a clean-sheet design, following the model of one of its most successful ship classes, the Arleigh Burke-class DDG, the service's top officer said Tuesday. The idea, colloquially referred to in-house as DDG Next, is to build a new hull smaller than the nearly 16,000-ton Zumwalt-class destroyer but still big enough to accommodate a larger missile magazine, Adm. Michael Gilday told a virtual audience at Defense One's State of the Navy event. “I don't want to build a monstrosity. But I need deeper magazines on ships than I have right now,” the chief of naval operations said. “I'm limited with respect to DDG Flight IIIs in terms of what additional stuff we could put on those ships. ... So the idea is to come up with the next destroyer, and that would be a new hull. The idea would be to put existing technologies on that hull and update and modernize those capabilities over time.” The Navy is supposed to start buying the new ship in 2025, according to the service's 2020 30-year shipbuilding plan, though it's unclear how its forthcoming force structure assessment will affect those plans. In his recent speech on the Defense Department's plan for a 500-plus ship Navy, Defense Secretary Mark Esper made no mention of the future large surface combatant. To avoid another costly failure, such as the canceled next-generation cruiser or severely truncated DDG-1000 program, the service is harkening back to its successful Arleigh Burke program, the mainstay of the Navy's surface combatant program for the past 30 years, Gilday said. Much like on the forthcoming Constellation-class frigates, the service plans to install fielded systems on the new ship and upgrade them over time. “So think DDG-51 (that's exactly what we did): We had a new hull but we put Aegis on it,” Gilday said. “We put known systems that were reliable and were already fielded out in the fleet. That's kind of the idea. I call it DDG Next to kind of right-size it. Smaller than a Zumwalt but packing some heat nonetheless.” The Navy estimates it would need $22 billion annually in constant year 2019 dollars to execute its old shipbuilding plan, though the Congressional Budget Office put the estimate more than 30 percent higher. A major driver in the difference between the CBO and Navy estimate was the cost of a future large surface combatant, according the Congressional Research Service. The emergence of hypersonic missiles has been a driving factor in the Navy's desire to field a new large surface combatant since such weapons wont fit in the current vertical launch system cells on Burke-class destroyers and existing cruisers. They will, however, fit in the Virginia Payload Module being built into the Block V Virginia submarines awarded last year. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/10/13/the-us-navy-is-eyeing-a-next-generation-destroyer-from-a-new-design/