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  July 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  GA-ASI and UK MoD Sign Contract for Protector RPAS Production

  San Diego – July 15, 2020 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) has signed a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the manufacture and delivery of Protector RG Mk1 Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS). “This is a major milestone for the MQ-9B system and the Protector Program,” said Linden Blue, CEO, GA-ASI.“We look forward to delivering this new generation of MQ-9 to the Royal Air Force (RAF).” GA-ASI's MQ-9B SkyGuardian® is the baseline system that will become the Protector RG Mk1 when configured for the RAF. This configuration includes X-band satellite communications (SATCOM) and UK weapon systems. The contract covers a total of 16 aircraft (initial order of three platforms with an option for an additional 13) and sevenGround Control Stations (GCS), together with associated ground support equipment. The first system will be delivered in 2021, though it will remain in the U.S. to be utilized in the test and evaluation program. “Protector will be deployed in wide-ranging Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) operations where its ability to fly consistently for up to 40 hours will offer a vastly improved ISTAR capability. Given that it is designed to fly in non-segregated, civil airspace, the Protector RPAS will also be able to support multiple civilian missions, including search and rescue and disaster response missions,” said Group Captain Shaun Gee, the RAF's Director Air ISTAR Programmes. GA-ASI's development of MQ-9B began in 2014 as a company-funded program to deliver an RPA that meets the stringent STANAG-4671 UAV System Airworthiness Requirements, which provide the basis for type certification by NATO member-state military airworthiness authorities. The MQ-9B is provisioned for the GA-ASI-developed Detect and Avoid System (DAAS) and is built for adverse weather performance with lightning protection, damage tolerance, and de-icing system. It features rapid integration of new payloads with nine hard points. The aircraft can “self-deploy” using SATCOM-enabled Automatic Takeoff and Landing, which eliminates forward-based launch-and-recovery equipment and personnel. In addition to the SkyGuardian, MQ-9B is also available as the SeaGuardian® for maritime missions. The MQ-9B has also been selected by the Australian Defence Force and received considerable interest from civil and military customers around the world. The Government of Belgium has also approved Belgian Defense to negotiate the acquisition of MQ-9B. Hi-resolution images of the Protector RG Mk1 are available to qualified media outlets from the GA-ASI media contact list. About GA-ASI General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is a leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator® RPA series and the Lynx® Multi-mode Radar. With more than six million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike. The company also produces a variety of ground control stations and sensor control/image analysis software, offers pilot training and support services, and develops meta-material antennas. For more information, visit www.ga-asi.com SkyGuardian, SeaGuardian, Predator and Lynx are registered trademarks of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. For more information contact: GA-ASI Media Relations General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. +1 (858) 524-8108 ASI-MediaRelations@ga-asi.com View source version on GA-ASI : https://www.ga.com/ga-asi-and-uk-mod-sign-contract-for-protector-rpas-production

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  June 22, 2018 | International, Naval

  Upgrading US Navy ships is difficult and expensive. Change is coming

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Navy is looking at extending the life of its surface ships by as much as 13 years, meaning some ships might be 53 years old when they leave the fleet. Here's the main problem: keeping their combat systems relevant. The Navy's front-line combatants ― cruisers and destroyers ― are incredibly expensive to upgrade, in part because one must cut open the ship and remove fixtures that were intended to be permanent when they were installed. When the Navy put Baseline 9 on the cruiser Normandy a few years ago, which included all new consoles, displays and computer servers in addition to the software, it ran the service $188 million. Now, the capability and function of the new Baseline 9 suite on Normandy is staggering. The cost of doing that to all the legacy cruisers and destroyers in the fleet would be equally staggering: it would cost billions. So why is that? Why are the most advanced ships on the planet so difficult to keep relevant? And if the pace of change is picking up, how can the Navy stay relevant in the future without breaking the national piggy bank? Capt. Mark Vandroff, the current commanding officer of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center and former Arleigh Burke-class destroyer program manager, understands this issue better than most. At this week's American Society of Naval Engineers symposium, Vandroff described why its so darn hard to upgrade the old ships and how future designs will do better. Here's what Vandroff had to say: “Flexibility is a requirement that historically we haven't valued, and we haven't valued it for very good reasons: It wasn't important. “When you think of a ship that was designed in the ‘70s and built in the ‘80s, we didn't realize how fast and how much technology was going to change. We could have said: ‘You know what? I'm going to have everything bolted.' Bolt down the consoles in [the combat information center], bolt in the [vertical launch system] launchers ― all of it bolted so that we could more easily pop out and remove and switch out. “The problem was we didn't value that back then. We were told to value survivability and density because we were trying to pack maximum capability into the space that we have. That's why you have what you have with the DDG-51 today. And they are hard to modernize because we valued survivability and packing the maximum capability into the minimum space. And we achieved that because that was the requirement at the time. “I would argue that now as we look at requirements for future ships, flexibility is a priority. You are going to have to balance it. What if I have to bolt stuff down? Well, either we are going to give up some of my survivability standards or I'm going to take up more space to have the equivalent standards with an different kind of mounting system, for example. And that is going to generate a new set of requirements ― it's going to drive design in different directions than it went before. “I suppose you could accuse the ship designers in the 1980s of failure to foresee the future, but that's all of us. And the point is they did what they were told to do. Flexibility is what we want now, and I think you will see it drive design from this point forward because it is now something we are forced to value.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/06/21/upgrading-us-navy-ships-is-difficult-and-expensive-change-is-coming/

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  September 1, 2024 | International, Land

  North Korea's Kim pushes for regional development with construction projects, KCNA reports