September 28, 2018 | International, Naval, Land
By: Todd South
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. ― The winner of a contract to develop the Marine Corps new amphibious combat vehicle, the first of its kind in four decades, showcased a potential variant that would give commanders eyes on all areas of the littoral battlefield, on-board drones and targeted hand offs to any ACV in their formations.
BAE Systems guided reporters through the interior of the vehicle, on display at this year's Modern Day Marine Expo in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
The variant isn't one that the Marines have yet requested, but John Swift, program director for BAE's amphibious vehicles, said the model was an effort to showcase what's possible with the new vehicle.
Marines selected the BAE version earlier this year over SAIC's proposed vehicle. Swift noted that decision keeps BAE as the sole company providing such vehicles to the Corps since 1941.
They've got to build 30 vehicles by the end of next summer, Swift said. Those vehicles will then go through testing before modifications and the composition of the fleet is decided. Marines want at least two variants as production begins in the next two years: a turreted assault vehicle and a command and control vehicle.
As of now, the Corps' official numbers call for 704 ACVs for the fleet when full rate production begins in 2022. That number is planned to be completed within six years, Swift said.
The composition of the fleet is still undecided, so the initial 30 vehicles delivered for testing will be basic platforms.
But that was before an announcement reported by Defense News this week that the survivability upgrade contract for the existing AAV fleet of an estimated 392 AAVs was cancelled.
The move is in line with larger National Defense Strategy aims to ramp up modernization by prioritizing money for those programs rather than legacy platforms.
Marine Corps Program Executive Office for Land Systems spokesman Manny Pacheco told reporters at this week's expo that the early version, or ACV 1.1 outperformed expectations and delivery of the new vehicles would not take much longer than the planned upgrades, which could shorten the calendar.
The deliveries were about six months apart, he said. Meaning that the brand-new vehicles would arrives shortly after the upgraded vehicles were planned.
Swift and Pacheco said separately that the ACV 1.1 was able to both launch and recover, meaning return to ship. That wasn't an expectation until later versions, which sped up the capability development of the new vehicle, giving the Marines other options in how they would pursue modernizing the fleet.
In a question and answer posting about the ACV by the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, officials at the time said they would continue the upgrade program even if the early ACV versions achieved a “self-deployable capability.”
The posting noted that the upgraded AAVs will “address capability gaps that need to be closed as soon as possible.”
It went on to say that the aged AAV fleet also accounts for one-third of the Corps' lift capacity and “will need to remain operationally effective in the force until their replacements are procured.”
Later in production there's also interest in building a recovery ACV, Swift said.https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/27/is-this-the-marine-corps-next-amphibious-combat-vehicle
The new ACV has a host of differences and capabilities not on the more than 40-year-old AAVs but most immediately noticeable is it is an eight-wheeled vehicle. Gone are the treads of the tracked AAV.
When asked about tire performance by reporters, Swift said that in testing the ACV was able to travel another 30 km with three debilitated tires.
The same questions and answers list had several reasons for wheels over tracks:
Greater mobility in complex, littoral terrain;
• Increased IED protection (2X).
• Reduced fuel consumption (<1/2 fuel consumption).
• Greater reliability (improved mean time between failure).
• Reduced signature and smaller profiles (a critical survivability factor in a G-RAMM environment).
• Increased dispersion of personnel among more vehicles (a critical risk reduction factor).
• The design margins to allow for a family of vehicles of various configurations (personnel, command, and recovery variants; potentially others ie: indirect-fire, anti-armor in the future).
• Significantly reduced cost.
• Less technological risk.
• Nearer-term availability.
• Greater weight growth and freeboard capacity.
June 27, 2023 | International, Aerospace
KONGSBERG is investing about NOK 500 million in the new depot, which will be part of the global maintenance solution and contribute to strengthened national capabilities and increased operational availability...
May 4, 2020 | International, Land
A report drawing on anonymized phone data, and other open-source information belies Vladimir Putin's everything's-under-control message. Many Russian arms factories are slowing their production amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from geospatial analytics company Orbital Insight, obtained exclusively by Defense One. The revelations further undermine Moscow's attempts to project an image of a government in control of the coronavirus outbreak in its country. Among the affected firms: Salyut, which makes parts for Russia's Su-27 and China's Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, has 2,000 fewer people in the factory, as indicated by cell phone pings. Uralvagonzavod, which makes parts for the T-90 and the T-14 Armata tanks, had 3,500 fewer people. Hydromash, which makes landing gear parts, hydraulics, and cylinders for the Su-30MK and Su-34 fighters, has more than 2,000 fewer people. Not every Russian firm has been visibly affected. The Orbital Insight report saw no evidence of a productivity dropoff at the Kazan Aircraft Plant, which makes parts for strategic bomber aircraft. The analysts applied machine learning and data science to anonymous phone data obtained from a variety of partners. Such data can allow researchers to track large-scale human movement trends in close to real-time, which can “inform policymakers as to the effect of a particular restriction — or the impact/consequence of a breach of the same,” said Robert Cardillo, an Orbital Insight advisor who once ran the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Researchers use the data to establish a baseline of activity, then to look for aberrations and disruptions, Cardillo told Defense One in an email. “In the intelligence profession, job one is to understand normal so one can have any chance of detecting abnormal. [Orbital Insight] senses global activity — or lack thereof — in a way that enables an understanding of the baseline pattern of life. That foundational understanding enables not just the fact of a change in that pattern but to — more importantly — infer meaning,” he wrote. The report offers detail about slowdowns beyond what Russian media has already revealed, said Michael Kofman, a senior research scientist at CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization in Arlington, Virginia. Kofman said he was surprised at the company's ability to obtain Russian cell phone data, which is required by law to be stored on servers in Russia. “The fact that this company is able to aggregate anonymous cell use data is a real boon for those interested in the level of productivity and output in Russia's military-industrial complex,” he said. Overall, Kofman said, he expects “a significant drop off in production for at least two months in the Russia defense industry as a result of COVID-19 measures, but it will be highly uneven depending on the region and assembly plant/shipyard.” The Russian government has tried to project an image of a country little affected by the coronavirus. In March and the beginning of April, the government flew protective equipment and medical supplies to Italy and to the United States in what many call a propaganda ploy. But government officials now acknowledge that they are experiencing a shortage of protective equipment, The country has confirmed that it has more than 100,000 confirmed cases. Babel Street, a data analytics company that specializes in natural language and sentiment data, says the government's initial steps were popular with Russians. But analysis of Russian-language social media posts on platforms like VK and local blogs suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin's image has been slipping. “There was a ton of positive sentiment early on. People were buying the government line that Russia was here to help the world. I think that things really began to sour when they saw friends and neighbors coming down with this disease,” said McDaniel Wicker, Babel Street's vice president of business development. Russians are growing increasingly anxious with lockdown conditions, Wicker said. An April 20 street protest in Vladikavkaz could be a sign of civil unrest to come. “We are able to get a lot of insights from some of our data sources showing social unrest popping up in some of those areas...before it began to pop up in the English language press,” he said. “There's a narrative in Western media that Putin is all-powerful,” he said. “This shows that to be a misconception. The state does not have infinite means, information, or even control over its population. Given the right circumstances, there could be significant change in Russia.” https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/05/russian-arms-production-slowed-coronavirus-analysts-find/165071
July 26, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Airbus a effectué des tests pour transformer l'avion de transport militaire A400M en bombardier d'eau à l'aide de citernes amovibles.