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  June 19, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  European Nations Are Teaming Up to Make a 6th-Gen Fighter. Can the US Keep Up?

  By Oriana Pawlyk SALON DU BOURGET, PARIS -- France made a splash at this year's Paris Air Show, unveiling a sixth-generation fighter design, the Future Combat Air System. The Dassault-made aircraft, which is set to be made in collaboration with Airbus and acquired by Spain and Germany as well as France, represents a renaissance in European aviation, French President Emmanuel Macron said. The unveiling comes just a year after BAE Systems debuted a concept model for a future British 6th-generation fighter, the Tempest. Is Europe now on a trajectory to beat the U.S. to acquisition of 6th-generation fighter technology? "I would have to say no," Acting Air Force Secretary Matt Donovan said here Monday during the airshow. Donovan and Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, both noted last year upon the unveiling of the Tempest fighter in the U.K. that, while competition is "a good thing," any fighter NATO partners and allies aim to produce in the future should be complementary to U.S. capabilities. They stressed the same message after France unveiled the Future Combat Air System. "We're putting a lot of focus into our next-generation programs right now to make sure we're going to lead the way to sixth-generation systems," Roper said. Roper and Donovan said they have yet to have a full briefing about what Europe's latest fighters, including the United Kingdom's Tempest jet, look like beneath the surface design. "We would just like to cooperate and collaborate ... as well as to share technology, [which is] absolutely important for future interoperability if we're going to go to war as coalitions, which we always do, so that's really important," Donovan said. Roper said it's not just about what a fighter can do, but also how it's made. Discussions are ongoing within the Air Force about the need for a sixth-gen fighter, he said. Leveraging the use of "digital engineering," which sometimes allows the service to bypass the regular manufacturing process for parts, will give developers the ability to design and change blueprints with more flexibility, Roper said. The Air Force is currently using digital engineering for A-10 Warthogs, as well as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, which is set to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system. "We [believe the] production technology may be the most game-changing component if it allows us to move into a different paradigm of doing rapid design spirals and updates," Roper told reporters here, adding that technology growth paired with digital engineering will allow for faster production of future aircraft. Roper said the Defense Department is used to outdated acquisition practices, out of step with what the pilot may need to outpace adversaries. "In addition to looking at a lot of classified capabilities we want to give future warfighters, we also want to give manufacturers a different way of making that cutting-edge technology. Expect [that] for what we bring to the table for sixth-gen," he said. "We're here to also ... connect with the future," Roper added. "Aviation is a booming business right now in Europe, so we're interested in seeing who the new movers and shakers are, engaging with some of the companies here in France, but also showing that some of the systems that we bring to bear from the U.S. are the best in the world, and we see a future where we maintain that edge far past our successors." https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/06/18/european-nations-are-teaming-make-6th-gen-fighter-can-us-keep.html

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  July 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Dassault Aviation livrera moins de Falcon que prévu, craintes sur le Rafale

  Les profits de Dassault aviation ont fondu au premier semestre. Le groupe table désormais sur la livraison de 30 Falcon (contre 40 prévus avant le Covid-19). Et la perspective de nouveaux contrats Rafale Export se décale ! Dassault Aviation est à la peine ! Au premier semestre 2020, le constructeur aéronautique a dégagé un résultat net ajusté de 87 millions d'euros, contre 286 millions d'euros lors du premier semestre 2019. De son côté, le résultat opérationnel ajusté ressort à 55 millions d'euros, contre 250 millions un an plus tôt. Il en découle une marge opérationnelle ajustée de 2,1%, contre 8,2% lors du premier semestre 2019. Pour sa part, le chiffre d'affaires consolidé ajusté s'établit à 2,64 milliards d'euros au premier semestre 2020, contre 3,06 milliards d'euros un an plus tôt. " L'épidémie de Covid-19 a déclenché une crise mondiale sans précédent par ses conséquences sanitaires et économiques, son ampleur, son étendue géographique et sa durée ", a commenté Dassault Aviation. " Notre marché Falcon est directement impacté (le décalage des livraisons et des commandes Falcon entraine l'adaptation à la baisse de nos cadences Falcon) et la perspective de nouveaux contrats Rafale Export se décale ", a ajouté le constructeur aéronautique. Dans un contexte incertain de circulation de la Covid-19, le groupe a abaissé ses objectifs annuels. Il table désormais sur la livraison de 30 Falcon (contre 40 prévus avant Covid-19). En parallèle, le groupe a confirmé qu'il souhaitait livrer 13 Rafale et anticipait un chiffre d'affaires en retrait. https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/a-suivre-aujourdhui-dassault-aviation-1376237

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  July 27, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  Want Siri or Alexa ready for tactical ops? This Army command is working on it.

  By: Todd South ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — As the Army improves its mission command posts, one of the key areas where it has made changes is how soldiers can operate computers for everything from sharing information to tracking friendly and not-so-friendly forces. Staff at the Army's Research Development Engineering Command have upgraded items from tablet-style computers, display systems and ways to use voice commands rather than keyboards for controlling devices. During a recent display at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, soldiers who work as trainer/observers at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, gave demonstrations of the new capabilities for the Tactical Computing Environment. Sgts. 1st Class Sheena Ferrell and Ramon Contreras Jr. showed how soldiers using the new devices can share “one common operating picture” with each other. Users can track individual vehicles on the wide-ranging training area, mark obstacles, terrain features, enemy positions and other items with preprogrammed symbols and use a chat feature to send messages or attachments to other soldiers. Alongside those efforts is another piece of software that gives soldiers a Siri or Alexa-type voice command capability, but contained to the device, rather than relying on the computing cloud or an Internet connection. The program, Single Multimodal Android Service for Human Computer Interaction, or SMASH, has been a part of the larger effort to improve Expeditionary Mission Command across the Army. Users can simply speak commands such as “Show Blue Force layers,” or “big picture,” to have icons or elements appear or disappear on the digital map. Another quick-use feature is to mark specific incidents for later use in after action reports. The demonstrator gave the example of selecting a shorthand for marking a spot for a roadside bomb, speaking the words “French fries,” and the device immediately marked and alerted the map, which would also be relayed to those sharing the same features. Some lower tech but important additions are portable, roll-up displays, and software called Display Viewer Application that replaces a massive hardware device used to share computer screen displays across a closed, Local Area Network within the command post. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/07/26/want-siri-or-alexa-ready-for-tactical-ops-this-army-command-is-working-on-it