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  December 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Fourth GPS III satellite receives operational acceptance in record time

  Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — The fourth GPS III satellite has achieved operational acceptance from the U.S. Space Force at record speeds using an expedited process that was 10 days faster than previous efforts. “[The fourth GPS III satellite] sets a new standard for handover from the contractor launch team to operational acceptance, setting the satellite healthy to the global user community approximately 30 days post launch. Moving forward with future GPS III launches, the timeline between launch and the satellite being set healthy will be at a minimum,” said 2 Space Operations Squadron Flight Commander Capt. Collin Dart in a statement. The satellite was launched Nov. 5 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The addition of SV04 to the GPS constellation marks another step toward making M-Code — a more robust GPS signal for military use — available to the war fighter. M-Code provides a more accurate GPS signal with anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities, making it harder for adversaries to block or degrade. Lockheed Martin is the primary contractor for the 10 GPS III satellites and the 22 GPS III Follow-On satellites in development. The Space Force granted GPS IIIF Milestone C in July, clearing the way for production to begin. “M-Code signals are more-secure, harder-to-jam and spoof, and are critical to helping our war fighters complete their missions, especially in contested environments,” Tonya Ladwig, Lockheed Martin's vice president for navigation systems, said in a statement. “GPS III is a war fighting system and we are proud to be helping bring this critical capability to the men and women protecting our nation.” “The highly encrypted M-Code to protect GPS signals from jamming and spoofing is currently enabled on 22 GPS satellites of various generations; 24 are needed to bring the M-Code to the next level of operational capability,” Dart said. “SV04 brings the constellation to 23 M-Code capable vehicles.” The 24th M-Code-enabled GPS satellite, which will be the fifth GPS III satellite, is currently ready for launch. However, the launch is not expected until July 2021 at the earliest. Upgrades to the GPS ground systems and distribution of M-Code-enabled receivers to the field are also needed to get the advanced signal into the hands of war fighters. In addition to moving the constellation closer to M-Code availability, the addition of another GPS satellite to the constellation will provide greater access to the improved L2C and L5 signals to civilian users. “For our billions of civil users, it brings the count up to 23 L2C spacecraft and 16 L5 spacecraft,” said Col. Ryan Colburn, director of the Space and Missile Systems Center Portfolio Architect office's Spectrum Warfare Division. “For professional users with existing dual-frequency operations, L2C enables faster signal acquisition, enhanced reliability, and greater operating range. L5 is broadcast in a radio band reserved exclusively for aviation safety services. It features higher power, greater bandwidth, and an advanced signal design.” And according to Lockheed Martin, the GPS III satellites also include the new L1C signal, which provides improved civilian user connectivity. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/12/03/fourth-gps-iii-satellite-receives-operational-acceptance-in-record-time/

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  June 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Army Helo Market Pegged at $10 Billion

  By Jon Harper Market opportunities for the Army's helicopter fleet will average about $10 billion per year over the next decade as the service modernizes its rotary-wing assets, according to analysts. The current inventory includes UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, AH-46 Apache attack helicopters, CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters. All but the Lakota are still in production today. Meanwhile, future vertical lift is one of the Army's top three modernization priorities, and it is pursuing two new aircraft: an armed scout platform known as the future attack reconnaissance aircraft, or FARA, and the future long-range assault aircraft, or FLRAA. “The Army's effort to develop and field the next generation of vertical lift aircraft ... will have significant implications for the industrial base,” defense analysts Andrew Hunter and Rhys McCormick wrote in a recent report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Projections show that although there will be a drop-off in the procurement of legacy aircraft in the mid-2020s as FARA and FLRAA full-rate production starts to ramp up, there is still a roughly $8 billion to $10 billion annual addressable Army vertical lift market over the next decade,” they said in the report titled, “Assessing the Industrial Base Implications of the Army's Future Vertical Lift Plans.” FLRAA has an estimated program value of $40 billion, while FARA could be worth about $20 billion. In March, the Army announced it had selected Bell and a Sikorsky-Boeing team for the FLRAA competitive demonstration and risk reduction effort. The winner of that phase is expected to be selected in fiscal year 2022. The service also picked Bell and Sikorsky to continue on in the competition for the future attack reconnaissance aircraft. A “flyoff” for the FARA competition is scheduled for fiscal year 2023, with a production decision expected in fiscal year 2024. Both the FARA and FLRAA platforms are slated to enter production later this decade. Meanwhile, operation and sustainment costs will remain the largest source of Army vertical lift spending over the next 10 years, according to the CSIS report. “There's going to be opportunity [for industry] in kind of the aftermarket side because even as you start to produce the new aircraft, there will still be the enduring platforms that are out” operating as next-generation helicopters come online, said Patrick Mason, head of Army program executive office aviation. “We will still need spares and certain things done within the aftermarket side as this transition would occur,” he added during a recent press briefing. “That drives so much of the supply chain.” Some observers have questioned whether the Army will have enough money to buy high-ticket FARA and FLRAA platforms at the same time given future budget projections. There is also the risk that the programs might go off the rails. “FVL isn't the only game in town, but it is by far the biggest,” Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute think tank, wrote in a recent op-ed for Forbes. “If production of legacy rotorcraft ceases to make room for new ones and then FVL fails to deliver, industry might not have enough cash flow to sustain essential skills and suppliers.” Hunter said problems with the future vertical lift initiatives would upend the CSIS market projections. “If you were to take one of those programs out of the equation, that changes the addressable market in two significant ways,” he said. “One is, it shrinks it obviously by pulling out ... multiple billion dollars of investment throughout the 10-year window that we looked at. The other effect that it has is it reduces the competitive opportunity for industry. Right now, you know you've got multiple companies gunning for two aircraft. And even if you went down to one [program] and you were still competing, that's much less opportunity for industry to win in that scenario.” https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/6/29/army-helo-market-pegged-at-$10-billion

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  March 8, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contracts for March 5, 2021

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