September 11, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Air Force to fall nearly 150 pilots short of annual training goal
The shortfall makes it more difficult for the service to fill a pilot shortage of around 2,000 people that has persisted for years.
April 14, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
L’annonce d’un réarmement massif en Europe est-elle un tournant pour l’industrie française ?
L'Express détaille dans un dossier les perspectives stratégiques pour l'industrie française face aux réarmements en Europe et à la suite d'un rapport parlementaire sur l'état de nos forces armées face à une guerre de haute intensité à horizon 2030. L'idée est d'envisager un budget à la hauteur, le nombre des avions de combat (dans l'Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace et la Marine) étant passé par exemple, de 686 en 1991 à 254 unités en 2021. Si la loi de programmation militaire engage 295 Md€ sur sept ans, la marche reste haute face au conflit en Ukraine. Comme le rappelle le Président-directeur général de Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, « La guerre en Europe est un choc. La menace est à nos portes. Il faut réagir vite. C'est la fin des dividendes de la paix ». Suivant l'exemple français, l'Allemagne et la Suède amorcent un réarmement, comme en témoigne le nouvel investissement de 100 Md€ allemand dans sa défense. Le défi pour le secteur industriel est grand, Eric Trappier appelle « l'actionnariat privé à rentrer dans les activités de défense puisque l'Etat ne peut pas tout », comme il l'a martelé fin mars face aux parlementaires. Le danger reste la vulnérabilité de la chaîne de sous-traitance et le risque de perte en compétence, alors que les cycles de fabrication sont longs. « Pour être prêt dans un an, il faut démarrer maintenant", presse Marc Darmon, Directeur général adjoint de Thales.
L'Express du 14 avril
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September 19, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Air Force finds new KC-46 deficiencies, jeopardizing planned delivery date
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has added two new technical issues to the KC-46 tanker's list of problems, potentially throwing a wrench into the projected delivery of the first tanker in October. The service confirmed to Defense News on Sept. 17 that both deficiencies are category-1 , the most serious designation of technical problems, and revolve around the tanker's refueling boom system. At this point, the Air Force is unsure whether the two problems will be solved in time for KC-46 manufacturer Boeing to deliver the first tanker next month, said Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek. “Boeing and the program office are still reviewing the test data and assessing the risk and potential solutions to these deficiencies, and proceeding in parallel to aircraft delivery,” she said in a statement. The first new deficiency, which the service has labeled “No Indication of Inadvertent Boom Loads,” refers to situations where boom operators unintentionally provide an input into the flight control stick that induces loads on the boom while it is in contact with a receiver aircraft. The KC-46 currently has no way to notify that operator that this is happening. The second deficiency was found when pilots of receiver aircraft reported that the boom is too stiff during the part of the process when the receiver plane moves forward into the fuel transfer zone. “We discovered these deficiencies during the course of flight testing,” Stefanek said. “As the program progresses through receiver certification testing, we are still in discovery phase with the tanker/receiver pairs. ... The test team is still writing the test reports, but submitted the DRs [deficiency reports] in advance to assist in accelerating root cause, corrective action development.” In a statement, Boeing said that it continues to work with the Air Force to determine a path forward. “These are not safety of flight issues and we are confident in the unmatched capabilities of the KC-46 tanker aircraft," the company said. "To date we have completed more than 4,000 contacts during flights with F-16, F/A-18, AV-8B, C-17, KC-10 and A-10 aircraft. The refueling system has been tested extensively — we have a well-tested system that works.” The Air Force can accept tankers at its own discretion, with or without active deficiencies. However, both Boeing and the Air Force have worked under the assumption that the service will not do so until all category-1 issues have been worked out or downgraded to category-2, which signifies that a workaround has been put into place. The news of two more deficiencies is a blow to Boeing, which had been hoping to deliver the first tanker in October after finally coming to an agreement with the Air Force earlier this year on a proposed schedule. The KC-46 program has been notoriously above cost, and Boeing's fixed-price contract with the Air Force has forced it to pay out more than $3.4 billion to cover those overruns. It has also run years behind schedule: The company was initially slated to deliver the first 18 certified tankers by August 2017. Boeing now has until October 2018 to meet that deadline — called required assets available— but will almost surely miss it, as the Air Force does not have the resources to absorb 18 new tankers in a month. Over the past year, Boeing has been racing to resolve three additional category-1 deficiencies. Two involve the tanker's remote vision system, or RVS, a series of cameras and sensors that allow the boom operator to direct fuel into a receiver aircraft. Unlike legacy tanker operators, KC-46 boomers will be unable to look out a window in order to see the refueling process happen — making them entirely reliant on the RVS. However, certain lighting conditions make it difficult to see the receiver aircraft's receptacle, leading to incidents where the boom has scraped the plane being refueled. To fix the issue, Boeing has developed and tested a fix to the RVS' software. The Air Force is currently reviewing that data, and both RVS-related deficiencies are still in effect. The final issue involves the system centerline drogue system, which has a mechanical lock that sometimes inadvertently disconnects during a refueling. Boeing plans to create a software fix to ameliorate that problem, too, but it remains a category-1 deficiency. https://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2018/09/17/air-force-finds-new-kc-46-deficiencies-putting-planned-delivery-date-in-jeopardy
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August 23, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Two Saudi firms to co-produce Sky Guard drone for operational use
The UAV was developed in 2015 and displayed at two 2017 trade shows, with an original expected date of mass production in 2018.