Laser weapons development should involve multiple suppliers, says Northrop

On the same subject

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  November 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  DARPA Names Potential Sites for Launch Challenge, Eighteen Teams Prequalify

  Teams focus on qualification phase in challenge aimed at launching small payloads on short notice OUTREACH@DARPA.MIL 11/6/2018 DARPA has narrowed the potential launch locations for the DARPA Launch Challenge to eight, with options for both vertical and horizontal launch. The challenge will culminate in late 2019 with two separate launches to low Earth orbit within weeks of each other from two different sites. Competitors will receive information about the final launch sites, payloads, and targeted orbit in the weeks prior to each launch. The potential sites are spread across the United States: California Spaceport, Vandenberg Air Force Base Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Florida Cecil Spaceport, Jacksonville, Florida Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Virginia Mojave Air and Space Port, California Naval Outlying Field, San Nicolas Island, California Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska, Kodiak Spaceport America, Truth or Consequences, New Mexico Eighteen teams have prequalified to participate in the challenge, passing the first hurdle in the milestone process by proposing a viable solution for flexible and responsive launch. The diverse pool of applicants reflects the growth of the small commercial launch industry, and its potential to support emerging national security needs. “Response from teams with different ways of achieving flexible and responsive launch solutions on short notice has been tremendous,” said Todd Master, program manager for the Launch Challenge in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. “The different approaches to technologies used, launch requirements, fuel use, and teaming are a testament to the evolving space community.” To successfully pass the qualification phase, potential competitors must complete three discrete applications. Potential competitors submitted pre-qualification applications in mid-October, and the DARPA Launch Challenge application is due by Nov. 30. Teams also must submit and receive acceptance of an FAA license application by Feb. 1, 2019. The complexity of commercial space transportation regulations can present challenges for both new and experienced applicants. Teams are encouraged to consult with the FAA well in advance of submitting a launch license application to reduce programmatic risk by identifying and addressing potential regulatory questions or issues. If teams successfully complete all three steps, they will qualify for the launch phase and receive an initial $400,000 cash prize. Teams successfully completing the first launch will receive a $2 million prize. For a successful second launch, prizes of $10 million, $9 million and $8 million are available for the top three teams respectively, ranked by factors including mass, time to orbit, and orbit accuracy. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-11-06

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  January 14, 2019 | International, Land

  Here’s when the Army will pick three companies to build the M16/M4 and SAW replacements for soldiers and Marines

  By: Todd South By the end of this summer, the Army plans to pick three vendors to build prototypes of the weapons that will replace the M16/M4 and the Squad Automatic Weapon for both soldiers and Marines, both in a new, common cartridge. In the coming weeks, officials will release the official “prototype opportunity notice” with detailed expectations of the new weapons family, including not only the new caliber but also what it wants from the weapons' fire control system. Companies will then have between two and four months to submit their samples for Army officials at Program Executive Office Soldier, Crew Served Weapons to evaluate. At the same time, submissions for a SAW replacement, which was part of an earlier effort that helped lead to this approach, will undergo test-firings in July. That will then close the previous prototyping. Once officials select the three vendors in late summer, officials said, they are expected to have 27 months to mature and finalize the weapon. That means the long-awaited replacement for the basic weapons at the core of Army and Marine squad firepower could be ready for troops by 2021. That far outpaces what used to be the norm for acquiring new weapons, Lt. Col. Jason Bohannon, head of PEO Soldier, Crew Served Weapons, told Military Times in a recent interview. That was because the program was approved last year for rapid prototyping. Bohannon said that allowed the program to “jumpstart” weapon and fire control development. Otherwise, the simple requirements approval portion would have taken at least two years. The testing on the first initiative from last year, the SAW replacement, allowed for what Bohannon called an “unprecedented dialogue with the small arms industrial base.” For more than a decade, researchers and industry experts have advocated for an intermediate caliber replacement for the 5.56mm round. Some advocated for simply converting existing 5.56mm rifles to a 6mm caliber with upper receiver swaps. The Army as a whole received a lot of criticism from experts in those areas for continuing on with the 5.56mm, even with enhanced round versions of the caliber. But, Bohannon said that the Army had squeezed out advances not only in the round but also in the weapons platform of the M16/M4, which has seen hundreds of modifications since it first hit units more than half a century ago. For true “leap-ahead” changes, Bohannon said, “You really had to take a systems approach.” Less than a year ago, the search for a replacement caliber was being kept within the intermediate range, anything from 5.56mm to 7.62mm, the existing calibers used in small units. Most saw something in the 6mm range as ideal, based on decades of ballistics research and advocacy. The service narrowed in on the 6.8mm round, but it has kept how that round is delivered up to industry submissions — they're looking for weight savings so polymer, cased telescope, and hybrid materials such as stainless steel, are all on the table. But while it doesn't get as much attention as the new round, the fire control system is likely as important to the new system. For that, officials are expecting the submission to have three fire control capabilities built into one device — a laser range finder, ballistic computer and disturbed reticle. Those are advancements that put basic infantry shooting on par with sniper equipment. And they're not the end of development. The fire control will have to be compatible with the upcoming Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular, expected to field near the end of the year and with the Family Weapons Sights-Individual system, which includes thermal capabilities and Rapid Target Acquisition that allows troops to shoot around corners and fire quickly from the hip, if necessary. Those capabilities are on a longer timeline, as tech evolves, mostly to avoid strapping too many accessories onto the weapon. To that end, they've built an open architecture system requirement into the fire control so that future features and hardware can work together, Bohannon said. Originally, the Army was looking to start with a SAW replacement and work the rifle/carbine replacement afterward, but that changed with the most recent prototype notice. Following that notice, Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, who leads PEO Soldier, told Military Times that the new approach is to develop both along the same path, with the same round, so that designers can find the best fit for ammo in both weapons, much like existing M4s and Squad Automatic Weapons both fire the 5.56mm. The first prototype, which will see test firings of weapons systems in July, resulted in five companies being selected. Those companies are: AAI Corporation Textron Systems FN America LLC (two prototypes) General Dynamics-OTS Inc. PCP Tactical, LLC Sig Sauer, Inc. Though they won the right to participate in that first set of submissions and testing, it doesn't mean any of them has a free pass into this next effort. According to the draft prototype notice from October, once production begins, companies will be expected to build at least 200 weapons per month. Within six months of the award, they need to pump out 2,000 weapons a month within three years for a potential total order of 250,000 weapons systems, both NGSW-R and NGSAR, over a 10-year period. That cashes out to $10 million the first year and an estimated $150 million a year for the higher production rate years. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/01/11/heres-when-the-army-will-pick-three-companies-to-build-the-m16m4-and-saw-replacements-for-soldiers-and-marines

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  May 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Leonardo awarded a contract for FAA’s distance measuring equipment system

  Rome May 28, 2020 - Leonardo's U.S. subsidiary, Selex ES Inc., developer of surveillance, en route navigation, and precision approach and landing systems, was recently awarded a contract by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to continue to build USA's Distance Measuring Equipment (DME). The contract has a one-year base period and two one-year option periods. Along with the previous FAA Selex ES DME contract; Selex ES expects to provide more than 200 DMEs to the National Airspace (NAS). Work will be performed in Overland Park, Kansas. The scope of the contract includes program management, systems engineering, design and development, system test and evaluation, training, production, Interim Contractor Depot Logistics Support (ICDLS), and site implementation. The DME system will help the FAA increase operational availability and performance of the NAS, supporting common and consistent interface requirements, and providing a modern system that complies with current FAA security standards. Selex ES is the world's premiere vendor of DMEs, having delivered over 1200 DME systems over the last 25 years to key customers around the globe including FAA, DFS in Germany, Skeyes in Belgium, EANA in Argentina, and ANWS in Taiwan. The company is proud to be a trusted supplier to the FAA and grateful for the continued confidence that FAA has in its team and technology. About Leonardo and its U.S. subsidiary, Selex ES Inc. Leonardo is a global player in the high-tech sectors and a major operator worldwide in the Aerospace, Defense and Security sectors. Headquartered in Italy, Leonardo employs over 49,000 people in over 20 countries with offices and industrial plants across five continents. Leonardo's U.S. subsidiary, Selex ES Inc., is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, USA and is a leading supplier of surveillance, en route navigation, precision approach, and systems to Air Navigation Service Providers, airport authorities, militaries, government agencies, and commercial and industrial operators. In the heartland of the United States, Selex ES has designed, produced, delivered, and supported ground-based radio navigation aids and surveillance solutions for over 30 years on all seven continents. Selex ES provides complete design, development, production, test, installation, training, integration, maintenance, and customer service. View source version on Leonardo: https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/28-05-2020-leonardos-u-s-subsidiary-selex-es-inc-awarded-a-contract-for-faas-distance-measuring-equipment-system