June 21, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By Allen Cone
June 20 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin has been awarded a $76.7 million contract for operation and maintenance of AEGIS missile system development and test sites for the U.S. Navy, Missile Defense Agency, Japan, Australia, South Korea and Norway.
Work by Lockheed's Rotary and Mission Systems is for the Combat Systems Engineering Development Site, SPY-1A Test Facility and Naval Systems Computing Center in Moorestown, N.J., the Defense Department announced Wednesday.
This option exercise includes continued technical engineering, configuration management, associated equipment/supplies, quality assurance, information assurance, and other operation and maintenance efforts required for the AEGIS development and test sites.
This option also includes work on upgrades for the Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers, designated as CG-47, and Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, designated as DDG-51, through the completion of Advanced Capability Build 20 and Technology Insertion 16.
Work is expected to be complete by June 2020.
This contract modification combines purchases for the U.S. Navy at 34.7 percent, Missile Defense Agency at 22.7 percent, and the governments of Japan at 34.4 percent, Australia at 4.7 percent, South Korea at 2.1 percent and Norway at 1.4 percent under the foreign military sales program.
Funding in the amount of $29.7 million has been obligated at time of award and funding in the amount of $4.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Besides foreign military sales, funding will come from the Navy's fiscal 2014 shipbuilding and conversion; fiscal 2019 Navy operation and maintenance; fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation as well as MDA fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation and fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance.
The AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense system is the naval component of the Missile Defense Agency's BMD system, providing warships with the capability of intercepting and destroying short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
As of October 2017, there are 33 ships with the AEGIS system, 17 are assigned to the Pacific Fleet and 16 to the Atlantic Fleet.
Japan has four destroyers that have been upgraded with AEGIS BMD operational capabilities.
The first deployment of European capabilities came on March 7, 2011, aboard the USS Monterey.
AEGIS Ashore is the land-based component of the system. The deckhouse and launchers are designed to be nearly identical to the version installed aboard U.S. Navy destroyers and cruisers.
April 28, 2024 | International, Aerospace
DIU wants to improve its process for vetting commercial drones, with the goal of making it easier for companies to sell their systems to the U.S. military.
June 11, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Land
Mini-drones, véhicules blindés collaboratifs, neutralisation des engins explosifs... La Direction générale de l'armement prépare les matériels aux nouvelles formes de combat. Des mini-drones et des robots attendent, posés sur les tables et sur le sol dans un grand hangar. Au centre technique d'armement terrestre de Bourges (Cher), les experts de la Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) disposent d'une habitation avec ses pièces, ses cloisons, ses meubles, son escalier... De quoi tester en grandeur nature la maniabilité de ces équipements et surtout leur capacité à dénicher un individu dans un local inconnu. Discrets ou volumineux, sur roues ou sur chenilles, destinés au grand public ou directement conçus pour un usage militaire, les produits testés sont très variés. "Leurs caméras embarquées agissent comme des yeux déportés. Cela évite de mettre les vies des soldats en danger", explique le chef du laboratoire robotique de la DGA, à la tête d'une équipe de 16 experts. Avant de les mettre dans les mains des militaires, ils s'assurent que ces robots ont les capacités prévues, notamment en termes d'autonomie, de résolution et de transmission[...] https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/a-bourges-la-dga-se-prepare-aux-nouvelles-formes-de-combat.N698834
April 8, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval
Multipurpose coastguard support via remotely piloted surveillance system (RPAS) services is as of this month provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), at the request of the Romanian Border Police. The RPAS system will support a number of authorities in the Black Sea area, including the Romanian Naval Authority and National Agency for Fishing and Aquaculture. The mid-sized RPAS craft can stay in the air for up to 7 hours and has a range of up to 200km. It is equipped with a camera capable of day and night operations, a sea surface scanner, a distress beacon detector and a sensor that can detect vessel positions. It can be used for a range of activities, including border control, monitoring naval traffic, search and rescue, and environmental protection. Data from the RPAS can be recorded and transferred to the EMSA RPAS data centre in real time, and then made immediately available to national authorities. The service has been allocated for six months, and will also contribute to specific missions conducted by the Romanian Border Police within the Multipurpose Maritime Operation 2021 in the Black Sea, in coordination with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex),EMSA and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA). The RPAS integration was carried out in cooperation with the Romanian Air Force and the Romanian Air Traffic Control Service (ROMATSA), which provided specialised support. Later this year, EMSA will add a second RPAS to the region (a light quadcopter), which will operate from the Romanian patrol vessel Stefan Cel Mare. NOTE TO EDITORS RPAS services, offered free to all EU Member States by EMSA, have been developed to assist in maritime surveillance operations, in support of authorities involved in coastguard functions, and can operate in all seas surrounding the European Union. RPAS services can provide support to traditional coastguard functions, including search and rescue, maritime surveillance and pollution prevention and response. The Black Sea service is an important part of EMSA's regional RPAS strategy, which allows multiple coast guard functions in EU Member States to be supported by one or more RPAS services. Further expansion of RPAS regionally is planned in 2021 and 2022. ABOUT EMSA: The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) is a decentralised agency of the EU, based in Lisbon, Portugal. EMSA serves the EU's maritime interests for a safe, secure, green and competitive maritime sector through support for pollution prevention and response, maritime surveillance, safety and security, digitalisation and the provision of integrated maritime services, and technical assistance.