July 31, 2020 | International, Aerospace
by Pat Host
Armasuisse has contracted Lockheed Martin to procure a fleet of the company's Indago 3 small Group 1 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the Swiss Army, according to a company statement.
The deal also provides options for spares, training, technical support, and additional systems. Brandon Reimschiissel, Lockheed Martin Procerus Technologies senior systems engineer, declined to specify terms of the agreement to Janes on 20 July.
The first phase of Lockheed Martin's contract comprises manufacturing development to optimise the Indago 3's configuration to meet the Swiss Army's requirements. These include integration of a transponder for sense-and-avoid and installation of a Silvus Technologies radio.
The first phase also includes implementation of Lockheed Martin CDL Systems VCSi Touch small unmanned aerial system (sUAS) ground control system (GCS) software. This includes access to Swiss maps, including digital terrain elevation data (DTED) and geofencing.
The first set of optimised Indago 3s will be delivered to the Swiss Army later this year with the remaining systems to be delivered several months following the first delivery. These Indago 3s will support tactical level reconnaissance and surveillance to support information collection, search and rescue, disaster relief, and battle damage assessment.
Depending on the payload and operating environment, the Indago 3 has a flight time of up to 50 minutes with a range of 10 km. The aircraft can operate at cruise speeds of 25 kt. The Indago 3 can operate at temperatures ranging from -34 to 49°C.<
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/lockheed-martin-sells-indago-3-uav-to-switzerland
July 5, 2023 | International, Aerospace
The Ministry of Defence has awarded BAE Systems a £870m contract to deliver a new radar to enhance the RAF Typhoon fighter jet fleet and strengthen the aircraft’s control of the...
September 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land
SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. How do you keep a laser focused on a target moving at hundreds of miles per hour? The answer is crucial to Lockheed lasers being fitted on Army trucks and Air Force fighters over the next few years. WASHINGTON: “Lockheed Martin is working to fly a laser on tactical fighters within the next five years,” Lockheed laser expert Mark Stephen told reporters yesterday afternoon. “We're spending a lot of time to get the beam director right.” That beam director, which keeps the laser beam on target, is a crucial but easily overlooked component of future laser weapons. The Air Force Research Lab's SHiELD program aims to put defensive laser pod on fighters to defend them against incoming anti-aircraft missiles. An offensive laser to shoot down enemy aircraft would have to hit harder and at longer distances, so it's a more distant goal: Such weapons are envisioned for a future “sixth generation” fighter — like the NGAD prototype now in flight test — to follow the 5th-gen F-35, while the SHiELD pod will go on non-stealthy 4th gen aircraft like the F-16, as in this Lockheed video. But the company's new beam-director design is actually getting its first workout on an Army system, the truck-mounted IFPC Energy Laser, which will defend against artillery rockets, drones, and, potentially, subsonic cruise missiles. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/09/lockheed-aims-for-laser-on-fighter-by-2025/
March 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By: Kyle Rempfer The XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, a long-range, high-subsonic unmanned combat air vehicle, completed its inaugural flight Tuesday at Yuma Proving Grounds, in Arizona. The Air Force's fleet of current drones, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, are basically giant gas bags that fly — able to loiter for long periods above friendly forces in order to provide armed overwatch and intelligence. But the airspace over future battlefields will likely not be permissive, and so new drones will need to be developed. XQ-58A Valkyries were developed under the low-cost attritable aircraft technology program — meaning they're cheap and can be lost in combat without too much concern. The drone and its derivatives are anticipated to perform a range of missions, including suppression of enemy air defenses, offensive and defensive counter-air maneuvers, nap-of-the-earth or terrain masking flight and high-altitude flying. The Valkyrie appears to come with a stealthy, low radar signature design, meaning it may be able to be paired with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in a manned-unmanned configuration. When entering enemy airspace filled with counter-air systems, the Valkyrie could conceivably soak up enemy fire or even attack enemy positions and aircraft. The F-35 has been touted by the Air Force chief of staff as the “quarterback of the joint team," and not simply another stealth aircraft. The fifth-generation fighter is expected to come with a suite of information fusion capabilities, enabling its pilot to process information and coordinate on the battlefield like never before. Full article: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/03/08/air-force-offers-glimpse-of-new-stealthy-combat-drone-during-first-flight