November 27, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Romania plans to spend $2 billion on short-range air defenses
The race is expected to include MBDA and Rafael, two vendors that already have ties to the European country.
November 2, 2018 | International, Land
Marines want a ruggedized robot mule to patrol with and resupply a squad
By: Todd South
The Marines want an unmanned vehicle capable of keeping up with its rifle squad and conducting squad resupply to unburden the grunt.
A Request For Information recently posted on the Federal Business Opportunitieswebsite keeps options open, telling interested industry partners that the mode could be a “robotic applique” on existing systems, a remote-controlled vehicle or a fully autonomous transport.
The system must carry between 500 and 1,000 pounds to outfit up to a 15-Marine unit. While the main objective is for the vehicle to move with the squad through inconsistent terrain, a nice bonus would be if it could manage intra-squad resupply, according to the posting.
It must run on rough roads and off road, go for between eight hours and three days, fit inside an MV-22 Osprey when fully loaded, and fit on a light tactical trailer in ground transport.
The system also must push out 1- to 3-kW of power to recharge and run squad systems.
The Marine Corps Rapid Capabilities Office wants information from industry by Nov. 13.
Marines participating in the Advanced Naval Technologies Exercise at Camp Pendleton, California, in May saw vehicles that might fit some of the requirements in operation during urban training sessions.
As far back as 2016, Marines were testing a tracked version of the Multi-Utility Tactical Transport, which could carry weapons systems or gear but at a lower rate than this current request. At the time, the MUTT could haul 600 pounds on land and 300 pounds while running amphibious for about 15 miles before power ran down.
This latest posting falls closely in line with an existing program in the Army known as Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport, or SMET.
The SMET program has accepted four submissions of similarly capable vehicles for testing by the 10th Mountain Division, 101st Airborne Division and an unidentified Marine unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
All four of those submissions are standalone vehicles that use either wheeled or tracked methods of movement.
The Army expects to pick the contract winner by 2020 after extensive field tests.
On the same subject
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November 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace
EUROJET signs contract with NETMA for provision of 56 new EJ200 engines for the German Air Force
Hallbergmoos, Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - EUROJET Turbo GmbH (EUROJET), the consortium responsible for the EJ200 engine installed in the Eurofighter Typhoon, today signed a contract with the NATO Eurofighter & Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to provide 56 new EJ200 engines for the German Air Force. The contract, signed in Munich, between General Miguel Ángel Martín Pérez, General Manager of NETMA, and Gerhard Bähr, CEO of EUROJET, covers EJ200 engines for a new order of Tranche 4 Typhoon fighter aircraft. Production of the engine modules will be carried out locally by the four partner companies of the EUROJET consortium; Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines, ITP Aero and Avio Aero. As partner for the German Air Force, final assembly of the engines will take place at MTU Aero Engines with deliveries to the German customer scheduled to begin in 2023. Commenting on the finalisation of the contract Mr Bähr stated: “This contract signature is a clear statement of confidence in the platform and of the performance and sustainability of the EJ200 engines which power it. In addition, it also demonstrates a high level of confidence in the consortium and its European industrial base, and will secure highly skilled workplaces in the aerospace industry in the coming years.” ABOUT EUROJET: The EUROJET consortium is responsible for the management of the EJ200 engine programme. EUROJET's shareholders comprise Rolls-Royce (UK), MTU Aero Engines (Germany), ITP Aero (Spain) and Avio Aero (Italy). The engine represents outstanding and innovative technology and continually demonstrates its exceptional performance in the Eurofighter Typhoon. With its unprecedented performance record, combined with multi-role capability and highest availability at competitive life-cycle costs, the EJ200 engine is perfectly set to meet air force requirements, both of today and the future. Since delivery of the first production engine in 2003, well over a thousand EJ200 production engines have been delivered to Air Force customer fleets of nine nations, and the EJ200 engine has achieved in excess of 1 million engine flying hours. View source version on EUROJET Turbo GmbH : https://www.eurojet.de/2020/11/11/eurojet-signs-contract-with-netma-for-provision-of-56-new-ej200-engines-for-the-german-air-force/
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October 13, 2021 | International, Land
A high-demand, deployable training software is the Army's goal
From home station to CTCs and in theater, trainng tools will be part of the fight.