MBDA-led team to demo new European anti-tank kit this summer

On the same subject

• 

  January 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  India To Buy 200 Fighters: Defense Secretary

  The acquisition of 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, and an additional 110 fighters to replace the Indian Air Force's (IAF's) fleet of ageing jets that had long been in the pipeline appears to have moved forward with Ajay Kumar, Defense Secretary of India, hinting at the projects advancing at an accelerated pace. “The contract for Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)- manufactured 83 LCA Tejas Mark 1A advanced fighter jets are in the final stages. It will definitely be signed this year,” Kumar said, during a ceremony held to commission two Indian Coast Guard Ships (ICGS) in Kolkata city, West Bengal state. He added that the manufacturer HAL is set to double the annual production of Tejas jets. “With the design having being finalised, HAL will be ramping up production of the LCA mark 1A jets from 8 to 16 per year. If required, through outsourcing, we can further enhance it.” In November, a senior IAF official had stated that the deal will be finalised in the “current financial year.” The contract maybe signed during DefExpo-2020 exhibition to held in India next month. Additionally, New Delhi wants to buy over a hundred jets to supplement its depleting fleet of fighters. Lockheed Martin (F-21), Boeing (F/A-18 Super Hornet), Saab (Gripen), Dassault (Rafale), Eurofighter Typhoon and Mikoyan MiG-35 are in the race to bag the multi-billion worth order. “Apart from these Expression of Interest (EOI) has been floated for another 110 aircraft, based on which Request for Proposal (RFP) will be floated,” he added. "We want to do it as soon as possible," Kumar said, when asked whether a time frame has been finalised by which the new aircraft are to be acquired. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/26157/India_to_buy_200_Fighters__Defense_Secretary#.Xh26IchKhPY

• 

  August 31, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Orb Takes Flight

  By Kimberly Underwood The Air Force's Agility Prime program conducts first demonstration of electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft. Last Thursday afternoon, leaders deemed the first demonstration of a flying orb by AFWERX's Agility Prime effort a success. The event was the first in a series of steps toward the U.S. Air Force fielding electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOLs, by 2023. Held at Camp Mabry, near Austin Texas, with the Texas National Guard as hosts, the exhibition of LIFT Aircraft's Hexa eVTOL vehicle included the service's top brass. Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett, new Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and new Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass were all on hand to see the new aircraft, flown by LIFT CEO Matthew Chasen. “It was really exciting,” said Col. Nathan Diller, USAF, AFWERX director and Agility Prime lead, “These demonstrations start to show some of the maturity of the vehicle. And the fact that LIFT was able to do all the preparations and do an on-time takeoff and have all the maintenance pieces together [was great].” Col. Diller, who is spearheading Agility Prime's Air Race to Certification, which aims to have a first series of initial eVTOL capability by December, spoke to SIGNAL Magazine on Saturday. In the coming weeks, Agility Prime will conduct more demonstrations like the LIFT Aircraft event, with a “handful of companies,” he said. “And when that testing gets to a level where we feel this learning campaign would bring military utility at cost, we can start to purchase hardware, data or potential services, such as flight test-as-a-service.” Following the demonstrations with the companies, they may proceed into a full test plan, using combined operational testing, the colonel added. For the demonstration, the service also had to achieve the appropriate regulatory approvals. To use the airspace for the basic maneuvering, they needed much lower altitudes than a conventional aircraft would use, and in an urban environment. “The FAA gave us authorization to operate, both manned and unmanned [aircraft] within a few miles of downtown Austin,” Col. Diller shared. “And the CEO of LIFT actually flew the aircraft, so he hopped into the orb. The Hexa has a very interesting architecture, and when you think of the reliability....and to hear the acoustics, that was something to see.” The Air Force leaders were really impressed, the colonel shared. “There is kind of this ‘ahh moment' where, there is actually something flying,” he said. “And then [you see] that it is actually a demonstration more of the maturity when you start to look at it, the maturity of the vehicle and the maturity of the technology. There was a build-up that allowed us to have the confidence to do that and operate at Camp Mabry. And given that is was Texas in August, with an air temperature of about 100 degrees, the colonel said it also was a test of the e-VOTL's operations in such as environment. Col. Diller added that it was quite something to see the eVTOL aircraft as well as the Guard's F-16s at Camp Mabry, and it put into perspective where the flying orb technology could play a role in urban air mobility. “The ability to fly one of those, with the advances in new aircraft controls, there are some interesting opportunities to think about pilot training in the future, and to think about who across our service might be able to fly these in the future,” Col. Diller pondered. https://www.afcea.org/content/orb-takes-flight

• 

  December 21, 2018 | International, Land

  US Army moves closer to equipping an active protection system on Bradley Fighting Vehicles

  By: Jeff Martin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army has chosen to move forward with the Iron Fist Lightactive protection system for its Bradley Fighting Vehicle, after evaluating the APS' ability to be installed on the vehicle. The Army will now install the system onto a number of Bradley vehicles for a second phase of more extensive testing and evaluation, according to a release from the industry team providing the system. That team, made up of General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Israeli companies IMI Systems and Elbit Systems, are working to integrate and test the system, designed to protect the Bradley from threats like anti-tank missiles, rocket propelled grenades and other weapons. Iron Fist It uses a variety of sensors and countermeasures to stop those threats before they reach the vehicle. They include a electro-optical “soft kill” jammer and a physical “hard kill” interceptor to stop threats from getting closer to the vehicles. “We are excited to move into Phase II and bring the vast capabilities of our Active Protection System to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. We look forward to continuing to partner with the Army on advancing this important technology as well as enhancing integration capabilities across multiple Army platforms” Steve Elgin, vice president and general manager of armament and platform systems for GD-OTS, said in a statement. While the release announcing the progress in testing did not say what the next phase would look like, it could mirror the same process the Army has used to qualify and evaluate Rafael's Trophy for the Abrams tank. More advanced tests will likely be against multiple types of threats in a simulated urban environment. The decision can be seen as a vote of confidence in the system and could mean further fielding on a larger number of vehicles down the road. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/12/20/army-moves-closer-to-equipping-an-active-protection-system-on-bradley-fighting-vehicles