August 3, 2023 | International, Aerospace, C4ISR
Marine Corps now has unit in Indo-Pacific flying Reaper drones
The drones will serve as “the airborne quarterback” for the new littoral regiment.
February 9, 2021 | International, Aerospace
NAVAIR Orders Five VH-92 Presidential Helicopters from Sikorsky
Posted on February 8, 2021 by Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor
ARLINGTON, Va. — Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Sikorsky a third production contract to build five VH-92A helicopters for the U.S. Marine Corps.
The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. — a Lockheed Martin company — a $478.6 million firm-fixe-price contract modification to build five Low-Rate Initial Production Lot III VH-92As, according to a Feb. 5 Defense Department announcement. The award also includes orders for “interim contractor support, two cabin interior reconfiguration kits, support equipment, initial spares and system parts replenishment,” the release said. Work on the contract is expected to be completed by December 2023.
The VH-92A was selected in 2014 to provide transport for the president of the United States, the vice president and other high-level government officials. The helicopter will replace the 19 VH-3D Sea King and VH-60N “White Hawk” helicopters operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One. The Corps plans to acquire a total of 23 VH-92As, 21 for operations and two for testing. The May 2014 engineering and manufacturing development contract procured two test aircraft and four production aircraft. Six VH-92As were ordered in June 2019, followed by six more in February 2020.
The presidential helicopter fleet is operated by Marine Helicopter Squadron One, based at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia, with a detachment at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington.
“Government testing to validate system performance and prepare for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation is progressing on schedule and will support an Initial Operational Capability (IOC) planned for July 2021,” a Navy spokeswoman said. “The VH-92A will enter service post IOC at the determination of the White House Military Office.”
https://seapowermagazine.org/navair-orders-five-vh-92-presidential-helicopters-from-sikorsky/
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January 27, 2021 | International, Land
NATO customer awards Rheinmetall multimillion-euro contract for artillery ammunition and propelling charges
January 25, 2021 - A NATO customer has awarded Rheinmetall an order for modern artillery ammunition. The Group's South African subsidiary, Rheinmetall Denel Munition (Pty) Ltd., will supply several thousand conventional and extended-range artillery shells of the Assegai family (Base Bleed and V-LAP) as well as M92 Assegai tactical modular charges. Delivery commenced in December 2020 and is to be complete by May 2021. The order is worth around €25 million. Manufactured by Rheinmetall Denel Munition, the tactical modular charges of the Assegai Series are intended to propel artillery shells from 155mm gun systems. The charge system is fine-tuned to the customer's specific weapon systems and artillery shells for maximum effectiveness. Their modular design simplifies logistics and makes handling in self-propelled artillery systems easier. They also offer other advantages: Assegai charges reduce barrel wear (RDM's Barrel Wear Reducer/BWR) and produce lower muzzle flash (RDM's Muzzle Flash Reducer/MFR); the former results in longer barrel life, the latter makes the artillery system harder for the enemy to detect. “Thanks to our current product portfolio and new products in the development pipeline, we want to offer customers the full range of possibilities for indirect fire support and maintain our lead in artillery ammunition technology. This applies especially to our new developments in artillery projectiles, which we aim to meet our goal of attaining ranges of over 155 kilometres with. In addition, Rheinmetall Denel Munition is eager to support the troops with our new uni-modular charges, which achieve better performance and simplify the logistics, especially in gun systems with automatic loading,” says Jan-Patrick Helmsen, Rheinmetall Denel Munition's CEO. Rheinmetall and its South African unit Rheinmetall Denel Munition possess proven expertise in advanced indirect fire systems. At a test fire event held at the Alkantpan test range in South Africa in 2019, Rheinmetall and Rheinmetall Denel Munition achieved several new range records for indirect artillery fire with various guns, attaining maximum ranges of up to 76 kilometres. This display of technological achievement and capability sparked the interest of artillery users across the globe. Rheinmetall Denel Munition has embarked on a phased development approach, including the continuous improvement in range capability of artillery ammunition. The range demonstration showed the potential of the first phase and reinforces Rheinmetall Denel Munition's goal of meeting a user-specified range requirement of more than 155 km. About Rheinmetall Denel Munition The South African company Rheinmetall Denel Munition (Pty) Ltd is a cutting-edge maker of ammunition and explosive products, supplying military and civil users in numerous countries around the globe. Rheinmetall Denel Munition is a joint venture co-owned by Rheinmetall (51%) and Denel SOC Ltd of South Africa (49%). RHEINMETALL AG Corporate Sector Defence Press and Information Oliver Hoffmann Rheinmetall Platz 1 40476 Düsseldorf Germany Phone: +49 211 473-4748 Fax: +49 211 473-4157 View source version on Rheinmetall Denel Munition (Pty) Ltd: https://www.rheinmetall.com/en/rheinmetall_ag/press/news/latest_news/index_22656.php
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June 13, 2019 | International, Naval, Other Defence
Join DASA to launch the search for the future of the Naval operating environment
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is launching ‘Intelligent Ship – The Next Generation' – a multi-million pound competition for the future Naval operating environment. This competition is seeking proposals for novel and innovative projects that enable and facilitate the wider use of ‘intelligent systems' within future warships, with the potential for wider use across defence. The future sees elements of automation, autonomy, machine learning and artificial intelligence being more closely integrated and teamed with human decision makers. The aim of this competition is to de-risk and evaluate technologies and approaches that could provide alternative, revolutionary future fleet concepts that can maintain or enhance UK military advantage within complex, cluttered, contested and congested operating and data environments. £1m is available to fund multiple innovative proposals that form phase 1, with an additional £3m potentially available to fund follow-on phases. Further details are available in the competition document The competition closes on 23 July 2019 at midday. Queries should be sent to accelerator@dstl.gov.uk. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/join-dasa-to-launch-the-search-for-the-future-of-the-naval-operating-environment