Navy inks deal for synthetic aperture radar imagery

On the same subject

• 

  October 21, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  DART acquires key product lines from Aero Design Ltd.

  DART Aerospace recently acquired key product lines from Canadian helicopter mission equipment manufacturer Aero Design Ltd., as well as its brand trademark. Based in Powell River, B.C., Aero Design has been developing and manufacturing aerial cargo expansion products since 1999 and has created an extensive catalogue of helicopter baskets, steps, bearpaws and bicycle racks for a wide range of OEMs including Airbus, Bell, MD Helicopters and Robinson. The addition of key Aero Design product lines to DART's portfolio will allow DART to deepen its product offering, acquire over 30 supplemental type certificates (STCs) and optimize its current Canadian operational capabilities to contribute to its overall growth strategy. Following the acquisition, DART will remain the leading manufacturer of helicopter cargo expansion products globally. This is DART's second acquisition of 2019, following its purchase of Portland-based mission equipment manufacturer Simplex Aerospace at the beginning of October. As a result, DART's portfolio has grown from 900+ STCs earlier this year, to over 1,100+ STCs today. “Acquiring Aero Design's key product lines will enable DART to offer baskets to a wider range of aircraft models and gain market share as the main provider of helicopter cargo expansion products worldwide,” said Alain Madore, DART Aerospace's president and CEO. “Alongside our current aerial utility and heli-ski product offering, we are also looking forward to furthering our footprint in the adventure tourism sector with the addition of Aero Design's helicopter bicycle racks.” “The aerospace industry is changing at an astonishingly rapid pace. It is important to adjust our strategies and pool resources so we can help ensure that our industry meets the coming challenges as quickly and effectively as possible. I'm excited to see what comes next as we join the DART family and move forward together,” said Jason Rekve, Aero Design's president and general manager. Jeff Clarke, vice-president and quality assurance manager at Aero Design, added: “For the past 18 years, Aero Design has strived to create innovative, user-friendly products that meet the needs of operators worldwide. This transition to DART is very positive as we have seen their desire to maintain our product lines and their plans to expand on them by integrating the best parts of both companies' capabilities. I am confident that Aero Design's current and past partners will continue to see the quality and features they have come to expect moving forward.” Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/dart-acquires-key-product-lines-from-aero-design-ltd/

• 

  August 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land, C4ISR

  Army buys $189M counter drone system but already has plans to replace it

  Nathan Strout WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army has invested another $190 million into a counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS), but it's determined that the system will need to be replaced by a U.S. Marine Corps alternative. On July 20, the Army announced it was awarding DRS Sustainment Systems $190 million to develop, produce and deploy the Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS). While the system will be deployed, it doesn't have a long-term future with the military. Despite the Army investing in the program for years, M-LIDS is a casualty of redundancy. As the Department of Defense has become more concerned by the threat posed by small drones in recent years, the services have each developed their own C-sUAS responses — mobile, stationary and dismounted. Recognizing the redundancy in that approach, the defense secretary delegated the Army to lead the effort to narrow the number of C-sUAS solutions for use by the joint forces. On June 25, the Army's Joint C-sUAS announced it had selected eight C-sUAS for future investment and deployment by the joint forces. M-LIDS didn't make the cut. But then, about a month later, the $190 million M-LIDS contract was announced, “Mobile-LIDS (M-LIDS) was not selected and will be replaced by the next generation mobile system,” said Jason Waggoner, an Army spokesman. In the meantime, “M-LIDS will be deployed with Army units to the CENTCOM area of operations.” M-LIDS would likely be replaced by the Light-Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS), a C-sUAS developed by the U.S. Marine Corps and the only mobile solution approved by the Joint C-sUAS Office. L-MADIS has already been deployed for testing and was reportedly used to down a drone off the coast of Iran last year. The Joint C-sUAS office told reporters in June that the services were conducting an analysis of how many systems would need to be replaced under the new arrangement. However, leaders were not able to provide a timeline for how quickly they expected to replace those systems. The series of announcements in this market came quickly this summer. Two days after the M-LIDS award, the Army announced a contract for one of the C-sUAS solutions that was included on the list for future investment: the Expeditionary-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (now known as FS-LIDS). The $426 million contract with SRC Inc. provides for the development, production, deployment and support of FS-LIDS, one of three fixed-site solution approved for the joint forces by the Joint C-sUAS Office. “Development of FS-LIDS is complete and systems are being deployed to U.S. forces globally, with a focus in the CENTCOM area of operations,” Waggoner said. “FS-LIDS will remain in use until replaced with newer technologies.” C-sUAS spending hasn't been limited to the Army in recent weeks. On Aug. 10, the U.S. Air Force issued Black River Systems Co. an $89 million contract for an operational C-sUAS open systems architecture. CORRECTION: This story has been updated to show that the Joint C-sUAS Office selected three fixed-site C-sUAS solutions. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/08/13/army-buys-189m-counter-drone-system-but-already-has-plans-to-replace-it/

• 

  May 14, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  6th Generation Stealth Fighters And More? Welcome to the Future of the Royal Air Force.

  The presumed trade-off between capability and capacity is a false dichotomy that takes a shortsighted view of where military technology is headed in the coming years and decades.