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May 18, 2021 | International, Naval

Navy Selects Lockheed Martin, IFS to Deliver Intelligent Ship, Aircraft Maintenance - Seapower

LONDON — The U.S. Navy has turned to global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin and enterprise applications company IFS to deliver an intelligent maintenance product that will help power its digital transformation of multiple legacy systems into a single, fully modernized and responsive logistics...

https://seapowermagazine.org/navy-selects-lockheed-martin-ifs-to-deliver-intelligent-ship-aircraft-maintenance

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  • This Army unit will be first to test an exoskeleton that lightens combat load

    June 11, 2018 | International, Land

    This Army unit will be first to test an exoskeleton that lightens combat load

    By: Todd South Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division will be the first to test the long-awaited exoskeleton that developers say can reduce injuries, carrying loads and help troops move around the battlefield with ease. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center partnered with the division in February to identify, evaluate and transition exoskeleton technology to the Army. NSRDEC has led exoskeleton efforts for the Army for a number of years. One of the more advanced products that will soon hit the division is made by Lockheed Martin. Army Times spoke recently with company officials about the ONYX device, which will go through phases of testing, beginning as early as this fall. The first phase will include a six-month “development effort” in which researchers work on “quality of life” portions of making the knee- and hip-focused device fit comfortably and correctly to the soldier's body, said Keith Maxwell, senior program engineer for the company's exoskeleton technologies. That will be done with 10th Mountain soldiers later this year. And that's not the only high-tech gear that 10th Mountain soldiers will be testing. They're one of two units, along with the 101st Airborne Division, that will take robotic vehicles to act as gear mules into the formations later this year. That's part of the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport program. The program has four vehicles being evaluated by those Army units and a yet-to-be identified Marine Corps unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. For the ONYX, 10th Mountain soldiers will evaluate the changes as they develop an exoskeleton “concept of operations.” A second phase will include a cycle that starts in early 2019 to add in faster, quieter actuators to the device; those will also be tested by 10th Mountain soldiers. Then a third round will test for ruggedized operation before the Army decides if or when the tech will be fielded. Officials estimate the device could be ready for fielding as early as 2021. The most challenging movements of climbing, especially with a load, up stairs or mountain faces, present strain on the endurance and strength of a soldier but also put them in a position for significant injury to their back, hips or knees. The exoskeleton allows a soldier to transfer the weight of the load from his or her frame to the device. Much of the work began years before with the Human Universal Load Carrier, or HULC. But that system was too bulky and required more power, which meant more batteries. More batteries meant more weight, which could cancel out the benefits of transferring load bearing, Maxwell said. So, with the ONYX, developers incorporated changes made in systems that came after HULC – removing added power requirements and adding technology that had been used in the medical field by B-Temia for people with extremity injuries. Last year, a University of Michigan study by their Human Neuromechanics Laboratory showed reduced fatigue using the knee-stress relief device that is part of the ONYX exoskeleton called the FORTIS. The university had four participants carry a 40-pound backpack at different speeds on a treadmill at a 15-degree incline. All showed reduced exertion when using the exoskeleton, according to the study. While the ONYX device has shown considerable promise in clean environments, the big step will be ruggedizing it for fieldwork, Maxwell said. “That's the hardest part of all, ruggedization,” Maxwell said. And that's a matter of time and investment. “None of the stuff we're facing is insurmountable,” Maxwell said. Waterproofing the device is paramount, he said. The standard is for it to be submersible to three feet of water for 15 minutes. While the current device focuses on the lower body, which carries most of the load and presents most soldier injury problems, there are technologies that are coming from this research that could eventually work their way into upper body support and possibly the TALOS suit that is being developed by Special Operations Command. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/06/05/this-army-unit-will-be-first-to-test-an-exoskeleton-that-lightens-combat-load/

  • Elbit America to provide modernized Heap-Up Display replacement for F-16 community

    November 23, 2024 | International, Aerospace

    Elbit America to provide modernized Heap-Up Display replacement for F-16 community

    Fort Worth, TEXAS – November 21, 2024 – Elbit Systems of America (Elbit America) received a firm Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the United States Air Force (USAF) to...

  • UK: Defence Minister signs £250M aircraft deal, sustaining 450 jobs

    January 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    UK: Defence Minister signs £250M aircraft deal, sustaining 450 jobs

    Defence Minister Stuart Andrew has announced the MOD has signed a £250 million deal to support the RAF's intelligence-gathering Shadow aircraft fleet. Defence Minister Stuart Andrew has announced that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has signed a £250 million deal to support the RAF's intelligence-gathering Shadow aircraft fleet, supporting 450 jobs. Shadow is a highly capable intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft which performs crucial intelligence-gathering on operations all over the world. Shadow, flown by 14 Squadron RAF, has been on operations above battlefields including Iraq and Afghanistan. The newly-signed contract with Raytheon will sustain 200 jobs at the company's facilities in Broughton, North Wales and hundreds more across the UK supply chain. Services will also be established at RAF Waddington, the home of the RAF's ISTAR fleet, to ensure aircraft availability under the new contract. Defence Minister Stuart Andrew said: This £250 million investment will ensure the UK retains its position as a global leader in battlefield intelligence gathering for UK troops and our NATO allies. It is also great news for the economy through the safeguarding of 450 skilled jobs across the country, including 200 in North Wales, confirming the region as a UK centre of excellence for air support. The support contract will provide maintenance, airworthiness, design and supplier management services as well as modification and integration work which will allow Shadow to be upgraded in the future. DE&S Chief Executive Officer Sir Simon Bollom said: DE&S is proud to continue to work with our partners across industry to deliver world-class support to the RAF's Shadow fleet. The continuing investment in support safeguards jobs and expertise which will provide safe and available aircraft in support of UK troops. Under commitments laid out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK is bringing a total of eight Shadow aircraft into RAF service. Air ISTAR Programme Director, Group Captain Shaun Gee: This contract award marks a key milestone in cementing the excellent partnership between the MOD with RSL(UK). It delivers vital ongoing support to operations and, crucially, enables future, rapid development of the SHADOW Platform which will ensure the capability remains at the cutting edge of technology providing a world-class tactical ISR capability for the UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/defence-minister-signs-250m-aircraft-deal-sustaining-450-jobs

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