January 10, 2022 | International, Aerospace
March 18, 2024 | International, Land
On Wednesday, March 20, 2024, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, will hold a media availability to announce a significant investment to deliver quality health care to Canadian Armed Forces members.
March 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace
The Air Force is conducting a study that will inform how the service will continue its critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions as it begins to phase out production of its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial systems, acquisition chief Will Roper said March 10. The service plans to reduce the General Atomics Aerospace Systems Inc.-developed MQ-9 Reaper combat lines from 70 to 60 by eliminating 10 contractor-operated lines while maintaining all MQ-9 aircraft in the fiscal year 2021 budget plan. House Armed Services Committee (HASC) member Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) sought clarity on why the production line would be reduced in a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill. “Why the major change in plans, and how will the Air Force address its ISR gap?” he asked. Roper told the committee that the Air Force is planning to build the “next generation” of ISR drones with a mixture of options, including “more high-end, unique” systems that will require lots of money to ensure their survivability, as well as commercial platforms that can “push the price point down” and provide attritable systems for added capacity. “We're doing studies now to see what our mix could be, and I anticipate that will be one of our major decisions in our FY '22 budget for the Air Force,” Roper said during the hearing. The study is being led by the Air Force's Program Executive Office for ISR and Special Operations Forces at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, he told a small group of reporters after the hearing. He expects it to be complete before the end of the fiscal year to inform the service's FY '22 Program Objective Memorandum (POM), which is currently in development, he added. “It's a really great time to give [PEO ISR & SOF] an innovative program because as their portfolio appears to be trending down ... it's important that they have something that's the new version of them that's innovative, that's indicative of their future,” he said. The Air Force has to work on dropping the cost of the counter-violent extremism mission, both in manpower and unit price, Roper said. He added that employing commercial drone services in the defense industry could help smaller, newer companies begin to scale their production while offering the service a “much lower, much cheaper” way to sustain cost. “Working with the Defense Department, you don't need the kind of production capacity that the globe does, so we're a pretty good first stop,” he said. He also told the committee that while the Reaper had “undeniable overmatch in a low-end fight and has certainly saved many lives, ... as we look to the high-end fight, we just can't take them into the battlefield.” Roper warned that if the Defense Department does not move quickly to engage builders of large UAS, the market could go the same way of small, hobbyist UAS and be saturated by Chinese products, as was seen with DJI's Phantom drone. The service's ISR portfolio could look very different in FY '21 if Congress approves its proposed FY '21 presidential budget request, released Feb. 10 (Defense Daily.) It includes the retirement of 24 Block 20/30 RQ-4 Global Hawks, including three EQ-4B drones equipped with Northrop Grumman's Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system, as well as reducing the MQ-9 lines. In order to provide sufficient levels of ISR with the divestment of the Global Hawk 20/30 assets and reducing MQ-9 combat lines, the Air Force will maintain and modernize the U-2 [Dragon Lady ISR aircraft] and the Global Hawk Block 40 fleets and maintain 60 government-owned/government operated MQ-9 combat lines, the Air Force previously told Defense Daily. The service also plans to procure one Bombardier E-11A BACN-enabled aircraft through the five-year future years defense plan (FYDP), with plans to bring the total fleet up to eight by FY '26. One E-11A aircraft suffered a fatal crash in Afghanistan last month, leaving the Air Force with three in its current inventory. Vela also asked whether the Air Force's proposed MQ-9 retirements could affect other services operating the Reaper. Marine Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, the service's deputy commandant for aviation, said during the hearing that while the Marines recently welcomed their first MQ-9 operators at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, he is also looking at the “wide-open” unmanned systems industry for the service's next generations of drones. “We hope to be able to continue to operate with the Air Force,” he told Vela. However, “We're ready to step out on our own system,” he added. https://www.defensedaily.com/air-force-acquisition-chief-reaper-replacement-plan-come-fy-22-budget-request/budget/
July 8, 2020 | International, Land
July 7, 2020 - The development of Patria's Heavy Unmanned Ground Vehicles has reached a level where the Patria AMV 8x8 vehicle can be operated remotely beyond visual line of sight utilizing 5G and 4G networks. This enables vehicles operation even from longer distances with higher reliability. The demonstration of remote-controlled Patria AMV 8x8 vehicle under 5G network was made in cooperation with the University of Tampere, and it was part of the RemoteFeel project. RemoteFeel is a research project founded by Business Finland, FIMA ry (Forum for Intelligent Machines) and the research parties. Members of the program were given the opportunity to drive a Patria AMV 8x8 vehicle remotely. The demonstration utilized Patria's Remote Operating Desk (ROD), state-of-the-art user interface containing features, such as augmented reality and haptic feedbacks enabling more authentic remote-driving operations, and the combined stereo camera system developed by the University of Tampere. Patria has developed its Heavy Unmanned Ground Vehicle system continuously for several years now and is a leading company in area of unmanned capabilities in its business segment. Patria demonstrated first time in public its Unmanned Heavy Ground Vehicle capabilities at European Land Robots Trial (ELROB) by two Patria AMV 8x8 vehicles in Belgium 2018. Patria´s unmanned solution can be integrated to new Patria AMVXP, Patria 6x6 vehicles and to all already delivered AMV 8x8´s without any major changes in the vehicle configuration. Remote Feel -hanke Original photo in our Material Bank. Further information: Janne Räkköläinen, Vice President, Vehicles, Land business unit, Patria, tel. +358 40 844 3210, janne.rakkolainen@patriagroup.com Patria is an international provider of defence, security and aviation life cycle support services, pilot training and technology solutions. Patria provides its aerospace and military customers with equipment availability, continuous performance development as well as selected intelligence, surveillance and management system products and services. Patria's mission is to give its customers confidence in all conditions, and the vision is to be the #1 partner for critical operations on land, sea and air. Patria has several locations including Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Estonia and Spain. Patria employs 3,000 professionals. Patria is owned by the State of Finland (50.1%) and Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (49.9%). Patria owns 50% of Norwegian Nammo, and together these three companies form a leading Nordic defence partnership. www.patriagroup.com View source version on Patria: https://www.patriagroup.com/newsroom/news/2020/patria-reached-a-new-milestone-in-the-capabilities-of-heavy-unmanned-ground-vehicles