January 14, 2021 | International, Aerospace
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Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A $325 million U.S. Air Force contract to support E-8C surveillance planes in the Joint STARS program was announced on Wednesday by Northrop Grumman.
The contract executes the Total System Support Responsibility program for the fleet of 16 planes in the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS.
The E-8C planes are modified from the Boeing707-300 series commercial airliner, and carry a variety of specialized radar, communications, operations and control subsystems.
The contract includes program management, engineering technical support, aircrew and maintenance training, supply chain and spares management, technical data and publications, program depot maintenance and overall customer support, Northrop Grumman said in a press release.
The planes are elements of the 116th and 461st Air Control Wings at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., and in overseas forward operating locations.
The JSTARS program, developed by the U.S. Air Force and Army, has been in place since 1996, providing surveillance and target acquisition radar, and serving as an airborne command and control center.
It was announced in 2019 that a replacement for the system, the Advanced Battle Management System family of platforms, is underdevelopment, but members of the U.S. Congress have shown reluctance to retire JSTARS.
June 10, 2022 | International, Naval
The United States has approved a possible $120 million sale of parts to help Taiwan maintain its warships, which the island's defence ministry said would help ensure combat readiness in the face of China's "frequent activities" near the island.
July 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Par Léo Barnier Le groupe Dassault Aviation vient de passer une étape importante dans son processus de transformation numérique, en coopération avec Dassault Systèmes. L'avionneur français vient d'achever au mois de juillet le déploiement de la plateforme 3DExperience, développée par sa société « cousine », pour l'ensemble de ses programmes civils et militaires. C'est notamment le cas pour le futur Falcon qui doit être lancé prochainement. Toutes les équipes de Dassault Aviation vont ainsi évouler sous un même environnement numérique. Il s'agit ainsi de créer une continuité qui s'appliquera depuis la conception des nouveaux programmes jusqu'aux services de soutien après-vente. Chacun pourra ainsi travailler sur une maquette numérique unique, qui intègre les demandes spécifiques de chacun, avec des outils compatibles entre eux. Cela doit permettre par exemple au bureau d'études de prendre plus largement en compte les contraintes de l'ensemble du cycle de vie d'un produit ou d'un programme (production opérations, maintenance, rétrofit...) dès les premières esquisses, afin d'optimiser celui-ci dans la durée. A la clef, des gains de temps et de coûts pour le cycle de développement d'un avion - le nouveau Falcon notamment - comme pour la suite de sa vie opérationnelle. Comme l'explique David Ziegler, vice-président Industrie aéronautique et défense de Dassault Systèmes : « La plateforme 3DExperience représente une approche holistique de l'innovation. Elle permet à Dassault Aviation d'accéder à des technologies et à des capacités intégrées et de relier tous les points, du concept aux opérations... » Les différents services du constructeur disposeront d'outils entièrement intégrés dans cette plateforme unique, mais adaptés à leurs besoins spécifiques. Dassault Systèmes mentionne ainsi six solutions industrielles choisies par Dassault Aviation : Winning Concept, Program Excellence, Co-Design to Target, Ready for Rate, Build to Operate et Keep Them Operating. Dassault Aviation entend aussi déployer cette continuité vers sa chaîne d'approvisionnement avec trente sociétés identifiées, comme l'explique Jean Sass, directeur général Systèmes d'information de Dassault Aviation : « Tous nos partenaires industriels travailleront en collaboration avec leurs clients sur une seule et même plateforme numérique. À terme, nous serons en mesure de proposer à nos clients de nouvelles expériences de vol à la pointe de l'innovation. » Cette démarche de transformation numérique à l'aide de 3DExpérience a été entamée l'an dernier, en mai exactement. Dassault Aviation et Dassault Systèmes avaient alors signé un contrat pluriannuel pour remplacer l'ensemble des solutions de gestion du cycle de vie des produits (PLM) de l'avionneur. https://www.journal-aviation.com/actualites/42877-dassault-aviation-acheve-le-deploiement-de-3dexperience
June 18, 2018 | International, Naval
Pierre Tran PARIS — Naval Group has fielded top executives to Poland to pitch the Scorpene submarine in Warsaw's Orka naval program. The senior executives were in Poland June 14 and 15 presenting the Scorpene, which is a frontrunner in the Polish tender, said François Dupont, director of the international trade department. That French Scorpene is competing with the 212CD submarine from ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and A26 boat from Saab in a closely watched competition reported to be worth 10 billion zloty (U.S. $2.71 billion). A creation of 2,000 local jobs and offer of the MBDA cruise missile are part of Naval Group's “highly significant offer,” he said. Naval Group has long played down the impact of political discord between France and Poland stemming from Warsaw's cancellation in 2016 of talks for an offset deal tied to 50 Caracal military helicopters. The previous Polish government had picked Airbus Helicopter as preferred bidder, but the present administration cancelled that when it took office. Meanwhile, chances of Naval Group of winning a sale of two Scorpene to Italy and displacing the incumbent supplier TKMS seem to be slim. “This is a complex campaign,” Dupont said. Italy is due to add a further two U212A boats to the present four-strong fleet built by Fincantieri under licence from TKMS. Political ties between France and Italy hit a low this week, calling into question whether Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte would go ahead with a June 15 visit to France. But Conte went ahead with the meeting with president Emmanuel Macron, despite the French head of state three days earlier decrying the “cynicism and irresponsibility” of Rome in turning away the Aquarius, a humanitarian rescue ship with 629 migrants aboard. In Canada, Naval Group has explained why concerns over handing over intellectual property rights led to a joint offer with Italian partner Fincantieri being submitted directly to the Canadian government rather than observing a procedure calling for filing a bid to Irving Shipbuilding. “We have explained, we have been heard,” he said. Naval Group hopes the Franco-Italian offer will win over rival bids which include the Type 26 frigate from BAE Systems, which Dupont points out has yet to be built. In India's plan to acquire six more submarines under the P-75I project, Naval Group hopes its supply of the first six Scorpene in the P-75 program with local partner Mazagon Dock Limited will lead to a follow-on deal. Exports are critical to Naval Group, which seeks to make half of annual sales from foreign deals by 2020, compared to around a third presently. Dupont, a graduate of Columbia University, took up his post as head of international trade on April 2. Dupont previously worked for Thales, specializing in export sales of sonar systems. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/06/15/naval-group-execs-head-to-poland-to-extoll-virtues-of-its-submarine/