Open source platforms, flexible airframes for new drones

On the same subject

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  April 10, 2023 | International, Land

  Greece buys Rafael’s anti-tank Spike missiles from Israel

  The sale follows a recent purchase of another Israeli-made weapon by yet another NATO member.

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  November 7, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Leonardo sees market opportunity for M-346 attack variant in Middle East

  By: Agnes Helou Correction: Leonardo has corrected statements made about M-346 customers during a tour of one of its facilities by Defense News, and this story has been updated to reflect that. BEIRUT — After the first order of its fighter attack variant of the M-346, Italian firm Leonardo is marketing the fighter jet in the Middle East, industry officials told Defense News, while noting that the training version was tested in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. “M-346 has been tested in Kuwait under hot conditions, passing all the tests successfully, and then it was also tested with the Italian Air Force in November 2018 in Qatar,” a Leonardo official said. Defense News spoke to the official during a tour of the company's facilities in Venegono Superiore, Italy. Leonardo would not identify the M-346FA customer or the contract value, despite inquiries by Defense News during and after the tour. The deal comes in the wake of increased interest for trainer jets — both those solely used for training and those able to perform close-air support missions — from Mideast countries seeking to expand their respective fighter fleets. “There is an increasing need for trainer jets in the MENA [Middle East and North Africa] region as countries there work to expand their fighter fleets. The MENA nations have requirements for trainers also able to perform close‐air support missions," said Marco Buratti, Leonardo's senior vice president of international marketing and strategic campaigns. “Among the most notable examples that have chosen Leonardo's training approach is the UAE's national aerobatic team, Al Fursan — widely recognized as one of the best in the world and considered as a UAE national pride — which uses the Aermacchi MB‐339 aircraft,” he added. “The Emirati pilots were trained in Italy and the UAE under the supervision of the Frecce Tricolori pilots using Italian aircraft and training systems.” Leonardo offers its trainer customers the opportunity to send personnel to its International Flight Training School, where it trains pilots in four phases: primary training/screening; basic-advanced training; lead-in to fighter training; and an operational conversion unit. Leonardo is a member of the Eurofighter consortium, which builds the Typhoon fighter jet. Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are among those in the Gulf region who have ordered the aircraft. Meanwhile, in Europe, Italy has joined the United Kingdom's Tempest program for a next-generation fighter. Will the M-346 be the chosen trainer for that effort? “M-346 demonstrated its capability as [a] trainer for Eurofighter and F-35. It is early to speak about Tempest program because we don't know yet how it will be inserted in the combat environment," a Leonardo official told Defense News. "First, we need to understand [the] Tempest combat environment, and then we evaluate the M-346 as a trainer for the Tempest, or if in 10-15 years from now Leonardo will have to evolve the training system towards a new combat environment that require[s] new training skills.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/dubai-air-show/2019/11/06/mideast-customer-orders-attack-variant-of-leonardos-m-346-trainer-jet/

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  June 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Nearly all defense companies have reopened from COVID-19

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — As large chunks of the country begin to scale back restrictions caused by COVID-19, the companies of the defense industrial base have largely reopened for business, the Pentagon's top acquisition official said Monday. Speaking to reporters, Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said that only 33 total companies in the industrial base, largely smaller services providers tracked by the Defense Logistics Agency, remain closed for business. “Out of 10,509 companies [the Defense Contract Management Agency] tracks: we are down to two closed, and 267 companies having closed and reopened,” Lord said in her remarks. “Out of 11,413 companies DLA tracks: 31 are closed with 661 having closed and reopened.” That is an improvement from April 30, when Lord said there were 93 defense-related companies tracked by DCMA closed, with 437 of the DLA tracked companies shut down at that time. “We see an enormous amount of recovery in the defense industrial base. It depends on location and what type of work is being performed, but there is enormous progress coming back,” she said. “Obviously, for manufacturing, we need people on the line. So, we're doing things differently in terms of following CDC guidelines and so forth. “We don't know what that new normal will be on speed, but we see an enormous amount of recovery.” Lord acknowledged that the efforts to stabilize the defense industrial base would be ongoing, noting officials “continue to see the greatest impacts both domestically and internationally in the aviation and shipbuilding supply chains.” She added that advanced progress payments to companies has hit over $2 billion, and that all of the prime contractors have “confirmed their detailed plans to work with their supply chains to accelerate payments to identify distressed companies, and small businesses.” The department is still tracking a roughly three-month period of delays that could have repercussions on major defense programs, Lord said, although she declined to give any specific examples. “We have seen inefficiencies across most programs,” Lord said. “DoD continues to partner with our industry partners to do everything possible to keep programs on schedule and to minimize the cost and schedule impacts. This is obviously a dynamic situation, and the overall impacts will not be completely known for a while as we work through how we operate over the next few months.” https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/06/22/nearly-all-defense-companies-have-reopened-from-covid-19/