Raytheon, Lockheed to compete for Space Force satellite ground system

On the same subject

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  July 22, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Le Rafale, loin de disparaître, ambitionne de rester le meilleur avion de combat du monde.

  PAR JEAN-PAUL BAQUIAST Le temps n'est pas éloigné où les médias français ridiculisaient le Rafale de Dassault Aviation. Ils le présentaient comme une relique invendable et bientôt dépassée d'un temps où la France, dans la tradition gaulliste, voulait avoir des moyens de défense en propre au lieu de tout acheter aux Etats-Unis. Aujourd'hui le Rafale a finalement fait sa percée à l'exportation avec plus de 144 appareils commandées, dont 96 fermes. Mais il faut aussi prévoir l'avenir. Le 14 janvier, sur la chaîne de montage du Rafale à Mérignac, Florence Parly ministre de la défense a annoncé que le gouvernement voulait lancer les recherches pour une nouvelle version du Rafale, dit au standard F4, pour laquelle un budget de 2 milliards, malgré les restricitons, a déjà été prévu. Par ailleurs les armées françaises comptent augmenter leurs acquisitions à partir de 2022 portant si possible sur cette nouvelle génération du Rafale, livrables entre 2022 et 2030. Rappelons que le Rafale est le produit d'un ensemble d'industriels comprenant outre Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran, MBDA-Missile Systems et des dizaines de sous-traitants. Inutile de préciser que chacun d'eux compte réutiliser dans le cadre d'autres produits militaires et civils le savoir-faire acquis. Le Rafale augmentera ainsi sa supériorité sur ses concurrents européens, Eurofighter et Gripen. Inutile de préciser aussi que dans le même temps les déboires du programme américain F-35 , qui tourne au scandale politique majeur, élimineront la concurrence de ce dernier. Les gouvernements européens qui avaient par complaisance servile avec les Etats-Unis, accepté de s'en équiper, devront vraisemblablement se rabattre sur le Rafale F4. Ils n'y perdront rien. Quant aux Su-35 et Su-57 russes, en dehors du marché indien où ils tentent de reprendre l'avantage sur le Rafale, ils ne sont en compétition avec lui quasiment nulle part, ce d'autant plus que le Rafale a déjà fait ses preuves dans divers engagements militaires en vraie grandeur, ce qui n'est pas autant que nous sachions le cas pour les russes. Les innovations du F4 concerneront principalement sa capacité à opérer en fusion de données au sein d'un dispositif interarmes et interarmées. Il sera en mesure, gr'ce à des logiciels opérant par radio, de recueillir et d'échanger des informations en temps réel avec l'ensemble des systèmes d'armes, aériens, terrestres, navals, spatiaux, qui seront engagés sur une zone de guerre. Ainsi navires, troupes au sol, satellites, plateformes aériennes pilotées et non pilotées (UCAV) qui opéreront à ses côtés, pourront bénéficier des échanges avec eux, soit pour être informés de la situation sur le terrain, soit en effectuant certaines missions pour leur compte. Le F4 sera doté d'un radar amélioré par rapport à l'actuel, dit AESA RBE2, qui pourra être plus précis pour des missions air-sol, plus puissant sur le mode air-air. Par ailleurs les spécialistes ont noté qu'il verra son système d'autoprotection SPECTRA ou Système de Protection et d'Évitement des Conduites de Tir et ses capacités de brouillage améliorées. Son optronique secteur frontal (OSF) sera doté d'infrarouge. Ceci améliorera les performances nocturnes de l'appareil jusqu'ici réduit à un capteur TV pour l'identification et la poursuite des objectifs aériens. Ajoutons que Thales apportera sur le F4 ses savoir-faire en matière de gestion des données en temps réel (Big Data) et d'intelligence artificielle (IA) pour offrir au F4 des outils de maintenance prédictive qui devraient permettre non seulement de réduire significativement le coût du maintien en condition opérationnelle mais aussi de rehausser le taux d'appareils immédiatement disponibles, qui ne dépasse pas actuellement du fait des nécessités de la maintenance environ 60%. On peut penser que le F4 sera est une nouvelle étape vers un Rafale F5, ou MLU (Mid-Life Upgrade), qui verra la pérennité de la filière pilotée assurée au-delà de l'horizon 2050, malgré les prédictions hasardeuses selon lesquelles les appareils pourront se passer de pilotes à bord. Enfin le Rafale F4 pourra emporter le missile AS4NG (air-sol nucléaire de quatrième génération), missile hypersonique capable de voler à plus de 5.000 km/h et devant entrer en service à l'horizon 2035. Il pourra ansi rivaliser avec les missiles hypersoniques dont seront seuls dotés la Russie, la Chine et sans doute les Etats-Unis, lesquels s'efforcent actuellement de rattraper leur retard en ce domaine. Il faut espérer que les futurs gouvernement français ne remettront pas en cause ces programmes, dans le désir de mieux financer la consommation ou de se conformer à des instructions de l'Otan. https://blogs.mediapart.fr/jean-paul-baquiast/blog/190719/defense-le-rafale-f4

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  October 25, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed: DoD Focused on Lowest Price in Recent Competitions; May Affect LM Participation in Future Bids

  By: Ben Werner Lockheed Martin officials say their loss to Boeing in three recent aircraft competitions indicates that Pentagon weapon buyers are valuing low price tags over high-tech capabilities, which may lead the company to question its participation in some future competitions. The company reported strong revenue growth and expected solid earnings in the future, but during a Tuesday morning conference call with Wall Street analysts, company officials sounded burned by losing out on three significant contracts during the recently completed third quarter of 2018. “We do see that affordability is a very important element for them,” said Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin's chief executive, referring to the Pentagon's weapons buyers. In a competition pitting designs from Lockheed Martin, General Atomics and Boeing, the Navy awarded Boeing an $805-million award in August to build the first four unmanned carrier-based aerial refueling tankers, the MQ-25A Stingray. Ultimately, the Navy wants to purchase 72 more vehicles, for a program price of roughly $13 billion. Boeing also beat out Lockheed Martin for a pair of Air Force contracts – $2.38 billion to replace the Air Force fleet of H-1 Huey helicopters, and $9.2 billion for the new fleet of Air Force T-X trainer jets. “We believe our proposals represented outstanding technical offerings at our lowest possible pricing,” Hewson said. “Had we matched the winning prices and been awarded the contracts, we estimate that we would have incurred cumulative losses across all three programs in excess of $5 billion; an outcome that we do not feel would have been in the best interest of our stockholders or customers.” Hewson and Bruce Tanner, Lockheed Martin's chief financial officer, downplayed the long-term significance of missing out on this trio of large contracts. Lockheed Martin reported revenues of $14.3 billion for the quarter, compared to revenues of $12.3 billion a year ago. Earnings for the quarter were $1.5 billion for the quarter, compared to earnings of $963 million a year ago. Increased sales of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters as production increases, as well as increased demand for missiles, were vital to the revenue increases. Looking forward, even with Pentagon spending not expected to grow, Tanner expects Lockheed Martin's profits from sales to grow, resulting in cash from operations to remain in the $7-billion range for the next three years. However, neither Hewson nor Tanner masked their disappointment in the selection of Boeing over Lockheed Martin for the three aviation programs. “Those were disappointing for a lot of reasons. But the fact they really decided, all three, on an LPTA (lowest price technically acceptable) basis, didn't help the situation,” Tanner said. “It's not getting the best capabilities for the warfighter in the hands of the warfighter.” A year ago, when discussing the MQ-25 program, Navy officials suggested capability was their primary focus. Cost estimates were specifically not addressed because the Navy wanted to learn what was possible, Rear Adm. Mark Darrah, Program Executive Officer Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, told USNI News in July 2017. “When we put a number out there, eerily they tend to get to that number and go backwards, go backwards in their development, so they hit that number. We are taking a different approach this time. We're not going to define that number at this point and direct them to provide us with their input so that we can adequately and accurately determine what they truly can do,” Darrah said in the 2017 interview. On Tuesday, Hewson acknowledged the types of projects Lockheed Martin bids on in the future could be affected by the Pentagon's focus on price when seeking new weapons programs. “We're going to pursue good business opportunities for us,” Hewson said. “We have talked about this before: affordability is an important value for them.” Hewson also addressed the growing speculation over whether defense contractors would be allowed to continue doing business with Saudi Arabia, as the United States government still grapples with the fallout from the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istambul. The kingdom is a Lockheed Martin customer, but Hewson said the company had relatively minor exposure to any fallout from having arms deal nixed by the U.S. government. Currently, the largest contract Lockheed Martin has with Saudi Arabia is to build the kingdom's fleet of four multi-mission surface combatant ships, based on the Littoral Combat Ship, worth $6 billion. Saudi Arabia just awarded Lockheed Martin a $450-million detailed planning and design contract, which is related to the planned four-ship purchase. “The largest order we've been waiting on obviously is for THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense), ” Tanner said. “That has not taken place yet. Not sure when that will take place. The interesting thing with the THAAD order is, while it brings a significant increase in backlog, the resulting sales, profit, and cash flow with that order are very much pushed to the right.” Required upgrades to Saudi Arabia's radar technology will delay the $15-billion THAAD order delivery for at least four years, Tanner explained. Without the technical refresh, he said Saudi Arabia would be unable to use the missiles effectively. “I think we have in 2019 about less than half a billion dollars of sales planned, and I looked out into in 2020, and it's less than $900 million in sales,” Tanner said. “So it's not a huge amount of dependency on the activity, even though the opportunities we've described are much larger than that obviously.” https://news.usni.org/2018/10/23/37506

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  July 29, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Royal Australian Air Force and US Air Force technicians on the tools together

  For the first time, No. 36 Squadron (36SQN) has worked to get United States Air Force (USAF) C-17A Globemasters back into the air under a new cross-servicing arrangement. Technicians from 36SQN were able to assist the crews of two USAF C-17As on separate tasks in Australia. The work came following both countries agreeing to a C-17A Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Service - Implementing Arrangement (ARMS-IA), which allows RAAF and USAF technicians to work on each other's C-17As. On 4 July , ARMS-IA was enacted to help support a USAF C-17A at RAAF Base Richmond. Warrant Officer (WOFF) Pete Ranson, Warrant Officer Engineering at 36SQN, said the request for assistance came via the Boeing Defence Australia representatives at RAAF Base Amberley. “We supplied a co-pilot Multi-Function Control Panel for the cockpit, fitted it and carried out the associated operational checks to verify the replacement,” WOFF Ranson said. “After that rectification, another unserviceability appeared, and was successfully rectified.” This issue related to a Secondary Flight Control Computer, and saw 36SQN engage fellow RAAF technicians at 37SQN for tooling and consumables. Throughout the repair on the USAF C-17A, RAAF and USAF technicians worked side-by-side. “The issues with the affected aircraft were outside the expertise of the USAF maintenance personnel on that task,” WOFF Ranson said. “The USAF aviation technician trades are more specialised than the RAAF, where we stream to either Aircraft Technician or Avionics Technician.” “We carry a broader experience in a range of tasks, and 36SQN maintenance personnel were able to guide the USAF counterparts in rectifying the jet.” The fix at RAAF Base Richmond came just days after 36SQN technicians assisted another USAF C-17A with a suspected fuel leak fault at Rockhampton. “On that occasion, we sent maintenance personnel to troubleshoot the problem,” WOFF Ranson said. “We found it was a faulty valve and not a fuel leak from the tank, which gave confidence to the USAF crew that they could carry on to an appropriate location to replace the valve.” Group Captain (GPCAPT) Steve Pesce, Officer Commanding No. 86 Wing, said the work of 36SQN technicians had immediately validated the ARMS-IA. “The ARMS-IA recognised the close relationship between RAAF and USAF C-17A communities, and the reality that we operate this aircraft a long way from home,” GPCAPT Pesce said. “Both of these examples witnessed a C-17A getting back on a task much sooner than would have been otherwise possible, which is invaluable support.” “I am very proud of the 36SQN team for the assistance it's rendered to its USAF counterparts.” https://www.jber.jb.mil/News/News-Articles/Article/1917908/royal-australian-air-force-and-us-air-force-technicians-on-the-tools-together/source/GovD/