February 28, 2020 | International, Land
February 27, 2020 - Rheinmetall is pleased to announce the launch of its first Australian research and technology program. Under the Autonomous Combat Warrior (ACW) program, Rheinmetall's Australian, German and Canadian development teams will work alongside research teams from Defence Science and Technology (DST) group, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
The aim is to develop advanced sovereign robotics and automated vehicle technologies. This will create a local automated military vehicle capability.
Rheinmetall Defence Australia Managing Director Gary Stewart said the program would lead the Australian development of next generation automated combat vehicle technologies for integration into the family of Rheinmetall vehicle platforms. “ACW's goal is to fundamentally change the way in which land vehicles support military operations by transforming a vehicle from tool to teammate to provide currently unachievable levels of soldier protection, support and tactical advantage,” Mr Stewart said. “This will see the Australian development of the next generation of land vehicle systems warfighting capability, with an emphasis on developing trusted automated systems which provide human-machine teaming and optional crewed control.”
The program will focus on the automation of driving capabilities. Rheinmetall only develops systems that are strictly compliant with the rules of engagement of its customers. Rheinmetall does not develop, manufacture or market fully autonomous weapon systems. Rather, Rheinmetall is convinced that humans must retain the power of decision and therefore rejects fully autonomous weapon systems that deprive humans of the power to decide whether or not to use weapons against other humans.
Rheinmetall's contribution to the program will take place across its Australian, Canadian and German businesses with the focus of research to take place at the company's Melbourne operations and its new Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Redbank, Queensland which is due for completion in the second half of 2020.
Rheinmetall Defence Australia is working with the DST Group under a 5-year strategic R&D alliance agreement to work collaboratively to advance automated vehicle systems. The agreement builds on Rheinmetall's longstanding relationship with DST in the area of simulation and augmented reality. The partnership also includes R&D around novel concepts and technologies that support the new Boxer 8x8 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicle capability Rheinmetall is delivering to the Australian Defence Force under the $5.2 billion Land 400 Phase 2 program.
Rheinmetall Canada has developed Mission Master vehicles that incorporate an eight-wheel drive, skid-steer, electric, unmanned platform operated in either robotic, semi or full autonomous driving modes. These vehicles can be fitted with various payload modules including cargo, protection, medical and surveillance variants.
Rheinmetall Landsysteme Germany has over twenty years of experience in the automation of vehicles. Its system safety and system architecture competencies derive from more than ten research projects, and relevant technologies such as drive-by-wire have been developed to a uniquely high level of maturity. This underscores Rheinmetall's status as a leader in automation technologies.
The Autonomous driving vehicle capability, or “A-kit”, currently integrated into the Mission Master provides the base software architecture for all future stages of the ACW research program and provides the autonomous capabilities including robotic vehicle control (robotic control or semi-autonomous); “follow me” control (semi-autonomous); simultaneous localisation and mapping); autonomous waypoint navigation (semi or full autonomous); and GPS allowed/denied navigation (semi or full autonomous).
Rheinmetall is also upgrading two Wiesel 2 digital vehicles with drive-by-wire architecture and the Rheinmetall Canada autonomous driving A-Kit package. These vehicles, when upgraded with Australian advanced autonomous applied research under the ACW Program, will be used to demonstrate the vehicle-agnostic and integrated payload capabilities of Rheinmetall's Advanced A-Kit.
ACW's research and development objectives are to:
Develop game-changing autonomous technologies in Australia;
Leverage Rheinmetall global research and development efforts and existing vehicle platforms and technologies, to fast track the development of autonomous technologies;
Develop a platform agnostic Autonomous Kit (A-kit), suited for integration into a variety of road and off-road military vehicles;
Partner with the Australian research community and local industry with deep technical expertise to solve complex development problems;
Generate a strong return on investment to the Commonwealth, in the form of employment and sovereign robotics capability; and
Work with Army to support its evaluation and strategy development for the use of autonomous vehicles.
RHEINMETALL AG
Corporate Sector Defence
Press and Information
Oliver Hoffmann
Rheinmetall Platz 1
40476 Düsseldorf
Germany
Phone: +49 211 473-4748
Fax: +49 211 473-4157
View source version on Rheinmetall : https://www.rheinmetall-defence.com/en/rheinmetall_defence/public_relations/news/latest_news/index_23168.php
January 27, 2024 | International, Aerospace
GA-EMS is designing and building two OCTs to provide robust space-to-space communication in a degraded environment and establish and maintain links to meet SDA standards and requirements.
July 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Tony Osborne July 29, 2020 Aviation Week's July 16 webinar on the future of combat aircraft mentioned British, French-German and Japanese fifth- and sixth-generation developments. Are there any others on the radar, such as Turkey or South Korea? Will these quieter players be able to pull the rabbit from the hat as the Turks have done with UAVs in Libya and Syria? London Bureau Chief Tony Osborne responds: Had we had more time during the webinar, we would have talked more about developments from Turkey and South Korea—in particular, the Turkish Aerospace Industries TF-X and Korea Aerospace Industries' KF-X. Taiwan and Pakistan are also making investments in fighter technologies, although their progress is not as mature. Turkey benefits from having a capable partner in BAE Systems to support the design process, and I believe they could produce a combat aircraft in the next 5-10 years. The Turkish electronics industry is well advanced, and Turkish Aerospace is growing its capabilities fairly rapidly. The biggest question is around development of engine technologies: Turkey wants an indigenous 25,000-30,000-lb. engine to power the TF-X. Although Turkey is not starting from scratch—given its experience on General Electric engines for the F-16—it has a long way to go before it can produce a reliable, locally developed powerplant. Without that, Turkey will have difficulty exporting such an aircraft. Surety of supply for a foreign engine, especially from the U.S., is doubtful given the political strains between the two countries. In South Korea, it is a slightly different story. Its platform will use a U.S.-supplied engine, and given the close relationship between South Korea and the U.S., there is that surety of supply. Time will tell whether that will change when it comes to exporting the KF-X. With assembly of the first prototype well underway, South Korea appears to be making strong progress. We are still waiting for metal to be cut. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/what-countries-lead-developing-next-gen-combat-aircraft
September 16, 2020 | International, Naval
Seapower Staff MELBOURNE, Fla.—The U.S. Navy has awarded L3Harris Technologies a $104 million follow-on contract to supply the next production lot of the electronic warfare (EW) system that protects F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet aircraft against electronic threats. The announcement was made on Sept. 10 in conjunction with vHook'20 being held virtually, September 10-12. L3Harris will manufacture and deliver Integrated Defensive Electronic Countermeasures (IDECM) jammer systems for the F/A-18C/D/E/F variants, with deliveries under the new contract expected to be completed by May 2024. The L3Harris ALQ-214A(V)4/5 is the key Onboard Jammer for the IDECM program, protecting the aircraft from electronic threats, including sophisticated integrated air defense systems. The company has received more than $2 billion in awards to date from the Naval Air Systems Command for AN/ALQ-214 development and production. “Our commitment to continually modernize F/A-18 EW systems has helped to keep naval aviators ahead of emerging threats and out of harm's way for more than two decades,” said Ed Zoiss, President, L3Harris Space and Airborne Systems. “This longterm collaboration with the Navy and continued development of advanced EW technology uniquely positions L3Harris to provide the jammer solution for the F/A-18 throughout the service-life of the aircraft.” L3Harris has delivered EW solutions for a wide variety of airborne platforms for more than 60 years, including strategic bombers, tactical fighters and rotary aircraft. L3Harris' Space and Airborne Systems segment provides space payloads, sensors and full-mission solutions; classified intelligence and cyber defense; avionics; and electronic warfare solutions. https://seapowermagazine.org/navy-awards-l3harris-104-million-contract-for-f-a-18-ew-system/