Royal Air Force to enhance tactical air command and control capabilities on the ground through Collins Aerospace FasTAK™ Gateway

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  April 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Airbus reports $515M in first-quarter losses

  By: Angela Charlton, The Associated Press PARIS — Airbus says the aviation industry's unprecedented troubles are just beginning. The European manufacturing giant reported €481 million (U.S. $515 million) in losses in the first quarter, put thousands of workers on furlough and sought billions in loans to survive the coronavirus crisis. And its CEO said Wednesday it's still at an “early stage.” Even after virus-related travel restrictions eventually ease, Chief Executive Guillaume Faury acknowledged it will take a long time to persuade customers to get back on planes. Just how long, he can't predict. “We are in the gravest crisis the aerospace industry has ever known,” Faury said. “Now we need to work as an industry to restore passenger confidence in air travel as we learn to coexist with this pandemic.” Images shared online of packed planes and maskless, elbow-to-elbow passengers on U.S. flights — despite virus protection guidelines - have worried travelers and airline unions alike. International travel restrictions, meanwhile, have grounded thousands of planes worldwide. Faury insisted that airplanes are “probably the best place to be” during a virus outbreak because of air filtration systems put in place after previous virus outbreaks and other threats, but said Airbus will work with aviation authorities to try to calm the public. Shares in Airbus and Boeing have dropped some 60 percent this year as customer airlines collapse or seek billions of dollars in government bailouts. Airbus was unable to deliver 60 planned planes in the quarter because of virus-related problems, and said the second quarter looks similarly rough. Customers are asking for delays, which Faury called “the biggest issue we are managing at the moment.” Airbus executives expressed hope Wednesday that deliveries could start picking up in the second half of the year. But they refused to issue long-term guidance given that the virus is still spreading, and that governments are reluctant to relax international travel restrictions. U.S. rival Boeing is facing similar woes. Boeing's CEO said Monday that it will take years for the aircraft-building business to return to levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic. Airbus has slashed production by a third since the virus hit, and Faury said Airbus will study “resizing” the company after the crisis ebbs — a worrying prospect on a continent where Airbus has factories in four countries and is one of the region's industrial leaders. Already 3,000 Airbus workers in France are on temporary unemployment and the number is expected to grow. In addition, 3,200 workers in the U.K. are on furlough and negotiations are under way to put thousands of German workers on short work plans. A recent letter by Faury warning workers that the company is “bleeding cash” was a shock to many. But Frederic Romain of French union CFTC said “the situation requires transparency. It allows workers to open their eyes” to what's ahead. “Fears? We have a lot of them. For the moment we don't have a clear vision of what awaits us," Romain said. Airbus reported a 15 percent drop in revenues to €10.6 billion in the first quarter. Looking longer term, Faury insisted that Airbus remains committed to reducing airplane emissions but said it's “less urgent” than before the coronavirus crisis because the company has more pressing problems to solve. “For practical cash reasons," Airbus has stopped or suspended some projects aimed at “decarbonizing” its production, he said. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/04/29/airbus-reports-515m-in-first-quarter-losses/

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  February 25, 2019 | International, Land, C4ISR

  Raytheon will participate in Army missile defense radar ‘sense-off’

  By: Jill Aitoro WASHINGTON — Raytheon will participate in a missile defense radar “sense-off” to test designs that could be included in the U.S. Army's Integrated Air and Missile Defense system under development. The Army announced plans for the sense-off in October, resetting the approach for the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, program that has struggled to bring about a new radar for well over a decade. The sense-off is “separate and distinct” from contracts awarded to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin last fallto come up with design concepts for a new missile defense radar, according to Bob Kelly, Raytheon's director for integrated air and missile defense in the company's Integrated Defense Systems division, who spoke with reporters Thursday. According to an Oct. 29 notice posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website, the sense-off will take place this spring at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Each vendor with a radar will have roughly two weeks on the range to demonstrate capabilities. A down-select will happen by the end of the year. “We can meet the timeline for both the sense off and initial operational capability in fiscal year 2022,” Kelly said. However, it's unclear what this means for the prior technology development program. Kelly said that effort remains relevant, with the contract ongoing, but referred any further questions about its status to the Army. “Our developmental efforts — what we do for one, it serves the other as well,” he said. “We were both [Raytheon and Lockheed Martin] going to develop prototypes. But with the sense-off, we're doing it faster,” and with more competitors. The sense-off strategy accelerates the timeline by a couple of years, Kelly said. The other lingering question is whether the LTAMDS will include 360-degree coverage — a high priority for the Army, but seemingly one downsized in importance for the LTAMDS effort. “The threshold is not for a 360-degree radar,” Kelly said, adding that Raytheon's base design does include the capability. “We have a lot of scalability in our system, so if the Army decides they don't want [360-degree coverage], we can give them the opportunity in the future to upgrade.” The Raytheon-made Patriot air and missile defense radar was first fielded in the 1980s, and the Army attempted to replace the system with Lockheed Martin's Medium Extended Air Defense System through a co-development effort with Germany and Italy. But that program was canceled in the U.S. after closing out a proof-of-concept phase roughly six years ago. Since then, the Army has studied and debated how to replace the Patriot radar with one that has 360-degree detection capability, while Raytheon continues to upgrade its radar to keep pace with current threats. It is acknowledged that there will come a point where that radar will not be able to go up against future threats. “The Patriot remains exceptional” today, Kelly said. “LTAMDS is looking out beyond tomorrow.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/02/21/raytheon-will-participate-in-army-missile-defense-sense-off/

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  July 23, 2018 | International, Naval

  Navy's Fire Scout Drone Helo May Be Sold to Allied Militaries Soon

  By Oriana Pawlyk RAF Fairford, England -- Northrop Grumman Corp. is looking to expand sales of its MQ-8C Fire Scout abroad as the unmanned helicopter preps for its anti-submarine warfare mission. Sitting buttoned-up on the flightline here, the Fire Scout drone -- complete with the U.K.-based Ultra Electronics' sonobuoy mission pod -- is receiving exposure just weeks after completing the first set of mission tests of its target identification, surveillance and surface warfare abilities aboard the USS Coronado. "They've matured it to a level now where [people are] recognizing the value in different missions it is able to do and the [U.S. Navy] is very excited about expanding that capability," said Brian Chappel, Northrop's sector vice president and general manager of autonomous systems. Military.com sat down with Chappel during the Royal International Air Tattoo here. Northrop did not showcase the UAS at Farnborough. "Some of those missions are going to be very interesting to customers around the world. Antisubmarine warfare, communication nodes, support to service action groups, and also with beginning to see a shift in the export policy around this class of system in the U.S., we think there's an opportunity now to take this system and its capability and what it does and find some fertile ground overseas," he said. Related content: US Still Hopes to Sway Turkey to Buy Patriot Missiles over S-400 Air Force Slowly Building Up in Eastern Europe: USAFE Commander Military.com Farnborough Airshow Coverage Chappel's comments come as the Trump administration on Monday finalized its Conventional Arms Transfer (CAT) Policy. The State Department recently approved the policy, which aims to relax export rules as well as create channels for U.S. defense industry to sell weapons and drones to international customers without U.S. government sign-off. "We're in various stages in providing information to [partners] through the Navy," Chappel continued. "And by bringing it here [during] the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force, a lot of different forces, a lot of people to talk to here that wouldn't normally think about a Fire Scout, and we get to ... tell them how it's a little bit different than just unmanning a helicopter that flies by itself." The Navy, which is set to use Fire Scout aboard its Littoral Combat Ships, is working with Northrop to add different capabilities, Chappel said. "There's a radar that's now being implemented on the system that when it goes operational, will extend the horizon [of it] hundreds of miles beyond," he said, referring to Leonardo's Osprey 30 lightweight active electronically scanned array radar, as well as common datalink Link 16. The UAS is a stripped-down version of the Bell 407. While the anti-sub mission pod would also be an enhancement, it is not currently used by the Navy. The Fire Scout also participated in the U.S. Navy-led RIMPAC exercises this month. The drone can stay airborne for 12 hours and fly at a ceiling of 16,000 feet. Its radar range lets it see roughly 100 miles out to detect a surface target. Chappel estimates that in 10 years additional U.S. units will be using the drone, as well as allies. He said it will evolve for different mission sets. "Do you want it to be an [anti-sub warfare] platform today, and a comms node tomorrow or mixing and matching ... in between?" he said, adding that additional sensors could be integrated for range. "That type of flexibility will make it very attractive." https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/07/17/navys-fire-scout-drone-helo-may-be-sold-allied-militaries-soon.html