June 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security
By Gina Harkins
The winner of the next presidential election will be the first to fly in one of six new helicopters built for the commander in chief.
Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, will deliver half a dozen VH-92A aircraft starting in 2021 as part of a new $542 million contract, Navy officials announced Monday. The six aircraft will be the first of 23 new presidential helicopters the company will deliver by 2023.
The contract from Naval Air Systems Command includes support equipment, parts replenishment and spares, according to the announcement.
Dave Banquer, Sikorsky's VH-92A program director, said the latest modifications to the aircraft make it capable of transporting the president anywhere around the world at any time. The aircraft has undergone rigorous testing and operational assessments, including on the south lawn of the White House, according to a Sikorsky news release.
"The VH-92A has flown over 520 flight test hours establishing the aircraft's technical maturity and readiness of its mission systems," it states.
The Quantico, Virginia-based Marine Helicopter One Squadron flies the aircraft that transport the president, vice president and foreign heads of state. The squadron includes a fleet of "White Top" VH-3D Sea Kings, VH-60N "White Hawks" and "Green Top" MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
The VH-92A will "increase performance and payload over the current presidential helicopters," which have been flying for more than 40 years, a Navy release states. That includes better communication capabilities and maintainability.
Most of the work on the new helicopters will be done in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, with some also taking place in New York, Maryland and Virginia.
James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, said the government and contract teams were able to move the deal into initial production at more than "$1 billion less than the program's cost baseline."
Marines in Quantico have been learning how to fly the new helos since earlier this year on a new training device. The replica VH-92A cockpit gives pilots "mission-oriented flight training in a simulation-based training device," Sikorsky said in its release.
"The training suite allows maintainers to hone their skills to effectively maintain the aircraft and practice troubleshooting," it states.
June 13, 2024 | International, C4ISR
Opinion: Networks need to be able to quickly and automatically recover and repair themselves in the event of an issue without the need for human intervention.
May 10, 2019 | International, Aerospace
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — Switzerland should package the proposed buy of 40 or so combat aircraft as a unique track under the $8 billion Air 2030 program, according to a new study commissioned by the defense ministry. This, the study argues, will increase the chance the purchase will be approved in an eventual national referendum. The conclusion is part of a report by former Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier, who was tasked earlier this year by the new defense minister, Viola Amherd, to critique the envisioned air-defense reboot. The recommendation speaks to the government's strategy of seeing the aircraft acquisition through a circuitous decision-making process in a country with a strong plebiscitary tradition. Buying the aircraft makes up the lion's share of the Air 2030 program, at roughly $6 billion. The purchase of ground-based, air-defense weaponry accounts for the rest. The current Cabinet plan is to pursue the aircraft and ground-based, anti-missile weaponry as a package deal, allowing the populace to vote on both segments en bloc in the likely event that a referendum is called. But advocates for new aircraft, which includes Nicollier, contend that the need for new planes is so great that the decision should be teed up without any distractions whatsoever. “In my opinion, it is wise to choose this track for the combat aircraft, after the past experiences of our direct democracy,” Nicollier wrote in his report. “It is ... useless to mix another weapon system to this next battle, which concerns only the plane and which promises, as usual, to be much more emotional than professional.” Nicollier's comment refers to a previous Swiss decision about replacing parts of its aging combat aircraft inventory, composed of F-5 Tiger and F-18 planes, five years ago this month. At the time, the population voted down the government's pick of the Saab Gripen E following a grueling campaign by advocates and opponents that quickly left the realm of national security arguments. Some believe that putting a specific aircraft model out for a referendum contributed to the program's defeat, a mistake that the defense ministry wants to avoid at all costs this time around. According to a statement on the ministry's website, Nicollier's analysis, submitted in French, recommends that the population should get the chance to vote on the aircraft acquisition only in general terms, leaving the choice of aircraft model up to the government later on. The competitors for the aircraft procurement are Airbus with the Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin with the F-35A, Boeing with the F-18 Super Hornet and Dassault with the Rafale. Saab and its Gripen E also are taking another go at it. Nicollier's report will probably be seen as good news for the industry contenders. For one, it supports the idea that Switzerland must quickly act to modernize its abilities to control the national airspace at a time when traditional geopolitical fronts in Europe are becoming murky. In addition, it proposes a path for the aircraft acquisition that appears mindful of lessons learned from the Gripen debacle of 2014. Cabinet officials are expected to debate the Nicollier report in the weeks ahead and determine how its recommendations will shape the Air 2030 program, a Swiss defense ministry official told Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/05/09/swiss-air2030-program-clears-hurdle-of-external-review-with-tweaks
February 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By Ed Adamczyk Feb. 24 (UPI) -- An agreement to advance construction of a joint advanced combat aircraft program was ceremonially signed by French and German defense ministers. A contract for the first phase of the program to build the main aircraft of the Future Combat Air System was awarded last week. It covers the plane's propulsion system, data architecture and simulation environment, the German Defense Ministry said. Airbus, MTU, Safran and Dassault are the lead contractors. Plans for the program include development of a Next-Generation Weapon System whose components include remote carrier vehicles known as "swarming drones" and a sixth-generation fighter plane intended to be ready by 2035 to replace current Rafales, Eurofighters and F-18 Hornet planes. The plane and drones are expected to work in tandem. Two additional areas of work, involving the plane's sensors and stealth capabilities, remain under discussion. The cost of the first phase of the program, which is expected to take 18 months, will cost about $166 million and will be equally shared by Germany and France. Florence Parly, the French defense minister, and her German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer ceremonially signed the agreement in Paris on Thursday. While Spain joined the program after it was announced in 2019, and Angelo Olivares, Spain's deputy defense minister, was present at the signing, it is currently a two-nation project. Spain's contributory share remains a topic of negotiation, but it is expected to join and help pay for the project later this year. A flying demonstrator version of the fighter plane is expected by 2026. A mockup of the plane, a shell with no internal components, was unveiled in June 2019 at the Paris Air Show. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/02/24/France-Germany-sign-agreement-to-build-sixth-generation-fighter-plane