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December 11, 2023 | International, Aerospace

Stratolaunch’s Roc set to launch Talon-A on first hypersonic flight

The Talon-A could provide DoD with a reusable, more affordable platform to test and validate high-speed components, subsystems and other technologies.

https://www.defensenews.com/battlefield-tech/hypersonics/2023/12/11/stratolaunchs-roc-set-to-launch-talon-a-on-first-hypersonic-flight/

On the same subject

  • Decision coming soon on who will build prototypes for a new Army light tank

    October 10, 2018 | International, Land

    Decision coming soon on who will build prototypes for a new Army light tank

    By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army is expected to make a decision by the end of the year on which companies will build prototype vehicles as part of its light tank competition. The requirement for a Mobile Protected Firepower vehicle to provide infantry brigade combat teams a protected, long-range, cyber-resilient, precision, direct-fire capability for early or forcible entry operations was first laid out in the Army's combat vehicle modernization strategy released in October 2015. The Army is looking to rapidly procure this capability by turning to commercial off-the-shelf technology rather than spend years developing it. Several competitors submitted offerings to the competition in late February in the hopes that they are selected to build 12 prototypes that will be demonstrated and evaluated — and that will ultimately lead to the service selecting a winner to go into production. The low-rate initial production plans are for roughly 54 vehicles — 26 to start, with an option to build 28 more, as well as retrofitting eight of the prototype vehicles. The first unit equipped is planned for 2025. If selected, the contractors have 14 months to deliver MPF prototypes to the Army. A final request for proposals will likely come out in late October or November, and the service will make a decision shortly thereafter. SAIC partnered with Singapore's ST Kinetics and Belgium-based CMI Defense; BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems all submitted written proposals, vehicles and armor coupons for testing. The SAIC team integrated CMI's Cockeril 3105 turret on an ST Kinetics next-generation armored fighting vehicle chassis as its offering. BAE Systems is offering an M8 Buford Armored Gun System with new capabilities and modernized components. GD submitted an offering that combines a version of its latest Abrams turret with a chassis that leverages experience from the United Kingdom's AJAX program. “We have additional new and proven technologies to meet MPF specific requirements,” a GD spokesperson said. The Army has already moved through its testing and evaluation ahead of a decision later this year. Vehicle bid samples were tested to evaluate mobility and firepower performance, and the armor coupons were tested to evaluate protection performance. According to Jim Scanlon, senior vice president and general manager of SAIC's defense systems group, the company did both pre-validation and follow-on testing of its vehicle offering before and after the Army's own evaluation period. The company has brought the vehicle to the Association of the United States Army's annual conference. If selected, SAIC plans to perform final integration work in its Charleston, South Carolina, facility, with the other companies in the team building their contributions in their own facilities. However, Scanlon said, the company is working to come up with ways to do more and more of the production work in the United States, and both companies involved are on board and see moving some work into the country as a necessary investment as big combat vehicle programs gain traction. All options are being considered, Scanlon said. BAE plans to build its EMD prototypes within its manufacturing network including York, Pennsylvania, Aiken, South Carolina, Anniston, Alabama and Sterling Heights, Michigan, according to the company's MPF capture lead Greg Mole. GD said it would not release build locations for the vehicles at this time. The MPF program now falls under the Army's Next-Generation Combat Vehicle cross-functional team's purview, which lies under the new Army Futures Command, charged with modernizing the force more rapidly to maintain overmatch against peer adversaries. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/10/decision-coming-soon-on-who-will-build-prototypes-for-a-new-army-light-tank

  • NFAC Tests Next-Generation Military Helicopter

    October 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    NFAC Tests Next-Generation Military Helicopter

    Wind Tunnel Test Designed To Validate The Aerodynamic Performance And Flight Mechanics Of Sikorsky's X2 Technology Aircraft The U.S. Army is looking to improve its aviation technology and recently called upon the AEDC National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at Moffett Field in Mountain View, CA, to advance this effort. Engineers from Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation and The Boeing Company, in partnership with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center Army Aviation Development Directorate, recently conducted a series of tests at NFAC to support the development of the SB>1 DEFIANT, a military helicopter being developed for the Army's Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) program. The goal of this wind tunnel test was to validate the aerodynamic performance and flight mechanics of Sikorsky's X2 Technology aircraft. These configurations, which are being utilized on the SB>1 DEFIANT, include a lift-offset coaxial rotor system, composite fuselage and rear-mounted pusher propulsor that provides increased speed. The SB>1 DEFIANT, which made its first flight in March, is a technology demonstrator for a medium-lift utility helicopter. Future uses of this type of air vehicle could include attack and assault, troop transport or MEDEVAC. The testing was conducted throughout the first half of 2019 and concluded in mid-June. To accomplish the tests, a 1/5 scale model of the SB>1 DEFIANT airframe with powered coaxial main rotors was placed in the NFAC 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel. Measurements included forces and moments on the various components, as well as fuselage, empennage and blade surface pressures. David Wang, NFAC test engineer, said the recent tests expanded on data collected from a JMR wind tunnel entry conducted at NFAC in 2016 by gathering data at faster speed ranges. “From the NFAC perspective, the wind tunnel test was successful,” Wang said. “The test customer was able to collect performance and handling qualities data for their subscale model up to their maximum design flight speed.” Data collected during the recent tests is undergoing review and analysis. It is unknown at this time if there will be future testing of the SB>1 DEFIANT model at NFAC. The full-scale SB>1 DEFIANT flight demonstrator is currently undergoing ground and flight tests at Sikorsky's flight test facility. According to the Sikorsky-Boeing JMR Team, data from SB>1 DEFIANT will help the Army develop requirements for new utility helicopters expected to enter service in the early 2030s. A previous DOD study concluded that upgrades to the aging DOD rotary wing aviation fleet would not provide the capabilities required for future operations. Significant improvement in several attributes of fleet aircraft, such as speed, payload, range, survivability and vertical lift are required to meet future needs. It was determined this improvement could be achieved through application of new technologies and designs. To accomplish its goal, the Army has been executing a science & technology (S&T) effort to mitigate risk associated with maturity of critical technologies, feasibility of desired capabilities and cost of a technical solution. An aspect of this effort is the air vehicle development associated with the JMR TD program. JMR TD is the alignment of Army Aviation's S&T with the Future Vertical Lift initiative, which seeks to develop a new family of system to modernize and replace the government's current fleet of rotorcraft. According to the Army, the intent of the JMR TD is to mitigate risk for the Future Vertical Lift program through means that include the testing of advanced technologies and efficient vehicle configurations. NFAC, managed and operated by Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), is the largest wind tunnel complex in the world. It consists of both the 40- by 80-foot and 80- by 120- foot wind tunnels. These tunnels, which share a common drive system, are primarily used for aerodynamic and acoustic tests of rotorcraft and fixed wing, powered-lift V/STOL aircraft and developing advanced technologies for these vehicles. Both subscale and full-scale models are tested at NFAC. The speed range of the 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel test section is continuously variable from 0 to 300 knots, while the speed range in the 80- by 120-foot wind tunnel section is continuously variable from 0 to 100 knots. http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=021bcb83-4df9-4253-b7a3-ff3805b7b16a

  • Cloud Atlas Deploys VBCloud Malware: Over 80% of Targets Found in Russia

    December 29, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

    Cloud Atlas Deploys VBCloud Malware: Over 80% of Targets Found in Russia

    Cloud Atlas exploits CVE-2018-0802 to deploy VBCloud malware, targeting 80% of victims in Russia for data theft, system probing, and Telegram data ext

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