Sweden donates another $680 mln in military aid to Ukraine

On the same subject

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  August 16, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  DARPA Wants to Make Underground Maps on the Fly

  The agency is challenging teams to build systems that chart caves, tunnels and underground urban infrastructure. Finding your way through caves and tunnels is both difficult and extremely dangerous, but the Pentagon's research office wants to build technology that can navigate underground environments while humans stay on the surface. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is finalizing teams for its Subterranean Challenge, or SubT, a three-year competition to build systems that can rapidly map and search often treacherous underground areas. The agency on Thursday awarded a $4.5 million contract to Virginia-based iRobot Defense Holdings and a $750,000 contract to Michigan Technological University to participate in the challenge. A third team, Scientific Systems Company Inc., joined the program on July 31 with a $492,000 contract. “Even under ideal conditions, these complex environments present significant challenges for subterranean situational awareness,” DARPA wrote in the program announcement. “However, in time-sensitive scenarios, whether in active combat operations or disaster response settings, warfighters and first responders alike are faced with a range of increased technical challenges, including difficult and dynamic terrains ... severe communication constraints, and expansive areas of operation.” Full Article: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/08/darpa-wants-make-underground-maps-fly/150554/

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  June 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  NATO’s new surveillance drone begins test flights over the Mediterranean

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The first of five new NATO surveillance drones began test flights over the Mediterranean Sea this month, nudging the alliance toward a new capability meant to relieve the demand for U.S. equipment. The flights took off from Sigonella air base in Sicily, Italy, the future headquarters of the Northrop Grumman-made Global Hawks of the Alliance Ground Surveillance program. The planes are owned by a collective of 15 NATO members. The alliance's supreme allied commander for Europe, a job currently filled by U.S. Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, has tasking authority over the new capability. The North Atlantic Council also gets a say in cases of missions outside of NATO territory. The first two drones arrived late last year. Officials expect the rest of the fleet to make the trip from the manufacturer's facilities in Palmdale, California, throughout the summer. Earlier this spring, travel restrictions spurred by the spread of the novel coronavirus had raised the possibility of a delay in getting the initial plane approved for its flight schedule. But the Italian government allowed a team of Northrop specialists into Italy in late May for acceptance testing, a key step in obtaining an airworthiness certificate for the drone. “COVID-related delays ended up only being a few weeks, but nothing that significant,” Camille Grand, NATO's assistant secretary general for defense investment, told Defense News in an interview, referring to the coronavirus disease. “We are now moving to a pattern of regular flight to enable the force to use the drone.” Officials have been tight-lipped about exactly where they intend to use the aircraft once they are fully operational. “You can imagine missions of looking into the situation on NATO's borders,” Grand said. “Both in the south, in the Middle East or the east. The drones enable you to collect intelligence beyond your airspace.” While the initial aircraft has already completed at least one nine-hour flight over the Mediterranean Sea, it remains to be seen if the the aircraft can get clearance from Italian regulators to fly over land, where air traffic is more crowded and a mishap could be catastrophic. The general idea is to use the Italian airworthiness approval to fly anywhere. “The beauty of the European airspace is that once your are certified in Italy, you can fly across the European airspace,” Grand said. He noted that the certification currently in effect is provisional, and that the scope of the process is “likely to expand over time.” For now, high-flying military surveillance drones traversing the continent must obtain permission from national airspace authorities for a restricted flight corridor to protect nearby civilian traffic. Such is the case, for example, when U.S. unmanned aircraft fly reconnaissance missions close to the Baltics. The Alliance Ground Surveillance program's ambition is to “lift any limitations,” Grand said. “It is a very interesting and fascinating challenge because it is the first time ever that we are incorporating those Global Hawks in what is usually a crowded airspace on a permanent basis.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/transatlantic-partnerships/2020/06/22/natos-new-surveillance-drone-begins-test-flights-over-the-mediterranean/

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  December 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - December 07, 2020

  ARMY West-MGE JV,* Tempe, Arizona, was awarded a $40,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for civil works and hydrology and hydraulics services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 15 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 7, 2025. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (W912PP-21-D-0001). AIR FORCE International Enterprises Inc., Talladega, Alabama, has been awarded a $12,469,948 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ), requirements contract for F-16 modular low power radio frequency (MLPRF) and dual mode transmitter (DMT) repairs. This contract provides for the repair of both MLPRF and DMT, which function as part of the radar systems of each F-16 C/D aircraft. Work will be performed in Talladega, Alabama, and is expected to be completed Dec. 6, 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Funding for the initial order is not presently available due to the contract being a requirements-type IDIQ. The Air Force Material Command, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8251-21-D-0004). U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Air Transport International Inc., Wilmington, Ohio, has been awarded a task order HTC711-21-F-W009 under contract HTC711-19-D-W002 in the estimated amount of $7,650,630. The contract provides international, commercial, door to door, cargo transportation services. Multiple or single modes (e.g. airlift, sealift, linehaul) of transportation may be used in any combination to move cargo globally. The task order period of performance is from Dec. 4, 2020, to March 6, 2021. Fiscal 2021 transportation working capital funds were obligated at award. U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Dec. 4, 2020) *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2438179/source/GovDelivery/