Taser maker Axon raises full year revenue outlook | Reuters

On the same subject

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  April 9, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  India opens contest to supply more than 100 fighter jets

  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is seeking to buy around 110 fighter jets, the air force said in a request for information issued on Friday, marking the first step toward a long-delayed deal that could be worth more than $15 billion. Boeing (BA.N), Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), Saab (SAABb.ST) and Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA) are among the manufacturers expected to compete. The aircraft must be built largely in India as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's drive to build a domestic industrial base. The air force said in a notice that “85 percent will have to be made in India by a Strategic Partner/Indian Production Agency”. Lockheed has offered to move its F-16 production line in Fort Worth, Texas, to India and make it the only plant worldwide to produce the F-16 for not only India but also other countries, said Vivek Lall, vice president, strategy and business development at Lockheed Martin. Lockheed has teamed with India's Tata Advanced Systems to build the planes locally while Sweden's Saab has entered into a partnership with the Adani Group, a resources conglomerate. The other contenders have not announced their local partners. The tender will be open for makers of both single engine and twin-engined combat jets, in a widening of the field. The Eurofighter Typhoon and Russian aircraft are also potential contenders under the new requirements. A spokesman for Dassault Aviation which makes the twin-engine Rafale declined to comment. Earlier, the defense ministry had sought expressions of interest from single-engine manufacturers which effectively restricted the contest to Lockheed's F-16 and Saab's Gripen fighter jets. But in February the government asked the air force to open up the competition to twin-engined aircraft, in the latest flip-flop in policy that has delayed the acquisition process for years and left the air force short of hundreds of planes. India began its search for new planes for the Indian air force in 2003 to replace its Soviet-era MiG fighters. The request for information is open until July, the air force said. A request for proposal will then be issued followed by bid evaluations and contract negotiations. The process could take years, officials say. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-defence/india-opens-contest-to-supply-more-than-100-fighter-jets-idUSKCN1HD1UX

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  August 31, 2020 | International, Naval

  US Navy solicits input for computer infrastructure-as-a-service initiative

  by Carlo Munoz The US Navy is soliciting industry input for an effort to migrate all computer infrastructure supporting the entire surface fleet into an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) construct, one of several strategic shifts navy leaders are implementing as part of the Future Integrated Combat System (FICS) Computing Infrastructure (CI) architecture initiative. The IaaS effort will be a third-party, cloud-based infrastructure where navy information technology specialists will have the capability “to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications”, according to the navy's 25 August Request for Information (RFI). In turn, navy officials will not have management authority or control over the underlying infrastructure under IaaS but will be able to utilise the provided processing, storage, networks, and “other fundamental computing resources” as part of the infrastructure, the RFI added. The “common, scalable intermittently connected edge cloud architecture” envisioned for the IaaS will enable the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) construct under the FCIS CI architecture initiative, navy documents stated. “The IaaS and PaaS layers will abstract the mission applications from the physical computing resources and automate the configuration of the entire CI,” which will then support navy surface fleet deployments beginning in 2023, the documents added. Aside from supporting all navy surface combatant fielding under the FICS CI, potential industry participants in the RFI will also help develop “hardware refresh” solutions for the surface fleet. Those solutions will cover “large and small surface combatants, aircraft carriers, amphibious ships, and other related programs including [the] US Coast Guard”, as well as future ship classes and Aegis Combat Systems produces for Foreign Military Sales. Officials from Navy Sea Systems Command's Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) are spearheading the IaaS RFP and the overall FCIS CI initiative. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-navy-solicits-input-for-computer-infrastructure-as-a-service-initiative?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2008.31.20&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief

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  September 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Nouvelle version du Black Eagle 50

  Steadicopter présente une nouvelle version de son drone Black Eagle 50. A l'occasion du salon DSEI, l'entreprise israélienne Steadicopter présentera une version modernisée du Black Eagle 50. Cet aéronef correspond à un drone VTOL (à décollage et atterrissage vertical), capable de mener des missions civiles et militaires. Il a principalement été mis au point pour la conduite d'opérations ISTAR (renseignement, surveillance, acquisition de cible, reconnaissance). La nouvelle version du Black Eagle 50 repose sur deux nouveautés majeures. D'une part, l'aéronef a été équipé d'un système de navigation inertielle, lui permettant de se déplacer sans accès au signal GPS et de calculer les coordonnées de l'appareil en permanence. Deuxième grosse amélioration apportée au Black Eagle 50, l'appareil a été modifié afin de pouvoir conduire des missions en environnement naval, voire même d'être embarqué à bord d'un b'timent. Le Black Eagle 50 peut ainsi désormais conduire des missions sur terre et en mer. Son endurance, comprise entre 3 et 4 heures, et sa portée, pouvant atteindre les 150 km, lui permettent ainsi de couvrir de large périmètre à chaque mission. Equipé de capteurs permettant de conduire des missions en environnement diurne et nocturne, le Black Eagle 50 peut emporter une charge utile allant jusqu'à 5 kilos, pour une masse à vide de 27 kilos. Sa masse maximale au décollage est de 35 kilos. Par Justine BOQUET http://www.apps-drones.com/nouvelle-version-du-black-eagle-50-126255