October 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Analysis from PwC, commissioned by BAE Systems on behalf of Team Tempest, the partnership behind the Tempest future combat air system programme has said that the project to develop a future fighter will contribute at least £25bn to the UK's economy and support an average of 20,000 jobs a year between 2026 and 2050.
Team Tempest is a partnership between BAE Systems, Leonardo, Rolls-Royce, MBDA and the Royal Air Force's (RAF) Rapid Capabilities Office, as well as a host of small-medium enterprises and academia.
Preliminary findings from the PwC report due to published in full later this year said that the programme including ‘R&D spillover' would add £25.3bn to the UK economy for the first 30 years of the programme and ‘support an average of circa 20,000 jobs every year between 2026 and 2050'.
The findings added that for every 100 people directly employed by Team Tempest, a further 270 would be employed across the UK.
BAE Systems director combat air acquisition programme Michael Christie said: “Tempest is an exciting and ambitious multi-decade programme that will help to preserve our national security whilst at the same time driving significant economic benefits for the UK.
“The initial analysis revealed today demonstrates that Tempest is critical to ensuring the UK can sustain its world-leading Combat Air Sector, preserving the sovereign capability that is essential to retaining military freedom of action for the UK.”
The economic benefits of the programme come alongside the release of more technical details about the future fighter by Team Tempest, which the consortium said can “capture the equivalent of a ‘city's worth of data' in a second”.
Tempest is expected to come into service in the mid-2030s and is set to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon within the RAF. The aircraft is set to form part of a broader combat air system that will likely include ‘wingman' uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
ADS chief executive Paul Everitt added: “The Tempest programme is essential for our national security and future prosperity. The high-value design and groundbreaking engineering skills required for success will create a new generation of talent to drive UK industry.
“Defence programmes like Tempest offer an invaluable opportunity to secure a recovery from the current Covid-19 crisis. It will embed high-value design and manufacturing skills in the UK for decades to come, sustain thousands of high paying jobs and give apprentices the opportunity to build their career in an iconic programme with massive export potential.”
Team Tempest today also unveiled several insights into the programme including that Leonardo, the programme's electronics lead, was developing new radar systems capable of providing over 10,000 times more data than existing systems.
Leonardo director of major air programmes Iain Bancroft said: “The collaborative relationship between Team Tempest and our network of academic and SME partners enables us to bring together the ‘best of the best' engineering talent from across the UK. Crucially, we are embracing new ways of working as an integrated team to dramatically improve efficiency and pace – sharing intelligence and refining our concepts digitally to deliver innovations that will shape the next generation combat air system.
“Our new radar technology is a concrete example of the gains this approach has already brought, costing 25% less to develop while providing over 10,000 times more data than existing systems.”
The ‘Multi-Function Radio Frequency System' is slated as being able to collect data ‘equivalent to the internet traffic of a large city such as Edinburgh' every second.
The new sensor is described as providing a range of ‘abilities beyond traditional radar', with the company having already built complete sub-systems utilising the technology with a path set for airborne demonstrations in the ‘coming years'.
On top of this, BAE Systems said it had begun flight-testing components for the aircraft's ‘wearable cockpit' technology. The system will see physical controls in the aircraft replaced with ‘Augmented and Virtual Reality displays projected directly inside the visor of a helmet' allowing them to be configured to meet different missions.
A team from MBDA is also working on this technology to ensure the early introduction of weapons concepts. The MBDA team is also looking at how ‘weapons system information and operation' is optimised for pilots.
BAE Systems is also exploring the development of a ‘virtual co-pilot' that can take on and automate some of the pilot's responsibilities.
‘Psycho-physiological' technology is also being trialled to measure a pilot's physical and cognitive processes. BAE Systems said this would help better understand ‘increasing exertion, stress, workload and fatigue'. BAE Systems test pilots are currently trialling these technologies on the Typhoon aircraft.
Rolls-Royce is working on the programmes ‘advanced combustion system technology'. Team Tempest has said that the next-generation system will need to be ‘hotter than any previous platform' to increase the efficiency of Tempest's engines.
The engine manufacturer has also been working on advanced composite materials and additive manufacturing techniques, to produce lighter weight, denser components able to withstand higher temperatures than current parts.
https://www.airforce-technology.com/features/tempest-future-fighter-worth-25bn-to-uk-economy/
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.
September 12, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
NAVY The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $45,803,988 firm-fixed-price delivery order (N61340-19-F-0135) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-19-G-0002) to procure P-8A aircrew training system production concurrency upgrades for the Navy and the government of Australia. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (45%); Jacksonville, Florida (40%); Adelaide, Australia (12%); Whidbey Island, Washington (2%); and Orlando, Florida (1%), and is expected to be completed in December 2022. Fiscal 2017 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $37,000,969; and cooperative engagement agreement funds in the amount of $8,803,019 are being obligated on this award, $37,000,969 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. CM Construction Services Inc.,* Visalia, California, is awarded a $20,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for other specialty trade contractors construction alterations, renovations and repair projects at Naval Support Activity Monterey. Projects will be primarily design-bid-build (fully designed) task orders or task orders with minimal design effort (e.g. shop drawings). Projects may include, but are not limited to, alterations, repairs, and construction of electrical; mechanical; painting; engineering/design; paving (asphaltic and concrete); flooring (tile work/carpeting); roofing; structural repair; fencing; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; and fire suppression/protection system installation projects. Work will be performed in Monterey, California. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, and is expected to be completed September 2024. Fiscal 2019 operation and maintenance, (Navy) (O&M, N) contract funds in the amount of $5,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M, N. This contract was competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with 18 proposals received. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-19-D-2608). Veterans Northwest Construction LLC,* Seattle, Washington, is awarded a $12,277,000 firm-fixed-price task order N44255-19-F-4417 under a multiple award construction contract (N44255-17-D-4015) for a special project (repair railroad tracks), Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington. The work to be performed includes repair to three railroad bridges and track modifications. Work will be performed in Shelton and Bremerton, Washington, and is expected to be completed by June 2021. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance, (Navy) contract funds for $12,277,000 are obligated on this award and expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Two proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, is the contracting activity (N44255-17-D-4015). ARMY Eastman Aggregate Enterprises LLC,* Lake Worth, Florida, was awarded a $15,949,855 firm-fixed-price contract for nourish critically eroded shoreline along Miami-Dade Beach. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed in Miami, Florida, with an estimated completion date of July 17, 2020. Fiscal 2019 civil construction funds in the amount of $15,949,855 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, Florida, is the contracting activity (W912EP-19-C-0025). Golden Wolf Ewing Cole JV, Huntington, Maryland (W912DY-19-D-0020); HKS WSP JV, Dallas, Texas (W912DY-19-D-0021); and Rogers, Lovelock & Fritz Inc., Orlando, Florida (W912DY-19-D-0022), will compete for each order of the $9,900,000 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of specialized medical facilities architect-engineering services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 17 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 10, 2021. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity. *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1957779/source/GovDelivery/
January 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Jen Judson ARLINGTON, Texas — The Bell V-280 Valor tiltrotor demonstrator flew autonomously for the first time Dec. 18 at the company's Arlington facility in two sorties. Over the course of the day, the V-280 met all of Bell's flight goals for the aircraft's first venture into flying autonomously. The V-280 performed an autonomous takeoff, conversion into cruise mode, precision navigation to various waypoints, loiter maneuvers, conversion into vertical takeoff and landing mode and also landed autonomously, Ryan Ehinger, Bell's program manager for the V-280, told reporters at a company demonstration of the aircraft in Arlington on January 8. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) attended the demonstration. While safety pilots riding in the cockpit took over between different elements of autonomous flight throughout the sorties, the V-280 completed all pre-programmed elements “without issue,” Paul Wilson, the program's chief engineer, said. The company has yet to determine future flight tests as part of a continued effort to advance the tiltrotor's autonomous flight capabilities or whether it might specifically conduct a flight where all autonomous elements are stitched together without pilot intervention in between each maneuver. Bell developed its objective in late 2018 to run autonomous flight demonstrations with the V-280 and, just a year later, was able to execute the flight tests. The V-280 was built for the Army's Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration and had its maiden flight in December 2017. The autonomous flight took place on the second anniversary of the aircraft's first flight. The JMR-TD program is meant to inform the Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program. A Sikorsky-Boeing team is also flying a demonstrator — the SB-1 Defiant — as part of the program but got off to a late start, flying for the first time in March 2019, mostly due to delays related to issues building the rotor blades for the coaxial helicopter. The Army is planning to modernize its fleet through an ambitious effort to acquire two new Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft — FLRAA and a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) — back-to-back. The service intends to field FLRAA by FY30 following a full-and-open competition. The Army wants both FLRAA and FARA to be optionally piloted aircraft, but whether that capability comes in the first tranches when the fleet is fielded remain to be seen. Bell told reporters at the demonstration that since its first flight two years ago, the V-280 has logged over 160 flight hours among seven test pilots. It has demonstrated it can fly over 300 nautical miles in one trip and proven it can do 2G acceleration turns, can climb to 11,500 feet and has reached speeds of over 280 knots. The V-280 flew at 200 knots during the January 8 demonstration and performed other agility maneuvers while showing off its hover performance. While the JMR-TD phase is over, Bell continues to consider what could still be demonstrated with the V-280 before the aircraft is officially put to bed. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/01/09/bell-v-280-flies-autonomously-for-first-time