April 15, 2024 | International, Land
How would UK defence spending change under Starmer’s Labour? - Army Technology
UK election frontrunner Keir Starmer has pledged to raise the country's defence spending to 2.5% of GDP under a Labour government.
July 10, 2019 | International, Aerospace
UK shoots for new laser weapons against drones, missiles
By: Andrew Chuter
LONDON – Britain is planning to invest up to $162 million developing three directed-energy weapon demonstrators, including one aimed at killing drones, the Ministry of Defence has announced.
The MoD said it had notified industry this week, in what is called a Prior Information Notice, of its intention to procure two laser-based demonstrators and a radio-frequency weapon to “explore the potential of the technology and accelerate its introduction onto the battlefield.”
The British look to start the procurement process later this year and hope to have the new systems ready for trials in 2023.
A spokesman for the MoD said it's too early to talk about any other timelines or exactly how the weapons development work will be procured.
In a statement the MoD said it was forming a new joint program office and is now recruiting personnel to manage the program.
The demonstrators are part of the MoD's ‘Novel Weapons Programme,' which is responsible for the trial and implementation of innovative weapon systems. The new arms are expected to reach the frontline within 10 years.
The British already have a laser-based technology development effort underway. A £30 million ($37 million) technology demonstrator program known as Dragonfire was awarded to an industry consortium in 2017.
Missile maker MBDA, Qinetiq, BAE Systems, Leonardo and others are involved in the industrial effort.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is leading the effort from the MoD side. Initial trials on Dragonfire are scheduled to take place this year.
The spokesman said that while Dragonfire is about “assessing the viability of the technology, the new work will be looking at issues like size, functionality and exactly how they integrate on existing platforms.”
The new program will include two high-energy laser demonstrators. One onboard a ship for air and surface defense applications and a similar laser mounted on a land vehicle for short-range air defense and counter-surveillance applications.
The third program is aimed demonstrating a high-power radio frequency weapon mounted on a land vehicle against aerial drones and to counter enemy movements. The weapon is designed to disrupt and disable an adversary's computers and electronics.
The MoD statement said Britain already has over 30 years' experience in radio-frequency and directed- energy weapons “during which time the UK has become a world leader in developing new power generation technologies and a global hub for the performance testing and evaluation of these systems.”
“The new systems are expected to be trialed in 2023 on Royal Navy ships and Army vehicles but, once developed, both technologies could be operated by all three services. The armed forces will use these exercises to get a better understanding of DEW, test the systems to their limits, and assess how they could be integrated with existing platforms," said the MoD.
The MoD released images of the laser weapons mounted on a Type 26 frigate and a Wildcat naval helicopter.
The new program still leaves the British playing catch-up in the deployment of laser weapons. The U.S. Navy trialed a laser weapon on an operational warship several years ago and is now planning to install a high-energy laser and integrated optical dazzler with surveillance system on the destroyer Preble in 2021.
On the land side, German defense contractor Rheinmetall has been developing a laser weapon for several years and recently undertook comprehensive trials with a weapon station suitable for mounting on a platform like a Boxer armored vehicle.
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May 5, 2020 | International, Land
U.S. arms makers and medical device firms team up to make ventilators
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. weapons makers have teamed up with medical device companies to increase the supply of ventilators that can be used to combat the coronavirus pandemic, people working on the project said. The two groups do not regularly partner on projects, but when a defense industry consultant with an engineering background realized weapons makers could help solve supply-chain problems within the U.S. ventilator industry, the creation of Vent Connect was set in motion and is set to be announced on Monday, the people said. The idea gathered momentum when industry associations like the Aerospace Industries Association, which represents plane makers and defense contractors including Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) and General Dynamics Corp (GD.N), teamed up with AdvaMed, the Advanced Medical Technology Association, whose members include vent manufacturers. A handful of ventilator makers including ResMed Inc (RMD.N), and Zoll, an Asahi Kasei Corp (3407.T) company, post requests in the ventilator parts marketplace to a group of 60 weapons and airplane makers to help meet surging demand for the life-saving machines, an AdvaMed representative said. Working since March to cut through challenges as varied as how to handle intellectual property, confidentiality issues, cybersecurity and logistics, the two associations created the marketplace that is now serving as a new avenue for the ventilator supply chain. The defense companies involved in the project did not want their names published because they did not want to appear to seek credit for their efforts. At its outset, the task was gargantuan. One ventilator maker, Medtronic (MDT.N), released a parts list with over 1,500 items to see if there was any crossover with the defense supply chain, two of the people said. Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O) was brought in to help set up a website so that the companies could better coordinate online. The two industries share some common equipment. For example, fighter jets use pressure sensors to regulate oxygen to their face masks, which are also a key element in a ventilator to ensure that the rhythm of a patient's breathing pattern is monitored and maintained for the person's comfort. The efforts to try to stem the ventilator shortage are being worked on by the U.S. Army as well. In mid-April, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy offered an investment of $100,000 to innovators who could come up with a “rapid ventilator production system to support field hospitals that are still requiring critical infrastructure.” https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-industry/u-s-arms-makers-and-medical-device-firms-team-up-to-make-ventilators-idUSKBN22G12C
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November 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Security
Avionics upgrade slated for iconic aerial firefighters
by Lisa Gordon Often referred to as the “SuperScooper,” the Canadair CL-415 and its older sibling, the CL-215, are known around the world for their aerial firefighting capabilities. First introduced in 1967 by Canadair, the original CL-215 had piston engines. When Bombardier bought the company in 1986 and obtained the type certificate for the aerial firefighter, it spearheaded a turbine engine conversion in 1989 and named it the CL-215T. Subsequently, the manufacturer developed the turbine-powered CL-415 in the 1990s. The amphibious aircraft are capable of scooping just over 6,000 litres from a body of water within 12 seconds. After flying to a fire, the aircraft drop their loads and return to the water source to do it all over again. There are just under 170 Canadair amphibious firefighting aircraft flying worldwide, and while each may only log 200 to 300 flight hours annually, their missions are demanding. The airspace around a wildfire is busy with limited visibility, and it's crucial for waterbombers to see and be seen. On any given mission, they may be flying in concert with other resources deployed to fight a fire, which could include tankers carrying fire retardant, helicopters slinging water in Bambi buckets, and Bird Dog aircraft overseeing the entire operation. As the original CL-215T and CL-415 aircraft age, their outdated avionics are posing a significant challenge. In a world implementing technology such as ADS-B Out and controller pilot data link communications (CPDLC), the CL-215T and 415 family is becoming obsolete. A good start Viking Air Ltd. of Sidney, B.C., which obtained the Canadair amphibious aircraft type certificates from Bombardier in 2016 and now supports the worldwide fleet, is working to address this problem with a cockpit upgrade. It will enable the legendary aerial firefighters to fly in any airspace and is expected to extend their service lives by 25 years. “This aircraft has had a long life and a long history,” said Dan Seroussi, director, Programs at Viking. “The design originated in the 1960s with a piston engine. When we took over the program, we wanted to provide our operators with an evolution to give them more service life and a better dispatchability. We wanted to have a good start and immediately show our commitment to the aircraft and to our operator group.” So, Viking asked CL-215T and CL-415 operators about the biggest challenges faced by their fleets. “It was obsolescence,” explained Seroussi. “They came to us with a lot of issues which led to a focus on the avionics. It was an opportunity to extend the life of the existing fleet. “New requirements are mandatory, such as ADS-B Out,” he continued. “On top of that, the technology has evolved. Even if it's not mandatory, more modern technology is available to help this aircraft accomplish its mission. We wanted to take this opportunity to upgrade the avionics suite and improve performance wherever possible.” The result is the Avionics Upgrade Program (AUP) for the Canadair CL-215T and CL-415 aircraft, launched in May 2019. Viking selected fellow B.C.-based company, Cascade Aerospace of Abbotsford, to perform the integration of a new Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion avionics suite with embedded display system. “Cascade defines the requirements and manages the design and certification activities,” explained Seroussi. “They will install and certify the upgraded avionics and as the aircraft OEM, Viking will integrate the modification into the type certificate of the CL platform.” The design of the modification is currently under development and is nearing the preliminary design review stage. The first CL-415 to undergo the modification process will be used as the prototype and is expected to be completed “with all the options” and certified by the end of 2021. Seroussi reported good progress so far, adding it will take approximately 6,000 hours of work to complete subsequent installations, after program certification and learning curve amortization is taken into account. He estimated the potential market for this avionics upgrade could exceed 100 aircraft worldwide. “The Pro Line Fusion avionics suite is well suited to this application because of its software-enabled scalability and flexible architecture,” he said. “We will start with one standard cockpit layout optimized for the 415, then we will try to familiarize the upgraded cockpit for the CL-215T as much as possible.” The baseline (core) configuration of the avionics suite will include all of the required avionics capabilities, including (but not limited to) flight director, engine hydraulic, surface control, communication and crew alerting system indications on the displays, flight management system (FMS) coupled with SBAS-GPS providing LPV capability, mutable terrain awareness warning system (TAWS), traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) II 7.1, ADS-B Out, synthetic vision, night vision imaging system compatibility, enhanced mapping, AirNav maps, voice radio, navaids systems, and a multi-function keyboard panel along with two cursor controls that provide a fully equivalent alternative to the touchscreen commands. Autopilot, flight monitoring system, weather radar, satcom, flight data recorder or datalink are a few of the numerous options that can be incorporated based on each operator's requirements. The cockpit upgrade will cost less than the alternative of incorporating three individual upgrade STCs, with each only providing one of the many new functionalities now included in the AUP core configuration. So far, there has been “significant interest” from the aerial firefighting community, and Seroussi expects that to increase once the first aircraft has been completed. He told Skies that Viking is also close to finalizing arrangements with the avionics upgrade program's CL-415 launch customer. While the work proceeds, Seroussi said Viking is also likely to utilize the advancements made in the AUP as the basis for a proposed CL-415 replacement, called the CL-515. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/avionics-upgrade-slated-for-iconic-aerial-firefighters