November 26, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Fly like the enemy: Exercise Maple Resolve - Skies Mag
On Exercise Maple Resolve, 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron joined the opposition force flying mission profiles not employed in decades.
September 29, 2024 | International, Land
Ukraine is turning to digital technologies to drive efficiencies in its military administration, conscription, and training.
November 26, 2023 | International, Aerospace
On Exercise Maple Resolve, 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron joined the opposition force flying mission profiles not employed in decades.
October 4, 2018 | International, Aerospace
By Zacks Equity Research, Zacks.com The Boeing Company BA recently won a $62.7-million contract for providing inspections, Inner Wing Panel (IWP) modifications, and repairs for the F/A-18 E/F and EA-18G aircraft. Such designated efforts are expected to restore aircraft and IWP service life projections to new design specifications. Work related to the deal will be majorly carried out in Jacksonville, FL; St. Louis, MI; and Lemoore, CA. The entire task related to the deal is expected to get completed in September 2019. The deal was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland. A Brief Note on F/A-18 and E/A-18 Boeing's F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet is a twin-engine, supersonic, all weather multirole fighter jet. The U.S. Navy's tactical and air superiority aircraft is capable of performing virtually every mission in the tactical spectrum, including air superiority, day/night strike with precision-guided weapons, fighter escort, close air support, suppression of enemy air defenses, maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward air control and tanker missions. Whereas, the EA-18G Growler is the most advanced airborne electronic attack (AEA) platform, which operates from either an aircraft carrier or from land-bases. What's Favoring Boeing? Boeing, being one of the major players in the defense business, stands out among its peers by virtue of its broadly diversified programs, strong order bookings and solid backlog. Furthermore, the company's expertise lies in programs related to wide variety of aircraft components, repairs and modification works. Considering Boeing's combat-proven aerospace programs and associated services along with the rapidly growing need for military aircraft in light of the enhancing geopolitical uncertainties worldwide, the company witnesses a solid inflow of orders from Pentagon. These contract wins, in turn, boost top-line growth for the company's defense business segment. Evidently, in second-quarter 2018, revenues at the Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) segment, which manufactures military jets like F/A-18, EA-18 Growler and its related components, increased 9% year over year to $5.59 billion. In line with this, we may expect the latest contract win to help this unit deliver similar top-line performance, in coming quarters. Meanwhile, toward the end of June 2018, the U.S. Senate approved the fiscal 2019 defense budget that provisions for major war fighting investments worth $21.7 billion for aircraft. Boeing, being the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States, will surely be a significant beneficiary from the budget, which further includes an investment plan of $2 billion for procuring 24 F/A-18E/F aircraft. Such inclusions reflect solid growth prospects for the BDS segment, which, in turn, are likely to boost Boeing's profit margin. Price Movement Boeing's stock has gained 53.4% in the past 12 months compared with the industry 's growth of 25.1%. The outperformance was primarily led by the robust worldwide demand for its commercial aircraft and military jets. Full article: https://www.nasdaq.com/article/boeing-wins-63m-navy-deal-for-fa-ea-18-aircraft-support-cm1032450
July 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Other Defence
By: Todd South A prototype device used recently at the Army's premiere combat training center has soldiers using precision cyber techniques to target small drones that might have been missed with other equipment and methods. Soldiers with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division used the cyber precision drone detection system during a January rotation at the National Training Center. The equipment allowed soldiers to get alerts of drone presence and ways to target it that helped protect the brigade, according to an Army release. Capt. Christopher Packard said the prototype integrated with existing signal, intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities. Five soldiers embedded with the opposing force to attack the brigade with enemy drones for more realistic training, according to the release. A group of software developers at the Army's Cyber Command along with others at the Defense Digital Service built custom software and modified commercial equipment to make the early versions of the prototype last year. “The (Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office) and Tobyhanna (Army Depot) helped out with taking it from an advanced prototype and turning it into an engineering design model,” said 1st Lt. Aneesh Patel, with ARCYBER's Cyber Solutions Development Detachment with the 782nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 780th Military Intelligence Brigade. “We designed our own hardware and schematics, but what we didn't have was the proper ability to scale, and I think that's important in a bridging strategy and for any prototype.” The system is an “interim solution,” according to the release. “Being a newer system and a new tool for a maneuver unit, there are going to be a lot of things we don't know as [cyber] engineers, and a lot of their specific needs for the capability that may not have gotten through to us. So being out there was very important to this and any other project like it,” Patel said. The system will be followed by an upgraded version slated for Special Operations Command for an operational assessment this summer. Phase two will maximize the capability's operational life span by adding software updates that improve performance, according to the release. That type of equipment hits drones, but the Army also has its own cyber protection teams, such as the one featured in another release out of Grafenwoehr, Germany in June, where the 301st and 172nd CPTs used defensive measures for the Sabre Guardian 19 exercise. The annual exercise is taking place this year in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, co-led by the Romanian Joint Force Command. The teams “create chaos by accessing the network and either disabling it or stealing classified information and using it against the units involved in the exercise.” Though cyber threats have been a talking point among commanders for years, it wasn't until this most recent rotation that cyber threats were simulated for the exercise, said Capt. Joe McNerney, 301st CPT battle captain. The captain explained that the CPTs simulate an insider threat. The 172nd is a combination of soldiers and airmen from units based in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. The 301st is an Air Force unit out of the Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Michigan. “They're people we work with on a daily basis so we want to beat them," said Sgt. Brian Stevens, an information technology specialist from Detroit. “We have to make them feel pain at some level.” https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/07/15/new-army-cyber-gear-for-drones-and-teams-test-protect-units-in-another-domain/