April 30, 2024 | International, Aerospace
August 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace
US Air Force may have accidentally revealed interest in hypersonic nuke
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has issued, and quietly revoked, a solicitation to industry seeking technologies that would support a hypersonic glide vehicle capable of traversing intercontinental ranges, potentially signaling the military's interest in a hypersonic nuclear weapon.
According to an Aug. 12 request for information first reported by Aviation Week, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center sought ideas for potential upgrades to intercontinental ballistic missiles, including a “thermal protection system that can support [a] hypersonic glide to ICBM ranges.”
The items listed as potential ICBM upgrades were all marked “unclassified/for official use only,” which notes information that — while not secret — is not normally released to the public. The RFI was then withdrawn after Aviation Week began inquiring about it, the report noted.
Asked about the RFI on Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said the service's next-generation ICBMs — known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent — will not be available as a hypersonic variant when it is fielded in the late 2020s.
“With a weapon system that's going to be fielded until the 2070 time frame, it's hard to know exactly where we may go with that down the road,” he during an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “Right now, though, the threshold warhead does not include hypersonic glide vehicles. I think I can say that safely without talking too much about what the warheads will look like.”
However, he noted that GBSD's open-architecture backbone makes it able to adopt emerging technologies. He did not comment specifically on whether a hypersonic glide vehicle was under consideration.
As we bring the system online, we will ensure that we have the ability to roll different technologies in and to incorporate that into GBSD,” he said. “And that's one of the, I think, best features ... of GBSD, is that it's going to give us that flexibility. So that if we decide down the road that there's a particular technology that needs to be incorporated, we'll be able to do that.”
As the sole bidder in the GBSD competition, Northrop Grumman is expected to win an estimated $85 billion over the life of the program. A contract award is slated to occur by September, although Northrop CEO Kathy Warden said in April that she expected a decision this month.
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July 9, 2024 | International, C4ISR
Raytheon Technologies Awards CAES $172M Multi-Year Contract
CAES is a critical subsystem provider to the missiles and munitions market on almost all key platforms covering a broad range of advanced electronic capabilities
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August 3, 2018 | International, C4ISR
L3 Announces Business Segment Realignment
Aerospace Systems and Sensor Systems Combine to Form ISR Systems Segment Mark R. Von Schwarz to Retire NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2018-- L3 Technologies (NYSE:LLL) announced today that the company is realigning its business segments to maximize growth and improve its integration and collaboration across the enterprise. Effective immediately, Aerospace Systems will combine with Sensor Systems to form the new Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems segment, which will heighten L3's focus on developing and delivering best-in-class global ISR and signals intelligence (SIGINT) solutions. The segment will be led by Jeffrey A. Miller, corporate Senior Vice President and President of Sensor Systems, and have combined estimated 2018 sales of $4.7 billion. Mark R. Von Schwarz, President of Aerospace Systems, will retire from the company after the transition is complete. L3's Electronic Systems and Communication Systems segments remain unchanged. “We are rapidly transforming L3 for integration and growth by strengthening our technological alignments, which enables us to more effectively build upon our competitive advantages,” said Christopher E. Kubasik, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President. “The increased scale of our new ISR Systems segment highlights our attractive position as a Global ISR prime contractor and accelerates our ability to address our customers' increasingly complex needs.” Mr. Kubasik continued, “This business realignment action supports our objective to improve operating margin to 12% for 2019.” The company reaffirms its consolidated 2018 financial guidance provided on July 26, 2018. Commencing in the third quarter of 2018, L3 will report its results under the realigned business segments. L3 Technologies is an agile innovator and leading provider of global ISR, communications and electronic systems for military, homeland security and commercial aviation customers. With headquarters in New York City and approximately 31,000 employees worldwide, L3 develops advanced defense technologies and commercial solutions in pilot training, aviation security, night vision and EO/IR, weapons, maritime systems and space. The company reported 2017 sales of $9.6 billion. To learn more about L3, please visit the company's website at www.L3T.com. L3 uses its website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding L3 is routinely posted on the company's website and is readily accessible. Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this news release are forward-looking statements. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend upon or refer to events or conditions or that include words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” “will,” “could” and similar expressions are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including the risks and uncertainties discussed in the company's Safe Harbor Compliance Statement for Forward-Looking Statements included in the company's recent filings, including Forms 10-K and 10-Q, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180802005210/en/ Source: L3 Technologies L3 Technologies Corporate Communications 212-697-1111 https://www.l3t.com/press-release/l3-announces-business-segment-realignment