U.S. approves $120 mln sale to maintain Taiwanese warships

On the same subject

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  August 6, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land

  American trucks land in Israel to support Iron Dome testing ahead of US Army delivery

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — A Ukrainian cargo plane that landed in Israel Aug. 3 carried trucks that will be used to support Iron Dome battery testing ahead of delivery in the United States, U.S. Army Futures Command confirmed. The Ukrainian plane was used to transport the trucks because of its capability to meet load requirements and delivery timelines, an AFC spokeswoman told Defense News. The U.S. Army has bought two Iron Dome batteries to fill a cruise missile threat gap as an interim solution while it continues to shape its future Indirect Fires Protection Capability being developed to battle against not just cruise missiles but unmanned aircraft threats, rockets, artillery and mortars. Congress mandated the Army buy and field two batteries no later than the end of fiscal 2020. The Oshkosh vehicles will be mated with the Iron Dome system and then be delivered to the United States in that form following factory acceptance testing in Israel. The first battery is expected to be shipped to the United States in December and the second in February, Brig. Gen. Robert Rasch, the U.S. Army's program executive officer for missiles and space, said at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium Aug. 4. While the Army has said it will not buy all-up Iron Dome systems as part of the IFPC program, officials developing the capability are considering incorporating parts of Iron Dome in the final solution. The service will conduct a shoot-off of best available options for integration into an enduring IFPC solution in the third quarter of fiscal year 2021. Rasch stressed the Army won't throw away its Iron Dome systems when IFPC comes online, but instead the service will continue to use the systems because it plans to ensure the batteries are interoperable with U.S. command-and-control capabilities. The Army plans to field Iron Dome by the end of the year, but it will still take time to train troops on the system before deployment. Some lawmakers are urging the Army to rapidly deploy the systems to the Middle East, arguing U.S. and coalition forces there need the protection from Iran and its proxies. As equipment to complete U.S. Iron Dome batteries arrived in Israel, American firm Raytheon Technologies and Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems have formed a joint venture to build the Iron Dome missile defense system in the United States. Under the name Raytheon Rafael Area Protection Systems, the partnership is being set up to build a first-ever Iron Dome “all-up-round” facility stateside. The facility will build Iron Dome systems, the Tamir interceptor and launcher, and the SkyHunter missile (the U.S. version of Tamir). Seth Frantzman, Defense News Israel-based correspondent, contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/smd/2020/08/04/american-trucks-land-in-israel-to-support-iron-dome-testing-ahead-of-us-army-delivery/

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  April 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Pentagon releases request for proposals on Next Generation Interceptor

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The fight to build America's next missile interceptor has officially begun. The Missile Defense Agency on Friday released its request for proposal for its Next-Generation Interceptor (NGI). The RFP aims to downselect to two companies who will then compete for the right to build the interceptor, which will form the core of America's homeland missile defense going forward. Proposals are due July 31, but the MDA notes that there may be some give in that schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The agency requested $664.1 million in fiscal year 2021 for the NGI program, as part of a $4.9 billion five-year budget plan. Mark Wright, a spokesman for MDA, called the RFP “a vital step forward in designing, developing, and fielding the finest capabilities of both the DoD and American industry for the extraordinarily important purpose of defending the American homeland.” “Notably, the intention of awarding two contracts for simultaneous development of the NGI effort promotes a healthy competition between the two contractor teams to produce the best NGI possible in the shortest time feasible,” Wright added. In August, the Pentagon made the surprise decision to cancel the Redesigned Kill Vehicle program, with DoD research and engineering head Mike Griffin saying he didn't want to keep throwing money at a program with fundamental technical issues. RKV would have upgraded the U.S. homeland defense system's interceptors designed to go after ballistic missile defense threats. The Pentagon decided that no more ground-based interceptors for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System (GMD) would be built and all future interceptors that are fielded as part of the GMD system will be the new interceptor – that is, the NGI program. Critics of the decision to cancel RKV and start over with a new design have raised concerns over the timeline, which could extend past 2030. But speaking in March, MDA head Vice Adm. Jon Hill said that waiting that long for the new capability is “unacceptable from a war fighter view” and “unacceptable to me as a program manager.” Hill said once bids are on the table, the agency will be able to take a harder look at schedule and once an award has been made, it will hold industry accountable to meet “all the wickets.” If that happens, the schedule can be pulled to the left. https://www.defensenews.com/space/2020/04/24/pentagon-releases-request-for-proposals-on-next-generation-interceptor/

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  September 18, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  ChipCHECK successfully validated at Talisman Sabre 2019

  During Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in conjunction with Defence Science and Technology (DST) and the Defence Aviation Safety Authority (DASA) successfully validated ChipCHECK, a state of the art instrument that provides equipment maintenance crews with immediate, automated chip analyses onsite (either at base or deployed). ChipCHECK, designed and manufactured by Gastops, provides a capability not previously available to the ADF — the ability for operators and maintenance staff to accurately assess the health of an aircraft's propulsion system via wear debris analysis while the aircraft is operating. Exercise Talisman Sabre is a biennial combined Australian and United States training activity that in 2019 involved more than 34,000 personnel from 18 countries, including Australia, the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. Designed to practise the respective military services and associated agencies in planning and conducting combined and joint task force operations, Exercise Talisman Sabre improves combat readiness and interoperability between Australian and U.S. Forces, and is a platform to improve upon capabilities by introducing state of the art technologies such as ChipCHECK. “ChipCHECK is one of our newest product offerings and is a great example of how Gastops continues to provide the market with new and cutting-edge technologies that solve real market pains,” said Shaun Horning, president and CEO of Gastops. The trial and deployment of ChipCHECK into Talisman Sabre proved the capability of the instrument and the significant value it provides. “We are very excited that ChipCHECK is being trialed by the Australian Defence Force. Already deployed globally for both fixed wing and rotor wing aircraft, ChipCHECK continues to maximize equipment readiness, improve on maintenance efficiency and reduce cost and time,” added Ryan Millar, ChipCHECK product manager. Exercise Talisman Sabre successfully trialed ChipCHECK in a deployed ship-based application. The ADF plans to continue using ChipCHECK in additional applications and environments; the next of which being at an operational land base. https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/chipcheck-successfully-validated-at-talisman-sabre-2019/