August 27, 2024 | International, Aerospace
August 2, 2018 | International, Aerospace
US Army discloses timelines for Block 3 Chinook
Gareth Jennings, London
Boeing is to begin development of a Block 3-standard Boeing CH/MH-47 Chinook transport and assault helicopter toward the end of the 2020s, ahead of fielding by the US Army in the late 2030s/early 2040s.
The timeline was disclosed by the army's MH-47G programme manager, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Klarenbach, in a briefing presented earlier in 2018 and seen by Jane'son 1 August. According to the briefing, Block 3 technology development for both the CH-47F and MH-47G will run from about 2027 to 2040, with production immediately following.
With Boeing currently engaged in the early stages of the Block 2 upgrade for the US Army's Chinook fleet (the first of three prototypes is now in final assembly, ahead of the first low-rate initial production delivery in fiscal year 2023), in May 2017 the company first touted the notion of a Block 3 upgrade to take the Chinook out to the 2060s.
No details as to what a Block 3 upgrade might include were released, but Boeing at that time noted it could feature the new Future Affordable Turbine Engine (FATE), which is being provisioned for inclusion in Block 2, as well as active parallel actuator systems and torque management systems. It could also see the Chinook become optionally-piloted. “[Optionally piloted] is not a huge technology challenge with the flights controls the Chinook has – it is more a tactics, techniques, and procedures [TTP] challenge,” said Randy Rotte, Boeing's director of cargo helicopter sales and marketing. “Unlike the [US Marine Corps'] K-MAX, which carried its cargo sling-loaded, someone would need to get inside [of the unmanned Chinook] to load and unload it.”
While the US Army has yet to comment on what a Block 3 Chinook might entail, Col Klarenbach's briefing slides showed two possible configurations.
Full article: https://www.janes.com/article/82113/us-army-discloses-timelines-for-block-3-chinook
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December 20, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Future EU space programme
Council agrees its position on future EU space programme The EU is establishing its future space policy programme for the years 2021-2027. EU ambassadors meeting in Coreper on 19 December agreed on the Council's position on the draft regulation on an EU space programme. This position enables negotiations to begin with the European Parliament. The agreed text does not cover financial and horizontal issues which are being discussed as part of the negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2021 to 2027. Space plays an increasingly important role in our everyday life. Space-related inventions and services are already changing the way we live and work. The European Union is determined to keep the leading edge and the place it deserves in the global space economy. Norbert Hofer Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria The new regulation will ensure: high-quality, up-to-date and secure space-related data and services; greater socio-economic benefits from the use of such data and services, such as increased growth and job creation in the EU; enhanced security and strategic autonomy of the EU; a stronger role for the EU as a leading actor in the space sector. It will achieve this by : simplifying and streamlining the existing EU legal framework on space policy; providing the EU with an adequate space budget to continue and improve on existing space flagship programmes such as EGNOS, Galileo and Copernicus, as well as monitor space hazards under the ‘space situational awareness' programme (SSA), and cater for access to secure satellite communications for national authorities (GOVSATCOM); establishing the rules for governance of the EU space programme; standardising the security framework of the space programme. Next steps This agreement opens the way for the Presidency to begin negotiations with the European Parliament with the aim of reaching a rapid adoption of the regulation. The European Parliament adopted its negotiating mandate on 13 December 2018. Background On June 2018, the Commission presented its proposal for a Regulation for a space programme for the European Union. The proposed regulation is part of the follow-up to the Commission's Communication on a Space Strategy for Europe (SSE). The Commission proposal suggests an overall budget for the programme of €16 billion in current prices for the period 2021-2027 with the following indicative breakdown: €9.7 billion for Galileo and EGNOS, €5.8 billion for Copernicus and €0.5 billion for SSA and GOVSATCOM. Commission's Communication on a space strategy for Europe. Read the full agreed text here https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/12/20/council-agrees-its-position-on-future-eu-space-programme