Victor-model Black Hawk gets the OK to fly in national airspace

On the same subject

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  February 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  France, Germany sign agreement to build sixth-generation fighter plane

  By Ed Adamczyk Feb. 24 (UPI) -- An agreement to advance construction of a joint advanced combat aircraft program was ceremonially signed by French and German defense ministers. A contract for the first phase of the program to build the main aircraft of the Future Combat Air System was awarded last week. It covers the plane's propulsion system, data architecture and simulation environment, the German Defense Ministry said. Airbus, MTU, Safran and Dassault are the lead contractors. Plans for the program include development of a Next-Generation Weapon System whose components include remote carrier vehicles known as "swarming drones" and a sixth-generation fighter plane intended to be ready by 2035 to replace current Rafales, Eurofighters and F-18 Hornet planes. The plane and drones are expected to work in tandem. Two additional areas of work, involving the plane's sensors and stealth capabilities, remain under discussion. The cost of the first phase of the program, which is expected to take 18 months, will cost about $166 million and will be equally shared by Germany and France. Florence Parly, the French defense minister, and her German counterpart Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer ceremonially signed the agreement in Paris on Thursday. While Spain joined the program after it was announced in 2019, and Angelo Olivares, Spain's deputy defense minister, was present at the signing, it is currently a two-nation project. Spain's contributory share remains a topic of negotiation, but it is expected to join and help pay for the project later this year. A flying demonstrator version of the fighter plane is expected by 2026. A mockup of the plane, a shell with no internal components, was unveiled in June 2019 at the Paris Air Show. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/02/24/France-Germany-sign-agreement-to-build-sixth-generation-fighter-plane

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  April 15, 2021 | International, C4ISR

  Cloudy vision: Can NATO’s new deployable combat system focus the field?

  NATO is on a time crunch to develop new cloud technologies that can help the alliance set interoperability standards for its member nations' own nascent computing infrastructures.

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  December 24, 2018 | International, C4ISR

  The Army has outlined a technology wish list

  By: Mark Pomerleau The Army is looking to expand industry partners and technologies in the next five years to inform its pilot multidomain task force. The task force will test new concepts the Army believes will be needed to fight future near-peer adversaries in areas such as long-range precision fires, cyber and electronic warfare. In a notice to industry Dec. 18, Army Pacific, which is running the pilot, is in the process of assessing the industrial base for state-of-the-art technologies that can enable the pilot. In the run up to joint exercises in the 2018-2021 time frame, Army Pacific wants to hear from industry how its solutions can provide enhanced or new capabilities to the multidomain experimentation plan. Specific solutions named in the notice include: Integrated joint/partner fires targeting (lethal and non-lethal); Long range cross-domain fires; Land-based anti-ship missile capabilities; Long range strike capabilities from air, surface and maritime platforms; Multidomain artillery; Integrated intelligence; Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities; Space effects at operational and tactical levels; Organic over-the-horizon surveillance and targeting (including elevated sensors and unmanned aerial systems); Integrated and layered (short, medium and long range) air and missile defense capabilities and low-cost effectors; Mobile and survivable sensors (active, passive, seismic, etc.); Camouflage, concealment and deception across multi-spectral; visual, infrared, cyber, active radio frequency, etc.; Multidomain common operating picture; Survivable UAS (point launch/recovery, low observable) with modular/multi-payload options: ISR, EW, SIGINT, Kinetic); Advanced logistics and sustainment; Assured Communications, PNT, on and offshore datalink transmission; Manned-Unmanned Teaming; and Development of agile leaders (human dimension). https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2018/12/21/the-army-has-outlined-a-technology-wish-list