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By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Textron Systems is focusing on the U.S. Army this year, with its chief executive naming four unmanned and small arms programs with the service as the company's “need to win” items in 2019. Speaking to reporters Jan. 10, Textron President and CEO Lisa Atherton laid out the company's top priorities: 1. Squad Mobility Equipment Transport With its recent acquisition of Howe & Howe Technologies, Textron finds itself a player in the Army's Squad Mobility Equipment Transport competition. The Army wants to buy a robotic equipment carrier that troops can load with their gear, and Howe & Howe's tracked RS2-H1 robot is competing alongside three other companies for the contract. “We believe that program will progress this year, and we look forward to moving that to low-rate production,” Atherton said. The other competitors undergoing tests with the Army and Marine Corps are the Polaris MRZR X, a four-wheeled vehicle based on the Polaris MRZR currently in service with the Marines; the General Dynamics four-wheel drive Multi-Utility Tactical Transport; and the six-wheeled HDT Global Hunter WOLF, or Wheeled Offload Logistics Follower, Army Times reported last year. Each company delivered prototypes to two Army infantry brigade combat teams and a Marine Corps unit for tests last year. “They asked us to deliver eight vehicles and then just give them to the soldiers and let the soldiers do what they will with them and basically try to break them,” Atherton said. The vehicles have now come back to Textron in good working condition, which Atherton said is a “testament to the robustness of that capability.” After a year of tests, the Army will make a decision on the way forward with the program, which could involve a downselect to a single SMET provider, Army Times has reported. 2. Robotic combat vehicle As the Army looks to replace the Bradley Fighting Vehicle with what the service is calling the Next Generation Combat Vehicle, it is also hoping to develop an unmanned tank that can accompany it into battle as a robotic “wingman.” Again, Textron's acquisition of Howe & Howe gives the company an entry point into the competition, Atherton said. “We believe that the Ripsaw is tailor-made for that,” she said, referring to the light unmanned tank developed by Howe & Howe. “So this year we will be focused on responding to the [requests for proposals] that come out for the prototypes.” Ripsaw's appearance on the show “Jay Leno's Garage” attracted Atherton's attention to Howe & Howe and laid the foundation for the company's eventual acquisition. The robotic tank has been featured in numerous TV and movie spots, including the film “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The Army previously tested it at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. Atherton said Textron will make investments to improve the survivability of Ripsaw, as well as add “other innovations.” Brig. Gen. David Lesperance, who is leading the NGCV Cross-Functional Team, said in March that both NGCV and robot combat vehicle prototypes will be ready for soldier evaluations by 2020, with follow-on prototypes ready by 2022 and 2024. 3. Future tactical unmanned aerial system As the Army looks to replace its RQ-7 Shadow drones, it's testing a number of small, nondevelopmental unmanned aerial systems with the hopes of buying something off the shelf. As part of that effort, Textron was chosen to demonstrate Aerosonde HQ at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, last month, Atherton said. Aerosonde HQ is a version of Textron's small Aerosonde UAS and includes a kit that allows it to take off and land vertically. “Our team widely exceeded the threshold requirements,” she said. “So we're very proud of what we were able to do: very rapidly integrate those techniques and procedures and technologies into the Aerosonde to be able to provide that to the Army for the future tactical UAS.” 4. Next Generation Squad Weapons Textron also believes it has strong offerings for the Army's Next Generation Squad Weapons effort, an umbrella program to replace soldiers' small arms, Atherton said. Reducing the weight of small arms is a major goal of the program, and Textron previously developed case-telescoped weapons it claims are lighter in weight and more lethal than current weaponry. “We believe we are the leaders in the case-telescoped prototypes for the Army's next-generation squad weapon with our lightweight small arms technologies,” Atherton said. The company showcased a 5.56mm light machine gun variant and a 6.5mm caseless service rifle variant at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual meeting in 2017, Army Times reported. The service has awarded contracts to Textron; FN America, LLC; General Dynamics; PCP Tactical; and Sig Sauer to build prototypes of a Next Generation Squad Automatic Rifle, or NGSAR. The prototypes are due to be delivered this year. That weapon would replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, which fires 5.56mm rounds. The program also seeks to find a replacement for the M4, which it calls the Next Generation Squad Weapon Rifle, or NGSW-Rifle. Both NGSW-Rifle and NGSAR will fire 6.8mm rounds. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/01/11/here-are-the-four-prizes-textron-systems-is-watching-in-2019

The Air Force will hold its first Air Force Pitch Day on Mar. 6 in New York City, offering startups the chance to win small awards for their innovative ideas that same day. The service has allocated up to $40 million for the event. Startup companies and small businesses will have the chance to win up to $158,000 each. “Many mind-blowing ideas are being birthed in U.S. startup companies, but the Pentagon largely misses out on them,” Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in a statement. Pitch Day will mirror private sector pitch competitions, allowing for a smarter and faster delivery of awards during the event. Roper's further commentary on the event clearly reflects that he wants to avoid the sluggish contracting process of the federal government. “For our big bureaucracy, awarding a contract in months is a flash. The Pentagon must do business at the speed of ideas: inspiring and accelerating startup creativity toward national security challenges,” Roper said. The Air Force posted topics online Nov. 29. They are the subjects and problems that the Air Force is using to guide the pitches. The service also released further criteria to help guide those who wish to submit their ideas. The ideas must have the primary task of advancing national security in the air, space and cyberspace. To make this as clear as possible for contestants, the Air Force outlined three areas of particular interest: Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Network Technologies Battlefield Air Operations Family of Systems Technologies Digital Technologies Submissions for pitches opened Jan. 8 and will continue through Feb. 6. Then the Air Force will take a week review the submissions and invite finalists. On Pitch Day, the Air Force will select same-day winners and award payments via credit card. Any award will be a nondilutive, meaning startups won't have to give up any ownership stake for the investment. Participant companies must be U.S.-based and more than half of its owners must be U.S. citizens or legally reside in the country. In 2018, the Air Force hosted a similar type of pitch event called Spark Tank, during which airmen were “able to compete and pitch their ideas to increase the lethality of the force, and to reduce the cost of bringing power to the fight,” as Secretary Heather Wilson said. Of course, that event differed in that it was limited to only Air Force service members pitching. https://www.fedscoop.com/air-force-wants-startups-answer-call-40m/

Gareth Jennings, London - Jane's Defence Weekly The US Army has extended the deadline for responses to a request for information (RFI) for a high-altitude airborne intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (AISR) capability that was issued in late 2018. The RFI was first issued by the Special Electronic Mission Aircraft (SEMA) Product Directorate of the Fixed Wing Project Office (FWPO) on 28 November 2018, and extended on 10 January. As noted in the RFI, the army is looking for an aircraft that can operate above 35,000 ft above mean sea level (ASL); can operate in an anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) environment; has an endurance of eight hours or greater; can carry communications intelligence (COMINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) payloads; is equipped with tactical communications; features novel and advanced threat detection and avoidance techniques/systems; is Global Air Traffic Management (GATM) compliant; carries aircraft survivability equipment (ASE); and features aviation mission equipment/assured positioning navigation and timing (AME/A-PNT). The US Army fields a medium-altitude AISR capability with the Beechcraft King Air 350ER aircraft, which has been modified under the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System (EMARSS) programme. https://www.janes.com/article/85670/us-army-seeks-high-altitude-isr-aircraft

CLÉMENT CHARPENTREAU One company's demise is another one's opportunity. Or in this case, two companies. Lockheed Martin and Airbus signed a memorandum of agreement to “jointly explore opportunities to meet the growing demand for aerial refueling for US defense customers.” The manufacturers are taking advantage of the difficulties encountered by Boeing's KC-46A Pegasus. It was Airbus (partnered with Northrop Grumman at the time) that initially won the KC-X tender launched by the Pentagon for a new refueling system to equip the United States Air Force. With its A330 MRTT already in production, the European manufacturer was way ahead of its American rival whose KC-46 “Pegasus” was still on the drawing board. However, political concerns invited themselves into the acquisition process, and after several years of lobbying, the contract was eventually taken away from Airbus and given to Boeing. 179 aircraft were ordered, with the first aircraft to be delivered around May 2016, and the following 17 by 2017. But since then, the KC-46 program had a bumpy flight, and the USAF is still waiting for its planes. The development of the tanker exceeded the initial forecast by $3 billion (which hints at a deliberate underestimation to win the contract over Airbus), and the delivery has been constantly delayed. The last precise deadline in date, October 2018, was finally postponed to “a little later” by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson in an interview to Bloomberg. In March 2018, Wilson commented on the matter in front of the Congress: “One of our frustrations with Boeing is they're much more focused on their commercial activity than on getting this right for the Air Force and getting these aircraft to the Air Force”. As Boeing was contractually obliged to deliver 18 planes and 9 refueling pods by October 2018, it will now face financial penalties. The KC-46 is currently ongoing certification with the FAA. Boeing's struggle comes as a perfect opportunity for Airbus and Lockheed Martin to offer their services to the USAF and its allies, both in the short and long term. “These may range from ways to support critical near-term air-refuelling needs, such as a fee-for-service structure to conceptualizing the tanker of the future,” they said in a common press release. In the coming twenty years, the USAF will need two new types of refueling aircraft. The programs should be respectively known as KC-Y, to replace the gigantic KC-10s, and KC-Z, a stealth tanker. This new partnership could allow Airbus to put its A330MRTT on the table once more, in a version adapted to the needs of the USAF that would use Lockheed Martin's competence in the matter. The tanker is now operated by six air forces around the world, and has already seen some actions. While awaiting for the KC-Y tender to begin, Airbus could offer a leasing service to the USAF, in a similar way as AirTanker is already doing for the Royal Air Force with its ten Airbus Voyagers (A330 MRTT). With Lockheed Martin as a partner, Airbus could set a foot in the U.S. defense industry... for good this time. https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/22151-airbus-joins-forces-with-lockheed-to-step-in-boeing-s-backyard

NAVY Microsoft Corp., Redmond, Washington, is awarded an estimated $1,760,000,000 value single-award, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Microsoft Enterprise Services for the Department of Defense (DoD), Coast Guard, and intelligence community. Support includes Microsoft product engineering services for software developers and product teams to leverage a range of proprietary resources and source-code, and Microsoft premier support for tools, knowledge database, problem resolution assistance, and custom changes to Microsoft source-code when applicable. This contract is issued under the DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) in accordance with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Section 208.74. DoD ESI is an initiative to streamline the acquisition process and provide information technology products and services worldwide that are compliant with applicable DoD technical standards and represent the best value for the DoD. The work will be performed worldwide. The ordering period will be for five years with a completion date of Jan. 10, 2024. This contract will not obligate funds at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual task orders using primarily operations and maintenance funds (DoD). This sole-source procurement is issued using other than full and open competition in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 6.302-1 and 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source. The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N66001-19-D-0019). Raytheon Co., Marlborough, Massachusetts, is being awarded $9,347,391 for cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price order N6339419F0002 under a previously awarded basic ordering agreement (N6339417G5103) for engineering services in support of the Aegis SPY-1 radar and Mk 99 fire control system. This order will provide technical, logistical and engineering services from the original equipment manufacturer. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this order to $19,497,003. Work will be performed in Yorktown, Virginia (90 percent); and at various ship locations (10 percent), and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2018 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $960,282 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY GE Medical Systems Information Technologies Inc., Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $450,000,000 firm‐fixed‐price, indefinite‐delivery/indefinite‐quantity contract for patient monitoring systems, accessories and training. This was a competitive acquisition with 36 responses received. This is a five-year base contract with one five‐year option period. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a Jan. 10, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1‐19‐D‐0010). Transaero Inc.,* Melville, New York, has been awarded a maximum $23,237,500 firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fixed landing gear. This was a competitive small business set-aside acquisition with four offers received. This is a five-year contract with no options periods. Location of performance is New York, with a Jan. 10, 2024, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2019 through 2024 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-19-D-0043). AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Marietta, Georgia, has been awarded a $131,604,450 contract for C‐5 sustainment. This contract provides for sustaining engineering services. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; Marietta, Georgia; and Palmdale, California, and is expected to be completed Jan. 25, 2019. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. A combination of fiscal 2019 transportation working capital funds; and operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $23,543,771 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8525‐19‐D‐0001). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Raytheon Co. (Raytheon) Space and Airborne Systems (SAS), San Diego, California, is being awarded a single award with a contract ceiling of $9,607,811 for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS) sensor support. Raytheon will provide subject matter expertise as a member of a government-led sensor development and demonstration team and will provide research, development, fielding and test support, operations, maintenance, and as-needed repairs on the government-owned MTS-class sensors. Raytheon is the sole designer, developer, and manufacturer of the MTS-class sensor. Work will be performed at El Segundo and San Diego, California. The ordering period and the period of performance is five years from the date of award. The first task order will be awarded at the same time the basic contract is awarded. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,299,520 for the first task order is being obligated at time of award. The award to Raytheon SAS is the result of a proposal submitted in response to a sole-source solicitation (HQ0147-18-R-0013) one offer was received. The Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. (HQ0147-19-D-0013). DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY CACI NSS Inc., Chantilly, Virginia, was competitively awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for $8,582,382 on Jan. 11, 2019. Contract has an effective date of Jan. 29, 2019. This award provides for non-personal Information Technology services in support of the legacy Theater Enterprise-Wide Logistics System (TEWLS) application to be known in the future as the systems, applications and products in the LogiCole application. The award will provide for pre-planned product improvement, life cycle management, and business process, and technical integration support and reengineering services for TEWLS. The contractor will provide software maintenance services to support Joint Medical Logistics Functional Development center in the configuration, technical sustainment and continued enhancement of the TEWLS as part of the Defense Medical Logistics – Enterprise Solution. The contractor place of support is Ft. Detrick, Maryland. This contract has an additional four option periods, if exercised. This contract is an acquisition under General Service Administration's IT schedule 70 with fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $8,582,382 obligated at time of award. The Defense Health Agency, Contract Operations – Health Information Technology,San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity (HT0015-19-F-0018). *Small business https://dod.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/1730557/source/GovDelivery/

By: Grant Turnbull Senior British army officers have signaled their intent to accelerate the fielding of several unmanned — and increasingly autonomous systems — following successful army trials at the end of 2018, but much like other forces around the world the United Kingdom faces challenges from how to modify archaic acquisition processes, to overcoming technical issues. In December, the British army concluded its landmark experimentation exercise known as Autonomous Warrior, in which the service evaluated more than 50 unmanned systems from industry over a month-long period in the south of England. The exercise, which put the robotic systems through grueling trials in muddy fields and a purpose-built facility for urban fighting, was the first attempt by the British army, as well as industry, to determine how the technology will work in a combat environment. Much like other forces around the world, the service hopes to use robots to carry out the dangerous, and often tedious, elements of combat. Over 200 troops — made up of infantry, marines, engineers, airmen as well as U.S. Army personnel — were equipped with a variety of robotic and autonomous systems with the aim of improving areas such as combat mass, soldier lethality and overall information gathering. For example, in one scenario, soldiers used robotic engineering vehicles to clear an obstacle, while a small quadcopter flew overhead to provide infrared imagery before armored infantry rolled in to take an enemy position. Robotic systems with varying levels of autonomy were a key part of the exercise, ranging from radar-equipped drones for detecting buried IEDs, to small two-wheeled robots that are thrown into buildings to search for enemy fighters. The head of the British army, Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith, has directed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to speed up the fielding of technology used during the exercise. “His direction to me is very clear,” said Maj. Gen. Chris Tickell, director of capability for the British army. “He wants to see some of this kit in the hands of the field army in 12 to 18 months. “Success or failure will absolutely hinge on what happens after the experiment,” he added. “And that is about the exploitation and proving to industry that we are as good as our word and we are going to take some of these ideas and put them into the hands of the user.” For Tickell, an equipment budget of £22 billion ($28 billion) over the next decade will allow the MoD to purchase new unmanned technologies, but the “trick is to turn the ideas that you see here into tangible capability.” This may require the MoD “to adjust and even devise new acquisition processes to enable rapid acquisition”, said Trevor Taylor, an expert in defense acquisition at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank. “How will requirements, business cases, competitive tendering or ‘partnering,' testing and safety cases be addressed?” A related challenge continues to be the British army's lack of experience using unmanned and autonomous systems, with commanders using the Autonomous Warrior exercise to better understand capability enhancements as well as the inevitable shortfalls. The officer responsible for coordinating the exercise, Lt Col Nick Serle, told C4ISRNET that while the British army has worked with industry on new technologies it had not previously focused on robots and autonomous systems. “That's why this year we decided to spend a month on Salisbury Plain just focusing on robotics and autonomous systems,” Serle said. He also commands the British army's experimentation unit, known as the Infantry Trials and Development Unit. “This is a real opportunity to bring stuff into the field and really see if it does what industry thinks it's going to do, but also to see if military users will use it the way [industry] thinks they will use it,” Serle said. “There's no one single piece of kit that will solve all our problems, it's a combination of something in the air such as a surveillance asset, something on the ground, perhaps with a weapon on it or just doing logistics, but then it all links through an information system where you can pass that data and make better decisions to generate tempo.” An issue highlighted by Serle was an increasingly crowded radiofrequency spectrum, especially as several unmanned systems jostle for space to beam back high-resolution data from onboard sensors. “The problem is when they start cutting each other out, we are dealing with physics here, if we want to have great high definition video passing across the battlefield we need to trade somewhere else.” Taylor noted that not only will there be a need to ensure that the control systems do not interfere with each other, but also that army leaders “will have to be convinced that new systems are not simply too vulnerable to jamming and other disruptive techniques by an adversary.” A promising development from the exercise is the ability to optionally man a standard vehicle using applique kits that can be fitted within a few hours. Several examples were on display when we visited the exercise in December, including a remote-controlled Warrior infantry fighting vehicle and a lightweight MRZR tactical vehicle. As part of the experimentation, troops used the vehicles in unintended ways. One U.S. Army soldier noting that the MRZR had been a helpful surveillance tool because of its onboard camera. Squads were also keen to use the UGVs to help in entering buildings and also as modern-day pack horses to carry supplies or people. “What we have found is that when troops are using these [UGVs], naturally they just want to jump on the vehicle because it goes faster than they can, and you can move groups very quickly on them,” Serle said. He added that for safety reasons the soldiers were not allowed to hop on board during the exercise. “Optionally manned is good, but whether it needs to be optionally manned with a steering wheel and a seat I don't know, I think you could do it more like a Segway. But there's no doubt people want to get on them.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/robotics/2019/01/11/why-the-british-army-tested-robots-in-muddy-fields/

SAO PAULO and CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Embraer [B3: EMBR3, NYSE: ERJ] and Boeing [NYSE: BA] have welcomed approval by the Government of Brazil of the strategic partnership that will position both companies to accelerate growth in global aerospace markets. The government's approval comes after the two companies last month approved terms for the joint venture that will be made up of the commercial aircraft and services operations of Embraer. Boeing will hold an 80 percent ownership stake in the new company and Embraer will hold the remaining 20 percent. The companies have also agreed to the terms of another joint venture to promote and develop new markets for the multi-mission medium airlift KC-390. Under the terms of this proposed partnership, Embraer will own a 51 percent stake in the joint venture, with Boeing owning the remaining 49 percent. Once Embraer's Board of Directors ratifies its prior approval, the two companies will then execute definitive transaction documents. The closing of the transaction will be subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Assuming the approvals are received in a timely manner, the transaction is intended to close by the end of 2019. Forward-Looking Information Is Subject to Risk and Uncertainty Certain statements in this release may be "forward-looking" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the proposed terms of the transaction, the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to executing or closing the transaction and the timing thereof, and the benefits and synergies of the proposed transaction, as well as any other statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements are based on current assumptions about future events that may not prove to be accurate. These statements are not guarantees and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they are made and neither party undertakes an obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, except as required by law. Specific factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include the effect of global economic conditions, the ability of the parties to reach final agreement on a transaction, consummate such a transaction and realize anticipated synergies, and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in the filings of The Boeing Company and/or Embraer with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Media Contacts: Chaz Bickers Boeing Communications charles.n.bickers@boeing.com 312-544-2002 Valtecio Alencar Global Corporate Communications Embraer Valtecio.alencar@embraer.com.br 11-3040-6891 SOURCE Boeing https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2019-01-10-Embraer-and-Boeing-Welcome-Brazilian-Government-Approval-of-Strategic-Partnership

Jean-Dominique Merchet Le démonstrateur du futur avion de combat franco-allemand devrait « voler autour de 2025 », nous a indiqué ce matin Eric Trappier, président du Gifas et PDG de Dassault-Aviation. « Notre ambition, c'est que le SCAF soit opérationnel en 2040. Il faut donc s'y mettre cette année », a-t-il ajouté. Dix-huit mois après l'annonce politique, le 13 juillet 2017, «une étude sera lancée dès janvier » 2019 et la décision de se doter d'un démonstrateur pour « valider les choix techniques et opérationnels » doit avoir lieu lors du salon du Bourget en juin prochain. Le président du Gifas a confirmé « la volonté affichée d'un leadership français » sur ce projet, qui sera un « système complet intégrant l'avion de combat ». Après le « partenariat historique entre Dassault et Airbus », Eric Trappier a assuré qu'il y aurait de la place pour « tous les autres » acteurs du secteur. Au-delà du SCAF, Eric Trappier a appelé la DGA à avoir une « politique ambitieuse » en matière de démonstrateurs. « On a besoin d'en faire voler un certain nombre afin de valider les choix techniques et opérationnels » Le président du Gifas a jugé que 2018 avait été « une bonne année » pour l'aéronautique et le spatial français et que 2019 devrait l'être également, malgré l'environnement international « complexe ». Il a notamment insisté sur le « dynamisme » des Etats-Unis et de la Chine, ainsi que sur la nécessité de l'Europe de poursuivre ses efforts en vue de son « autonomie stratégique ». Le 53e salon du Bourget se tiendra du 17 au 23 juin prochain, cette année étant marquée par un triple cinquantenaire : la création d'Airbus, le premier vol du Concorde et le premier pas d'un homme sur la Lune. https://www.lopinion.fr/blog/secret-defense/scaf-demonstrateur-devrait-voler-autour-2025-174189

By JACQUELINE KLIMAS Small, lower cost satellites are beginning to gain traction among intelligence agencies, says a top industry executive. National security agencies are steadily testing out more small satellites before committing to new constellations of the lower-cost alternatives, according to Bill Gattle, the president of Space and Intelligence Systems at the Harris Corporation. “We're seeing a lot more acceleration, certainly in the intelligence community, on their willingness to adopt it. We've certainly seen some things out of Army,” said Gattle, a former program director of terrestrial communications and director of engineering for defense programs at the Pentagon. “It's moved from ... customers being intrigued to believing it's worthy of a demo.” Small satellites are typically no bigger than a refrigerator and weigh less than 180 kilograms, according to a NASA fact sheet. By comparison, some of the largest satellites are the size of a school bus. The reduced size means small satellites are typically cheaper but less capable than their larger counterparts. To make up for that gap, small sats can be launched in a constellation of tens or even hundreds of satellites, networked together, making the entire system more resilient if one goes offline. At the beginning of 2018, Harris had three customers for its small sats. A year later, it has five government customers under contract for 17 small satellites. One of those is for an Army communications satellite, Gattle said, though the company could not provide additional details. That doesn't mean there's been universal acceptance. Even Gattle acknowledges there are hurdles the small satellite industry needs to overcome to see sustained growth in the military and intelligence market. “How do you get the data quickly from the satellite to the war fighter who needs it?” Gattle said. “It doesn't help you to know a missile landed five minutes ago. You have to have the timeline be very quick and you need need a communications backbone ... which will be pivotal to how fast this grows.” Gattle also talked about the launch of Harris' first small satellite last month, how the company is going on a hiring spree and what 2019 has in store for the industry. Full article: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/satellites-bill-gattle-national-security-1089126