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Lee Hudson Why did Boeing opt to fully redesign the vision system on the KC-46 instead of using the Royal Netherlands Air Force KDC-10's reliable and proven technology? Aviation Week Pentagon Editor Lee Hudson answers: The Netherlands' Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Physics and Electronics Laboratory designed the Tanker Remote Vision System in 2006 for the McDonnell Douglas KDC-10. It is used on two tankers that serve in both tanking and transporting missions. The technology supports inflight refueling operators by providing a picture of the air-to-air tanking process, even in bad visual conditions. Boeing was unable to use the KDC-10 Tanker Remote Vision System (TRVS) because the technology does not meet U.S. Air Force requirements for the KC-46. The 1980s design does not support covert aerial refueling missions or operate in all lighting and background conditions. Boeing says that is why it opted to build a system featuring high-resolution cameras, display and processing capability. Some critics believe the Air Force and Boeing would both be better off if the remote vision system outfitting the KC-46 adopted pieces of the TRVS, given the new aircraft has experienced years of delays and cost overruns. Boeing took a $551 million charge in the first quarter because of changes agreed to by both the company and the Air Force in April for the KC-46 Remote Vision System (RVS). The redesign includes high-definition color cameras, updated displays and computing systems. The problem with the initial RVS design is what the Air Force called a “rubber sheet” effect that distorts the image on the visual display used by the boom operator during refueling. To date, Boeing has taken more than $4 billion in charges for the problem-plagued tanker. This is roughly the same amount the company was willing to pay for Embraer's commercial aircraft division before it walked away from that deal. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/why-did-boeing-opt-fully-redesign-kc-46-remote-vision-system

La ministre des Armées Florence Parly assure que les prélèvements de Rafale sur la flotte de l'armée de l'Air au profit de la Grèce, qui compte acquérir 18 avions de combat français dont plusieurs d'occasion, seront réalisés "avec infiniment de sérieux" pour éviter tout impact. Revenant sur la vente de Rafale à la Grèce, la ministre des Armées Florence Parly cherche à rassurer, en promettant de minimiser l'impact pour l'armée de l'Air de la France. Dans un contexte de tensions accrues avec la Turquie voisine, Athènes a annoncé samedi son intention d'acquérir 18 Rafale, dont six appareils neufs et douze d'occasion, selon le Premier ministre grec Kyriakos Mitsotakis, qui a évoqué de premières livraisons à la Grèce en 2021. "C'est une excellente nouvelle pour l'Europe", a insisté Florence Parly, interpellée en commission défense de l'Assemblée nationale sur le risque de trou capacitaire pour l'armée de l'Air, très engagée sur de multiples fronts mais qui va devoir céder à Athènes certains appareils sur sa flotte actuelle de 102 Rafale. "C'est ma priorité de m'assurer que de tels prélèvements n'auront pas d'impact opérationnel sur nos forces. C'est ma responsabilité première", a réagi Mme Parly. "Nous examinons ces possibles prélèvements avec infiniment de sérieux", a-t-elle assuré. "Est-ce à dire qu'il n'y a pas de marge de manoeuvre, qu'il n'y a pas de solution intelligente? La réponse est évidemment non", a poursuivi la ministre. "Il y aura un petit creux sur une période qui reste à définir mais on fera en sorte de minimiser l'impact au maximum pour l'armée de l'Air", commente-t-on au ministère des Armées, en soulignant notamment que "l'armée de l'Air rénove 55 Mirage qui permettent d'assumer un certain nombre de missions". Entre 2022 et 2024, Dassault Aviation doit produire 28 appareils pour la France. En fonction de la cadence de production, tout ou partie des 6 avions neufs grecs pourraient être finalement prélevés sur les 28 à produire pour Paris. "Nous ne pouvons pas à la fois vouloir promouvoir une politique de préférence européenne et puis nous désoler lorsque la Grèce fait ce choix", une première pour un pays européen, a poursuivi la ministre devant la commission parlementaire, en vantant également "une très bonne nouvelle pour notre industrie" dans un contexte économique profondément assombri par la crise sanitaire. "Sans les exportations d'armement, nous ne pourrions pas assurer à nous seuls l'entretien et la pérennité des chaînes industrielles", a-t-elle insisté. En outre, "les activités d'exportation permettent aussi de réduire le coûts d'acquisition pour nos armées des capacités dont nous avons besoin". https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/florence-parly-cherche-a-rassurer-sur-les-prelevements-de-rafale-pour-la-grece-1380855

Dans le cadre d'un long dossier spécial consacré au MCO (maintien en condition opérationnelle), Air & Cosmos a interviewé Monique Legrand-Larroche, ingénieure générale hors classe de l'armement, à la tête de la Direction de la maintenance aéronautique (DMAé) pour faire un point d'étape sur les contrats de verticalisation et évoquer les enjeux liés aux conséquences de la pandémie. « Les premiers retours du programme Ravel (Rafale verticalisé) sont bon, déclare-t-elle. Nous partions d'une situation qui était saine. Sur le Rafale, nous avions déjà une bonne disponibilité et Ravel vise à nous faire gagner une dizaine d'avions disponibles, mais aussi à garantir une disponibilité de haut niveau, alors même que le Rafale va vieillir. Nous avons mis en place une sorte d'assurance avec Ravel ». Air & Cosmos du 18 septembre 2020

Artéka (ex-Arkéotéka), start-up créée il y a deux ans à Amiens par l'archéologue Cyrille Chaidron et l'expert en thermographie infrarouge Sébastien Lermenier, a affiné ses technologies pour se diversifier. En plus de son activité de repérage de vestiges historiques, elle a développé Pyrodetk, un service de détection par drone d'engins explosifs, anciens comme récents. Repéré par le service Innovation de la Défense, Artéka mène actuellement un projet dont l'objet, tenu en grande partie secret, vise à intervenir avec une sécurité accrue sur des champs de mines antipersonnel ou antichars. Les Echos du 21 septembre

SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. How do you keep a laser focused on a target moving at hundreds of miles per hour? The answer is crucial to Lockheed lasers being fitted on Army trucks and Air Force fighters over the next few years. WASHINGTON: “Lockheed Martin is working to fly a laser on tactical fighters within the next five years,” Lockheed laser expert Mark Stephen told reporters yesterday afternoon. “We're spending a lot of time to get the beam director right.” That beam director, which keeps the laser beam on target, is a crucial but easily overlooked component of future laser weapons. The Air Force Research Lab's SHiELD program aims to put defensive laser pod on fighters to defend them against incoming anti-aircraft missiles. An offensive laser to shoot down enemy aircraft would have to hit harder and at longer distances, so it's a more distant goal: Such weapons are envisioned for a future “sixth generation” fighter — like the NGAD prototype now in flight test — to follow the 5th-gen F-35, while the SHiELD pod will go on non-stealthy 4th gen aircraft like the F-16, as in this Lockheed video. But the company's new beam-director design is actually getting its first workout on an Army system, the truck-mounted IFPC Energy Laser, which will defend against artillery rockets, drones, and, potentially, subsonic cruise missiles. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/09/lockheed-aims-for-laser-on-fighter-by-2025/

Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army is backing off a plan for the service to submit its own bid to the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle replacement competition after it indicated its intention to offer up its own design in a draft request for proposals posted in July. The service tried once before to competitively solicit designs for its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) but ended up with just one offering after its requirements proved too onerous to industry and included a requirement to deliver a working prototype to the Army by October 2019. In a statement sent to Defense News Sept. 17 from Ashley John, an Army spokeswoman, she said “As a result of industry feedback and continuous dialogue between Army senior leaders, the government will not submit a proposal in response to the OMFV RFP. A revision to the draft OMFV RFP was made today and deletes paragraph A.3.1 Interested Government Offeror in its entirety." The Army's intention to develop its own bid was met with scrutiny as industry officials questioned whether the service could play the game after service leaders had already seen industry's cards during an earlier iteration of the competition. The move, many in industry thought, would have easily teed up protests. With pressure to get the competitive process right this time in a program where the service plans to spend $4.6 billion from fiscal 2022 through FY26, it is turning to industry input earlier and more than ever. Congress questioned Army leaders earlier this year on why it seemed the service did not pay attention to the signs or listen to industry and make adjustments before having to cancel its previous competition. First, BAE Systems, which manufactures the Bradley, decided not to compete due to unachievable requirements set within a very short timeline. Then the Army had to disqualify a Raytheon and Rheinmetall team because they couldn't get a physical bid sample to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, in time. The service, this time around, reviewed and analyzed over 500 industry comments in response to the draft RFP and will now spend several weeks providing responses to industry concerns, John said. “As we continue to progress through the first-phase of our five-phased approach for the OMFV program, communication, inclusive feedback and innovative thinking from industry remains key,” John said. The Army waded back into the OMFV effort with the release of a market survey in February that tapped industry for ideas on what a future vehicle might look like. The market survey itself asked companies to weigh in on what affected their decisions to participate in the previous OMFV competitive effort and how the Army might better engage with industry this time around. Instead of providing a laundry list of requirements that when paired together became unachievable — especially when delivered over an ambitious fielding goal of 2026 — the Army will give industry roughly nine characteristics with which to work. The Army is also not requiring the delivery of physical bid samples in the first phase of competition. The Army plans to release a final RFP in December, which will results in the award of up to five contracts in June 2021. It appears likely that the Raytheon and Rheinmetall team and General Dynamics Land Systems will submit bids for the new competition. BAE Systems has not publicly said whether they plan to compete this time. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/09/17/army-backs-off-idea-to-submit-its-own-bid-in-bradley-replacement-competition/

Nathan Strout Northrop Grumman was awarded a $298 million rapid-prototyping contract to design a new anti-jamming communications satellite payload for the U.S. Space Force, the Space and Missile Systems Center announced Sept. 16. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman will build a payload for the Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) program, a next generation constellation that will provide secure, jam-resistant, survivable communications for military leadership all over the world. The new system will be interoperable with the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites currently on orbit. The Space Force wants ESS to have enhanced resilience and cybersecurity capabilities. And unlike AEHF, the new satellites will have polar components to provide communications over the Arctic. Currently, the Enhanced Polar System satellites are used to extend the AEHF network to the polar regions. The Space and Missile Systems Center could award up to three rapid-prototyping contracts in 2020, according to the Space Force's fiscal 2021 budget request, before selecting a final contractor to build out the constellation. It's not immediately clear how many ESS payloads would be in the constellation, or what satellites they'll be hosted on. “Northrop Grumman looks forward to building on more than 40 years of successfully delivering protected satellite communications solutions to our customers,” said Cyrus Dhalla, vice president, communications systems, Northrop Grumman. “ESS is critical to extending our nation's secure satellite communications infrastructure, as it will provide strategic users with assured, uninterruptable connectivity without fear of discovery anywhere on the globe.” Work is expected to be completed May 2025. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2020/09/17/space-force-issues-298-million-contract-for-new-anti-jamming-satellite-design/

Pierre Cheminade Défendre et promouvoir la position de la région bordelaise dans la compétition mondiale de la mobilité spatiale, c'est l'ambition du SpaceHub lancé conjointement par des acteurs publics et privés dont la Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux Métropole, ArianeGroup et Dassault Aviation. Malgré la vente d'avions Rafale à la Grèce, qui bénéficiera directement à l'usine Dassault de Mérignac, la filière régionale de l'aéronautique-spatial-défense (ASD) a bien besoin de signaux positifs dans un contexte compliqué, tout particulièrement pour les avionneurs civils et leurs sous-traitants. Alors que Technowest vient de lancer un appel à projets pour repérer et accompagner trois nouvelles startups de l'ASD, le conseil régional de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Bordeaux Métropole, Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, ArianeGroup et Dassault Aviation se mobilisent pour fédérer les énergies en matière spatiale. Une nouvelle initiative après que la présidence bordelaise de la Communauté des villes Ariane en 2020 a subi le confinement et la crise sanitaire de plein fouet tout comme le festival Big Bang. La démarche SpaceHub, présentée le 7 septembre en présence d'une myriade de partenaires publics et privés (*), vise à ainsi à démontrer que le territoire tient son rang en matière de mobilités spatiales dans un contexte plus concurrentiel que jamais avec les progrès à marche forcée réalisés par les acteurs du New Space. Deux activités seront développées de concert pour mêler étroitement recherche fondamentale et applications concrètes : un centre d'analyse prospective dédié à la mobilité spatiale travaillant avec les universités et grandes écoles françaises et internationales ainsi qu'avec les agences spatiales, civiles et de défense ; un centre d'exploration et d'accélération des concepts spatiaux "pour aboutir rapidement aux meilleures solutions, obtenir des financements associés à ses projets innovants et générer de nouvelles opportunités d'affaires." Le tout dans une logique d'ouverture et de collaboration. Une démarche qui s'inscrit également dans une logique de relance économique à moyen terme tant les innovations et technologies développées initialement pour le spatial se traduisent, dans un second temps, dans l'économie et les usages plus grand public, de la communication à la santé en passant par l'environnement et la mobilité. (*) Les partenaires industriels du projet (ArianeGroup et Dassault Aviation), le CEA, les représentants de l'écosystème de la recherche (Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, Inria, Chaire défense & aérospatial de Sciences Po Bordeaux, etc.), des acteurs majeurs soutenant le projet (Thales, Cnes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine Academic Space Center, l'association Hyfar-Ara et la Fondation Bordeaux Université). https://objectifaquitaine.latribune.fr/business/aeronautique-et-defense/2020-09-17/avec-spacehub-la-region-bordelaise-veut-tenir-son-rang-dans-la-mobilite-spatiale

David B. Larter WASHINGTON — A rash of technical and safety problems has left the U.S. Navy's fleet short by about 90 fighter pilots. Fixing the issue is an uphill battle, a top aviator said last week. The Navy has seen a slew of issues, including problems with the oxygen flow to the pilots causing negative and unsafe physiological responses in pilots and trainees, as well as readiness and engine trouble with aircraft. All of this has extended the time it takes to create a fighter pilot from three to four years, and the issues have created a gap in the number of pilots in the fleet, naval air training chief Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff said at a virtual Tailhook symposium on Saturday. “We can't just snap our fingers and produce those immediately. The time to train of a strike fighter pilot is about three years; due to the bottlenecks we've had, its getting closer to four years,” Westendorff said. “We're doing everything we can to get that back down to the three-year mark. But the recovery plan is a three-year plan. And if we stay on track, it should take us about three years.” An issue with the T-45′s engines “dramatically reduced” the availability of the aircraft this year, but the program is getting back on track, Westendorff said. Additionally, the general shortfall of F/A-18 Super Hornets throughout the fleet has impacted training, but Naval Aviation has been focused on bringing those numbers back up in recent years by fixing jets unable to fly for mechanical reasons. Naval air training has been beset in recent years with controversy over the so-called physiological episodes, the cause of which has been very hard to pin down. The Navy now believes it's a complex issue involving air flow and air pressure related to the breathing apparatus, and measures have been put in place to mitigate it, USNI News reported in June. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/09/17/the-us-navy-is-short-almost-100-fighter-pilots/