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SYRACUSE, N.Y., July 25, 2019 – Lockheed Martin's Radar Sensor Systems market segment has been awarded a contract from Northrop Grumman worth over $600 million for multi-year production (MYP) of 24 additional APY-9 radars for the U.S. Navy's E-2D aircraft program. It's also known as the Advanced Hawkeye program. The APY-9 radar program is nearing completion of a current five-year production contract in 2020, and this new award calls for another five years of production – with deliveries spanning from 2021 to 2025. The latest radar order will include Lockheed Martin's new Advanced Radar Processor. “We're excited to have the opportunity to continue producing APY-9 radars for the Navy's use on its Advanced Hawkeye aircraft and to continue supporting our customers with performance upgrades on a regular basis,” Ken Kaminski, Airborne & National Surveillance Radar program director, said. The APY-9 radar is an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) surveillance system that provides both mechanical and electronic scanning capabilities designed to “see” smaller targets – and more of them – at a greater range, particularly in coastal regions and over land. “The team has performed extremely well to date in terms of delivering all of our APY-9 systems on or ahead of schedule,” Kaminski said. Production work is performed at Lockheed Martin sites in Syracuse and Owego, New York, and Clearwater, Florida. https://www.epicos.com/article/449332/lockheed-martin-receives-award-northrop-grumman-produce-more-apy-9-radars-united

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (July 23, 2019) – Collins Aerospace Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), has received its sixth order from the U.S. Army to provide PRC-162 software-defined ground radios for the Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Factor (HMS) program. This sixth order was issued under a multiple award contract that the Army awarded to Rockwell Collins and two other companies in 2016. The contract, which has a $12.7 billion maximum firm-fixed-price with an estimated completion date of March 2026, moves the Army another step closer toward modernizing communications on the battlefield. The PRC-162 is a two-channel ground radio, both man-portable and vehicle-mountable, that will enable the Army to tap into next-generation communications capabilities such as the Department of Defense's new Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) while maintaining interoperability with legacy waveforms. An open-architecture design also allows for software-upgradeable capabilities in the future. “Success in today's multi-domain battlespace depends heavily on secure and reliable communications,” said Phil Jasper, president, Mission Systems for Collins Aerospace. “We've applied decades of proven experience in airborne communications to provide the Army with a next-generation ground radio that will give troops a heightened level of situational awareness and a tactical advantage.” The PRC-162 is a part of Collins Aerospace's TruNet™ networked communications family of products, which includes ground and airborne radios, advanced networking waveforms, applications, and support and services that enable ground and airborne elements to exchange critical data, images, voice and video in real time. https://www.epicos.com/article/449255/collins-aerospace-gets-sixth-order-us-army-production-next-generation-manpack-radios

uly 25, 2019 - BAE Systems has received a follow-on contract to produce 28 more payload tubes for the U.S. Navy's Block V Virginia-class attack submarines. Under the contract with General Dynamics Electric Boat, a builder of the Virginia class, BAE Systems will deliver seven sets of four tubes each for the Virginia Payload Modules (VPM). The Navy is adding significant capability to the latest Virginia-class boats by increasing the firepower and payload capacity of the Block V submarines. The VPM extends the length of Block V subs over previous versions of the Virginia class by adding a mid-body section to create more payload space. Each large-diameter payload tube can store and launch up to seven Tomahawk and future guided cruise missiles. “The VPM is critical to the Virginia class because it offers not only additional strike capacity, but the flexibility to integrate future payload types, such as unmanned systems and next-generation weapons, as threats evolve,” said Joe Senftle, vice president and general manager of Weapon Systems at BAE Systems. “We've invested heavily in the people, processes, and tools required to successfully deliver these payload tubes to Electric Boat and to help ensure the Navy's undersea fleet remains a dominant global force.” BAE Systems is also providing nine payload tubes under previously awarded VPM contracts. As the leading provider of propulsors and other submarine systems, the company has a long history of supporting the Navy's submarine fleet. In addition to payload tubes, BAE Systems is also providing propulsors, spare hardware, and tailcones for Block IV Virginia-class vessels and is prepared to do the same for Block V. Work under this contract will be performed at the company's facility in Louisville, Kentucky, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2021. https://www.epicos.com/article/449335/us-navy-using-bae-systems-payload-tubes-increase-virginia-class-strike-capability

By DAVID PUGLIESE Viking Air Limited of Victoria, BC has announced its plans to hold a world demonstration tour for its Guardian 400 aircraft, the special missions variant of the Viking Series 400 Twin Otter. The world tour will include detailed briefings and demonstration flights in Europe, Africa, Middle East, India, South East Asia, Oceania, and North America, according to Esprit de Corps magazine. The company unveiled the special mission variant last month at the 2019 Paris International Airshow. Here are more details of what I wrote for Esprit de Corps: For the past six months, a production Series 400 Twin Otter has been undergoing modifications to transform into Viking's Guardian 400 demonstrator aircraft for the proposed world tour, the firm noted. It will feature a left-hand SCAR pod with Hensoldt Argos EO/IR imaging turret, multi-spectral HDTV camera, mega- pixel HD Thermal imager, laser range finder, multi-mode auto tracker, and Remote Image Bus (RIB) video feed for display on the cockpit MFD or crew workstation. The demonstrator will also feature a right-hand SCAR pod with Leonardo Osprey Radar System and Sentient Vidar Camera system. In addition to its mission sensor package, the Guardian 400 prototype will be equipped with an Airborne Technologies' tactical workstation with high-definition touchscreen monitors, data/voice/video recorder, Mission Management Unit (MMU), mission radio communications, intuitive hand controller for MCU & SLR camera targeting, CarteNav AIMS mission system software, Kestrel MTI targeting software, and IKHANA ergonomic mission seat for optimized crew comfort. The prototype will also be equipped with Viking conformal bubble windows, left and right wing-mounted hard points by IKHANA, Thunder Bay Aviation stretcher racks, and an aft lavatory for crew comfort. The tour is expected to start in September. It will end in May 2020 at CANSEC 2020 to be held in Ottawa. Nexter has been selected by the Canadian government to supply the Canadian Army with 88 multi-purpose robots. The deal includes the delivery of 79 NERVA-LG and nine NERVA-XX robots. It is worth $6 million. The medium-sized robot can be controlled from any standard PC, tablet or smartphone, according to the company. Nexter Systems is the prime contractor and will work with Nexter Robotics and ECA Robotics. Deltic Group of Oakville, Ontario will handle in-service support. Leonardo announced that it has signed a contract with QinetiQ to provide a number of PicoSAR Active Electronically Scanned Array radars for the Canadian military's new drones. The firm noted that the PicoSAR radar is ideally suited for installation aboard the Canadian Forces new system, which is based on the lightweight UMS Skeldar V-200 Unmanned Aerial System. The radar will provide all-weather ground mapping and surveillance capability for missions. Seaspan Shipyards has awarded BCS Automation Ltd. a contract for work on the Canadian government's new Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel (OOSV). BCS is the most recent supplier to partner with Seaspan in its work on the OOSV program. BCS is a family owned Canadian small business located in Belleville, Ontario, Seaspan pointed out. The firm is supplying a state of the art ship control and monitoring system for the OOSV. The system is designed to provide ship personnel with all the basic alarms and status information they require in order to maintain the safe and efficient operation of the machinery, auxiliary systems and other relevant equipment. The system features built-in self-diagnostics, an intuitive, user-friendly interface and a fail-safe redundant network to enhance safety and reliability. BCS has previous experience working on NSS projects having been subcontracted by Hawboldt Industries to design and build the winch drive system for the Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels (OFSV). Two NATO member nations have opted to purchase Rheinmetall's ROSY rapid smoke/obscurant system for protecting their vehicle families. This versatile modular system thus continues to expand its presence in the global force protection market. The two orders are worth several million euros. Delivery of 126 systems to Spanish defence contractor URO Vehículos Especiales S.A. (UROVESA) has already begun. UROVESA will be installing these systems in 126 out of 139 VAMTAC protected patrol vehicles purchased by the Portuguese armed forces in July 2018, according to Rheinmetall. Delivery of the systems will be complete in March 2020. Pre-series delivery in response to another order begins in May 2019, this time from Belgium. Here, Rheinmetall is acting as subcontractor for the British company Jankel, which is supplying the Belgian Army with the Light Troop Transport Vehicle, or LTTV. All 199 of the vehicles are being prepared for integration of the system, in addition to the supply of control units and launchers for 167 vehicles. Series production commences in February 2020 and will be complete the same year. These two orders mean that ROSY will soon be in service in no fewer than eleven countries. ROSY provides protection from surprise attacks by creating a wall of smoke/obscurant that renders vehicles invisible to the enemy. Unlike conventional smoke/obscurant systems, it not only produces an instantaneous, extensive, multispectral interruption in the line of sight, but also generates a dynamic smoke screen that provides moving assets with long-lasting protection. Ocean Industries Inc. will build four tugs for the Royal Canadian Navy. The firm from Isle‑aux-Coudres, Quebec, was awarded the contract for $102 million under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. The new tugs will provide towing, firefighting and other critical support services to the Royal Canadian Navy. They will replace the navy's five civilian-crewed Glen-class large tugs and two Fire-class rescue boats. Two of the tugs will go to Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt in British Columbia. The other two will be delivered to CFB Halifax in Nova Scotia. The first two tugs are scheduled to be delivered in 2021. The last two tugs will be delivered in 2023. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/viking-to-put-special-missions-aircraft-on-tour-updates-on-defence-industry-developments

Par Léo Barnier Le groupe Dassault Aviation vient de passer une étape importante dans son processus de transformation numérique, en coopération avec Dassault Systèmes. L'avionneur français vient d'achever au mois de juillet le déploiement de la plateforme 3DExperience, développée par sa société « cousine », pour l'ensemble de ses programmes civils et militaires. C'est notamment le cas pour le futur Falcon qui doit être lancé prochainement. Toutes les équipes de Dassault Aviation vont ainsi évouler sous un même environnement numérique. Il s'agit ainsi de créer une continuité qui s'appliquera depuis la conception des nouveaux programmes jusqu'aux services de soutien après-vente. Chacun pourra ainsi travailler sur une maquette numérique unique, qui intègre les demandes spécifiques de chacun, avec des outils compatibles entre eux. Cela doit permettre par exemple au bureau d'études de prendre plus largement en compte les contraintes de l'ensemble du cycle de vie d'un produit ou d'un programme (production opérations, maintenance, rétrofit...) dès les premières esquisses, afin d'optimiser celui-ci dans la durée. A la clef, des gains de temps et de coûts pour le cycle de développement d'un avion - le nouveau Falcon notamment - comme pour la suite de sa vie opérationnelle. Comme l'explique David Ziegler, vice-président Industrie aéronautique et défense de Dassault Systèmes : « La plateforme 3DExperience représente une approche holistique de l'innovation. Elle permet à Dassault Aviation d'accéder à des technologies et à des capacités intégrées et de relier tous les points, du concept aux opérations... » Les différents services du constructeur disposeront d'outils entièrement intégrés dans cette plateforme unique, mais adaptés à leurs besoins spécifiques. Dassault Systèmes mentionne ainsi six solutions industrielles choisies par Dassault Aviation : Winning Concept, Program Excellence, Co-Design to Target, Ready for Rate, Build to Operate et Keep Them Operating. Dassault Aviation entend aussi déployer cette continuité vers sa chaîne d'approvisionnement avec trente sociétés identifiées, comme l'explique Jean Sass, directeur général Systèmes d'information de Dassault Aviation : « Tous nos partenaires industriels travailleront en collaboration avec leurs clients sur une seule et même plateforme numérique. À terme, nous serons en mesure de proposer à nos clients de nouvelles expériences de vol à la pointe de l'innovation. » Cette démarche de transformation numérique à l'aide de 3DExpérience a été entamée l'an dernier, en mai exactement. Dassault Aviation et Dassault Systèmes avaient alors signé un contrat pluriannuel pour remplacer l'ensemble des solutions de gestion du cycle de vie des produits (PLM) de l'avionneur. https://www.journal-aviation.com/actualites/42877-dassault-aviation-acheve-le-deploiement-de-3dexperience

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Boeing has announced its withdrawal from the $85 billion Ground Based Strategic Deterrent competition, potentially leaving Northrop Grumman as the only contender vying to replace the Air Force's Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. “After numerous attempts to resolve concerns within the procurement process, Boeing has informed the Air Force that it will not bid Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) under the current acquisition approach,” reads a Boeing statement. “We've evaluated these issues extensively, and determined that the current acquisition approach does not provide a level playing field for fair competition.” Boeing Defense CEO Leanne Caret detailed the company's issues in a July 23 letter to Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper, which was obtained by Defense News and other outlets. “Throughout the procurement process, Boeing has been transparent with the Air Force about its concerns with the competition,” she wrote. “The final RFP released on July 16 made only modest changes to the draft RFPs that had been previously released. As relevant to the concerns Boeing had raised, the final RFP extended the proposal submission deadline by 60 days, from 90 days after the RFP's issuance to 150 days, and allowed offerors to submit ‘an alternative proposal in addition to their principal proposal,' that could include ‘a single, combined proposal' from both competitors." But Caret said that those changes did not address Boeing's primary concern: that Northrop Grumman would have an unfair advantage in the competition due to its recent acquisition of solid rocket motor manufacturer Orbital ATK, now known as Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems. NGIS is one of two U.S. manufacturers of solid rocket motors, alongside Aerojet Rocketdyne, but both Boeing and Northrop had chosen Orbital as its supplier for GBSD prior to the merger. According to Caret, Northrop only recently — as of July 3 — signed off on an agreement that would firewall Boeing's proprietary information from Northrop's own GBSD team as Boeing negotiates with NGIS for solid rocket motors. Even though an agreement has now been reached, Caret contends that Boeing does not have enough time to negotiate a competitive price for the motors. Caret said the current acquisition approach gives Northrop “inherently unfair cost, resource and integration advantages related to SRMs,” adding: “As I said in my July 8 letter, we lack confidence in the fairness of any procurement that does not correct this basic imbalance between competitors.” Even the Air Force's accommodation that would allow Northrop and Boeing to submit a joint bid “is not a workable solution to these issues,” she said. “Because the final RFP does not address Northrop's inherent advantage as a result of its control of SRMs, Northrop retains the ability to compete on unequal terms against either a Boeing or a joint ‘alternative' proposal — and as a result, would not be incentivized to devote the significant resources required to develop such a proposal,” Caret said. Additionally, Caret said it is “not realistic” to expect that Boeing and Northrop could develop a competitive joint bid in the five months before proposals are due, given that both companies have been working on their separate proposals for more than two years. An Air Force spokeswoman declined to comment on the news, as the competition is currently in source selection. Inside Defense broke the news of Boeing's departure from the competition. Boeing's decision comes a week after the Air Force released its final request for proposals on July 16. A contract for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase is expected to be awarded by the end of 2020. Lockheed Martin had previously competed for the contract, but was ousted in August 2017, when the service awarded technology maturation and risk reduction contacts to Boeing and Northrop. It's unclear how Boeing's departure will affect the ultimate price of the GBSD program. In April, Gen. Timothy Ray, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, said he was counting on competition between Northrop and Boeing to help offset a near-term bump in cost expected as the Air Force makes investments in current infrastructure that will be reused for the GBSD system. Ultimately, that competition would help drive “billions” of dollars in savings over the lifespan of he weapon, he said. “Between the acquisition and the deal that we have from a competitive environment, from our ability to drive sustainment, the value proposition that I'm looking at is a two-thirds reduction in the number of times we have to go and open the site. There's a two-thirds reduction in the number of times we have to go and put convoys on the road.” It would be unusual for the Air Force to move forward with this program with only one competitor, Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, noted in an email. “One option would be for the Air Force to re-write the RFP to address some of Boeing's concerns, which could delay the program,” he wrote. “The RFP had been seen by some analysts as favoring Northrop Grumman because the initial portion was cost-plus, but Boeing's concerns suggest it's worried about a strategic bid by Northrop Grumman.” During an earnings call on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg referred to the GBSD program a single time — to say that the company would leverage its development work on GBSD for future programs such as NASA Commercial Crew effort and next-generation space launch. https://www.defensenews.com/space/2019/07/25/boeing-drops-from-next-generation-icbm-competition/

By: Kelsey Reichmann WASHINGTON — The U.S. private equity group Advent International Corp. will acquire U.K. defense firm Cobham plc for £4 billion, or $5 billion, on Thursday. Advent, which has completed over 345 buyouts in 41 countries, purchased Cobham through its indirect subsidiary AI Convoy Bidco Limited. “We have worked intensively over the last two and half years to focus on our customers and our financial and operating performance, and these fundamentals, along with the investment in the business Advent can provide, will enable us to leverage the quality of our products and services," said David Lockwood, CEO of Cobham, in the press release. "Most of all, this offer reflects the potential for future growth and improving performance, and is an endorsement of our turnaround strategy and our hard working people.” Cobham, which creates products for the defense, aerospace, and space industries, is ranked 57 on the Defense News Top 100 with 64 percent of its annual revenue, or $1.59 billion, coming from defense. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of 2019, according to the press release. https://www.defensenews.com/top-100/2019/07/25/uk-defense-company-acquired-for-5-billion/

WASHINGTON — The Air Force's No. 2 officer has a countdown on his iPhone for the first B-21 Raider flight, and it may happen sooner than you think: December 2021, to be exact. “Don't hold me to it, but it's something like 863 days to first flight,” said Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen Wilson, according to Air Force Magazine. Wilson, who spoke July 24 at an AFA Mitchell Institute event, said he had recently visited B-21 prime contractor Northrop Grumman's facilities in Melbourne, Fla., and that the company was “moving out on that pretty fast.” The 863-day countdown — if it is accurate — would peg the Raider's inaugural flight to Dec. 3, 2021. And while there's still ample time for design problems and budget setbacks to delay that schedule, analysts said the Air Force's disclosure of the first flight date means that the secretive bomber program is likely moving along smoothly. “A lot can happen in two years. But if they feel that confident about the schedule it's a good sign that things are on course,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group. The short timeline between the contract award to Northrop Grumman in 2015 — which withstood a Boeing-Lockheed protest in 2016 — and first flight in 2021 could be a sign the B-21's air vehicle design is a smaller version of the B-2 Spirit, he said. “Which, of course, would mean a lot less risk and reasonably fast schedule,” Aboulafia said. “There's not a reason for the airframe itself to have to change radically. It's everything else about it that needs to be modernized, and it seems they think they can make do with a smaller system with less range. If you accept that thinking as the likely reality, then that would make for less risk and a relatively short development schedule. That all makes sense.” However, it is possible that there have been major design changes, in which case it's likely that several sub-scale or even full-scale demonstrators will fly before 2021, he added. Roman Schweizer, an analyst of Cowen Washington Research Group, said a 2021 first flight is a “significant new data point” that meshes well with the company's projected schedule of the program. “We believe the next major milestone for the program will be a Production Readiness Review that will clear the way for manufacturing the first prototype aircraft. Based on the program's next R&D funding step-up, we expect this could happen sometime later this calendar year to allow manufacturing to begin in FY20,” he wrote in an email to investors on Wednesday. In March, Bloomberg reported that procurement spending for the B-21 program would start in FY22 with $202 million in funding, shooting up to $2.4 billion the following year and $3.3 billion in FY24. “That could mean Low-Rate Production in FY23,” Schweizer wrote. “That would also make sense after flight test evaluations of the prototype (and possibly several others).” The Air Force has kept tight hold on details related to the Raiders development, keeping much of its budget in the “black” or classified portion of the funding request. The last major B-21 related disclosure was the December 2018 announcement that the program had completed its critical design review. Wilson's statements follow Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matt Donovan's visit to Northrop's B-21 Design and Development Headquarters in Melbourne., on July 19. Donovan was accompanied by Randy Walden, director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, which is responsible for executing the program. “We look forward to receiving the B-21 on time and incorporating it into our future force,” Donovan said after the visit. “The B-21 will be a significant component of our Air Force as we continue to modernize to meet the National Defense Strategy and is a game-changing capability to win the high-end fight.” By Valerie Insinna https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/07/25/coming-in-2021-the-b-21-raiders-first-flight/

By: Leo Shane III and Joe Gould House lawmakers on Thursday advanced a two-year, $2.7 trillion budget plan with $738 billion in military funding in fiscal 2020 over the objections of conservative colleagues who objected to the increased federal spending levels. The measure — which passed 284-149 — has the support of President Donald Trump and leaders from both chambers, but drew the support of only 65 Republicans in the final vote. That's roughly one-third of the House GOP membership. Senate lawmakers are expected to take up the matter next week. The measure is designed to prevent a partial government shutdown this fall and stabilize appropriations plans for all aspects of federal agencies until after next year's presidential election. On the House floor Thursday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., called the deal a critical step forward in restoring regular budget order and predictability not just for military programs, but for all of the government. “There is no secret we have big differences between the Democratically controlled House and White House and the Republican-controlled Senate,” he said. “Despite those differences, we have to function. We have to be able to fund the government and meet our responsibilities to the American people.” Ahead of the vote, Trump worked to bolster Republican support for the measure, which would increase Defense Department spending by more than 3 percent over fiscal 2019 levels. He tweeted that the new budget plan “greatly helps our Military and our Vets.” White House officials (and Republican congressional leaders) had pushed for even more in defense spending recent weeks, while congressional Democrats had insisted any military funding increase be offset with additional non-defense spending. In the end, the non-military money in the new budget deal will grow by about $10 billion more than defense spending over the next two years, and the military spending for fiscal 2020 will fall about $12 billion short of the White House's hopes. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., and chairman of the Republican Study Committee, in a statement called the compromise plan “a massive spending deal that will further in debt future generations and remove reasonable safeguards to prevent the growth of government and the misuse of taxpayer dollars.” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and a House Armed Services Committee member, said he would only vote for the deal if it were paired with congressional action to look for paths toward debt reduction. “It you could create a commission that was empowered to bring its recommendations to the floor for an up or down vote, and had members who were younger, next-generation members, I think it could work,” Gallagher said in a video posted to Twitter. Two weeks ago, House Republicans voted against a $733 billion military spending topline as part of the annual defense policy bill, in large part citing insufficient funding totals for national security. House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Mac. Thornberry, R-Texas, on Thursday voted for the slightly larger defense spending total, telling reporters the two-year deal would provide much-needed stability for the military. “Given the political turmoil that comes with an election year ... having a two-year budget deal that takes us to the end, hallelujah, of the Budget Control Act is more valuable than if you had held out for a few billion,” Thornberry said. Democrats had misgivings of their own, including the deal's lack of restrictions on Trump's ability to shift money within the budget toward a controversial border wall. The Pentagon was expected to shift a total of about $6.1 billion from its budget to help build a border wall, including about $3.6 billion from military construction projects. But in the end, all but 16 Democrats in the House backed the measure. House members began their extended summer break on Thursday night, leaving the details of separate appropriations bills reflecting the new budget deal to be sorted out in September. The Senate is scheduled to begin their break at the end of next week, after voting on the measure. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/07/25/budget-deal-advances-despite-gop-worries-over-costs-smaller-boost-for-military/