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Les Etats-Unis ont annoncé le 9 juillet avoir approuvé la vente de 105 avions furtifs F-35 de Lockheed Martin au Japon, pour un montant estimé à 23,11 milliards de dollars, selon l'Agence de coopération pour la sécurité de la défense (DSCA). Dans le détail, il s'agit de 63 F-35A, la version traditionnelle de cet avion de combat destiné à l'armée de l'Air, et 42 F-35B, la version à décollage court et atterrissage vertical destinée aux porte-avions. La Tribune du 11 juillet 2020

Les trois avions de présérie du programme Falcon 6X destinés aux essais en vol et à la certification, sont en cours de fabrication dans les usines de Dassault Aviation. Le premier vol est prévu au tout début 2021 pour une entrée en service en 2022. « Le lancement commercial du Falcon 6X dans les délais prévus est une priorité absolue pour la société. Notre personnel de planification et de production a fait preuve d'efficacité et de réactivité en adaptant les procédures aux nouvelles directives sanitaires pour assurer le bon déroulement de ce programme », souligne Eric Trappier, président-directeur général de Dassault Aviation, dans un communiqué du groupe. Aerobuzz du 15 juillet 2020

Un rapport du Sénat appelle le gouvernement à maintenir un effort de défense substantiel sous peine de voir disparaître des pans de la base industrielle et technologique de défense, la BITD. Celle-ci « joue dans les cinq ans qui viennent sa survie », estiment les auteurs, deux sénateurs de la commission des affaires étrangères et de la défense, Pascal Allizard (Les Républicains) et Michel Boutant (PS). Le nouveau gouvernement devrait annoncer après l'été un plan de relance. « Il est fondamental que ce plan comporte un volet spécifique pour la BITD, soulignent Pascal Allizard et Michel Boutant. Les entreprises de la BITD qui disparaîtraient faute de relance ne seront pas remplacées ». La Tribune du 14 juillet 2020

By: Megan Eckstein July 14, 2020 3:45 PM A V-22 Osprey aircraft bound for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force based at Camp Kisarazu prepares to depart Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, Japan, July 6, 2020. The ferry flight from MCAS Iwakuni marked the delivery of the first V-22 to the Japan Self-Defense Force. US Marine Corps photo. Japan accepted delivery of its first Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey on Friday, making it the first nation outside the U.S. to own and operate the tiltrotor aircraft. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) took delivery of the aircraft at Camp Kisarazu, across the Tokyo Bay from Yokosuka, according to news releases from Bell and Boeing, who collaborate on the aircraft program. “Congratulations to Japan on becoming the first international operator of the Osprey,” Kurt Fuller, Bell Boeing program director, said in a release. “The delivery of the Japanese V-22 represents a milestone for revolutionary aircraft capabilities for the Government of Japan and is a testament to our enduring friendship. The Osprey will provide Japan a tremendous advantage, unlike ever before, to respond to a broad range of challenges throughout the Asia Pacific region.” The Japanese V-22 variant has a unique configuration with a Japanese-specific communication system, according to the news releases. Despite the different communication system, JGSDF personnel have been working with U.S. Marines since May to learn how to operate the aircraft ahead of accepting delivery of their own Osprey. “This is an exciting moment in our partnership with the JGSDF; we have had the pleasure of working with them state-side to produce, develop, train and maintain their initial fleet of aircraft,” Marine Corps Col. Matthew Kelly, program manager for the V-22 Joint Program Office (PMA-275), said in the news release. “This arrival marks a key step in standing up its V-22 fleet, and more importantly, the continued collaboration between our nations.” The start of Japan's V-22 fleet comes shortly after the U.S. Navy also accepted its first V-22 – called the CMV-22 – to carry out the carrier onboard delivery (COD) mission once the aging C-2A Greyhound propeller planes retire. Bell Boeing delivered the first aircraft to the “Black Jacks” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 in February, and the first operational aircraft arrived at Naval Air Station North Island in California last month to begin building up the inventory of the “Titans” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30. Marine Corps pilots and maintainers have also helped train their Navy counterparts on the aircraft, much like they have been doing in Japan. The Navy variant has extended range due to additional fuel tanks, a beyond-line-of-sight high-frequency radio, a public address system for passengers and an improved lighting system for cargo loading, all to assist in the COD mission ferrying people, supplies and mail across a carrier strike group at sea. Unlike the C-2, which could only fly from shore to the aircraft carrier, the V-22 will be able to reach the surface combatants in the CSG directly, thanks to its ability to land and take off vertically like a helicopter. Prior to Japan deciding to buy the V-22 in 2015, Japanese citizens long had concerns about American V-22s operating out of Japanese bases, particularly Okinawa, due to the aircraft's early safety record. Even as recently as 2018, after the V-22 had established itself as a safe and reliable aircraft, Defense News reported that safety concerns from residents near Camp Kisarazu delayed the delivery of Bell Boeing's first aircraft to Japan. https://news.usni.org/2020/07/14/japan-self-defense-force-accepts-delivery-of-first-v-22-osprey

Nathan Strout Raytheon has selected Orolia to provide a critical time and frequency system to the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor the company is building for the U.S. Army, Orolia announced July 8. The Army awarded Raytheon $384 million in October 2019 to deliver six LTAMDS radar units. LTAMDS is expected to replace the Army's Patriot radars — a system that has been fielded since the 1980s and is also built by Raytheon — operating on the Army's Integrated Air and Missile Defense network. While approximately the same size as its predecessor, the LTAMDS has more than twice the power and will be able to detect threats coming in from a full 360 degrees. The new radars are expected to reach initial operational capacity in fiscal 2022. Raytheon has now tapped Orolia to contribute a rugged time and frequency system. In a press release, Orolia claims it was chosen due to the low size, weight and power constraints of its system and its past work with Raytheon. The company's SecureSync position, navigation and timing solution was the first time and frequency reference system approved by the Defense Information Systems Agency for network interoperability. “Ultra-precise mission timing and sync technology are fundamental building blocks for the resilient PNT systems that war fighters rely on for continuous operations in contested environments,” said Orolia Defense and Security President Hironori Sasaki. “We are proud to be a Raytheon Missiles & Defense partner on LTAMDS and other programs that utilize GPS signals for timing, frequency and network synchronization across critical military systems.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/2020/07/14/orolia-to-contribute-timing-sysstem-to-missile-defense-radar/

NAVY Bay City Marine Inc.,* National City, California (N32253-17-D-0003); Caliedo & Sons Services Inc.,* Ewa Beach, Hawaii (N32253-17-D0004); Delphinus Engineering Inc.,* Eddystone, Pennsylvania (N32253-17-D-0005); Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc.,* Portsmouth, Virginia (N32253-17-D-0006); Propulsion Controls Engineering,* Aiea, Hawaii (N32253-17-D-0007); Pacific Shipyards International LLC,* Honolulu, Hawaii (N32253-17-D-0008); QED Systems Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N32253-17-D-0009); Confluence Corp., doing business as Regal Service Co.,* Honolulu, Hawaii (N32553-18-D-0003); Marisco LTD,* Kapolei, Hawaii (N32253-18-D-0004); and Integrated Marine Services Inc.,* Chula Vista, California (N32553-18-D-0005), are awarded a $49,000,000 modification, increasing the ceiling for a total of $98,000,000 on the surface multi-award (SURFMAC), indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. The SURFMAC is a firm-fixed-price IDIQ for the procurement-involving repair, maintenance and alteration of U.S. government waterborne vessels and surface ships visiting or homeported in the Hawaiian Islands. Work will be performed on Oahu, Hawaii. Types of trades required are ship fitting, sheet metal, welding, pipefitting, painting, machining/mechanical, electrical, electronics, woodworking, lagging and rigging. Sample work includes, but is not limited to, ventilation, air conditioning, tank work, structural repairs, fumigation, electrical system repair, pump repair, fan repair, decking, fire system repairs and updates. Work is expected to be completed by September 2022. The 10 contractors may compete for delivery orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. Funds will be obligated at the order level. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity. Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems, Braintree, Massachusetts, is awarded a $42,192,128 not-to-exceed, undefinitized modification to previously awarded contract N63394-19-C-0007 to exercise options for production of Next Generation Surface Search Radar (NGSSR) systems. The NGSSR will replace all variants of the current AN/SPS-67, AN/SPS-73, BridgeMaster E series and commercial-off-the-shelf radar systems. Work will be performed in Wake Forest, North Carolina (85%); Chantilly, Virginia (14%); and Braintree, Massachusetts (1%). This contract modification will acquire the first NGSSR production lot following a contract award for design and production of three qualification systems. The primary objective of NGSSR is to replace legacy systems due to current military threats and obsolescence issues. Work is expected to be completed by April 2023. Fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy); and 2017 and 2018 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funding in the amount of $21,096,064 will be obligated at time of award. Funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The NGSSR was not competitively procured in accordance with 15 U.S. Code 638(r)(4) under the Small Business Innovation Research Phase III program/2018 National Defense Authorization Act. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Greenville, South Carolina, is awarded a $25,918,520 modification (P00026) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost reimbursable indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00421-15-D-0007. This modification exercises an option to extend services for organizational, selected intermediate and limited depot maintenance and logistics support for Northrop F-5F and F-5N aircraft in support of the Specialized and Proven Aircraft Program. Work will be performed in Key West, Florida (40%); Fallon, Nevada (30%); and Yuma, Arizona (30%), and is expected to be completed by January 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY Swan Contracting LLC,* Petersborough, New Hampshire, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for rapid-response temporary roofing projects in the event of an emergency. Bids were solicited via the internet with 16 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2027. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-D-0034). Blue Tarpon Construction LLC,* Gulf Breeze, Florida, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for rapid-response temporary roofing projects in the event of an emergency. Bids were solicited via the internet with 16 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2027. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-D-0035). Venegas Construction Corp.,* Ponce, Puerto Rico, was awarded a $45,000,000 firm-fixed-price contract for rapid-response temporary roofing projects in the event of an emergency. Bids were solicited via the internet with 16 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of June 30, 2027. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha, Nebraska, is the contracting activity (W9128F-20-D-0036). Leidos Inc., Reston, Virginia, was awarded a $34,951,039 hybrid (cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee) contract for system operations and sustainment services and test and training services in support of the Saturn Arch Aerial Intelligence Systems Quick Reaction Capability Program. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Reston, Virginia; Bridgewater, Virginia; and Huntsville, Alabama, with an estimated completion date of March 16, 2024. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Army Reserve) funds in the amount of $34,951,039 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-C-0024). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY US Foods Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $22,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-quantity contract for full-line food distribution. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a 127-day bridge contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are Virginia and North Carolina, with a Nov. 17, 2020, ordering period end date. Using military services are Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-3281). (Awarded July 10, 2020) New Maryland Clothing,* Baltimore, Maryland, has been awarded a maximum $12,268,935 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for men's and women's uniform dress coats. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(3), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-3. This is a two-year base contract with one one-year option period. Location of performance is Maryland, with a July 13, 2022, ordering period end date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1298). American Water Operations and Maintenance LLC, Camden, New Jersey, has been awarded a $7,636,368 modification (P00038) to 50-year contract SP0600-15-C-8302 with no option periods to increase the operations, maintenance, renewal and replacement charges for the water and wastewater utility systems at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. This is a fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment contract. Locations of performance are New Jersey and California, with a May 31, 2066, performance completion date. Using military service is Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2066 Air Force operations and maintenance funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Energy, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. AIR FORCE Thomas Instrument Inc., Brookshire, Texas, has been awarded a $7,100,000 requirements-type contract for the depot-level overhaul of the C-5 visor door actuator. Work will be performed in Brookshire, Texas, and is expected to be completed by July 13, 2025. This award is the result of a non-competitive acquisition. Fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds are being used and no funds are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Sustainment Center, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, is the contracting activity (FA8538-20-D-0004). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2273894/source/GovDelivery/

The Air Force should field several iterations of improved drones before 2030 -- not just to replace the MQ-9 -- but to do everything from ISR to strike to counter-air missions. By THERESA HITCHENSon July 14, 2020 at 4:44 PM WASHINGTON: Air Force acquisition head Will Roper is worried the ever-shrinking US defense industrial base may force DoD to nationalize major programs in the not-so-distant future — expressing surprise that other senior leaders are not more concerned. “I think it's really important that we find a new model where there are no big winners, and no big losers, but continual competition,” he told reporters today. “Because if our industrial base collapses any more, we'll have to nationalize advanced aviation — and maybe other parts of the Air Force that currently aren't competitive.” While rushing to say that, as of now, there has not been any internal Pentagon discussion about nationalization of the aerospace industry, he told reporters today: “I don't think that's out of the tea leaf reading. “It has surprised me in this job that there's not more concern in the Pentagon about the continual shrinking of the defense industrial base,” he added. “And it's not because the defense industrial base has gotten worse — it's just that programs are so few and far between.” He explained that this reality forces defense companies to acquire “a pretty diversified portfolio” because the only competitions “may be a fighter one year, a satellite the next year, and a helicopter the next year. “We've seen this trend of major acquisitions to get those portfolios diverse enough so that you can deal with the chutes and rapids of few and far between major acquisitions. So that should be a huge concern to us, especially with our research and development dollars in defense only accounting for 20 percent of the total nation's.” A shrinking base means less competition; combine with that the fact that innovation now happens primarily in the commercial sector, not the defense sector. “I don't have to tell you that, eventually, we will nationalize warfighting capabilities and the defense industrial base, it will happen by necessity — by national security necessity, but I don't think that that's a fait accompli,” he said. Digital Century Series That concern is one of the reasons Roper is betting on the Digital Century Series concept as the Air Force considers its development plans and procurement strategy for the highly classified Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD). “My hope in the Digital Century Series is to stabilize, at least for tactical aircraft, the collapse of our aviation industrial base any further,” he said. The new Program Executive Office for Fighters and Advanced Aircraft working on those programs has drafted a study to determine whether that concept — where new versions of aircraft are rotated into the fleet every 15 or so years — is actually cheaper than traditional programs, where up front unit costs are low but vendors make bank on modernization and sustainment. In major acquisition programs where one winner takes all, he explained, “there is no way to tell industry, in a way you can enforce, not to significantly invest — it's too big of a deal, they have to win. That internal investment is then what creates that strong incentive to lock into the program, to put intellectual property into all different interfaces, no matter how good we are at trying to police it out of the system.” “The designer always have mechanisms to skirt around our best policy and oversight,” he said wryly, because without being able to ensure future contracts for upgrades and upkeep, the firm wouldn't have a business case. But for the Air Force, modernizing and sustaining aircraft after year 15 results in increased costs of somewhere between three and eight percent per year, he said. The idea with Digital Century Series, by contrast, is to break out of this model into one where the up-front price the Air Force pays for new aircraft — “somewhere between X-planes and mass production” — is essentially the “total price of ownership.” The hope, he said, is that while the up-front unit prices will be higher, the cost over time will be significantly lower than a traditional major program buy. And in fact, he said, Air Force's “compare and contrast” study of the two different acquisition models so far has found that the Digital Century Series concept is “slightly cheaper.” “Maybe significantly cheaper,” he added, “but slightly cheaper than a traditional acquisition,” even one leveraging digital engineering to help keep the costs of future modernizations down. However, Roper said he has now brought in independent experts to “check our assumptions, check our math,” and is awaiting the results of their assessment. “I think in three weeks, I'll be able to go from pencil to ink and say whether this is viable or not,” he said. MQ-9 Reaper and MQ-Next In the wide-ranging briefing, Roper also touched on the hot-button MQ-9 Reaper replacement effort that has piqued congressional concern. The reason the service is taking a bit of time to study future options, he explained, is the belief that future peer combat will require not just a new unmanned aerial vehicle for ISR/strike — but instead a multi-mission family of drones to do everything from air-to-air missions to ISR/strike to base defense. “We need these UAVs to be true utility players, to use the baseball analogy,” he suggested. But Roper knows he's got to keep a close eye on the Hill, because “building a utility player that can meet multiple mission demands is not something that our acquisition system has historically been good at. And we've got to get good quickly to convince Congress that this is a good pivot, and I look forward to having those discussions that summer.” Roper said he met with the development team studying concepts for the “Next Generation UAS ISR/Strike Platform” two weeks ago to discuss everything from how high-end drones could be teamed with relatively inexpensive and attritable ones to how to do “smart automation” that limits the number of people needed to operate them. “We made the pivot to divest MQ-9 to pivot into high-end warfighting, and we're gonna have to build new systems for high-end warfighting and teamed systems for high-end fighting. So I think the litmus test for ‘MQ-Next' is going to be what other letter can we assign to its name because it's doing a mission other than is ISR strike,” he said, with a chuckle. “Ones that that jumped to the forefront for me,” he added, “are arming systems with air-to-air weapons, not just air-to-ground, so that you could play a role with forward tac air, but also being able to pull said system back to defend high-value assets that don't have defensive systems that are able to hold adversary air at risk. I think that would be a wonderful combination.” Roper said it's necessary for the Air Force “to explore more than just the MQ-9 mission” of gathering ISR data and striking targets in places like the Middle East, because there simply isn't enough budget leeway to do otherwise as the service shifts focus to combat with peer competitors. Lawmakers are concerned that the service doesn't yet have a solid acquisition strategy for replacing the venerable MQ-9 — a platform that has flown more than 4 million operational flight hours. Thus there has been a wave of congressional opposition to the Air Force's decision in its 2021 budget request to begin divesting of the aircraft, and its February stop-order on production by prime General Atomics. The full House Appropriations Committee today approved its subcommittee's decision to add $343.6 million for 16 MQ-9s to the Air Force's budget — with Rep. Ken Calvert noting the importance of the drone to combatant commanders. Report language accompanying the bill highlighted concerns among lawmakers — also voiced by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees — that the Air Force's replacement effort is moving too slowly could result in a gap in capability. Roper, however, said that not only can the Air Force have new drones fielded by 2030, but that there should be several iterations of improved platforms developed over the next decade. “Absolutely we can get there by 2030. In a digitally engineered future,10 years is an eternity. I would hope we could spiral multiple times within that 10 years,” he stressed. Responses to the Air Force's June request for information are due July 24, and judging by discussions so far,. vendors are likely to offer a number of approaches. “I expect to see a lot of high-end tech options in the submissions that are trying to help us do a current mission, other than ISR strike, differently,” he said, noting that if a system can do that, it also makes ISR easier especially in a permissive environment. “If you can do those high-end missions, then I'm willing to hit the ‘I believe' button,” he said. On the other hand, he also expects contractors to come in with “a different approach to survivability” — perhaps proposing large quantities of cheap attritable drones; or concepts that team sensor carrying drones with others carrying munitions, Roper said. “You can imagine, designing things that may not return is a complete cultural shift for us and for industry, but I've been pretty pleased with the informal engagements thus far,” he said, “and I expect to see some really creative thinking.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/air-forces-roper-suggests-nationalizing-advanced-aviation-industry

Posted on July 14, 2020; Boeing Press Release The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a nearly US$1.2 billion contract to build the first lot of eight F-15EX advanced fighter jets to help the service meet its capacity requirements and add capability to its fighter fleet. The award also covers support and one-time, upfront engineering costs. Already under construction at the Boeing F-15 production facility in St. Louis, the first two jets deliver next year. The U.S. Air Force is also announcing the overall indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract with a ceiling value of nearly US$23 billion for F-15EX aircraft. “The F-15EX is the most advanced version of the F-15 ever built, due in large part to its digital backbone,” said Lori Schneider, Boeing F-15EX program manager. “Its unmatched range, price and best-in-class payload capacity make the F-15EX an attractive choice for the U.S. Air Force.” The F-15EX carries more weapons than any other fighter in its class, and can launch hypersonic weapons up to 22 feet long and weighing up to 7,000 pounds. To further support the digital airframe and advance rapid technology insertion, the F-15 program serves as a pathfinder for the Department of Defense's DevSecOps initiative, aimed at developing secure, flexible and agile software. Additionally, open mission systems architecture ensures its viability for decades. “F-15EX brings together benefits of digital engineering, open mission systems and agile software development to keep it affordable and upgradeable for decades to come,” said Prat Kumar, Boeing vice-president and F-15 program manager. “This means we can rapidly test and field new capabilities on F-15EX keeping our warfighters ahead of threats.” Pilots and mechanics currently operating the F-15 anticipate transitioning to the F-15EX in a matter of days as opposed to years. Future plans call for as many as 144 aircraft. “We listened to our customer every step of the way when developing this exciting jet,” said Kumar. “What we will soon deliver is a modern and robust aircraft that supports our nation's defense by incorporating the latest systems, sensors and weapons.” https://www.skiesmag.com/press-releases/boeing-and-u-s-air-force-ink-historic-deal-for-f-15ex-fighter-jet/