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By: Aaron Mehta A Louisiana National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk is used to assess flooding on June 5, 2015. Latvia wants to purchase four of the Sikorsky-made helicopters. (1st Lt. Rebekah Malone/Army National Guard) WASHINGTON — Latvia has been cleared by the U.S. State Department to buy four UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, in a move to bolster the NATO nation's ability to move forces around the alliance's eastern flank. The sale has an estimated price tag of $200 million, which covers the four rotorcraft, 10 engines and associated equipment. As with all announcements by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the sale must pass through the Senate, at which point negotiations can begin; total quantities and dollar totals often change from the original DSCA announcement and final sale. “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO ally,” according to a DSCA statement. “These UH-60 helicopters will allow for interoperability with U.S. and NATO forces in rapid response to a variety of missions, and quick positioning of troops with minimal helicopter assets.” Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/08/03/latvia-cleared-to-buy-black-hawks

By: Charlsy Panzino What if an aircraft could tell you a part needs maintenance before it actually breaks? That's the kind of technology that the head of Air Mobility Command is hoping to install on the command's aircraft as one way to deal with its older fleet. The goal is to outfit the planes with instruments that will monitor specific equipment and relay information back to the maintainers, giving them a heads up if a part is worn out and needs to be repaired or replaced. “As the airplane is beeping and squeaking ... as it's passing its zeros and ones, we can do an algorithm on the data that is received and we can say, predictability means this is going to fail at that time, go check that part,” Gen. Carlton Everhart told Air Force Times at the Pentagon on Thursday. Everhart said instruments have been installed on one of AMC's C-5M Super Galaxy transport aircraft to begin testing the idea of predictive maintenance. Full article: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/08/02/planes-could-give-heads-up-when-part-is-about-to-break

CAE today announced that CAE USA Mission Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of CAE USA, has acquired Alpha-Omega Change Engineering (AOCE) for approximately US$29 million, excluding post-closing adjustments. The acquisition will enhance CAE USA's core capabilities as a training systems integrator (TSI), grow CAE's position on enduring platforms such as fighter aircraft, and expand the ability for CAE USA to pursue higher-level security programs in the United States. AOCE, based in Williamsburg, Virginia, provides a range of aircrew training services, operational test and evaluation, and engineering support services to the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. intelligence services. “This acquisition aligns directly with CAE's strategic priorities to grow and expand our capabilities in the world's largest defense market,” said Marc Parent, CAE's President and Chief Executive Officer. “AOCE brings existing contracts as well as past performance in unmanned systems, aircrew training and courseware development for fighter and special operations aircraft, and space and missile defense,” said Ray Duquette, President and General Manager, CAE USA. “This will significantly enhance CAE USA's training systems integration capabilities and allow us to address broader market opportunities in the United States.” AOCE was founded in 1997, employs approximately 600 people, and has been a successful, rapidly growing business focused on providing training, engineering and consulting services. The company is currently the prime contractor on a range of programs for the U.S. Department of Defense, including: Maintenance and Aircrew Training at Kirtland/Davis-Monthan/Joint Base Andrews/Moody (KDAM) in support of the Air Force Special Operations Command Aircrew Training and Rehearsal Support (ATARS) program; U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide engineering and operational support services; and U.S. Air Force contract aircrew training and courseware development for F-15, F-16, and F-22 aircrews. “CAE is a recognized global leader in training and we have first-hand knowledge of the type of company CAE is through the excellent working relationship we developed on programs such as the U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft aircrew training,” said Jim Hartney, AOCE's Chairman of the Board. “This acquisition and being part of CAE will open new growth opportunities for AOCE and our employees.” CAE USA also announced it has established CAE USA Mission Solutions Inc, a subsidiary of CAE USA which operates under a Proxy Agreement with the United States government. The Proxy Agreement enables Mission Solutions to pursue and execute higher-level security programs. About CAE CAE's Defense & Security business unit focuses on helping prepare our customers to develop and maintain the highest levels of mission readiness. We are a world-class training systems integrator offering a comprehensive portfolio of training centers, training services and simulation products across the air, land, sea and public safety market segments. We serve our global defense and security customers through regional operations in the United States/Latin America; Canada; Europe/Africa; and Asia-Pacific/Middle East, all of which leverage the full breadth of CAE's capabilities, technologies and solutions. CAE is a global leader in training for the civil aviation, defense and security, and healthcare markets. Backed by a 70-year record of industry firsts, we continue to help define global training standards with our innovative virtual-to-live training solutions to make flying safer, maintain defense force readiness and enhance patient safety. We have the broadest global presence in the industry, with over 8,500 employees, 160 sites and training locations in over 35 countries. Each year, we train more than 120,000 civil and defense crewmembers and thousands of healthcare professionals worldwide. https://www.cae.com/news-events/press-releases/cae-acquires-alpha-omega-change-engineering-aoce

As it looks to get new technologies developed and into the field as quickly as possible, the Department of Defense has been making greater use of Other Transaction Authority (OTA), a quick-strike contracting mechanism that has gone in and out of fashion since the 1950s, but is now seeing a resurgence. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), for example, recently awarded a $49 million OTA to Enterprise Services, teaming with four other companies, for DISA's National Background Investigation Services (NBIS), a shared service intended to combine a number of separate systems to speed up process investigations. The Navy also took the OTA route in awarding Advanced Technology International a $100 million deal to manage work on the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Command's Information Warfare Research Project. The Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental (DIUx), created in 2015 to foster innovation in partnership with industry, has made extensive use of OTAs, telling Congress earlier this year it had awarded 61 other transaction agreements worth $145 million, with the agreements reached within an average of 78 days. What both projects have in common are that they involve prototyping new technologies and involve companies that don't usually work as DoD contractors. They also aim for rapid development and deployment. The Navy contract “will accelerate acquisition and bring non-traditional sources, research and development labs, and industry together to provide new, innovative information warfare solutions,” said Rear Adm. C.D. Becker, commander of SPAWAR Systems Command. Full article: https://www.meritalk.com/articles/are-otas-the-thing-of-the-future/

By: Valerie Insinna POZNAN, Poland — The Air Force's ambitious new ISR strategy calls for a sensing grid that fuses together data from legacy platforms like the RQ-4 Global Hawk, emerging technologies like swarming drones, other services' platforms and publicly available information. And deciphering all of that data will be artificial intelligence. Such a system may sound like something out of a sci-fi book, but the service believes it could be in service by 2028. In a July 31 interview, Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for ISR, explained the Air Force's new “Next Generation ISR Dominance Flight Plan,” which lays out the service's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance goals for the next 10 years. In the past, “when we fielded a sensor, we fielded a sensor to answer a question,” Jamieson said. What the ISR flight plan tries to accomplish is far more extensive: “How do I get the data so I can fuse it, look at it and then ask the right questions from the data to reveal what trends are out there?" “We have to do all of that at the speed of relevance — meaning at warfighting speed — so that our decision cycle has shrunk,” she added. “We get our effects in and out, and we create chaos and confusion in the adversary. Once he gets behind, it is extremely difficult to actually catch up.” Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/air/2018/08/01/air-forces-future-isr-architecture-could-feature-drone-swarms-and-hypersonics-all-with-ai-underpinning-it-all/

Gareth Jennings, London Boeing is to begin development of a Block 3-standard Boeing CH/MH-47 Chinook transport and assault helicopter toward the end of the 2020s, ahead of fielding by the US Army in the late 2030s/early 2040s. The timeline was disclosed by the army's MH-47G programme manager, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Klarenbach, in a briefing presented earlier in 2018 and seen by Jane'son 1 August. According to the briefing, Block 3 technology development for both the CH-47F and MH-47G will run from about 2027 to 2040, with production immediately following. With Boeing currently engaged in the early stages of the Block 2 upgrade for the US Army's Chinook fleet (the first of three prototypes is now in final assembly, ahead of the first low-rate initial production delivery in fiscal year 2023), in May 2017 the company first touted the notion of a Block 3 upgrade to take the Chinook out to the 2060s. No details as to what a Block 3 upgrade might include were released, but Boeing at that time noted it could feature the new Future Affordable Turbine Engine (FATE), which is being provisioned for inclusion in Block 2, as well as active parallel actuator systems and torque management systems. It could also see the Chinook become optionally-piloted. “[Optionally piloted] is not a huge technology challenge with the flights controls the Chinook has – it is more a tactics, techniques, and procedures [TTP] challenge,” said Randy Rotte, Boeing's director of cargo helicopter sales and marketing. “Unlike the [US Marine Corps'] K-MAX, which carried its cargo sling-loaded, someone would need to get inside [of the unmanned Chinook] to load and unload it.” While the US Army has yet to comment on what a Block 3 Chinook might entail, Col Klarenbach's briefing slides showed two possible configurations. Full article: https://www.janes.com/article/82113/us-army-discloses-timelines-for-block-3-chinook

By: Pierre Tran PARIS — France is seeking to reduce its reliance on U.S. approval for French arms exports as Washington withholds clearance for an American component on the French Scalp cruise missile, which blocks the sale of additional Rafale fighter jets to Egypt. “It is true that we depend on this (U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations) mechanism: We are at the mercy of the Americans when our equipment is concerned,” French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly told the Committee for National Defense and Armed Forces of the lower-house National Assembly, according to recently released transcripts from July 4. France lacks the means to be totally independent of the U.S., she said, adding that French authorities are looking for ways to boost its autonomy. Parly was answering a question from parliamentarian Jean-Jacques Ferrara on the blocked sale of a further batch of Rafale aircraft to Egypt. “Are we looking to improve the situation?” Parly said. “The answer is yes. In the case raised by Mr. Ferrara, we cannot get the U.S. to lift its opposition to the sale of Scalp missiles." “What is the solution? That the manufacturer of these missiles, namely MBDA, make the investment in research and technology to be able to make a similar component, which would avoid ITAR," she added." “We are able to do it for this contract because the component can be built within a reasonable amount of time even if the client, naturally, sees it as too long.” MBDA declined to comment for this story. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/08/01/a-jet-sale-to-egypt-is-being-blocked-by-a-us-regulation-and-france-is-over-it/

By: Jeff Martin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is looking to replace three aircraft — the E-4B command post, the C-32A executive airlifter and the Navy's E-6B command post — under the purview of a single program known as NEAT. Air Force Materiel Command posted the request for information Tuesday for NEAT — otherwise known as National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC), Executive Airlift, Airborne Command Post (ABNCP), Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO). The RFI comes after an April Senate hearing where Gen. Robin Rand, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said it was time to get “very serious” about replacing the E-4B and E-6B. While the RFI provides little information into what is specifically sought, it does ask for companies' experience in commercial derivative military aircraft and joint work with other businesses. It also asks companies to propose a “recommended technical solution” for the NEAT program. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/newsletters/daily-news-roundup/2018/08/01/us-air-force-may-replace-3-types-of-aircraft-with-a-single-platform/

By: Leo Shane III WASHINGTON — Senators gave final approval to the annual defense authorization bill on Wednesday, sending the $717 billion budget package to the White House to become law in the next few weeks. The move marks the 58th consecutive year Congress has approved the military spending policy measure and the earliest that lawmakers have finished the work in 41 years. Typically, lawmakers labor until late fall before reaching agreement on the legislation. It sets the military pay raise at 2.6 percent starting next January, adds 15,600 more troops to services' overall end strength, and boosts aircraft and ship purchases above what the White House had requested. It also gives lawmakers a solid legislative victory to tout before voters in the lead-up to the November mid-term elections, and some parliamentary breathing room they hope can lead to progress on appropriations bills in the next few weeks. WASHINGTON — Senators gave final approval to the annual defense authorization bill on Wednesday, sending the $717 billion budget package to the White House to become law in the next few weeks. The move marks the 58th consecutive year Congress has approved the military spending policy measure and the earliest that lawmakers have finished the work in 41 years. Typically, lawmakers labor until late fall before reaching agreement on the legislation. It sets the military pay raise at 2.6 percent starting next January, adds 15,600 more troops to services' overall end strength, and boosts aircraft and ship purchases above what the White House had requested. It also gives lawmakers a solid legislative victory to tout before voters in the lead-up to the November mid-term elections, and some parliamentary breathing room they hope can lead to progress on appropriations bills in the next few weeks. Congress is giving the officer promotion system a massive overhaul The changes will have a far-reaching impact on military culture and change the incentives for how individual officers manage their careers. By: Leo Shane III A day earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced that he had reached an agreement with Senate Democrats on bringing defense appropriations legislation to the Senate floor later this month, as part of a broader effort to wrap up fiscal 2019 military spending issues before the election. Full article: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/08/01/congress-finalizes-defense-budget-authorization-months-ahead-of-schedule/