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Bill Carey General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) will nearly quadruple the space it occupies at the Grand Sky research and development park in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the park announced Aug. ... http://aviationweek.com/air-dominance/general-atomics-expands-presence-north-dakota-rd-park

Key Points The USAF sought to decrease the time of pilot training without sacrificing learning Pilot Training Next relied heavily on simulators and other existing and emerging technologies The US Air Force (USAF) sought to decrease the time and cost of pilot training without sacrificing the depth of learning through its Pilot Training Next (PTN) initiative. PTN, which ran from February to 3 August 2018, included blended learning and data-centric facets by using existing and emerging technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, advanced biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics, according to a service statement. The knowledge gained was to be used to refine scientific measuring capabilities and teaching techniques. https://www.janes.com/article/82339/us-air-force-seeks-to-improve-student-pilot-learning-through-new-initiative

Just after 2 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, Sept. 29, 1962, a two-stage Thor-Agena rocket launched Alouette-I, Canada's first satellite and the first built by a country other than the United States or the U.S.S.R., into a near perfect 1,000-kilometre orbit around Earth. It was the start of a 10-year mission that was unprecedented at the time, producing more than one million images for studies of the ionosphere–the part of Earth's upper atmosphere that reflects and modifies radio waves used for communication and navigation–and it signalled to the world that Canada was a space-faring nation. Alouette-I originated in a proposal from the Defence Research Board of Canada, an arm of the Department of National Defence (DND), and was an early step in a long history of military collaboration that is reaching new heights as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) assumes responsibility for the nation's ambitious defence space program. “It's about protecting our assets,” said BGen Kevin Whale, director general, Space. “We have to wake up to the fact that space has become critical infrastructure. Imagine a day without space?” The RCAF took over responsibility for the defence space program from Chief of Force Development in 2016 and its mandate is laid out in Strong, Secure and Engaged (SSE), Canada's new defence policy, which sets an ambitious agenda for future investments in space-based capabilities. As an environment with the horsepower to generate and develop forces for employment, the Air Force is well-positioned “to take leadership of this capability,” said Whale, though he acknowledged it would take “some time” for the institution to fully deliver on its mandate. Space is an increasingly congested, contested and competitive domain, with dozens of military and civilian players–and the stakes aren't small. Space systems go a long way to enabling the world's economies, and what happens in space impacts the security of nations below. Whale himself noted that over a 30-year military career, he has benefitted countless times from space-based capabilities and never given them a second thought. Now he is adopting an “air plus space” approach to shape conversations about the RCAF roadmap. “Space, for a long time, had considered itself special, different, unique–which it is, as a domain,” he said. “But there are similarities and there are differences. We are wrapping our heads around that, and we will take care of this capability, just like we do any other one.” POLICY PUSH SSE identifies space as a critical aspect of Canada's defence, and it prescribes an extended mission to “defend and protect” military space capabilities, while also remaining committed to the peaceful use of space. The five-year roadmap lays out the framework for the defence space program, focused on three key areas: force employment, force generation, and force deployment. While the resources and personnel allocated to deliver this mission were initially modest–the core of the joint space cadre is about 60 personnel in Canada and 30 on exchange in the U.S.–the defence policy provides an additional 120 civilian and nearly two dozen military positions to the CAF/DND enterprise. Integration with other agencies, including the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and Industry, Science and Economic Development Canada, are key requirements of the strategy. “We know how to do this,” said Whale. “We've just got to get our heads around what's different and what's the same about space.” FORCE EMPLOYMENT The RCAF now provides integrated space capabilities to the commanders of Canadian Joint Operations Command (CJOC) and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM). Whale is dual-hatted as DG Space and as the space component commander, overseeing a director of space operations and readiness, who coordinates defence-related space activities through the Canadian Space Operations Centre (CANSpOC). CANSpOC launched in 2014 and provides a round-the-clock space watch that is integrated with the Canadian Forces Integrated Command Centre (CFICC). The space watch monitors and reports on space situational awareness (SSA), missile warning (as reported by the U.S. Department of Defence Joint Space Operations Center), space weather and the status of space mission systems. CANSpOC has the ability to generate a Joint Space Support Team (JSST) to support a deployed joint task force, as was the case for the mission to Latvia in support of Canada's contribution to Operation Reassurance and to Iraq in support of Operation Impact. The operations centre is also responsible for the CAF navigation warfare (NAVWAR) program, which is working to provide operational commanders with the tools, training and tactics and procedures to operate in a position, navigation, and timing (PNT)-degraded environment where network access is denied from jamming or spoofing. Though one of Whale's objectives is educating operational commanders of what a deployed space cell can provide in theatre–“education is a huge piece,” he said–the cadre of joint signals technicians available for deployment at the moment is very “lean” and must be expanded “so we can support the wider CAF.” “CANSpOC is only so big, until I can grow it,” he said. “This is [a] balance between fixing the car and operating it ... [In] some of these areas, we're currently one or two [persons] deep.” FORCE GENERATION To build up its space force with qualified tradespeople, the RCAF is borrowing an employment model from Canadian Special Operations Forces Command that Whale calls an “ABC approach.” Group A will be made up of individuals who enter the space program and stay there their entire careers; Group B will comprise tradespeople who enter space, leave for other postings, but will eventually return to the space program; and Group C will work in the space program temporarily, before leaving permanently for another division of the RCAF. “We haven't decided about a [specific space-related] trade yet,” said Whale. “But we are absolutely going to look at it.” An aerospace engineer, for example, is currently being trained as one of the first permanent space employees. As the RCAF grapples with recruitment and retention across its operations, Whale acknowledged that finding enough people to populate the space program is a concern. “To grow by a couple hundred folks, [it's] going to take a decade,” he said. “It's going to be measured and paced–unless, a commander decides, ‘You know what? Space is so important, Squadron X or capability Y, I'm going to cut you by 20 per cent, and I want to take those people and put them in here. I'll fill you back up, but I need this to move quicker.' ” FORCE DEVELOPMENT In its force development role, the RCAF will focus on three areas: intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), satellite communications (SATCOM), and position, navigation, and timing (PNT). ISR capabilities will include systems that provide surveillance from space, and others that provide surveillance of space. SATCOM initiatives, buttressed by the Assistant Deputy Minister Information Management (ADM IM) SATCOM Operations Centre, will support operations, joint capability development, and research and development. PNT will focus on electronic support of Canada's military, electronic protection, electronic attack, and direct support to operations. The intended result is a mix of CAF, federal government, allied, and commercial assets and systems that will ultimately help defend Canada's sovereignty. “We are now wrestling with–just like everyone else–how do we balance the commercial versus uniform versus civilian piece,” said Whale. MILSATCOM In partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense, the Canadian Armed Forces have embarked on two major projects to provide military SATCOM (MILSATCOM) with the level of capability the operational community demands. The first is the Protected Military SATCOM (PMSC) project. PMSC leverages the U.S. DoD advanced extremely-high frequency constellation to provide survivable and jam-resistant SATCOM in Ka- and Q-band to users around the world. PMSC achieved initial operating capability (IOC) in 2013 and is expected to reach full operational capability (FOC) in 2024. A second major MILSATCOM initiative is the Mercury Global (MG) project, which leverages the U.S. DoD wideband global SATCOM constellation to provide high bandwidth SATCOM in X-band and MIL Ka-band to global users. This capability achieved IOC in 2013 and is expected to achieve FOC in 2018. SSE identifies several challenges that will remain even after the implementation of PMSC and MG, and as a result the military has launched two additional SATCOM projects. The Tactical Narrowband SATCOM (TNS) project is expected to provide guaranteed, reliable and secure SATCOM in narrowband UHF, transmitting both voice and data and providing coverage from 65 degrees South to 65 degrees North. The current approach to TNS is focused on an effort with the U.S. DoD to gain assured access to the mobile user objective system (MUOS) UHF SATCOM constellation, with planned IOC in 2021 and FOC in 2023. Another critical project, known as the Enhanced Satellite Communications Project–Polar (ESCP-P), will provide “guaranteed, reliable and secure access” in narrowband and wideband to support operations in the Arctic. IOC is planned for no later than 2029, with FOC by 2031. As part of its consultation with industry, the RCAF will be asking if projects can be advanced quicker if the resources become available. “ESCP-P is one of the first ones we are trying to accelerate if we can,” said Whale. SURVEILLANCE Surveillance of space is a long-standing capability of the RCAF, demonstrated most recently with the Sapphire satellite, which launched in 2013. SSE identified a need to replace Sapphire through the Surveillance of Space 2 (SofS2) project. The goal of SofS2 is to acquire the ability to identify and track objects in space that could threaten the space-based systems of Canada and its allies, and to defend and protect military space capabilities. RCAF documents identify surveillance from space as the capability with perhaps the greatest growth in the space environment. Up until now, space-based surveillance has been used mainly for ISR and maritime domain awareness, often in significant cooperation with other government departments. A key next step will be the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM), a whole-of-government project led by the Canadian Space Agency that is expected to deliver better land surveillance and intelligence products. RCM is expected to launch this fall, with an IOC expected in 2019. Unclassified Remote-Sensing Situational Awareness (USRA) capability, an award-winning system, comprises air-transportable ground stations and small teams that can be deployed anywhere in the world in support of a joint task force. It draws down unclassified satellite imagery, making it an invaluable asset in large coalitions where information sharing is often a challenge. URSA and a six-person team are currently deployed with the Canadian Army forward enhanced presence battlegroup in Latvia. The capability is in the process of being transferred from CJOC to the RCAF. Other projects include the Defence Enhanced Surveillance from Space–Program (DESS-P), which “will implement a follow-on to RCM for surveillance-from-space capabilities” for the CAF, and the Synthetic Aperture Radar–Data Continuity (SAR-DC), being developed by the Canadian Space Agency to deliver remote-sensing capabilities for civil applications, with capability that is expected to extend beyond 2025. THE ‘NEW SPACE' As the RCAF assumes responsibility for Canada's defence space program, it must weigh the influence of dozens of military and commercial players. Everyone from NASA to celebrity billionaire Elon Musk is launching products into orbit. It's estimated more than 24,000 objects larger than a softball are already in motion around Earth. There are “countless more” objects with a smaller diameter, which could have catastrophic consequences in the event of a collision that creates debris. Canada alone has 47 satellites in space (both government and commercial), and 42 are active in orbit. Thousands more may be on the way, as private companies crowd into what Whale refers to as, “the new space.” “The cost of entry's going down, and because of industry innovation, the congestion is a concern,” he said. “But I think we can eventually manage that ... essentially, the Air Force has made a promise: we'll take care of this capability. “We've taken what's been built, and we're putting our minds to, how are we going to give the same level of attention–like we do to any other capability–to move it forward? “Of course, we need to sustain the same level of integration with Army, Navy, SOF, because it's a joint thing,” he added. “But the Air Force has taken the lead, and we're going to find a way to progress what the defence policy tells us to progress.” It's a clear indication the RCAF is all-in on its new Joint Space leadership role. https://www.skiesmag.com/features/critical-space/

By: Jill Aitoro WASHINGTON — The secret to tackling the defense information technology market may be scale. Looking specifically at the pure-play IT companies that landed on the 2018 Defense News Top 100 list, many of those that have doubled down in some capacity saw defense revenue increase during fiscal 2017. That came on the tail end of another trend among the largest defense primes, to get out of the IT business. “The evolution started a couple years ago, where the large defense primes who had boned up on IT service work during the war [on terror] started to realize that for a variety of reasons they might not be able to compete as effectively, or extract the returns they want out of a business like that,” said Jon Raviv, senior analyst and vice president for aerospace and defense at Citi Research. Divestitures followed, and pure-play IT companies were able to quickly scale up not just in size and their ability to support massive contracts, but also in capability set. The acquisition of Lockheed Martin's IT business transformed Leidos from a $5 billion company to a $10 billion company. That deal closed in late 2016, explaining how the company saw double-digit growth in defense revenue in both 2016 and 2017 — despite the buy actually making the company less defense heavy overall. Similarly, CACI closed on the acquisition of L3 Technology's National Security Solutions for $550 million in February 2016 — three months before the end of its fiscal year. The associated revenue contributed to the 16 percent increase in defense revenue during 2017. Leidos CEO Roger Krone, in an interview with Defense News in 2016 soon after the acquisition closed, pointed to “scale, but not scale for scale's sake” as a big factor in the buy — noting, too, the importance of balancing the portfolio and geographic distribution. He also pointed to sheer numbers — 15,000 employees specifically — many with security clearances. The trend does seem to be continuing. CSRA chose to not participate in the 2018 Top 100 because its $9.7 billion acquisition by General Dynamics closed by the time data collection for the list kicked off. While General Dynamics is a top defense prime, its IT business functions as a largely separate entity, similar to the pure-play IT companies. The acquisition of CSRA, which reported $2.25 billion in defense revenue for fiscal 2016 — will add significant scale to GDIT. It is also likely to influence the company's Top 100 rank next year. The future promises more cyber and IT-related merger and acquisition activity in the vein of that deal, according to Daniel Gouré, a vice president with the Lexington Institute think tank. “Raytheon is still in acquisition mode with cyber, so it's an area that's still kind of churning,” he said. “I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these big players acquire some of the more defense-oriented cyber players.” Unclear is what the sweet spot may be for those exclusively IT-focused firms. “Where we sit right now, it's not clear what the right size is,” Raviv said. “GDIT and Leidos are about $10 billion in sales; SAIC and CACI and ManTech are lower tier. All of those companies say they are happy with scale but could do a deal. Whether they call it scale, or marrying capability sets — it's all marketing, I suppose.” And there are other tactics that achieve scale without acquisition. Perspecta emerged on the 2018 Top 100, having launched June 1, 2018 through the combination of DXC Technology's U.S. public sector business, Vencore, and KeyPoint Government Solutions. As one entity, Perspecta reported $2.73 billion in defense revenue and ranked 37. To put that in perspective, Vencore ranked 67 in last year's list, with $886.59 million in defense revenue. And all of these pure-play companies are increasingly marketing themselves as conduits to the “nontraditional players” that the Pentagon is so keen to attract. Amazon Web Services, for example, will often partner with government IT companies on defense contracts to hand off some of the contracting morass. That said, for all the potential, the bulk of the defense IT market is notoriously fickle. Services often set aside IT projects in an effort to preserve platform buys, and margins can be low. Agencies also struggle to balance upkeep of existing systems versus modernization efforts versus research and development into the next great technological marvel. But as Raviv noted, it's all IT. “Yes, there are companies working on high-end cyber, the ability to launch attacks through cyberspace or to harden the communication node on a new missile so it can't be hacked by, say, China. And while the word cyber came up a lot three or four years ago, now you hear a lot about AI, autonomy and machine learning. But it's all technology. And it's a lot of smart people working on a lot of advanced things many of us don't understand.” https://www.defensenews.com/top-100/2018/08/09/for-it-companies-the-secret-to-success-in-defense-is-all-about-big-growth/

Ott Ummelas Donald Trump has taken credit for a rise in military spending by NATO states, but in the alliance's eastern reaches, it's his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who's driving the rearming effort. Last month, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked the U.S. President for “clearly having an impact” on defense spending by allies while Trump said his demands had added $41 billion to European and Canadian defense outlays. But the jump in acquisitions behind the former Iron Curtain of aircraft, ships and armored vehicles began when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, well before Trump's 2016 election victory, according to analysts including Tomas Valasek, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels. While the median defense expenditure of NATO members is 1.36 percent of gross domestic product, below the alliance's requirement of 2 percent, eastern members comprise seven of the 13 members that are paying above that level. “Countries on NATO's eastern border do not need Donald Trump to boost defense spending,” Valasek said. “They decided this long before he came to power. The spending boost was because of a president, but it was Vladimir Putin, not the U.S. President.” Constant overflights by Russian aircraft into NATO airspace, cyberattacks on government and military installations, wargames on the borders of the Baltic states and accusations that Russia was behind a failed coup in newest member Montenegro have put NATO's eastern quadrant on alert for what it says is an increasingly expansionist Russia. Of the 15 members exceeding the bloc's guideline that 20 percent of total defense spending should go to equipment, six are from eastern Europe. At the time of the NATO summit in Brussels, Romania said it would buy five more F-16s from Portugal, raising its squadron to 12, after it signed a $400-million deal to acquire a Patriot missile air-defense system with Raython in May. The country of 20 million people bordering Ukraine, Moldova and the Black Sea plans to buy 36 more F-16s, four corvettes, at least 3,000 transport vehicles and coastal gun batteries over the next five years. Slovakia also announced the purchase of F-16 fighter jets at the summit to replace its aging Russian Mig-29s in a deal that was years in negotiating. And last month, Bulgaria asked for bids for at least eight new or used fighter jets by October at a total cost of 1.8 billion lev ($1 billion). By end-2018, the government in Sofia plans to buy 1.5 billion lev worth of armored vehicles and two warships for 1 billion lev. Neighboring Hungary said in June that it had agreed to buy 20 Airbus H145M multi-purpose helicopters, the country's largest military purchase since 2001. NATO's European members are expected to spend around $60 billion on equipment this year, with the 13 eastern members accounting for about 10 percent, said Tony Lawrence, a research fellow with the International Center for Security and Defense in Tallinn. The newer members will together spend about $2 billion more on equipment this year than last, he said. According to NATO, seven of its 10 biggest spending increases will be in the east. “Since these nations' membership in NATO, there has been a clear inclination to foster and strengthen their link with the U.S.,” said Martin Lundmark, a researcher with Swedish Defense University in Stockholm. “By procuring strategic defense systems, they willingly become interdependent and inter-operable with the U.S.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-13/nato-s-east-is-rearming-but-it-s-because-of-putin-not-trump

Rank Last Year's Rank Company Leadership Country 2017 Defense Revenue* (in millions) 2016 Defense Revenue* (in millions) % Defense Revenue Change 2017 Total Revenue* (in millions) Revenue From Defense 1 1 Lockheed Martin 1 Marillyn Hewson, Chairman, President and CEO U.S. $47,985.00 $43,468.00 10% $51,048.00 94% 2 4 Raytheon Company 1 Thomas Kennedy, Chairman and CEO U.S. $23,573.64 $22,384.17 5% $25,348.00 93% 3 3 BAE Systems Jerry DeMuro, President and CEO U.K. $22,380.04 $23,621.84 -5% $25,288.20 88% 4 5 Northrop Grumman 2 Wes Bush, Chairman and CEO U.S. $21,700.00 $20,200.00 7% $25,803.00 84% 5 2 Boeing 3 Dennis Muilenburg, President and CEO U.S. $20,561.00 $20,180.00 2% $94,005.00 22% 6 6 General Dynamics 4 Phebe Novakovic, Chairman and CEO U.S. $19,587.00 $19,696.00 -1% $30,973.00 63% 7 7 Airbus Thomas Enders, CEO Netherlands/France $11,185.91 $12,321.00 -9% $75,702.63 15% 8 11 Almaz-Antey 5 Yan Novikov, CEO Russia $9,125.02 $6,581.69 39% $9,125.02 100% 9 10 Thales Patrice Caine, Chairman and CEO France $8,926.13 $8,362.00 7% $17,852.26 50% 10 9 Leonardo Alessandro Profumo, CEO Italy $8,856.48 $8,526.22 4% $13,024.24 68% Full top 100: http://people.defensenews.com/top-100/

By: Aaron Mehta FARNBOROUGH, England — When Boeing and Embraer announced a tie-up for commercial business, it left quite a few questions about how the defense side of the Brazilian firm would work with the American giant. The answer, early on, is that there will be a new partnership around the KC-390 transport aircraft; but according to Jackson Schneider, president and CEO of Embraer Defense & Security, that is just the first step. During an interview at last month's Farnborough International Airshow, Schneider laid out his hopes for the Boeing tie-up as well as potential growth for the company's border security operations and A-29 Super Tucano aircraft. How does the Boeing-Embraer commercial deal impact the discussions you'll be having on the defense side? Defense will be a different transfer. We will decide together which will be the format. But it works as a normal joint venture, normal relationship, normal partnership. The most important thing to me in this dimension is [the interest] that both companies are dedicating for the programs. It is clear Boeing and Embraer is dedicated to investigate and identify the opportunities together. A lot of analysts expect the two companies to start in on some sort of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance/early-warning special-mission aircraft designs. Do you anticipate the same? I think that we have very interesting applications in terms of business jets — very creative. We have already had some solutions that could go to market for training, for medical evacuation, for airport inspections, but there are many other opportunities, alternatives that we can explore together, also in this joint venture. We will begin a conversation to see how we can explore together special-mission solutions for the market. Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2018/08/03/embraers-defense-head-talks-growth-areas-for-the-brazilian-giant/

By: Martin Banks BRUSSELS — After two decades in which spending was often cut or stagnant, Europe is gearing up to spend big on defense. European Union nations, now unfettered by Britain's decision to leave the organization, have achieved a 70-year-old ambition to integrate their defenses, launching a pact among 25 EU governments to jointly fund, develop and deploy armed forces. The pact, called Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PESCO, is meant as a show of unity and a tangible step in EU integration, particularly after Brexit. Earlier this year, Brussels also launched a major incentive for EU member states to cooperate on military procurement with a European Defence Fund, or EDF, worth €5 billion (U.S. $5.8 billion) per year, the first time the EU has put serious money on the table for this purpose. The EU has already approved one aspect of the fund, the European Defence Industrial Development Programme, or EDIDP, intended to foster cross-border cooperation between companies. But this huge upsurge in EU defense efforts begs the question: Are these various initiatives doing anything to bolster Europe's defense industry? Full Article: https://www.defensenews.com/top-100/2018/08/09/eu-defense-ambitions-trickle-down-to-industry-but-is-it-good-for-business/

Lee Ann Shay Boeing made another investment in additive manufacturing, this time with the intent of producing higher volume of multi-metal parts faster. Boeing HorizonX Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Digital Alloys, which created Joule Printing, a metal additive manufacturing technology that uses metal in wire form and high deposition rates to produce the parts. The investment was part of a $12.9 million Series B financing led by G20 Ventures and included other companies. Boeing and Digital Alloys did not disclose the exact investment but Boeing said it “was a minority investor in this round.” Lee Ann Shay | Aug 10, 2018 Boeing made another investment in additive manufacturing, this time with the intent of producing higher volume of multi-metal parts faster. Boeing HorizonX Ventures invested an undisclosed amount in Digital Alloys, which created Joule Printing, a metal additive manufacturing technology that uses metal in wire form and high deposition rates to produce the parts. The investment was part of a $12.9 million Series B financing led by G20 Ventures and included other companies. Boeing and Digital Alloys did not disclose the exact investment but Boeing said it “was a minority investor in this round.” Get Key Developments Delivered to Your Inbox Get Your Sample Edition Digital Alloys holds two patents for Joule Printing, which can use multiple metals into a single part. This could enable new parts designs and improved thermal, electric and mechanical properties. This printing process is “similar to resistive welding and does not result in fully melting the material through external energy sources like lasers, e-beams, or electric arcs. As such, it has the potential to print alloys that have been a challenge with existing printing techniques, but with less energy and a lower machine complexity,” says Boeing. Joule Printing solves “three big problems that are gating the use of metal printing and production:” production costs, printing speeds and complexity, says Duncan McCallum, Digital Alloy's CEO. Full Article: https://www.mro-network.com/technology/boeing-makes-third-move-metal-additive-manufacturing-year