7 juillet 2021 | International, Aérospatial
Raytheon wins $2B contract for new nuclear cruise missile
Raytheon Technologies will move the Long Range Standoff Missile into the next phase of development.
11 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
A spy satellite revolution?
Small, lower cost satellites are beginning to gain traction among intelligence agencies, says a top industry executive.
National security agencies are steadily testing out more small satellites before committing to new constellations of the lower-cost alternatives, according to Bill Gattle, the president of Space and Intelligence Systems at the Harris Corporation.
“We're seeing a lot more acceleration, certainly in the intelligence community, on their willingness to adopt it. We've certainly seen some things out of Army,” said Gattle, a former program director of terrestrial communications and director of engineering for defense programs at the Pentagon. “It's moved from ... customers being intrigued to believing it's worthy of a demo.”
Small satellites are typically no bigger than a refrigerator and weigh less than 180 kilograms, according to a NASA fact sheet. By comparison, some of the largest satellites are the size of a school bus. The reduced size means small satellites are typically cheaper but less capable than their larger counterparts. To make up for that gap, small sats can be launched in a constellation of tens or even hundreds of satellites, networked together, making the entire system more resilient if one goes offline.
At the beginning of 2018, Harris had three customers for its small sats. A year later, it has five government customers under contract for 17 small satellites. One of those is for an Army communications satellite, Gattle said, though the company could not provide additional details.
That doesn't mean there's been universal acceptance. Even Gattle acknowledges there are hurdles the small satellite industry needs to overcome to see sustained growth in the military and intelligence market.
“How do you get the data quickly from the satellite to the war fighter who needs it?” Gattle said. “It doesn't help you to know a missile landed five minutes ago. You have to have the timeline be very quick and you need need a communications backbone ... which will be pivotal to how fast this grows.”
Gattle also talked about the launch of Harris' first small satellite last month, how the company is going on a hiring spree and what 2019 has in store for the industry.
Full article: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/satellites-bill-gattle-national-security-1089126
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10 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre
Army in final stages of hashing out Stryker lethality requirements
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army has entered the final stages of hashing out requirements for ramping up Stryker combat vehicle lethality and will make a decision in January on what it wants in order to increase its battlefield effectiveness. The service in January will hold an Army Requirements Oversight Council meeting, with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, to cement requirements on how it will improve the Stryker fleet's lethality, according to Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the service's new G-8 lead, in charge of program development and justification. The AROC will produce a “kind of ‘Y in the road' of what we think we are going to want to look at,” when it comes to making the Stryker more lethal, Pasquarette told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting. The Army conducted a test fire of one of its 30mm cannon solutions on Stryker at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, as recently as last month, he noted. “We know we believe the Stryker has to have capability to defeat light armor,” Pasquarette said. “We are developing the concept more to validate that on the front-end.” The Army is looking at roughly three different caliber weapons systems, he said. They include a couple of Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations with different caliber weapons, as well as a 30mm cannon like what was outfitted on Strykers that went to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany earlier this year. “We want to make sure the concept is tight, about what we think we need based on threat and capability we want to have, then we will have to see what direction we go,” which could include competitions to upgun the fleet — or parts of the fleet — in the future, Pasquarette said. “We are still determining balance. Does everyone need to have this, or is it just parts of the fleet?” Pasquarette asked. “How do we want to fight Stryker units, if we have this capability in there?” Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/10/army-in-final-stages-of-hashing-out-stryker-lethality-requirements
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24 décembre 2023 | International, Sécurité
A friendly reminder from the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces: NORAD is ready to track Santa’s flight
The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces remind you that North American Aerospace Defense Command is ready to track Santa on Dec. 24, for the program’s 68th year.