AI-enabled Valkyrie drone teases future of US Air Force fleet

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  6 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Boeing Defense And Space’s Leanne Caret: ‘We’re Owning Our Mistakes’

  Jen DiMascio Joe Anselmo Michael Bruno Steve Trimble July 01, 2020 Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, spoke via teleconference with Aviation Week editors in the run-up to what would have been the Farnborough Airshow. AW&ST: In addition to the turnover among Boeing executives, the company's stock and reputation have taken a beating in the past year. How is Boeing a different company today than it was 18 months ago? I am confident in the Boeing Co., and we have an enormously bright future. It's because of the incredible women and men who work for this company and bring their best every day. We have become a very introspective company, very pragmatic. We're owning our mistakes, and we're committing to address those. That is the centerpiece of what you have to do to have trust, especially in an industry as critically important as ours is, where people are flying and using our products every day, whether commercially or defending nations and allies. How has COVID-19 affected the goals that Boeing Defense set at the start of the year? The defense industry has been deemed mission-essential. We need to make certain we're continuing to deliver product to our customers, we keep our supply base healthy, and we all have an eye to the future. I really appreciate the partnership and conversations we've had with the Pentagon. You've heard [Boeing CEO/President] David Calhoun mention that, after what has happened in the commercial aerospace market, the defense business is important to the Boeing Co.—has been and always will be. After COVID-19, what does the future hold for defense spending? We have a very pragmatic view of the future. I don't anticipate significant budget increases. We have always planned that at some point we could see a regression in defense budgets. Wall Street is expecting about a 2% increase in revenue for Boeing over the next couple of years. That is on the lower end of where your peers are. They are in the mid-single digits. What rate of growth do you see? I think it's important to note where we are in the life cycle of many of the products in our portfolio. Where you will continue to see opportunity for us as we move into production on some of those key franchise programs that we won a few years ago is the [T-7 advanced trainer, MQ-25 unmanned carrier-based refueling aircraft and MH-139 helicopter]. We're all going to see the marketplace adjust as a result of COVID-19. Around the world, we've already seen some delays and some very large competitions that have been slighted because customers are having to assess where they are. I want our team to have as its centerpiece meeting our customers' needs and expectations, and I believe that the outcome of that will be growing the business and strong financial performance. Many big programs are coming down the line, such as the Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft, the Advanced Battle Management System, the Next--Generation Air Dominance or the Future Vertical Lift programs. The Pentagon is emphasizing procurement with more control over intellectual property, fewer hooks into the sustainment phase and more competition. How will Boeing adapt to that over time? Will it require fundamental changes? In the last decade, we were focused on redefining how we designed and built aircraft. We were anticipating that the customer was going to commoditize the type of product that we have traditionally built. We have a foundation in model-based systems engineering to bring the collective best from industry together, so that when a system is in the field, we have developed it with maintainers in mind. That's where our build process has really paid off. In 2016, we had not won the T-7 or MQ-25 contracts or certainly not had any thought of the F-15EX yet. All three of those used this concept, which is to use advanced engineering and design toolsets to address the customer's vision. We placed our bets on changing the way we did business, and we have positioned ourselves nicely. Please update us on the KC-46. Where do things stand with the foreign object debris (FOD) situation? I'm not going to be happy until we're perfect, and we're not perfect yet. My focus is to make sure we don't deliver any aircraft with FOD to the U.S. government. If that means I need to hold back a delivery because a member of our team identified an issue, we're going to do the right thing. The most important thing is to deliver a perfect product to the customer. I think it is a testament to the steps that we have taken that we will not pass a defect to our customer. It speaks to the culture change that we have instituted over the last 1.5 years. Quite frankly, we have used KC-46 as the bully pulpit to redefine what we want to do as a company, and I'm really proud of the team for leading the way. Is Boeing on track for fixing the KC-46's remote vision system (RVS) in fiscal 2023? We are looking to demonstrate RVS 1.5 later this summer. It is a building block to what we call RVS 2.0. We have put in place a standard and an agreement that we are all aligned around, that really transcends what the original contract anticipated in terms of RVS. What we are incorporating posi-tions this fleet for not only a leap forward in technology but for autonomous operations in the future. We are on track in this partnership with the U.S. Air Force and the Air Force Research Laboratory. And yes, the timeline is in 2023. What is the outlook for selling F-18s internationally, given the potential for pandemic-related budget reductions in the future? We've secured a number of orders with F-18s that have kept our production line hot. Coupled with that, we're doing the service life modernization program with the U.S. Navy, where we're bringing every one of the aircraft back through and increasing capabilities that eventually will include Block 3 capabilities. We have seen signs that campaigns in Canada, Finland, Germany, India and Switzerland are sliding a bit to the right. None of them have been, to my knowledge, canceled or stopped. One of the things that we've seen them dealing with is the impact of COVID. Many times, they have the budget, but the budget may go out a longer period of time. Or right now they are impacted by staff shortages. These are some big opportunities, and I think the F-18 is positioned nicely, both from the aspects of an acquisition cost and the cost per flying hour. What is the outlook for the F-15? We just did our F-15 Qatar flight a few weeks back. We have continued to demonstrate the ability of the F-15 with our Saudi and Qatari customers and the U.S. Air Force. We're really excited about that opportunity, and it won't be your grandma's F-15. Boeing is a bit late on delivering the Space Launch System (SLS), and it was left out of NASA's competition to build a lunar lander. What are you doing to turn those programs around? On Space Launch Systems, I am really proud of the team for the amazing capabilities they developed with the world's largest rocket. She's sitting on the stand at Stennis Space Center. After watching how this team has battled through the COVID crisis, I'm looking forward to having a hot-fire [test] later this year. Early on, we struggled on SLS from an execution phase. There were also different challenges from a funding perspective and other things. Over the course of the last 1.5-2 years, the team has been hitting its milestones and commitments. On the civil space side, SpaceX beat Boeing to the punch on the first Commercial Crew mission. Are you looking to change your approach? On Starliner, we did not execute the full mission profile, and the right thing to do is to refly. I think that's the right decision, and the teams are focused on that. Our partnership with NASA dates back more than 60 years, and we're incredibly proud of this heritage. But our future isn't defined by our past. It's about making certain that we can continue to innovate and deliver today. This year marks 20 years for the International Space Station. I just couldn't be more thrilled for the team as Doug [Hurley] and Bob [Behnken] were able to join the other astronauts aboard this station. Human space exploration is not for the faint of heart. It changes mankind. We are going to continue to be a great partner, and we're going to continue to advocate for everyone's success when it comes to human space exploration—because it is that important for all of us. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/boeing-defense-spaces-leanne-caret-were-owning-our-mistakes

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  9 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Top Defense Execs Ask For Help in Next COVID Stimulus Package

  The biggest defense manufacturers in the world warned the Pentagon and OMB of "significant job losses in pivotal states" if Congress doesn't come up with stimulus money to cover unforeseen expenses. By PAUL MCLEARYon July 08, 2020 at 4:16 PM WASHINGTON: A group of CEOs leading the world's top defense firms sent letters to Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen Lord and and Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought on Wednesday, citing “significant job losses in pivotal states” if the federal government doesn't step in to assist with COVID-related costs. Electoral maps have traditionally acted as a tried and tested tool defense contractors use when making pitches to both the Pentagon and Congress, as a way of showing where the jobs sit in different congressional districts. The letter to Lord was signed by the leaders of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Boeing, Raytheon, and BAE Systems, which represent five of the top seven defense companies in the world. Huntington Ingalls, Textron Inc., and L3Harris Technologies also signed onto the letter, which was obtained by Breaking Defense, requesting the Pentagon's help in pressing for stimulus money in the Senate's next rescue package. The Senate is slated to debate in the coming days. Lord has previously estimated the Pentagon would have to pay more than “lower double digit billions” to offset costs borne by defense manufacturers in lost work hours, buying PPE equipment and propping up smaller suppliers. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon last month, Lord said she's seeing a “three-month slowdown to all programs due to COVID-19,” after the virus shut down defense manufacturing facilities and production lines across the globe. The vast majority of defense firms have operated at reduced capacity over the past several months, and Lord said the Pentagon continues to see the biggest impacts in the aviation and shipbuilding supply chains. The CEOs write that US-based supply chains “are simply not able to absorb these significant costs. Without additional funding in the next stimulus package, the resolution of [reimbursement] claims will need to be funded from existing DoD budget topline resources for FY20-22.” That would cause “significant reductions” in research and procurement budgets, they said, before pivoting to warning about Defense Secretary Mark Esper's top priority: modernizing weapons systems to keep abreast of China and Russia. Placing the burden on the companies to use their own case to meet unplanned emergency costs risks “thwarting the Department's ability to meet the challenges and threats associated with great power competition” they add. In order to keep the smaller suppliers afloat, companies have pushed contracts forward to give the smaller supplier more work, and in turn, DoD has sped up planned payments to the defense industry, hitting the $2 billion mark in recent weeks. Speaking at a Brookings Institution event this morning, Lord didn't mention the letter, but talked about moving more production of defense equipment to the United States from overseas. Part of that effort stems from President Trump's “American First” push to build up the domestic manufacturing sector, but Chinese influence in electronic supply chains is also a big concern. During a visit to the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin late last month, Trump said “we'll always live by two simple rules: Buy American and hire American.” Lord phrased the idea differently, saying she prefers to have two sources for equipment, and “we would like one of those, if possible, to be domestic.” That issue has been highlighted in the global pandemic shutdown which wreaked havoc on global supply chains. “We just found that particularly with microelectronics, we have gotten ourselves into a potentially compromised position,” Lord said. “Where we have US intellectual property going offshore for fabrication and packaging leaves us with some vulnerability there. That is unacceptable moving forward.” During his Wisconsin visit, Trump suggested that one of the considerations for awarding a $795 million contract to the US home of the Italian shipbuilder was its location in a competitive state in the 2020 presidential election. “You notice that's not a supply chain going through China and going through other countries,” he said, adding, “I hear the maneuverability is one of the big factors that you were chosen for the contract. The other is your location in Wisconsin, if you want to know the truth.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/top-defense-execs-ask-for-help-in-next-covid-stimulus-package

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  14 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  Despite some opposition, US on course to deliver F-35s to Turkey on June 21

  WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is proceeding with plans to deliver the first F-35 to Turkey, with the country set to accept its first jet on June 21 despite opposition from some in Congress. A Lockheed Martin spokesman confirmed to Defense News that it's still gearing up for a rollout ceremony at its production facilities in Fort Worth next week. “The F-35 program traditionally hosts a ceremony to recognize every U.S. and international customer's first aircraft. The rollout ceremony for Turkey's first F-35 aircraft is scheduled for June 21,” the spokesman said in a written statement to Defense News. “The aircraft will then ferry to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where Turkish pilots will join the F-35A training pool.” The Senate is set to vote this week on the annual defense policy bill, which includes language that would prohibit the U.S. government from “transfer of title” to Turkey until the time that the Defense Department submits a report to Congress on removal of Turkey from the F-35 program. But even if that language succeeds in the Senate, the defense policy bill will proceed to conference, where a group of armed services committee members will hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions to emerge with a single, final piece of legislation. That process could take months. Congress's opposition to allowing Turkey to purchase the F-35 hovers around two points: the country's detainment of American pastor Andrew Brunson and a deal to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system. But for now, it appears that the Defense Department has no plans to keep Turkey from getting its first F-35 or to put restrictions on its use at Luke AFB. Thomas Goffus, the Defense Department's deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, acknowledged during an Atlantic Council event Wednesday that Turkey's acquistion of the S-400 could present the U.S. military and NATO alliance with added technical risks. But he would not go as far to spell out what actions the Defense Department is considering or could consider later down the road — perhaps a sign that the Pentagon is waiting to see how this legislation shakes out. “We have a process to evaluate the risks to Western technology that that [procurement] would present. Our preference is that they do not acquire the S-400,” Goffus said. “Given that, they are a sovereign nation, and they are trying to take care of their defense needs,” he added. “What restrictions are placed on them and what Congress will eventually pass, I can't even speculate on it on this point.” By the time Congress passes legislation that could curb Anakara's F-35 ownership, the country will likely have already started building up its first squadron at Luke AFB. There, Turkish pilots and maintainers will train alongside U.S. ones, moving from academic courseware to live flights. NATO and U.S. Defense Department officials have warned Turkey that if it continues down the path of purchasing the S-400, it will not be able to plug it in with NATO technologies like the F-35. SASC, in its policy bill, echoed those concerns, saying that Turkey's purchase of Russian hardware would “degrade the general security of the NATO alliance [...] and degrade interoperability of the alliance.” After a meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu expressed confidence that the United States would not only deliver the first F-35 to Turkey as planned, but that it would ultimately decide to continue F-35 sales to Turkey. “Turkey rejects threatening language from the U.S. on the issue, it is not constructive,” Çavuşoğlu said on June 4, according to a report from the Turkish newsgroup Anadolu Agency. Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35As. As a partner of the program, its domestic defense industry helps build the Joint Strike Fighter. Most notably, Turkish Aerospace Industries' serves as a manufacturer of the aircraft's center fuselage. It has also been chosen as a sustainment hub for the international F-35 community. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nato-priorities/2018/06/13/despite-some-opposition-us-on-course-to-deliver-f-35s-to-turkey-on-june-21/