Air Force small business program seeks technologies to help counter COVID-19

Sur le même sujet

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  14 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Rafale pour la Grèce : entretien avec Eric Trappier, PDG de Dassault Aviation

  Eric Trappier, PDG de Dassault Aviation, s'exprime dans Le Figaro. Il souligne notamment que L'intention manifestée par la Grèce, samedi soir, d'acquérir 18 avions de combat français Rafale «est une bonne nouvelle pour la France et pour son industrie aéronautique, dans le contexte difficile de la crise du Covid-19, marquée par un effondrement de l'activité sur le marché civil. C'est aussi une bonne nouvelle du point de vue politique avec un renforcement des relations entre les deux pays méditerranéens que sont la Grèce et la France. Et, enfin, c'est une bonne nouvelle pour Dassault Aviation et les partenaires du programme Rafale». Les Rafale sont appelés à remplacer la flotte de Mirage 2000 d'ancienne génération grecque, et à renforcer les capacités de défense et d'attaque du pays aux côtés des Mirage 2000-5 plus récents et des F-16 américains, en cours de modernisation. «Le premier ministre grec nous a demandé d'aller vite afin que les avions entrent rapidement en service dans leurs forces. Aussi, allons-nous tout mettre en œuvre afin d'aboutir à la signature du contrat commercial avant la fin de l'année. C'est ambitieux mais nous avons déjà démontré, notamment avec notre client égyptien, que nous savions répondre présents dans des délais très courts», explique Éric Trappier. La Grèce, client historique de Dassault depuis 1974, devient le tout premier client européen, membre de l'Otan, du Rafale. Il s'agit, pour l'avion de combat français, du quatrième succès à l'exportation, après l'Égypte et le Qatar en 2015 puis l'Inde en 2016, rappelle Le Figaro. «C'est encore une exception en Europe qui, je l'espère, montrera l'exemple à d'autres pays», souligne Éric Trappier. Le Figaro du 14 septembre

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  30 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  USAF To Equip KC-135s For ADS-B Position Reporting

  by Bill Carey The U.S. Air Force will install automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) position reporting capability on its fleet of 417 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers beginning in September. ADS-B Out is not part of the KC-135's current Block 45 avionics upgrade, but the functionality will be added to the four-engine refueling tanker, the service confirmed. Supplier Collins Aerospace said it will integrate ADS-B Out through its Flight2 avionics system for the KC-135, using the aircraft's Identification friend or foe (IFF) transponder to broadcast position. Work is expected to take place at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. “We're very close to having the certification complete for that, and then the Air Force will begin the certification process to install on the aircraft,” Marc Ayala, Collins Aerospace director of Air Force sales and business development, told Aerospace DAILY. “Our system will interface with the various components—the GPS position source and some of the aircraft state data that gets fed into the [IFF transponder], basically the ‘electronic handshake' for that box to work properly within the system,” Ayala said. The Air Force has said that 2,936 military aircraft across all U.S. services will be fitted to signal their position by ADS-B Out as of the FAA's Jan. 1 compliance date. The number represents about one-fifth of the 13,596 aircraft operated by the Defense Department, according to Aviation Week's Military Fleet Discovery Tool. The leading category of ADS-B-equipped aircraft will be helicopters (1,129), followed by air mobility and transport aircraft (923), command and control/intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft (259) and trainers (625), the Air Force said. The 923 mobility and transport aircraft that will be equipped by January as part of ongoing updates include the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130J Super Hercules, KC-10 Extender and C-21 transport, the service said. https://aviationweek.com/defense/usaf-equip-kc-135s-ads-b-position-reporting

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  6 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  The Pentagon has relaunched its Space Command location search. Here’s why.

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The future location of U.S. Space Command, and all its associated jobs and dollars, won't be coming before the November election, thanks to a directive by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to relaunch the department's search process. On Tuesday, Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson told the House Armed Services Committee that department leaders are “going to take a holistic look at all of the potential options, all the potential locations" being considered for the combatant command. “We've been directed to go back, open up the aperture, and look at all of them. And so, that includes — that include bases. It includes perhaps some nontraditional locations. We will absolutely establish the criteria we need for each of these organizations and then base them accordingly,” he added. And on Wednesday, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett confirmed that the Air Force would be restarting the national competition for Space Command's location. “We're going to reopen the process, and put forward criteria in detail and invite all who think they have a good shot at it to come and represent their communities for that possible basing choice,” the secretary said. Barrett added that an announcement on the new competition would come “this spring.” Those comments led to a pointed line of questioning to Esper from Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., who during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing directly asked if the decision to recompete was tied up in electoral politics. Thompson testified that “the Air Force was directed — and I emphasize the word ‘directed' — to go back and open this up," Jones said. "A cynical person in today's world would think there are some electoral politics coming into play in this.” He then pointedly asked if the decision came from the White House. A leaked 2019 memo of potential bases listed four locations in Colorado — Buckley Air Force Base, Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, Peterson Air Force Base and Schriever Air Force Base — as well as the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. There has been heavy political push from the Florida delegation as well. Awarding Space Command and its myriad of jobs could benefit politicians running in a swing state such as Colorado or Florida; Jones, a surprise winner in a 2017 special election, is a top target for Republicans in November's election and could potentially benefit should the award go to his native Alabama. Esper, however, denied there was any push from the White House to influence politics, stating bluntly: “It came from me. I'm the responsible party.” The reason for the change, he explained, came from discussions with members as far back as his August nomination process. “During my talks on the hill prior to my nomination, particularly after my hearing here, I visited the House and heard from members on both sides of the aisle that they thought the process that had been run was unfair and not transparent. And there were a number of complaints,” Esper said. “So I directed at that time that we pause in place. “I took a briefing on it along with [Deputy Secretary of Defense David] Norquist. We did not feel it was transparent enough; that enough states, members etc. had a chance to participate. So we directed it be revisited, and a different approach be taken where [the department would] outline the criteria, the screening criteria by which a place would meet as a qualifier, throw that to all members and offer them to nominate locations,” while being transparent about the criteria and giving rolling updates to Congress as the work progressed. However, that process took time to get going, and until a month ago was not fully underway, Esper conceded, meaning it will now take “several months” before anything is finalized — almost certainly after November's election is over. “I'm the one who did it. It was my initiative, simply to make sure that transparency and buy in and consent with the process,” he said. “If it helps assure you, I don't see anything being announced before the election.” https://www.defensenews.com/space/2020/03/05/the-pentagon-has-relaunched-its-space-command-location-search-heres-why/