Air Force wants to expand training for cyber teams

Sur le même sujet

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  14 février 2019 | International, Naval

  Navy Awards Boeing $43 Million to Build Four Orca XLUUVs

  By: Ben Werner The Navy awarded Boeing a $43-million contract to build four Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs) that will become multi-mission for the service, according to a Wednesday Pentagon contract announcement. Boeing based its winning Orca XLUUV design on its Echo Voyager unmanned diesel-electric submersible. The 51-foot-long submersible is launched from a pier and can operate autonomously while sailing up to 6,500 nautical miles without being connected to a manned mother ship, according to the Navy. Eventually, the Navy could also use the Orca XLUUV for mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, electronic warfare and strike missions, according to a Navy outline of the system's capability development. The company acknowledged a USNI News request for a statement on the award but did not issue one as of this posting. The Navy also considered the Lockheed Martin Autonomous Underwater Vehicle system. In October 2017, both companies received design phase awards – $43.2 million to Lockheed Martin, $42.3 million to Boeing. Meanwhile, the Navy is also exploring the possible use of Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (LDUUVs) as another rapid acquisition program. The LDUUV would be a vehicle launched from either a Virginia-class fast attack submarine or from a surface ship. LDUUVs could perform similar missions as the XLUUV, however, the LDUUV would need to remain relatively close to the mother ship instead of operating autonomously like the XLUUV. The following is the Navy contract announcement: The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, California, is awarded a $43,000,000 fixed-priced-incentive modification to previously awarded contract N00024-17-C-6307 for the fabrication, test, and delivery of four Orca Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicles (XLUUVs) and associated support elements. The Orca XLUUV will be an open architecture, reconfigurable Unmanned Undersea Vehicle. The Orca XLUUV will be modular in construction with the core vehicle providing guidance and control, navigation, autonomy, situational awareness, core communications, power distribution, energy and power, propulsion and maneuvering, and mission sensors. The Orca XLUUV will have well-defined interfaces for the potential of implementing cost-effective upgrades in future increments to leverage advances in technology and respond to threat changes. The Orca XLUUV will have a modular payload bay, with defined interfaces to support current and future payloads for employment from the vehicle. The competition for XLUUV requirements is still in source-selection, and therefore the specific contract award amount is considered source-selection sensitive information (see 41 U.S. Code 2101, et seq., Federal Acquisition Regulation 2.101 and 3.104) and will not be made public at this time. Work will be performed in Huntington Beach, California (29 percent); Virginia Beach, Virginia (27 percent); Waukesha, Wisconsin (8 percent); East Aurora, New York (7 percent); Concord, Massachusetts (7 percent); Camden, New Jersey (5 percent); Smithfield, Pennsylvania (4 percent); Attleboro, Massachusetts (3 percent); City of Industry, California (3 percent); El Cajon, California (3 percent); Fairfield, New Jersey (2 percent); Ontario, California (1 percent); and Farmingdale, New York (1 percent), and is expected to be complete by June 2022. Fiscal 2019 research, development, test, and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $43,000,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. https://news.usni.org/2019/02/13/41119

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  25 avril 2024 | International, Aérospatial

  US Army’s next-gen helicopter engine could fly in Black Hawk next year

  The Black Hawk will be the first to receive the capability, and the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter will follow.

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  5 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

  Collins’ virtual dogfighting training system flies on US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet

  By Garrett Reim The US Navy has completed the first in-flight test of Collins Aerospace's Tactical Combat Training System II (TCTS II), a system that could become the brains behind future large-scale virtual dogfights. The service tested the system on a US Navy (USN) F/A-18E Super Hornet at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, Collins Aerospace says. TCTS II's wing-tip mounted pods, integrated into ground stations and onboard computers, allow naval aviators to dogfight without actually firing a shot. The system allows virtual firing of missiles and guns. The system features a number of improvements versus older combat training systems, Collins said on 1 February. Unlike prior legacy systems, “TCTS II connects to the aircraft weapons bus securely, which provides access to classified aircraft data, and then pushes and pulls data,” says the company. “When it pushes data, it stimulates aircraft systems and sensors, so the pilot thinks they are engaging with real threats.” It can simulate situations where the aviator uses a jet's active electronically scanned array radar or infrared search-and-track sensor. The system can also simulate a number of weapons, from unclassified operational munitions to those classified Top Secret. And, TCTS II can deliver real-time kill notifications. “What starts the simulation is when the pilot pulls the trigger in the aircraft just like in a real mission,” says Collins. “It also sends a signal to the ground and range training officer's screen, showing them a sim weapon has been launched. Algorithms then run that calculation, the likelihood of a good shot in percentages, and display that to the range training officer.” The simulation also can be manipulated by personnel on the ground. “The range training officer can then decide if they want that shot to count – and remove the targeted platform from the exercise – or overrule the simulation to allow that platform to continue fighting for training purposes,” says Collins. “The shot would then be debriefed later with all interested parties and the accuracy of the shots can then be discussed.” During combat training simulations, TCTS II collects data that can later be reviewed to develop new tactics, techniques and procedures. Collins claims this speeds up development times to a “matter of weeks, instead of months or years”. TCTS II can simulate a variety of combat training, from two-on-two dogfights to exercises with more than 200 participants, the company says. It can also simulate threats from ground-based weapons. The first flight of TCTS II on the F/A-18E is part of the developmental test phase. Collins anticipates it will pave the way for a USN production decision later this year. The system is expected to be qualified on every aircraft in the service's fleet, including Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters. https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/collins-dogfighting-training-system-flies-on-us-navy-f/a-18e-super-hornet/142275.article