16 février 2018 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

Airbus explores A320neo military derivatives

Airbus has revealed that it is exploring the introduction of military derivatives of the A320neo family.

Speaking at the Singapore air show, Fernando Alonso, head of military aircraft at Airbus Defence & Space, said that the new platform could undertake missions such as VIP transport, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and maritime patrol.

"We have the knowledge of converting the A330 into the A330 MRTT [multirole tanker transport], and have a more efficient process."

Alonso says that the efficiency of new-generation engines will enable a more capable military derivative. Any future conversion will require between "six to eight months" to complete, he says.

Airbus is in talks with a number of operators, including the armed forces of Asia-Pacific nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, alongside European stalwarts France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The airframer is also working to add new capabilities to its existing military platforms: the A400M, A330 MRTT and C295.

It will allow A400M operators to drop up to 60 paratroopers from both sides of the aircraft simultaneously, while the A330 MRTT is expected to be ready to conduct automatic air-to-air refuelling "in less than three years". Airbus is also exploring the possibility of allowing the remodelled widebody to take on ISR missions.

Airbus is still proceeding with an "armed version" of the C295 medium transport, with the derivative in the engineering, development and testing phase. Flight tests will begin in late 2018.

"There are big opportunities for us in Asia-Pacific: big fleets are here, budgets are here. We are able to fulfill needs in a more agile way," says Alonso.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/singapore-airbus-explores-a320neo-military-derivati-445670/

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    Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — Beginning in September, entities across the U.S. Department of Defense will be able to buy small, American-manufactured drones from five select companies, allowing users in the field to quickly and easily gain a bird's eye view of their environment. A spin-off of U.S. Army efforts to develop a rucksack-packable quadcopter with the Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program of record, the Defense Innovation Unit's Blue sUAS effort let's U.S. government customers purchase trusted small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) that can take off and land vertically. The new drones were developed to comply with Section 848 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which prohibits the procurement of UAS built in China. 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Among other things, the companies had to incorporate a thermal camera, add a DoD data link, cyber test the drones and ruggedize them for field use. Midway through development, Congress passed a new requirement in the annual defense policy legislation, prohibiting the operation or procurement of UAS manufactured in China. That effort grounded significant numbers of government drones, said Bonzagni, and there were no suitable U.S.-manufactured alternatives available. While the Army continued to focus on developing a solution specifically for its soldiers through SRR, the new requirement opened up a much broader need across the federal government for U.S.-manufactured sUAS. DIU was able to leverage the Army's investment in SRR and make the technology available for all federal government customers — including organizations that use drones every day like the Bureau of Land Management or the U.S. Geological Survey — as Blue sUAS. 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