10 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By: Jen Judson
WASHINGTON — The fielding of a U.S. Air Force radar to detect ballistic missile threats, currently being installed at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska, is delayed by roughly a year, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.
Information provided by the Missile Defense Agency in June to the GAO indicated all construction and integration activities for the Long Range Discrimination Radar had stopped in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While initial fielding was planned for fiscal 2021 and transfer to the Air Force was planned for fiscal 2022, the service is now expected to take ownership of the operational radar in late fiscal 2023.
“We did have some fallback in developing and delivery of systems because it requires people to be in close, confined spaces and sitting at computer terminals working through really tough problems like the development of an algorithm,” MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill said at the virtually held Space and Missile Defense Symposium on Aug. 4.
MDA shut down radar installation efforts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, entering a “caretaker status,” Hill said. “That requires additional work. I mean, you've got a radar that is being built in a tough environment like Alaska — you can't just stop. You have to go in and make sure the radar arrays are protected,” he added.
The LRDR is an S-band radar that will not only be able to track incoming missiles but also discriminate the warhead-carrying vehicle from decoys and other nonlethal objects for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System, which is designed to protect the continental U.S. from possible intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran.
Lockheed Martin is LRDR's manufacturer.
The program, according to the GAO report, wrapped up its system prototype assessment in an operational environment in FY19, which showed the hardware and software was mature ahead of full-rate manufacturing. That assessment was delayed from FY18, the report noted, after testing took longer due to “required antenna reconfigurations and software fixes to complete.”
The fixes resulted in a cost overrun of $25 million and caused a delay in completing a developmental step associated with satellite tracking expected in FY18, according to the report.
“While construction was ongoing in [FY19], the program was monitoring risks that could threaten the upcoming transfer of LRDR custody and ownership to the government,” the report stateed. “Specifically the program was focusing on manufacturing of the Array Panels, Sub Array Assembly Suite modules, and Auxiliary Power Group cabinets, as well as ensuring integration on site.”
Those issues “depleted schedule margin on the path towards the transfer,” which was scheduled for the fourth quarter of FY20, according to the GAO, and the transfer of LRDR custody to the government was pushed back to the first quarter of FY21 due to radar component production issues.
“The good news is construction is back up and running,” Hill said, “and we are delivering those arrays that are going into low-power and high-power testing later this year, so we are pretty excited about that.”
According to the GAO, the current test plan for LRDR has just one flight test scheduled in the third quarter of FY21, after two ground tests. The report does not clarify if the pandemic has caused a delay in these tests.
The GAO indicated concern about conducting two ground tests before the program's only flight test, as it “increases the likelihood that the models will not be accredited when testing is complete.”
As a result, “the performance analysis and the majority of the model validation and accreditation will have to be made concurrently, just prior to the LRDR Technical Capability Declaration,” scheduled for the third quarter of FY21, the report stated. “This increases the risk of discovering issues late in development, which could result in performance reductions or delivery delays.”
8 février 2024 | International, Terrestre
The U.S. Army said on Thursday it was abandoning its development of a Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA), a next-generation scout helicopter, after some $2 billion had already been spent on the...
20 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial
by Gerrard Cowan Counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) specialist Fortem Technologies has seen a growing military interest in its systems, the company told Janes , with the US-based firm emphasising an interception approach to tackling potential UAS threats. Fortem Technologies' SkyDome is an end-to-end system encompassing several elements that can be operated separately or as part of an integrated approach. This comprises artificial intelligence (AI)-based software SkyDome Manager that includes ThreatAware, a capability that can analyse input from several sources and sensors. These sources include the company's TrueView radar, which can help to detect ‘dark' UASs that do not emit radio frequency (RF) or other signals. The overarching system also includes DroneHunter, a multirotor UAS that can intercept rogue UASs using a net tether. Adam Robertson, Fortem's co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO), said the company opted for the DroneHunter approach for several reasons. First, it can help to avoid collateral damage. Second, it means that the targeted UAV can be brought back for forensic analysis. ”That allows us to figure out where the source is - really we're interested in stopping the source of the threats, not the object that was threatening us,” said Robertson. The company sees potential for the systems in both fixed installations and mobile platforms, as well as on temporary sites, he noted. Robertson added that Fortem has been working to increase the autonomy of the system. While it still requires human supervision, the system can function independently to varying degrees depending on the rules of engagement. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/fortem-technologies-takes-aim-at-dark-uass-with-skydome
14 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By: Kelsey D. Atherton Is it still a tiltrotor aircraft if the whole body tilts? The new “Fixar” drone, set to be presented at Russia's MAKS-2019 airshow in late August, is a hybrid of sorts, a quadcopter with fixed wings. With limited moving parts and a flexible design, it's the kind of dual-use technology worth watching and, perhaps, even imitating. “Many companies and UAV manufacturers will present their aircraft, concepts and models” at the MAKS-2019 airshow, said Samuel Bendett, an adviser at the Center for Naval Analyses. “This Fixar UAV is a ‘self-initiated' project by the manufacturer, with the hope of getting attention from potential civilian and military customers at the air show.” Unlike the more eponymous tiltrotor craft, which switch distinctly from rotor-powered takeoff and landing to propeller-driven level flight, the Fixar instead has its four rotors in a permanently fixed position. The engines remain in position while the whole frame of the aircraft can lean backwards for more traditional vertical flights or stay level to operate as a fixed-wing machine. While the Fixar's marketing photos show it working in fields of crops, manufacturer IKS also bills it as designed specifically to operate in windy conditions and in mountains, suggesting that the whole machine might have a role in ISR and cargo transport. “What caught my attention in particular was that the drone can operate in ‘mountainous conditions' due to its unique design,” said Bendett. “In fact, Russian military has been practicing the operation of different UAVs at high altitudes and in high wind — so this Fixar UAV can prove useful right away.” Like all duel-use platforms, a drone is only as useful as the payloads put on it. Cameras and supply storage are likely options, though nothing yet suggests any new demand on the airframe. An ability to fly fast and from small patches of land without a runway is valuable, but it needs to have a certain range and speed to be a better choice than the baseline low cost and simplicity of civilian quadcopters. A large internal security market might support that and could easily lead to the Fixar in police roles, as well. “At present, there is no UAV in the Russian military that has characteristics similar to the Fixar, but given a steady rate of UAS acquisition by the MOD — at 300 UAVs per year for the next several years — it's safe to assume that the Russian military is looking to diversify its UAV fleet beyond the workhorses like Eleton or Orlan," said Bendett. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2019/08/13/will-this-hybrid-drone-give-russia-a-high-altitude-advantage/