7 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial
19 hours ago
The Air Force One of the future might be getting a major speed boost.
An aerospace company called Hermeus on Thursday announced a contract with the US Air Force and the Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate to develop a hypersonic aircraft for the presidential fleet.
While the next Air Force One, a modified 747-8, is due to be delivered by Boeing next year, the Hermeus contract looks toward its eventual replacement.
Hermeus said it won the contract after designing, building, and successfully testing a prototype of an engine capable of propelling an airplane to Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound — about 3,300 mph. Mach 5 represents the delineation between supersonic and hypersonic speeds.
The company completed those tests in March, Aviation Week reported.
Hermeus plans to build a demonstrator vehicle over the next five years, with commercial aircraft envisioned in about a decade, Skyler Shuford, its cofounder and chief operating officer, said in 2019. A press release announcing the Air Force contract said part of the project would focus on integrating Air Force requirements into the airplane's designs.
Hermeus emerged last year, announcing plans to develop a Mach 5 aircraft that could fly from New York to Paris in about 90 minutes. Ars Technica reported in May 2019 that the company raised an initial round of funding, led by Khosla Ventures, which it used to develop the prototype. Hermeus said it would use a turbine-based combined-cycle engine for the propulsion system, according to the report.
The company's cofounders are alumni of SpaceX, Blue Origin, and the aerospace company Generation Orbit.
At the time, Hermeus said it planned to use mostly existing technology and materials to achieve hypersonic travel.
"We can make a vehicle fly that fast with today's technology," Glenn Case, a cofounder and the chief technology officer, said in a video published this spring.
"We aren't getting into anything too miraculous," Shuford told Ars Technica last year. "We want to do engineering, not science."
As of Thursday, the company listed about 10 open positions, including for airframe and propulsion engineers.
https://www.businessinsider.com/hypersonic-air-force-one-hermeus-mach-5-2020-8
15 mars 2021 | International, Aérospatial
This $476 million contract award will ensure that the U.S. Army’s Chinook fleet has spare engines to support future missions and available engines for Boeing’s Philadelphia Production Line
2 février 2021 | International, Naval, Terrestre
MCLEAN, Virginia – The U.S. Navy selected BAE Systems for a five-year $65.7 million single-award indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract for air traffic control (ATC) platform sustainment and engineering services, the company said in a Feb. 1 release. BAE Systems will continue to use its engineering, technical, and operational expertise to develop, produce, equip, test, evaluate, sustain, and update key expeditionary ATC aviation systems for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Webster Outlying Field. “With this win, BAE Systems will provide expeditionary forces with the capability to quickly establish an airfield with the radar and communications systems to safely recover and launch aircraft,” said Lisa Hand, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems' Integrated Defense Solutions business. “We serve as the automation expert and technical coordinator, responsible for development and improvement of real-time ATC computer systems. Our radar technicians deploy around the world to support the warfighter; their work is resulting in quicker turnover to the end user, improved hardware reliability, and more accurate installation and precision in the field.” This new contract continues BAE Systems' more than a decade of supporting critical work on key systems, including the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS); Air Traffic Navigation, Integration, and Coordination System (ATNAVICS); Airfield Mobile Tactical Air Navigation System (AMTAC); and ATNAVICS Data Link System (ADLS). Under the contract, the company will develop and maintain operational software and supporting test beds, field change programs, and supplies for ATC systems. These systems are integral ATC tools that enhance platform flight safety, especially when end users are operating in new or rough terrain airfields with no existing military base. https://seapowermagazine.org/bae-systems-to-sustain-air-traffic-control-systems-under-65-7m-navy-contract
8 mars 2023 | International, Naval
AUKUS is expected to be its biggest defense project and offers the prospect of jobs in all three countries. In the early 2030's, Australia would buy 3 Virginia class submarines with the option to buy two more.