16 juin 2023 | International, Autre défense

Are you up for a challenge? NATO invites startups to compete for cash

NATO’s new technology accelerator will launch its inaugural challenges next week, meant to draw out innovative solutions from startups.

https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/techwatch/2023/06/16/are-you-up-for-a-challenge-nato-invites-startups-to-compete-for-cash/

Sur le même sujet

  • RAF Retiring Reaper In 2024, Paving Way For Protector

    30 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    RAF Retiring Reaper In 2024, Paving Way For Protector

    By Tony Osborne LONDON—Britain is planning to retire its General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft systems in 2024 as the Royal Air Force transitions to its new Protector platform. Although Royal Air Force (RAF) officers have not detailed when the first of the new Protector aircraft will arrive, there will be a transition as crews retrain from Reaper onto Protector, with the Reaper complementing the Protector on operations, Wing Commander Judith Graham, the RAF's Protector Program Manager, told Aerospace DAILY at the Royal International Air Tattoo earlier this month. “Reaper is an extraordinarily valuable capability for the UK government, so we don't want there to be a capability gap,” Graham said. The plan for avoiding a capability gap between Reaper and Protector suggests that a significant number of Protectors will have entered service by the time the Reaper is retired. The UK currently has 10 MQ-9 Reapers that it purchased as an urgent operational requirement for operations in Afghanistan. Today, they operate over Iraq and Syria, but none are destined for use in UK airspace. Work also is underway to select the site for a new facility at RAF Waddington, UK, from which the Protector fleet and the UK's new E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft will be operated. Graham said the facility needs “to be ready for Protector by the end of 2021,” suggesting that first Protector deliveries could take place in 2022. Britain plans to centralize its Protector operations from Waddington, resulting in the UK presence at Creech AFB, Nevada being scaled down. Because of the Protector's ability to self-deploy and perform autonomous landing and take-off, there also is a significantly reduced need for forward-based personnel to land the aircraft at forward-operating locations, further reducing the personnel burden. The UK currently is planning to buy 16 Protectors, a derivative of General Atomics' self-developed, certifiable SkyGuardian platform, which has been redesigned to pave the way for it to meet military airworthiness requirements. As a result, the aircraft now features an all-weather capability with an electro-expulsive de-icing system that blows the ice off the leading edges of the wings and Y-stabilizers. General Atomics also has increased the fatigue life and damage tolerance of the aircraft and produced flight-critical software certifiable to the DO-178 standard. British Protectors will be armed with the Raytheon Paveway IV laser-guided-bomb and MBDA Brimstone air-to-ground missile. There also are plans to fit it with Leonardo's Sage Electronic Support Measures system. The aircraft will also be equipped with General Atomics' Lynx synthetic aperture radar, but there are studies to look at installing a larger radar, such as Leonardo's Seaspray surface-search radar. Work on the integration of such a radar, which could allow the Protector to support the UK's new P-8 Poseidon in the maritime patrol role, is being scoped but is not yet funded. RAF officers are working alongside General Atomics at its San Diego, California, facility as part of a combined test team to pave the way for the platform's certification by the UK Military Aviation Authority, which the RAF hopes will allow the aircraft to fly in non-segregated airspace for training and support to national authorities. They are hoping to do this even without the immediate installation of General Atomics internally developed sense-and-avoid radar. The RAF's Protectors will be compatible, but not immediately equipped, with the active electronically scanned array radar, but Graham said work was underway with the UK's newly renamed Strategic Command (formerly Joint Forces Command) to understand the requirement for the radar, and test and evaluation work was underway. Officials state that the radar likely will be introduced as part of the full operational capability for the platform. The UK also will use the General Atomics Advanced Cockpit ground control station, which uses a similar flight management system to the Beechcraft King Air 350. Under current plans, the British Protectors will be flown by a crew of three—a pilot, a sensor operator and a mission intelligence coordinator. Rather than flying the aircraft from inside transportable containers, the seven ground control stations will occupy a permanent building with room for expansion. There also will be scope to add an additional mission specialist, should a particular mission require it, officials say. https://aviationweek.com/defense/raf-retiring-reaper-2024-paving-way-protector

  • Army Reserve needs skilled soldiers to support major combat

    15 octobre 2024 | International, Aérospatial

    Army Reserve needs skilled soldiers to support major combat

    The Reserve is looking to direct commissions and better technology to help recruit and keep soldiers in uniform.

  • Aurora moves into next design phase for DARPA vertical takeoff X-plane

    21 mai 2024 | International, Aérospatial

    Aurora moves into next design phase for DARPA vertical takeoff X-plane

    Bell Textron, Northrop Grumman and Piasecki Aircraft Corp. have also worked on ideas for DARPA's vertical lift SPRINT aircraft.

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