10 janvier 2024 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
From drones to sonobuoys, AUKUS partners betting on AI
The U.S. Department of Defense requested $1.8 billion for artificial intelligence in fiscal 2024.
30 avril 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre, C4ISR
Army’s $2.3B wish list would speed up future helo buy, boost lethality and more
By: Jen Judson
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The U.S. Army's $2.3 billion unfunded requirements list — or wish list — sent to Capitol Hill includes money to speed up the service's plan to buy a future long-range assault helicopter and efforts to boost lethality, such as outfitting more Stryker combat vehicles with a 30mm gun.
The unfunded requirements list is something the military services send to Congress each year shortly following the release of the defense budget request to inform lawmakers on where money would be spent if there was more of it. The lists are usually provided at the request of congressional defense committees.
The service has pivoted toward six modernization priorities it deems necessary to modernize the force, and through a rigorous review of every program within the Army by leadership, billions of dollars were found within its $182 billion fiscal 2020 budget to devote to the ambitious efforts within that modernization portfolio.
But the Army would spend another $243 million to advance certain modernization efforts if it could, according to the wish list.
For instance, if the Army had additional funds, it would want to spend $40 million to buy the XM-913 weapon system — a 50mm gun, ammunition-handling system and fire control — to outfit two next-generation combat vehicle prototypes. The NGCV is the second-highest modernization priority.
The service would also want to spend $75.6 million to speed up decision-making on the future long-range assault aircraft, or FLRAA — one of the two future vertical lift lines of effort to replace the current fleet.
Gen. John “Mike” Murray, Army Futures Command commander who is in charge of the service's modernization, told Defense News in a March 26 interview at the Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Symposium that the service would like additional funding to close the gap between what it is seeing now with the two technology demonstrators, which are both flying, and a decision on the way ahead to procure FLRAA.
Bell's V-280 Valor tilt-rotor aircraft has been flying for nearly two years, and the Sikorsky-Boeing team's SB-1 Defiant flew last week. The demonstrator aircraft were originally funded to help shape the service's requirements for a future vertical lift family of aircraft.
The Army also wants additional funding to extend the range of the Q-53 counter-fire target acquisition radar and funding to preserve a new program for a low-Earth orbit, space-based capability to extract data and tactical imagery in denied or contested environments, something that is critical to the Long-Range Precision Fires program, the Army's top modernization priority.
Lastly, additional funding would also support rapid prototyping for the next-generation squad weapon—automatic rifle.
The service would want an additional $1 billion to address readiness to include $161 million in more aviation training, $118 million in bridging assets and $128 million for mobilization needs.
Also included in the readiness funding: money to further enhance interoperable communications with allies and partners, and funds to help restore airfields, railheads and runways in Europe that would enhance better movement.
U.S. Army Europe commanders in recent years have stressed the need to build better infrastructure to move troops and supplies more freely in the region and have cited interoperability issues with allies as one of the toughest aspects to overcome in joint operations.
Funding would also be used to enhance the Army's pre-positioned stock in Europe with petroleum and medical equipment.
In the Pacific area of operations, the funding would also cover needed multidomain operations capabilities and force protection for radar sites and mobile ballistic bunkers.
Focusing on lethality requirements, the Army wants an additional $249 million to upgrade more Strykers with 30mm cannons. The service is already up-gunning Strykers for brigades in Europe and recently wrapped up an assessment of the enhanced Strykers to inform a decision on whether to outfit more Strykers with a larger gun. The Army is expected to make a decision within days on whether it will up-gun more Stryker units and how many it plans to upgrade.
Additionally, the Army wants $130 million to prototype hypersonic missile capabilities and another $24 million to integrate the Joint Air-to-Ground Munition's seeker and guidance kit into an Army Tactical Missile System. JAGM is the service's Hellfire replacement, and ATACMS will be replaced with the service's long-range precision fire missile — the precision strike missile — currently under development.
The Army is also asking for $565 billion for infrastructure improvements both in the United States and in the Indo-Pacific area of operation.
Congress reporter Joe Gould contributed to this report.
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17 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Roper Sees Air Force ‘Flying Cars’ In Production By 2023
"We are going to accelerate this market for domestic use in a way that also helps our military," Roper stressed. "The Air Force is all in." By THERESA HITCHENSon April 16, 2020 at 7:15 PM WASHINGTON: ‘Flying cars' using electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology could be in full-up production for Air Force use in moving cargo and people within three years, says Air Force acquisition head Will Roper. Such a capability, Roper enthused, would give the US military the ability to undertake missions “in three dimensions that we normally do in two,” giving the services “much greater agility.” This is why the Air Force program for investing in commercial firms now pursuing eVTOL vehicles is called “Agility Prime,” he noted. The Air Force will take a first look at vendor offerings in a virtual pitch event at the end of the month, with a focus on small eVTOL vehicles that could be used for missions involving transport of only a few people. Roper told reporters today that the size of any future Air Force vehicle buys would depend on what missions eVTOL vehicles prove capable of carrying out. “If it's helping us to do logistics at the edge, we could end up buying these in higher quantities. If it's things like security and rescue, it will be smaller quantities,” he explained. Roper has previously said he envisions large flying cars for carrying cargo, as well as smaller vehicles for Special Operations-type missions. But no matter what, Roper added that he expects that granting commercial producers Air Force safety certifications and allowing them to rack up flying hours under Agility Prime “will really help accelerate domestic use of these vehicles and [allow some companies to] get FAA certification sooner that it would have come if we had not interjected ourselves into the market.” The Agility Prime program will hold a “virtual launch event” April 27 to allow vendors to showcase their capabilities and interact with potential investors from both the private sector and the military, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) announced earlier this week. Roper, who will give a keynote, said the event originally had been planned as a live demonstration of capabilities by chosen vendors at the annual South By Southwest music festival in Austin that was scheduled for March 13-22, but cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The objective of the event is to reinforce the Air Force commitment to partnering with industry, investors, and the interagency to help ensure there is a robust domestic capability in this new aerospace sector,” AFLCMC explained. Agility Prime is designed as a “challenge” where eVTOL vehicle makers compete in a series of demonstration that ultimately could result in a contract for full-scale production. According to documents provided for potential competitors on the program website, the Air Force is asking potential vendors to be able to complete a flight test by Dec. 17. In the first round, companies will need to demonstrate the following specifications: Payload: 3-8 personnel Range: Greater than 100 miles Speed: Greater than 100 mph Endurance: Greater than 60 minutes Roper said the second round of the competition would be dedicated to larger vehicles for cargo, and multiple people. Agility Prime is a unique effort that involves a number of service entities working together, including AFLCMC, the Program Executive Office for Mobility, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability (AFWIC) office, AFWERX, and the new AFVentures office that serves as an intermediary between vendors and venture capital providers. Roper said that besides helping to move the US into a prime spot in an emerging marketplace, he intends Agility Prime to also serve as an example to the commercial sector that the Air Force is serious about being “a good innovation partner.” One of the hallmarks of Roper's term as Air Force acquisition chief has been his focus on figuring out how to leverage commercial research and development to help DoD ensure that it can stay ahead of China in the pursuit of new technology — arguing that innovation is the new battlefield. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/roper-sees-air-force-flying-cars-in-production-by-2023
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23 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Covid-19 : quel impact sur les exportations d’armes en 2020 ?
Dans une réponse au député François Cornut-Gentille, le 22 octobre, le ministère des Armées estime que « les répercussions de la crise Covid-19 sur l'entrée en vigueur en 2020 de certains contrats ou la réalisation de certains prospects sont à craindre ». S'il était signé avant la fin de l'année, le contrat Rafale en Grèce pourrait toutefois limiter l'impact. La Grèce a également mis en vigueur plusieurs autres contrats avec les industriels français : un système de défense anti-aérienne et des contrats-cadre pour la maintenance et la mise à niveau de l'électronique de 24 Mirage 2000-5 (Dassault Aviation, Thales et Safran) pour plus de 260 millions d'euros. Enfin, le Qatar reste très intéressé par deux satellites d'observation de fabrication française et discute depuis de très longs mois avec la France et Airbus Defence and Space sur leur fourniture. La France est par ailleurs engagée dans des compétitions majeures. Dassault Aviation propose le Rafale en Finlande et en Suisse et Thales est en compétition pour le renouvellement de la défense sol-air dans ce dernier pays, dont le choix aura lieu simultanément avec celui de l'avion de combat. Pour l'article complet : https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/crise-du-covid-19-vers-un-impact-sur-les-exportations-d-armements-francaises-en-2020-860366.html