Army’s long-range assault aircraft fuselages to be built in Kansas

Sur le même sujet

• 

  27 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  USMC gets final RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft system

  The US Marine Corps (USMC) has received the final RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft system (UAS) under a programme to procure 21 of these platforms. The final unit was delivered by the US Navy and Marine Corps Small Tactical UAS Program Office (PMA-263) at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Cherry Point, North Carolina. In a release, Naval Air Systems Command stated that the fleet readiness detachment (FRD) at MCAS Cherry Point will use the RQ-21A for training purposes. Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2 (VMU-2) is also located at MCAS Cherry Point and will be responsible for maintaining the UAS. This delivery comes after VMU-3 received its fourth and final system in March this year to complete the squadron deliveries. VMU-3 is stationed in Hawaii. PMA-263 Program Manager colonel John Neville said: “As we wrap up the production phase of the RQ-21A programme for the Marine Corps and Navy, we have also been transitioning to continued sustainment for the fleet to include platform and payload capability improvements. “While it's a normal shift in the life of any programme, we maintain our focus on system readiness, affordability and capability improvements to ensure Blackjack remains a critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capability that's relevant for the warfighter.” Medium UAS lead lieutenant colonel Russell Strange noted that the programme also intends to enhance the capability of the RQ-21A system. In addition, the focus will be on growing the customer base for foreign military sales. Strange said: “Increased capability will include work on command and control, communication systems, avionics, optics, laser designation, and payloads.” RQ-21A Blackjack UAS was developed by Boeing Insitu in collaboration with the US Navy to meet requirements for a small tactical UAS that can operate from land and sea. With a flight endurance of up to 16 hours and an altitude ceiling of 19,500ft, RQ-21A can carry loads up to 39lb. The runway-independent system can be used to support tactical missions on land and at sea. The Marine Corps' RQ-21A Blackjack UAS achieved initial operational capability in 2016. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/usmc-gets-final-rq-21a-blackjack-unmanned-aircraft-system/

• 

  9 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre

  Final hypersonic missile contract awards imminent as US Army preps to shoot one in FY21

  HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The U.S. Army is just weeks away from awarding the final contracts related to the development of its mobile, ground-launched hypersonic missile. The Army will award a contract within the next three weeks to a company to develop a launching system for the hypersonic missile in co-development across the services, Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, the service's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office director, said Aug. 7 at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium. RCCTO's job is to serve as a bridge between the science and technology community and the program executive offices, helping bring technology out of development and into soldiers' hands, first on a small scale and then a larger scale when passed off to program offices. The office is primarily focused on hypersonics and directed energy. While the missile is under joint development, the Army needs a special launcher to make the missile road-mobile. The contract will encompass the design and integration of a vertical launcher onto a trailer, Thurgood said. Additionally, the RCCTO is preparing to award a contract, also in the next three weeks, to a vendor to produce the glide body for the hypersonic missile, Thurgood said. The Navy will own the design of the glide body, but the Army will own its production, he said. “We have a company that we are in the final process of negotiating an [other transaction authority contract],” Thurgood said. An OTA is a contract that allows for rapid prototyping by bypassing the usual red tape associated with acquisition. “What is interesting about the glide body technology is we also have to create an industrial base to do this. There is no industrial base in the United States for glide bodies,” Thurgood said. The technology is owned by the government labs, he noted, “so we are transitioning that out of the labs into the commercial marketplace. That is a really hard thing to do, but there's a lot of energy and a lot of momentum behind that outcome.” Unlike other programs, Thurgood said, there is not a single company that can produce a hypersonic missile and its equipment alone. “It actually takes a collaborative effort amongst the industry partners,” he added. The first contract will be awarded to one company, but there will be follow-on contracts for other vendors to learn how to make the glide body at the federally funded lab where it was developed. The methodology energizes the supply chain from the prime contractors all the way to sub-contractors should the service decide to make a large number of the weapons, Thurgood told Defense News in an interview at the symposium. Thurgood noted that in order to bring industry closer to the RCCTO's endeavors, the office established an industry board in addition to its board of directors to promote “horizontal communication.” The Army plans to field a hypersonic missile and launcher to a unit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. The unit will train for an entire year without live rounds, Thurgood said, adding that the canisters the unit will use will be cement-filled to match the weight. The first live-round test will take place in FY22 and will be conducted by a battery led by a captain. Thurgood was tasked Feb. 14 to come up with a plan for hypersonic development, and given 30 days to do so. Now, almost six months later, the RCCTO is about to award all associated contracts to move forward in building prototypes that will be in soldiers' hands in just a couple of years, Thurgood said. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/smd/2019/08/07/final-hypersonic-missile-contract-awards-imminent-as-army-preps-to-shoot-one-in-fy21/

• 

  14 avril 2021 | International, Naval

  IAI and Thales in the UK Combine to Offer Next Generation Ship-Killing Solution for the Royal Navy

  The SEA SERPENT delivers an agile, highly penetrative, combined anti-ship and land attack capability at ranges significantly in excess of 200 km.