1 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
ByEd Adamczyk
Sept. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing Co. a $2.6 billion contract to build 15 KC-46 tanker aircraft, as well as spares and support documents.
The deal, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, calls for exercise of a contract option to build the additional aircraft, as well as supply two spare engines, five wing refueling pod kits, spare parts and support equipment.
Work on the contract will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and is expected to be completed by March 2023.
The Air Force plans to purchase 179 such aircraft, known as the Pegasus, by 2027, and Japan's air defense force has purchased four.
The plane is a military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft with origins in the Boeing 767 passenger plane, capable of midflight refueling of fighter planes and other aircraft.
Designed to replace the Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, the Air Force acquired its first KC-46 in January 2019.
The plane's development has a troubled history. Boeing received a $55.5 million contract in August to redesign the plane's boom telescope actuator, which controls the device that swings out from beneath the plane to refuel other planes.
The tankers were grounded in March for one week after the Air Force said it found loose tools and other foreign object debris inside the completed airplanes. The issues came just weeks after the company delivered the first two aircraft to the Air Force, and Boeing called the problem "a big deal" in an internal memo in February.
These and other issues caused the plane's development program, and delivery of the first 18 planes, to be three years behind schedule. Pease Air National Guard Base, N.H., became the first guard base to receive a KC-46 plane in August.
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The new Black Hornet 3 nano unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is being presented by FLIR at Eurosatory 2018, being held in Paris on 11-15 June, while the previous Black Hornet 2 is being shown integrated into vehicles. At Eurosatory, the Black Hornet is displayed on a Patria AMV armoured vehicle and a BAE Systems CV90 infantry fighting vehicle. Arne Skjaerpe, vice-president of unmanned aerial system (UAS) sales and operations at FLIR, told Jane's the Black Hornet 3, which was announced in a 5 June FLIR press release, has a new, modular air vehicle which can carry new day/night sensors with better perceived picture quality and new software, which he said was a “step change” compared with the Black Hornet 2. He reported that there are 30 customers for the Black Hornet, including many NATO countries, with the US Army's Soldier Borne Sensor programme having ordered the first batch of Black Hornet 3s for USD2.6 million. Other customers of the latest version of the UAS are the Australian and French armed forces. On 11 June French special forces equipped with Black Hornets participated in the rehearsal for a live demonstration to be held at Eurosatory on 12 June. The Black Hornet 3 UAV weighs 32-33 g, compared with 18 g for the Black Hornet 2, and both share the same base station and screen, according to Skjaerpe. He said FLIR would continue to provide service and maintenance support for the Black Hornet 2. A vehicle reconnaissance system is being developed for the Black Hornet to give vehicles greater situational awareness and targeting capabilities, according to Skaerjpe. These range from reconnaissance vehicles to main battle tanks and self-propelled howitzers. http://www.janes.com/article/80821/eurosatory-2018-black-hornet-is-integrated-into-vehicles