29 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial

Can Tempest and FCAS projects both succeed in Europe?

By Flight International 26 June 2020

For some, a time of global economic crisis might not feel like the perfect moment for nations to invest huge sums of money to develop a new class of combat aircraft only due to enter use around 2035-2040.

Currently, six European governments and their national defence industry champions are involved in the early phases of two competing – and comparable – projects to deliver such a capability.

In the opinion of Airbus Defence & Space chief executive Dirk Hoke, Europe's current trio of advanced fighters – the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen – represent a wasteful replication of industrial effort – and all lose out by battling for the same orders.

Hoke is championing a future combat air system (FCAS) project now combining the resources and know-how of French and German industry, and also later incorporating Spain.

With its Tempest development having drawn interest from Italy and Sweden, the UK is not only turning away from its co-operation with Germany and Spain on Eurofighter, but applying the afterburners on their separation.

Key players behind both efforts are united in their calls to “avoid the mistakes of the past”. For some, that refers to compromised yet complex requirements, sprawling manufacturing and final assembly arrangements, and political interference during export activities, while for others, a simple lack of harmony was at fault.

Getting everyone to agree that having multiple final assembly lines for a fighter with a comparatively small production volume is an inefficient luxury is one thing – agreeing which will lose the strategic capability is quite another.

International partnering spreads a programme's investment burden, but elements of the Eurofighter set-up and the Airbus Defence & Space A400M airlifter serve as cautionary tales. Three can be a crowd, but a lack of agreement among four or seven involved nations can cause lengthy delay and spiralling costs.

Surely Europe can comfortably support two next-generation combat aircraft programmes? Indeed, those involved in FCAS and Tempest eye them as offering a real opportunity to power part of their nations' economic recovery in the post-coronavirus era.

For an alternative view should the projects eventually have to merge, a unified solution could serve all 27 EU member states, plus the UK. Such a prospect could make the US-led Lockheed Martin F-35 programme look like a bureaucratic cakewalk by comparison.

https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/can-tempest-and-fcas-projects-both-succeed-in-europe/139007.article

Sur le même sujet

  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - September 08, 2020

    9 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - September 08, 2020

    AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Roy, Utah, has been awarded a $13,293,562,839 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for a tested and fully qualified design of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD). The GBSD will replace the Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Weapon system. This contract will provide for the engineering and manufacturing of the GBSD. Work will be performed in Roy, Utah, and multiple other locations nationwide, and is expected to be completed February 2029. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal Year 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $85,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8219-20-C-0006). NAVY Raytheon Technologies Corp., Pratt and Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $174,221,174 modification (P00022) to previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost contract N00019-18-C-1021. This modification exercises an option for the production and delivery of 14 F135-PW-100 low rate initial production Lot 14 propulsion systems for the Air Force in support of the F-35A conventional take-off and landing aircraft. Work will be performed in Middletown, Connecticut (46%); East Hartford, Connecticut (22%); Windsor Locks, Connecticut (16%); North Berwick, Maine (11%); Phoenix, Arizona (3%); and Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico (2%), and is expected to be completed in June 2022. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Air Force) funds in the amount of $174,221,174 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. RDA Inc.,* Doylestown, Pennsylvania, is awarded a $19,983,378 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N68335-20-F-0360) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N68335-20-G-3039. This order provides for continued advanced technology research and development efforts for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) products for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and under-sea warfare (USW) systems under SBIR topic N98-035 titled “Signal Processing and System Concepts to Exploit Passive Signals in Airborne Active ASW Missions; topic N04-247 titled “Littoral Environment Parameter Estimation from Bistatic and Multistatic Fleet Air ASW Acoustic Reverberation Data;” and topic N06-011 titled “Multi-Sensor Data Fusion for Littoral Undersea Warfare.” Further development and research efforts will include engineering, technical, managerial, analysis, prototyping, maintenance, quality control, training and test participation. Additionally, this order provides operational software development, acoustic capability enhancements and technical engineering for further development and transition of technologies and system performance improvements, providing on-going fleet training and maintenance products for deployed systems. Work will be performed in Warrenton, Virginia (45%); Patuxent River, Maryland (35%); and Doylestown, Pennsylvania (20%), and is expected to be completed in September 2025. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funds in the amount of $852,759 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity. Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. Aeronautics Systems, San Diego, California, is awarded an $11,635,599 cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N00019-20-F-0103) against previously issued basic ordering agreement N00019-20-G-0005. This order provides non-recurring engineering for qualification testing and integration of the Redundancy unmanned air vehicle common automatic recovery systems and multi-platform anti-jam Global Positioning System navigation antenna integrated upgrades into the MQ-8C Fire Scout aircraft. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (90%); and Moss Point, Mississippi (10%), and is expected to be completed in January 2023. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,635,599 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY Qwest Government Solutions Inc., doing business as CenturyLink QGS, Herndon, Virginia, was awarded a $70,250,013 modification (P00004) against non-competitive firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract HC1013-19-D-0002 to increase the current contract ceiling. This modification allows for the continued operations and maintenance support for dark fiber and commercial facilities in the continental U.S. to support the Department of Defense. Funding will be obligated at the individual task orders. The total contract ceiling value has increased from $126,895,698 to $197,145,711. The period of performance is Nov. 30, 2018, through Nov. 29, 2023. The Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. ARMY Amentum Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland, was awarded a $29,034,547 hybrid (cost-no-fee, labor-hours) contract for contractor labor support services at Anniston Army Depot and Watervliet Arsenal. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed at Anniston Army Depot, Alabama; and Watervliet Arsenal, New York, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2023. Fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds in the amount of $29,034,547 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Detroit Arsenal, Michigan, is the contracting activity (W56HZV-20-F-0396). Manson Construction, Seattle, Washington, was awarded a $26,493,750 firm-fixed-price contract for maintenance dredging. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work will be performed in Plaquemines, Louisiana, with an estimated completion date of June 20, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $26,493,750 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans, Louisiana, is the contracting activity (W912P8-20-C-0061). Kallidus Technologies Inc.,* Lowell, Massachusetts, was awarded a $15,478,911 firm-fixed-price contract to construct a new security forces and communications training facility. Bids were solicited via the internet with six received. Work will be performed in Westhampton Beach, New York, with an estimated completion date of April 1, 2022. Fiscal 2020 military construction (Army National Guard) funds in the amount of $15,478,911 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Property and Fiscal Office, New York, is the contracting activity (W50S8E-20-C-0005). Bell Textron Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $13,500,000 order-dependent contract to conduct design studies, analyses, simulation, testing, integration and fabrication activities in order to mitigate risks, investigate operational usage and conduct maturation activities at the technology, subsystem and system-level maturation for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft and its variants. Bids were solicited via the internet with two received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 7, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W911W6-20-D-0006). Enviremedial Services Inc.,* Oceanside, California, was awarded a $9,455,140 firm-fixed-price contract for a vehicle wash system, preventive maintenance and inspections, labor, management, supervision, tools, materials and equipment to perform facility support services at Marine Corps Reserve centers. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of March 28, 2026. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912HP-20-D-3000). DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY HRL Laboratories LLC, Malibu, California, was awarded a modification to incorporate sole-source additional scope totaling $8,390,427 to previously awarded contract HR0011-19-C-0006 for a Phase 2 Millimeter-wave GaN Maturation (MGM) project. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $18,789,575 from $10,399,148. Work will be performed in Malibu, California, with an expected completion date of September 2022. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $1,950,000 are being obligated at time of award. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity. Kryptowire LLC, McLean, Virginia, was awarded a $7,337,148 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for a research project under the Open, Programmable, Secure 5G (OPS-5G) program. The OPS-5G program will create open source software and systems enabling secure 5G and subsequent secure mobile networks such as 6G. Work will be performed in McLean, Virginia; Blacksburg, Virginia; and Fairfax, Virginia, with an expected completion date of September 2024. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funding in the amount of $883,977 is being obligated at time of award. This contract was a competitive acquisition under an open broad agency announcement and 40 offers were received. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HR0011-20-C-0154). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2340084/source/GovDelivery/

  • DARPA to explore technology needed for moon-based economy

    16 août 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR, Sécurité

    DARPA to explore technology needed for moon-based economy

    The study aims to establish an analytical framework for “rapid scientific and commercial activity on and around the moon,” between 2025 and 2035.

  • Beyond Chinook: Army Secretary Challenges Industry To Revolutionize Heavy Lift

    1 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    Beyond Chinook: Army Secretary Challenges Industry To Revolutionize Heavy Lift

    By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. A light scout and a mid-size transport remain Army aviation's top two priorities, Secretary Mark Esper said, but industry needs to start thinking about the next heavy-lift aircraft and stop fighting against cuts to the venerable CH-47. WASHINGTON: “I'm asking industry is to think about heavy future vertical lift,” Army Secretary Mark Esper told reporters today. “Where I need their heads to be is thinking about future heavy vertical lift, not about how do we maintain what we have now and make upgrades here or there.” Translation: Boeing and Pennsylvania legislators, stop fighting me to restore funding for the latest upgrade to the venerable CH-47 Chinook — built outside Philadelphia — and join me in brainstorming a radically better aircraft for future great-power wars with Russia or China. “I really want to think aggressively, boldly about what the future may hold, how it can be different,” Esper said. Is that just your advice to industry, I asked, or is there some kind of preliminary study planned that companies could actually get government money for? It's premature to talk dollars, Esper replied. “Whether we help fund that at some point, I don't know, I'm not going to talk about that right now,” he said. “My comment was only we need aircraft in the future that can do that heavy vertical lift movement, but can ... survive in a very contested airspace and keep up with the FARAs and FLRAAs.” That's the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft — a light scout to fill the gap left by the retired OH-58 Kiowa — and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft — a mid-size transport to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. Both are intended to be high-speed, long-range aircraft.The solution probably will be turboprop/helicopter hybrids, rather than conventional helicopters, that can operate on fast-paced, far-flung future battlefields where precision-guided missiles can kill the forward fuel depots and maintenance bases on which today's shorter-ranged helicopters rely. FARA is the Army's top-priority aircraft program, Esper reiterated here at the Brookings Institution today, and FLRAA is No. 2. But once the light scout and the mid-size transport programs are further along, Esper said for the first time today, his no. 3 priority will be a new heavy hauler. “We're not there yet, right, obviously we need to get FARA and FLRAA moving,” Esper said. “No. 3 is I need to eventually think about what's the future of heavy vertical lift,” Esper told the audience at Brookings. “What's the future replacement for the Chinook” with the greater speed, range, payload, and survivability required for future battlefields? Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2019/04/beyond-chinook-army-secretary-challenges-industry-to-revolutionize-heavy-lift

Toutes les nouvelles