Can the Air Force make its next-gen fighter jet cheaper than the F-35?

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  18 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  EUROJET signs contract with NETMA for provision of 56 new EJ200 engines for the German Air Force

  Hallbergmoos, Wednesday, November 11, 2020 - EUROJET Turbo GmbH (EUROJET), the consortium responsible for the EJ200 engine installed in the Eurofighter Typhoon, today signed a contract with the NATO Eurofighter & Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) to provide 56 new EJ200 engines for the German Air Force. The contract, signed in Munich, between General Miguel Ángel Martín Pérez, General Manager of NETMA, and Gerhard Bähr, CEO of EUROJET, covers EJ200 engines for a new order of Tranche 4 Typhoon fighter aircraft. Production of the engine modules will be carried out locally by the four partner companies of the EUROJET consortium; Rolls-Royce, MTU Aero Engines, ITP Aero and Avio Aero. As partner for the German Air Force, final assembly of the engines will take place at MTU Aero Engines with deliveries to the German customer scheduled to begin in 2023. Commenting on the finalisation of the contract Mr Bähr stated: “This contract signature is a clear statement of confidence in the platform and of the performance and sustainability of the EJ200 engines which power it. In addition, it also demonstrates a high level of confidence in the consortium and its European industrial base, and will secure highly skilled workplaces in the aerospace industry in the coming years.” ABOUT EUROJET: The EUROJET consortium is responsible for the management of the EJ200 engine programme. EUROJET's shareholders comprise Rolls-Royce (UK), MTU Aero Engines (Germany), ITP Aero (Spain) and Avio Aero (Italy). The engine represents outstanding and innovative technology and continually demonstrates its exceptional performance in the Eurofighter Typhoon. With its unprecedented performance record, combined with multi-role capability and highest availability at competitive life-cycle costs, the EJ200 engine is perfectly set to meet air force requirements, both of today and the future. Since delivery of the first production engine in 2003, well over a thousand EJ200 production engines have been delivered to Air Force customer fleets of nine nations, and the EJ200 engine has achieved in excess of 1 million engine flying hours. View source version on EUROJET Turbo GmbH : https://www.eurojet.de/2020/11/11/eurojet-signs-contract-with-netma-for-provision-of-56-new-ej200-engines-for-the-german-air-force/

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  29 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  US Defense Department launches Gremlins drone from a mothership for the first time

  WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department is one step closer to having swarming drones that it can launch from military planes and recover in midair, having successfully conducted the first flight of the Gremlins aircraft in November. The test, which occurred at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, proved that a C-130A could successfully launch an X-61A Gremlins Air Vehicle, said Tim Keeter, who manages the program for Dynetics. The company won the Gremlins contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2018. “It gives us a lot of confidence going forward that this vehicle can fly where it's supposed to fly, how it's supposed to fly,” Keeter said during a Jan. 21 phone call with reporters. “Now the team can be principally focused on the other portion of our program plan ... which is to successfully rendezvous with a C-130, dock with our docking system ... and safely recover the vehicle.” During the test, which lasted 1 hour and 41 minutes, the X-61A flew with no anomalies and the DARPA-Dynetics team completed all test objectives, including transitioning the X-61A from a cold-engine start to stable flight; validating the Gremlins' data links and handing off control of the drone between air and ground control stations; deploying the docking arm; and collecting data on the air vehicle. However, during the recovery process, the drone crashed to the ground and was destroyed. The drogue parachute, which deployed first to slow the air vehicle, functioned as planned, Keeter explained. However, the larger main parachute — which would soften the landing of the air vehicle so that the drone could be reused — did not correctly deploy due to a mechanical issue. Dynetics has built four other Gremlins vehicles, leaving enough drones to accomplish the program's primary requirement to fly and recover four Gremlins in 30 minutes, said Scott Wierzbanowski, DARPA's Gremlins program manager. The next demonstration, set for sometime this spring, will verify whether the Gremlins can be successfully recovered by the C-130 while in flight. Wierzbanowski characterized this test as critical for proving that the Gremlins can be reused over multiple missions — a key point for bearing out the cost-effectiveness of the concept. "If I have an expendable vehicle, at some point I'm not going to want to be able to use those things because they're just too expensive,” he said. “But if I can recover them and then amortize the cost of that vehicle over 10 or 20 or 30 sorties, maybe there's a bend in the curve somewhere that really will allow us to benefit from these smaller, more affordable, attritable systems." During the recovery process, the C-130 will lower a towed capture device that will mate with the Gremlins drone, thus avoiding the turbulence generated by the wake of the larger aircraft, Keeter said. Once the drone is stabilized by the capture device, an engagement arm deploys, docking with the X-61A and bringing it inside the C-130 cargo bay to be stowed. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2020/01/28/us-defense-department-launches-gremlins-drone-from-a-mothership-for-the-first-time/

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  7 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  South Korea and Spain seek deal to swap trainer jets for airlifters

  By: Jeff Jeong SEOUL — South Korean and Spanish defense officials are to discuss a possible trade of trainer and transport aircraft, according to arms procurement officials and industry sources in the Asian nation. The deal may involve about 50 basic and advanced trainer jets built by Korea Aerospace Industries, or KAI, and four to six Airbus A400M airlifters, they said. “South Korea and Spain plan to hold a joint defense industry committee in Madrid this month to discuss bilateral issues,” said an official with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The swap deal is not an official agenda item on the table, but the sides are open to discussing it.” The proposal was made by Spain during the Farnborough International Airshow in the U.K. last July, as the Spanish Air Force seeks to replace its older trainer fleet of Chilean ENAER T-35C Pillan jets, according to an industry source privy to the potential swap deal. “Spain ordered 27 A400M transport aircraft from Airbus but has decided not to use 13 of them, so the Spanish defense authorities have got approval from Airbus to sell the surplus products to other countries,” the source said. “Spain wants to sell four to six A400Ms to South Korea, and it buys 34 KT-1 basic trainer aircraft and 20 more T-50 supersonic trainer jets for advanced pilot training if possible.” If the deal is reached, Spain is willing to sell the A400M plane at 15 percent of the per-unit price of some $27 million, he said, adding the total value of the swap deal could be approximately $890 million. The envisaged deal could be a breakthrough for KAI to sell more of its trainer aircraft after its recent defeat in a U.S. Air Force trainer competition. “Any swap deal is delegated to the DAPA and its Spanish counterpart, and we're waiting on the results,” a KAI spokesman said. Airbus would not discuss the prospect of such a deal. Industry sources believe the proposed deal could meet the South Korean Air Force's need of acquiring larger airlifters for longer-range missions. During an Oct. 19 parliamentary inspection of the Air Force, the service revealed a plan to procure four more large transport aircraft in addition to its existing fleet of CN-235 and C-130 planes. “We have a plan to deploy larger transport aircraft to increase our capacity of rapid force deployment, emergency relief, peacekeeping and other operations over long distances,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Lee Wang-keun said in a report to lawmakers. Preliminary research on the requirements of the larger airlifter acquisition will be conducted between 2019 and 2020 before a request for proposal is issued for full operational capability by 2022, according to Air Force officials. The A400M Atlas is regarded as a strong candidate for the airlift procurement program, as the C-17 Globemaster III production line run by Boeing is shut down. The A400M can carry 116 fully equipped troops and up to 66 stretchers accompanied by 25 medical personnel. Email: jeff@defensenews.com https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/11/05/south-korea-and-spain-seek-deal-to-swap-trainer-jets-for-airlifters