CH-53E Heavy Lift Helicopter Reaches One Million Flight Hours

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  26 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Fusil anti-drone, camionnette espion... Milipol, le grand bazar de la sécurité

  HASSAN MEDDAH Des allées pleines de visiteurs, des exposants toujours plus nombreux, des stands truffés d'innovations... La 21eme édition du salon Milipol dédiée à la sécurité et la sûreté des Etats, qui se tient à Paris du 19 au 23 novembre, fait encore le plein. A Paris Nord Villepinte, du 19 au 23 novembre, la 21eme édition de Milipol, qui vise 30 000 visiteurs professionnels, souligne le dynamisme du marché de la sécurité et de la sûreté au niveau mondial mais en France également. Forte de 130 000 personnes, la filière tricolore génère un chiffre d'affaires de 30 milliards d'euros dont un tiers réalisé à l'export. Outre son cycle de conférences, ce salon s'impose comme le véritable bazar de la sécurité. Les acheteurs professionnels, comme les 170 délégations étrangères qui ont fait le déplacement, ont pu trouver de quoi assurer leurs besoins en protection. Dans les stands, on trouve de tout... ou presque. 1/ Le fusil électromagnétique anti-drone de la gendarmerie Les gendarmes exposent sur le stand du ministère de l'Intérieur leur dispositif de lutte anti-drone. Une mallette équipée d'un dispositif rayonnant permet de détecter toute intrusion dans un rayon de 5 km. Le gendarme arrose alors le drone avec un fusil brouilleur émettant des ondes électromagnétiques avec une portée d'un km environ et dans un cône de 70° d'ouverture environ. Les ondes émises brouillent le GPS et neutralisent les communications entre l'opérateur du drone et son engin, forçant ce dernier à se poser. Cette solution a été conçue par la société italienne CPM Elettronica. 2/ La camionnette espion La société Intellexa expose un van d'un genre très particulier. En plus de ses deux passagers, il embarque un véritable centre de contrôle et d'espionnage pour mener des missions de renseignements dans le plus grand secret : caméras pour filmer les allées et venues dans les environs à travers les vitres teintées, antennes d'interception à 360° des communications sans-fil (Wifi, 2G, 3G, 4G...), outils d'investigation et d'infection numérique à distance... 3/ Des fusils en veux-tu, en voilà Sur le stand de l'armurier italien Beretta, se côtoient des armes pour snipper pour atteindre des cibles à plus de 2km, des armes semi automatiques capables de tirer plus de 800 coups par minute, des fusils d'assaut... 4/ Le laboratoire mobile d'analyse ADN Pour identifier des victimes au plus près du terrain lors d'une catastrophe (crash d'avion, ouragan, terrorisme...), la société TraceIP a conçu un laboratoire mobile d'analyse ADN. Opérationnel deux heures après l'arrivée sur site, il peut analyser une vingtaine d'échantillons en 30 minutes, gr'ce à une innovation développée et brevetée par l'Institut de recherche criminelle de la Gendarmerie nationale. 5/ Le drone dopé à l'intelligence artificielle Drone Volt présente sur son stand un drone de surveillance. L'appareil embarque deux cameras, l'une offrant un zoom optique *30, l'autre thermique pour la surveillance nocturne. Les images traitées par un moteur d'intelligence artificielle, identifient les formes, détectent des plaques d'immatriculation... Pour gagner en robustesse, son fuselage est constitué d'une structure carbone monobloc. 6/ Le détecteur de snippers La PME française Cilas présente sur son stand un système de détection avant-tir de sniper basé sur l'effet «œil de chat». Le laser du dispositif balaie une zone à risque préalablement définie envoyant un rayon invisible susceptible d'être réfléchi par la lunette du fusil du sniper ou ses jumelles. Le système permet alors de localiser le tireur jusqu'à 1 km de distance en fonction de la taille de l'optique détectée. Il est déployable en une dizaine de minutes. 7/ Le dispositif anti-voiture bélier Stopper net un véhicule de 7,5 tonnes lancé à 80 km/heure. C'est la capacité du dispositif contre les voitures bélier développé par la société Kopp. Ce ralentisseur à double sens d'arrêt est composé de deux peignes métalliques biseautés capables de relever à 50 cm de hauteur en moins de 3 secondes. Cet obstacle escamotable nécessite très peu de génie civil, se fondant dans la chaussée à 50 cm de profondeur. 8/ Les smartphones grand public avec une sécurité militaire Ercom, société récemment rachetée par Thales, présente à Milipol des téléphones sécurisés permettant l'échange de données confidentielles gr'ce à une carte SIM capable de chiffrer les appels, les SMS, les data.... Basée sur des smartphones Samsung, l'offre vise les collaborateurs des gouvernements et des grands groupes pour protéger leurs données sensibles en mobilité, et en cas de perte, de vol et d'écoute. Ces appareils bénéficient de l'agrément Diffusion Restreinte de l'OTAN et l'ANSSI, l'Agence nationale pour la sécurité des systèmes d'information. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/editorial/en-images-fusil-anti-drone-camionnette-espion-milipol-le-grand-bazar-de-la-securite.N906149

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  21 juin 2019 | International, Naval

  Navy Issues Final RFP for FFG(X) Next-Generation Frigate

  By: Megan Eckstein The Navy released the final request for proposals for its next guided-missile frigate (FFG(X)) today, outlining the program that will get the U.S. Navy into the business of operating high-end small combatants. The service is counting on the new frigate to help the fleet operate in a distributed manner in a contested maritime environment. To that end, the final solicitation for bids for the FFG(X) program highlights a particular interest in what industry can offer in range; margins for weight, cooling, electrical and arrangeable deck area, to allow the ship to bring in new technologies as they develop; acoustic signature management; undersea surveillance; and over-the-horizon capabilities. After previous iterations of the frigate were ditched as the Navy's view of what capability it wanted evolved, the current FFG(X) effort sought to bring in industry early to ensure that requirements were in line with what technologies were currently feasible at the right price point. Those ongoing discussions led the Navy to settle on a ship that would have at least 32 vertical launching system (VLS) cells, an Aegis-based combat system, the Cooperative Engagement Capability datalink so the frigate could share targeting data with other ships and aircraft, and advanced anti-submarine warfare and electronic warfare systems. The service announced earlier this year the frigate would include as government-furnished equipment: A fixed-face Raytheon Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) that will serve as the primary air search radar. At least 32 Mark 41 Vertical Launch System cells that could field Standard Missile 2 Block IIICs or RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missiles (ESSM) and a planned vertically launched anti-submarine warfare weapon. COMBATSS-21 Combat Management System based on the Aegis Combat System. Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) datalink that would allow the frigate to share targeting information with other ships and aircraft. Space, weight and cooling for 8 to 16 Over-the-Horizon Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles An aviation detachment that includes an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and an MQ-8C Firescout Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. AN/SQQ-89(V)15 Surface Ship Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Combat System AN/SQS-62 Variable Depth Sonar. SLQ-32(V)6 Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 2 electronic warfare suite with allowances to include SEWIP Block 3 Lite in the future. Space, weight and cooling reservation for a 150-kilowatt laser. Further highlighting the focus on allowing the ships to be upgraded as technology evolves, the solicitation asks that bids include a “description of the flexibility in the design to accommodate efficient warfare systems upgrades by explaining equipment removal and upgrade paths with an emphasis on avoiding hull cuts or the need for dry docking,” as well as provisions for upgrading hull-mounted and towed undersea warfare sensors. Five industry teams have been involved in early design maturation efforts, which both helped industry refine their plans to be more in line with what the Navy wanted, and allowed the Navy to refine its idea of how much this new class might cost. Earlier this year, USNI News reported that costs were coming down as a result of the design maturation contracts. “$950 (million) was the threshold; $800 million is the objective,” frigate program manager with Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants Regan Campbell said in January at the Surface Navy Association symposium. “We started closer to the $950; we are trending to very close to the $800 now. We have taken some very significant costs out,” she said of the second through 10th ship of the class. The Navy intends to buy at least 20 frigates, though the first contract will only cover the first 10. After the first contract, the Navy could continue with the same builder or re-compete the program to potentially bring in a second builder, if it wanted to accelerate frigate production to keep in line with its drive to reach a 355-ship fleet and leadership acknowledgement that it will need more small combatants and fewer high-end destroyers going forward. After the release of today's final RFP, interested bidders will have until Aug. 22 to submit their technical proposals to the Navy and until Sept. 26 to submit their pricing proposal. A winner will be selected in Fiscal Year 2020 to build the frigate. Of the five companies that participated in the design maturation phase, four are expected to submit bids to the RFP. Austal USA, who builds the Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship; Fincantieri Marine, which builds the Italian FREMM multipurpose frigate; General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, who will partner with Spanish F100-builder Navantia; and Ingalls Shipbuilding, who has declined to discuss its design, all worked with the Navy to take their existing parent designs and mature them to become in line with the Navy's vision for its guided-missile frigate. Lockheed Martin, which builds the Freedom-variant LCS, was part of that effort as well but announced it would not continue on with the frigate competition. Despite the earlier design work that the Navy funded, the frigate competition is open to any bidder who has a parent design to base the frigate offering on. https://news.usni.org/2019/06/20/navy-issues-final-rfp-for-ffgx-next-generation-frigate

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  25 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Navy Buys Tech that Can Land F-35s on Carriers with Pinpoint Accuracy

  By Hope Hodge Seck When the Navy's F-35C Joint Strike Fighter embarks on its first carrier deployment in 2021, it's expected to take with it a pinpoint-accurate landing system that purports to make the terror of night approaches and high sea-state traps all but a thing of the past. Raytheon announced this week that the Navy awarded a $234.6 million contract for a low-rate initial production of 23 of its Joint Precision Approach and Landing Systems, or JPALS -- enough to outfit every carrier and L-class amphibious assault ship with the technology. The contract also will include retrofitting three earlier systems that had been installed, a Raytheon executive said. Delivering to the Navy will start late next year, and installation will begin shortly thereafter, retired Navy Rear Adm. C.J. Jaynes, Raytheon's JPALS technical executive, told Military.com this week. The work is expected to be completed by August 2023, according to a published contract announcement. The system, which uses shipboard-relative GPS to guide planes in for landings and communicates with the aircraft from the deck of the carrier up to 200 nautical miles out, is accurate within 20 centimeters, or about 8 inches, Jaynes said. "It hits the third wire every time," she said. "It's [reliable in] all-weather and all sea states, including Sea State 5 (waves of roughly 8 to 12 feet)." For Navy pilots, catching the third of four wires on tailhook landings (or the second of three wires) has historically been a game of skill and precision that becomes orders of magnitude more difficult in the dark or in low-visibility weather conditions. Marine Corps F-35B pilots, who use the aircraft's vertical-landing configuration to put it down on the smaller flight decks of amphibious ships, face the same problems. And those issues may actually be exacerbated by a number of F-35-specific issues pending resolution. The custom-made, $400,000-per-unit helmet that F-35 pilots wear -- a piece of technology that allows them to "see through" the plane via a display for better situational awareness -- features symbology that emits a green glow, interfering with pilots' vision in low-light conditions. A video that emerged in 2017 showed an F-35 pilot landing "in a fog" on the amphibious assault ship America at night, his vision obscured by the helmet display. A recent Defense News report highlighted another issue with the helmet display at night that obscures the horizon. JPALS, which has already deployed in an early-development version with F-35Bs aboard the amphibious assault ships Wasp and Essex, would decrease reliance on visibility for accurate landings. Another F-35C-installed tool, Delta Flight Path, will keep aircraft on a steady glide slope for carrier landings, reducing inputs and corrections required from pilots. Early reports from the JPALS deployments with the Marines have been extremely positive, Jaynes said. "The pilots absolutely love it. It's been 100 percent accuracy, always available, they haven't had any issues at all," she said. "We know they have not had to abort any missions due to weather or due to sea state." Raytheon is now pitching an expeditionary version of JPALS, easily transportable and designed to guide aircraft to safe landings on bare airfields. The whole system can fit in five transit cases, be transported by C-130 Hercules, and be assembled within 90 minutes, Raytheon says. The Navy's future tanker drone, the MQ-25 Stingray, will also be JPALS-equipped; Jaynes said Raytheon is in talks with the service now about selling expeditionary JPALS for the MQ-25 program for shore-based tanker landings at locations like Norfolk, Virginia, or Point Mugu, California. Meanwhile, she said, the Marine Corps is considering buying a single expeditionary JPALS system for testing in order to develop a concept of operations to employ it. But "the closest customer outside of MQ-25 is actually the U.S. Air Force," Jaynes said. "They'd be able to move their aircraft possibly every 24 to 48 hours and do island-hopping in the Pacific. We're going over to [United States Air Forces in Europe -- Air Forces Africa] in July to talk with them about the system," she said. https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/06/21/all-navy-carriers-amphibs-get-f-35-precision-landing-system.html