China's first stealth fighter for aircraft carriers is emerging, but a big problem still weighs it down

Sur le même sujet

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  30 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, C4ISR, Sécurité

  ATAC Nabs Final Contract For Initial ‘Red Air’ Training Sites

  THERESA HITCHENS WASHINGTON: The Air Force has awarded ATAC, Textron Systems' military airborne training unit, a contract to provide adversary air combat training to F-22 and F-35 pilots at Eglin AFB, Florida — making it the biggest winner in the initial round of the service's overarching effort to outsource pilot training that eventually could be worth billions. “When you add up the number of either sorties or flight hours — which of course the money goes with because you get paid by how much you fly — then you're at more than 50 percent of the total,” Richard Zins, ATAC vice president of business operations, told me today. Under the new award, worth $94 million, ATAC will use its fleet of upgraded and refurbished Dassault Aviation Mirage F1 fighters to play the ‘bad guys' in mock combat against Air Force pilots in more than 1,100 sorties per year for up to four-and-a-half years, ATAC explained in a press release today. The training is expected to begin in January 2021. The award is the last of six Red Air training ‘tasking orders' solicited this year under the the Air Force's Combat Air Forces (CAF)/Contracted Air Support (CAS) program. The Air Force last October chose seven contractors to compete under an overarching indefinite delivery, indefinitely quantity (ID/IQ) contract, worth up to $6.4 billion, for both adversary air combat training and close air support training. As colleague Rachel Cohen explained in March, the ID/IQ originally envisioned 40,000 hours of adversary air combat training at 12 locations. The ID/IQ also envisioned close air support training at up to 10 facilities, of which three were have been awarded this year. ATAC in July nabbed the awards for CAF training at Holloman AFB, New Mexico and Luke AFB in Arizona. Together they are worth up to $240 million. ATAC's flight operations at Holloman AFB are starting up, and will commence at Luke AFB by next month, Zins said. The company also is providing close air support training, playing as surrogate ‘Blue Forces,' for Air Force Special Operations Command Joint Terminal Air Controllers (JTACs) on the ground under the CAF/CAS program under an Aug. 10 tasking order worth $19.9 million, an Air Force spokeperson told me in an email today. Alongside ATAC's July award, two other companies — Draken International and Tactical Aircraft Support Inc (TACAIR) — also were awarded adversary air training tasking orders under the CAF/CAS program. Draken International is providing training at two sites: for F-15E pilots at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, under an award worth up to $74.5 million; and for Air National Guard F-16 pilots at Kelly Field in Texas, under an award worth up to $28.2 million. Draken has a mixed fleet of aircraft for use in training, including the upgraded Mirage F1M, the Aero Vodochody L-159E Honey Badger, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, and the Cheetah produced by South African firm Denel Aviation. The company further won a contract in 2018 to fly as aggressors at the Air Force Weapons School and Red Flag exercises at Nellis AFB in Nevada. TACAIR won a contract up to $90.4 million over four and a half years for training of F-15C/D pilots at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base in Oregon. TACAIR is providing the training using its fleet of F-5ATs Advanced Tigers, which it also uses to train Navy pilots including at the Naval Fighter Weapons School (NFWS), i.e. TOPGUN. Industry officials are expecting the service to award another tranche of tasking orders next year. However, so far, the service has released no information about the scope or timing of a second round of training awards (and Air Force PAO is still working on my inquiry.) Zin explained that the market is booming for commercially provided airborne training because of the Air Force's enormous needs, driven in large part by its continued pilot shortage. In addition, Zin explained, training for pilots of fifth generation aircraft — especially the F-35, but also the F-22 — requires many more flying hour than older fighters. Another driver is the fact that when the Air Force dedicates an aircraft to pilot training, it takes a toll on combat readiness. Lastly, Zin said, it is more cost-effective to use outside contractors for adversary air training — and given that many of the pilots employed in the industry are retired military pilots. The CAF/CAS program awards for adversary training have “more than doubled” ATAC's business alone, he said. “”It's a massive increase to the industrial base of the companies providing this service.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/09/atac-nabs-final-contract-for-initial-red-air-training-sites/

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  27 février 2024 | International, Aérospatial

  French AI firm to process drone footage for automatic threat detection

  Paris-based Preligens wants to process video footage recorded by unmanned aerial vehicles to help spot military assets deployed by Russia and China.

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  29 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  A Modern Solution To Improved Performance, Cost, Use For The Venerable Chinook

  It's the dream of military acquisition in 2020: A new system that drops into place in a current piece of hardware, provides improved performance, easier maintenance, and builds on a legacy of more than 12 million battle-proven hours of operation. It's the T55 714C, Honeywell Aerospace's new variant of the venerable T55 turboshaft engine used on American helicopters and fixed wing aircraft since 1955. The engine's starring role, however, is aboard Boeing's CH-47A and MH-47 rotorcraft, known as the Chinook. The heavy-lift Chinook that has served the Army consistently, as well as international customers, for more than 60 years features two counter-rotating rotors that eliminate the need for an antitorque vertical rotor. The unique design requiring two T55 engines per aircraft allows all the T55's power to be used for lift and thrust and enable perhaps the toughest helicopter pilot maneuver known—the pinnacle landing. In the years since the T55 and Chinook entered service in 1962, Honeywell has delivered more than 6,000 engines, with 2,500 engines in service today supporting 950 aircraft operating in 20 countries. Dave Marinick, Honeywell's President of Engines and Power Systems, says throughout all these years the company has invested in the engine, from its original 1,600 shp capability to today as the T55 produces 4,800 shp to power the Chinook to a maximum speed 196 mph. But now, with Future Vertical Lift and its high-speed rotorcraft on the horizon, Honeywell looked again at what the Army needed to power the Chinook to fill the heavy lift role as the Future Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft and Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft go into service. "Looking back at the multi-decade history, characterized by a close relationship with the Army and an understanding of how the aircraft is used—how the army flies the Chinook, how they maintain the Chinook—we have been able to focus on what is important to our customer," Marinick adds. The Charlie variant of the T55 fits the bill, according to Marinick. It maintains the current engine architecture, while offering 20% more power, nearly 10% improved performance at high and hot altitudes and using 9% less fuel. It includes a modern full authority digital engine control with health monitoring. "We designed in a cost-effective way to increase power to 6,000 shp, and we have a roadmap to increase that up to 7,500 shp," Marinick says. "And while saving gas is one thing, we also are extending the range with the new engine, allowing the pilot to fly or loiter longer, an important option for the operators using this aircraft—whether for military missions, fire suppression or disaster relief." In addition to its performance improvements, the T55 714C features a new compressor and improved reliability and lifecycle. The accessory section has also been redesigned based on feedback from Army customers. In the past, maintainers had to pull the engine entirely to access the accessory section on the number 2 engine. The redesign shifts the accessory section to the top of the engine, providing easier and saving hundreds of man hours to make a switch. There are no changes to the engine mounts, making the T55 714C a drop-in replacement. It can be installed as a full-up new engine or as a kit that is introduced during overhaul. "In this concept, we are turning a maintenance event into much more—a Chinook leaving with new engines, without requiring a block upgrade. We're delivering major performance improvements, without tearing up the aircraft," Marinick says. The engine's tooling, logistics and training remain the same, further reducing the time required to introduce a much-improved engine. The new engine comes with another major change. The U.S. Army has completed a product verification audit to provide approval for Honeywell to open a state-of-the-art T55 Repair and Overhaul Center of Excellence near the company's Phoenix, Arizona headquarters. Marinick says the new facility will increase throughput by two to three times the previous capacity for CH-47 Chinook helicopter fleets. The move also establishes a larger pool of highly trained technicians who will work alongside the engineering team to streamline feedback and help to inform future upgrades. The company has also launched an initiative to ensure on-time delivery of materials from suppliers to support the expanded capacity. "Future Vertical Lift is upon us," Marinick says, "We think of the Charlie as an affordable, responsible upgrade and service designed to keep the Chinook at optimum performance and readiness in a realistic way, through 2060." Honeywell's upgraded T55 Charlie engine is expected to be ready for flight test at the end of 2022. For more Information about the T55, click here.