26 octobre 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
Slovenian firm quietly provides surveillance drones to Ukraine
Slovenian drone maker C-Astral recently provided Belin or Bramor C4EYE drones to Ukrainian troops, Defense News has learned.
16 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Construction of first permanent US F-35 campus in Europe begins at Lakenheath
RAF LAKENHEATH, England — A $205 million construction project to prepare RAF Lakenheath for the arrival of two squadrons of U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II fighter jets in 2021 officially got underway Monday.
The commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe - U.S. Air Forces Africa, Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, and other dignitaries plunged shovels into dirt at what will become the first permanent site for U.S. F-35s in Europe.
U.K. firms Kier and VolkerFitzpatrick will build a flight simulator facility, maintenance unit, hangars and storage units at the site, in time for the arrival of 48 F-35s in November 2021. The Royal Air Force currently has nine F-35s at RAF Marham, about 25 miles north of Lakenheath.
“This will be a great opportunity to reinforce together how we will train, execute and operate on a daily basis, and allow us to deepen what is a critically important relationship,” Harrigian said at the groundbreaking.
The project is the first in a broad program to support Air Force operations in the U.K. A further $1 billion is expected to be invested in the program over the next seven to 10 years, said the Defense Infrastructure Organization, which last year awarded the contract for the F-35 campus.
“The project team is in good shape — we are on schedule for completion in 2021,” Kier's managing director of aviation and defense James Hindes was quoted as saying by The Construction Index, an industry website.
The completed campus will host around 1,200 U.S. airmen. Currently, more than 9,100 U.S. servicemembers are based in the U.K, according to Pentagon data.
Recent problems with engine delivery of the F-35A are not expected to delay the arrival of America's newest fighter jet at Lakenheath, a 48th Fighter Wing spokeswoman said Monday.
Of the 81 engines that were delivered in 2018, 86% were late, according to a Government Accountability Office report in April. That was up from 48% that were not delivered on time the previous year, when fewer engines were delivered.
The delays were due in part to an increase in the “average number of quality issues per engine”— 941 in 2018 against 777 a year earlier, the GAO report said.
United Technologies' Pratt and Whitney unit, the only company to make the engines, is under a corrective action request from the Defense Contract Management Agency for “poor delivery performance,” according to a July report by Bloomberg News.
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26 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Simulation manufacturer expands its footprint in support of Australian Seahawk operations
By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Synthetic training aids are an integral part of educating the crews that operate Australia's Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk anti-submarine helicopters, as its Navy balances training needs against operational requirements for its helicopter fleet. The Royal Australian Navy, or RAN, operates a fleet of 24 MH-60Rs, known locally as the Romeo, from Nowra, south of Australia's largest city Sydney when the helicopters are not deployed at sea. The helicopters were ordered from the United States under the Foreign Military Sales program in 2011 and delivered to Australia between 2013 and 2016. Australia's MH-60Rs are split among two squadrons at the RAN base at Nowra, HMAS Albatross, with the 725 Squadron primarily assigned to training duties, while its sister unit 816 Squadron handles operational duties. According to Cmdr. Stan Buckham, the commanding officer of 725 Squadron, splitting up the fleet into two squadrons allows each to concentrate on their respective primary tasks, while operating next door to each other means they can interact and support one another. Both units operate out of new, purpose-built facilities at the base designed just for the MH-60R. These facilities include a suite of synthetic training devices that have helped the RAN train personnel while reducing demand on the aircraft. This suite of training devices, operated and maintained on site by the Canadian-based CAE, include two tactical operational flight trainers, or TOFT, a composite maintenance trainer, an avionics maintenance weapons loading trainer, and four other devices to train RAN MH-60R pilots, flight crew and maintenance crew. The two TOFTs, which can be linked so crews can operate together, are certified by an independent simulator evaluation authority to level D, the highest qualification for flight simulators. These have six degrees of freedom and can replicate a variety of day, night and weather conditions. CAE is also due to deliver an aircraft flight control system trainer to the RAN, completing its suite of nine training devices to support the country's MH-60R training program. Buckham describes the MH-60R as a “great capability” and has called the work between the RAN and CAE at HMAS Albatross “a step change in integration with industry.” The company has an extensive footprint across Australia and New Zealand, delivering training and simulator services across 13 sites in both countries. Together, these training devices have enabled the RAN to stand up eight flights of MH-60R crew that are either deployed or ready for deployment. Each flight consists of two sets of flight crews and a maintenance team that totals about 18 personnel. The first RAN MH-60R flight deployed onboard an RAN ship in 2016, and have since made numerous deployments onboard various ships to the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/avalon/2019/02/25/simulation-manufacturer-expands-its-footprint-in-support-of-australian-seahawk-operations
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29 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Contracts for June 28, 2021
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