2 mai 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
Air Force prepares to retire U-2 spy planes in 2026
Congress needs to approve the retirement plan, which has run afoul of lawmakers in the past.
29 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Could the Air Force restart the C-17 production line?
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — As part of the Air Force's push to boost its number of operational squadrons to 386 total, and the service may need additional C-17s, the head of Air Mobility Command said Friday.
The service's expansion plan, which was named “The Air Force We Need” and unveiled this September, called for one airlift squadron and 14 tanker squadrons to be added by 2030.
At the time, service leaders from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson to AMC Commander Gen. Maryanne Miller, said more work would need to be done in order to determine the mix of aircraft needed to get to the 386 squadron goal, which is 74 more than the service has now.
But now, AMC has a better idea of what it could require, Miller told reporters during an Oct. 26 roundtable.
The analysis from “The Air Force We Need” supports adding three new C-17 Globemaster III squadrons and cutting two C-130 Hercules squadrons from the airlift inventory, she said. That would bring the total number of airlift squadrons up to 54, an increase of one squadron.
But Boeing's C-17 production line in Long Beach, California is dead, with the company having manufactured the final Globemaster in 2015. Increasing the number of C-17s could entail restarting the production line — an expensive proposition for any aircraft — but Miller said the Air Force had not yet begun discussing the possibility with Boeing.
"Those are the details that we have not looked at,” Miller said.
“That will be the next discussion as we proceed, talking with Congress and working with Congress, because the same would apply for the tanker fleet,” she said. “An additional 14 squadrons by 2030 — what would be the path to get there? Something we're looking at, but again, this is just the initial stages of talking with Congress and getting this concept out there."
It's unclear what other options would exist to increase the number of C-17 squadrons aside from restarting the production line. The U.S. Air Force currently operates 222 C-17s, but began retiring some of the oldest Globemaster IIIs in 2012. It may be possible that those C-17s could be taken out of storage and revitalized.
A spokeswoman for Boeing had no comment.
Miller stressed that discussions about the makeup of the future airlift fleet are still in the beginning stages, and will be informed not only by Congress but also by an ongoing AMC study.
That Mobility Capabilities Requirements Study is slated to be delivered to Capitol Hill in a couple of months, and may have different recommendations than the “Air Force We Need” analysis on how many airlift squadrons are needed, and of what aircraft models.
“The two studies took slightly different approaches to that,” she said. “The results of each of those studies will be reviewed and I think there will be a combination somewhere in there to try to validate the results of those studies put together.”
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20 janvier 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
Rheinmetall to supply digital classroom for the German Navy’s new NH90 NTH Sea Lion multipurpose helicopter at Nordholz Naval Air Base
January 19, 2021 - The German Navy is once again counting on simulation expertise from Rheinmetall when it comes to training its NH90 NTH Sea Lion helicopter crews. In December 2020 the European NH90 procurement and management organization, NAHEMA, awarded the company an order for an Asterion classroom solution destined for Naval Air Wing 3 at Nordholz on the North Sea coast. Delivery will take place later this year. The digital Asterion classroom will be used to train maintenance personnel for the NH90 NTH Sea Lion naval transport helicopter. Among other things, the system features a soft panel cockpit in which the instruments are depicted by touchscreens, coupled with a mission control console necessary for naval helicopter training. The package also includes Asterion software, desktop hardware and tablets. Asterion is a modern, integrated, holistic training concept for all phases of training. It accurately simulates the behaviour of the helicopter's full panoply of functions, including its hydraulic, electric and tactical systems. Due to ship in late summer, the digital Asterion classroom marks another milestone in Rheinmetall's longstanding partnership with the German Bundeswehr. A similar form of Asterion simulation software has already been integrated into the functional cockpit of the NH90 NTH Maintenance Training Rig, which is used to train maintenance personnel assigned to Naval Air Wing 5. The German Army also uses Asterion simulation technology in its ground crew training systems at the International Helicopter Training Centre at Faßberg in Lower Saxony. Here, Army Aviation maintenance and repair specialists are trained in operational and maintenance procedures in Rheinmetall-made cockpits, each a perfect replica of the ground forces version of the NH90. The NH90 programme is considered to be Europe's largest military helicopter programme, for which Rheinmetall is now supplying additional training resources. In the meantime, moreover, Asterion simulation technology is listed with the NH90 procurement and management organization NAHEMA, meaning that it can now be procured by any NH90 user nation, a number of which have already announced serious interest in the concept. Meanwhile, the German Navy has taken delivery of the first NH90 NTH Sea Lion multipurpose helicopters, whose maintenance crews will soon be undergoing comprehensive training in Rheinmetall simulators. Particularly in the initial phase, training and retraining of personnel to repair and maintain this highly sophisticated new helicopter is a top priority. Rheinmetall AG Corporate Sector Defence Press and Information Oliver Hoffmann Rheinmetall Platz 1 40476 Düsseldorf Germany Phone: +49 211 473-4748 Fax: +49 211 473-4157 View source version on Rheinmetall : https://rheinmetall-defence.com/en/rheinmetall_defence/public_relations/news/latest_news/index_26240.php
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7 septembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Opinion: Three Waves Of Change Shaping The Defense Industry | Aviation Week Network
Twenty years after 9-11, a look at the forces driving future strategic choices.