27 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre

Czech government approves plan to buy 24 F-35 jets | Reuters

The Czech government has approved a plan to buy 24 F-35 fighter jets, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday, as the army seeks to boost its capabilities and work more easily alongside NATO allies.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/czech-government-approves-plan-buy-24-f-35-jets-2023-09-27/

Sur le même sujet

  • Lockheed Martin Ventures Scouts Next-Gen AI/ML Tech

    12 août 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Lockheed Martin Ventures Scouts Next-Gen AI/ML Tech

    "There's a massive scramble for autonomy engineers, software -- you name it," says Chris Moran, Lockheed Martin executive director. By THERESA HITCHENSon August 11, 2020 at 4:16 PM WASHINGTON: As defense primes scramble to meet DoD's insatiable demand for AI and machine learning (ML) tools, Lockheed Martin is investing in startups like Fiddler with next-generation tech to help operators understand how autonomous systems actually work (and don't work) in the field. “I think what everyone is seeing is that, as you go toward deploying an AI/ML system, people start questioning well, how does this thing work?,” Chris Moran, executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures explained in an interview yesterday. “And how do you know, how are you sure, it's making the right decisions? And how can you change those decisions if they're the wrong ones?” “You want to make sure that these things are behaving,” he added. “Fiddler provides some of that insight into how artificial intelligence is working. They're in what's called ‘explainable AI' space, so they can reveal things about how the neural network was created, and how it's made decisions, right, which gives people a level of comfort,” Moran said. Lockheed Martin Ventures, the mega-prime's venture capital arm, announced its investment yesterday in Fiddler, a two-year-old Palo Alto startup. According to the joint press release, the two firms will work together “on the development, testing and scaling of Fiddler's technology in applying explainable AI in the defense and aerospace industries. ... At the heart of Fiddler's Platform lies AI Explainability, which provides continuous insights understandable by humans to help build responsible, transparent, and fair AI systems.” AI/ML and autonomy are two of the key focus areas for Lockheed Martin Ventures, which buys equity shares in infant companies interested in selling to both the defense commercial marketplace, Moran said. Not only is DoD racing to deploy AI/ML capabilities for everything from killer drone swarms to spare parts management, such systems are being integrated into almost every civil market sector from aerospace to agriculture — meaning an almost guaranteed return on investment, Moran explained. That return is then re-channeled into future investments. “AI is such a hot topic right now that every company, not just the Lockheeds and the Boeings and the Northrops, but every single Fortune 500 company, maybe even every Fortune 1000 company, has realized ‘wow, I can simplify my tasks and move some of these mundane things into autonomous system, and thereby have people work on more complicated things that maybe are not suited for autonomy'. So, everybody is trying to do this. Everybody!” Moran enthused. “There's a massive scramble for autonomy engineers, software, you name it.” Another next-generation autonomous technology development that has caught Moran's eye for possible future investment is the advent of what he called “autonomy factories;” that is, the ability to automate the process of building neural networks that can then build autonomous systems, autonomously. “What's happened is that companies are starting to figure out how to automate autonomy — how do you autonomously create neural networks and machine learning systems?” he said with a chuckle of amazement. “You know, necessity is the mother of invention.” Moran and his team of some six scouts have a $200 million fund to bet on newbie entrepreneurs and their technology. Currently, he said, Lockheed Martin Ventures has an investment in 40-odd companies, across 18 focus areas ranging from AI to rockets and propulsion systems to quantum science. The focus areas are determined by a conclave, usually held in March, with Lockheed Martin's business units, as well as via the Ventures team's own knowledge of the startup ecosystem, he explained. In addition, Lockheed Martin Ventures haunts the increasing number of DoD, and especially Air Force, “pitch days” in hopes of finding matches for the aerospace prime contractor's interests. As Breaking D readers know, “pitch days” are one of the new methods being championed by acquisition czar Will Roper as a way for the service to harness commercial innovation. And the Air Force is one of Lockheed Martin's biggest customers, if not the biggest if you count space acquisitions. The Ventures team invested in 10 startups last yea,r including one discovered at an Air Force pitch day, and is on a path to adding another 10 to its portfolio this year, Moran said. Finding those winners is an intensive process that involves scouting 700 to 1,000 startups per year, he explained. Once a startup is chosen, Lockheed Martin Ventures gives it an opportunity to pitch ideas/products/services across all interested Lockheed Martin business areas. “We have an internal, if you will, we call it ‘demo day,' that we're holding this week, and right now I think there are well over 100 Lockheed Martin engineers and technologists set up to listen to 12 or 13 of the portfolio companies that we've invested in the last year,” he said. “That's part of what we do as a service inside the company. And hopefully out of those discussions and presentations, there are further collaborations.” Moran explained that those collaborations can include software licenses or contracts for services — and even, once a startup has established a larger market presence, traditional subcontractor ties. And while investment allows Lockheed Martin Ventures to get in early on the startup's expertise and tech concepts, the prime contractor is not seeking to tie the hands of the entrepreneurs regarding clientele. Instead, he said, the objective is to grow the startup into the overall defense and aerospace industrial base. “We're creating, eventually, a market for them,” Moran said. “And it's kind of a weird dynamic, but we give them money, and then my group goes off and works for them inside the company — so we're paying them for us to work. It's weird, but ... that money goes to supporting the small companies grow and scale so that they'll be around for when a Lockheed Martin or any large company wants to use their tools and services. So we look at it as a win-win.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/08/lockheed-martin-ventures-scouts-next-gen-ai-ml-tech

  • Airbus and Spanish Air Force to develop drone and augmented reality inspections for military aircraft

    31 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    Airbus and Spanish Air Force to develop drone and augmented reality inspections for military aircraft

    @AirbusDefence @EjercitoAire @FEINDEF_ #Digitalisation #FEINDEF The Research and Development (R&D) project significantly reduces maintenance burden and improves aircraft availability The technology is part of Airbus' commitment to develop its SmartForce digital services for military fleets Spanish Air Force is first to benefit from this Airbus technology as part of its roadmap for the use of digital-based services Madrid, 29 May 2019 – The Spanish Air Force has become the first air force worldwide to support the development of Airbus' drone and augmented reality-based maintenance inspection services, with the aim of drastically reducing maintenance inspections for large military aircraft and increasing overall fleet availability. This digital innovation technology will initially be trialled on Spanish Air Force A400M aircraft based at Zaragoza Air Base (31st Wing), with options to extend the technology to other aircraft, including the C295 and the CN235. General José Luis Pardo Jario, Head of the Spanish Chief of the Air Staff office, said: “This technology has the potential to make a major contribution to maintenance tasks for our fleet. Not only is it more time and cost efficient, above all it allows the upskilling of aircraft maintenance personnel, in accordance with the new digital era we all need to contribute towards in order to reap its benefits.” The technology relies on drones equipped with sensors and high-definition cameras to scan, in a matter of hours and not days, the exterior of an aircraft undergoing a maintenance inspection. A secured connection allows data and information generated to be displayed on tablets and augmented reality glasses, allowing staff to quickly identify and apply maintenance procedures and corrective actions while ensuring all inspection and maintenance procedures are formally and fully recorded on the maintenance log. Not only does this technology reduce the maintenance inspection time, it supports the early detection of defects and helps guarantee quality and post-maintenance airworthiness. José Antonio Urbano Torres, Military Aircraft R&D Chief Engineer, said: “Innovation and technological development are part of our DNA. Airbus invests considerable human and economic resources in the research and development of new processes, products and services to meet the current and future needs of our customers. We would like to thank the Spanish Air Force for its contribution and commitment to the development and maturity of this system, which is sure to revolutionise military aircraft maintenance.” The tests with the Spanish Air Force A400M will allow Airbus to use real user data, not only to consolidate the algorithms for safe autonomous flight of the drone around an aircraft thus avoiding the use of scaffolding and heavy mobile equipment that risks damaging the aircraft, but also to process the terabytes of images and data as a deep learning library that allows for the development of a robust Artificial Intelligence-based defects detection system. Through its SmartForce portfolio, Airbus is continuously developing new technologies and innovative services to help military customers assess, predict and anticipate the needs of their fleets by leveraging big data analytics coupled to secured connectivity to ensure the highest mission readiness. https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2019/05/airbus-and-spanish-air-force-to-develop-drone-and-augmented-reality-inspections-for-military-aircraft.html

  • ‘Tech Watchlist’ reveals Pentagon vision of future digital battlefield

    11 juillet 2023 | International, C4ISR

    ‘Tech Watchlist’ reveals Pentagon vision of future digital battlefield

    The fiscal 2023 list includes generative AI, quantum-resistant cryptography, Thunderdome cybersecurity and 5G wireless communications.

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