Defense Innovation Unit issues contract for unmanned orbital outpost

Sur le même sujet

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  1 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Bell out to win Australia’s bid for special ops helicopters

  By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia – Bell is positioning itself for Australia's special operations helicopter requirement by showcasing its offerings and promoting local industry tie-ups at the Avalon Airshow. Speaking to Defense News, Dan McQuestin, Bell's business development director for Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, confirmed that the company responded to a request for information issued by the Australian Army, offering the Bell 407 or Bell 429 helicopters with local partner Hawker-Pacific. The helicopters being offered for Australia's Land 2097 Phase 4 requirement will be commercial off the shelf, with kits developed to meet the majority of mission requirements spelled out in the RFI. These include air assault, intelligence-gathering, and troop transport. There is also a potential requirement for the helicopter to be weaponized in the future. McQuestin said that 60 weaponized Bell 407 are already operating with a customer in the Middle East, and existing customers have expressed interest in an armed configuration of the Bell 429. The company is preparing to offer a similar weapons kit tfitted to the 407 on the 429, with two, four or six weapons stations. McQuestin also confirmed that four Bell 407s can fit inside a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III airlifter, adhering to one of the requirements set out in the RFI. He added that testing is ongoing with the Bell 429 to assess its compatibility on the C-17 with government customers elsewhere. The company has its Bell 407 and 429 helicopters painted in camouflage on the static display at the show currently being held at Avalon Airport outside Geelong in Victoria, Australia. Partner Hawker Pacific in Australia submitted the response to the RFI as the prime contractor. Trevor Thomas, government relations adviser to Hawker Pacific in Australia added that the company, which is well-established in defense and performance-based sustainment contracts in Australia, is a “natural fit” with Bell. It also has local experience with special operations equipment, and is fulfilling a sustainment contract to support the Royal Australian Air Force's fleet of 49 Pilatus PC-21 trainer aircraft. Defense News reported last year that Land 2097 Phase 4 is seeking at least 16 helicopters to fulfil the requirement, with major delivery of equipment to be delivered in 2022 and initial operating capability to follow soon after. A request for tender is expected at the end of this year. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/avalon/2019/02/26/bell-out-to-win-australias-bid-for-special-ops-helicopters/

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  2 août 2018 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  Air Force’s future ISR architecture could feature drone swarms and hypersonics — with AI underpinning it all

  By: Valerie Insinna POZNAN, Poland — The Air Force's ambitious new ISR strategy calls for a sensing grid that fuses together data from legacy platforms like the RQ-4 Global Hawk, emerging technologies like swarming drones, other services' platforms and publicly available information. And deciphering all of that data will be artificial intelligence. Such a system may sound like something out of a sci-fi book, but the service believes it could be in service by 2028. In a July 31 interview, Lt. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for ISR, explained the Air Force's new “Next Generation ISR Dominance Flight Plan,” which lays out the service's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance goals for the next 10 years. In the past, “when we fielded a sensor, we fielded a sensor to answer a question,” Jamieson said. What the ISR flight plan tries to accomplish is far more extensive: “How do I get the data so I can fuse it, look at it and then ask the right questions from the data to reveal what trends are out there?" “We have to do all of that at the speed of relevance — meaning at warfighting speed — so that our decision cycle has shrunk,” she added. “We get our effects in and out, and we create chaos and confusion in the adversary. Once he gets behind, it is extremely difficult to actually catch up.” Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/air/2018/08/01/air-forces-future-isr-architecture-could-feature-drone-swarms-and-hypersonics-all-with-ai-underpinning-it-all/

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  21 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  General Atomics nets $7.4B MQ-9 Reaper contract with U.S. Air Force

  Ed Adamczyk Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A $7.4 billion contract between the U.S. Air Force and General Atomics, announced this week, will field MQ-9 Reaper drones faster, the Air Force said. The five-year Agile Reaper Enterprise Solution contract for the unmanned surveillance, intelligence, reconnaissance and strike-capability aircraft was awarded on Thursday. It calls for delivery of up to 36 aircraft per year from the San Diego-based company. With a $7.4 billion ceiling, it is expected to reduce the time to deliver operational MQ-9s to operational units by 35%. The Air Force regards it as one of its most in-demand weapons, an Air Force Life Cycle Management Center statement said on Thursday. The ARES contract has a pre-negotiated $3.3 billion price-quantity-curve, allowing the Air Force and foreign military sales partners to order between from four to 36 aircraft in a single year. Foreign Military Sales partners will be allowed to purchase the Dash 21 variant, which is the NATO-exportable version of the MQ-9A. "ARES is a big deal because it answers the 'mail' as far as how do we deal with hard-to-predict demand signals from our international partners and enable increased responsiveness to U.S. budget dynamics," said Alicia Morales, aircraft production manager with the Medium Altitude Unmanned Aerial System Program Office. "So, the team came together and figured out the best and most innovative approach to deal with unplanned requirements, so no matter what comes, we are prepared and able to handle it," said Morales, who mapped out much of ARES . The MQ-9, whose predecessors have been in use since 2001, is the first unmanned aerial vehicle designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance. The Air Force has deployed the UAVs around the world, which were in use in August during a joint Army-Navy training exercise over the Black Sea. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/09/18/General-Atomics-nets-74B-MQ-9-Reaper-contract-with-US-Air-Force/7611600455794/