13 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said on May 12 that the Lockheed Martin F-35 Block 4 program must be extended two years due to development delays, adding $1.5 billion to the overall price tag.
The original schedule called for completing the Block 4 modernization program in 2024, but the timeline must be extended to 2026, GAO said in the watchdog agency's annual review of the F-35 program.
The F-35 Joint Program Office initially estimated the cost to develop all 66 new capabilities in Block 4 would be $10.6 billion. The two-year extension to deliver Block 4 raises the development cost to $12.1 billion, with another $3.4 billion budgeted to procure and insert the capabilities in future U.S. F-35s, GAO said.
The Block 4 delays started in 2019. Lockheed planned to deliver the first eight Block 4 capabilities last year, but only one—the automatic ground collision avoidance system—entered service, GAO said. In another example, Lockheed delivered software last year to enable the interim full-motion video capability for the Marine Corps F-35Bs, but failed to deliver the associated hardware, the report said.
As Block 4 capabilities have entered testing, the Defense Department's operational testers have noticed other problems. Some of the new capabilities have “caused issues” with existing F-35 functions that previously worked, GAO said.
“The contractor had not performed adequate testing of the software before delivering it to the test fleet,” GAO said. For its part, the contractor acknowledged the issues and said they would conduct additional testing in software laboratories before releasing future software blocks, GAO added.
10 novembre 2024 | International, Aérospatial
A bow wave of modernizations — including the Air Force's desire to build a sixth-gen fighter and drone wingmen — has stretched its budget thin.
6 mai 2021 | International, Aérospatial
Les trois pays seraient parvenus à un accord général sur les prochaines étapes de développement du futur avion de combat européen, le développement et la conception d'un démonstrateur (prévu pour 2026-2027). Selon l'agence Reuters, ils devraient établir une liste des droits de propriété intellectuelle indiquant les droits ouverts à tous et ceux qui resteront au sein des entreprises concernées comme l'a confirmé la ministre des Armées, Florence Parly, auditionnée par la commission de la Défense nationale et des forces armées de l'Assemblée nationale mardi 4 mai : « aujourd'hui, les discussions se poursuivent essentiellement sur les clauses de protection et de partage de la propriété industrielle. (...) L'objectif, c'est de pouvoir notifier dans le courant de l'année 2021 l'ensemble de ces travaux, en tenant compte du fait qu'il y a une vacance parlementaire en Allemagne du fait des élections fédérales, et que donc si nous voulons être à l'heure en 2026 et en 2040, il nous faut aussi être à l'heure dans les prochaines semaines (...) nous avons évidemment tous l'espoir d'aboutir extrêmement vite, ce sont des clauses qui sont très importantes donc vous comprendrez que nous y passions le temps nécessaires ». Challenges et la Tribune, 5 mai
5 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
Andrew Eversden WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's Network Cross-Functional Team released a solicitation outlining capabilities it's interested in acquiring as part of future tactical network tools. The broad agency announcement was posted last week on beta.sam.gov. It lays out future research areas the Army's tactical network modernization team made up of the NetworkCFT and Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, wants to explore as part of future capability sets — new network tools it's delivering every two years. “The Network-CFT is focused on integration of tactical network efforts and ensures disciplined innovation as it works with speed and precision,” the announcement read. “The Network-CFT is conducting experimentations and demonstrations of proven joint and special operations solutions, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technology, and Non-developmental items (NDIs) with operational units to inform future requirements.” The tactical network modernization team is seeking technology that aligns with its four lines of effort for upgrading the network: unified network; common operating environment; joint interoperability/coalition accessible; and command post mobility and survivability. All proposed technologies must be at a technology readiness level of six, the announcement read, meaning they're ready to be demonstrated as a prototype in an environment similar to the field. For the unified network effort, the Network CFT-PEO C3T team are seeking “available, reliable and resilient network that ensures seamless connectivity in any operationally contested environment.” Capability Set '23, the next iteration of tactical network tools, is focused on increasing network capacity and reducing latency. Unified network includes capabilities such as advanced waveforms to improve resiliency. The common operating environment line of effort “is interested in the means of ensuring a simple and intuitive single-mission command suite that is easily operated and maintained by Soldier.” The joint interoperability/coalition accessible team is looking for tools that can “more effectively” interact, both technically and operationally, with joint and coalition partners. The final line of effort, command post mobility and survivability, is interested in means of improving the “deployability, reliability, mobility and survivability” of command posts. The Army's current vision for future command posts are those that can be quickly set up and torn down, while also having low electromagnetic signatures to avoid detection by adversaries. “Certainly, any time that you adopt a lot of commercial technologies you start to look at how your signature is on the battlespace, so I really look to industry and how they can bring some of their best ideas and technologies for how we can potentially do spectrum obscuration, as well as decoys so we can minimize our footprint on the battlefield,” said Brig. Gen. Rob Collins, commanding general of PEO C3T. The Army's announcement is valid through the end of October 2025. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/it-networks/2020/11/04/us-armys-tactical-network-modernization-team-requests-industry-pitches-for-future-capabilities/