First upgraded F-35s won’t be ready for combat until next year

Sur le même sujet

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  10 juillet 2019 | International, C4ISR, Autre défense

  Can machine learning decipher an overcrowded radio spectrum?

  By: Kelsey Reichmann The Department of Defense is pursuing a $4.7 million initiative to use machine learning to decipher radio signals. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded funding to BAE Systems, a British defense company, for its Controllable Hardware Integration for Machine-learning Enabled Real-time Adaptivity (CHIMERA) solution. The CHIMERA solution uses machine learning to interpret radio frequency signals in crowded electromagnetic spectrum environments. “CHIMERA brings the flexibility of a software solution to hardware,” said Dave Logan, vice president and general manager of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Systems at BAE Systems in a news release. “Machine-learning is on the verge of revolutionizing signals intelligence technology, just as it has in other industries.” This contract is contingent on the completion of preset milestones and works alongside the Radio Frequency Machine Learning Systems (RFMLS) program, which was previously awarded to integrate data-driven machine learning algorithms. https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2019/07/09/can-machine-learning-decipher-an-overcrowded-radio-spectrum/

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  2 décembre 2020 | International, Terrestre

  US clears weapon sales for Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Croatia, Canada, Brazil and South Korea

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department on Tuesday cleared six Foreign Military Sales cases, potentially worth a combined total of $1.55 billion. The six cases, spread across South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Croatia, Lebanon and Canada, were announced on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. DSCA announcements mean that the State Department has decided the potential FMS cases meet its standards, but this does not guarantee the sales will happen in their announced forms. Once approved by Congress, the foreign customer begins to negotiate on price and quantity, both of which can change during the final negotiations. Here are the details on each case: Croatia: The largest dollar value of the announced FMS cases comes from Croatia, which seeks to spend $757 million on refurbishing its 76 M2A2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles. The NATO ally operates older models dating to Operation Desert Storm, and is looking to upgrade capabilities. In addition to maintenance, upgraded radios, armor and simulators, the package includes 84 M240 machine guns, 1,103 TOW 2A radio frequency missiles, 100 TOW 2B radio frequency missiles and 500 TOW bunker buster radio frequency missiles. Work will primarily be done by BAE Systems' York, Pennsylvania, facility as well as Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Arizona. Canada: America's northern neighbor wants to upgrade its fleet of five C-17 transport aircraft to the tune of $275 million. The package includes “aircraft hardware and software modification and support; software delivery and support; ground handling equipment; component, parts and accessories; GPS receivers; alternative mission equipment; publications and technical documentation; contractor logistics support and Globemaster III Sustainment Program (G3) participation; other U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistical support services; and related elements of program and logistical support,” according to the DSCA announcement. Boeing would perform the work. Saudi Arabia: The most unique of the six cases, the Saudi request involved $350 million in support services for five years, covered through the U.S. Military Training Mission to Saudi Arabia, or USMTM, located in Riyadh — an office of roughly 330 service members and U.S. contractors who help train the Saudi military. Services included in the package are “pay and allowances for U.S. Military, U.S. Government, and Foreign National staff members; USMTM communications support costs; local contracting costs; construction and renovation costs of housing area; transportation costs; U.S. Mail services support costs; dependent education (grades K through 12); administrative costs; temporary duty costs for USMTM personnel; Value Added Taxes (VAT) assessed by Saudi Arabia; and future transition costs to move USMTM” to a proposed new housing location in Saudi Arabia, per DSCA. Brazil: The government in Brazil wants to spend $70 million on 22 MK 54 conversion kits, which would convert existing MK 46 Mod 5 A(S) torpedoes to MK 54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedoes. Those would be equipped on the country's fleet of Sikorsky S-70B Seahawk helicopters and its surface ships. Work would be performed at Raytheon Integrated Defense System's Portsmouth, Rhode Island, facility. Lebanon: The country seeks to spend $55.5 million to procure 300 M1152 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles in two tranches of 150 each. Beirut currently operates more than 1,000 HMMWVs of various designs, according to the DSCA, which are primarily used to “counter violent extremist organizations and to secure its border.” The primary contractor would be American General, with work happening in its South Bend, Indiana, facility. This is the first FMS case cleared for Lebanon since the start of the Trump administration. South Korea: A frequent customer of U.S. weapons, South Korea now seeks to purchase two MK 15 MOD 25 Phalanx Close-In Weapons System Block 1B Baseline 2 systems for $39 million. This anti-missile defense weapon for ships would come along with training and 4,000 rounds. According to DSCA, Seoul plans to use the systems aboard its first KDX III Batch II-class ship “to provide it with effective means of detecting and defending itself against incoming airborne threats.” The primary contractor is Raytheon, with work to be done at its be Louisville, Kentucky, location. All told, the six notifications mean the Trump administration has cleared 23 FMS cases since Oct. 1, the start of fiscal 2021, with an estimated price tag of $58.75 billion. However, that number is inflated by the inclusion of two pre-cleared cases for Finland's fighter competition; while Finland may pick either the F-35 (for $12.5 billion) or the F/A-18 (for $14.7 billion), it would only select one, and may still choose a European bidder instead. https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2020/12/01/us-clears-weapon-sales-for-saudi-arabia-lebanon-croatia-canada-brazil-and-south-korea

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  27 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  New ‘Air Force Ventures’ Set To Transform Technology Strategy

  Steve Trimble The U.S. Air Force has adopted a three-phase strategy to select small, innovative companies outside the traditional defense industry to perform advanced development work and to tap Silicon Valley-style venture capital firms to help taxpayers finance the new technology. A new process could help rationalize the one-year-old Air Force effort to attract high-tech startups with dozens of Air Force Pitch Day events. These conferences have led to hundreds of small contract awards but no obvious path to guide the aspiring defense contractors further into the byzantine military acquisition process. U.S. Air Force plans to make 50 large “bets” on technology New acquisition training to be based on Fighter Weapons School For the private startups and venture capitalists involved, the Air Force Ventures initiative is designed to offer a new route to the commercial market for potentially game-changing technologies that could benefit from a risk-tolerant government customer providing funding and early support. “We don't really think of ourselves as a [stand-alone] market, but we purchase things in quantities that [are] meaningful enough that we can bridge companies until they reach a level for commercial success,” says Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “That's one reason that [venture capitalists] are interested in this.” The Air Force Ventures process starts with the Pitch Day events, during which the Air Force can place initial “bets” worth up to about $50,000 each in Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants on promising, potentially game-changing ideas, says Roper, speaking to about 1,000 Air Force acquisition officials during a Feb. 14 webinar. As the companies transition toward Phase II SBIR awards, the Air Force plans to grant about 300 contracts worth up to $1 million each—with a program office agreeing to fund about one-third of the costs. The funding match is meant to link the SBIR award to a program office, creating a path for the technology to potentially transition beyond the laboratory stage and into a program of record. The third and final step in the Air Force Ventures concept whittles the pool of awards to about 50 recipients. The amount of the award is potentially “unlimited,” Roper says, but is generally regarded as at least $10 million. The first of the “big bets” in Phase III are now under evaluation, Roper says. The contract awards could be announced at South by Southwest, a week-long technology conference and entertainment festival scheduled for March 13-22 in Austin, Texas. The initiative explicitly seeks to help the Air Force break from traditional defense contractors. As the Air Force attempts to field leap-ahead capabilities within the next decade for the Advanced Battle Management System and Next-Generation Air Dominance, leveraging the innovative ideas and technology flowing into the commercial market is seen as critical. “[R&D] in this country is 80% commercial,” Roper explains. “So in the 21st century, the [defense] industrial base should be dual-use. And so we've got to crack the code on how to have public and private funding work seamlessly inside an Air Force program.” But there are significant challenges as the Air Force tries to leverage commercial-sector technology investments: Small companies often need to find a market quickly to generate revenue and cash flow, whereas government program offices tend to make decisions slowly—and inconsistently. “In many cases, their commercialization [strategy] is devalued [by investors] if they have government funds,” Roper adds. The Air Force's program managers also face a learning curve. “If we're making 1,000 small bets a year, the reason we're making 1,000 is that we know most of them aren't going to pan out. So we can't manage the companies the way we would a traditional program,” Roper says. “But we can manage them as a portfolio—the same way that a private investor or a venture capitalist would.” To prepare, the Air Force is sending acquisition officials back to school. Next year, a cadre of program managers will be enrolled in a six-month course at Stanford University, which will teach the Air Force to manage technology investments like a venture capitalist, Roper says. The next step is to expand educational opportunities within the Air Force. A new acquisition curriculum, modeled on operational training centers such as the Fighter Weapons School, will be created, Roper says. https://aviationweek.com/shows-events/air-warfare-symposium/new-air-force-ventures-set-transform-technology-strategy