GDLS secures USD2.5 billion contract for US Army Stryker DVHA1

Sur le même sujet

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  1 janvier 2024 | International, Aérospatial

  Time to test a ship-based hypersonic missile launcher

  Flight tests are slated to begin in 2024.

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  31 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  Air Force looks to use fleet’s largest cargo plane for medical evacuations

  By WYATT OLSON | STARS AND STRIPES The Air Force is moving ahead to certify the cargo hold of its largest plane, the C-5M Super Galaxy, for use in medical evacuations for both casualties of war and victims of natural disasters. Nearly as long as a football field, the Super Galaxy has significantly more capacity than the C-17, the largest aircraft used by the Air Force for aeromedical evacuations in the cargo area. The Super Galaxy is certified for such evacuations using its passenger area, not its cargo hold. This month, the Air Force completed a two-year initiative to prepare, equip and test the Super Galaxy for the broader certification. Its cargo floor can accommodate 89 unstacked litters, twice as many as the C-17, which can fit 48 unstacked litters, according to a statement provided to Stars and Stripes by the Air Mobility Command. A C-130 can move only 15 patients on its cargo floor. A final proof-of-concept test for the Super Galaxy was recently successfully completed at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and certification to support aeromedical evacuations could come as early as this summer. About 100 personnel were involved in the culminating test, with the C-5M and crew flying in from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. For the purposes of certification, the Super Galaxy was configured with a proprietary litter-stacking system that reduces the maximum number of stretchers its bare cargo area could hold. Under this configuration, the Super Galaxy “can safely move 244 ambulatory patients and has space for 40 litters,” Air Mobility Command said. The aeromedical evacuation squadron brought aboard its standard in-flight kits used for medical care, and a transportable galley and lavatory were also added. The Super Galaxy can carry a payload of nearly 135 tons, with enough cargo space to carry, say, two tanks, 16 Humvees and three Black Hawk helicopters. Without cargo, it has a range of 7,000 miles without the need for refueling. The Super Galaxy is an upgraded version of the legacy C-5, which was introduced in the 1960s. Its more powerful engines provide more thrust, shorter takeoffs and longer range. Full article: https://www.stripes.com/news/us/air-force-looks-to-use-fleet-s-largest-cargo-plane-for-medical-evacuations-1.562170

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  19 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  The defense industry remains in dire straits. Congress must pass another relief package.

  By: Mackenzie Eaglen House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, recently wrote in an op-ed on Defense News that Congress “cannot panic and hand out blank checks to defense contractors.” They were concerned with a “lack of detail” in the Pentagon's stimulus funding request. Pentagon officials have responded with said requested detail. It's clear the defense, shipbuilding and aerospace industrial base — an “essential” workforce as designated by the Department of Homeland Security — is indeed in need of help. These critical firms need financial support to the tune of about $11 billion to support more than 100,000 direct jobs. Nor should the military have to take it out of hide, as suggested by some. According to the Defense Department, the data from industry is showing 30-40 percent inefficiency across the defense industrial base, but certain sectors like shipbuilding are experiencing 50-60 percent inefficiency. At shipyards, for example, blue-collar worker attendance ranges from just half to 70 percent. Other short-term sectors at risk include textile manufacturers, body armor suppliers and small business electronics suppliers, who feed guidance systems and wiring harnesses in Army vehicles and aircraft. A sampling of specific reasons for inefficiency include: Confirmed cases or quarantines Government facility closure/standdown test delays Telework Closures due to travel restrictions Logistic implications caused by travel restrictions requiring commercial freight Availability of parts and supplies High absentee rates Local and state lockdowns Foreign government lockdowns Supplier shutdowns Pentagon leaders are worried about the near term, but also permanent damage. Officials are “concerned with a potential loss of critical labor skills,” such as welders. Shipbuilders are in dire straits given the “significant touch labor” required to build a ship and “greater facility impact from social distancing.” The potential shutdown of one of the “big seven” private shipyards is a real risk right now. The Virginia-class attack submarine is currently experiencing delays in its production line, as Newport News Shipbuilding has “prioritized its available workforce on supporting maintenance for in-service submarines and aircraft carriers.” If electricians, engineers and solderers shift from the Virginia assembly line elsewhere, the work is slowed and “the opportunity for the cost to come down on each successive submarine hull is diminished.” Congress has repeatedly supported this program above recent budget requests and presumably cares greatly about this unanticipated cost overrun through no fault of nor negligence by the contractor. The Air Force is experiencing major program delays due to the impact on the aerospace industrial base — both primes and suppliers. Programs impacted include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and KC-46 tanker due to facility shutdowns in the U.S., England, Italy and Japan. These two aircraft programs will likely miss major milestones — therefore delaying the time when they become available to the war fighter. Aircraft engine-maker GE Aviation is a “fragility concern” across the armed forces. For the Air Force, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile are “being impacted by reduced workforce and facility availability.” The Small Diameter Bomb motor supplier is being pulled to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency with motors for hospital beds. Aerospace firms with commercial work are reporting problems given the massive decline in commercial demand, which affects defense. Contrary to the assertion that the Pentagon doesn't need more stimulus money to support contractors, the services are “concerned about large commercial companies, like Boeing and GE that are critical to our defense industrial base facing negative cash flow and other associated impacts from COVID-19.” Small businesses and subcontractors are particularly vulnerable as they have far less slack to respond to crises. Many live contract to contract, as indicated by a 2018 Pentagon report. According to the Defense Department, “small businesses ... have been the hit the hardest due to unfamiliarity that [the] defense industrial base is exempt from most local shelter-in-place orders.” The Pentagon's request for more stimulus money is not a case of pork for primes. This industry has “a notably high rate of subcontracted work flow and systems with high component volumes, driving job loss directly to program partners and the supply chain.” So while virtually all of the Pentagon's missiles are built by two primes, 98 percent of the subcontractors making parts for U.S. munitions are the only source for these items. If these unique businesses fail, there may not be any replacements. A study last year by George Mason University found “contractor workforce challenges have a direct impact on the government's ability to ramp up quickly.” Budget fluctuations are particularly hard on small companies that “do not have large enough portfolios to shift people between projects. The contractor workforce loses skills or move on.” These firms operate with “thin margins and low lines of credit.” The additional costs to respond to COVID-19 were not part of the original contracts the companies are currently performing, and warrant stimulus money. Hopefully, Chairman Smith and Sen. Durbin now agree. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/08/18/the-defense-industry-remains-in-dire-straits-congress-must-pass-another-relief-package/