German defence ministry: working at full speed on procurement proposals

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  6 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  La DGA lance CI-AILE, un cluster d’innovation technique de défense dans le domaine de l’aéromobilité

  La Direction générale de l'armement a inauguré le 19 décembre 2019 sur son centre d'expertise et d'essais Techniques aéronautiques à Balma (proche de Toulouse) un cluster d'innovation technique de défense dans le domaine de l'aéromobilité. Baptisé CI-AILE, ce cluster a été créé en associant quatre partenaires régionaux fondateurs : la DGA, l'armée de Terre, l'institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE-SUPAERO) et la communauté défense du pôle Aerospace Valley dans les régions Occitanie et Nouvelle Aquitaine. Le cluster CI-AILE a pour objectif de détecter, orienter et expérimenter les innovations portées par les acteurs régionaux afin de faire émerger de nouvelles solutions technologiques pour la défense dans le domaine de l'aéromobilité en lien avec l'Agence de l'innovation de défense (AID). Basé en région Occitanie, il pourra bénéficier d'un écosystème riche dans le domaine aéronautique et en particulier dans celui de l'aéromobilité, tout en restant ouvert à des partenariats avec des acteurs implantés dans d'autres régions de France. Le comité stratégique de CI-AILE est co-présidé par le directeur du centre d'expertise et d'essais DGA Techniques aéronautiques, le sous-chef d'état-major plans et programmes de l'armée de Terre, le directeur général de l'institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace . Son comité de pilotage comprend un représentant de chaque membre fondateur. Ce nouveau cluster s'inscrit dans l'effort global du ministère des Armées en faveur du soutien à l'innovation, coordonné par l'Agence de l'innovation de défense en lien étroit avec la DGA. CI-AILE est un partenariat dont le fonctionnement repose sur un comité stratégique qui donne les orientations du cluster et un comité de pilotage qui anime et conduit les ateliers technico-opérationnels. Le comité de pilotage de ce cluster est constitué de personnels de DGA Techniques aéronautiques, de la 11e brigade parachutiste basée à Toulouse, du commandement des forces spéciales terre basé à Pau, de l'ISAE-SUPAERO et d'Aerospace Valley. Il se réunira pour la première fois en janvier 2020. Les périmètres attendus de l'innovation dans le domaine de l'aéromobilité sont la captation et l'évaluation de technologies innovantes dans les domaines : - du parachutage de combattants de l'armée de Terre et d'équipements, de mise à terre à partir d'aéronefs (aérolargage, aérocordage...) - de l'embarquement sur aéronefs (voilure fixe et tournante) de combattants de l'armée de Terre et d'équipements (aérotransport, aérocordage...) - de l'équipement du combattant débarqué et embarqué, toutes fonctions opérationnelles confondues, et de son adaptation aux contraintes du parachutiste - des méthodes et des moyens d'essais et de la R&T dans le domaine de l'aéromobilité. Cinq clusters d'innovation techniques ont déjà été créés en 2019 par la DGA autour de ses centres d'expertise et d'essais, CI-AILE étant le sixième : ALIENOR à Saint-Médard-en-Jalles dans le domaine aérospatial GIMNOTE à Toulon et ORION à Brest pour le domaine des techniques navales GINCO à Vert-le-Petit (Essonne) dans le domaine de la maitrise des techniques nucléaire, radiologique, biologique et chimique LAHITOLLE à Bourges dans le domaine des techniques terrestres. https://www.defense.gouv.fr/dga/actualite/la-dga-lance-ci-aile-un-cluster-d-innovation-technique-de-defense-dans-le-domaine-de-l-aeromobilite

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  7 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  L3 Technologies to upgrade Greek F-16s in $28M contract

  ByEd Adamczyk Jan. 6 (UPI) -- L3 Technologies will upgrade the F-16 fighter plane training system of Greek Air Force F-16 in a $28 million contract announced by the U.S. Defense Department. The Texas-based company will improve Aircrew Training Devices for conversion of Hellenic Air Force F-16s to the new F-16V configuration. The new variant includes add-ons which include electronically scanned array radar, a new mission computer and electronic warfare suite, automated ground collision avoidance system, and various cockpit improvements. The package can be retrofitted to most F-16s. The aircraft, in service since 1978 and known as the Fighting Falcon, has been built by General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin. Over 4,600 F-16s, in use by 25 countries, have been built. The "V" suffix indicates the "Viper" package of improvements. The Hellenic Air Force has 154 F-16s in three variants, with the upgrades planned for 84 of the planes. Work will be performed at L3's Arlington, Texas, facility, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2027, the Defense Department said Friday in a statement. The award completely involves Foreign Military Sales to Greece. The statement by the Pentagon comes two weeks after Greek Ministry of Defense announced that seven-year maintenance contracts with French companies Dassault Aviation, Safran Military Engines and Thales were signed to similarly upgrade the Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft by the Hellenic Air Force. Those contracts were valued at $290.8 million. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/01/06/L3-Technologies-to-upgrade-Greek-F-16s-in-28M-contract/5451578328820

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  9 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Boeing’s KC-46 tanker now has a pathway for autonomous aerial refueling

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Last week's deal between Boeing and the U.S. Air Force on a fix for the KC-46 could pave the way for the tanker to refuel other aircraft without a person needed to manually control the process, a top service official said Thursday. On April 2, Boeing agreed to fix the KC-46's troubled Remote Vision System by creating an overhauled RVS 2.0 with new hardware and software. Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper told reporters those changes would include the addition of 4K high-definition cameras that will display imagery in color as well as modern processors and LiDAR (light detecting and ranging) sensors that will help improve depth perception. “A proper RVS like that is right on the doorstep to autonomy,” Roper said. “All you have to do is take that data that tells the world inside the jet the reality of geometries between the airplane and the boom outside the jet. Once you have that, you simply need to translate it into algorithms that allow the tanker to tank itself.” The KC-46's Remote Vision System has been a thorn in the side of the aircraft program since 2017, when issues with the system were first discovered. The RVS is basically a suite of cameras, sensors and software that is supposed to allow boom operators sitting inside the aircraft to safety steer the boom into the aircraft needing fuel. But in certain conditions, the system produces distorted imagery that increases the risk of the boom hitting another aircraft. The new LIDAR system will be key to fixing that problem, said Roper, who likened it to a backup camera on a car that also provides cues to a driver for parallel parking or assessing whether a vehicle is aligned flush to a curb. “We'll have something very similar to that for the boom operators, so telling them are they left, right and how close are they getting to the airplane,” he said. “[It's] something very intuitive and easy to work with, and I think that will help significantly with them understanding their distance [from the other aircraft] because LIDAR is extremely accurate.” Because Boeing is locked into a firm fixed-price contract for the development of the KC-46, it will have to pay for the upgrade to RVS 2.0 out of its own pocket, as the Air Force maintains that the current system does not meet requirements. But the service is so confident in the prospect of using the RVS 2.0 as a stepping stone to an autonomous tanker that it included an option in last week's agreement to fund the development of technologies that enable autonomous or semiautonomous refueling. “We have added an engineering change proposal into the deal with a not-to-exceed threshold of $55 million, so that when RVS 2.0 is done, we can then take the next step beyond 2.0 to develop those autonomy algorithms and install them if we think we can certify them for safe use,” Roper said. “We took that step because, one, we're excited about being on the doorsteps of autonomy and, [two], we wanted to send a clear signal in the deal that this is our tanker for the future,” he said. If the Air Force decides to move forward with those design changes, more will need to be done to hammer out the contractual details, said Jamie Burgess, Boeing's KC-46 program manager. “There was no commitment one way or another on who pays for what. But there's definitely a strong partnership between Boeing and the Air Force as far as developing this technology,” he said. Autonomous refueling capability has been of increasing interest to the Air Force over the past few years, as sensing and artificial intelligence technologies grow by leaps and bounds. Boeing previously signaled it could include such technology as part of a menu of potential upgrade options for the KC-46, as reported by FlightGlobal in 2018. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/08/boeings-kc-46-tanker-now-has-a-pathway-for-autonomous-aerial-refueling