GOP’s ‘targeted’ stimulus doesn’t include defense dollars

Sur le même sujet

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  20 avril 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  La campagne de certification de ravitaillement en vol des hélicoptères depuis des Airbus A400M se poursuit

  L'avionneur a annoncé lundi avoir mené avec succès une campagne de certification de ravitaillement en vol pour hélicoptères. Le groupe souhaite finaliser la campagne de certification complète au plus tard à la fin de l'année. Les essais, en coordination avec la Direction Générale de l'Armement et l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace française, ont impliqué deux hélicoptères H225M (Airbus Helicopters). Dans un communiqué de presse, le groupe précise qu'« au cours de ces vols, un total de 81 contacts et des transferts de 6,5 tonnes de carburant ont été réalisés, dont le ravitaillement simultané de deux hélicoptères pour la première fois. Avec cette capacité, l'A400M devient l'un des rares avions ravitailleurs au monde capable d'effectuer de telles opérations ». Zonebourse.com, Airrecognition.com, Actu-aero.fr

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  13 août 2020 | International, Naval

  Shipyards Not At Risk, Despite DoD Warning It Needs $$ To Save Them

  A DoD paper for Congress suggests COVID could shut down shipyards, but Navy officials and analysts say there is little risk. By PAUL MCLEARYon August 12, 2020 at 4:04 PM WASHINGTON: A top Navy official today tried to clarify a Pentagon information paper leaked last week which warned that “at least one” of the seven shipyards that churns out ships for the Navy could close unless Congress handed over billions more to the service. As part of an $11 billion package the Pentagon is requesting from Congress to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the defense industry, the Navy is requesting $4.7 billion in part to ward off the chances “at least one” of the big seven shipyards shutting down. The paper, which has been delivered to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, also warned of over 100,000 lost jobs across shipyards and factories that make aircraft and other weapons for the military. But the Navy's top acquisition executive told reporters today that the wording continued in the paper might leave too much out. “The words could be taken out of context,” James Geurts said. “There probably should be the word ‘temporarily' in there.” If a shipyard started to see a significant portion of its workforce test positive for COVID, “we might have to temporarily close down the shipyard for a period of time until we got it under control. Not that we would have to shut down a shipyard permanently.” The memo contains no such caveats, however. It flatly states a shipyard could close unless the Navy gets the funding boost. Asked where the paper came from, and who it was intended for, DoD spokesman Christopher Sherwood told me via email the department “provided informational material to our oversight committees when asked about the impacts COVID-19 has had on the Defense Industrial Base and our suppliers.” The Navy has gone to great lengths to help its shipyards weather the COVID storm, pumping $130 billion into its supplier base this year in upfront payments, spending that is 25% higher than at this point last year. But some yards have experienced pain keeping to schedule, with uncertain futures ahead as the Navy looks to change its fleet mix in the coming years to better compete with China and Russia. Mark Cancian, a defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, acknowledged that all Navy shipyards “have a backlog of work, including Bath Iron Works, which was the subject of speculation about closing.” Bath, already six months behind on building seven destroyers in dock, is stumbling to the conclusion of a six-week strike by 4,300 shipbuilders which will likely make those delays even longer. Likewise, the Mississippi-based Austal is looking at the end of the road for its contract to build dozens of aluminum Littoral Combat Ships in a few years, which would likely mark the end of the Navy's interest in buying aluminum hulls. That shipyard “would be at more risk” Cancian said. Neither shipyard is any worse off than the others due to COVID-related shutdowns, however, making the Pentagon's point that yards could shut and require COVID relief funds to keep going, an argument that finds few adherents. There's little doubt COVID is slowing down both ship construction and repair, “but that doesn't mean the Navy doesn't need the ships anymore,” said Bryan Clark of the Hudson Institute. “It just means everything takes longer, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the shipyards are going to close.” Clark noted that while Bath is in a bad spot with delays to its destroyer work that will be compounded by the strike, the Navy still needs it to build destroyers in the future, since relying on Huntington Ingalls as the nation's only shipyard that can build the ships is too risky. Add to that the likelihood that the Navy will move toward buying more numerous small cruisers, unmanned ships, and smaller platforms for Marines and away from small numbers of large destroyers and amphibious ships in the future, means there will be more contracts, and work to go around later this decade. The service is still on track to deliver its much-delayed 30 year shipbuilding plan and force structure assessment this fall, in which several options like a new class of destroyers, a new class of smaller frigates, and smaller hospital ships will all likely find their way into the plans. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/08/shipyards-not-at-risk-despite-dod-warning-it-needs-money-to-save-them/

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  14 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  COVID-19 Affects U.S. Army Aviation Upgrades

  Lee Hudson The U.S. Army is aggressively upgrading its legacy AH-64 Apache, CH-47 Chinook and HH-60 Black Hawk fleets, but is encountering some delays in these efforts related to the spread of the novel coronavirus. These platforms will continue to be in the service's inventory for many years to come and the Army must continue making them relevant as the Pentagon pivots to Joint All-Domain Command and Control, Patrick Mason, program executive officer for aviation, told Aerospace DAILY. The majority of Mason's team is teleworking and monitoring COVID-19's effect on production, engineering work and supply chain flow. The Army acknowledges issues related to COVID-19 may not materialize until the summer or fall because the supply chain currently has sufficient inventory, he said. “Obviously, this is an incredibly unique and unprecedented time that we're dealing with right now,” Mason said. The Army intends to introduce the Gen III Day Side Assembly, formerly known as the Modernized Day Sensor-Assembly (MDS-A), into the Boeing AH-64E Apache Version 6 (V6) kit this fall. During operational testing users were impressed with the technology's clear picture for target acquisition and the ease of locating a designation site made possible through electro-optical/infrared fusion. “The good thing about the way we've architected this program is that the production line will be switched to V6, and then we'll also have the ability to upgrade any of the V4s into the V6 configuration,” Mason said. The service has not determined the number of aircraft that will be equipped with the new V6 kit off the production line or retrofitted. The V6 kit includes upgrades for a Gen III Day Side Assembly, fire control radar frequency interferometer, and an expanded manned-unmanned teaming capability. “It's just another example of the kinds of technology that we can insert into these legacy platforms,” Mason said. The service expects industry to integrate a multispectral targeting capability into Future Vertical Lift platforms, he added. The Army is also planning to outfit the Apache and General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle with air-launched effects in the mid-2020s. Mason's unmanned aircraft system program office is conducting a technology assessment while Army Futures Command is leading demonstrations, he said. The service funded the effort by issuing an other transaction agreement through the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium. It will run through year's end. Mason anticipates by 2021 the service will have a better idea of which technologies will compose the initial increment for air-launched effects. The next upgrades on tap for the Boeing CH-47 Chinook are additional software loads for the digital flight control system and the common avionics architecture system. These are slated for June, but because of COVID-19 the timetable may shift, Mason said. “We're trying to monitor and understand exactly what we're going to be able to do as we get into June,” he said. The Army does not want to speculate on when these upgrades will wrap up because this is based on unit availability and the requirement not to interfere with operations and training. The service is still plugging ahead with Block II flight testing in Mesa, Arizona, to support the special operations community. “We have some disruption obviously due to COVID and the pandemic,” Mason said. The limited user test is scheduled to begin in March 2021 at Fort Bliss in Texas, but it may be delayed if not enough progress is made in flight testing. The flight testing in Mesa is not paused, but the team is not generating a sufficient number of sorties because of travel restrictions imposed on government workers in response to COVID-19. The crews comprise both government and industry personnel. The Army is reaping substantial cost savings by upgrading UH-60Ls to the V model for about $12 million per unit instead of buying a new UH-60V for roughly $21 million in fiscal 2020 dollars. Mason's team partnered with the Corpus Christi Army Depot to convert the aircraft and is completing the initial tranche intended to field the first unit next year, he said. The Army intends to upgrade 760 L models to the V configuration. “It's a very unique and cost-effective way to increase the capability of the L models,” he said. Mason's team is unable to conduct user assessments, which is delaying full-rate production. The Army anticipates the effort will enter full-rate production in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020. This is two quarters behind the previous schedule because the team is experiencing travel restriction delays related to COVID-19. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/covid-19-affects-us-army-aviation-upgrades