Huntington Ingalls Industries Awarded More Than $930 Million to Build Two More National Security Cutters for U.S. Coast Guard

Sur le même sujet

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  28 juin 2018 | International, C4ISR

  The new cyber leader focused on national defense

  By: Mark Pomerleau Air Force Brig. Gen. Timothy Haugh has assumed command of U.S. Cyber Command's Cyber National Mission Force. As one of CYBERCOM's four main headquarters elements, the CNMF is in charge of deterring and disrupting cyberspace operations to defend the nation. CNMF components include cyber support teams that provide intelligence support, cyber protection teams that specialize in defending the Department of Defense Information Network, and national mission teams that help protect the DoDIN and, when ordered, other U.S. cyberspace. NMTs are also aligned against specific nation-state actors. With potential changes to the construct of CYBERCOM's cyber teams writ large, some have indicated that the CNMF construct is a good model. “The way the Cyber National Mission Force is organized, having ... mission teams, support teams and CPTs, that is an ideal construct for doing full-spectrum operations,” Brig. Gen. Maria Barrett, who formerly served as deputy of operations at CYBERCOM, said. Senators have previously pushed CYBERCOM to be more aggressive in using NMTs to deter malicious cyber activities in the U.S., particularly those conducted by Russia. “With the authority or the direction of the president of the United States national mission teams can disrupt these attacks at the point of origin, is that correct?” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., asked during a February congressional hearing. While they could be tasked to do that, the former commander of CYBERCOM, Adm. Michael Rogers, was careful to say it depends on specifics not wanting to overpromise. Haugh, who took over June 4, was most recently the director of intelligence at CYBERCOM. Previous holders of this role include Gen. Paul Nakasone, who is now the commander of CYBECOM and director of the NSA, as well as most recently Vice Adm. Timothy White, who now commands 10th Fleet/Fleet Cyber Command. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/cybercom/2018/06/27/the-new-cyber-leader-that-could-help-stop-malicious-activities/

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  16 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Bell Invictus to Offer Army ‘Lower-Risk Path’ to FARA Capabilities

  By Brian Garrett-Glaser ARLINGTON, Texas — Bell's offering for the Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) contest, the 360 Invictus, is intended to offer the Army an insurance policy by presenting a lower-risk path to the capabilities it hopes to acquire as a “knife fighter” light attack helicopter to replace the retired OH-58 Kiowa Warriors. The Invictus, with its low-drag tandem cockpit design, draws from a lot of the development Bell has put into the 525 Relentless, a super-medium utility aircraft it hopes will be the first fly-by-wire rotorcraft certified for the civil market. Though Bell's FARA program is newer than some of its competitors, such as Sikorsky's S-97 Raider — Bell officials said the program had just three employees at this time last year and now comprises over 200 — the company believes its reliance on systems which it already has at a high technology readiness level due to work on the 525 will provide the Army with a compelling aircraft inside of its cost and timeline objectives. “It's still a very advanced aircraft. But by using technologies that we already had high TRLs in, or high manufacturing readiness levels in, we are ahead on that timeline piece,” Frank Lazzara, director of advanced vertical lift systems, told Avionics International during a press visit to the company's Flight Research Center here. The Invictus design meets or exceeds Army requirements in every area, according to Lazzara, due in part to the clean-sheet engineering that went into the Bell 525, including in the main and tail rotor systems. That aircraft has flown in excess of 200 knots without issue, despite being designed for 160 knots cruise speed. Bell intends the Invictus to cruise efficiently at 180 knots. “We flew [the 525] until we said we're done, but that rotor wasn't done,” said Josh O'Neill, senior manager for technology and evaluation on the Bell 525 program. “So we went not just 201 knots. It was a good bit more than that.” The 525 Relentless was the first aircraft Bell designed “totally in the 3D space,” O'Neill said, and the Invictus is similarly using a digital thread, enabling things like virtual reality maintaining exercises to provide design feedback without a physical product. “You have a digital thread, the same part that's used when you design your aircraft is used in the maintenance training, used throughout the product,” said O'Neill. “You design the aircraft in 3D, lay out all the systems and you're able to go in there with an actual maintainer. So we pulled [a line maintainer] and had him put the gloves on and go maintain the aircraft. And you can see in the 3D space, I need to reach around this piece, I need to turn my hand in a way that the human hand doesn't like to be turned. So we need to move that item.” As a fly-by-wire aircraft designed with a modular open systems architecture (MOSA) approach, Bell believes Invictus will provide the Army with an path to autonomy — or enable a single person in the aircraft to focus on mission functionality — similar to Bell's approach with the V-280 Valor, its offering for the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition. Bell officials said they are currently introducing autonomous flight software and performing software regression tests for that aircraft and intend to begin autonomous flight tests within the next few months. In March 2020, when the Army narrows the FARA competition from five companies to two, Bell's team will be nine months into design. After that, two of the five designs — selected from Sikorsky, Bell, Karem Aircraft, AVX/L3Harris, and Boeing — will be selected to participate in a fly-off slated for the second half of 2022. The Army hopes to field the first FARA aircraft in 2028. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2019/12/15/bell-invictus-offer-army-lower-risk-path-fara-capabilities/

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  7 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  L3Harris building demonstration constellation for the Air Force

  Nathan Strout L3Harris has successfully launched a new demonstrator satellite for the U.S. Air Force, the company announced July 6. The small satellite is part of a constellation of end-to-end small satellites the company is developing for the Air Force. While the company declined to discuss launch details due to the classified nature of the program, L3Harris noted in a press release that it is the prime contractor for the “responsive constellation contract” and is responsible for designing, developing, building, testing and deploying the satellites. “L3Harris has developed and supported various aspects of satellite missions over the last several decades as a component supplier or hosted payload,” said Ed Zoiss, president of space and airborne systems at L3Harris. “In collaboration with the U.S. Air Force, we pulled the pieces together to successfully plan, develop and execute an affordable, high-performance space mission, which is part of a responsive constellation contract.” The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) satellite system features a reprogrammable payload that will allow operators to change the satellites' missions while on orbit. The payload will also utilize L3Harris' High Compaction Ratio unfurlable X-band antenna to enable high-speed data communication. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/07/06/l3harris-building-demonstration-constellation-for-the-air-force/