3 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
Steve Trimble
The U.S. Navy's MQ-25 is being developed as a carrier-based aerial refueler, but an intelligence agency is showing interest in the unmanned aircraft system for a maritime surveillance role.
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has commissioned Boeing to study the integration requirements for installing the company's Multi-Mission Pod (MMP) on the MQ-25.
Boeing developed the MMP using internal funding for the P-8A, a submarine hunter derived from the 737NG. It is designed to carry multiple payloads, including communication and electronic intelligence receivers.
The NGA-sponsored study will evaluate how to use the MMP to introduce the agency's “maritime program” on the P-8A and MQ-25 fleets.
The agency on Sept. 30 published a “justification and approval” notice for the study contract awarded to Boeing in May. Such notices are required to justify any contract awarded to a single contractor without a competition.
In this case, the sole source award was justified because the MQ-25 is still early in the development phase, the NGA says, so Boeing is the only company that has access to the design data.
The Navy awarded Boeing an $805 million in August 2018 to deliver four MQ-25 aircraft during the engineering and manufacturing development phase. The overall value of the deal has since risen to $944 million, of which $436 million, or 46.1%, has been obligated, according to the USASpending.gov procurement tracking site.
Last month, Boeing completed the first flight of a company-funded test asset for the MQ-25 program at an airport in Illinois.
The study also suggests the P-8A and MQ-25 fleet could be used to help replace the electronic intelligence capability once performed by the Lockheed EP-3E fleet. The Navy has said that the EP-3E will be replaced by a family of manned and unmanned aircraft, including the P-8A and the MQ-4C unmanned aircraft system.
https://aviationweek.com/defense/intel-agency-studies-mq-25-surveillance-role
24 octobre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
Airbus and Northrop Grumman say the partnership is vitally important as military forces increasingly use space-based assets to fulfil their missions and require specialised technology to transmit information via space
14 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic has not had an impact on the production and delivery of Apache helicopters, but Boeing is closely watching the international supply chain for signs of slowdown, a company official said Tuesday. The coronavirus impact going forward is difficult to predict, said T.J. Jamison, Boeing's director of vertical lift international sales. Still, he expressed a belief that the company should be able to stay on track with its plans to produce more than 100 Apache models in 2020. While production on the CH-47 Chinook and V-22 Osprey in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area was stopped for two weeks in April, the Mesa, Arizona, Boeing plant that produces the Apache never had to stop work. However, there have been a number of individuals working remotely, primarily from the sales team; it will likely be a month or more before they are all back working at their desks, Jamison said. Some international customers have signaled that “we might need a potential slowdown in operations. But not one has said: ‘Hey, we need to cancel these orders because of the COVID-19 issue,' ” Jamison said. “There have been no cancellations, and there have been no significant requests for delay.” However, just like the Pentagon, the company is closely watching the international supply chain. For the Apache, that includes fuselage production in Hydrabad, India (managed by Tata) and in Sacheon, South Korea (managed by Korea Aerospace Industries). Boeing's decision to maintain two suppliers for that production has “served us very well” in the current situation, Jamison said, adding that while India has been hit hard by COVID-19 and is undergoing government-mandated shutdowns, the Korea Aerospace Industries plant is able to keep production on track. “We really do not like to have a single point of failure with any of our components that we receive through the supply chain,” he said. “There hasn't been a dramatic impact to the supply chain today. Again, I don't have that crystal ball and I can't tell you how this pandemic is going to play out. But right now, there hasn't been a dramatic impact.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/05/13/no-covid-impacts-on-apache-production-supply-chain-says-boeing/
7 mars 2022 | International, Terrestre
Rafael Systems Global Sustainment's new US clearance opens doors for Israeli company to do business in America.