16 mars 2024 | International, C4ISR
EU sprinkles $560 million over defense firms to grow ammunition output
Most of the money will go toward the production of explosives and powder, officials in Brussels said.
28 septembre 2018 | International, Naval, Terrestre
Is this the Marine Corps' next amphibious combat vehicle?
By: Todd South
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. ― The winner of a contract to develop the Marine Corps new amphibious combat vehicle, the first of its kind in four decades, showcased a potential variant that would give commanders eyes on all areas of the littoral battlefield, on-board drones and targeted hand offs to any ACV in their formations.
BAE Systems guided reporters through the interior of the vehicle, on display at this year's Modern Day Marine Expo in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
The variant isn't one that the Marines have yet requested, but John Swift, program director for BAE's amphibious vehicles, said the model was an effort to showcase what's possible with the new vehicle.
Marines selected the BAE version earlier this year over SAIC's proposed vehicle. Swift noted that decision keeps BAE as the sole company providing such vehicles to the Corps since 1941.
They've got to build 30 vehicles by the end of next summer, Swift said. Those vehicles will then go through testing before modifications and the composition of the fleet is decided. Marines want at least two variants as production begins in the next two years: a turreted assault vehicle and a command and control vehicle.
As of now, the Corps' official numbers call for 704 ACVs for the fleet when full rate production begins in 2022. That number is planned to be completed within six years, Swift said.
The composition of the fleet is still undecided, so the initial 30 vehicles delivered for testing will be basic platforms.
But that was before an announcement reported by Defense News this week that the survivability upgrade contract for the existing AAV fleet of an estimated 392 AAVs was cancelled.
The move is in line with larger National Defense Strategy aims to ramp up modernization by prioritizing money for those programs rather than legacy platforms.
Marine Corps Program Executive Office for Land Systems spokesman Manny Pacheco told reporters at this week's expo that the early version, or ACV 1.1 outperformed expectations and delivery of the new vehicles would not take much longer than the planned upgrades, which could shorten the calendar.
The deliveries were about six months apart, he said. Meaning that the brand-new vehicles would arrives shortly after the upgraded vehicles were planned.
Swift and Pacheco said separately that the ACV 1.1 was able to both launch and recover, meaning return to ship. That wasn't an expectation until later versions, which sped up the capability development of the new vehicle, giving the Marines other options in how they would pursue modernizing the fleet.
In a question and answer posting about the ACV by the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, officials at the time said they would continue the upgrade program even if the early ACV versions achieved a “self-deployable capability.”
The posting noted that the upgraded AAVs will “address capability gaps that need to be closed as soon as possible.”
It went on to say that the aged AAV fleet also accounts for one-third of the Corps' lift capacity and “will need to remain operationally effective in the force until their replacements are procured.”
Later in production there's also interest in building a recovery ACV, Swift said.https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/27/is-this-the-marine-corps-next-amphibious-combat-vehicle
The new ACV has a host of differences and capabilities not on the more than 40-year-old AAVs but most immediately noticeable is it is an eight-wheeled vehicle. Gone are the treads of the tracked AAV.
When asked about tire performance by reporters, Swift said that in testing the ACV was able to travel another 30 km with three debilitated tires.
The same questions and answers list had several reasons for wheels over tracks:
Greater mobility in complex, littoral terrain;
• Increased IED protection (2X).
• Reduced fuel consumption (<1/2 fuel consumption).
• Greater reliability (improved mean time between failure).
• Reduced signature and smaller profiles (a critical survivability factor in a G-RAMM environment).
• Increased dispersion of personnel among more vehicles (a critical risk reduction factor).
• The design margins to allow for a family of vehicles of various configurations (personnel, command, and recovery variants; potentially others ie: indirect-fire, anti-armor in the future).
• Significantly reduced cost.
• Less technological risk.
• Nearer-term availability.
• Greater weight growth and freeboard capacity.
Sur le même sujet
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22 août 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Boeing Gets Contract to Upgrade Navy's Blue Angels to Super Hornets
By Oriana Pawlyk The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are poised to receive new, retrofitted F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft in the next few years. The Navy on Monday awarded Boeing Co., the F/A-18's manufacturer, a $17 million firm-fixed price contract to configure nine F/A-18E and two F/A-18F aircraft to the standard Blue Angels' aircraft structure. The squadron, which typically maintains 11 aircraft, currently flies the F/A-18C/D models. While an upgrade, the new aircraft would not house the common nose cannon system used for strike operations. Like the Air Force Thunderbirds, the demonstration team uses "clean jets," aircraft without missiles or bombs. However, the Blue Angels' F/A-18s are "capable of being returned to combat duty aboard an aircraft carrier within 72 hours," if necessary, according to the team's fact sheet. Full article: https://www.military.com/dodbuzz/2018/08/15/boeing-gets-contract-upgrade-navys-blue-angels-super-hornets.html
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19 juillet 2019 | International, Autre défense
Army Reveals Timeline for Fielding New Infantry Weapons
By Matthew Cox The Army general in charge of modernizing soldier lethality said recently he is confident that the service will begin replacing both M249 squad automatic weapons and the M4 carbines in infantry brigades in 2023. Army testers are currently shooting the first 6.8mm rounds through a variety of rifle and automatic rifle prototypes of the Next Generation Squad Weapon (NGSW) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, Brig. Gen. David Hodne told Military.com at a June 16 Army Futures Command media event. The service's goal is to select a final design for both weapons from a single provider in the first quarter of 2022 and begin replacing M4s and M249s in an infantry brigade combat team (IBCT) in the first quarter of 2023, said Hodne, director of the Army's Soldier Lethality Cross Functional Team. "We are going to do both," he said, explaining the Army won't be sure how long it will take to equip that first IBCT until it can evaluate the winner's production capability. "The first unit equipped spans a period of months, and that first unit equipped will include both [weapons]," Hodne said. The NGSW effort is part of the modernization strategy being orchestrated by Army Futures Command (AFC). Based in Austin, Texas, the command will reach full operating capability as of July 31, AFC Commander Gen. Mike Murray told reporters at the event. Both the NGSW carbine and automatic rifle are being designed to fire a special, government-designed 6.8mm projectile that Army leaders say will penetrate modern enemy body armor at greater distances than the current M855A1 5.56mm Enhanced Performance Round. The Army intends to conduct live-fire tests on NGSW prototypes from several gun makers until August, when it is scheduled to select up to three vendors that will move to the next phase of testing, Hodne said. The August down-select will involve the companies that participated in the Army's second prototyping opportunity notice (PON), released in January, that directed gun makers to develop prototypes of both the rifle and auto rifle versions of the NGSW to ensure both work with the common 6.8mm projectile. Army officials would not release the names of the companies chosen to make prototypes for the second PON effort. Last July, the service awarded contracts for the first PON effort to several companies, but that effort involved only prototypes for the automatic rifle version of the NGSW. "We learned a lot in this process. ... Industry took a very hard problem, and they have developed some very innovative solutions," Hodne said. "The first prototyping opportunity notice was centered around an automatic rifle. What we learned was -- to get the best rifle and the best automatic rifle -- we realized the approach had to be centered around a common cartridge that was supportable by both systems." The Army left it up to vendors to design the type of 6.8mm cartridge they wanted to use in their prototypes, Hodne said, adding that some gun makers went with "traditional bottleneck" brass cartridges while others used newer, case-telescoped cartridges. Another part of the NGSW effort is the advanced fire control system, which is being designed to calculate range to target, atmospheric conditions, and the ballistics of both weapon and ammunition, according to the May 30 prototype opportunity notice. The Army expects to receive fire-control prototypes sometime in October, according to Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, commander of Program Executive Office Soldier. "People as, 'Is the technology going to be there?' " Potts said. "The answer is yes. ... I am very enthused about next generation squad weapon ... it's not just an evolution in capability. It's a revolution in capability. It really will change the lethality of our squads." https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/17/army-reveals-timeline-fielding-new-infantry-weapons.html