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  1 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  COVID-19 News: Virus Hurting Army Small Businesses

  By Connie Lee The COVID-19 pandemic is putting particular stress on the Army's second- and third-tier suppliers, said the service's secretary April 30. The Army is racing to ensure its manufacturing supply chain is able to stay afloat amid economic challenges posed by the virus, said Ryan McCarthy. “Some of these are small companies [that have] 15,000 people, and you get a couple people sick, you shut the whole company down,” he said during a virtual event hosted by Brookings Institution. The supply chain will "be a challenge for us months and months ahead.” The pandemic is also hurting overseas manufacturing in areas such as Mexico, Europe and East Asia, where the Army has little influence, he noted. The service is working with the State Department to figure out how to keep overseas workers employed and keep the supply chain running, he said. “We are limited in our ability to affect them and get them back to work,” McCarthy said. “It presents challenges that are far beyond our reach and ... influence, so we're going to have some real heart-to-hearts with manufacturers going forward.” Despite these issues, the Army is continuing to prioritize modernization, he said. Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said the service is moving forward with weapons assessments, noting that it was recently able to conduct a successful hypersonic weapons test. As part of its plan to keep up with great power competition, the service is pursuing 31 new signature systems. “Over half of our procurement budget is going towards these new weapon systems,” McCarthy said. “We've got to put them into formation. Much of our iron is 50 years old. That probably is the prime area where we put the most energy.” Meanwhile, the Army is collaborating with other organizations in search of a vaccine. There are 10 to 15 top potential vaccine candidates worldwide that are in various stages of maturity, McCarthy said during a Pentagon briefing the same day. To speed up the timeline, the service plans on investing in the ones that seem to be moving the fastest, he noted. “We can double down and invest in the fastest horse, if you will, in this 15 candidate race, and then that compresses the timeframe that will ultimately get you to the answer and bring a vaccine to life,” he said. “You'll hear ranges on how fast it can go.” Some of these vaccines are currently in human trials, with the bulk of the work slated for summer and early fall, he noted. “It's moving faster than probably any point in history because of the extraordinary collaboration that's going on today,” he said. However, this may involve accepting some risks in the process, McConville noted at the briefing. “You can save time by taking risks,” he said. “You may get ready to produce something, and that horse may not get to the final race and that may not be the most efficient use of money, but by taking risks, you can really move things very, very quickly.” https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/4/30/covid-hurting-army-small-businesses

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  2 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre

  China building bridging systems for heavy vehicles

  Christopher F Foss, London - Jane's International Defence Review China's NORINCO and its partners are producing and offering for export a range of bridging systems - including the new HZ21 - that must handle the newer, heavier armoured platforms replacing older Chinese systems. NORINCO markets a range of mobile bridging systems on tracked and wheeled platforms, but the prime contractor for some of these bridging systems is the China Harzone Industry Corporation (CHIC), which is a subsidiary of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). CHIC confirmed that it has two major production facilities and one research and development facility, with sales of commercial and military bridging systems to more than 40 countries. The HZ21 military bridging system is deployed by China and referred to by CHIC as a 'fast bridge'. It is transported and launched over the rear of a forward control 8×8 cross-country truck. Prior to launching the two-part bridge, a stabiliser is lowered on either side at the rear of the platform. The lower part of the bridge is then extended over the gap, followed by the upper part - the complete bridge is then lowered into position. When fully extended, the 10.5-tonne (11.6 ton) two-part bridge is 21 m (69 ft) long and has a roadway width of 3.3 m; it can bridge a wet or dry gap of up to 19 m. According to CHIC, it can be deployed in fewer than 10 minutes and retracted in a similar time. The HZ21 can handle tracked vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 60 tonnes, or wheeled platforms with a maximum axle load of up to 17 tonnes. In many respects, the HZ21 is similar in concept and operation to the General Dynamics European Land Systems - Germany (GDELS-G) Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) deployed by the US Army, which is transported and launched from a Common Bridge Transporter (CBT). https://www.janes.com/article/83472/china-building-bridging-systems-for-heavy-vehicles

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  6 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre

  The Army’s future vertical lift plan may have a supplier problem

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — Army rotorcraft programs could net industry an average of $8 billion to 10 billion per year over the next decade — but defense companies can expect major challenges for its lower-tier suppliers, some of whom might choose not to come along for the ride. Those are the findings of a new study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, released Wednesday. It follows a November report outlining cost concerns about the service's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) plan. The Army plans to field a future attack reconnaissance aircraft, or FARA, by 2028 and a future long-range assault aircraft, or FLRAA, by 2030. The modernization program is one of the top priorities for the Army. First, the good news for industry. The study found an annual market of $8 billion to 10 billion for Army rotorcraft programs over the next decade, with a potential dip occurring only in 2026, when the two new programs are spinning up. That's a strong figure that should keep the major defense companies happy. However, lower-tier companies may find themselves unprepared to actually manufacture FLRAA and FARA parts, given the newer production techniques the Army plans to use — things like additive manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, digital twins, and data analytics. And if that happens, the service could face a supplier problem that could provide a major speed bump for its plans of having the systems ready to go at the end of the decade. Convincing those suppliers, many of whom lack cash on hand for major internal investments at the best of times, to put money down in the near term to redevelop their facilities and retrain people is going to be an “expensive issue,” said Andrew Hunter, who co-authored the study for CSIS along with Rhys McCormick. “They need a really compelling reason to invest.” “For a company that is devoted to the defense aviation market, they don't necessarily have a choice to not make the transition,” Hunter told reporters in a Tuesday call. “However, there is a dollars and cents issue, which is you have to be able to access the capital. If you can't, the primes will quickly go somewhere else.” And some companies with a broader market share in the commercial world may decide investing in modernization isn't worth the effort and simply leave the defense rotorcraft market, leaving the primes to scramble to find replacements. In that case, Hunter said, the primes could potentially look to bring that work in-house. Companies “are looking at the equation” of the commercial versus defense markets when making these decisions, said Patrick Mason, the Army's top aviation acquisition official. But he noted that the recent COVID-19 pandemic, which his hitting commercial aviation firms particularly hard, may cause some companies to consider the benefits of defense, which is historically smaller but more stable than the commercial aviation world. Mason also emphasized the importance of keeping suppliers with experience in the unique heat requirements or material aspects as part of the service's rotorcraft supply chain, saying “Those are the ones we remain focused on because those are the ones who could end up as a failure.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/05/06/the-armys-future-vertical-lift-plan-may-have-a-supplier-problem/