4 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Karem Aircraft announces FARA Competitive Prototype team

Karem Aircraft Press Release

Karem Aircraft, Northrop Grumman Corporation, and Raytheon Company have formed a team to execute the U.S. Army Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft Competitive Prototype (FARA CP) development contract. FARA CP will provide the U.S. Army with a new armed scout aircraft.

The three companies will apply decades of combined knowledge, skills, and abilities to bring the best of vehicle and systems technologies and processes to the first aircraft within the Future Vertical Lift family of systems. Karem's unique active variable speed rotor technologies have been developed over the last decade through extensive collaboration with the U.S. Army.

“Karem has enjoyed a strong partnership with the U.S. Army over the last decade collaboratively developing VTOL technologies and we look forward to leveraging the U.S. Army's investment by applying these innovative technologies to our FARA aircraft,” said Thomas Berger, Karem's program manager for FARA CP. “With our two exceptional partners, each with a strong track record of delivering combat capability in support of the warfighter, we are now able to provide a complete solution for the U.S. Army that maintains battlefield superiority into the future.”

This expertise will be augmented with Northrop Grumman's manned and autonomous military aircraft development, system integration, production, and support expertise and Raytheon's systems architecture, mission equipment, and weapons capabilities. The Karem Aircraft-Northrop Grumman-Raytheon team will work collaboratively with the U.S. Army's multidisciplinary team to meet the needs of the FARA CP program.

https://www.verticalmag.com/press-releases/karem-aircraft-announces-fara-competitive-prototype-team/

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2 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial

RPAS maritime surveillance services now underway in Iceland
A medium altitude long endurance RPAS drone is being used by the Icelandic maritime authorities to enhance the maritime picture over its Exclusive Economic Zone, the service follows a request made by the Icelandic coast guard to EMSA and is expected to run until mid-July. The RPAS chosen will be integrated into the existing surveillance mechanisms and procedures covering coast guard functions in the areas of maritime safety and security, search and rescue, environmental protection, law enforcement and fisheries control. The particular RPAS in use is adapted to withstand the strong winds and icy conditions common to the North Atlantic Ocean. It has an endurance of over 12 hours and may perform maritime surveillance tasks in areas extending as far as 200nm from the shoreline. The operations are based at the Egilsstaðir airport in the east of the island. From there, they have the capability to cover more than half of the Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone. EMSA's RPAS services for Iceland involve the cooperation of several Icelandic authorities, who will be able to follow the missions remotely thanks to EMSA's RPAS data centre. Users will include the Icelandic coast guard, the fisheries directorate, the environment agency, the customs directorate, the police force, and the search and rescue association. The Hermes 900 RPAS is under contract by EMSA from CEiiA – the Centre of Engineering and Innovation. It is a MALE-class fixed wing, single engine RPAS and is capable of night and day operations. Using SATCOM technology, it can operate beyond radio line of sight. The payload consists of electro-optical and infra-red video cameras, maritime radar, AIS receiver, and an EPIRB receiver. “EMSA's RPAS services give us and our users, in this case Iceland, another lens through which we can gain even greater situational awareness. Our services have been used by three different member states since the beginning of the year and more are in the pipeline for the upcoming months,” explained Executive Director, Maja Markovčić Kostelac. EMSA's RPAS services were set up in 2017 for maritime surveillance and monitoring operations to support national authorities involved in coast guard functions. This includes: maritime pollution and emissions monitoring; detection of illegal fishing, anti-drug trafficking, and illegal immigration; border surveillance; and, search and rescue operations. For further information and media enquiries, please contact: Tel. +351 21 1209 281 e-mail information@emsa.europa.eu http://www.emsa.europa.eu/emsa-homepage/2-news-a-press-centre/news/3525-press-release-rpas-maritime-surveillance-services-now-underway-in-iceland.html
17 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

Air Force Acquisition Chief: Reaper Replacement Plan Should Come in FY ’22 Budget Request
The Air Force is conducting a study that will inform how the service will continue its critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions as it begins to phase out production of its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial systems, acquisition chief Will Roper said March 10. The service plans to reduce the General Atomics Aerospace Systems Inc.-developed MQ-9 Reaper combat lines from 70 to 60 by eliminating 10 contractor-operated lines while maintaining all MQ-9 aircraft in the fiscal year 2021 budget plan. House Armed Services Committee (HASC) member Rep. Filemon Vela (D-Texas) sought clarity on why the production line would be reduced in a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill. “Why the major change in plans, and how will the Air Force address its ISR gap?” he asked. Roper told the committee that the Air Force is planning to build the “next generation” of ISR drones with a mixture of options, including “more high-end, unique” systems that will require lots of money to ensure their survivability, as well as commercial platforms that can “push the price point down” and provide attritable systems for added capacity. “We're doing studies now to see what our mix could be, and I anticipate that will be one of our major decisions in our FY '22 budget for the Air Force,” Roper said during the hearing. The study is being led by the Air Force's Program Executive Office for ISR and Special Operations Forces at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, he told a small group of reporters after the hearing. He expects it to be complete before the end of the fiscal year to inform the service's FY '22 Program Objective Memorandum (POM), which is currently in development, he added. “It's a really great time to give [PEO ISR & SOF] an innovative program because as their portfolio appears to be trending down ... it's important that they have something that's the new version of them that's innovative, that's indicative of their future,” he said. The Air Force has to work on dropping the cost of the counter-violent extremism mission, both in manpower and unit price, Roper said. He added that employing commercial drone services in the defense industry could help smaller, newer companies begin to scale their production while offering the service a “much lower, much cheaper” way to sustain cost. “Working with the Defense Department, you don't need the kind of production capacity that the globe does, so we're a pretty good first stop,” he said. He also told the committee that while the Reaper had “undeniable overmatch in a low-end fight and has certainly saved many lives, ... as we look to the high-end fight, we just can't take them into the battlefield.” Roper warned that if the Defense Department does not move quickly to engage builders of large UAS, the market could go the same way of small, hobbyist UAS and be saturated by Chinese products, as was seen with DJI's Phantom drone. The service's ISR portfolio could look very different in FY '21 if Congress approves its proposed FY '21 presidential budget request, released Feb. 10 (Defense Daily.) It includes the retirement of 24 Block 20/30 RQ-4 Global Hawks, including three EQ-4B drones equipped with Northrop Grumman's Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system, as well as reducing the MQ-9 lines. In order to provide sufficient levels of ISR with the divestment of the Global Hawk 20/30 assets and reducing MQ-9 combat lines, the Air Force will maintain and modernize the U-2 [Dragon Lady ISR aircraft] and the Global Hawk Block 40 fleets and maintain 60 government-owned/government operated MQ-9 combat lines, the Air Force previously told Defense Daily. The service also plans to procure one Bombardier E-11A BACN-enabled aircraft through the five-year future years defense plan (FYDP), with plans to bring the total fleet up to eight by FY '26. One E-11A aircraft suffered a fatal crash in Afghanistan last month, leaving the Air Force with three in its current inventory. Vela also asked whether the Air Force's proposed MQ-9 retirements could affect other services operating the Reaper. Marine Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, the service's deputy commandant for aviation, said during the hearing that while the Marines recently welcomed their first MQ-9 operators at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, he is also looking at the “wide-open” unmanned systems industry for the service's next generations of drones. “We hope to be able to continue to operate with the Air Force,” he told Vela. However, “We're ready to step out on our own system,” he added. https://www.defensedaily.com/air-force-acquisition-chief-reaper-replacement-plan-come-fy-22-budget-request/budget/
30 mars 2021 | International, C4ISR

Empower Warfighters Through a Digital Battlespace
The era of the digital warrior has arrived. Technology is advancing faster than ever, allowing for the creation, transmission, analysis and distribution of data across the battlespace at a pace never seen before. These advances are empowering warfighters in new ways. At the tactical edge, humans and machines are beginning to team to gather and share tactical data, and troops are being equipped with a plethora of body-worn digital systems, from augmented reality goggles linked to biometric sensors, thermal imagers and cameras, to miniature computer systems equipped with navigation aids and battle management apps. These connected warfighters operate within the context of the “digital battlespace.” With artificial intelligence and machine learning for predictive insight, faster communications networks such as 5G coming online for connectivity during training, innovations like virtual and augmented reality, edge computing for faster processing, and integrated sensors and advanced analytics that bring it all together, the digital battlespace is a powerful internet-of-battlefield-things, enabling faster action with increased situational awareness and real-time intelligence.

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