18 octobre 2022 | International, Naval
Industry cluster forms around European patrol corvette program
Touted as a poster child for European defense industry integration, the effort is picking up steam with support from European Union coffers.
13 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By: Aaron Mehta and Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force expects to resolve a safety issue with the cargo capability of its KC-46A Pegasus tanker within “months,” the service's top acquisition official said Tuesday.
Will Roper said he is “confident” the issue would get fixed and that the problem,— which has led the Air Force to stop the tankers from flying with cargo in their holds — was not his top concern for the Boeing-made plane.
“The issue with the locks was identified. We're working options currently with Boeing and their supplier,” Roper said at a breakfast hosted by the Defense Writers Group. “We're looking to our operators to tell us which one of the solutions that have been identified is the one that they prefer."
In September, Defense News first reported that the KC-46 was restricted from carrying either cargo or people in the back of the aircraft. The restriction was set after a recent flight where cargo locks on the bottom of the aircraft's floor became unlocked, creating concerns that airmen could be hurt or killed by heavy equipment that suddenly bursts free during a flight.
It has been a rough year for the KC-46. The Air Force suspended KC-46 flights at Boeing's production line in Everett, Washington, this February after finding debris. Then it paused all tanker deliveries in March as the service investigated the extent of the problem. The service began accepting tankers again later that month, only for deliveries to stop — and restart — in April due to similar problems.
The cargo issue represents the fourth category 1 deficiency for the tanker, and the issues are becoming increasingly expensive for Boeing: The company is locked into a fixed-price contract, which means it is responsible for paying for a expenses beyond the initial $4.9 billion award for development of the aircraft. So far, the company has paid more than $3.5 billion of its own money to fund corrections to ongoing technical issues. The other three issues are:
Roper said the cargo issue “goes into the kind of normal deficiency space” and noted that it's the type of issue that is discovered by the normal testing process. The more long-term issues, such as the remote visual system, are “the areas I keep the most focus on,” he said.
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/11/12/kc-46-cargo-solution-still-months-away/
18 octobre 2022 | International, Naval
Touted as a poster child for European defense industry integration, the effort is picking up steam with support from European Union coffers.
18 octobre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
The C-130H's avionics modernization will replace its old analog gauges with digital displays, as well as an array of other navigation and flight upgrades.
11 juin 2018 | International, Terrestre
By: Todd South Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division will be the first to test the long-awaited exoskeleton that developers say can reduce injuries, carrying loads and help troops move around the battlefield with ease. The U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center partnered with the division in February to identify, evaluate and transition exoskeleton technology to the Army. NSRDEC has led exoskeleton efforts for the Army for a number of years. One of the more advanced products that will soon hit the division is made by Lockheed Martin. Army Times spoke recently with company officials about the ONYX device, which will go through phases of testing, beginning as early as this fall. The first phase will include a six-month “development effort” in which researchers work on “quality of life” portions of making the knee- and hip-focused device fit comfortably and correctly to the soldier's body, said Keith Maxwell, senior program engineer for the company's exoskeleton technologies. That will be done with 10th Mountain soldiers later this year. And that's not the only high-tech gear that 10th Mountain soldiers will be testing. They're one of two units, along with the 101st Airborne Division, that will take robotic vehicles to act as gear mules into the formations later this year. That's part of the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport program. The program has four vehicles being evaluated by those Army units and a yet-to-be identified Marine Corps unit at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. For the ONYX, 10th Mountain soldiers will evaluate the changes as they develop an exoskeleton “concept of operations.” A second phase will include a cycle that starts in early 2019 to add in faster, quieter actuators to the device; those will also be tested by 10th Mountain soldiers. Then a third round will test for ruggedized operation before the Army decides if or when the tech will be fielded. Officials estimate the device could be ready for fielding as early as 2021. The most challenging movements of climbing, especially with a load, up stairs or mountain faces, present strain on the endurance and strength of a soldier but also put them in a position for significant injury to their back, hips or knees. The exoskeleton allows a soldier to transfer the weight of the load from his or her frame to the device. Much of the work began years before with the Human Universal Load Carrier, or HULC. But that system was too bulky and required more power, which meant more batteries. More batteries meant more weight, which could cancel out the benefits of transferring load bearing, Maxwell said. So, with the ONYX, developers incorporated changes made in systems that came after HULC – removing added power requirements and adding technology that had been used in the medical field by B-Temia for people with extremity injuries. Last year, a University of Michigan study by their Human Neuromechanics Laboratory showed reduced fatigue using the knee-stress relief device that is part of the ONYX exoskeleton called the FORTIS. The university had four participants carry a 40-pound backpack at different speeds on a treadmill at a 15-degree incline. All showed reduced exertion when using the exoskeleton, according to the study. While the ONYX device has shown considerable promise in clean environments, the big step will be ruggedizing it for fieldwork, Maxwell said. “That's the hardest part of all, ruggedization,” Maxwell said. And that's a matter of time and investment. “None of the stuff we're facing is insurmountable,” Maxwell said. Waterproofing the device is paramount, he said. The standard is for it to be submersible to three feet of water for 15 minutes. While the current device focuses on the lower body, which carries most of the load and presents most soldier injury problems, there are technologies that are coming from this research that could eventually work their way into upper body support and possibly the TALOS suit that is being developed by Special Operations Command. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/06/05/this-army-unit-will-be-first-to-test-an-exoskeleton-that-lightens-combat-load/