L3Harris awarded nearly $12.8M for Eglin AN/FPS-85 radar work

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  22 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Indra leads the European project that will give control of radioelectric space to fighters and aircraft

  Spain, May 20, 2020 - Indra will lead the European CROWN R&D project that will equip European fighters and aircraft with capabilities which combine radar, communications and electronic defence to dominate radioelectric space and operate at an advantage over the enemy. The company will coordinate the work of a consortium formed by Thales, Office National D'Etudes et de Recherches Aerospatiales (ONERA), Hensoldt, Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, SAAB, Totalforsvarets Forskningsinstitut (FOI), Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), Leonardo, Elettronica, and Baltijos Pazangiu Technologiju Institutas (BPTI). The project has been selected to form part of the Preparatory Action for Defence Research of the European Commission managed by the European Defence Agency and the grant agreement is now being prepared. This group of companies and research centers from seven countries will design the first element capable of integrating radar, electronic defence and communications equipment into a single compact and lightweight item of equipment that can be installed in the aircraft nose cone, camouflaged in the fuselage, or in an under-wing pod, on multiple platforms (even in UAVs). It will be a system based on active electronically scanned array (AESA) and sophisticated algorithms that will enable multi-purpose use for different capacities and in an optimized way. No other country as yet possesses this capability so it will bring a major advantage to whoever acquires it first. This integration will enable the aircraft's radar to intelligently select the least congested area of the spectrum to operate effectively and extend its range, even in environments where the adversary tries to interfere with its operation. At the same time, coordination of the radar with the systems that monitor the radio spectrum and those that generate countermeasures (ES/EA) will significantly improve the performance of these systems and of aircraft weapons systems in general. As for communications, they will gain range and bandwidth to exchange a greater volume of data with other platforms at higher speeds. The ultimate goal is to equip the aircraft of the future with a compact solution, smaller in size, with a lower weight and cost, and more power to provide a decisive advantage. On this will depend the ability to detect the enemy, select and fix targets and exchange data with other platforms on land, sea or air to prevail in combat or protect themselves from attack. Electronic defence has been placed at the center of military strategy in recent years as some countries resort to controlling radioelectric space as a way to counter the superiority of European and allied aircraft. The CROWN project could subsequently address the adaptation of this system for use by ground units and all types of land vehicles and ships. Leadership of the European defence sector The Spanish Government has appointed Indra as the national industrial coordinator in the European Defence Program FCAS (Future Combat Air System), the largest joint European Defence program to date and the most ambitious in terms of technological development. Indra will carry out this work together with the industrial leaders appointed in turn by France and Germany, Dassault and Airbus, respectively. The company also participates in the proposals for 9 EDIDP consortiums (European Defence Industrial Development Program) that are being evaluated and acts as coordinator in 3 out of 5 consortiums led by Spain, among others, the PESCO program for Strategic Command and Control, probably the most important of them all, in which Spain, Italy, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Portugal participate. Besides this, Indra has been participating for decades in international programs such as the Eurofighter, A400M, NH90, Meteor and ESSOR, as well as non-European projects and in the NATO environment such as ESSM, FLEPS, ACCS and many others. About Indra Indra (www.indracompany.com) is one of the leading global technology and consulting companies and the technological partner for core business operations of its customers world-wide. It is a world-leader in providing proprietary solutions in specific segments in Transport and Defence markets, and the leading firm in Digital Transformation Consultancy and Information Technologies in Spain and Latin America, through its affiliate Minsait. Its business model is based on a comprehensive range of proprietary products, with an end-to-end focus and a high innovation component. In the 2019 financial year, Indra achieved revenue of €3.204 billion, with more than 49,000 employees, a local presence in 46 countries and business operations in over 140 countries. View source version on Indra: https://www.indracompany.com/en/noticia/indra-leads-european-project-will-give-control-radioelectric-space-fighters-aircraft

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  25 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Sécurité

  Air Force awards $38M in contracts for upgrades to airfield in Iceland

  Christen McCurdy Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The Air Force has awarded three contracts totaling $38 million to improve the airfield at Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland. The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center's Detachment 4 will direct the construction project with support from Naval Facilities Engineering Command Europe Africa Central, the Air Force said Thursday. The work includes expansion of the airfield's parking aprons, beddown site preparation and an upgrade to the airfield's hazardous cargo pad for the safe unloading and unloading of explosives. "We are upgrading infrastructure at Naval Air Station Keflavik to provide a high level of readiness for U.S. Air Forces in Europe," said Col. David Norton, director of AFCEC's Facility Engineering Directorate. "We have incorporated innovative design and construction techniques to build resilient facilities to ensure the longest lifespan at the overall lowest life cycle cost." The construction projects support the European Deterrence Initiative implemented by U.S. European Command -- an initiative intended to increase the responsiveness of U.S. Air Forces and NATO members and allies in Europe. The EDI includes military exercises and training -- including the annual Dynamic Mongoose exercise, which this year was held off the coast of Iceland -- as well as a rotational presence of U.S. forces in Europe. An April Department of Defense memo said Defense Mark Esper planned to divert funding from overseas military construction projects -- including, critics said, some projects under the auspices of EDI -- to domestic military construction in order to compensate for funding lost to wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/09/24/Air-Force-awards-38M-in-contracts-for-upgrades-to-airfield-in-Iceland/6351600969330/

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  11 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  We prepared for war, but should have spent our money elsewhere

  By: Laicie Heeley As the host of a national security podcast literally named “Things That Go Boom,” I spend a lot of my time thinking about what keeps us safe. And usually these thoughts are pretty focused on big, obvious threats — things like bombs. But with the world seemingly imploding, a global pandemic spreading, nationwide protests against police brutality erupting and world economies tanking, it's clearer than ever that we've been preparing for the wrong crisis. You could say we were preparing for World War III, when we got hammered by World War C. Staying safe means recognizing what threats we're facing — the ones we're expecting and the ones that might catch us off guard. But we didn't do that. Instead we invested hundreds of billions of dollars in weapons and wars while the coronavirus slipped silently and invisibly across our borders, into our homes and even onto our military aircraft carriers. The greatest threats of the past decade have come in the form of a deadly virus, climate-related natural disasters, economic meltdowns, and attacks on free and fair elections. So why are expensive weapons systems and massive military installations still a foregone conclusion? America spends over $700 billion a year on our national defense. That's about a sixth of our overall budget and more than health care, education and all the rest of our discretionary spending combined. And the money is solid, meaning that most of the time, it's not subject to normal swings in the economy. Things are bad? We can't let the military feel the pain. Things are good? The military has to prepare for the next big threat. Bad or good, it's always a great time to invest. You can't put a price tag on security, they say. And they don't. According to the Watson Institute's Costs of War Project, America's war on terror — which now spans more than 80 countries — has cost taxpayers over $6 trillion since 2001, with no signs of slowing down. And in its latest budget proposal, the Trump administration proposed spending $20 billion more on military programs than on all other federal programs combined. Conversely, in 2018, the Trump administration cut the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's budget by 80 percent, forcing it to scale back its efforts to prevent epidemics in 39 of 49 countries, including China. These and other major cuts to global health spending left the U.S. unprepared for the crisis we're facing now. As vital American businesses — from my son's preschool to our friends' farm — struggle to survive, the defense industry has unsurprisingly had no such problem. In late April, for example, some contractors received a windfall of business when the State Department approved over $2 billion in weapons sales to repressive regimes like India, Morocco and the Philippines, with more supposedly on the way. The defense industry is doing so well in fact that it is showing up on investment lists as an example of one of the best places to “hedge in hard times.” Despite their already deep financial pockets, Congress decided to give these huge contractors billions of dollars in coronavirus relief funds. This comes as a bit of a surprise when you consider that the Pentagon just recently diverted $13.3 billion in unused funds for the construction of the president's border wall. And the first-ever audit of the Department of Defense revealed that it failed to spend almost $28 billion from 2013-2018, all the while asking for more funding. Unfortunately, experts believe this money, which is supposed to be used to help keep workers safe and employed, will instead only help make the companies' executives richer. We're already seeing this play out. Deemed “essential workers” due to the pending arms sales, workers in these manufacturing plants recently went on strike after they were forced to go to work even as a number of their colleagues tested positive for coronavirus. Flush with additional resources from a growing military budget, and as other departments' budgets have been cut, the Pentagon has also become deeply embedded in domestic affairs. Last year, Defense Secretary Mark Esper went so far as to proclaim election security a core part of the Pentagon's mission, despite the hesitance of past officials to allow such forms of military creep. The separation of the civilian and the military is one of the hallmarks of our democracy. The breakdown of these norms isn't good for our country, and it isn't good for the Pentagon, which has already sounded the alarm on what the military can — and cannot — do to deal with the pandemic. What's more, the migration of funds to the Pentagon saps other agencies of vital and limited resources. By many accounts, it also makes us worse at winning wars, as the Pentagon foregoes more focused and essential strategic planning in favor of a do-it-all, buy-it-all reality. Consider that some estimates put the annual cost of eradicating homelessness in the United States at about $20 billion, and the cost of eradicating hunger in America at about $26 billion. And consider, in the midst of an outbreak, that we could buy 2,200 ventilators for the price of one F-35. It doesn't have to be this way. While some may see the Pentagon budget as a sacred cow, it's not. Reconsidering our spending to invest more heavily in the programs that really keep us safe is not only possible, but long overdue. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/06/10/we-prepared-for-war-but-should-have-spent-our-money-elsewhere/