19 mai 2020 | Local, Aérospatial

MDA: All-Domain C2 Key To Countering Hypersonic Missiles

"We'll take anybody's sensors," MDA's John Bier said, "as long as it contributes to the missile warning, missile defense and space domain environment."

By THERESA HITCHENSon May 14, 2020 at 2:44 PM

WASHINGTON: Senior Missile Defense Agency officials say Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) will be fundamental to rapidly and seamlessly integrating future capability to track and intercept hypersonic and cruise missiles into its current architecture focused on ballistic missiles.

“We need the ability to globally see, track and engage the threats in a multispectral environment in real time with persistent capabilities, so that we can provide the right data to the right targets,” MDA's chief architect Stan Stafira said.

MDA has been able to develop its C2 network to link various layers in the overarching US missile defense architecture, but that integration has been achieved largely through “brute force,” John Bier, MDA program director for C2BMC, told a webinar sponsored by the Missile Defense Advocacy Association (MDAA) yesterday. “Where JADC2 is trying to drive the C2 community is: how do you make that easier?”

MDA is working on first assessing how to tie in its current Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) architecture with JADC2 as it develops, then look at how to integrate its future planned capabilities “when applicable,” a MDA spokesperson clarified in an email.

Toward that end, MDA is planning on participating in the Air Force's second “On Ramp” exercise of the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) family of systems initiative aimed at developing a number of critical technologies to underpin JADC2, Bier said.

The exercise, which would have involved a space-oriented scenario, was planned for last month, but has been postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis. After first being slipped to June, it now is slated for Aug. 31-Sept. 4 moved back to A MDA fully expects to be involved in the exercise, although Bier did not elaborate on exactly what role the agency would play or what systems might be involved.

He said that MDA is working on spiral development of new technologies on an every two- to three-year cycle, but hopes to move even faster to integrate new capabilities. Part of that effort will involve moving to open standards, just as the ABMS program is doing now.

“We'll take anybody's sensors,” Bier said, “as long as it contributes to the missile warning, missile defense, and space domain environment.” The ABMS On Ramp exercises are “great integration environments” to test out the new standards, he added.

Bier said that up to now MDA has been successfully able to develop and manage a C2BMC system across the missile defense enterprise — one that links strategic systems such as the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GBMD) interceptors in silos in California and Alaska with regionally deployed, tactical systems such as Patriot batteries — in large part because of its special governance structure and flexible contractual authorities.

Although Bier didn't say it, the obvious inference is that DoD and the Joint Chiefs of Staff may want to consider how to centralize authority over various service C2 and battle management programs and projects that will need to connect to make JADC2 a reality.

“The JADC2 environment allows us to bring in multiple services along with MDA and the Intelligence Community and discuss these issues,” he said.

https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/mda-all-domain-c2-key-to-countering-hypersonic-missiles

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7 mai 2020 | Local, Terrestre

General Dynamics saw $1 billion bump after Canada-Saudi accord
By: Joe Gould &emsp; 1 day ago WASHINGTON ― General Dynamics has received $1 billion since the renegotiation of a $10 billion contract for Canada to sell light armored vehicles to Saudi Arabia, company officials said on its first quarter earnings call. In a deal last month, Canada lifted its ban on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which in turn agreed to a speedier payment schedule for the LAVs. Canada had the vehicles on hold since 2018, following the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi; and by October, Saudi Arabia had racked up $1.5 billion in back payments to General Dynamics. Amid news on the April 29 call that the company's revenue fell $512 million in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, General Dynamics Chief Financial Officer Jason Aiken highlighted “the formal signing of the restructured contract on the Canadian international program, which settled all issues to the satisfaction of the parties.” “With respect to our standing receivable you may recall that we received $500 million early in the first quarter and we received another $500 million this month. This will be very helpful to free cash flow in the second quarter,” Aiken said. “We will begin a regular cadence of scheduled payments in 2021 consistent with deliveries and making further progress in the scheduled amortization of the arrearage.” The company's Combat Systems division had revenue of $1.7 billion, up 4.4 percent over the same quarter last year, and sales to the U.S. government were up 12 percent. The firm's aerospace business segment also had revenue of $1.7 billion, but that represented a 23 percent fall from the same quarter last year. On April 9, Canada's foreign affairs minister, François-Philippe Champagne, announced Ottawa was “able to secure significant improvements” to the LAV contract, including more latitude for the Canadian government to speak about it. Under the new terms, Canada could also delay or deny export permits without penalty if it learned Saudi Arabia was not using the vehicles for their stated purpose. Ottawa would also be reviewing permit applications on a case-by-case basis to ensure they meet Canadian law and the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty. Though the Trudeau government has been under political pressure to scrap the LAV deal over human rights concerns, Champagne said its cancellation would have “resulted in billions of dollars in damages” and risked thousands of Canadian jobs across the defense supply chain. The vehicles are made by the General Dynamics Land Systems subsidiary in London, Ontario. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/05/07/general-dynamics-saw-1-billion-bump-after-canada-saudi-accord
15 juin 2018 | Local, Naval

It's make or break time for Canadian Surface Combatant bidders
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN The companies bidding on the Canadian Surface Combatant program will provide Irving Shipbuilding with their “cured” bids by July 21. Earlier this year, Postmedia reported that all three bidders in the competition failed to meet some of the federal government's requirements. The problems centre around technical issues. Some are minor but in other cases there is a view among defence industry officials that Canada is asking for too much in some areas such as radar, which may be causing problems with meeting requirements. Public Services and Procurement Canada spokeswoman Michèle LaRose earlier said the bids received for the Canadian Surface Combatant project have not been disqualified. Three bids have been received. The federal government and Irving Shipbuilding are still evaluating the proposals, she added. LaRose pointed out that the evaluation is at the second stage in the process. Government officials say that involves what is known as “the cure process” in which bidders will be given details of how their proposals have failed to meet the stated criteria. They will then be given only one opportunity to fix issues with their bids. So those fixes are to be submitted by July 21, according to industry representatives. If the bids are still considered “non-compliant” after the cure period they “will be eliminated from the competition,” according to the federal government. The budget for the Canadian Surface Combatant project is estimated by the federal government to be between $55 billion and $60 billion. That is a range but specific costs won't be known until contacts are signed and more details worked out. Fifteen warships will be built. Pat Finn, assistant deputy minister for materiel at the Department of National Defence, told Defence Watch he expects a winning bid to be selected by the end of this year. http://calgaryherald.com/news/national/defence-watch/it-is-make-or-break-time-for-canadian-surface-combatant-bidders/wcm/49777bbd-d1e9-44df-88f8-603850e12ae3
14 septembre 2017 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

AP&C opens new AM facility in Quebec to meet demand for its 3D printing materials
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