7 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By: Ben Werner
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—Naval Air Systems Command has a handshake deal in place to start production of the Sikorsky VH-92A, the next generation presidential helicopter, officials said on Monday.
NAVAIR has already taken possession of three VH-92A aircraft and the program is scheduled to have a milestone decision meeting at the end of the month with Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts.
Based on the feedback from test pilots, VH-92A production is expected to start soon after the milestone meeting, Marine Maj. Gen. Gregory L. Masiello, the program executive officer for Air anti-submarine warfare, assault and special mission programs (PEO (A)) said during a presentation at the Navy League's 2019 Sea Air Space exposition.
“I believe that things went reasonably well,” Masiello said of the recent VH-92A testing. “The reason I say that is because I know where the aircraft took off from every day and I know where they landed every day, and it was where it was supposed to. The feedback was relatively positive.”
In one instance, a VH-92A flew into Washington D.C., swooping low over the National Mall on an otherwise quiet Saturday morning, and practicing landing on the White House lawn. That VH-92A was the first helicopter delivered to NAVAIR. The initial operational capability is expected to occur in late 2020, and the full production line is on track to complete in 2023.
Assuming the end of May meeting with Geurts is positive, Masiello said the plan is to award Sikorsky a production contract and executive options to build the VH-92 throughout the life of the program as needed, Masiello said.
As part of the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program, Sikorsky was in 2014 awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build a fleet of six helicopters to start, but with options for the Navy to purchase up to 17 more helicopters.
This is the second attempt to replace the current decades-old VH-3Ds presidential helicopters currently in use. In 2005, Lockheed Martin's proposed VH-71 helicopter beat the Sikorsky helicopter in the competition to build the Presidential helicopters. Years of delays and cost overruns caused the Pentagon to scrap the project in 2008 and start the process over with a new round of bidding, according to a Congressional Research Service report.
A decade later, Sikorsky won a new competition with its VH-92A design, a variant of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter which is used by 11 other nations to transport their heads of state. Lockheed Martin purchased Sikorsky for $9 billion in 2015.
https://news.usni.org/2019/05/06/navair-new-presidential-helicopter-production-to-start-soon
22 septembre 2021 | International, Terrestre
The goal is to field the core system as rapidly as possible, as the global supply chain for critical subsystems like cables and connectors remains backlogged across sectors since the start of the pandemic.
21 octobre 2018 | International, C4ISR
Par Nathalie Guibert De nombreuses applications de l'IA deviennent possibles gr'ce aux gigantesques quantités de données accumulées par les armées modernes, analyse la journaliste du « Monde » Nathalie Guibert. Analyse. Pour les armées modernes, « l'intelligence artificielle (IA) se présente comme la voie principale de la supériorité tactique » et elle est devenue « un enjeu de défense prioritaire pour les puissances militaires du XXIe siècle ». Dans une étude que publie l'Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI) sur cette nouvelle révolution, un ancien pilote de l'armée de l'air, Jean-Christophe Noël, évoque un « humanisme militaire » menacé. Il n'est pas certain, selon lui, que les robots pourront toujours, en accord avec le « modèle de l'équipier fidèle », rester « étroitement associé(s) à un homme en charge d'un système d'armes comme un avion de chasse, un blindé ou un navire ». Les applications militaires de l'IA deviennent accessibles et semblent sans limites. Elles sont rendues possibles par les gigantesques quantités de données (images, sons, etc.) désormais accumulées – un Rafale produit plusieurs téraoctets de données par heure de vol, et chacun des trois satellites d'observation français successeurs d'Helios 2 permettra de produire, à partir de 2019, cent fois plus d'informations que l'ensemble de ceux utilisés aujourd'hui par les armées. De plus, les algorithmes acquièrent la capacité nouvelle d'apprendre seuls selon les situations qu'ils rencontrent. Préparation au combat par la simulation, renseignement, ciblage, optimisation du soldat... La course a démarré. « Hyperwar » Le département de la défense américain a lancé près de 600 projets intégrant l'IA, un domaine où il vient d'annoncer 2 milliards de dollars (1,7 milliard d'euros) d'investissement dans les cinq prochaines années. « Une IA surnommée ALPHA, qui fit ses classes en affrontant des programmes informatiques de combats aériens de l'Air Force Research Lab, a systématiquement triomphé d'un pilote de chasse chevronné en octobre 2015 »,rappelle l'expert de l'IFRI. Article complet: https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2018/10/16/les-defis-militaires-de-l-intelligence-artificielle_5369924_3232.html
9 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre
By: Meghann Myers So far, 2018 has seen an overhaul of basic combat training and a pilot programto extend infantry one-station unit training from 14 to 22 weeks. Next stop: Reducing the number of trainees assigned to each drill sergeant. Earlier this year, the Army sent drill sergeants back to advanced individual training, bringing uniformity to the whole of initial entry training for new soldiers who move onto a second training program following basic. But the ratio of trainers to trainees is still “way too high,” Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley told Army Times on Monday at the AUSA annual meeting in Washington, D.C. “And that's because we intentionally, over the last 17 years, we trimmed our institutional force ... in order to feed the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan and make sure that those deploying units had enough people,” he said. So that left the base with 20 trainees for every one drill sergeant at basic combat training, and 40-to-1 at AIT. “We want to essentially cut those ratios in half,” Milley said, while adding a platoon sergeant and officer platoon leader to each of those units. The Army is counting on a steady rise in end strength to 500,000 active component soldiers in the next four years. Those new additions are slated first to fill spots in operational units, but the training base is also hurting for more of the unprecedented number of noncommissioned officers who have been re-enlisting. Decreasing the ratio of drill sergeants to trainees comes at a time when basic training programs are extending, requiring yet more instructors. The Army wants to improve basic combat training “not just in the length, but in the quality and attention paid to each trainee,” Milley said. Infantry OSUT completed a pilot program to extend from 14 to 22 weeks this summer, Army Secretary Mark Esper told Army Times, and that plan will extend in the next year to armor, combat engineers and others. “If we step back and ask ourselves, why? Why extend it?” Esper said. “I think it's lessons learned from the field, the operational Army that says, ‘Look, we're getting solders who could use more time to develop their physical fitness.' Maybe spend more time talking about the military traditions and our history, that [they] would come to the service with a greater sense of discipline.” Some more tactical and technical expertise wouldn't hurt, he added. “We thought adding two months would be what it takes,” for OSUT, Esper said, making it the “Longest and most challenging infantry basic training the world. Depending on what we learn ... we would seek to apply those lessons to other MOSs.” https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/08/milley-were-going-to-cut-instructor-trainee-ratios-at-army-basic-training-in-half