New Futures Command chief shifts main effort to designing Army of 2040

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  20 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  USAF Opens Bidding Phase Of B-52 Re-Engine Competition

  Steve Trimble May 20, 2020 The U.S. Air Force has kicked off a three-way competition to re-engine the entire 76-aircraft B-52 fleet from 2021 to 2035. The request for proposals (RFP) released on May 19 invites bids from GE Aviation, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce to supply 608 engines to replace each of the eight, 60-year-old, 16,000 lb.-thrust P&W TF33 turbofans on the heavy bomber. GE can choose between the CF34 or Passport engine or offer both. P&W has proposed the PW800. Rolls-Royce will offer a military version of the BR.725. The Air Force RFP lays out a two-step selection process. In step one, companies must submit “virtual” prototypes of their engine, meaning a digital design with integrated models for manufacturing, performance and sustainment. Step 2 calls for the traditional engine source selection process, which will be informed by the data from the virtual prototypes and an integration risk analysis completed in the first step. The Air Force has said the TF33 engines that now power the B-52 cannot be sustained practically beyond 2030. The Cold War jet, meanwhile, is expected to continue operating beyond 2050, outliving the B-2 and B-1B fleets scheduled for retirement in the 2030s. Armed with a new class of hypersonic and long-range missiles, including the nuclear Long-Range Stand-Off Weapon, the B-52 will perform the standoff mission, while the B-21 penetrates into contested airspace. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/usaf-opens-bidding-phase-b-52-re-engine-competition

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  6 juillet 2020 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Ligado would be banned from DoD contracts under House plan

  Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Lawmakers took another apparent jab at Ligado Networks on Wednesday as the House Armed Services Committee passed a ban on the Pentagon awarding contracts to firms that interfere with Global Positioning System signals. The panel adopted an amendment from House Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner to bar the Department of Defense from contracting with an entity that engages in commercial terrestrial operations using certain frequency ranges ― unless the defense secretary certifies the operations do not cause harmful interference to a the military's GPS devices. Ligado is not specifically named. However, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved the plan from Ligado to use the bands identified in the amendment: the 1525–1559 MHz band and the 1626.5–1660.5 MHz band. The FCC's decision in April came despite objections from the DoD and a number of nondefense industry trade groups, which argue that Ligado's plan would create wide-ranging disruptions for GPS usage. During the markup, the panel approved a separate amendment from Turner that would bar DoD from spending any money to mitigate impacts from Ligado's potential interference with the military's GPS signals. The moves by lawmakers during the HASC's markup of its version of the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act is the latest salvo from lawmakers on Congress' defense committees. Earlier this month, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., offered legislation that would require the company to cover the costs of any GPS user — government or commercial — hurt by its spectrum use. Turner, a defense hawk in Congress, is among 22 HASC members who called on the FCC to reverse its support for Ligado's plan. He has called for an inspector general to probe consulting company Roberson and Associates, the firm that determined Ligado's plan wouldn't cause GPS interference. https://www.c4isrnet.com/congress/2020/07/01/ban-on-dod-contracts-to-ligado-approved-by-house-panel/

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  20 novembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial

  Investors pump over $600 mln into defense funds as geopolitical tensions rise | Reuters

  Investors piled into exchange-traded funds tracking defense companies since October in anticipation of increased military budgets in the U.S. and Europe due to rising incidents of geopolitical conflicts.