New US sanctions target Russia's multibillion-dollar defense sector

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  14 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  International militaries reveal interest in US Army’s Future Vertical Lift program

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's Future Vertical Lift program is getting “significant” levels of attention from militaries around the globe, eight of which have already sent letters of interest to the service, the head of the FVL program said Sept. 10. “We're working with multiple international partners on bilateral agreements ... and we're pursuing those letters of interest,” Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, director of the Army's Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team, said during a panel at the Defense News Conference. Rugen declined to comment on what nations have expressed interest in the program but said that the Army has remained engaged with those countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We've done a number of virtual meetings with our partners to keep the momentum up during COVID, and we have very good planning on our 2021 engagements going forward,” he said. “The exportability, interoperability and the cooperation is being studied deeply. [We're] talking about [liaison officers] coming into the FVL office.” The Army intends to develop and field two rotorcraft in the early 2030s as part of the FVL program: future attack reconnaissance aircraft, which will take over the reconnaissance mission currently performed by a mix of the AH-64 Apache helicopter and RQ-7 Shadow drone; and the future long-range attack aircraft, which will replace the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Both are on budget and on schedule, Rugen said. The service recently awarded 10 contracts worth a total of $29.75 million to companies that will develop a series of “air-launched effects” for its future vertical lift aircraft, which could include sensors, mesh networking technologies and other payloads. Future contracts for air-launched effects could present sales opportunities for foreign defense contractors, Rugen said during the panel. “There's a lot of opportunity for our international partners in this space. I think it's very wide open. And the reason it's so wide open is” is that such technologies are “affordable and effective,” he said. In addition to the effort focused on air-launched effects, the Army is in the middle of multiple future tactical UAV demonstrations, which will ultimately pave the way for a replacement of the Shadow drone. Soldiers are assessing the four candidate systems through a series of field tests and exercises: the V-Bat system offered by Martin UAV and Northrop Grumman; Textron's Aerosonde HQ; the Arcturus UAV JUMP 20; and L3Harris' FVR-90. “The soldiers are extremely excited but giving us good feedback,” Rugen said. “They're not being easy on us [on] what to fix, what to do different. And that's the kind of data and information that's going to give us just a rock-solid requirement that we can move out on and get this into units where it's militarized, ruggedized and ready to go.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2020/09/10/international-militaries-are-keeping-an-eye-on-the-us-armys-future-vertical-lift-program/

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  25 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Europeans propose siccing self-learning drone swarms on air defenses

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — A European consortium has pitched the idea of grooming intelligent drone swarms to confuse, disable and destroy enemy air defenses. The proposal is part of the Preparatory Action on Defence Research effort by the European Union to improve collaboration on among member states. Under the heading “Emerging Game Changers,” EU officials asked companies earlier this year to submit ideas for “promising breakthrough technologies” in the field of artificial intelligence for defense applications. The idea behind “SEAD Swarm” is to create the necessary algorithms that would enable a mass of aerial drones to inspect the characteristics of air defense systems, distribute the information within the swarm and derive a plan of attack against weak points. Actions taken could include blinding radar sensors, overwhelming anti-aircraft fire with kamikaze-type tactics, or attacking sites with explosive or electronic-warfare payloads. The acronym SEAD is short for “suppression of enemy air defenses,” military platforms that often expose pilots of manned aircraft to significant risk of getting shot down. The proposed project comes in the wake of Finland designating advances in AI a key objective for its six-month term leading the Council of the European Union. The idea is backed by a consortium of 12 private companies, national research institutions and universities from six countries, with Finnish company Insta as the lead. A decision from European decision-makers on the award of an approximately $2 million grant to start the project is expected in the next few months. Consortium officials stress that nothing would be built during the initial phase of the project. Instead, the idea is to incubate the necessary “swarm logic” and learning algorithms in a simulation environment, where scenarios can be gamed out and quickly adapted, Ari Kosonen, a senior systems engineer at Insta, told Defense News. Letting the drone swarm and air defense systems battle it out in a controlled cyberspace environment would yield patterns of problem-solving that can continuously improve both the attackers' and the defenders' performance, Kosonen said. In addition, thinking through the idea on a purely theoretical level would allow proper consideration for ethical and legal questions that arise whenever AI is weaponized, he added. If adopted by the EU, the participating countries of Finland, Germany, Slovenia, Estonia, the Netherlands and Austria would detail military officials to an advisory board to help ensure the planned simulations reflect real-world combat situations. That includes resisting the urge of crafting scenarios that are too clear-cut in allowing judgments about when to apply force and when to stand down, said Christian Brandlhuber, a senior adviser at consortium member Reply AG in Munich. “Does this work in an environment where our situational awareness is less than perfect?” Therein lies the novelty of the SEAD Swarm idea, Brandlhuber argued: Working through the rules of engagement first, only later considering requirements and finally establish concrete acquisition plans could help bring AI-enabled military technology into the EU-wide defense conversation. “There were heated discussions in the consortium about how pronounced the legal and ethical side should be,” Brandlhuber said. Dicey situations could arise, for example, when drones are cut off from communicating with human decision-makers in the final phase of an attack, while the prerequisite is to have a person in the loop for pulling the trigger. “There is a lot of uncertainty in this,” Brandlhuber said, though he argued analysts should strive to understand the complexity that comes with combining drones and AI in a military context. “You can't determine any of this a-priori.” Notably, the consortium includes sensor and hardware manufacturers, like Diehl Defence of Germany and Milrem of Estonia, that could be tapped to build prototypes if the SEAD Swarm project is selected to go forward. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/10/22/europeans-propose-siccing-self-learning-drone-swarms-on-air-defenses/

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  6 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Safran Helicopter Engines strengthens its European team around Ardiden 3TP with ITP Aero in Spain

  5 October 2020, Bordes Safran Helicopter Engines and the Spanish aero-engine company ITP Aero have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to cooperate on Ardiden 3TP, a turboprop engine suitable for European military applications – specifically the unmanned, training and transport sectors. The Spanish aero engine specialist strengthen the European team with Safran Helicopter Engines, and ZF Aviation Technology in Germany. Ardiden 3TP is a 100% European solution based on Safran's Ardiden 3 core engine and featuring technologies developed through its Tech TP technological demonstrator, which ran for the first time in June 2019. Alvaro Santodomingo, ITP Aero Defence Business Unit Executive Director, said: "A collaboration with Safran Helicopter Engines in this engine is an important opportunity for us. Our aero-engine technologies and capabilities will significantly benefit this engine propulsive system, lowering operating and maintenance costs, while supporting future Spanish industrial capabilities". Commented Florent Chauvancy, Safran Helicopter Engines EVP OEM Sales, "We are proud to welcome ITP Aero into this exciting project. We are committed to delivering the Ardiden 3TP, a 100% European engine featuring high levels of design maturity and competitive operating and maintenance costs. It will be designed, built and supported by highly-experienced teams using state-of-the-art industrial capabilities in Germany, Spain and France. For European nations seeking to protect their national interests, in civil or military fixed-wing programs, Ardiden 3TP is the natural choice." The Ardiden 3TP will be optimized for operation at medium and high altitudes, up to 45,000 feet, and be easy to operate -- thanks to a unique throttle and Full Authority Digital Engine and Propeller Control (FADEPC) controlling power and propeller pitch. MT-Propeller will contribute to the propeller. It is based on Tech TP, a Clean Sky 2 research and innovation programme validating the technologies necessary to develop a new-generation turboprop. Since June 2019, tests have progressed at a steady pace. Featuring a compact and lightweight architecture, Tech TP offers 15 per cent lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions (over current engines). It is one of the first Clean Sky 2 demonstrators to enter its test phase. More than 20 partners from eight European countries are contributing to the project. The Ardiden 3 is a new-generation core engine in the 1,700 to 2,000 shp power range. Two EASA-certified models, the Ardiden 3C and 3G, have completed over 10,000 hours of tests, confirming high levels of design maturity and competitive operating and maintenance costs. In addition, more than 250 Ardiden 1 engines have flown over 200,000 hours. The Ardiden 3 features a remarkably compact modular architecture, a best-in-class power-to-weight ratio and a low cost-of-ownership. https://www.safran-helicopter-engines.com/media/safran-helicopter-engines-strengthen-its-european-team-around-ardiden-3tp-itp-aero-spain-20201001