Northrop missile-warning satellites pass early design review

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  28 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre

  Marines award contract for lighter, better fitting plate carrier

  By: Shawn Snow Marines will soon be getting their hands on a new lighter and better fitting plate carrier. On Wednesday, the Defense Department announced that a five-year contract of $62,612,464 was awarded to Vertical Protective Apparel LLC, a New Jersey-based company, to produce the Corps' Plate Carrier Generation III. The contract calls for a maximum of 225,886 new plate carriers over a five-year period. The Corps has been in collaboration with the Army for new lighter and better fitting plate carrier and ballistic armor since a policy update in 2016 from the Capabilities Development Directorate called for a fit update. “The legacy carrier fit the span of the Marine Corps, but this new system is more tailorable to fit Marines of various sizes with three new smaller-stature options,” Flora “Mackie” Jordan, body armor engineer for the Infantry Combat Equipment Team at Marine Corps Systems Command, said in a command release. “We wanted to give as much mobility back to Marines as possible by reducing the weight and bulk of the vest without decreasing ballistic protection. We were able to reduce the weight of the vest by 25 percent.” The Corps managed to shave an inch-and-a-half from the bottom and removed some material from the shoulders.The new fit will help lighten the load and reduce fatigue on the battlefield. The new plate carrier is "less bulky, lighter in weight, and provides a smaller overall footprint than the current plate carrier while maintaining the same soft armor coverage and protection level," Barbara Hamby, a spokeswoman for Marine Corps Systems Command, told Marine Corps Times last July, while describing a prototype of the new plate carrier. The new carrier also comes with a quick release, which will help Marines take the carrier off faster than the legacy system Marines are also amid plans to procure lighter ballistic armor. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/27/marines-award-contract-for-new-plate-carrier

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  22 mai 2020 | International, Naval

  Northrop Grumman Builds Very Lightweight Torpedo for US Navy

  By Fernando Catta-Preta May 21, 2020 - Northrop Grumman has successfully manufactured and tested the first industry-built Very Lightweight Torpedo (VLWT) for the U.S. Navy. The prototype torpedo is based on the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory's (PSU-ARL) design that was distributed to defense industrial manufacturers in 2016. Northrop Grumman, which independently funded the research and development, will offer the design-for-affordability improvements to this VLWT as Northrop Grumman's response for the Navy's Compact Rapid Attack Weapon program. Northrop Grumman‘s torpedo design and production legacy reaches back over 80 years to World War II through its Westinghouse acquisition. In 1943, Westinghouse won the Navy contract to reverse engineer a captured German electric torpedo and in 12 months began producing the MK18 electric torpedo, which turned the tide of the undersea warfare in the Pacific. Northrop Grumman has been at the forefront of torpedo design and production ever since, to include the current MK48 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) heavyweight torpedo and MK50 Lightweight Torpedo. Today, Northrop Grumman is the only company in full rate production of MK54 and MK48 torpedo nose arrays and has delivered over 600 MK54 arrays and over 70 MK48 arrays to the U.S. Navy. Applying its engineering and manufacturing expertise, Northrop Grumman improved upon the VLWT baseline design to replace high-cost components and drive overall affordability, reproducibility and reliability. Those altered sections were built and tested using PSU-ARL's own test equipment for confidence. “The successful testing of the torpedo nose on the first try is a testament to Northrop Grumman's design-for-affordability approach, which will significantly reduce cost without sacrificing operational performance,” said David Portner, lead torpedo program manager, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman assembled the prototype VLWT using a Stored Chemical Energy Propulsion System (SCEPS) manufactured by teammate Barber-Nichols, Inc., (BNI) of Denver, Colorado. “The nation needs advanced undersea warfare capabilities now more than ever," said Alan Lytle, vice president, undersea systems, Northrop Grumman. “We are ready to support fielding the VLWT which will increase subsea lethality and enable innovative concepts of operations for multiple warfighting platforms.” Northrop Grumman's manufacturing plan would span the country by building components in California, Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, West Virginia and Maryland. View source version on Northrop Grumman: https://news.northropgrumman.com/news/features/northrop-grumman-builds-very-lightweight-torpedo-for-us-navy

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  10 juin 2022 | International, Aérospatial

  MBDA-led team to demo new European anti-tank kit this summer

  The idea is for a new anti-tank missile that can take cues from a variety of sensors on the battlefield or in the air.