Northrop unveils new Sky Viper chain gun as US Army considers weapons for future helos

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  1 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  COVID-19 News: Virus Hurting Army Small Businesses

  By Connie Lee The COVID-19 pandemic is putting particular stress on the Army's second- and third-tier suppliers, said the service's secretary April 30. The Army is racing to ensure its manufacturing supply chain is able to stay afloat amid economic challenges posed by the virus, said Ryan McCarthy. “Some of these are small companies [that have] 15,000 people, and you get a couple people sick, you shut the whole company down,” he said during a virtual event hosted by Brookings Institution. The supply chain will "be a challenge for us months and months ahead.” The pandemic is also hurting overseas manufacturing in areas such as Mexico, Europe and East Asia, where the Army has little influence, he noted. The service is working with the State Department to figure out how to keep overseas workers employed and keep the supply chain running, he said. “We are limited in our ability to affect them and get them back to work,” McCarthy said. “It presents challenges that are far beyond our reach and ... influence, so we're going to have some real heart-to-hearts with manufacturers going forward.” Despite these issues, the Army is continuing to prioritize modernization, he said. Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville said the service is moving forward with weapons assessments, noting that it was recently able to conduct a successful hypersonic weapons test. As part of its plan to keep up with great power competition, the service is pursuing 31 new signature systems. “Over half of our procurement budget is going towards these new weapon systems,” McCarthy said. “We've got to put them into formation. Much of our iron is 50 years old. That probably is the prime area where we put the most energy.” Meanwhile, the Army is collaborating with other organizations in search of a vaccine. There are 10 to 15 top potential vaccine candidates worldwide that are in various stages of maturity, McCarthy said during a Pentagon briefing the same day. To speed up the timeline, the service plans on investing in the ones that seem to be moving the fastest, he noted. “We can double down and invest in the fastest horse, if you will, in this 15 candidate race, and then that compresses the timeframe that will ultimately get you to the answer and bring a vaccine to life,” he said. “You'll hear ranges on how fast it can go.” Some of these vaccines are currently in human trials, with the bulk of the work slated for summer and early fall, he noted. “It's moving faster than probably any point in history because of the extraordinary collaboration that's going on today,” he said. However, this may involve accepting some risks in the process, McConville noted at the briefing. “You can save time by taking risks,” he said. “You may get ready to produce something, and that horse may not get to the final race and that may not be the most efficient use of money, but by taking risks, you can really move things very, very quickly.” https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2020/4/30/covid-hurting-army-small-businesses

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  23 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Why the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Stealth Fighters Will Revolutionize War

  by Sebastien Roblin To recap: stealth technology is more effective at a distance. Although there are a number of methods to detect stealth fighters at long range, they generally don't permit weapons to lock on to them. In Len Deighton's book Fighter, he describes the tactics used by the outnumbered English fighter pilots defending against German Luftwaffe bombers in the Battle of Britain: The professional fighter pilot gained height as quickly as he was permitted, and treasured possession of that benefit. He hoped always to spot the enemy before they spotted him and hurried to the sun side of them to keep himself invisible. He needed superior speed, so he positioned himself for a diving attack, and he would choose a victim at the very rear of the enemy formation so that he did not have to fly through their gunfire. He would hope to kill on that first dive. If he failed, the dedicated professional would flee rather than face an alerted enemy. Full article: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-f-22-raptor-and-f-35-stealth-fighters-will-revolutionize-war-42322

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  27 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  US Army pushes Air Launched Effects development with $30 million in contracts

  By Garrett Reim The US Army has awarded 10 contracts worth $29.8 million for development of Air Launched Effects technologies, which include unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) that the service sees as working alongside its helicopters. The projects are divided into three focus areas: air vehicle; mission systems; and payloads. The aim of the projects is to eventually produce a new and more advanced Air Launched Effect prototype, the service said on 24 August. Air Launched Effects are a broad category of UAVs that would act as extensions of rotorcraft, performing missions involving reconnaissance, electronic warfare and loitering munition strikes. The service sees Air Launched Effects as important tools for reaching into enemy territory while keeping rotorcraft beyond the range of adversaries' anti-aircraft weapons. It plans to use the drones from its Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs, as well as its Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft. Alliant Techsystems Operations, Raytheon and Area-I won contracts for Air Launched Effects vehicle design development. In March, the army demonstrated a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk launching an Area-I ALTIUS drone from just 100ft above the ground. L3 Technologies, Rockwell Collins and Aurora Flight Services won mission systems contracts, and Leonardo Electronics, Technology Service, Raytheon, and Alliant Techsystems secured payloads contracts. The army says it plans to select designs for the Air Launched Effect vehicle, payload and mission system for its final prototype in 15 months. The service wants to initially field its prototype in fiscal year 2024. https://www.flightglobal.com/military-uavs/us-army-pushes-air-launched-effects-development-with-30-million-in-contracts/139908.article?referrer=RSS