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  31 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Stealthy UAS Unveiled For USAF Target, Loyal Wingman Needs

  Steve Trimble A small start-up company in California has unveiled a new proposal for a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to offer the U.S. Air Force as a “fifth-generation” target drone or a low-cost attritable aircraft. Tehachapi, California-based Sierra Technical Services, a company founded by previously retired Lockheed Martin Skunk Works engineers, unveiled the first photos of the completed Fifth Generation Aerial Target (5GAT) prototype after completing engine tests on the ground. A first flight of the 5GAT is scheduled in early 2020. The name of the aircraft is derived from its origins as a prototype funded by the Defense Department's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), says Roger Hayes, president and CEO of Sierra Technical Services. Several years ago, DOT&E recognized an emerging gap for a new target drone that could fly as a surrogate for fifth-generation fighters emerging in Russia and China such as the Sukhoi Su-57 and AVIC Chengdu J-20. In 2017, DOT&E awarded Sierra Technical Services a $15.9 million contract to develop the 5GAT prototype, Hayes said. The pace of assembly has been dictated by the availability of parts cannibalized from other military aircraft, such as the engines and metallic components from the Northrop T-38 trainer and F-5 fighter, as well as aileron actuators from the Boeing F/A-18, Hayes said. Sierra Technical Services supplemented its revenue as assembly continued by working on other programs, including supplying components for the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie. As development continued, the Air Force started to develop interest in a fifth-generation target. The service has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to develop the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, which is being designed to counter the PL-15 missile fielded on China's J-20 fighter. The Air Force needs to test the AIM-260 and other missiles against a representative threat. Last May, the Air Force released a request for information for the Next Generation Aerial Target, which included a version that can replicate fifth-generation fighter attributes, such as a stealthy airframe with canted tails and serpentine inlet ducts. The Air Force also is developing a concept to pair manned fighters such as the F-22 and F-35 with an unmanned partner, known sometimes as a Loyal Wingman. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) funded Kratos' XQ-58A, which completed a first flight in March. AFRL also plans to demonstrate a UAS controlled by a “software brain” using artificial intelligence. This Skyborg program is sometimes considered a follow-on for the XQ-58A program, but Hayes said Sierra Technical Services could offer the 5GAT for the Skyborg contract. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/stealthy-uas-unveiled-usaf-target-loyal-wingman-needs

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  3 septembre 2019 | International, Terrestre

  Here’s who will build and integrate the first hypersonic weapon system prototype

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Dynetics Technical Solutions will be the first to manufacture a set of hypersonic glide body prototypes while Lockheed Martin will serve as the weapon system integrator, according to a U.S. Army announcement. The other transaction authority, or OTA, contract awards mark an important step forward in getting a prototype of the Army's Long Range Hypersonic Weapon, or LRHW — capable of flying at five times the speed of sound — that will launch from a mobile ground platform fielded by fiscal 2023. An OTA is a congressionally mandated contracting mechanism that makes it easier to prototype capabilities. The Army's No. 1 modernization priority is Long-Range Precision Fires, and hypersonic development falls into that category. “Delivering hypersonics to a unit of action will provide a critical combat capability for the Army in support of the National Defense Strategy,” Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, director of hypersonics, directed energy, space and rapid acquisition, said in an Aug. 30 statement. “With a collaborative effort by our partners in industry and the Department of Defense, we will advance this strategic weapon system and fulfill a critical mission for our nation.” Dynetics, based in Huntsville, Alabama, will get $351.6 million to produce the “first commercially manufactured set of prototype Common-Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) systems,” according to the statement. This means the company will get the first crack at building the C-HGB, but it is likely others will subsequently receive awards to learn how to manufacture the C-HGB developed by the federally funded Sandia National Laboratories in an effort to build up the currently nonexistent hypersonic industrial base in the United States. Dynetics and future award winners will work with the lab to learn how to build the C-HGB. As hypersonic missiles become a reality, industry must relearn how to effectively, efficiently and economically produce them. While companies have developed warheads, glide bodies and other components, there is no industrial base equipped to manufacture hypersonic weapons. By giving multiple companies a chance to learn how to build the glide body, the hope is the process will build that vital industrial base. Lockheed Martin will integrate a launcher that can accommodate the C-HGB onto a mobile truck. That contract is worth $347 million. The OTA awards cover the design, integration and production work that will bring about a series of flight tests starting in 2020, which will lead to a fielding of a prototype LRHW battery, consisting of four trucks, launchers, hypersonic missile rounds and a command and control system. The Army is in charge of producing the LRHW C-HGB as part of a collaboration with the other services. "Dynetics has been developing enabling technologies for many years,” Steve Cook, the company's president, said in a statement. “Our team is pleased the Army saw that our highly-skilled engineers and technicians can bring this technology rapidly and affordably to the warfighter.” DTS will lead “a world-class team for the project, including established and proven defense industry contractors” like General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. “Each of these companies will bring decades of experience and will join science and technological capabilities to make a modern prototype and eventually become a program of record,” Cook said. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will provide cable, electrical and mechanical manufacturing. Lockheed will support the manufacturing, assembly, integration, testing, systems engineering and analysis. And as a principal subcontractor, Raytheon will provide its “extensive experience” in advanced hypersonic technology to build control, actuation and power-conditioning sub-assemblies that control flight, and it will help assemble and test the prototype. Lockheed Martin's integration team also includes Dynetics, which will develop launchers with hydraulics, outriggers, power generation and distribution for the ground platform. Other members of Lockheed's team are Integration Innovation Inc., Verity Integrated Systems, Martinez & Turek, and Penta Research. “We believe our relationships offer the Army unmatched expertise and puts us in the best position to deliver this critical capability to the nation," Eric Scherff, vice president for hypersonic strike programs for Lockheed Martin Space, said in a statement. Lockheed Martin's hypersonic strike contract awards already exceed $2.5 billion. The Army plans to deliver a hypersonic missile and launcher to a unit in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021. The unit will train for an entire year without live rounds, Thurgood said earlier this month at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. He noted that the canisters the unit will use will be filled with cement to match the weight. The first live-round test will take place in FY22 and will be conducted by a battery led by a captain. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2019/08/30/heres-who-will-build-and-integrate-the-first-hypersonic-weapon-system-prototype

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  15 septembre 2021 | International, C4ISR

  New war-gaming center to speed up weapon deliveries to US Marines

  A planned 100,000-square-foot facility in Quantico, Virginia, will transform military war gaming from a tabletop exercise to an immersive experience in a simulated environment.