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  2 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  European Hypersonic Cruise Passenger Study Set For New Tests

  By Guy Norris A team of European hypersonic researchers are preparing for wind tunnel tests of a Mach 8 concept that is designed to prove technologies for the development of future ultra-long-range, high-speed commercial vehicles and air-breathing space launch systems. Funded under Europe's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, Stratofly (Stratospheric Flying Opportunities for High-speed Propulsion Concepts) is targeted at fostering hypersonic capabilities for a 300-seat passenger vehicle cruising above 30 km (19 mi.) to TRL (technology readiness level) 6 by 2035. The project builds on the Lapcat waverider concept developed under earlier programs by the European Space Agency/European Space Research and Technology Center. Using the 310-ft.-long Lapcat II MR2.4 version as a reference vehicle, the 30-month Stratofly effort is focused on classic hypersonic technology challenges such as propulsion integration, hot structures and thermal management. In addition, with environmental concerns at the forefront in Europe, the project also includes sustainability considerations such as fuel-burn efficiency, noise and emissions reductions, as well as operational issues such as life-cycle costs, safety and certification. Coordinated by The Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, the project team believes that sustainable hypersonic travel is feasible through the use of liquid hydrogen fuel and new trajectories that would enable flights from Europe to Australia in 3 hr. Specific targets include 75-100% CO2 reductions per passenger kilometer and 90% reductions in nitrous oxide (NOx) compared to current long-range transport aircraft. A version of the vehicle could also be adapted into the first stage of a two-stage-to-orbit space launch system, says the group. Other members of the 10-strong consortium include the von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium, which is focused on propulsion and noise; the Netherlands Aerospace Center, NLR, which is also part of the noise study; and CIRA, the Italian aerospace research center, which is conducting high-speed flow analysis. Propulsion systems and climate impact input is provided by Germany's DLR research organization, while ONERA, the French aerospace research center, is focused on emissions as well as plasma-assisted combustion in the vehicle's combined-cycle propulsion system. Sweden's FOI defense research agency is also part of the plasma combustion study. The French National Center for Scientific Research is also evaluating the vehicle's potential climate impact, particularly in areas such as the effects of water droplets from the exhaust in the upper atmosphere. Studies of the overall business plan, human factors and hypersonic traffic management are being conducted by the Hamburg University of Technology, while the Spain-based Civil Engineering Foundation of Galicia is focused on structural analysis and optimization. Like the original Lapcat design, the Stratofly MR3 waverider configuration is dominated by a large elliptical inlet and an integrated nozzle aft located between two canted tail fins. For takeoff and acceleration up to Mach 4.5, the vehicle is powered by six air turbo ramjets (ATR, also known as air turbo rockets) in two bays of three, each fed by secondary inlets in the primary intake. Above this speed, sliding ramps cover the ATR inlets as the vehicle accelerates and transitions to a dual-mode ramjet/scramjet (DMR) for the next phase of the flight. The DMR is housed in the dorsal section, nested between the ATR ramjets, and is designed to operate in ramjet mode to above Mach 5 and scramjet mode up to Mach 8. The scramjet will incorporate a plasma-assisted combustion system to maintain the stability of the flame front and prevent the potential for flameouts. Tests of the plasma system in a combustor will take place later this year at ONERA, where supersonic combustion testing also took place for Lapcat. The tests will be conducted in November-December at ONERA's ATD5 facility and will focus on inlet conditions at Mach 3.7. Also planned for later this year is a test of the full vehicle in the high-enthalpy wind tunnel at DLR's Gottingen research facility. Testing at DLR will run through September 2020 and is expected to target similar free-stream conditions as those tested on Lapcat II—around Mach 7.8. The work will assess aerothermodynamic characteristics and be used to validate the results of earlier computational fluid dynamics analysis of the MR3 design, which incorporates external and internal differences against the reference vehicle. “We elevated the canard [a retractable feature for lower-speed flight] and redesigned the vertical tails,” says Davide Ferretto, a research assistant on the Stratofly team from The Polytechnic University of Turin. “We also redesigned the leading-edge radius of the inlet for increased efficiency as it feeds both propulsion systems.” As part of the redesign, the enclosed passenger compartment, which was divided into two sections running along each side of the vehicle, has been combined into a single cabin in the lower lobe of the fuselage. https://aviationweek.com/propulsion/european-hypersonic-cruise-passenger-study-set-new-tests

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  20 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Are meetings with industry actually accelerating military acquisitions?

  By: Adam Stone Military leaders say they are determined to find faster ways to buy cutting-edge technologies. “We can't afford to spend seven years thinking about a requirement,” Army Undersecretary Ryan D. McCarthy said during a 2018 visit to Fort Belvoir, Virginia. “If it is going to take that long, you are probably not going to get it. So, we need to get these capabilities sooner.” To that end, the Department of Defense has increased the number of engagements with industry, launched alternative contracting vehicles, and taken other steps to streamline innovation more effectively. Industry officials are often clamoring for that interaction, but some say the Pentagon's efforts are beginning to bear fruit. ‘Big change' One area where those changes are most visible has been in the Army's modernization of its battlefield network. David Huisenga, president and chief executive at Klas Telecom Government, said he has noticed a marked difference in the quality and quantity of engagements between industry and the Department of Defense. After more than two decades in the business, “I have seen a really big change in the past two years with how the Army is adopting technology,” he said. “They are really focused on rapid-insert capabilities. I had heard that talked about a lot in the past, but it's only recently that we have really seen that put into action.” The Army's establishment of cross-functional teams has helped to focus energy around priority areas within the C4ISR realm. Those areas include the Synthetic Training Environment Team (STE); the Network, Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence Team (NET); and the Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing Team (APNT). “They have really clarified their priorities within that here are the top five or 10 things they want to do and they have released actual timelines for implementation of those priorities,” Huisenga said. Klas has taken advantage of the technical exchange meetings, supported by the cross-functional teams and Program Executive Office Command Control Tactical, where both industry and military leaders together work through all of the practical details of emerging requirements. “Now you have the CFT with the charter to identify and rapidly field the technology, and you have the program executive office that procures and sustains that equipment, working together with industry, all at the same time,” Huisenga said. For Klas, those engagements helped lead to a recent contract supporting Army's Security Force Assistance Brigade with an initial trial deployment of advanced networking equipment components. Those are slated for service officials to quickly test and refine those components before a final acquisition. Army leaders have said they plan to upgrade the network with new capabilities approximately every two years. “The PEO made these purchases rapidly, probably the fastest acquisition I have ever seen, and now we will be getting real feed-back on that product,” Huisenga said. “We, as industry, know that they will refresh every two years, so we can really focus our engineering on those requirements.” ‘One-stop' model Rosemary Johnston, senior vice president of operations at Savi, a maker of geospatial-enabled logistics solutions, likewise gives the military high marks for its efforts to accelerate tech buys. “The services are doing a phenomenal job of trying to hasten the acquisition process,” she said. She pointed to the Air Force's emerging “one-stop” model as an example. “They encourage vendors to come to a pitch day and if they like what they are hearing they can go ahead and execute a contract right away.” Another helpful tool for Savi is the Pentagon's blanket contract for logistics solutions, under which vendors can be pre-vetted for price and suitability, thus allowing end users in the military to effectively buy direct and bypass the usual prolonged procurement process. Savi recently took advantage of its place on that list to help secure a contract with the Defense Logistics Agency, under which the company will supply 23,000 sophisticated tracking devices to help DLA manage vast inventories of vehicles and equipment stored at multiple distribution sites. That opportunity arose in 2018, with just two months to go before the close of the fiscal year, when there was pressure on the agency to get a deal done before the clock ran out on the 2018 money. Thanks to the rapid acquisition process, “they were able to place the order with us, obligate those 2018 funds, and take delivery before the end of calendar year 2018,” Johnston said. Tools and tactics Officials from both PEO C3T and the network cross-functional team told C4ISRNET these are exactly the type of outcomes that the military is looking for. While it is difficult to gauge the specific outcomes of these early efforts, and many acquisitions departmentwide still drag, officials point to early metrics that suggest industry is responding well. Take, for instance, those technology exchange meetings. “We are averaging 400 people per meeting representing more than 120 companies, from large defense contractors to small businesses and startups,” said Maj. Brian Wong, chief of market research for the network cross-functional team at Army Futures Command. “I don't think we could have seen something like this in the past.” Another tool that officials say has proven useful is the Middle Tier Acquisition authority: Granted by Congress in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, it gives the military the ability to make small purchases for rapid prototyping. “If we see innovation coming out of industry, whether it's server infrastructure or radio waveforms, we can use rapid prototyping and see how that fits in our network design in order to make better decisions,” said Paul Mehney, who helps manage the office's industry affairs. Rapid Innovation Funds offer another means to keep the department ahead of the technology curve. With projects worth as much as $3 million per project, Mehney said, these dollars have been used to explore ways that soldiers can communicate when their first line of communications fail. The funds have also supported advances in dismounted blue force tracking. Rather than require soldiers to access vehicle-mounted equipment for identifying their status in the field, the Army is testing prototypes of handheld variants that could make soldiers jobs easier. On the contracting side, the increasingly popular OTA — or Other Transaction Authority — has freed military planners to buy small quantities of emerging tech solutions for prototyping and testing. The military also is deepening its market research “We are taking a wider look — beyond the traditional defense contracting space — to include startups and smaller companies,” Wong said. “We have discussions with incubators and with the venture capital community to see what may be in their portfolios that could be of interest to government.” The close ties between the CFTs and PEOs help ensure that streamlined buys are targeted to actual military need. PEO C3T leaders point to the fact that they've held four technology exchange meetings with the network team and other program offices. For the vendor community, the fast-track environment presents new opportunities but also new challenges. Klas, for instance, outsources production of its core product. In order to meet new demand for accelerated deployments, Huisenga said, the company must keep up through more frequent and more specific communications with its manufacturer. Johnston said her firm's biggest challenge lies in ensuring that military procurement professionals understand the emerging rules of the road. “We still get requests from contracting officers who aren't familiar with these contracts,” she said. “They'll ask for a quote, they'll send a statement of the work, and we have to let them know that a lot of this has already been negotiated. We need to explain to them the process we have already gone through to get to this point.” Military officials, meanwhile, say their challenge lies in ensuring industry is up to speed on the emerging requirements. Especially in the rapidly evolving C4ISR environment, the military can only meet its accelerated objectives if industry is already up to speed on emerging needs. “It's up to us to make sure industry is informed about what our network design looks like currently, what we anticipate our network design goals to shape up like for future capability sets, and to ensure that industry knows what our architecture looks like so they know how to plug into it,” Mehney said. “We aren't totally there yet. We still owe industry a better lay-down on those three critical components.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2019/09/19/are-meetings-with-industry-actually-accelerating-military-acquisitions

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  29 août 2024 | International, Terrestre

  Pentagon withholds $5 million per F-35 jet as deliveries resume