Saab eyes Colombia, Peru as potential Gripen clients amid Latam push

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  19 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Air Force Budget Request Includes $120 Million for U-2 Aircraft

  By Frank Wolfe The United States Air Force fiscal 2021 budget request includes $120 million for the Lockheed Martin U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, including about $48 million for the "high altitude, deep look" Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System-2B (ASARS-2B), $62 million for other upgrades, and nearly $10 million in overseas contingency operations funding. Raytheon builds ASARS-2B. The $120 million Air Force request is $62 million more than appropriated last year, when ASARS-2B funds were not included. The ASARS-2B program "replaces the front end components of the [Raytheon] ASARS-2A airborne radar to alleviate reduction in current ASARS-2A capability starting in FY21 [fiscal 2021] due to significant diminishing manufacturing sources and material shortages (DMSMS) issues," according to the Air Force fiscal 2021 budget request. "ASARS-2B fixes these front end DMSMS issues while advancing the AF high altitude long range ISR radar capabilities," the request said. "ASARS-2B incorporates a new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antenna, Power Conditioning Unit (PCU), and Liquid Cooling System (LCS) while replacing the existing ASARS-2A Receiver Exciter Controller (REC) and radar data processing software on the Onboard Processor (OBP). The front-end (AESA, PCU, and LCS) together with the replaced/modified components (REC and OBP) significantly improve existing Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) capabilities while adding new maritime capabilities. These efforts will align with back end up grades, previously referred to as ASARS-2C." The Air Force said that it expects to award an ASARS-2B production contract by October next year and that the initial operational capability of ASARS-2B will come by fiscal 2023. The ASARS-2B radar includes an open systems architecture and the radar's range is nearly double that of the previous ASARS-2A radar, Raytheon has said. ASARS-2B is to complement the Collins Aerospace Senior Year Electro-Optical Reconnaissance System (SYERS) multispectral imaging sensor. On Feb. 18, Lockheed Martin and Collins Aerospace said that they had recently completed flight testing and deployment of SYERS-2C, a 10-band, high spatial resolution sensor. "Developed with open mission systems standards to enable command, control and data exchange with 5th generation platforms, the sensor has become a critical asset to theater commanders bringing unique advantages to joint operations across the battlespace," the companies said. https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/02/18/air-force-budget-request-includes-120-million-for-u-2-aircraft/

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  21 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  With a new setup, the Air Force hopes to improve information warfare operations

  Mark Pomerleau The Air Force is realigning the cyber mission force teams it provides to U.S. Cyber Command as a way to have intelligence personnel work more closely with cyber operators. In the past, Air Forces Cyber was made up of cyber and intelligence personnel from 24th Air Force and 25th Air Force, respectively. However, the arrangement created difficulties with command relationships and oversight of teams since the intelligence operators served beneath a separate Air Force command with a separate commander. But in October, the Air Force decided to merge 24th and 25th Air Force into 16th Air Force/Air Forces Cyber, placing cyber, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare and weather capabilities under one commander, and creating the Air Force's first information warfare entity. The new organization also serves as the Air Force's component to Cyber Command. The new organization of teams moves intelligence forces from the 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing to the 67th Cyber Operations Wing. “We looked at the intelligence squadron and focused on the position descriptions that really were supporting the cyber mission force ... so that we can merge those intelligence professionals into the cyber operations squadron in order to build the mission elements that supported the combatant command requirements,” Col. Lauren Courchaine, commander of the 67th Cyberspace Operations Group, told C4ISRNET in an interview. Specifically, these teams are combat mission teams – the teams that conduct cyber operations on behalf of combatant commands mostly in the offensive sphere – and cyber support teams, which provide intelligence, mission planning and other necessary support work for combat mission team. Officials at the creation of 16th Air Force said the integration would allow the service to provide more robust teams to Cyber Command. This new structure - with cyber operators, developers and intelligence forces in the same room and read in on the same missions - provides a tighter mission thread, Courchaine said. In the past, she said, when cyber operators needed intelligence support, they'd have to ask their intelligence teammates who weren't always privy to the mission or technical context, which created gaps. “Now when you have those conversations with intelligence airmen, operators and developers all in the same forum, sometimes in the same room with the same whiteboard, you come to integrated solutions up front in early vice having to work through a process where that one piece of information, potentially out of context, is levied on the intelligence requirement to somebody that you don't know in another place ... to try to understand truly what the intelligence piece that you're looking for,” Courchaine, said. “When you fuse all of them together, I think the output is significantly better and drives that operationally speed, the agility and flexibility that [16th Air Force commander] Gen. [Timothy] Haugh is looking after.” The final realignment package is still at the Air Staff awaiting final approval with details regarding new units still to be determined, to include a new group activated under the 67th Cyberspace Wing and three new squadrons. Gaining insights from joint operations The team realignment also extends to Air Force cyber teams that serve under commanders of other services under different Joint Force Headquarters-Cybers. The way cyber operations are structured within DoD is individual services do not have their own offensive teams. Instead, these teams work through several organizations, each formally known as Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber that exist beneath Cyber Command, which in turn provide planning, targeting, intelligence and cyber capabilities to the combatant commands to which they're assigned. The heads of the four service cyber components also lead their respective JFHQ-C. These organizations oversee combat mission teams and combat support teams. Courchaine said the Air Force teams, those that conduct operations in Central Command under Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber and operations focused on China under Joint Force Headquarters-Cyber Fleet Cyber, can bring a global perspective a back to the service. These teams conduct operations on behalf of European Command, Strategic Command, Transportation Command and Space Command. In some theaters, with the high tempo of operations, such as Central Command, the approach allows the teams conducting operations to bring back lessons learned to their respective services. “You can see how these three areas will really converge and enable Gen. Haugh from a 16th Air Force perspective to not just be successful in aligning the forces appropriately but driving that return on investment where we're able to converge target sets globally ... to drive operations so that we can influence our adversaries in support of national security objectives,” she said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/cyber/2020/07/19/with-a-new-setup-the-air-force-hopes-to-improve-information-warfare-operations/

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  17 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Saab receives Carl-Gustaf order from U.S. Army

  July 16, 2020 - Saab has received an order for Carl-Gustaf® ammunition and AT4 systems from the U.S. Army. The order value is approximately USD 100 million (930 MSEK) and deliveries will take place in 2021. The order was placed within an indefinite delivery and quantity agreement signed in 2019, enabling the customer to place orders for Carl-Gustaf ammunition and AT4 systems during a five-year period to a value of up to USD 445 million. The AT4 systems and the Carl-Gustaf munitions in this order will be operated by the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Special Forces Command. “The Saab family of shoulder-fired munitions provides the U.S. Armed Forces with effective capabilities against a wide area of targets. With these systems, soldiers and Marines gain reliable, easy-to-use technology optimized for complex environments and engagements,” says Erik Smith, President and CEO of Saab in the U.S. Since 1987, Saab has delivered more than 600,000 AT4s, both directly and under license, to the U.S. Armed Forces. The Carl-Gustaf system has been a program of record in the U.S. since 2013 and in 2018 the U.S. Army announced it would acquire the latest version of the system – the Carl-Gustaf M4 (designated M3E1 in the U.S.) with a reduced weight of less than 15 pounds (7 kilos). The order was booked in Q2 2020. For further information, please contact: Saab Press Centre, +46 (0)734 180 018, presscentre@saabgroup.com www.saabgroup.com Twitter: @Saab Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defence and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers' changing needs. View source version on Saab: https://saabgroup.com/media/news-press/news/2020-07/saab-receives-carl-gustaf-order-from-u.-s.-army/