16 décembre 2022 | International, C4ISR
The network will offer more broadband capacity to meet growing demand for secure communications services in hard-to-reach locations.
11 juillet 2023 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
India's defence ministry on Monday gave its initial approval to buy 26 Rafale fighter aircraft and three Scorpene submarines from France, news agency ANI reported citing sources.
19 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
"I've been so passionate about bringing in additive manufacturing, and small batch digital manufacturing, to help on aircraft parts availability," Air Force acquisition head Will Roper says. By THERESA HITCHENSon May 15, 2020 at 12:54 PM WASHINGTON: The Air and Space Forces are speeding efforts to adopt 3D printing as a major pillar of force sustainment, now making critical spare parts for weapon systems such as engine components for fighters and rockets. “Additive and advanced manufacturing [has] been going like gangbusters across the Air Force and Space Force — printing thousands of parts for airplanes,” Air Force acquisition head Will Roper said yesterday. “We're starting to print parts for satellites, including propulsion.” And today, the Air Force Rapid Sustainability Office (RSO) announced that it had reached a first milestone in its collaboration with General Electric to 3D print metal engine parts for aircraft — printing a metal sump pump for F-110 engines used by both F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. According to the announcement, the next phase of the program — Phase 1B , now being planned — will involve a family of parts on the TF34 engine, which has been in service for more than 40 years. “The collaborative effort between the US Air Force and GE shows great promise toward the adoption of metal 3D printed parts as an option to solve the US Air Force's current and future sustainment challenges,” Col. Benjamin Boehm, director of propulsion at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) said in a press release. “This capability provides an alternate method to source parts for legacy propulsion systems throughout their life cycle, especially when faced with a diminishing supplier base or when infrequent demands or low volume orders are not attractive to traditional manufacturers.” GE originally approached the Air Force with the idea of a collaboration on 3D printed parts in 2019, and in April this year the service brought in the Defense Logistics Agency to help certify the GE-made parts for airworthiness. ALCMC, as we reported way back in September at the Air Force Association shindig, has also been pushing to get its depots around the country certified to print their own spare parts, beginning with those not critical to life and death. Air Force leaders see additive manufacturing as key to resolving the service's serious problems in maintaining aging aircraft and infrastructure and lowering costs. That said, the new 3D sump pump cover is an important piece of the engine. “Compared to other parts on the F110 engine, the sump cover might have lower functionality, but is incredibly important. It needs to be durable, form a seal and it needs to work for the entire engine to function – which is of course critical on a single engine aircraft like the F-16,” said James Bonar, engineering manager at GE Additive. The RSO-GE program is using a spiral development model, increasing the complexity and scale of parts printing with each phase. “In this program, complexity involves moving from simpler part identification, progressing to part and family of parts consolidation and eventually tackling complex components and systems, such as common core heat exchangers,” the press release said. Roper told reporters yesterday in a Zoom briefing that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RSO has transformed its planned Advanced Manufacturing Olympics, originally planned to coincide with the now-postponed Tokyo Summer Olympics in late July, to a virtual event to be held November. It will allow 3D printing companies to show off their wares to potential service customers via a number of challenges, including a “printer shoot-off” and a “Box of Parts” challenge where manufacturers will compete to create a drone part without a blueprint. “We have been growing our network of small batch makers across the Air Force and Space Force,” Roper said. “I've been so passionate about bringing in additive manufacturing, and small batch digital manufacturing, to help on aircraft parts availability.” The COVID-19 crises has proven the “additive” value of tapping into a network of small manufacturers as the Air Force has scrambled to obtain personal protective equipment for airmen at far-flung bases, he explained. Because many large producers of items like face masks are overwhelmed, the service set up the “Air Force Rapid Advanced Manufacturing Portal,” or “AFRAMP,” as a method of finding and vetting small producers to meet service needs. “It's a portal where small batch manufacturers can make their capabilities known — show what they're able to produce — we vet them, and that then allows these small companies in aggregate to add up to large batch manufacturing,” Roper said. “We've already delivered over 11,000, different PPE devices to seven air bases that wouldn't have otherwise been able to get access for personal protective gear.” His hope is to expand that portal to other types of advanced manufacturing in the future. “I'm excited about scaling it up beyond just personal protective gear, and really having it be a one-stop-shop in the government for companies that can make things in small quantity — that can't mass produce, but can produce in mass if they're added up with a lot of their other sister companies.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/air-forces-roper-3d-printing-going-like-gangbusters/
21 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial
CAE USA has received a contract to provide classroom and simulator training for the US Navy's UC-12 aircraft's aircrews. As part of the training programme, the company will provide initial and refresher training courses for naval pilots and flight officers. The programme will include training on the King Air 200 Pro Line 21 and non-Pro Line King Air 200 cockpits, in addition to the King Air 350 Pro Line 21 and Fusion cockpits. CAE USA president and general manager Ray Duquette said: “CAE has an unmatched ability to leverage a global network of training centres and training programmes. “The award of this contract is a great example of CAE's Defense and Civil business units working together to deliver a comprehensive training programme for the US Navy. We are particularly pleased that navy C-12 aircrews will be joining the army and airforce in training C-12 pilots at our Dothan Training Center in Alabama.” Alongside Alabama, training will also be delivered at the firm's facilities in Dallas, Texas, and Morristown, New Jersey. The UC-12 is a military version of the Beechcraft King Air multi-mission aircraft. Variants of the Beechcraft C-12 Huron are in service with the US Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The navy uses the UC-12 to transport personnel and cargo, as well as for range clearance, medical evacuation, and humanitarian assistance. The department's UC-12B/F/M Huron is based on the King Air B200 aircraft, while its UC-12W Huron is as a modified version of the King Air 350. In May last year, CAE was awarded a contract to deliver instructor support services for providing ground-based training to the US Navy. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/cae-wins-us-navy-contract-to-train-uc-12-aircrews/