13 mai 2024 | International, C4ISR
US aims to stay ahead of China in using AI to fly fighter jets
Two Air Force fighter jets recently squared off in a dogfight in California. One was flown by a pilot — the other wasn’t.
2 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité
Sikorsky HH-60W: The US Air Force's new combat rescue helicopter
A new generation of Combat Rescue Helicopter
AirMed&Rescue's special correspondent Joetey Attariwala was one of a select few journalists invited to Sikorsky's Development Flight Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, to cover the roll-out ceremony of the US Air Force (USAF) new Combat Rescue Helicopter – the Sikorsky HH-60W, affectionately known as the ‘Whiskey'. It was there that he had the opportunity to see the aircraft firsthand and interview program executives from Sikorsky and the USAF.
The USAF describes the mission of the Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) system as ‘one which provides Personnel Recovery (PR) forces with a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is quickly deployable and capable of main base and austere location operations for worldwide PR missions'. The CRH system activities may be required during any phase of a service / joint / coalition operation, across the full range of military operations, in any land or sea location, within the areas covered by the relevant defence planning scenarios. The aircraft will be self-supporting to the maximum extent practical; and an in-flight air refueling capability extends the combat mission range. The CRH system may conduct combat search and rescue (CSAR) airborne mission commander duties; and may also conduct other collateral missions inherent in their capabilities to conduct PR, such as non-conventional assisted recovery, national emergency operations, civil SAR, international aid, emergency aeromedical evacuation, disaster and humanitarian relief, counter drug activities, support for National Aeronautics and Space Administration flight operations, and insertion / extraction of combat forces.
The CSAR and PR mission is currently being conducted by the HH-60G Pave Hawk, which over the past 30 years has seen extensive use around the world, most notably in the Central Command Area of Responsibility. The Pave Hawk platform has seen modernization over its lifetime; however, system add-ons have increased maintenance and support requirements over the years. Speaking to this point was General James Holmes, Commander of Air Combat Command, who said: “Over 90 per cent of our legacy airplanes – the HH-60G fleet – have sustained combat damage or structural fatigue over the 30-plus years they have been in service, and the current availability rate is well below the requirement.” With statistics like that, it is no wonder the HH-60W is a highly anticipated platform for the USAF.
Introducing the Jolly Green II
The HH-60W is a highly modified variant of the battle-proven UH-60M Black Hawk, with the ‘Whiskey' variant providing significant capability and reliability advancements over the HH-60G to better support the full range of combat rescue and other special missions. The HH-60W specification drives more capable defensive systems, vulnerability reduction, weapons, cyber security, environmental, expanded adverse weather sensor capabilities, and more comprehensive net-centric requirements.
The CRH contract consists of the original Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) award, which was issued on 26 June 2014, and five additional System Demonstration and Test Article (SDTA) aircraft options, which were awarded in January 2017. In all, the CRH program of record calls for 113 helicopters, of which nine are EMD / SDTA aircraft and 104 will be production aircraft. In addition to purchasing the aircraft, the contract includes development and fielding of the aircrew and maintenance training systems along with product support.
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10 janvier 2019 | International, Terrestre, C4ISR
The Army and Marine Corps are looking at what troops will need to fight in megacities, underground
By: Todd South A recent Army and Marine war game that included engineers, academics and other defense representatives evaluated how troops could use experimental technologies to fight in dense urban areas and underground. The U.S. Army Subterranean and Dense Urban Environment Materiel Developer Community of Practice is a working group that has conducted three prior workshops that set the challenges of fighting in those environments. “Fighting in dense urban environments and the unique challenges it presents is still not totally understood, and this study was the front-end look at identifying and defining those materiel challenges to drive where investments need to be for this operational environment,” said Bob Hesse, technical lead coordinator for the Community of Practice. The most recent “tabletop” exercise looked at the gear troops might need to get through those intense battle scenarios, according to an Army release. Soldiers and Marines worked as friendly and enemy forces during the exercise, evaluating 48 experimental future technologies. One such piece of tech would be using sensors that attach to the exterior building wall to help troops visualize the interior layout. And every advantage in these terrains can help. “Everything that Marine formations or Army formations have to do is more difficult when you take it into an urban environment,” explained Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Christian Wortman, commanding general of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, and vice chief of Naval Research. The Marines recently launched Project Metropolis II, a five-year effort to better prepare Marines for likely future urban battles. “Across the warfighting functions — whether it's intelligence, surveillance or reconnaissance, collections, maneuver, force protection, command and control, logistics and sustainment — all of those things are complicated and challenged by the compartmentalized terrain that's present in the urban environment and the three-dimensional nature of the urban environment,” Wortman said. And that multi-dimension challenge grows with the subterranean. For both above ground and underground, robotics will play a major role. The Squad X project by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, for example, is blending robots into dismounted formations. Soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division and 101st Airborne Division along with Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, are experimenting with four submissions for the Squad Multipurpose Equipment Transport gear mule that will carry fuel, water, ammunition and equipment for a squad through rough terrain over 60 miles on a 72-hour mission. Lt. Col. Calvin Kroeger, battalion commander for the 35th Engineering Battalion, ran one of the blue teams during the tabletop exercise. Participants ran scenarios such as a high-intensity fight, a traditional counter-insurgency and a security force-assisted mission, all under the conditions of a megacity. But the wargaming went beyond simply clearing buildings and attacking objectives. Teams countered enemy social media campaigns, communicated underground, and assessed the second- and third-order effects of engaging the enemy with lethal munitions, which could impact local power, gas and water networks. “How we employ our capabilities changes as you move from a high-rise platform to urban cannons,” Kroeger explained. “But you're also looking at everything under the ground as well, where you can't use a conventional means like a mortar system to shape the battlefield, so that the enemy doesn't shape it for you.” As team members fix on what materiel needs might best serve troops, Hesse said the subject matter experts will assess how well the tech will meet military goals. For example, if there is an aerial technology that might help troops locate enemy forces, even though the troops can't see them because of the skyline, his team would then analyze that technology and determine how well it meets Army standards and if it needs to be modified. “We will now transition from the workshop learning to live experiments and replicate the unique conditions in real venues. We're taking the materiel campaign of learning and now transforming that into action,” Hesse said. https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/01/09/the-army-and-marine-corps-are-looking-at-what-troops-will-need-to-fight-in-megacities-underground/
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10 juin 2022 | International, Aérospatial
How Space Development Agency contractors are mitigating supply chain issues
Early planning, as well as collaboration and problem solving from its prime contractors, has helped SDA lessen the impact of supply chain issues that have affected the space industry in recent years.