27 mai 2024 | International, Aérospatial
Both the CF Snowbirds and CF-18 Demonstration Team are moving ahead with celebrating the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 100th anniversary in Canada and beyond.
https://skiesmag.com/news/snowbirds-cf-18-demo-team-wrap-up-spring-training/
14 mai 2021 | International, Aérospatial
The presumed trade-off between capability and capacity is a false dichotomy that takes a shortsighted view of where military technology is headed in the coming years and decades.
10 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is on track to finalize a business case for its ambitious next-generation fighter this summer, its top acquisition official said Tuesday, and the results could be a make or break moment for the program. The Air Force wants to radically shift its future fighter program — also known as Next Generation Air Dominance — to a model that the service's acquisition executive Will Roper calls the “Digital Century Series.” This model would use new development techniques like digital engineering, open architecture and advances in software development techniques like DevSecOps to field advanced aircraft more quickly and cheaply. At least, that's the theory. Last September, Roper told Defense News that the program's first order of business would be to present an acquisition strategy that would prove whether the Digital Century Series program is technologically feasible, how it should be structured and whether it would be cheaper than traditional forms of development. Now, the plan is almost ready, Roper said during a Tuesday event held by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “I hope to have the acquisition plan for NGAD rolling into the Digital Century Series this summer,” he said. “I don't want to go more specific than that and timeline and drumbeat for the team, because I have given them an unprecedented task.” The Digital Century Series is much different than the Air Force's initial sixth-generation fighter project, known as Penetrating Counter Air, which the service wanted to field the early 2030s. That jet would be part of a networked family of systems that include drones, sensors and other platforms formed after a decade of prototyping efforts. In contrast, the Digital Century Series model would require multiple defense contractors to develop new fighter jets in a matter of years using whatever technological advances have recently emerged. The Air Force would then downselect to a single vendor, buy a small number of aircraft and restart the process — allowing for companies to constantly be designing and producing planes. The entire process, Roper said, could take as little as five years. In October, Col. Dale White was named head of the program executive office for advanced aircraft, which manages the NGAD portfolio of systems and oversees the Digital Century Series acquisition plan. That program office will become PEO Fighters and Advanced Aircraft at the end of June, with White having been selected for promotion to brigadier general. The Air Force has asked for $1 billion for the NGAD program in fiscal 2021. It received $905 million for the program the previous year. However, it's likely the Air Force will need to greatly increase that sum in future budgets. Roper has projected that aircraft development under a Digital Century Series model could be more expensive than legacy methods due to having multiple companies under contract and requiring them to design and prototype aircraft very quickly. However, he also believes sustainment and modernization costs will be far lower. If that theory can be proved out in the acquisition strategy, Congress might more likely agree to fund an unconventional, experimental program. “How long we keep the aircraft is one of the variables that they are weighing [as part of the business case]. How many years make sense? It's clearly not two, three, four, five, but we don't want it to be 30 either. So they're looking at that,” Roper said Tuesday. “They're looking at the amount of modernization that would be expected — what we would expect that to cost and if it gets easier with digital tools. And then summing it all up to see whether the cost of having a lethal airplane per year is less than for the Digital Century Series model than for the traditional." “If it is, that is going to really help us, I hope, because we'll show that data and argue that it is not just better from a ‘competing with China and lethality' standpoint. It's just better from a business standpoint,” Roper said. “If it breaks even or is less [than traditional methods], I will be exceptionally happy. If it's more expensive — and I hope not exceptionally more — then we're going to have to argue” on behalf of the program. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/06/09/this-summer-could-be-a-make-or-break-moment-for-the-air-forces-next-fighter-program/
8 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
The Aviation Corps currently operates Chetak and Cheetah choppers, the ALH Dhruv since 2001, and its armed variant Rudra since 2013. By AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA New Delhi: The Army is working on a 10-year modernisation plan for its Aviation Corps and aims to induct at least 350 helicopters, including the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter and the battle-proven Apache. The long-pending plan includes increasing the surveillance features of the choppers already in the Aviation Corps' inventory, with the induction of the Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). What does Army plan to buy? The Army plans to induct two kinds of utility choppers and three combat helicopters. This will include squadrons of Rudra (the armed version of the Advanced Light Helicopter ‘Dhruv'), which will have 20mm guns and 70mm cannons and are to be inducted within one year. The LCH squadrons are to be inducted within seven to 10 years, while 200 Kamov Ka-226s, which are for reconnaissance and observation, are expected to be procured within 10 years through an inter-government agreement. By 2021, the Army also expects to procure six Apache choppers and an additional squadron of ALH Dhruv, to add to what is already functional. Dhruv can fly over all terrains in India, including high altitudes. What will the new choppers replace? The Aviation Corps currently operates Chetak and Cheetah choppers, the ALH Dhruv since 2001, and its armed variant Rudra since 2013. Each squadron of the Aviation Corps is supposed to have three ‘flights' and each ‘flight' is supposed to feature five aircraft each. However, in the current scenario, all squadrons have only two ‘flights' of five aircraft each. The inductions will replace the Army's ageing Chetak and Cheetah helicopter fleet at a time when a Cheetah crash recently killed the Indian Army's Lt Col. Rajneesh Parmar and Captain Kalzang Wangdi of the Royal Bhutan Army, raising questions about the choppers' flight-worthiness and bringing the focus back on their long-pending replacement with the Light Utility Helicopter. Probable advantages Army sources said the plans would be a game-changer in future conflicts, and expressed confidence that they would be put into action in a time-bound manner. “More emphasis is being put on prioritisation, rationalisation and economy of expenditure. Greater value for money is being achieved by encouraging procurements from indigenous sources in support of the government's Make in India initiative,” an Army source said. Army officers further said that the transfer of the RPAS to the Aviation Corps would ensure a comprehensive surveillance picture, utilising both manned and unmanned platforms, while sharing support infrastructure. “The operation of these assets under the common umbrella of Army Aviation Corps and a common aviation adviser to the ground forces commander will help achieve battlefield transparency,” the source added. https://theprint.in/defence/army-plans-buy-350-helicopters-10-years-modernise-aviation-corps/302506/