16 octobre 2020 | International, Terrestre

Soldiers to evaluate new light tank prototypes

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is preparing a soldier vehicle assessment of two different light tank prototypes for infantry brigade combat teams that will start in January 2021 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The assessment will run through June 2021, according to the service.

BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems were chosen in December 2018 to each build 12 prototypes of the Army's future mobile protected firepower, or MPF, vehicle identified in the service's ground combat vehicle strategy published in 2015. The service had found the capability one the service lacks.

GDLS is building a vehicle that takes the United Kingdom's AJAX chassis and combines it with an M1 Abrams tank turret.

BAE Systems' design is an updated M8 Buford armored gun system with new capabilities and components.

“I just had my deep dive today on the SVA [soldier vehicle assessment] with the 82nd [Airborne],” Maj. Gen. Brian Cummings, the Army's program executive officer for ground combat systems, told Defense News in a recent interview.

Work is ongoing to prepare ranges and roads for the arrival of the prototypes, he said.

The MPF is going to be critical for the infantry because it provides infantry brigade combat teams with an organic capability to take care of impediments to forward progression such as gunfire from a machine gun nest or another enemy vehicle.

The Army is expected to choose a winner in 2022. The first units will get MPF in fiscal 2025. The Army plans to initially build 26 vehicles, with an option to build 28 more and retrofit eight prototypes.

GDLS told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference that it has delivered three vehicles to the Army. One is at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, going through characterization and mobility testing and preparing for firing. Another is at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona, undergoing desert testing and preparing for soldier training.

Five more prototypes are in “some form of checkout, getting ready for their final inspection report to deliver to the government,” a GDLS spokesperson said, and the company is on track to deliver all of the vehicles this year.

BAE is looking forward to the assessment because the two prototypes are so different from one another, said Jim Miller, the company's senior business development director for combat vehicles.

The BAE's offering is smaller — fitting in between the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and a Stryker in terms of size — while GDLS' vehicle is bigger, as it's based on the M1 Abrams chassis.

The BAE's MPF prototype can be transported via a C-130 aircraft. Three can fit on a C-17 aircraft. And even though it is small, it has the survivability of BAE's Armored Multipurpose Vehicle, Miller said.

The Army is requiring the vehicle be C-17 transportable.

Soldier assessments for other recent competitions have weighed heavily into decisions, Miller added. “I think the soldier vehicle assessment is going to be really important,” he said. “Did we get this right? Now which one is closer to the mark?”

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2020/10/15/soldiers-to-evaluate-new-light-tank-prototypes/

Sur le même sujet

  • Florence Parly : « Nous avons besoin de cybercombattants »

    15 mars 2021 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Florence Parly : « Nous avons besoin de cybercombattants »

    La ministre des Armées, Florence Parly, était l'invitée du Club de l'économie du Monde, jeudi 11 mars. Elle est revenue notamment sur la situation de la filière industrielle française et sur l'extension des nouvelles menaces, particulièrement dans le domaine du cyber. « La loi de programmation militaire prévoit non seulement des investissements massifs pour ce qui concerne le spatial, avec le renouvellement de la totalité de nos capacités spatiales, mais aussi pour ce qui concerne le cyber. Nous avons besoin de cybercombattants. L'objectif est d'accroître de 1 000 cybercombattants notre force et d'avoir, en 2025, 4 000 cybercombattants », précise-t-elle. La ministre a également évoqué le programme européen sur l'avion de combat du futur, ainsi que l'Eurodrone : « nous avons besoin de ces programmes de très grande ampleur, dont je ne suis pas certaine que nous pourrions les financer seuls, et qui constituent une base industrielle et technologique de défense européenne. Plus les Européens seront forts, plus ils investiront dans leur propre défense et plus l'Alliance atlantique, à laquelle ces pays appartiennent et sont naturellement très attachés, sera elle-même forte et efficace ». Le Monde du 13 mars

  • The Air Force’s robot pilot returns to the skies

    29 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

    The Air Force’s robot pilot returns to the skies

    Nathan Strout A developmental robot pilot that transforms manned aircraft into unmanned systems is flying again after the Air Force Research Laboratory took its ROBOpilot out for a test flight at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, Sept. 24. ROBOpilot's name belies the simplicity of the program. In order to turn a manned aircraft into an unmanned one, AFRL simply replaces the human pilot with a robot who interacts with the aircraft controls the same way a human would: it can pull the yoke, press pedals to control rudders and brakes, adjust the throttle and flip switches. In addition to the robot's own internal GPS and inertial measurement unit, the system scans the gauges on the dashboard for information about the aircraft and its position, processing that information with a computer to independently fly the plane. Importantly, ROBOpilot requires no permanent modifications. All operators need to do is remove the pilots' seats and replace them with ROBOpilot. And if users determine that they want to return the aircraft to a manned mission, ROBOpilot is simply removed and the pilots' seats are reinstalled. The robotic system is the result of a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) award granted to DZYNE Technologies by the AFRL's Center for Rapid Innovation (CRI). Despite a successful first flight in August 2019, the system was later grounded after it maintained damage during a landing mishap. “The CRI and DZYNE team analyzed the findings and incorporated the recommendations to ensure the success of this latest test,” said Marc Owens, CRI's program manager for ROBOpilot. “We determined the cause of the mishap, identified the best course of corrective action and we're very pleased to be flight testing again.” Since then, ROBOpilot has been cleared to fly again and installed in a new Cessna 206. On Sept. 24, the system returned to the skies for a 2.2 hour test flight over Utah. “Since this is a completely new build with a different Cessna 206, we re-accomplished the flight test points completed on our first flight last year,” Owen explained. “ROBOpilot is too good an idea to let the mishap derail the development of this technology.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/09/28/the-air-forces-robot-pilot-returns-to-the-skies/

  • Germany makes a massive fighter purchase | Defense Dollars

    23 mars 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Germany makes a massive fighter purchase | Defense Dollars

    Germany makes a huge pivot in plotting the future of its air force, putting in a bid to buy a fleet of F35s on this week's Defense Dollars.

Toutes les nouvelles