7 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
Spirit AeroSystems' growth landed it back on the Defense News Top 100 list this year — and the company has more ambitious plans in store.
26 septembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR
Analysts question whether the Ministry of Defence could even spend the amount of extra money envisioned by the Truss government.
11 mai 2020 | International, C4ISR
Andrew Eversden The Army is finishing up a list of requirements for technologies it needs for the next round of its network modernization capabilities, known as Capability Set 23, one of the service's network leaders said May 6. The Army wants to have research and development contracts for prototypes signed no later than July, according to Maj. Gen. Peter Gallagher, director of the network cross-functional team for Army Futures Command. He added that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has slowed the timeline. Capability set 23 is a follow-on effort to capability set 21, which is addressing current capability gaps in the Army's network with technology currently available, such as improved network transport capabilities. The service plans to deploy new network tools every two years starting in 2021 as part of a continuous network modernization plan. “We realized we weren't going to be multi-domain dominant with what we fielded in Cap Set '21,” said Gallagher, speaking May 6 at the C4ISRNET conference. For Capability Set '23, the service plans to take advantage of emerging technology, with developments from either commercial industry or internal researchers that are part of the Command, Control, Communications, Commuters, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground. “The next steps for Cap Set '23 — it's about enhanced capacity in our network backbone,” said Gallagher. “High capacity, low latency communications that are not readily available today, but they're emerging in technology." The key piece for is medium-Earth and low-Earth orbit satellite constellations, which will provide the Army with significantly more bandwidth and reduced latency. “In some cases, it's kind of like having a fiber optic cable through a space-based satellite link,” Gallagher said. Gallagher added that Army plans to prototype the technology over the next year and added that around spring next year the Army plans to be working on the preliminary design review for Capability Set '23. Capability Set '23 will also expand on tools from Capability Set '21 to increase the resiliency of the Army's network. Gallagher said that the service is looking at advanced networking waveforms that can be effective in a contested environment. For Capability Set '23, the Army reviewed more than 140 white papers on capabilities and narrowed its selection to 12 papers that they thought would be ready for the second capability set iteration and will help “prototype and make some network design choices," Gallagher said. The Army then held a “shark tank” style event in March and is now “actively in discussions with vendors,” said Justine Ruggio, director of communications for the Network Cross Functional Team at Army Futures Command. Meanwhile, the Army is collecting feedback from soldiers on Capability Set '21 pilots and will procure those technologies this year. Initial delivery of the new capabilities to units is scheduled for second quarter of fiscal 2021, Gallagher said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2020/05/07/where-the-next-iteration-of-the-armys-network-capabilities-is-heading/
18 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Tom Kington ROME — Assembly is underway in Italy on a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter destined for the Netherlands Air Force, Dutch and Italian officials have said. The Netherlands is planning to assemble most of its F-35s at the line at Cameri in northern Italy, where Italian Air Force and Navy F-35s are already being assembled. Dutch secretary of state for defense, Barbara Visser, attended a ceremony at Cameri on Thursday to mark the start of the work on Dutch aircraft. “She was there as the aircraft, ‘AN9,' went to the mating station as assembly got under way,” said Dutch Air Force spokesman, Sidney Plankman. The aircraft is the ninth of the Netherlands' order of 37 F-35As. The first eight are being assembled at Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth facility in the U.S. The first Dutch F-35 assembled in the U.S. will roll off the Fort Worth line in January 2019 and will head to Luke Air Base for pilot training, said Plankman. “Six or seven of those assembled in the U.S. will go to Luke,” he added. Under a deal struck with the Italian government, the remaining 29 Dutch aircraft will all be assembled at Cameri, which is owned by the Italian government and operated by Italian state-controled defense firm Leonardo in partnership with Lockheed Martin. AN9 will be completed in February 2019 before undertaking test flights in Italy and heading to the Netherlands around October 2019. “It will be the first F-35 to arrive in the Netherlands,” said Plankman. Cameri has already delivered F-35As to the Italian Air Force, which are flying from Italy's Amendola Air Base. In January, the first F-35B to be assembled outside the U.S., which is destined to fly with the Italian Navy, was handed over to Italy at Cameri. Italy is currently due to purchase 60 F-35 As and 30 F-35Bs. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/06/15/work-on-dutch-f-35s-kicks-off-in-italy/