3 août 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
Artificial intelligence flies XQ-58A Valkyrie drone
The Autonomous Air Combat Operations team created algorithms for the flight that took millions of hours to mature.
2 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial
The Air Force's Goal: Turn Cargo Planes into Makeshift Bombers
- The Air Force is proposing turning unarmed military cargo jets into temporary bombers.
- Cargo jets, with their large internal volume, could launch missiles from safe distances, far away from enemy forces.
- The Air Force has already successfully tested dropping simulated munitions from the back of airplanes.
The U.S. Air Force is looking at arming otherwise unarmed cargo planes, pressing them into service as makeshift bombers. The service believes future wars with adversaries like Russia or China will require plenty of aerial firepower and transport planes, loaded with pallets of cruise missiles, could provide an inexpensive solution.
According to Defense News, the Air Force thinks aircraft such as the C-130J Super Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III could become part-time missile trucks.
The unarmed aircraft typically shuttle troops and equipment, but in a pinch, would be equipped with “smart pallets” carrying long-range cruise missiles and other munitions.
The pallets would be capable of feeding position, navigation, and targeting data to their onboard missiles. Once dropped from the rear of the aircraft, the pallets would quickly release their missile cargoes, sending them downrange to their targets. The larger the aircraft, the more missiles it could carry.
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15 juillet 2019 | International, Autre défense
ICF secures cyber services contract from US Navy
ICF International has received a contract from the US Navy to provide cyberspace technical, management and professional services. The multiple-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract is with the Navy Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific). With a potential ceiling value of $800m, the seven-year contract includes a base period of three years and two two-year options. The base period has a ceiling of $330m. ICF cyber line of business senior vice-president Jonathan Sholtis said: “We view cyber as an enabler for resilience, one of many domains that affect the security of the entire enterprise. “At ICF, we're focused on providing holistic solutions designed to secure all systems, from IT to people and processes to physical infrastructure, where clients have access to a diverse set of capabilities designed to meet the full scale of diffuse and asymmetric cyber threats.” Under the contract, ICF will provide cyber services to NIWC Pacific and any US Navy client agencies. The range of services will include supporting technology assessments, research and development in cybersecurity, quick prototyping and integration, cybersecurity operations, vulnerability evaluations, and simulation and training. The contract will allow the company to further expand its cyber services offering within the armed services. ICF also provides cyber services support to the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the US Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). ICF cyber and enterprise resilience business development senior vice-president Baris Yener said: “The navy win is a natural extension of our overall growth strategy: to extend ICF's cyber and resilience capabilities from our work with ARL and ACC to additional defence clients. “We're truly honoured to have been selected by the navy to support its ongoing cyber mission.” https://www.naval-technology.com/news/icf-secures-cyber-services-contract-from-us-navy/
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20 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Future EU space programme
Council agrees its position on future EU space programme The EU is establishing its future space policy programme for the years 2021-2027. EU ambassadors meeting in Coreper on 19 December agreed on the Council's position on the draft regulation on an EU space programme. This position enables negotiations to begin with the European Parliament. The agreed text does not cover financial and horizontal issues which are being discussed as part of the negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2021 to 2027. Space plays an increasingly important role in our everyday life. Space-related inventions and services are already changing the way we live and work. The European Union is determined to keep the leading edge and the place it deserves in the global space economy. Norbert Hofer Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology of Austria The new regulation will ensure: high-quality, up-to-date and secure space-related data and services; greater socio-economic benefits from the use of such data and services, such as increased growth and job creation in the EU; enhanced security and strategic autonomy of the EU; a stronger role for the EU as a leading actor in the space sector. It will achieve this by : simplifying and streamlining the existing EU legal framework on space policy; providing the EU with an adequate space budget to continue and improve on existing space flagship programmes such as EGNOS, Galileo and Copernicus, as well as monitor space hazards under the ‘space situational awareness' programme (SSA), and cater for access to secure satellite communications for national authorities (GOVSATCOM); establishing the rules for governance of the EU space programme; standardising the security framework of the space programme. Next steps This agreement opens the way for the Presidency to begin negotiations with the European Parliament with the aim of reaching a rapid adoption of the regulation. The European Parliament adopted its negotiating mandate on 13 December 2018. Background On June 2018, the Commission presented its proposal for a Regulation for a space programme for the European Union. The proposed regulation is part of the follow-up to the Commission's Communication on a Space Strategy for Europe (SSE). The Commission proposal suggests an overall budget for the programme of €16 billion in current prices for the period 2021-2027 with the following indicative breakdown: €9.7 billion for Galileo and EGNOS, €5.8 billion for Copernicus and €0.5 billion for SSA and GOVSATCOM. Commission's Communication on a space strategy for Europe. Read the full agreed text here https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/12/20/council-agrees-its-position-on-future-eu-space-programme