26 avril 2023 | International, Aérospatial
New Zealand seeks industry input for maritime helicopters, drones
The newly released request for information mentions deliveries to the Navy from mid-2027.
22 juin 2018 | International, Terrestre
The Army hopes industry can help figure out its network needs
By: Mark Pomerleau
The Army is set to hold another technical exchange with industry to better understand what existing capabilities can inform the way ahead for its tactical network.
The Army held its first technical exchange in February to provide industry with insights as to specific threats the Army faces, what solutions are needed and the Army's priorities for tactical network modernization. It was hosted by the relevant program office — PEO Command, Control and Communications-Tactical — and the Network Cross Functional Team, which was stood up to help the service innovate faster.
The next event will likely take place on August 1 and 2 in Raleigh, NC, and will again be co-hosted by PEO-C3T and the Network Cross Functional Team.
Informing these network modernization efforts is the Army's acknowledgement that it does not know exactly what it wants.
“In the next couple years and beyond, what's that next future state need to look like? That's why we're relying on outreach to industry,” Maj. Gen. Pete Gallagher, network cross functional team lead, said at a June 21 event sponsored by the AFCEA Northern Virginia chapter.
“We conducted a tech exchange meeting in February, [and] we got a lot of great feedback from industry partners helping us figure out what is that next step, that next future state ... so, again, we're going forward in this perpetual state of modernization.”
The upcoming technical exchange will be officially confirmed on the Federal Business Opportunities website next week, according to officials, and will focus on cloud, artificial intelligence, data analytics, data logistics, infrastructure and the mission partner environment.
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13 novembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial
BAE on track as orders flow amid heightened geopolitical risk | Reuters
BAE Systems maintained its guidance for annual earnings to rise as much as 12% as orders for military kit continued to flow at a time of heightened geopolitical risk, benefiting Britain's biggest defence company.
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4 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
USAF Sees Five-Year Window To Invent A New Fighter Aircraft Industry
By Steve Trimble and Lee Hudson The U.S. Air Force's vision to rapidly produce multiple fleets of advanced fighters the way Apple makes iPhones begins with an important change in plans for the secretive Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program. For three years, the Air Force analyzed how to replace the Lockheed Martin F-22 by 2030. The original plan—defined as the Penetrating Counter-Air capability in the Air Superiority Flight Plan released in 2017—called for developing a conventional replacement for the F-22, with a next-generation F-X fighter featuring a dazzling array of new technologies, ranging from adaptive cycle propulsion to advanced weapons and new sensors. As an extended, two-year-long analysis of alternatives neared a conclusion in mid-2018, the Air Force decided to shift to a new approach. The new strategy led Air Force leaders to drain about half of the $13.2 billion budget previously allocated to the NGAD program through fiscal 2024 in the Defense Department's five-year spending plan sent to Congress in March. Instead of launching full development of the F-X within that five-year window, the Air Force is developing a radical new aircraft design process—even as spending continues on deliveries of Lockheed F-35As, Boeing F-15EXs and a host of fighter upgrade programs. “We're at a good point to attempt something new because we have hot production lines for fifth [generation fighters]. [And] fourth-gen fighters [are] going through major multibillion dollar modernizations,” says Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “So it's a good time to try something new for a five-year window and see if we can create a new way to build airplanes for us that [is] between the building of one or two X-planes and the building of 1,000 units in a major defense acquisition program,” Roper, who is leading the new NGAD strategy, tells Aviation Week in an interview. Roper's comments on the sidelines of Aviation Week's DefenseChain Conference on Oct. 22, help clarify the dramatic shifts within the classified NGAD program over the last year. The U.S. Air Force essentially has delayed F-X development beyond the five-year spending plan to provide a window of time to invent a new business model for the combat aircraft industry, one ideally suited for a new era of air warfare with peer adversaries. The initiative will be supported by the new Program Executive Office for Advanced Aircraft that was established on Oct. 2. The office will be led by Col. Dale White, formerly the senior program director for the Northrop Grumman B-21 bomber development program at the Rapid Capabilities Office. Roper's vision for NGAD calls for a sharp break from the conventional acquisition approach adopted for the B-21, with a single prime contractor responsible for the full aircraft lifecycle, including at least a 10- to 15-year period between an initial contract award and delivering an operational capability. To Roper, the ideal model for NGAD is not another Western fighter program, but rather a consumer electronic device. Apple's customers buy an iPhone model that is designed to become obsolete within a few years, and replace it with a more advanced device, he says. The equivalent in the fighter business are aircraft designed to last perhaps 3,500 flight hours, which the U.S. Air Force buys in batches of hundreds and replaces in intervals of 10 years or less. “We want to retire airplanes when the next one is ready to be brought out—very similar to the iPhone model. So there's no reason to keep that old iPhone once you have the new one,” Roper says. Over the next five years, the Air Force wants to define the digital engineering-based approach to the hardware and common operating system approach to the software for the NGAD aircraft family. The goal is to attract new companies besides traditional defense firms to be involved in production, along with the specialized design units of the prime contractors such as Lockheed's Skunk Works, Boeing's Phantom Works and Northrop Grumman's Scaled Composites. “I could imagine companies that could build a few airplanes per month eventually breaking in and wanting to do it because there's an opportunity to do it frequently. And let's face it, design and cutting-edge airplanes [are] just wicked cool,” Roper says. https://aviationweek.com/defense/usaf-sees-five-year-window-invent-new-fighter-aircraft-industry