25 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

US Air Force awards contract for new helicopter

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AFNS) -- Today the Air Force awarded the first portion of a $2.38 billion firm-fixed-price contract to The Boeing Company for a UH-1N Replacement helicopter.

"Strong competition drove down costs for the program, resulting in $1.7 billion in savings to the taxpayer,” said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson.

The original service cost estimate was $4.1 billion.

Today's award of approximately $375 million is for the first four helicopters and includes the integration of non-developmental items. This additional equipment integrated into the aircraft will ensure the helicopters are ready to meet warfighter needs upon delivery.

The total program cost for the UH-1N Replacement Program reflects the exercise of all options and provides for the acquisition and sustainment of up to 84 MH-139 helicopters, training devices and associated support equipment to replace the legacy UH-1Ns. The new helicopter will be an important tool for Airmen charged with securing and defending the nation's intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Air Force will also use the aircraft for training, test and operational support airlift.

The Air Force pursued a full and open competition to deliver increased capabilities to warfighters. This replacement will provide the necessary speed, range, endurance and carrying capacity needed to meet the requirements of five Air Force major commands, officials said.

"A safe, secure and effective nuclear enterprise is job one," said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein. "It is imperative that we field a capable and effective helicopter to replace UH-1Ns providing security for our ICBMs and nuclear deterrence operations."

The first operational helicopter delivery is expected in Fiscal Year 2021.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1643707/air-force-awards-contract-for-new-helicopter/source/GovD/

Sur le même sujet

  • Air Force works to ‘mitigate’ Ligado deal’s impact on GPS

    23 avril 2020 | International, C4ISR

    Air Force works to ‘mitigate’ Ligado deal’s impact on GPS

    Aaron Mehta and Valerie Insinna The U.S. Air Force is in the early stages of developing strategies to “mitigate” the damage expected to occur to Global Positioning System capabilities following the Federal Communication Commission's approval of a spectrum request by Ligado Networks, according to the service's top uniformed officer. On Wednesday, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said he was “very concerned about the Ligado decision,” adding those concerns are shared with Gen. Jay Raymond, the first head of the U.S. Space Force. “We as a nation, and I would offer as a [world], rely on GPS to do so much that affects far more than military operations,” Goldfein said. “This is our quality of life. This is how we run businesses. This is how we fly airplanes. This is the ATM that requires that timing signal to get money. This is the blue dot on your phone that allows you to get from point A to point B, so we have come to just rely completely on GPS.” On Monday, the FCC voted 5-0 in favor of Ligado's plan, which would allow the company to use L-band — a range of frequencies between 1 to 2 GHz, on which GPS relies in order to penetrate weather and dense vegetation. The company wants to use L-band as part of its plan to expand America's 5G capabilities, or next-generation connectivity. The Defense Department and other government agencies have opposed the proposal for almost a decade over concerns it would impact GPS. C4ISRNET first broke the news April 10 that the FCC would move forward with Ligado's request. “The best way I've heard it described — I'm a philosophy major and this works for me — if you're trying to have a quiet conversation and in the next room is a 500-watt speaker blaring music at you: That's a visual of what potentially could be the interference with this GPS signal that absolutely has got to be pristine, and the world relies on," Goldfein said. "So I am very concerned about it, and [Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force Gen. John “Jay”] Raymond and I are looking at different mitigation steps.” Goldfein didn't go into details about what those steps might entail. Later in the day, Mark Lewis, the Defense Department's director of research and engineering for modernization, said he hadn't talked with Goldfein yet on next steps, but expressed similar sentiments about the Ligado plan. “It's obviously a concern. Our ability to operate not only in space but in spectrum is critical. So I guess what I would tell you is right now we're considering what the implications will be and considering what the impacts will be,” Lewis said at an event hosted by the Mitchell Institute. It's something “we're working pretty actively,” Lewis added. Outside of the technical mitigation efforts, there may be policy efforts underway to try and block L-band use by Ligado. In an exclusive op-ed for C4ISRNET, leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees warned that Ligado's plan could ultimately “cost taxpayers and consumers billions of dollars and require the replacement of current GPS equipment just as we are trying to get our economy back on its feet quickly.” “We encourage the FCC to withdraw its approval of Ligado's application and take this opportunity to work with the NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information Administration] and other federal agencies, including the departments of Defense and Transportation, to find a solution that will both support commercial broadband expansion and protect national security assets. Moreover, we expect the FCC to resolve Department of Defense concerns before moving forward, as required by law,” the lawmakers wrote. “If they do not, and unless President [Donald] Trump intervenes to stop this from moving forward, it will be up to Congress to clean up this mess.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/2020/04/22/air-force-works-to-mitigate-ligado-deals-impact-on-gps/

  • Missile Defense Agency Awards Lockheed Martin Contract To Design, Manufacture And Construct Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii

    19 décembre 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Missile Defense Agency Awards Lockheed Martin Contract To Design, Manufacture And Construct Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii

    MOORESTOWN, N.J., Dec. 18, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) was awarded a $585 million contract by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to design, develop and deliver its Homeland Defense Radar-Hawaii (HDR-H) in Oahu, Hawaii. The HDR-H radar will provide autonomous acquisition and persistent precision tracking and discrimination to optimize the defensive capability of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) and counter evolving threats. "Lockheed Martin will leverage the development of our Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) to provide the lowest risk and best value HDR-H solution to MDA, which includes open, scalable architecture for future growth," said Chandra Marshall, program director for Lockheed Martin's Missile Defense Radars market segment. LRDR is currently under construction in Clear, Alaska, and is scheduled for an on-time delivery in 2020. The system's open architecture design will enable future growth to keep pace with emerging threats. "LRDR completed a key milestone in August, successfully searching for, acquiring and tracking numerous satellites, known as a closed loop track, confirming our design is complete, mature and ready for full rate production in 2019," said Marshall. The work for HDR-H will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, and Oahu, Hawaii. As a proven world leader in systems integration and development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, Lockheed Martin delivers high-quality missile defense solutions that protect citizens, critical assets and deployed forces from current and future threats. The company's experience spans missile design and production, hit-to-kill capabilities, infrared seekers, command and control/battle management, and communications, precision pointing and tracking optics, radar and signal processing, as well as threat-representative targets for missile defense tests. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. This year the company received three Edison Awards for ground-breaking innovations in autonomy, satellite technology and directed energy. SOURCE Lockheed Martin https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2018-12-18-Missile-Defense-Agency-Awards-Lockheed-Martin-Contract-to-Design-Manufacture-and-Construct-Homeland-Defense-Radar-Hawaii

  • Taiwan moves closer to acquiring 160 Turkish-made Jackal drones

    24 septembre 2023 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

    Taiwan moves closer to acquiring 160 Turkish-made Jackal drones

    The Jackal has the potential to conduct airstrikes, provide air support, attack helicopters in flight and more.

Toutes les nouvelles