19 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial

US Air Force looks to fast track cash to Kratos Defense for more Valkyrie drones

By:

LE BOURGET, France — Things are looking up for Kratos Defense's XQ-58A Valkyrie drone. Fresh off its second flight, the U.S. Air Force is considering buying 20-30 aircraft for further experimentation, the service's acquisition executive said Monday.

“I'm now looking at ways to do that and what the cost will be,” Will Roper told reporters on the sidelines of Paris Air Show, saying that the Air Force is looking for prototyping funds that it can access for a rapid procurement of those aircraft.

The XQ-5A Valkyrie is an “attritable” drone, the word the military uses for an asset that can be reused but is cheap enough that a commander could use them aggressively and would expect — and be comfortable with — some losses in combat.

What sets Valkyrie apart is not only its low price point, which Kratos estimates will be $2 million per copy in a production run of 100 jets or more, but also the aircraft's near supersonic speed, long endurance and maneuverability, which could make it a formidable partner for manned fighter jets.

Once the Air Force buys additional Valkyrie drones, the idea would be to pair those unmanned aircraft with manned fighter jets.

“Depending on what comes out of that campaign, the idea would be to look and do a program of record. You'd want to start spiraling the development,” Roper said.

A decision on starting a program could be made as soon as fiscal 2021, and from there it would be only two to three years to begin production and fielding aircraft, he said. “I am really pleased we're getting strong buy-in, strong appetite at the pointy end for attritable systems by our pilots.”

Roper's comments come after another milestone for the Valkyrie — the second flight demo, held June 11 at Yuma Proving Grounds. According to a Kratos release, the aircraft completed unspecified objectives over a 71 minute test.

“With this most recent milestone, the readiness of the XQ-58A is accelerating and increasing the near-term application opportunities for the system,” said Steve Fendley, the company's president of its unmanned systems division. “I am extremely proud of our development, production, and test teams who continue to deliver successful results, in record time, on our comprehensive system level efforts — rare within the aerospace and defense industry."

The Air Force Research Laboratory is partnered with Kratos to develop Valkyrie through the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator program, the service's effort to field a “Loyal Wingman”-style drone that can be flown alongside a fighter jet or other combat aircraft in manned-unmanned teams.

But Roper has alluded to even more ambitious plans for Valkyrie or other attritable drones like it.

Not only does the Air Force want to add sensors and weapons to Valkyrie, but it wants to implant artificial intelligence in the drone so that it can train and learn alongside pilots, eventually growing in skill and becoming able to respond independently to threats.

Roper calls that effort “Skyborg” and in May told Defense News that the service was considering how to incorporate it with manned fighters like the F-35 and the F-15EX.

“I don't want this to just be a laboratory project that lives and dies there in a petri dish. I want this to become a program,” he told reporters in March. “I want to see real, operational demonstrations within a couple years. And I will push them to be faster than that.”

https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/paris-air-show/2019/06/17/us-air-force-looking-to-fast-track-cash-to-kratos-defense-for-additional-valkyrie-drones/

Sur le même sujet

  • Australia formulates its path to military modernization and industrial growth

    1 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    Australia formulates its path to military modernization and industrial growth

    By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — One of the United States' most steadfast allies, seen widely as a lynchpin of security in the Asia-Pacific region, is in the process of recapitalizing its own air power capabilities and developing a local defense industry that it hopes will be globally competitive in the near future. Although Australia is somewhat geographically isolated from the rest of the world (with a former Australian prime minister reportedly referring to it as the back end of the world — although he used a more colorful term), the country is very much connected to the world and rather dependent on seaborne trade with Asia, thus it is invested in regional security. Its armed forces have also deployed as part of coalition forces to Afghanistan and Iraq as well as helped in the fight against the Islamic State group. There is strong support across the Australian political spectrum for its alliance with the U.S. and for maintaining the global rules-based order. The country, which is hosting the biennial Avalon Airshow in the southern state of Victoria later this month, recently welcomed the first of its Lockheed Martin-made F-35A fighter jets in-country — part of a transformation aimed at modernizing the Royal Australian Air Force into a service that will be networked to its Army and Navy counterparts. A fifth-generation air force Under Plan Jericho, the Royal Australian Air Force, or RAAF, seeks to transform itself into an integrated, networked force that can deliver air power effects in the information age. A key part of this is by realizing the potential of the increased data and situational awareness that will be made available as the service brings a range of modern aircraft into service. These include 72 F-35As, which will replace the F/A-18A/B Hornet as the service's main combat aircraft, backed by 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets and 11 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. The F/A-18A/B fighters, which are known as Classic Hornets in Australia, are being progressively withdrawn from service, with the last aircraft to be retired around 2022. Canada will buy 25 of the Classics; it will field 18 and keep the rest for spares. The first aircraft will reportedly arrive in Canada as Defense News goes to press and will enter Canadian service in the middle of this year. Australia is also replacing its Lockheed Martin AP-3C Orion anti-submarine maritime patrol aircraft, with the Boeing P-8A Poseidon and the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high-altitude, long-endurance UAV taking over the maritime domain awareness mission. Delivery of the P-8As is ongoing, with seven of 15 aircraft already in Australia, while the six Tritons will start arriving in 2023. The P-8As have carried out missions enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea, with an aircraft beginning operations in December from the Japanese island of Okinawa. Meanwhile, Australia has conducted connectivity trials on its airlift fleet as part of Plan Jericho. Working with industry, one of the RAAF's Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules airlifters was fitted with wideband satellite communications equipment and wing drop tanks, and will eventually be equipped with the Litening AT electro-optical targeting pod as a means to improve its tactical capability. Procurement road map Australia's last defense whitepaper, published in 2016, provided insight into future procurement programs, some of which include a fast medevac platform and a fleet of special operations helicopters. The latter would need to fit onboard the RAAF's Boeing C-17 strategic airlifters; and according to the whitepaper, the helo will be used to “insert, extract and provide fire support for small teams of Special Forces undertaking tasks ranging from tactical observation through to counter-terrorism missions, or hostage recovery.” The investment plan released alongside the whitepaper said the chosen type needs to be small enough so that “three or four” can fit inside a C-17 as part of a small force element. The whitepaper also flagged the potential replacement of the RAFF's lead-in fighter training system. The replacement program was expected to begin in 2022 and last until the end of the next decade. The service is currently operating the BAE Systems Hawk 127 as its lead-in fighter trainer, with the fleet nearing the end of an upgrade program to keep the type relevant for training pilots who will go on to fly advanced fighters. The Hawks are expected to continue service in Australia until around 2026. But Steve Drury, BAE Systems Australia's director of aerospace and integrated systems, told Defense News that the service life of the aircraft could be extended by another 10 years. During an interview last year, the chief of the RAAF, Air Marshal Leo Davies, told Defense News that the service was considering several different options for a future fighter trainer, and that extending the Hawk's service was also under consideration. Australia is also seeking unmanned aircraft to operate from Royal Australian Navy ships. The service is conducting trials with the Schiebel S-100 Camcopter, and under phases 4 and 5 of Project SEA 129 it will look to acquire more aircraft for forthcoming offshore patrol vessels and frigates. A larger role for industry The current Australian government has prioritized the development of a sustainable local industry and has made substantial efforts to ensure local industry is heavily involved in production and sustainment. Several Australian companies have secured a healthy slice of F-35 manufacturing work, with components for the vertical tail, weapons bay and skin panels among a host of components manufactured in Australia as part of the jet's global supply chain. In addition, Australian companies will be involved in the F-35 sustainment program, with BAE Systems Australia serving as the south Pacific regional airframe depot and the Asia-Pacific regional parts warehouse for the program. In 2016, four Australian companies secured regional depot maintenance responsibility for 64 of the first 65 tier 1 F-35 components. The next step for Australian industry could be to grow its share of the global defense market. Last year, Britain chose the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail for its airborne early warning fleet — an aircraft already in use by Australia. Steven Ciobo, Australia's minister for defense industry, sees an opportunity to work with Britain through cooperative development and industry collaboration. “Australian industry, including the more than 200 Australian companies that have contributed to our own Wedgetail acquisition and sustainment, stands to benefit from what could become one of Australia's most significant defense exports,” he said in October. The Australian government has made boosting defense exports a priority. Last year it released its defense export strategy that provided a system to plan, guide and measure defense export outcomes. The government has also provided $14 million in additional annual funding from 2018-2019 to support defense exports, and it will set up a new defense export office within the Defence Department to drive implementation of the strategy, with the goal of growing Australia's defense industry into a top 10 global defense exporter by 2028. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/avalon/2019/02/25/australia-formulates-its-path-to-military-modernization-and-industrial-growth/

  • South Korea receives engines for future fighter jet

    9 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    South Korea receives engines for future fighter jet

    By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — The development of South Korea's indigenous KF-X fighter jet has taken another step forward with GE Aviation delivering the first engine for program, although development partner Indonesia continues to rack up overdue payments for its share. The engine manufacturer announced Friday that it delivered the first F414-GE-400K engine to Korea Aerospace Industries in May. KAI is developing the KF-X for the South Korean Air Force, which intends to replace its fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighters with the new jet. “GE is thrilled to reach this important milestone in the KF-X program,” said Al DiLibero, general manager of GE's Medium Combat and Trainer Engines department. “Our success so far on this program reflects the strong relationship between the [Republic of Korea Air Force] ROKAF, our South Korean industry partners and GE Aviation, and the long and successful history of our engines powering ROKAF aircraft." KAI selected GE Aviation in May 2016 to supply F414-GE-400K engines for the KF-X fighter, with an eventual total of 240 F414s plus spares to be supplied to KAI to power 120 KF-X jets for South Korea. A total of 15 engines and six prototypes are expected to be produced for the program by 2021, with first flight expected in 2022. Development is expected to be completed by 2026. The F414 also powers the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Saab JAS 39E/F Gripen and India's HAL Tejas Mark 2 combat aircraft. South Korea plans to primarily equip the KF-X with indigenous avionics. These will come mostly from LIG Nex1 and Hanwha, although Israel's Elbit Systems will supply terrain following/avoidance systems for the active electronically scanned array radar under development by Hanwha. The Israeli company announced the $43 million contract in early February. The KF-X is also to be compatible with European air-to-air missiles. South Korea signed a contract with European missile-maker MBDA in November 2019 to integrate the Meteor, while Diehl-BGT is also reportedly set to sign a similar contract for its IRIS-T. It was also reported that the American Paveway laser-guided bomb, the satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition and Textron's CBU-105 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser will be integrated on the KF-X, whose development is being co-funded by Indonesia. The Southeast Asian nation signed onto the program in 2010, agreeing to pay for 20 percent of the development costs in exchange for one prototype aircraft, design participation, technical data and production sharing. Since then, however, Indonesia has missed a number of payments amid a budget crunch, with newspaper The Korea Herald reporting in late May that as of April, Indonesia owes $415 million in overdue payments to the program. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2020/06/08/south-korea-receives-engines-for-future-fighter-jet/

  • Dassault lance un ultimatum à Airbus sur l'avion de chasse du futur

    7 mars 2022 | International, Aérospatial

    Dassault lance un ultimatum à Airbus sur l'avion de chasse du futur

    Redressement dans l'aviation d'affaires et succès à l'exportation pour le Rafale, Dassault Aviation a enregistré en 2021 plus de 12 milliards d'euros de commandes, contre 3,5 milliards en 2020. L'avionneur estime que les prétentions d'Airbus sur le projet franco-allemand espagnol de système de combat aérien du futur ont franchi « les lignes rouges ».

Toutes les nouvelles