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

Sur le même sujet

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  10 novembre 2021 | International, Terrestre

  Montée en puissance des armées françaises : un effort budgétaire à prolonger

  Fabien Gouttefarde, député de l'Eure, membre de la Commission de la défense et des forces armées, publie une analyse dans La Tribune. Il appelle à poursuivre l'effort budgétaire en faveur des armées au-delà de 2025, ainsi qu'à prolonger l'action engagée par Emmanuel Macron en faveur de l'autonomie stratégique européenne. « L'effort budgétaire doit se poursuivre. La marche dite des 3 Md€, bien que haute, devra être franchie pour poursuivre le cycle entamé de réparation de nos armées. Je propose qu'elle se poursuive, en 2026 et 2027 », déclare-t-il. La Tribune du 9 novembre

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  29 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

  Navy Issues Sikorsky $550.4 Million Modification for 6 CH-53Ks

  Mallory Shelbourne This post has been updated to include a new photo of the CH-53K from Sikorsky. The Navy has issued Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky a $550.4 million contract modification for the next lot of the Marine Corps' new heavy-lift helicopter. The Navy awarded Sikorsky the funds for six CH-53K King Stallions as part of lot 4 of the program's low-rate initial production phase, according to an Oct. 26 Pentagon contract announcement. “The production of this CH-53K helicopter represents a new era in capabilities, technologies, safety and mission flexibility for the U.S. Marine Corps,” Bill Falk, the CH-53K program director for Sikorsky, said in a statement. “Sikorsky is committed to supporting the Marine Corps to maximize the benefits of this all-new helicopter,” he added. “Pilots are already training on state-of-the art flight training devices to prepare in a safe, cost-effective manner for operational deployment.” The Navy anticipates Sikorsky finishing the work in July 2024, according to the announcement. USNI News previously reported that the Navy restructured the CH-53K test program to address technical deficiencies discovered on the test aircraft. Sikorsky and the Marine Corps announced the two had found a fix to one of the main problems – exhaust gas reingestion – in December 2019. The Navy decreased the number of aircraft it planned to purchase in the Fiscal Year 2021 budget request because it had not yet identified fixes to several technical problems. Lt. Gen. Steven Rudder, the former Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps for Aviation, told the House Armed Service tactical air and land forces subcommittee earlier this year that the service was ready to increase the rate of production in hopes of bringing cost of the aircraft down. “The higher the numbers, the greater the learning curve from production,” Rudder told the panel of lawmakers at the time. “As we saw with F-35, as we ramp production, the cost curve comes down.” https://news.usni.org/2020/10/27/navy-issues-sikorsky-550-4-million-modification-for-6-ch-53ks

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  15 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Sikorsky Unveils Raider-X Proposal For FARA Armed Scout

  Graham Warwick Sikorsky is emphasizing growth capability to stay ahead of evolving threats as it unveils its offering in the U.S. Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competition, the Raider-X. The coaxial rigid-rotor compound helicopter is a development of the S-97 Raider prototype now in flight testing. The Raider-X is about 20% larger, with a 14,000-lb. gross weight compared with 11,000 lb. for the S-97, and a 39-ft. rotor diameter compared with 34 ft. for the Raider. The Army requires a rotor diameter of no more than 40 ft. so that FARA can fly between buildings in urban combat. The Raider-X will exceed the FARA's threshold maximum speed of 180 kt. Sikorsky is not saying how fast it will fly, but notes the S-97 has reached 215 kt., and 207 kt. in level flight—exceeding the 205 kt. target in the Army's initial capability document, says Tim Malia, director of Future Vertical Lift - Light. The Army subsequently reduced the threshold maximum speed to enable a wider competition for the FARA program. But Malia says the greater speed and payload capability of Sikorsky's X2 coaxial rigid-rotor compound configuration compared with a conventional helicopter provides growth capacity. “We looked at a single main rotor helicopter for FARA, but it would be minimally compliant in the early 2020s. We need to be able to stay ahead of the threat into the 2030s and 2040s,” he says. Bell is proposing a winged, single-main-rotor helicopter for FARA, while AVX Aircraft is offering a coaxial-rotor, ducted-fan compound. Boeing and Karem Aircraft have yet to unveil their concepts. “Single main rotor will not be able to keep up. It's already tapped out meeting the minimal FARA requirements. It does not have the ability to grow capability over time,” Malia says. “We didn't want to pull out all the stops to be minimally compliant when we had X2 able to carry more payload and go faster.” The Raider-X has four-blade rotors and a pusher propulsor. The coaxial rotors generate lift only on the advancing sides, eliminating retreating-blade stall and enabling higher speed. At high speed, 90% of the engine power goes to the propulsor, says Bill Fell, senior experimental test pilot. The propulsor is declutched at low speed to reduce noise. The Raider-X closely resembles the S-97 prototype, with side-by-side seating. Compared with tandem seating, this improves crew coordination and situational awareness, Malia says. “And we can do it aerodynamically because of the robust performance inherent in X2. We are not trying to get out every last ounce of drag.” Behind the cockpit is a large internal weapons bay. Internal carriage of missiles and unmanned aircraft—which the Army calls air-launched effects (ALE)—is a FARA requirement, but Malia says the cabin-like volume of Raider-X's bay provides growth space for future, larger systems. “The minimum threshold works now, but what if in 2030 there is a new ALE that can be decisive, but can't be carried?” he asks. The Raider-X is powered by a single 3,000-shp-class General Electric T901 turboshaft—government-furnished equipment to all FARA bidders. “We do not have an additional engine to increase speed,” Malia says, referring to the supplemental power unit in Bell's 360 Invictus. This augments power from the single T901 to give the single-main-rotor, tandem-seat Invictus a 185-kt. maximum speed. “We use the power available and have a solid design built around it,” he says. “The T901 provides speeds out of the chute in excess of requirements and, as it improves, we can take direct benefit. We have a growth path to additional speed and payload as the T901 power increases.” Sikorsky is using the industry-funded S-97 prototype to reduce risk for its FARA bid, conducting flight testing to validate design models and optimize the Raider-X. This includes flying new rotor blades designed to reduce drag and vibration. “We are getting exactly the results the models said,” Malia says. With two rotor systems and a propulsor, Sikorsky is paying close attention to the Raider-X's cost. “We have done a complete affordability analysis and design to cost. We are extremely confident we will come in under the cost goal,” he says. Several divisions of parent company Lockheed Martin are part of Sikorsky's FARA team, Malia says, including Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control and Rotary and Mission Systems. Swift Engineering will build the airframe if Sikorsky wins one of two FARA competitive prototype contracts scheduled to be awarded in March 2020. The Army flyoff is planned for 2023, with the first unit to be equipped by 2028. “There is a critical cap in vertical lift, in attack/reconnaissance, and that gap is really impactful to the Army in the 2020s, ‘30s, ‘40s, even ‘50s. So there is a need for a long-term solution,” Malia says. “The threat is projected to evolve rapidly, so we require significant capability growth on our side to stay ahead. Raider-X can provide an asymmetric advantage in the 2030s-50s.” https://aviationweek.com/defense/sikorsky-unveils-raider-x-proposal-fara-armed-scout