27 mars 2024 | International, Aérospatial
26 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
US Army Advances Air Launched Effects Programme
The US Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Cross-Functional Team (CFT) will continue flight trials in the fourth quarter of this year as it transitions into the next phase of its Air Launched Effects (ALE) programme, service officials have disclosed.
The decision follows initial flights tests conducted at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, between February and March, during which the Area-I Altius 600 unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) were for the first time forward-launched at low altitudes in the hover position from UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in support of the ALE concept.
The Altius 600 UAS being launched from a UH-60 helicopter at low altitudes and in the hover position during a trial.
Speaking to Janes from the FVL CFT's headquarters at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Integration Lead and Plans/Requirements Officer Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Freude and Jeff McCoy, Product Lead for the Command, Control and Effects Product Office, PM Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) confirmed the forthcoming flight tests would be designated ‘Project Convergence'.
Industry sources told Janes that flight tests were scheduled to be conducted in September.
The ALE programme has been designed to enhance the army's ability to conduct multi-domain operations by using autonomous air vehicles as part of a wider FARA “eco-system”.
Expected to penetrate enemy air-defence systems, air vehicles must be capable of creating “chaos in enemy decision spaces” to enable freedom of movement for friendly forces across a battlespace.
Air vehicle mission sets have been divided by the CFT into detect, identify, locate, and report (DLIR); disrupt; decoy; and lethal categories. Mission sets will be enabled by a series of active and passive payloads that could “stimulate” and confuse enemy air-defence systems, service officials added.
https://www.uasvision.com/2020/05/26/us-army-advances-air-launched-effects-programme/
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23 novembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial
KBR to Update and Improve UH-60V Black Hawk Fleet for U.S. Army with $156.7M Contract
KBR was awarded this contract under the Department of Defense Information Analysis Center’s (DoD IAC) multiple-award contract (MAC) vehicle.
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13 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Spain’s military still has eyes for the F-35 despite European fighter push
By: Sebastian Sprenger MADRID – The Spanish navy and air force are still interested in the American F-35 fighter jet, even though the government is about to join a Franco-German program to develop a new European plane. The two services are in the beginning stages of an analysis in which the Lockheed Martin-made aircraft is emerging as a key contender, officials told reporters on the sidelines of the FEINDEF defense expo here in late May. For the navy, the choice for the short-takeoff-and-landing variant of the jet, dubbed the F-35B, appears to be more clear-cut than for the air force. The Spanish navy wants to replace its 12 Harrier jets, which are launched from the LPH Juan Carlos I. That ship's short, ski-jump deck makes the F-35B the only option on the market, according to Cdr. Antonio Estevan, a staff officer at the service's plans and policy division. “From a technical point of view, it's a very interesting option for us,” Estevan said. “The problem is the cost. The version for us would be, as far as I know, $100 million; the air force version $80 million. We are talking about high prices. Even the American president was surprised when he realized the cost.” Air force officials, meanwhile, are keeping their options more open when it comes to replacing the service's 84 Boeing-made F-18s. Twenty planes of the “A” variant, stationed on the Canary Islands, need to be replaced first, by 2025, according to Brig Gen. Juan Pablo Sanchez de Lara, chief of the Spanish Air Force's plans division. Airbus has its eyes on that business and is offering to outfit the squadron with the Eurofighter. While that outcome is also the air force's expectation, a replacement for the rest of the F-18 fleet, 64 planes of the “M” designation, is still up for grabs, according to Sanchez de Lara. The two services cooperating on the requirements of a potentially joint program means the F-35 is on the table in some form or another, though it's unclear how compatible the branches' needs will be in the end. “For the navy, it's a very simple solution because they need an aircraft for vertical, short takeoff,” Sanchez de Lara said. “For us, it's different.” Both services want new aircraft by around 2030. That would be ten years before the Future Combat Air System program, led by Airbus and Dassault, is scheduled to field a new combat aircraft. The situation in Spain is reminiscent of the choice Germany faced about the F-35, and the government's decision earlier this year to ditch the plane as a contender to replace the Tornado. The Luftwaffe, the German air force, was reportedly in favor of the American fifth-generation plane, while the defense ministry's civilian leadership preferred an upgraded version of the Eurofighter Typhoon. Airbus had lobbied hard against the F-35, arguing that the pick of a new U.S. aircraft at this stage would effectively sink the entire FCAS project. Meanwhile, two F-35s arrived at Llanos Air Base near Albacete, Spain, earlier this week for training with other NATO air forces, according to announcements from the U.S. Air Force and NATO. During the Tactical Leadership Program officials practiced integrating the aircraft into a search-and-rescue drill to extract friendly forces from enemy territory, a June 11 alliance statement reads. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/06/12/spains-military-still-has-eyes-for-the-f-35-despite-european-fighter-push/