US, Singapore air forces to team up at vital Pacific base in Guam

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  2 décembre 2020 | International, Sécurité

  Leonardo to strengthen security and rescue operations in Brazil with the supply of six AW119Kx helicopters to the Polícia Rodoviária Federal

  Rome, November 30, 2020 - Leonardo announced today that the Polícia Rodoviária Federal (PRF) of Brazil will introduce into service six AW119Kx single engine helicopters. The first aircraft is expected to be introduced in Brazil beginning next year, with the delivery of the remainder helicopters to the operator planned to be completed by mid-2021. The AW119Kxs will be operated by the Air Operations Division (DOA) from its bases in the five Regions of Brazil to perform a range of missions including transport, rescue, emergency medical service, firefighting, surveillance and law enforcement. The selection of the AW119Kx by the PRF was made following a rigorous assessment of technical capabilities to best meet the law enforcement agency's needs. The handover of these helicopters will further expand the fleet of Leonardo helicopters used by law enforcement, rescue and public service operators across Brazil which already includes the AW119 single engine type in addition to the AW109 light twin and AW139 intermediate twin models. The helicopters will feature an advanced customized configuration including, among others, a Garmin G1000NXi glass cockpit, an infrared capable electro-optics system, rescue hoist, cargo hook, bambi bucket to counter fires, rappelling kit on both sides for special forces operations, advanced communication systems. To date there are over 190 Leonardo helicopters of various types operating in Brazil performing many roles including: corporate/private transport, law enforcement, public services, offshore transport, and naval applications. As the success of Leonardo's product grows further, the Company is committed to further strengthening its existing level of localized services with the establishment of a new regional support centre, run by Leonardo do Brasil, in Itapevi, 30 km from São Paulo whose groundbreaking was celebrated in February. The new support centre will expand the services already provided by the existing facility headquartered in São Paulo. Leonardo is committed to serving and protecting communities around the world, contributing to their sustainable growth by leading in next generation technologies. Partnering with Governments, private organizations and industries for the best security and safety capabilities is a cornerstone of Leonardo's Be Tomorrow 2030 Strategic Plan. Note to editors on the AW119Kx helicopter The AW119Kx is the best in class single engine helicopter today available in the market, featuring a state-of-the-art avionics system for enhanced situational awareness, mission effectiveness and safety. The AW119Kx has a large cabin which is able to accommodate up to six passengers and redundancy of all critical systems that are typically available on twin engine aircraft, ensuring outstanding reliability and safety. The AW119Kx is perfectly suited to perform many roles including EMS, law enforcement, utility, fire-fighting, passenger transport, training and government/military duties. Over 350 AW119 helicopters have been ordered by over 130 customers in 40 countries. A number of law enforcement, public service agencies or armed forces around the world have chosen or are already using the AW119 in Brazil, USA, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Portugal, Finland, Latvia to name a few. A variant of the AW119 was selected by the United States Navy in January to train the country's next-generation of naval aviators. View source version on Leonardo: https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/30-11-2020-leonardo-to-strengthen-security-and-rescue-operations-in-brazil-with-the-supply-of-six-aw119kx-helicopters-to-the-policia-rodoviaria-federa

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  11 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Counterdrone Tech Takes Center Stage In UK Government Strategy

  By Tony Osborne Britain is taking initial steps to create a mobile national counterdrone capability to protect major events and key parts of the national infrastructure. Although aware of the potential benefits that small unmanned aircraft (UAS) systems can bring to the national economy, the country has also experienced the havoc they can wreak. Last December, sightings of small UAS around the perimeter of London's Gatwick Airport resulted in the halting of flight operations, disrupting flights and the plans of thousands of travelers in the run-up to Christmas. Yet, despite more than 100 such sightings during the shutdown, police investigations have exhausted their lines of inquiry, no charges were ever brought and Sussex Police, leading the investigation, closed their probe at the end of September. Since then, environmental protesters Extinction Rebellion threatened to use UAS to shut down Heathrow Airport in a bid to disrupt operations, although activists were arrested before they got a chance to try. Drone use in the UK is growing rapidly. According to consultancy PwC, there could be as many as 76,000 commercial and government drones in use in the UK by 2030. In 2014, there were around 400 commercial drone operators in the UK approved by the UK Civil Aviation Authority; there are now over 5,000. The events at Gatwick have acted as a catalyst, prompting the government to get ahead of the threat. In October, the British Home Office published its Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Strategy to help civilian authorities tackle the issues surrounding drones. Along with developing a national counterdrone capability for the police, instead of relying on the military as they had to at Gatwick, the government is looking to update the threat picture of how UAS can be misused. They would then develop what officials call a “full-spectrum” approach in deterring, detecting and disrupting that misuse. Perhaps most crucially, the government will provide greater support to Britain's fledgling but fast-growing counterdrone industry. As well as developing legislation and regulation for counterdrone technology, the strategy also mentions “incentivizing investments” for the most effective technologies. “Government needs to strike a balance,” says British security minister Brandon Lewis. “We need a security posture that keeps us safe, but it must also recognize the benefits of the legal uses of drones and allow us to reap the fullest rewards of incorporating drone technology into society,” But first, the British government will test and accredit anti-drone technologies to better understand their capabilities and develop a catalog of systems that can be purchased by police forces, security agencies and other government departments. Government officials and industry admit there is no “silver bullet” to protect against all types of UAS. “There is not one specific system or one capability that solves the problem,” said Tony Burnell, CEO of Metis Aerospace, a UK-based developer of drone detection equipment. Burnell made his comments while speaking to a British parliamentary committee about the domestic threat of drones in October. “It has to be a multilayered approach. . . . The counterdrone capabilities in the UK, made by industry, will tackle 99.5% of the drones that are out there,” he said. “There is still the 0.5% of drones that you do not know about and that you will [need to] be keeping up [with] to understand.” Costs of anti-drone equipment also remain prohibitively high. But while military-spec systems to protect an airport are priced at £2-3 million ($3-4 million), that could be overkill and far too expensive for a facility such as a prison. Yet prisons arguably need such equipment most urgently. Home Office figures say there were 284 drone incidents at British prisons in 2016, 319 in 2017 and 168 in 2018, with 165 drones recovered at prisons in 2016-17. The police are not the only ones taking an interest in drone technology. In September, the Royal Air Force (RAF) selected Leonardo to carry out a three-year-long study to inform a future RAF counterdrone capability. Leonardo's Falcon Shield was one of the systems deployed by the RAF to Gatwick after a police request. The Gatwick incident has already prompted changes in British law. In March, laws stating that drones could not be flown within 1 km (0.6 mi.) of an airfield were replaced with new restrictions banning them from operating within an airfield's existing aerodrome traffic zone—a radius of 2-2.5 nm around the airfield. It is also now against the law to operate them in 5 X 1-km zones stretching from the thresholds of an airfield/airport's runway. The UK has introduced legislation that calls on drone operators with systems weighing between 250g-20 kg (0.6-44 lb.) to register them and for the pilots to take an online competency course. Registration, which began on Nov. 5, will become a legal requirement from Nov. 30, with operators receiving an operator registration number they must affix to their drone before it is flown. The strategy says the government is now developing concepts for the future implementation of an unmanned traffic management (UTM) system, but it notes that while UTM technology “will not be delivered in the lifetime of the strategy,” security concerns will be appropriately incorporated in early planning. https://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/counterdrone-tech-takes-center-stage-uk-government-strategy

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  12 décembre 2023 | International, Terrestre

  Bezos' Blue Origin plans New Shepard rocket flight after 15-month grounding