USAF Stages ARRW Captive-Carry Test, Merges DARPA Payload

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  9 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Air Force to give Sierra Nevada Corp. a sole-source contract for light-attack planes, but Textron will also get an award

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday stated its intent to sole source A-29 Super Tucanos from Sierra Nevada Corp. and Embraer. But a similar solicitation for Textron's AT-6 Wolverine will be forthcoming, an Air Force spokeswoman confirmed. The Air Force intends to put out a final solicitation to the SNC-Embraer team this month and will award a contract by the end of the fiscal year, according to a May 8 notice on FedBizOpps. “We expect a separate procurement action for the AT-6,” Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Defense News. Stefanek added that the service still intends to buy two to three of each aircraft for more experiments at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and with the special operations community at Hurlburt Field, Florida. Earlier this year, the Air Force acknowledged it was unprepared to move its light-attack experimentation effortinto a full-fledged program of record. Instead, the service kept both options — Textron's AT-6 and the SNC-Embraer A-29 — on the table and requested $35 million to continue testing the jets in fiscal 2020. Some analysts and lawmakers have accused the Air Force of slow-rolling the program in an attempt to see it quietly canceled, despite congressional enthusiasm for buying new attack planes. However, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein maintains that future experiments will help the Air Force narrow down light-attack capabilities that the service and foreign nations need. He has also said the service will be ready to make procurement decisions around the FY22-FY24 time frame. “The United States Marine Corps has already said they're joining us,” Goldfein said in March. “We're going to invite allies and partners, and with the authorities you've given us now that we own those prototypes, we will continue to experiment to build the interoperable network that we've already advanced.” According to the pre-solicitation, the light-attack aircraft “will provide an affordable, non-developmental aircraft intended to operate globally in the types of Irregular Warfare environments that have characterized combat operations over the past 25 years. Additionally, it will support Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) with the ability to accomplish its mission of Close Combat Air support to partner nations.” The Air Force has said that funding for the initial AT-6 and A-29 buys will come out of the estimated $160 million in unspent funds that Congress appropriated for the effort in previous budgets. Congress has appropriated $200 million in total for the effort since it was announced in late 2016. https://www.defensenews.com/2019/05/08/air-force-to-give-sierra-nevada-corp-a-sole-source-contract-for-light-attack-planes-but-textron-will-be-getting-an-award-too

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  25 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Astra Transformation Could Enable Nonpilots To Command RAF

  Tony Osborne LONDON—For decades, the top role as Chief of Air Staff in Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) has been the preserve of either pilots or aircrewmen. But that tradition could be turned on its head. Senior officers are undertaking a transformation plan called Astra that aims to better harness the RAF's personnel and prepare the air arm for new technologies and multidomain warfare. This includes those in space and cyberspace as the service strives to be ready for the 2040s. And one of the most tangible changes could be a move away from pilots taking up the most senior command posts. Since 1950, only one Chief of the Air Staff has not had a background flying either fighters or bombers, said Air Chief Marshal Sir Andrew Pulford, who served in the role from 2013 to 2016 with a background as a helicopter pilot. The current air chief, Air Marshal Michael Wigston, previously flew the Panavia Tornado. Before 1950, some of the most famous chiefs, including Sir Hugh Trenchard—often described as the father of the RAF—and Sir Arthur Tedder served in the infantry. “In the old days, predominantly it was what the pilots said that mattered. That's because we operated in a domain that was an exclusive preserve of pilots,” said Air Vice Marshall Ian Gale, assistant chief of the air staff for strategy. He spoke to journalists here on Feb. 24 as the air arm gears up for its annual Air and Space Power conference in July. “We have quite significant amounts of untapped cognitive diversity that we are trying to break into and give a voice to.” Always selecting pilots for the top job is seen by those in other air force posts as a career-limiting glass ceiling. But Gale argues the role should in the future should go to the “best person for the job,” and that could be a “battlespace manager, a cyber specialist or a space specialist.” Selection of a nonpilot for the role of Chief of Air Staff would, Gale said, “send a zero-message outside the air force, but a huge message inside it ... knowing that they may have a role in directing the future of the organization.” Other benefits of Astra will be the introduction of greater automation into tasks, with Gale hinting at new approaches to air traffic control. This is an issue of particular relevance as the RAF is suffering personnel shortages in this area, which is impacting training operations at some bases. This may suggest the RAF is looking at remote tower operations for some of its quieter airfields. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/astra-transformation-could-enable-nonpilots-command-raf

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  26 juillet 2021 | International, Terrestre

  US Army chooses competitors to design infantry fighting vehicle replacement

  The U.S. Army has chosen five teams to develop rough digital designs for its Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle.