Why Microsoft (Not Amazon) Could Win The Pentagon Contract

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  2 juin 2023 | International, Aérospatial

  Ministry of Defense of Argentina to Acquire Six Bell 407GXi Aircraft

  The Bell 407GXi helicopters will be operated by the Argentinean Air Force and Army to assist in Search and Rescue Missions

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  29 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) to deliver US$240 Million in contracted air services to the U.S Air Force

  Newport News, VA - July 27, 2020 - Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), part of the Textron Systems segment of Textron Inc (NYSE: TXT), announced today that it has been selected to provide two U.S. Air Force bases with adversary air live training under the Combat Air Forces (CAF) Contracted Air Support (CAS) program. Under the awards, worth up to a combined $240 million, ATAC will provide adversary air live training to pilots at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The combined awards provide for over 3,000 sorties per year for up to 4.5 years, which will be provided by ATAC's fleet of Mirage F1 fighter aircraft and are expected to commence by Fall 2020. The awards are part of an initial round of 5 operating locations the Air Force has selected under the CAF CAS program, with the Air Force stating its intention to contract for such services at up to 22 operating locations: 12 for adversary air and 10 for contracted close air support. "ATAC is thrilled to have been selected to provide adversary training at Luke and Holloman AFBs, enabling us to continue our excellence in providing training to US and allied pilots,” said Scott Stacy, ATAC General Manager. “With additional ATAC F1s and pilots coming online, we are well positioned to expand our flight operations and provide adversary training at additional bases and locations, as needed." ATAC is the global leader of tactical airborne training, having pioneered much of what are now contracted air services industry standards with a fleet of over 90 aircraft, over 60,000 flight hours, and 20 years of operating experience. ATAC has provided a wide range of contracted air support capabilities to the U.S. Department of Defense in locations world-wide, including the Continental United States, Hawaii and the Western Pacific region. ATAC has helped train crews from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps and regularly operates out of as many as 25 different air bases per year. About Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) ATAC provides tactical flight training and adversary aggressor services for the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, including live military air-to-air, air-to-ship, and air-to-ground training and support services. ATAC comprises the world's leading civilian-provided, tactical airborne training organization and proudly provides the highest quality live training to squadrons, Air Wings, and Battle Groups. For more information visit: www.atacusa.com About Textron Systems Textron Systems is a world leader in unmanned air, surface and land products, services and support for aerospace and defense customers. Harnessing agility and a broad base of expertise, Textron Systems' innovative businesses design, manufacture, field and support comprehensive solutions that expand customer capabilities and deliver value. For more information, visit www.textronsystems.com About Textron Inc. Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Artic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information visit: www.textron.com Certain statements in this press release may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, changing priorities or reductions in the U.S. Government defense budget, including those related to military operations in foreign countries; our ability to perform as anticipated and to control costs under contracts with the U.S. Government; the U.S. Government's ability to unilaterally modify or terminate its contracts with us for the U.S. Government's convenience or for our failure to perform, to change applicable procurement and accounting policies, or, under certain circumstances, to withhold payment or suspend or debar us as a contractor eligible to receive future contract awards; and risks related to multi-award contracts. Contact John Rupp, ATAC Tel (757) 298-8467 Jrupp@atacusa.com View source version on Textron Systems: https://investor.textron.com/news/news-releases/press-release-details/2020/Airborne-Tactical-Advantage-Company-ATAC-to-Deliver-240-Million-in-Contracted-Air-Services-to-the-U.S.-Air-Force/default.aspx

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  9 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Boeing’s KC-46 tanker now has a pathway for autonomous aerial refueling

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Last week's deal between Boeing and the U.S. Air Force on a fix for the KC-46 could pave the way for the tanker to refuel other aircraft without a person needed to manually control the process, a top service official said Thursday. On April 2, Boeing agreed to fix the KC-46's troubled Remote Vision System by creating an overhauled RVS 2.0 with new hardware and software. Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper told reporters those changes would include the addition of 4K high-definition cameras that will display imagery in color as well as modern processors and LiDAR (light detecting and ranging) sensors that will help improve depth perception. “A proper RVS like that is right on the doorstep to autonomy,” Roper said. “All you have to do is take that data that tells the world inside the jet the reality of geometries between the airplane and the boom outside the jet. Once you have that, you simply need to translate it into algorithms that allow the tanker to tank itself.” The KC-46's Remote Vision System has been a thorn in the side of the aircraft program since 2017, when issues with the system were first discovered. The RVS is basically a suite of cameras, sensors and software that is supposed to allow boom operators sitting inside the aircraft to safety steer the boom into the aircraft needing fuel. But in certain conditions, the system produces distorted imagery that increases the risk of the boom hitting another aircraft. The new LIDAR system will be key to fixing that problem, said Roper, who likened it to a backup camera on a car that also provides cues to a driver for parallel parking or assessing whether a vehicle is aligned flush to a curb. “We'll have something very similar to that for the boom operators, so telling them are they left, right and how close are they getting to the airplane,” he said. “[It's] something very intuitive and easy to work with, and I think that will help significantly with them understanding their distance [from the other aircraft] because LIDAR is extremely accurate.” Because Boeing is locked into a firm fixed-price contract for the development of the KC-46, it will have to pay for the upgrade to RVS 2.0 out of its own pocket, as the Air Force maintains that the current system does not meet requirements. But the service is so confident in the prospect of using the RVS 2.0 as a stepping stone to an autonomous tanker that it included an option in last week's agreement to fund the development of technologies that enable autonomous or semiautonomous refueling. “We have added an engineering change proposal into the deal with a not-to-exceed threshold of $55 million, so that when RVS 2.0 is done, we can then take the next step beyond 2.0 to develop those autonomy algorithms and install them if we think we can certify them for safe use,” Roper said. “We took that step because, one, we're excited about being on the doorsteps of autonomy and, [two], we wanted to send a clear signal in the deal that this is our tanker for the future,” he said. If the Air Force decides to move forward with those design changes, more will need to be done to hammer out the contractual details, said Jamie Burgess, Boeing's KC-46 program manager. “There was no commitment one way or another on who pays for what. But there's definitely a strong partnership between Boeing and the Air Force as far as developing this technology,” he said. Autonomous refueling capability has been of increasing interest to the Air Force over the past few years, as sensing and artificial intelligence technologies grow by leaps and bounds. Boeing previously signaled it could include such technology as part of a menu of potential upgrade options for the KC-46, as reported by FlightGlobal in 2018. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/08/boeings-kc-46-tanker-now-has-a-pathway-for-autonomous-aerial-refueling