11 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Sécurité

Why the new Raytheon Technologies will eschew platforms for new technology development

By:

WASHINGTON — “Platform agnostic.”

It's a term getting a lot of play from United Technologies CEO Greg Hayes and Raytheon CEO Tom Kennedy, in the wake of this weekend's surprise announcement that the two companies would be merging into a new firm,known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation.

Neither company works as a platform producer, eschewing the production of aircraft or ground vehicles and instead focusing on the technology that makes them work. It's a business model that has produced well for both firms, and in a Monday interview with Defense News, the two CEOs made it clear they see no need to deviate now.

“One of the first and foremost things we absolutely agree on is, we want to be platform agnostic,” Hayes said, noting that UTC sold off its Sikorsky helicopter unit almost five years ago because “we didn't like the programmatic risk associated with platforms.”

“We'll supply all the content and all the systems, all of the offensive, defensive capabilities necessary to make the system successful, but we really think it's important that we remain agnostic among the platform providers,” Hayes added.

Said Kennedy, “Neither of us essentially develop platforms or sell platforms. Why that's important is, really, the amount of capital that you have to go and spend in maintaining and creating these platforms kind of takes your eye off the ball relative to investing in technology moving forward. So that was a big feature, that both companies are platform agnostic.”

Instead, both men said the new firm will remains focused on developing high-end technologies which can be inserted on, or in, platforms developed by the other major defense primes. With that goal in mind, the company is preparing to spend $8 billion in R&D funds in the year following its merger.

When the merger is completed in early 2020, Kennedy will become chairman of the board, with Hayes serving as CEO. Two years later, Kennedy will step down, with Hayes adding the chairman title.

One area Kennedy highlighted as having good synergies is hypersonic weapons, a major interest for the Pentagon. Raytheon has already been working on hypersonic missiles, including the guidance and control systems, but UTC's experience with propulsion and materials science might be able to help deal with a specific challenge for Raytheon's weapon designers.

“It just turns out when you're flying at Mach 5, you really increase your temperature on all your surfaces," Kennedy said. "If you have a propulsion system, the air is coming in at such a high speed, that creates a significant amount of heat; it has to be dissipated in a very efficient way,” Kennedy said. “And one of the areas that the United Technologies has, really based in the Pratt & Whitney guys, is all the technology that they've developed over the years in working very high temperatures internal to their turbine engines,” he continued. “So not only do they have, I would call it the heat management capabilities, but also the material science to go implement those.”

Hayes identified two areas where shared R&D will have a near-term impact, and they underline the benefit of having a new company that will be roughly 50-50 defense and non-defense business.

The first is on aircraft control systems, where each company has technologies that can be brought to bear for the FAA's next-generation air traffic control networks. The second comes in the form of cybersecurity.

“I think Raytheon is second to none as it relates to cyber, and we view this as a core competency that can benefit the entire commercial aerospace ecosystem,” Hayes said. “Not just the connected aircraft, which is probably the first order of business, but the whole ecosystem. How do you protect passenger data, how do you protect the equipment that's on the ground? How do you protect the airplane while it's flying?

“I think we'll see that shortly in the marketplace.”

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/06/10/why-the-new-raytheon-technologies-will-eschew-platforms-for-new-technology-development/

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  • Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 04, 2019

    5 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - November 04, 2019

    DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Brothers Produce Inc.,* Friendswood, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $202,500,000 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a 60-month contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Texas, with a Nov. 3, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Department of Agriculture schools. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-S736). Hesco Bastion Inc., North Charleston, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $24,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Expeditionary Barrier System. This is a 10-month, 300-day bridge contract. Locations of performance are South Carolina and the United Kingdom with a Sept. 1, 2020, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE8E6-20-D-0001). Frank Gargiulo & Son Inc.,* Hillside, New Jersey, has been awarded a maximum $16,483,500 firm-fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for fresh fruits and vegetables. This was a competitive acquisition with one response received. This is a 54-month contract with no option periods. Locations of performance are New Jersey and New York, with a May 3, 2024, performance completion date. Using customers are Department of Agriculture schools. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2024 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE300-20-D-S737). NAVY Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office, Amarillo, Texas, is awarded a $146,039,547 modification (P00025) to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee, fixed-price-incentive-firm-target and firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-17-C-0015). This modification exercises the option to upgrade nine MV-22 aircraft from the Block B to the Block C configuration, as well as planned maintenance intervals for eight MV-22 aircraft, in support of the Common Configuration-Readiness and Modernization (CC-RAM) program. Work will be performed in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania (91%); and Fort Worth, Texas (9%), and is expected to be completed in March 2022. Fiscal 2018 and 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy - AP, N); and fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance (Navy – OM, N) funds in the amount of $146,039,547 will be obligated at time of award, $6,049,632 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year (Funding: fiscal 2018 AP, N $5,654,683; fiscal 2020 AP, N $139,989,915; and fiscal 2020 OM, N $394,949). The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Space, Titusville, Florida, is awarded a $40,304,886 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification (P00002) to exercise options under a previously awarded contract (N00030-19-C-0100) for TRIDENT II (D5) missile production and deployed systems support. Work will be performed in Denver, Colorado (28%); Sunnyvale, California (25.2%); Biddeford, Maine (14.7%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (12.5%); Clearwater, Florida (9.8%); Oak Ridge, Tennessee (4.4%); Scottsdale, Arizona (2.2%); and other various locations (less than 1% each, 3.2% total). Work is expected to be completed Sept. 30, 2024. Fiscal 2020 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $32,016,540; and fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds for $8,288,346 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was awarded to the contractor on a sole source basis under 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and was previously synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website. Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. 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Lockheed Martin Corp., Orlando, Florida, is awarded a $20,700,000 firm-fixed price contract for the design, fabrication, procurement, delivery, installation, integration, configuration, technical documentation, test, modernization and concurrency of the Littoral Combat Ship Freedom Variant Integrated Tactical Trainer devices installed at Naval Station Mayport, Florida; and Naval Station San Diego, California. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida (51%); Moorestown, New Jersey (35%); Baltimore, Maryland (8%); Clearwater, Florida (3%); and Marion, Massachusetts (3%), and is expected to be completed in March 2022. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $20,700,000 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (N61340-20-C-0003). Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Connecticut, is awarded a $20,324,973 modification (P00272) to a previously awarded cost-plus-incentive-fee contract (N00019-06-C-0081) to provide System Demonstration Test Article Aircraft (SDTA) to support various test requirements under the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) program. The purpose of this contract modification is to definitize the costs associated with the instrumentation and transition of the aircraft between SDD and SDTA. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut, and is expected to be completed in February 2021. No funding is included in this contract modification; this requirement will be incrementally funded. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY High Desert Support Services, Alexandria, Virginia, was awarded a $30,000,000 modification (P00019) to contract W9124B-18-C-0004 for installation support services. Work will be performed in Fort Irwin, California, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operation and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $2,968,096 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Mission Installation Contracting Command, Fort Irwin, California, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 31, 2019) *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2008047/source/GovDelivery/

  • Tempest future fighter worth £25bn to UK economy

    19 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Tempest future fighter worth £25bn to UK economy

    Harry Lye Analysis from PwC, commissioned by BAE Systems on behalf of Team Tempest, the partnership behind the Tempest future combat air system programme has said that the project to develop a future fighter will contribute at least £25bn to the UK's economy and support an average of 20,000 jobs a year between 2026 and 2050. Team Tempest is a partnership between BAE Systems, Leonardo, Rolls-Royce, MBDA and the Royal Air Force's (RAF) Rapid Capabilities Office, as well as a host of small-medium enterprises and academia. Preliminary findings from the PwC report due to published in full later this year said that the programme including ‘R&D spillover' would add £25.3bn to the UK economy for the first 30 years of the programme and ‘support an average of circa 20,000 jobs every year between 2026 and 2050'. The findings added that for every 100 people directly employed by Team Tempest, a further 270 would be employed across the UK. BAE Systems director combat air acquisition programme Michael Christie said: “Tempest is an exciting and ambitious multi-decade programme that will help to preserve our national security whilst at the same time driving significant economic benefits for the UK. “The initial analysis revealed today demonstrates that Tempest is critical to ensuring the UK can sustain its world-leading Combat Air Sector, preserving the sovereign capability that is essential to retaining military freedom of action for the UK.” rogramme is essential for national security and future prosperity The economic benefits of the programme come alongside the release of more technical details about the future fighter by Team Tempest, which the consortium said can “capture the equivalent of a ‘city's worth of data' in a second”. Tempest is expected to come into service in the mid-2030s and is set to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon within the RAF. 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Crucially, we are embracing new ways of working as an integrated team to dramatically improve efficiency and pace – sharing intelligence and refining our concepts digitally to deliver innovations that will shape the next generation combat air system. “Our new radar technology is a concrete example of the gains this approach has already brought, costing 25% less to develop while providing over 10,000 times more data than existing systems.” The ‘Multi-Function Radio Frequency System' is slated as being able to collect data ‘equivalent to the internet traffic of a large city such as Edinburgh' every second. The new sensor is described as providing a range of ‘abilities beyond traditional radar', with the company having already built complete sub-systems utilising the technology with a path set for airborne demonstrations in the ‘coming years'. On top of this, BAE Systems said it had begun flight-testing components for the aircraft's ‘wearable cockpit' technology. 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Team Tempest has said that the next-generation system will need to be ‘hotter than any previous platform' to increase the efficiency of Tempest's engines. The engine manufacturer has also been working on advanced composite materials and additive manufacturing techniques, to produce lighter weight, denser components able to withstand higher temperatures than current parts. https://www.airforce-technology.com/features/tempest-future-fighter-worth-25bn-to-uk-economy/

  • Japan unveils its hypersonic weapons plans

    16 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Japan unveils its hypersonic weapons plans

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