Nouvelles

The Nato military alliance has just received its first cutting-edge spy drones called Global Hawks. They'll help commanders on the ground identify potential threats to Nato members - with one single drone able to watch over a territory the size of Poland. BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale has been given an exclusive look at the new unmanned aircraft. https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-51156680/global-hawk-drones-a-look-at-nato-s-new-spy-tool

by Kris Osborn Key point: At this rate, the F-35 won't even see combat before its outmoded. It is also possible that the new 6th-generation fighter could use advanced, futuristic stealth technology able to enable newer, more capable air defenses. The air defenses of potential adversaries are increasingly using faster computing processing power and are better networked together, more digital, able to detect a wider range of frequencies and able to detect stealthy aircraft at farther distances. The Air Force has begun experimenting and conceptual planning for a 6th generation fighter aircraft to emerge in coming years as a technological step beyond the F-35, service leaders said. "We have started experimentation, developmental planning and technology investment," Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Acquisition, told Scout Warrior in an interview. The new aircraft, engineered to succeed the 5th-generation F-35 Joint StrikeFighter and explode onto the scene by the mid 2030s, is now in the earliest stages of conceptual development with the Air Force and Navy. The two services are now working together on early conceptual discussions about the types of technologies and capabilities the aircraft will contain. While the Air Force has not yet identified a platform for the new aircraft. The Air Force characterizes the effort in terms of a future capability called Next-Gen Air Dominance. While Bunch did not elaborate on the specifics of ongoing early efforts, he did make reference to the Air Superiority 2030 Flight Plan which delineates some key elements of the service's strategy for a future platform. Fighter jets in 20-years may likely contain the next-generation of stealth technology, electronic warfare, sophisticated computer processing and algorithms, increased autonomy, hypersonic weapons and so-called "smart-skins" where sensors are built into the side of the aircraft itself. Some of these characteristics may have been on display more than a year ago when Northrop Grumman's SuperBowl AD revealed a flashy first look at its rendering of a new 6th-generation fighter jet. Northrop is one of a number of major defense industry manufacturers who will bid for a contract to build the new plane - when the time is right. While there are not many details available on this work, it is safe to assume Northrop is advancing concepts, technology and early design work toward this end. Boeing is also in the early phases of development of a 6th-gen design, according to a report in Defense News. The Navy's new aircraft will, at least in part, replace the existing inventory of F/A-18 Super Hornets which will start to retire by 2035, Navy officials said. The Navy vision for a future carrier air wing in 2040 and beyond is comprised of the carrier-launched variant of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35C, and legacy aircraft such as the EA-18G Growler electronic jamming aircraft. Also, around this time is when Navy planners envision its 6th generation aircraft to be ready, an aircraft which will likely be engineered for both manned and unmanned missions. Technologies are rapidly advancing in coatings, electromagnetic spectrum issues, artificial intelligence, maneuvering, superiority in sensing the battlespace, communications and data links, Navy leaders have said. Navy officials also add that the Navy is likely to develop new carrier-launched unmanned air vehicles in coming years as well. For instance, Northrop's historic X-47B demonstrator aircraft was the first unmanned system to successfully launch and land on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Analysts have speculated that as 6th generation developers seek to engineer a sixth-generation aircraft, they will likely explore a range of next-generation technologies such as maximum sensor connectivity, super cruise ability and an aircraft with electronically configured “smart skins.” Super cruise technology would enable the new fighter jet to cruise at supersonic speeds without needing afterburner, analysts have explained. As a result, super cruise brings a substantial tactical advantage because it allows for high-speed maneuvering without needing afterburner, therefore enable much longer on-location mission time. Such a scenario provides a time advantage as the aircraft would likely outlast a rival aircraft likely to run out of fuel earlier. The Air Force F-22 has a version of supercruise technology. Maximum connectivity would mean massively increased communications and sensor technology such as having an ability to achieve real-time connectivity with satellites, other aircraft and anything that could provide relevant battlefield information.The new aircraft might also seek to develop the ability to fire hypersonic weapons, however such a development would hinge upon successful progress with yet-to-be-proven technologies such as scramjets traveling at hypersonic speeds. Some tests of early renderings of this technology have been tested successfully and yet other attempts have failed. The Air Force Chief Scientist, Dr. Geoffrey Zacharias, has told Scout Warrior that the US anticipates having hypersonic weapons by the 2020s, hypersonic drones by the 2030s and recoverable hypersonic drone aircraft by the 2040s. There is little doubt that hypersonic technology, whether it be weaponry or propulsion, or both, will figure prominently into future aircraft designs. Smart aircraft skins would involve dispersing certain technologies or sensors across the fuselage and further integrating them into the aircraft itself, using next-generation computer algorithms to organize and display information for the pilot. We see some of this already in the F-35; the aircraft sensor fusion uses advanced computer technology to collect, organize and display combat relevant information from a variety of otherwise disparate sensors onto a single screen for pilots. In addition, Northrop's Distributed Aperture System is engineered to provide F-35 pilots with a 360-degree view of the battlespace. Cameras on the DAS are engineered into parts of the F-35 fuselage itself to reduce drag and lower the aircraft's radar signature. Smart skins with distributed electronics means that instead of having systems mounted on the aircraft, you would have apertures integrated on the skin of the aircraft, analysts have said. This could reduce drag, increase speed and maneuverability while increasing the technological ability of the sensors. It is also possible that the new 6th-generation fighter could use advanced, futuristic stealth technology able to enable newer, more capable air defenses. The air defenses of potential adversaries are increasingly using faster computing processing power and are better networked together, more digital, able to detect a wider range of frequencies and able to detect stealthy aircraft at farther distances. The new 6th-generation fighter will also likely fire lasers and have the ability to launch offensive electronic attacks. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/f-35s-are-dead-sixth-generation-fighter-aircraft-its-way-114901

Lee Hudson The U.S. Congress is providing the military with direct responses to the threat of climate change. The passage of defense policy legislation provides the military with new tools to address the effects of the warming globe on strategic security interests, installations and readiness. Congress addresses climate change in defense legislation Climate change negatively affects military training That climate change is a threat to national security has been acknowledged by the military for nearly 30 years. In 1990, the U.S. Naval War College issued a report on “Global Climate Change Implications for the United States.” But in recent years, the issue has become politically charged, with the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voting in 2016 on an amendment to block Pentagon action on climate change. Now legislative support for addressing the security effects of a warming planet is growing. The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) characterized climate change as a direct threat to national security. Two years later, lawmakers are uniting around potential solutions. Last month, President Donald Trump signed into law the 2020 NDAA, which includes 10 provisions related to climate security. The bill made it through the Democrat-controlled House and the Senate, past Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), who wrote a book in 2012 calling global warming The Greatest Hoax. The 2020 NDAA mandates creation of a Climate Security Advisory Council within the intelligence community to ensure analysis is informed by the best possible science. Intelligence experts must incorporate the foresight scientists have in projecting stress on various regions to predict potential crises. Establishing a Climate and Security Council is a positive step, John Conger, director of the Center for Climate and Security, tells Aviation Week. “If you know there is going to be a water shortage in some portion of the world, that would inform, for example, the assessment of whether that region is going to go unstable,” Conger says. Another provision in the bill related to climate-security strategic interests for the U.S. revolves around the Arctic. Section 1752 of the 2020 NDAA directs the Pentagon to consider sites for a strategic port in the Arctic and submit a report to Congress no later than June 2020. The document should include a cost estimate for construction and sustained operations at the site. For years, experts have rallied for the U.S. to have a more permanent presence in the Arctic as melting ice caps begin to open sea lanes to vessels from Russia and other nations. As the Arctic continues to warm, extreme weather has hit hard at existing bases in the continental U.S. In 2018, Hurricane Michael decimated Tyndall AFB in Florida. Tyndall was home to the Air Force's fleet of Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors. The Air Force is still coping with the aftermath. While Tyndall is undergoing repairs, F-22s assigned to the 43rd and 95th Fighter Sqdns. have moved to other installations. The jets assigned to the 43rd relocated to Eglin AFB in Florida, while the 95th's aircraft are being spread out across F-22 units at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, and Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia. The military is not just concerned about its coastal bases. A few months after Hurricane Michael floodwaters reached 7ft. (2.1 m), damaging Offutt AFB in Nebraska and causing personnel to move aircraft and munitions to higher ground. The flooding damaged one-third of the Midwestern base, home to the headquarters of the nation's nuclear arsenal, U.S. Strategic Command (Stratcom) and the 55th Wing. The 55th Wing is Air Combat Command's largest wing, with an annual budget of more than $477 million, 45 aircraft, 31 squadrons and 7,000 employees. In total, the damage at Tyndall and Offutt will cost the American taxpayer an estimated $5 billion to rebuild. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson had to beg Congress for $5 billion in emergency funding to begin rebuilding the installations damaged by natural disasters. Section 328 of the 2020 NDAA creates a dedicated budget line item for adaptation to and mitigation of extreme weather on military networks, installations, facilities and other assets. These include loss or obstructed access to training ranges. The bill defines extreme weather as recurrent flooding, drought, desertification, wildfires and thawing permafrost. In 2019, the Air Force submitted to Congress a “Top 10” list of installations at risk of extreme damage from chaging weather. Six of the bases are in Florida—Eglin, Hurlburt Field, Patrick AFB, Homestead Air Reserve Base, MacDill AFB and Tyndall. The base taking the top spot is Vandenberg AFB in California, home to the Space Force's Space Operations Command. The remaining installations at risk are Dover AFB in Delaware and Langley-Eustis in Virginia. “As developed, the above list reflects installations susceptible to the consequences of severe weather events: coastal and inland flooding, wildfires, and/or drought; not necessarily 50-100-year climatic changes,” the submission states. “This list does not look at any specific critical mission implications (i.e., even if the base is subject to flooding because a portion is within a 100-year flood plain, a mission-critical facility may not be impacted because of its location on the base or it is on high ground; e.g. the Stratcom Headquarters Building on Offutt AFB).” The Army assessed six climate vulnerabilities on its military bases in the U.S. The service is most concerned about desertification, or land degradation caused by dry conditions, affecting its installations especially at Yuma Proving Ground and Fort Huachuca in Arizona, Fort Irwin and Camp Roberts in California, Fort Bliss in Texas, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Hawthorne Army Depot in Nevada, Tooele Army Depot in Utah and Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. “The analysis is based on climate science only and is not influenced by strategic or mission considerations,” the Army report says. The majority of the measures to defend the military against climate change to date are reactionary, but Section 2801a of the 2020 NDAA is more preventative, directing the Pentagon to incorporate military installation resilience into master plans; it authorizes funding for climate resilience projects. These installation master plans will specifically assess vulnerabilities to the bases and surrounding communities, identify missions affected by those susceptibilities and propose projects to address those weaknesses. “Until you start incorporating these risks into your master planning process, you aren't going to fully appreciate what you have to do at a particular location,” Conger says. “You can't just throw money at a problem not knowing what you're supposed to do.” The Navy paid attention to climate change early on because the service has the most coastal bases and infrastructures in its inventory. Separate from climate change, a few years ago Congress directed the Navy to study the infrastructure requirements of its shipyards. That assessment found that the dry docks at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Virginia were not high enough to deal with sea level rise, Conger says. The 2020 NDAA authorizes $49 million for a project at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard to increase the height of the floodwalls around its dry docks. The shipyard's primary mission is the overhaul, repair and modernization of Los Angeles-class fast-attack nuclear-powered submarines. Climate change is also affecting the U.S. military's readiness levels because of an increasing number of Black Flag days, when the temperature rises to 90F or higher, and training is suspended. This affects units being able to complete a training syllabus on time, Conger says. “It's not like we've never done workarounds in training, but these are things where the training experts in all of the services will have to look at trends and figure out how to adjust what they have to do,” he says. “It is not something they're immune from; it's something they're going to have to accommodate and deal with.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/us-military-given-authority-defend-against-climate-change

NAVY Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, is awarded a $30,358,285 cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-19-C-5509 to exercise the option for dual band radar design agent support efforts. Work will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts (69%); Port Hueneme, California (17%); and Arvonia, Virginia (14%), and is expected to be completed by January 2021. Fiscal 2020 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $2,099,910 will be obligated at time of award, and funds in the amount of $1,069,769 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. CACI International Inc./BIT Systems, Sterling, Virginia, is awarded a $13,336,559 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides engineering, program management and technical services to support the installation, integration and sustainment of counter unmanned aerial systems. Installation and integration includes modeling and simulation, hardware installation, software integration, verification testing and integration trouble shooting support. System sustainment includes maintainability and deployment upgrades of operational systems, reconfiguration of installed systems, training, system maintenance, software updates and hardware repairs. Work will be performed in Sterling, Virginia (34%); various locations within the continental U.S (33%); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (33%), and is expected to be completed in January 2022. No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00421-20-D-0020). ARMY Phillips Corp.,* Hanover, Maryland, was awarded a $28,570,997 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of Computer Numeric Control mill and lathe assemblies. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 16, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity (W9098S-20-D-0004). Four Tribes Enterprises Inc.,* Gaithersburg, Maryland, was awarded a $13,147,968 firm-fixed-price contract for the construction of a perimeter security entry point at Rome Laboratory. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, with an estimated completion date of July 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 civil construction funds in the amount of $13,147,968 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, New York, is the contracting activity (W912DS-20-C-0005). Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Virginia, was awarded an $8,873,629 firm-fixed-price contract for program management support services on the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army for the Functional Management Division, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, Technology and Business Architecture Integration Directorate. Fifty-five bids were solicited with one bid received. Work will be performed in Arlington, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 17, 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army, funds in the amount of $8,873,629 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (W15QKN-20-F-0144). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Honeywell International, doing business as Honeywell Aerospace-Tucson, Tucson, Arizona, has been awarded a $25,664,750 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for helicopter generators. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a one-year base contract with four one-year options periods. Location of performance is Arizona with a Jan 17, 2026, performance completion date. Using military service is the Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-20-D-0016). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2060522/source/GovDelivery/

By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant coaxial demonstrator flew more than 100 knots in a Jan. 13 flight test as the aircraft — built for the U.S. Army's Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator program — continues to expand its flight envelope in weekly sorties. The aircraft also maneuvered at 30-degree bank turns during the flight in a test of its agility at the Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky's Development Flight Test Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Defiant has been flying for nearly a year. Its first flight was in March 2018 after a delay to the program to challenges mostly related to the manufacturing its rotor blades. The program seems to have picked up the pace. In October, Ken Eland, Boeing's director and manager of its Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program, told reporters that the aircraft flew three times in March and April, but the company took a pause in flight operations after discovering an issue with the gearbox of the propulsion system test bed, or PSTB, which the team is using for extensive ground tests of the aircraft. Defiant was back up in the air by Sept. 24 when it flew in every direction at speeds of 20 knots. The company said last fall that it planned to push the aircraft to 40 knots and believed it would be able to hit top speeds of 250 knots, which is more than the 230-knot requirement set by the Army. The aircraft is one of two demonstrators flying as part of the Army's Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator, or JMR TD, program, which is meant to inform the service's Future Vertical Lift programs of record, specifically a future long-range assault aircraft the Army wants to field by 2030. The other demonstrator is Bell's V-280 Valor tilt-rotor demonstrator, which as been flying for more than two years and recently completed autonomous test flight series in December. While the official JMR TD phase has ended, according to the Army, both Valor and Defiant continue to fly as each team works to drive down risk related to technology development that would ultimately help a possible program of record move more quickly down the road. Even though the two demonstrators are in different places in their flight test plans, Maj. Gen. Thomas Todd, the program executive officer for Army aviation, said earlier this month that the service wasn't planning to wait for each competitor to reach the same goal posts before proceeding. The only advantage a vendor might have in meeting timelines is that it is able to burn down risk in technology development, he added. The Army is preparing to award an other transaction authority contract to begin a competitive demonstration and risk reduction, or CDRR, effort in March. An OTA is a type of contract that enables rapid prototyping. The CDRR will consist of two phases that last approximately one year each. “In the CDRR, we're really trying to develop a weapons system, not the tech demonstrator,” Brig. Gen. Wally Rugen, who is in charge of the Army's aviation modernization, recently said. “So we're trying to take it to the next level.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/01/17/defiant-exceeds-100-knots

Michael Bruno Woodward, Hexcel, United Technologies, Raytheon, L3 Technologies and Harris at first glance have relatively little in common, except they are mostly midsize suppliers and specialists primarily serving the aerospace and defense (A&D) market. Increasingly, that is exactly why they are pairing up—and if other recent deals are an indication, it could be one of the leading trends this year in A&D mergers and acquisitions (M&A). On Jan. 12, aircraft motion-control specialist Woodward and composites leader Hexcel proposed stock merger to create one of the largest independent A&D suppliers, with capabilities running from wing and engine parts to advanced materials used to make aircraft construction lighter. The companies have minimal sales overlap, which could help ease approval by antitrust regulators. The combined company, Woodward Hexcel, would hold key supplier positions on most major A&D programs, including: the Airbus A220, A320neo, A330neo and A350; the Boeing 737 MAX, 777X, 787 and Apache helicopter; Bombardier Global 7500; Embraer E-Jets E2; Gulfstream G500/600; and Lockheed Martin F-35 and CH-53. Perhaps more important for shareholders, the “merger of equals” between Woodward and Hexcel could become a lucrative stake. According to the companies, their combined revenue of $5.3 billion would place the new Woodward Hexcel sixth among major A&D suppliers (see graph). What is more, the combined company, which will be based in Fort Collins, Colorado, should generate about $1 billion in free cash flow—the proceeds used to fuel shareholder returns—in its first year. In turn, around $1.5 billion is expected to be sent to shareholders within 18 months of the deal's completion. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020. Initially, financial analysts who cover publicly traded A&D companies were surprised by the proposed combination. But tie-ups that see midsize specialists combining to provide greater portions of A&D systems and parts are likely to become more commonplace. Last summer, L3 Technologies and Harris paired to form L3Harris Technologies. By the summer of 2020, United Technologies and Raytheon are expected to close their own “merger of equals” to become Raytheon Technologies. “I think this deal is very similar to several other aerospace deals that we've seen the last 3-4 years,” Credit Suisse analyst Rob Spingarn says of Woodward Hexcel. “Right off the bat, it looks a lot like Harris and L3. If you line up the PowerPoint presentations from the two deals, they are almost mirror images of each other.” To that end, all of these companies have talked about increasing the amount of dollars spent on research and development (R&D). However, the so-called synergies from the combination of Raytheon Technologies are years off—assuming they occur at all—while rewards for shareholders will be almost immediate. The CEOs of Woodward and Hexcel assert that they will spend $250 million on R&D in the first full year after the deal closes, which according to analysts, is roughly in line with what they were going to spend separately. At the same time, the combined company expects to cut at least $125 million worth of recurring and redundant costs. Of course, each deal has its own criteria for justification: United Technologies looked to gain heft to fight off Airbus and Boeing supply-chain squeezes; Raytheon needed deeper pockets to fund defense technology plays; and L3 and Harris each wanted to become defense primes. Last but not least, Woodward and Hexcel CEOs say they see genuine opportunities to help commercial aviation become more sustainable through the lighter, more efficient design of aircraft and engines. A&D M&A consultants are preparing to release their year-end summaries for 2019, but dealmakers already are telling Aviation Week they expect a robust environment for M&A deals in 2020, albeit not universally across the industry. For instance, sub-tier commercial aviation suppliers like “mom and pop shops” will continue to be gobbled up, especially by private equity investors directly or through holding companies as they seek to form new middleweight suppliers. Defense technology specialists also remain hot targets, as evidenced by the mid-December announcement that government services heavyweight Leidos is buying boutique aircraft and defense systems provider Dynetics for $1.65 billion. But consolidation in space may take top billing amongst the bevy of startups funded by a venture capital surge in recent years, with major assets such as Maxar Technologies' MDA subsidiary being sold to private equity investors at the end of December. Space-sector combinations could be another major trend for 2020, according to Matt O'Connell, managing partner at Seraphim Capital—the firm that funded the buildup of GeoEye, now a core part of Maxar after MDA. “I think there are a lot of deals out there waiting to be done,” he says. https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/new-trend-acquisitions-mergers-equal-different?

This is an abbreviated article based on the 1200+ word article ‘Can Surging Demand For New Fighters Create New-Generation Momentum?' from Aviation Week & Space Technology's Aerospace 2020 issue. The world's fighter market will thrive in 2020. A long-repressed call to replace aging fighter fleets around the globe is finally gaining momentum, as overall defense spending levels continue to rise. A sharp growth spurt in fighter output in 2020 will revive decades-old production models that not long ago either seemed to be winding down or dormant, and will fuel investments in new long-range weapons, offensive electronic warfare, seamless connectivity, improved sensors and other new capabilities. The world's fighter community also will seek to clarify and define a new generation of tactical combat aircraft systems after 2030. As these programs come into sharper focus, the pressure will grow on industry, particularly in the U.S. and UK, to break from the traditional business model. As military officials become impatient with development schedules measured in decades, support is growing for acquisition policies that foster greater levels of competition by transferring ownership of the underlying technology to the government and away from the original equipment manufacturers. More impressively, the growth spurt in 2021 is expected even as the growth rate for the F-35 program begins to slow down, with the single-engine fighter family's share of the Western fighter market falling to 57% in 2021 from 65% in 2020. The slack will be picked up mainly by another U.S. company. Boeing's share of the overall fighter market will rise to 19% in 2021 from 12% in 2020, as the U.S. Air Force revives F-15EX deliveries and the Navy receives the first F/A-18E/F Block III. For the first time in nearly three decades, it is a good time to be in the fighter business. The market for new deliveries shrank dramatically after the Cold War and never regained momentum as production ramp-ups were prolonged and in some cases strangled. The tide has turned since 2017 especially as the market's most dominant player, the Lockheed Martin F-35, finally began a steep climb to full-rate production in 2023. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/z/worlds-fighter-market-set-thrive-2020?elq2=064db0d3873a4d659f22c8952ec14826

Maxar announced it signed a definitive agreement to sell its Canadian business, MDA, to Northern Private Capital (NPC). You can read the details in our press release. I would like to assure you that MDA is committed to continuously delivering the high-quality of service that our customers expect. Maxar and MDA will continue normal operations through the expected close of the transaction, which we believe will happen within 12 months, after the standard U.S. and Canadian regulatory approval. After the close, the MDA team will operate as a private, stand-alone company within NPC's portfolio, retaining its name and standing as the leading space and defence company in Canada. MDA will remain an important business partner and supplier to Maxar, and Maxar will be MDA's largest customer. Additionally, the companies will continue to sell each other's complementary satellite data. NPC is a Toronto-based investment firm led by John Risley and Andrew Lapham. It has created a Canadian investment fund to finance this transaction. NPC views Canada's renewed commitment to utilizing space for its civil and defence needs as a strong opportunity to bring MDA home to Canada. MDA will remain dedicated to its work for the Canadian government and as a merchant supplier to the international community. Maxar's leadership team and Board of Directors believe this transaction best positions Maxar for growth in the future. Once closed, it will enable Maxar to reduce its debt load and focus on substantial growth opportunities in its core markets of Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. And likewise, MDA will be able to focus on capturing large, Canadian programs in the future, in addition to addressing commercial and export markets.

Redwood City, CA – January 15, 2020 – C3.ai, a leading enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) software provider for accelerating digital transformation, today announced a five-year agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to deliver C3 Readiness for Aircraft™ an AI-based software application that increases the readiness and availability of aircraft to accomplish their missions. Predicting an aircraft subsystem's risk of failure is essential to the U.S. military's fleet readiness. By using machine learning algorithms to monitor high-priority subsystems for risk of failure and predict the requirements for parts at air bases and depots, C3 Readiness for Aircraft shifts the paradigm from reactive to predictive maintenance. C3 Readiness for Aircraft provides a near real time view of aircraft health for each individual tail number. Using C3 Readiness for Aircraft, maintainers can be made available and prepared for work, and operations personnel can ensure that the right parts are available at the right time and at the right locations. With this application, organizations can substantially expand the use of existing aircraft and reduce the cost and time associated with unexpected maintenance. “Each hour an aircraft is grounded costs taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars – and approximately $292 billion of the Pentagon's annual budget is spent on operations and maintenance costs ,” said Ed Abbo‚ President and CTO, C3.ai. “Given these numbers, even a fractional increase in aircraft mission capability can save billions. We look forward to building on our initial success delivering solutions that extend the DoD's competitive advantage and support its ambitious plans to implement artificial intelligence at scale.” Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is the DoD organization based in Silicon Valley charged with accelerating the adoption of innovative commercial technologies into the U.S. military to strengthen the nation's security. DIU connects customers with leading technology companies to prototype, transition, and field capabilities within 36 months. DoD has made it a priority to address readiness in the FY2020 Budget so that forces meet a minimum standard. Applying AI techniques helps the DoD achieve this objective rapidly in a cost-effective manner. C3.ai has repeatedly demonstrated its capabilities to DIU to significantly improve readiness for several Air Force units. As a result of a number of successful US Air Force implementations, including the E-3 Sentry (AWACS), C-5 Galaxy, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Lightning II aircraft, and expansion to Army Aviation platforms such as UH-60 Blackhawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters, DIU sponsored the current up-to-$95M agreement that allows all the Services and other federal agencies to use C3.ai's software for aircraft predictive maintenance. C3 Readiness for Aircraft operates on the C3 AI Suite™, an integrated software platform that enables organizations to rapidly design, develop, and deploy enterprise-scale AI applications on any public or private cloud environment. The C3 AI Suite allows the DoD to integrate and unify large amounts of fragmented and disparate data, and make those data available for use by machine learning algorithms for insights that improve operations and provide situational awareness. C3.ai's applications are configurable for a variety of capabilities beyond AI predictive maintenance including intelligence data fusion, clearance adjudication, insider threat, improved logistics, supply risk identification, and AI-based operational support. About C3.ai C3.ai is a leading AI software provider for accelerating digital transformation. C3.ai delivers the C3 AI Suite for developing, deploying, and operating large-scale AI, predictive analytics, and IoT applications in addition to an increasingly broad portfolio of turn-key AI applications. The core of the C3.ai offering is a revolutionary, model-driven AI architecture that dramatically enhances data science and application development. Organizations such as Royal Dutch Shell, ENGIE, 3M, and Enel are currently leveraging C3.ai's enterprise software for greater efficiency, productivity, and reliability. Contact: C3.ai Public Relations: April Marks 650-503-2200 pr@c3.ai View source version on C3.ai: https://c3.ai/us-defense-department-awards-c3-ai-95m-contract-vehicle-to-improve-aircraft-readiness-using-ai/ https://www.epicos.com/article/531552/us-defense-department-awards-c3ai-95m-contract-vehicle-improve-aircraft-readiness