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  • Webinaire : Coronavirus (COVID-19) : Défis et obligations légales des entreprises en temps de pandémie

    31 mars 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Webinaire : Coronavirus (COVID-19) : Défis et obligations légales des entreprises en temps de pandémie

    L'industrie aérospatiale vit une situation exceptionnelle qui nous invite à faire preuve de créativité dans nos modes de communication. Aéro Montréal se mobilise pour ses membres et continue sa série de webinaires. Retrouvez-nous le vendredi 3 avril, de 11 h à 12 h 00, pour un second webinaire en partenariat avec Norton Rose Fulbright sur le thème : Coronavirus (COVID-19) : Défis et obligations légales des entreprises en temps de pandémie. Animé par Éric Lallier, Associé chez Norton Rose Fulbright Canada, ce rendez-vous, spécifiquement conçu pour les chefs d'entreprise et leurs gestionnaires, vise à faire le point sur les obligations légales liées à l'emploi dans cette situation exceptionnelle : À l'agenda : Les obligations des employeurs relatives au droit du travail à la lumière des nouvelles mesures disponibles pour leur entreprise La gestion d'employés dans un contexte de réduction des opérations (Refus de travailler, congés protégés, mises à pied temporaires, cessations d'emploi) Une période de question ouvertes avec Éric Lallier. Veuillez noter que le nombre de places est limité et réservé aux membres d'Aéro Montréal. RÉSERVEZ VOTRE PLACE *Suivant votre inscription, un lien Web vous sera envoyé. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/billets-webinaire-coronavirus-covid-19-defis-et-obligations-legales-101663183318

  • Canadian military on notice to provide logistic support, help vulnerable populations in wake of COVID-19

    31 mars 2020 | Local, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Canadian military on notice to provide logistic support, help vulnerable populations in wake of COVID-19

    Canada's top general says the military is in the process of determining what forces would be required to assist federal and provincial governments in responding to the novel coronavirus and that response will be geared to supporting vulnerable populations and providing logistics support. There has been no official call yet for the use of military forces from federal, provincial or territorial governments. But Canadian Forces planners are preparing for such a request. “Our tasks will be geared to support Federal, Provincial, Territorial and Municipal governments and agencies in their efforts to suppress the disease, to support vulnerable populations and to provide logistical and general support to communities,” Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jon Vance noted in a statement released Friday on social media. “To do this we are now in the process of identifying the forces required, including our incredibly valuable Primary Reserves and Canadian Rangers. These forces will be organized down to individual level into task forces able to deploy by sea, road or air to where they are needed.” More information will come in the next week, Vance said. But defence sources tell this newspaper that the response if needed will, among other areas, focus on providing support to remote Indigenous communities. Such communities have limited resources, particularly in the area of health and medical capabilities. The Canadian Forces has an extensive logistics capability with its fleet of vehicles and aircraft. It can also set up mobile shelters and medical facilities. Vance noted that many military personnel volunteer in their communities but such work must now be restricted to first responder duties since they are required to be ready for Canadian Forces duties at short notice. “When it's time, we will marshal forces, conduct reconnaissance and deploy as, where and when required,” he added. In his message to military personnel and their families, Vance also announced that the Canadian Forces will go ahead with its annual process of shifting personnel around the country for promotions and new jobs, albeit at a reduced level. The annual military posting season comes at a time when federal government officials are advising Canadians to stay at home and practice physical distancing in an effort to reduce the number of cases of COVID-19. “It is our intention to execute as many of the planned postings as is responsible and reasonable to do,” Vance explained. He noted that the overall number of moves will be reduced significantly and they must be vetted and approved by senior leaders as operationally essential. The busiest time for postings and relocations from one community to another is during what is known as the “Active Posting Season” or APS, according to the Canadian Forces. During APS, about 5,000 to 6,000 members receive their posting messages, usually during the spring and most of the movement is carried out in the summer. Vance said the active posting season will be lengthened to conclude by Dec. 31. In addition, Vance warned that the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting normal administration procedures for the Canadian Armed Forces or CAF. “To reduce the administrative risks and to preserve our strength as recruiting has almost ceased, transition out of the CAF and retirements may be voluntarily delayed,” he warned. “Those who are releasing voluntarily but wish to remain in the CAF are welcome to do so and appropriate terms of service will be offered. Those wishing to continue with transition may do so, but you must expect significant delays and disruptions.” Vance also encouraged former military personnel to rejoin the Canadian Forces. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-military-on-notice-to-provide-logistic-support-help-vulnerable-populations-in-wake-of-covid-19/

  • North American aviation product, support & services businesses that are remaining open during the COVID-19 crisis

    31 mars 2020 | Local, Aérospatial

    North American aviation product, support & services businesses that are remaining open during the COVID-19 crisis

    At Skies, we've heard from a number of Canadian aviation product, support and services businesses that are doing their best to keep our industry moving during this global pandemic. To ensure that operators can still access the support they need, here is a non-exhaustive list of companies who are still open for business in some capacity. This list will be updated regularly. If you would like your company to be added to the list, please email news@skiesmag.com. Airbus Helicopters Canada Air Georgian AirSuite Inc. Alpine Aerotech Anodyne Electronics Manufacturing Corp. Apex Industries Inc. ARTEX Atlantic Avionics Aurora Jet Partners Aviation Business Support Inc. Avmax AvroTecknik Aviation B.C. Aviation Council Boeing Distribution Inc. Cadorath Calm Air International Canadian Airports Council Canadian Air Parts, Ltd. Canadian Air Transport Security Authority Canadian Council for Aviation & Aerospace CanRep Inc. CanWest Aerospace Inc. CarteNav Solutions (Mission systems) Custom Helicopters DART Aerospace Eagle Copters Essential Turbines, Inc. EuroTec Canada Exchange Petroleum Execaire Fast Air – Air Charter Services Fast Air Jet Centre (FBO) Flight Data Systems FlightPath International FlightSafety Canada (Toronto and Montreal) Flying Colours Corp. FreeFlight Systems Global Airparts Inc. Heli-One Helitowcart Helitrades Heliwelders Canada Ltd. HM Aero Aviation Consulting ICARUS Aero, Inc. Image Air Innotech Aviation KADEX Aero Supply Ltd. Keewatin Air (Aircraft maintenance and hangarage) KF Aerospace Latitude Technologies Levaero Aviation Maxcraft Avionics Ltd. Mid-Canada Mod Center Moncton Flight College Morningstar Air Express National Airlines Council of Canada National Helicopters Inc. Nav Canada Pacific Coastal Airlines (Emergency charter services and reduced WestJet Link flights) PAL Aerospace PAL Aviation Services (Full-service FBO) Passport Helico (Commercial 702/703 and AMO) Perimeter Aviation Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp. Precision Aero Components Premier Aviation Québec Inc. Rocky Mountain Aircraft Rotor Services Ltd. Sander Geophysics Limited (Air cargo) SEI Industries Select Helicopter Services Ltd. Signature Flight Support – Edmonton Skyservice Business Aviation SKYTRAC Systems StandardAero Sunwest Aviation Szabo Aviation International TEAAM Aeromedical Technisonic Industries Ltd. Tradewind International, LLC TSL Aerospace Technologies Ltd. Turbolyft Aerospace Upper Valley Aviation Ltd. Vanguard Air Care Vmo Solutions Voyageur Aviation Corp. Wasaya Airways Western Propeller Wilderness Helicopters WinAir We're all in this together! #CanadianAviation https://www.skiesmag.com/news/canadian-aviation-product-support-services-businesses-that-are-remaining-open-during-the-covid-19-crisis/

  • Pentagon seeks to classify future year defense spending plans

    31 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Pentagon seeks to classify future year defense spending plans

    By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has asked Congress to allow it to classify its Future Year Defense Program spending projections, new documents have revealed. The FYDP numbers, which project five years into the future, are considered essential information for the public to see where the Department of Defense expects to invest in the future, and to hold the department accountable when those spending plans change. Information on the request was published Monday by Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. Aftergood wrote that the proposal would “make it even harder for Congress and the public to refocus and reconstruct the defense budget.” In its request to Congress, the Pentagon wrote that an unclassified FYDP “might inadvertently reveal sensitive information,” despite the fact the numbers have been unclassified since 1989. “With the ready availability of data mining tools and techniques, and the large volume of data on the Department's operations and resources already available in the public domain, additional unclassified FYDP data, if it were released, potentially allows adversaries to derive sensitive information by compilation about the Department's weapons development, force structure, and strategic plans,” the DoD wrote. It added that there is a commercial concern with the FYDP providing too much information to industry. “The Department is also concerned about the potential harm to its interactions with commercial interests by release of FYDP information prior to the budget year. Exposing resources allocated to future acquisition plans may encourage bids and other development activities not beneficial to the Government,” the proposal read. Seamus Daniels, a budget analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a tweet that “DoD's proposal to eliminate the unclassified FYDP severely limits the public's ability to track how strategy aligns with budgets and how program plans change over time. Serious step backwards in transparency from the department.” Earlier this year, the No. 2 uniformed officer in the Pentagon railed against the department's tendency toward overclassification, calling it “unbelievably ridiculous.” The Pentagon has requested a number of legislative changes this year, in addition to the FYDP classification attempt. Among the notable requests are one that would remove the requirement for the defense secretary to “notify the Senate and House Armed Services Committees whenever the Secretary establishes or modifies an end-of-quarter strength level;” a request for the ability to add an additional 15 general officer billets in the combatant commands and three general officer billets on the Joint Staff, to be filled exclusively by reserve component officers; and a request to rename the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict as the assistant secretary of defense for “Special Operations and Irregular Warfare.” https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/03/30/pentagon-seeks-to-classify-future-year-defense-spending-plans/

  • Small defense businesses see cash issues during coronavirus outbreak

    31 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Small defense businesses see cash issues during coronavirus outbreak

    By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — More than 60 percent of small companies in the defense supply chain are seeing disrupted cash flow, according to a new survey put forth from the National Defense Industrial Association. “This survey shows how the defense lifeline runs through small business,” Hawk Carlisle, NDIA's president and CEO, said in a statement. “These companies must survive if the defense industrial base is to remain the best in the world on other side of COVID-19.” COVID-19 is a newly discovered coronavirus — a family of viruses, some of which cause disease in people and animals, named for crownlike spikes on their surfaces. As of Friday, 458 small businesses had responded to the survey, which will remain open through April 10. Fifty-five percent of respondents have less than $5 million in annual revenue, and 70 percent have less than 50 employees. Sixty-two percent of the respondents have seen disrupted cash flow as a result of the economic downturn. Primarily, those have come as cuts to billable hours or delayed payments from prime contractors because of shutdowns or telework. A lack of telework options is also an issue for contractors. Notably, 54 percent of respondents say they cannot work on a contract because they are currently under a shelter-in-place order. And optimistically, 69 percent do not expect cost overruns on fixed-price contracts as a result of the coronavirus-related disruptions. Those that do expect such overruns predict them to be in the 10-20 percent range. The results of the survey were delivered Friday to Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Lord said she is closely watching the lower tier of the supply chain for weak spots that may appear. Last week, the Defense Department announced new measures to increase progress payments out to both small and large companies to ensure they are able to keep work moving on schedule. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/03/27/small-defense-businesses-seeing-cash-issues-during-coronavirus-outbreak-survey/

  • Lockheed Martin Wins $933 Million U.S./Saudi THAAD Mod

    31 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Lockheed Martin Wins $933 Million U.S./Saudi THAAD Mod

    Lee Hudson The U.S. Air Force has upgraded an existing deficiency for the KC-46A Pegasus fuel system to Category 1. The service's program office first identified “excessive fuel leaks” in July after an air refueling test. The Air Force and Boeing are working together to determine the root cause and implement corrective actions. A Category 1 deficiency means the government has identified a risk that jeopardizes lives or critical assets. “The KC-46 Program Office continues to monitor the entire KC-46 fleet and is enhancing acceptance testing of the fuel system to identify potential leaks at the factory where they can be repaired prior to delivery,” according to an Air Force statement. Boeing is contractually obligated to rectify this deficiency at no additional cost to the Air Force. “We are disappointed to learn of this development and are already implementing assembly and installation improvements to correct the issue,” Boeing spokesman Larry Chambers said in a statement to Aerospace DAILY. “We have repaired several of the airplanes and will continue to implement repairs as needed. Boeing is working with urgency to address this issue.” The Air Force discovered several required fuel-system repairs, Chambers said. The fuel system is equipped with redundant protection for fuel containment. “In some cases with this issue, aircraft maintenance crews are finding fuel between the primary and secondary fuel barriers within the system,” Chambers said. The KC-46A program still faces other unresolved Category 1 deficiencies that involve the Remote Vision System (RVS) and the boom telescope actuator. The problem with the RVS is what the Air Force calls a “rubber sheet” effect that distorts the image on the visual display used by the boom operator during refueling operations. The actuator on the boom needs to be more sensitive to smaller receiver aircraft, such as A-10s and F-16s. Boeing has agreed to pay for the RVS design fix, while the Air Force will finance the design change to the actuator. “There's profound problems with the system,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said March 3 during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. The service is certifying the aircraft to conduct airlift and medical evacuation missions. The plan is for the Air Force to employ the KC-46 in those roles while a long-term fix is being developed, Goldfein said. Goldfein told new Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun to focus on the KC-46 program, even as it is fixing the 737 MAX. Calhoun said the KC-46 is his top military priority. “I have seen a change in the behavior of that company since he took over, and so that's why we're more confident sitting here today that we have a serious fix on the table,” Goldfein said. “We're in final negotiations, so we can't go into any more detail than that. But I will say that it's looking better today than it was even six months ago.” https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/usaf-announces-new-major-deficiency-kc-46

  • State Dept. approves $194M upgrade deal for South Korea's F-16s

    31 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    State Dept. approves $194M upgrade deal for South Korea's F-16s

    ByEd Adamczyk March 30 (UPI) -- The State Department approved a sale of upgrades to South Korea's F-16 fighter planes, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Monday. The $194 million sale, expected to be approved by Congress, calls for South Korea to obtain Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe equipment, known as IFF, and Link 16 Technical Datalink equipment for its F-16 Block 32 fleet. IFF, in use since the 1940s and improved regularly, identifies and tracks military aircraft, and Mode 5 is the most recent implementation of the system. It uses waveform modulation, coding, and cryptographic techniques to quickly determine the identity and heading of an aircraft. Link 16 is a military data link network allowing military ships and aircraft to share tactical picture of a situation in real time, and offers an offers an exchange of text messages, imagery data and two channels of digital voice transmission. Each system is currently in use by NATO countries. The proposed deal includes the sale of radios, Combined Interrogator Transponders, a Joint Mission Planning upgrade, secure voice modules, crypto fill devices, aircraft ferry support, training, integration support and test equipment, and contractor, engineering, technical and logistics support services. The Republic of Korea Air Force has 180 F-16s, in two variants. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/03/30/State-Dept-approves-194M-upgrade-deal-for-South-Koreas-F-16s

  • COVID-19: Roper Stands Up Task Force To Assist Industrial Base

    31 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    COVID-19: Roper Stands Up Task Force To Assist Industrial Base

    "I have mobilized the Department of the Air Force into a wartime acquisition posture," said Roper. "We are at war with this virus." By THERESA HITCHENS WASHINGTON: The Air Force has stood up a special acquisition task force to help keep its industrial base humming during, and after, the COVID-19 pandemic, says service acquisition czar Will Roper. “I have mobilized the Department of the Air Force into a wartime acquisition posture, and that is the purpose of our acquisition COVID-19 task force,” Roper told reporters in a teleconference today. “We are at war with this virus.” The move follows in the footsteps of DoD Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, who has set up a number of task forces as the Pentagon puts into place the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package passed by the Senate last night, the House this morning and on its way to President Donald Trump for signature. The package includes $10-plus billion for Pentagon response efforts, including $1.5 billion that could go directly to industry. “Cash flow and liquidity are everything right now,” Roper explained. One of key focuses is on small businesses and the startup ecosystem, he stressed, given that the Air Force over the past two years significantly ramping up its efforts to reap technology innovations from the commercial sector. “All of you know that small businesses are the most vulnerable right now,” Roper said. “We're going to have to do things differently with our small companies than with our primes.” As an example, Roper mentioned the move by the service's new AFVentures arm for startup investment to switch within 72 hours its planned ‘Pitch Bowl' at the March 13-20 South By Southwest festival in Austin to a virtual event. The event involved some 5,000 participants, he said and resulted in 599 contracts worth a total of almost $1 billion — “the single largest small business transaction in government history.” “That was one of our first big virtualizing activities within acquisition,” he said. “We flowed critical cash to companies who can burn it against that in their contracts now.” Further, he said, the Air Force already has put out another solicitation asking small businesses who might be able to help with COVID-19 response “to put their hands up so that we can get additional cash to them or put them on contract if their not already working with us.” Roper said the Air Force acquisition task force has “four lines of effort:” “Relief.” Roper said “these teams are thinking through external assistance requests that may potentially come in,” and how best to apply contracting to move out “billions of dollars if needed.” “Resilience.” This is focusing on “defense industrial base health issues,” he said. For example, if there are “suppliers under duress, or small businesses that are not getting enough cash flow fast enough,” are there ways the service can help? “Recovery.” This team will look at what is needed after the crisis lifts. While Roper cautioned industry that “COVID-19 is not a blanket excuse for programs slipping to the right,” he said the service will be mindful that some will do so — thus the “recovery” team will try to figure out what funding those programs might need to get back on track after a schedule slip. “Being rapid for small businesses.” This effort, Roper said, is led by AFVentures, and is meeting daily to ensure the Air Force spends all of its small business funds. “They have been in training for this for two years,” he said of AFVentures personnel. “They have demonstrated the ability to do more small business contracts that anyone in the government at speeds never seen.” Roper said that so far there have been “no major delays” in critical acquisition programs, such as the top priority Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) to replace the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. Indeed, he said he talked with the GBSD team this morning who are “doing business as usual,” only virtually. Similarly, testing under the Skyborg program not only is moving ahead, but Roper has given that acquisition team the go-head to “accelerate solicitations as soon as they are ready.” Under the program, the Skyborg “brain” would use artificial intelligence to pilot low-cost “attritable” drones that would provide data (such as telemetry, flight plans and weather) to a manned fighter leading a formation — a job that a wingman's aircraft normally would do. While so far the only drone body to have flown the Skyborg computing package is the the Valkyrie, built by Kratos, the service isn't ruling out using others. One of the key reasons that Air Force acquisition programs can keep moving, Roper said, is because of the service's past efforts to innovate in the area of information technology. Asked about the some $300 million in the coronavirus relief package slated for DoD to spend on IT to support teleworking, Roper wouldn't provide the exact Air Force share. But, he stressed that IT is key to DoD's success not just during this crisis but for the future. “Information technology in the government has never been an exceptionally high priority, and it's been one of the most disappointing things to me about joining the government is having to have antiquated 1990s-era technologies to exchange information,” he said. The Air Force's “pivot” to begin using commercial cloud technology — now embodied in the cloudONE — has “really benefited” the service as the COVID-19 crisis has unfolded, he said. However, he added, a key barrier to taking full advantage of this tech are out-dated security measures — particularly around classified information — that have been in place for decades. Therefore, he said, his office is working with DoD CIO Dana Deasy and his Air Force counterpart Bill Marion “to try to smartly look at removing security restrictions and using new technology.” If this effort is successful, he explained, “then we'll be able to work remotely as long as needed.” The effort in part is bouncing off of Air Force's project — under its high-priority Advanced Battle Management System designed to underpin Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) — to develop the “deviceONE” that can securely allow classified information to be relayed to tablets and handhelds for operators in the field, he said. The bottom line, Roper said, is that the changes in how the Air Force and DoD as a whole are working in driven by the pandemic are likely to have lasting effects. “I'm excited to see what the Department of the Air Force will be like post-COVID-19, because with this much disruptive change happening in the government all at once, and rethinking about how we do our business, we won't go back to being the same department again.” https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/covid-19-roper-stands-up-task-force-to-assist-industrial-base

  • FVL: The Army’s 10-Year Plan For FARA Scout

    31 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    FVL: The Army’s 10-Year Plan For FARA Scout

    The Army's urgently developing new air-launched drones, long-range missiles, and electronic architecture to go on the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft that Bell and Sikorsky are vying to build. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR WASHINGTON: The Army's Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft program is much bigger than the two ambitious high-speed helicopters that Bell and Sikorsky will now get more than $1 billion to build. At least five other major moving pieces must come together on time to turn the final aircraft, whoever makes it, into a working weapon: a new Improved Turbine Engine built by GE; helicopter-launched mini-drones called Air Launched Effects (ALE); a new Long-Range Precision Munition (LRPM), with the Israeli Spike-NLOS as the initial version; an Integrated Missile Launcher (IML) to launch both the missile and the drones; and the underlying electronic framework of standards and interfaces to plug it all together, the Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA). The Army is “not just focused on the air vehicle, but focused on the weapon system,” said Brig. Gen. Walter Rugen, Future Vertical Lift director at Army Futures Command, in a call this morning with reporters. Here's the current schedule for everything to come together: 2019 April: The Army awarded five contracts for “initial designs” of the FARA aircraft itself. 2020 March: The Army assessed the five initial designs – including each company's ability to deliver on budget and schedule. Yesterday, they chose Bell and Sikorsky to build prototypes. Each company has already received a “digital model” of how their design must conform to the Modular Open Systems Architecture (MOSA), which will allow the government to plug-and-play MOSA-compliant components from any company, not just the manufacturer, over the life of the program, program manager Dan Bailey said: “We, the government, will control the interfaces internal to the aircraft so we can efficiently upgrade.” December: The Army will conduct a Final Design Review of both designs to confirm “that they are postured for success and risk is acceptable,” Bailey said. “After that, they will begin to build the aircraft.” 2021 Bell and Sikorsky build their prototypes. Despite their very different designs, each company must incorporate certain common Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) provide by the Army. That includes a 20mm cannon; the GE T909 Improved Turbine Engine, which will also be retrofitted to existing Apache and Black Hawk helicopters; and the Integrated Munitions Launcher (IML), which will use MOSA interface standards to connect missiles and ALE mini-drones to the aircraft – without having to modify the aircraft each time a new weapon is developed. If the Army's 2021 budget request is approved, this year the service will buy $152 million of Spike NLOS (Non-Line-Of-Sight) missiles from Israel armsmaker Rafael as an interim Long Range Precision Munition. 2022 Bell and Sikorsky begin ground testing of their prototypes. The Army fields Spike-NLOS missiles on existing aircraft across three Combat Aviation Brigades (CABs), providing both immediate combat power and hands-on experience with the technology to refine either the Spike or a competitor into the full-up LRPM. November: The Bell 360 Invictus and Sikorsky Raider-X fly for the first time. Flight testing begins. 2023 Summer: The prototype aircraft move from their builders' test sites to Redstone Arsenal to begin Army flight testing with all-government crews. The Army finalizes its formal requirements for FARA based on how the prototypes actually perform. Fall: The Army conducts a Weapons System Preliminary Design Review – that is, not of the aircraft alone, but of how all the pieces work together – and, in context of that holistic assessment, selects either Bell or Sikorsky to build the aircraft. By December 31st: The Army launches an official Program Of Record (POR) to acquire FARA. While the first few aircraft will cost more, the service's long-term goal is to spend no more than $30 million per FARA, the same price as the current AH-64 Apache gunship. 2024-2025 The Air-Launched Effects (ALE) mini-drones begin to enter service on existing Army aircraft. As with the Spike missile, this early deployment provides both immediate military benefit and the necessary experience to refine the technology for FARA. 2028-2030 The first FARA aircraft enter operational service. The Army hasn't specified how many it ultimately plans to build or for what price. But the Army's Program Executive Officer (PEO) for Aviation, Patrick Mason, told reporters today that “I have no reason to disagree with” widely circulated independent estimates of 300-400 aircraft for $15-20 billion. “We've got a series of gates” over the years, Mason said. “This is a constant assessment as we go through, and this is really the beauty and benefit of the prototyping design of this program: We will get to see both vendors as they go to their final designs and they build their prototype air vehicle, as we simultaneously carry forward [with] the other elements that are part of the FVL ecosystem.” “We're going to see very, very clear indication of the technology maturity, the readiness, and the ability of the prototype aircraft to meet the requirements,” he said. Novel Contracts, Novel Technology, Tight Schedule It's worth delving into some detail on what happened yesterday, when the Army announced that Bell and Sikorsky would get the chance to build competing prototypes of FARA – the Bell 360 Invictus and the Sikorsky Raider-X – while designs from AVX, Boeing, and Karem were rejected. Each of the five companies had received up to $15 million for design work, while Bell and Sikorsky will each get up to $735 million more to build and test their prototypes. The exact figures are competition-sensitive, and each vendor has invested much of its own money in any case. The contracts call for one-third private funding and two-thirds government funding over the design and prototyping phases combined, but the companies have almost certainly outspent the government so far. Technically, FARA program manager Dan Bailey told reporters, “we actually aren't awarding anything at this time.” Instead, last April, all five contenders got Other Transaction Authority Prototyping (OTAP) contracts for both the design and prototyping phases, but with clauses allowing the Army to cut any vendor at any time. It's that option they've just exercised. Rather than making an award, Bailey said, “yesterday, we notified two that we would continue to fund them into Phase 2 and we notified three that we would stop funding them.” (Emphasis ours). This novel approach, among other benefits, is nigh-impossible for losing bidders to appeal against, Rugen said: “There really is no ability to protest per se with the GAO [Government Accountability Office]. There is legal recourse potentially through the courts but, again, our legal team has advised us the risk is low.” That's helpful because – as the JEDI cloud computing contract proves – legal battles can delay Defense Department programs for months. The Army has a tight timeline for FARA, which it sees as essential to fill the gap in its aerial reconnaissance capability left by the retirement of the aging and much-upgraded Bell OH-58 Kiowa. While the competing designs are very different, Army simulations so far show that either would meet the military needs “Both are advanced rotorcraft configurations,” Brig. Gen. Rugen said. “Both did very well with speed, range, endurance at range, in our European scenario.... The power [for] takeoff with payload out of ground effect was also, again, leap-ahead.” The Bell 360 Invictus is basically a conventional helicopter with small wings for added lift, using fly-by-wire and rotor technology developed for the civilian Bell 525. The Sikorsky Raider-X is a compound helicopter with coaxial rotors and a pusher propeller for added thrust, derived from Sikorsky's S-97 Raider – which is a real, flight-testing aircraft – and ultimately the award-winning X2. “The X2 technology continues to impress,” Rugen said. While Bell's design may not have struck some observers as revolutionary, he said, “the efficiency” with which Bell's engineers stripped out every possible bit of drag – allowing much higher speeds – “was truly innovative. “We've got two great competitors ... on a program that we must deliver for the Army,” Rugen said. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/fvl-the-armys-10-year-plan-for-fara-scout

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