14 janvier 2016 par Aerobuzz.fr

Boeing annonce avoir livré à l’US Air Force six lanceurs rotatifs modernisés, utilisables par les B-52H. Ces lanceurs, placés dans la soute à bombe du bombardier, permettaient jusqu’à présent l’emport de missiles de croisière à charge nucléaire ou conventionnelle. Les bombardiers pourront maintenant également emporter en soute jusqu’à huit bombes à guidage GPS (JDAM).

Suite de l’article

December 4, 2015: Strategy Page

The number of anti-UAV weapons showing up indicates that the countries with larger defense budgets see a need for this sort of thing and are willing to pay for a solution. That need has been created by the growing availability of small, inexpensive UAVs that can (and are) used by criminals and Islamic terrorists. These more sophisticated AUDs (Anti UAV Defense) are safer (for nearby civilians) to use because they rely on lasers or electronic signals to destroy or disable UAVs. For example the CLWS (Compact Laser Weapon System) is a laser weapon light enough to mount on helicopters or hummers and can destroy small UAVs up to 2,000 meters away while it can disable or destroy the sensors (vidcams) on a UAV up to 7,000 meters away. The CLWS fire control system will automatically track and keep the laser firing on a selected target. It can take up to 15 seconds of laser fire to bring down a UAV or destroy its camera. Another example is an even more portable system that can be carried and operated by one person. This is DroneDefender system, which is a 6.8 kg (15 pound) electronic rifle that can disrupt control signals for a small UAV. Range is only a few hundred meters so DroneDefender would be most useful to police.

There is also a high-end system similar to DroneDefender  that can use data from multiple sensors (visual, heat, radar) to detect the small UAVs and then use a focused radio signal jammer to cut the UAV off from its controller and prevent (in most cases) the UAV from completing its mission. The detection range of this AUDS is usually 10 kilometers or more and jamming range varies from a few kilometers to about eight.

AUDS can be defeated. For example a user can send a small UAV off on a pre-programmed mission. This can be to take photos or deliver a small explosive. No one has tried, at least successfully, using armed micro-UAVs yet but North Korea has been caught using small recon UAVs flying under automatic control.

If these UAVs are still detected they have to be destroyed via ground or air-to-air fire. This the South Koreans and Israelis have had to do several times. The Israelis were dealing with Palestinian Islamic terrorist groups using small UAVs, often Iranian models. South Korea and Israel has responded by adding more sensor systems, especially new radars that can detect the smallest UAVs moving at any speed and altitude. The downside of using missiles to machine-guns to take down UAVs is that those bullets and missiles eventually return to earth and often kill or injure people (usually civilians) on the ground.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2015 – Boeing.com

Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] today released the following statement on the U.S. Air Force’s decision to award Northrop Grumman the Long Range Strike-Bomber contract:

The Boeing and Lockheed Martin team is disappointed by today’s announcement. We will have further discussions with our customer before determining our next steps. We are interested in knowing how the competition was scored in terms of price and risk, as we believe that the combination of Boeing and Lockheed Martin offers unparalleled experience, capability and resources for this critically important recapitalization program.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial airplanes and defense, space and security systems. In addition, Boeing supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in more than 150 countries. The company’s products and tailored services include commercial and military aircraft, satellites, weapons, electronic and defense systems, launch systems, advanced information and communication systems, and performance-based logistics and training. Boeing employs more than 165,000 people across the United States and in more than 65 countries. Company revenues for 2014 were more than $90 billion. Follow us on Twitter: @Boeing.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.

MOP enhancements are tested against specially created underground test bunkers at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This image is of a test conducted in 2009. - Defense Threat Reduction Agency

15 October, 2015 by James Drew – FG

Washington DC  - Boeing can expect a sole-source contract for redesign, qualification and testing of the US Air Force’s largest non-nuclear penetrating bomb, the 13.6t GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP).

A redacted notice published by the air force this week says Boeing is being put on contract for the second phase of a classified MOP modification programme, called Enhanced Threat Reduction IV. The specialised weapon began development in 2004 and was never intended for serial production. Instead, GBU-57 is built in small quantities by Boeing through the air force’s direct attack office at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. MOP is specifically designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers, and the components are continually modified as those targets, such as Iran’s underground nuclear sites, dig deeper or are reinforced against US weapons.

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07 octobre 2015 Par Julien Bonnet – Usine Nouvelle

Le futur ravitailleur de l’US Air Force, le KC-46 Pegasus de Boeing, a effectué son premier vol le 25 septembre dernier entre Everett et Seattle au nord-ouest des Etats-Unis. L’armée américaine en a commandé 179 exemplaires. Objectif : remplacer ses (KC-135) Stratotanker développés dans les années 50 et qui lui coûte plusieurs milliards de dollars chaque année pour les maintenir en service.

28.09.2015 by Livefist
 

It's a phrase thrown about often in this business, but in the compulsively bumpy world of Indian aviation procurement, there are few occasions when an item chosen for the armed forces is a certain, unequivocal game-changer. The Indian government's decision to clear a deal for 15 Boeing Ch-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopters steps far from the slapdash, frequently fallible procurement paths the armed forces have taken all too often. For one thing, the Chinook won a competition. Two, the government's decision to close the deal comes nearly three years of negotiations later -- an indication, perhaps and hopefully, that India has closed the best deal it could for the product. But now that the decks are truly cleared for a direct commercial sale contract between the Indian MoD and Boeing Defense, it's useful to examine sentiments within the Indian Air Force, which will operate the Chinooks possibly from its Chandigarh base, but possible closer to the country's capital too. Here are five reasons why the CH-47F Chinook in IAF colours (as detailed for the first time by artist Saurav Chordia above) could be a true game-changer in Indian service:

1. The IAF has had a troubled run with its spare heavylift rotory wing capability. Of the four Mi-26 Halos it bought in the eighties, three remain (one was written off after a severe crash-landing five years ago). But even before the accident, the platform has had typically severe serviceability issues that have mostly seen only one in the air at any given time -- not the worst of scenarios for such a small fleet, but grossly less than what the IAF wanted from these machines. Replaced with a full-sized fleet of new generation helicopters will give IAF planners the kind of heavylift rotory wing flexibility they've never had before. Squadron-sized numbers (and, of course, newer circumstances) will shore up serviceability and put more numbers in pilots' hands. The last few years have demonstrated that the ability to have more than one of these helicopters in the air at any given time is the difference, quite literally, between life and death. More numbers of heavylift copters in aero-bridge operations during humanitarian relief or disaster reconstruction work will be crucial.

2. Trials in 2010-11 convinced the IAF in no small measure that the tandem rotor capability would enormously boost what they were already doing with the conventionally framed Mi-26, especially in high-altitude operations. A comparison of what the tandem rotored Chinook could do in terms of landing approach capability, centre of gravity envelope etc., as opposed to the aerodynamic, performance and safety constraints on the CH-53 Super Stallion/Mi-26 proved to be too substantive to ignore. In simple terms, the IAF was convinced the Chinook could get more done, cleaner and safer.

3. The Chinook is substantially smaller and with a lower payload capacity than the Mi-26, but a higher degree of loading/unloading flexibility (especially rear loading) coupled with  a significantly greater number of cargo/troops/equipment configurations convinced the IAF that switching to the tandem rotor machine made more sense than explore the very capable Mi-26T2, that sports better engines, avionics and safety features than the variant the IAF currently operates. The Chinook's performance with under-slung cargo also won the IAF over.

4. The Chinook's flying qualities, agility in the air, significantly lower rotor diameter and landing flexibility will allow the IAF to fly it where it couldn't have even thought of taking the Mi-26. High altitude border areas, along narrow ridges and valleys, to deliver equipment, humans or materials for construction, road-building/repair, communications infrastructure building, disaster relief, casualty evacuation or any of the several other mission profiles the Chinook is built for. Why is that a game-changer? Because the IAF cannot satisfactorily deliver heavy payloads to precise sites even now. If not fully in some areas, tandem rotor operations will close the gap significantly, allowing the IAF to deliver closer to sites of requirement than ever before.

5. The Chinook is only the second heavylift helicopter the IAF will have ever operated. Unlike the Mi-26  that has performed strictly a troop/cargo transport role, the Chinook will obviously have a special missions profile as well. While the IAF has been looking at the MH-47 special operations configuration, the CH-47F variant it has chosen will definitely be used for special operations training and exercises, and will necessarily integrated with the larger joint special forces orbat. The IAF, a master at finding innovative new uses for its kit, could throw up several surprises behind the stick of a Chinook.

September 15, 2015 by Bryant Jordan - defensetech.org

The U.S. Air Force’s new KC-46A aerial refueling tanker made by Boeing Co. is scheduled to make its first flight on Sept. 25, a general said.

The date was announced Tuesday by Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson during the Air & Space Conference near Washington, D.C. The milestone for the eventual successor to the KC-135 and KC-10 was initially planned for the spring.

“Once that first flight occurs we’ll go into initial air worthiness,” he said. That means the second flight will begin testing the boom, hose and drogue systems, he said.

Richardson, the program executive officer for tankers with the Air Force Material Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, said the subsequent flights will involve a variety of aircraft flying with the KC-46 and culminate with actual refueling flights in January.

Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the recent cost overrun on the aircraft, known as the Pegasus and based on the 767 twin-engine commercial airliner, is “deeply unfortunate” and that he’s concerned about delays to the program.

McCain said he detailed the concerns in a recent letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. He and Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island, sent a similar letter over issues with the Air Force’s new bomber program.

“While the recently announced cost overrun on the Air Force’s KC-46A tanker is deeply unfortunate, it is encouraging that the contractor, and not the taxpayer, will bear this expense,” McCain said.

“That said, the resulting delays to the program’s internal deadlines for completing key qualification and planned ground and flight testing activities are indicative of a program at risk of not meeting its planned delivery milestones,” he said.

Boeing plans to deliver the first 18 KC-46As to the Air Force by August 2017. The service estimates it will spend $49 billion to develop and build 149 of the planes to replace its aging fleet of KC-135s, according to Pentagon budget documents. Boeing forecasts an $80 billion global market for the new tankers, according to Trading Alpha.

Sept. 11, 2015 Defense.org

The Air Force will give an update next week at the annual Air and Space Conference on its two most needed yet controversial aircraft programs — the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the KC-46 Pegasus refueling tanker.

Both projects have recently come under fire from Congress – again. In addition to cost overruns on the $400 billion F-35 program, the fighter’s ability to perform close air support has come into question compared to the aging A-10 Thunderbolt.

The KC-46, developed by Boeing from its 767 series jetliner, has also been hit by cost overruns and questions about Boeing’s ability to meet a deadline to have the aircraft on the ramp and ready for missions by August 2017.

In an Aug. 31 letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote that “I am concerned that the recent problems with the tanker modernization program could prevent the Department of Defense from delivering this critical capability to our warfighters as promised and on schedule.”

The lineup for the Air Force Association’s Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition at National Harbor, Maryland, on Tuesday includes a panel on the F-35 and the KC-46 led by the main officers in charge of getting both programs back on track – Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan for the F-35, and Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson for the KC-46.

Boeing a annoncé mercredi 22 juillet un bénéfice en baisse pour le deuxième trimestre, affecté par une lourde charge sur un projet d'avion ravitailleur militaire. Il est ainsi ressorti en baisse de 33% à 1,11 milliard de dollars (1,02 milliard d'euros), soit 1,59 dollar par action, au deuxième trimestre, contre 1,65 milliard, soit 2,24 dollars par action, un an auparavant.

Les profits réalisés sont toutefois meilleurs que prévu grâce à une demande toujours aussi forte pour les avions de ligne. Les livraisons d'avions de ligne du groupe américain d'aéronautique et de défense ont augmenté de 9% pour atteindre 197 appareils et son chiffre d'affaires a progressé de 11%, soit la plus forte hausse en deux ans, à 24,54 milliards de dollars.

Les charges s'accumulent pour le K-46

Les profits de Boeing ont été affectés par une charge après impôt de 536 millions de dollars sur ses comptes du deuxième trimestre, liée à des problèmes ayant émergé pendant les tests du circuit carburant de son avion de ravitaillement en vol KC-46 destiné à l'U.S. Air Force.

C'est la deuxième charge passée sur cet avion qui est l'un de ses plus gros projets dans l'aéronautique militaire, ce qui porte les charges totales après impôt sur ce projet à un peu plus de 800 millions de dollars et à près de 1,3 milliard avant impôts.

Suite de l'article

March 19, 2015 By AARON MEHTA – Defense News

WASHINGTON — The Air Force secretary expects the KC-46A tanker to have its first flight sometime over the summer, a "several month" delay for a milestone on the program.

The timeline laid out for Defense News by Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James clarifies comments made Tuesday by Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, program executive officer for tankers, that the tanker was going to miss the expected first flight date of mid-April.

"It is concerning me," James said in a Thursday interview. "My best belief, at this point, is it will be a several-month delay. So hopefully summertime is when it would occur."

This is not the first delay of a major test point on the tanker. The first test flight of a Boeing 767-2C, a test version of the KC-46A without the refueling boom and other tanker equipment, was scheduled for June 2014; it eventually occurred just before the New Year.

Executives for Boeing have emphasized that its focus is on a contractual obligation to provide 18 ready-to-go tankers on the ramp by 2017, and noted that first flight dates are targets, not obligations.

James did say that the KC-46 program has some good news, noting that the costs are capped and the company is largely on track for its major contractual requirements.

However, Richardson warned on Tuesday that the margin built into the schedule was essentially gone, and that any delay in getting that first flight up was a concern because of the need to get air worthiness certifications.

James echoed Richardson's concern about the lack of margin, and added that Boeing has submitted a new integrated master schedule, laying out its internal target dates, for review by the Air Force.

"The worrying news is that underneath those contractual and milestone requirements, there are a whole lot of other milestones," James said. "This is the internal plan for how do you get from here to there to meet the milestones. That's where there have been challenges and slippages and so forth, so that is the worrying part."

The KC-46A will replace the majority of the service's tanker fleet with 179 new planes, based on a Boeing commercial design.

March 18, 2015 By: Greg Waldron - FG

Langkawi - Maritime patrol and surveillance were the most prominent themes of this year's LIMA show, as big manufacturers jockeyed to promote their various solutions for the mission.

Industry sources say that Kuala Lumpur is in the process of crystallising a requirement for six to eight long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA).

The potential requirement attracted attention from a range of companies including Boeing, Saab, Dassault, and Indonesian Aerospace.

Boeing brought its Maritime Surveillance Aircraft (MSA) technology demonstrator to the show. The type appeared on the static line, and the US airframer briefed media and officials on the MSA's capabilities. A modified Challenger 604 business jet, the unarmed MSA is optimised for high altitude, broad area surveillance.

Saab, Dassault, and Indonesian Aerospace also displayed models of MSA and MPA solutions on their stands.

Mar 14, 2015 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Korea Herald; published Mar 13, 2015)

South Korea has postponed the introduction of aerial refueling tankers by about a year until 2018 due to a delayed process of selecting a successful bidder, government officials and industry sources here said Friday.

The 1.4 trillion won ($1.26 billion) project to purchase four refueling tankers has drawn interest from three aerospace giants: Europe's Airbus Defense and Space, Boeing of the United States and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), South Korea's state arms procurer, had planned to choose the winning bidder by the end of last year, but the process has been delayed due mainly to gaps in offsets of defense trade terms, according to industry sources.

Offsets in defense trade encompass a range of industrial compensation arrangements required by foreign governments as a condition of the purchase of defense articles and services from a non-domestic source.

"We will resume negotiations with the candidates next week," said a DAPA official, requesting anonymity. "After wrapping up the talks and bidding process by the end of next month, we will make a contractor selection in June."

The delay in the selection process has subsequently caused the military's schedule of putting the tankers into service to be postponed from 2017 to 2018, a defense ministry official said.

"But we are to deploy all four tankers by 2019 as planned -- two in 2018 and two in 2019," the official noted.

The use of tankers allows the fighter jets to stay airborne for an extra hour and carry more weapons. The greater payload is made possible because the jets can take off with less fuel, thereby lightening their weight. (Yonhap)

Mar 12, 2015 ASDNews Source : The Boeing Company

    Improving capability, efficiency, situational awareness for operators

Boeing [NYSE: BA] recently completed the first flight of a NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft with modern flight deck and avionics systems that replace 1970s-era analog systems.

During the two-hour flight on Dec. 31 testers evaluated five full-color glass displays with customizable engine, navigation and radar data. The systems performed better than expected and the program will now enter an extensive flight test qualification phase. Fourteen NATO AWACS in total will receive the flight deck modernization, delivery of the first upgraded aircraft is scheduled for January 2016.

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