Defense`s Feeds

Americas Canada’s promised $400 million National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine remains grounded, with delivery shrouded in uncertainty. While the Liberal government touted the acquisition in January 2023, National Defence now admits plans are still being worked out with the United States, including crucial details like delivery timelines. Crew Training International won a […]

DID's FOCUS Article covering the Patriot anti-air missile system, including all development & contracts during the FY 2007 time frame...

Americas Raytheon Missiles & Defense Naval Surface & Undersea Systems won a $34 million contract action for production and engineering support for common parts related to the MK 54 Lightweight Torpedo. This contract will purchase parts for the Navy. Work will be performed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island; and Poulsbo, Washington, and is expected to be […]

M1A2 SEP (click to view full) America’s M1 Abrams tanks come in a number of versions. In addition to the M1A1 that is now standard, the US Army is beginning to field its M1 TUSK for urban warfare. It also operates the M1A2 System Enhancement Program (SEP), currently the most advanced standard variant. This Spotlight […]

Americas Bell Boeing won a $21.3 million order, which provides for the production and delivery of 59 line clearance kits, 18 integrated aircraft survivability equipment (IASE) A-Kits, and installation of 16 IASE A-Kits, allowing increased infrared countermeasure and radar warning capability and aircraft survivability, in support of the MV-22 Osprey aircraft sustainment efforts for the […]

(click to view full) In March 2008, the Bell Boeing Joint Project Office in Amarillo, TX received a $10.4 billion modification that converted the previous N00019-07-C-0001 advance acquisition contract to a fixed-price-incentive-fee, multi-year contract. The new contract rose to $10.92 billion, and was used to buy 143 MV-22 (for USMC) and 31 CV-22 (Air Force […]

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $67.9 million modification, which adds scope to procure material and labor to establish initial depot repair capabilities for F-35 Lightning II components at various military service depot locations across the US in support of the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, and non-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) participants. Work will be […]

Americas Tech giant DZYNE has inked a $49-million contract with the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to develop low-cost, military-grade capabilities to boost the US unmanned fleet’s endurance and propulsion. The contract will support research and development for DZYNE’s long endurance program to create technology allowing the Air Force’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to perform […]

UH-1Y and AH-1Z by Neville Dawson The US Marines’ helicopter force is aging at all levels, from banana-shaped CH-46 Sea Knight transports that are far older than their pilots, to the 1980s-era UH-1N Hueys and AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters that make up the Corps’ helicopter assault force. While the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey program has staggered […]

Americas BAE Systems has inked a $92-million deal with the US Navy to continue providing logistical services for its air traffic control and landing systems. The five-year indefinite-delivery-and -quantity contract covers fleet services, technical support, and operational software development with maintenance for capabilities in the US Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Military Sealift Command, and […]

Happy ‘trails… (click to view full) The C-17 has had more money-driven last hurrahs than The Who. Even so, FY 2010 featured the USAF’s last planned orders of C-17 Globemaster III short field, heavy-lift transport jets. The Pentagon had been trying to end the program for years, but 3 factors led Congress to keep adding […]

Americas Lockheed Martin won a $141.5 million modification to exercise options for capability package development and fielding, system integration and fielding, and in-service sustainment in support of current configurations of the AEGIS combat system. Work will be performed in Moorestown, New Jersey, and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2024. Defense manufacturer Oshkosh has inked […]

A strong and competitive European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) is a prerequisite for developing defence capabilities and securing European strategic autonomy. EDA has established a structured dialogue and enhanced engagement with industry, which aims to EDTIB and focuses on European entities. This month, the Agency hosted a dedicated workshop for the defence industry, welcoming over 150 experts in-house and online, to update on the state of play and related way ahead of EDA’s activities of particular interest to the defence industry.

Welcoming industry representatives from large, mid-cap, SMEs and industrial associations, EDA’s Director for Industry Synergies and Enablers (ISE) underlined that the establishment of defence initiatives at EU level have created favorable conditions for strengthening the EDTIB. He emphasised that the Agency is committed to fostering an environment that supports the EDTIB, acknowledging its crucial contribution to Europe's overall security and defence.

The participants were updated by EDA experts during the workshop on the five pillars of EDA’s industry engagement approach, notably: Capability Development, Research, Technology and Innovation, Key Strategic Activities and wider EU policies as well as overall support to Industry. The update focused on activities of interest to the industry, including opportunities for potential engagement. Representatives of the European Commission also attended the meeting and provided an update on their current initiatives relevant to defence industry.

Access to finance, 2023 EU Capability Development Priorities & tools for industry

Industry representatives were informed on the Member States joint statement on access to financing that was prepared by EDA through a collaborative dialogue involving participating Member States and the industry. The statement, that was endorsed by 27 EU Ministers of Defence last November, emphasizes on the importance of accessing finance on capital markets, and encompassing both regulatory proposals at EU-level related to ESG reporting and ongoing developments with national financial actors.

The 27 EU Ministers of Defence approved also the 2023 EU Capability Development Priorities (CDP). The 22 agreed priorities provide a valuable overview of the capability development landscape for the defence industry. The workshop allowed industry representatives to address relevant questions on the CDP, primarily what are the next steps regarding the implementation and how industry could be involved in this process.  

Clarifications also provided to the participants on how to access to the EDA prioritization platform which contains the Capability Development Priorities (CDP), Strategic Context Cases (SCC), Overarching Strategic Research Agenda (OSRA including the TBB roadmaps) and Key Strategic Activities (KSA) and on the further development of the B2B platform.

EDA also informed the participants about the publication of the Industry Engagement Roadmap 2024 which offers an overview of the EDA activities of interest to the industry, that are planned to take place in 2024 in all 5 pillars of EDA Industry Engagement.

Participants stressed that this workshop could take place one more time per year as the update provided is considered very useful.

Americas Raytheon won a $41.1 million for the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) Block (BLK) one spare parts for sustainment and support of in-service ESSM BLK 1 Guided Missile Assemblies. This delivery order includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this delivery order to $49,251,821. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. […]

MH-60Rs fire Hellfire (click to view full) Australia’s AIR 9000, Phase 8 project aimed to buy 24 modern naval helicopters to 16 existing S-70B-2 Seahawks, along with the disastrous A$1.1 billion, 11-helicopter SH-2G “Super Seasprite” acquisition attempt. With a total sales and support value of over A$ 3 billion, it was a highly coveted award. […]

Americas Sikorsky won a $29.4 million modification, which exercises an option to provide logistics support analysis, logistics products and product data, technical publications resulting from production engineering changes, diminishing manufacturing sources, material shortages in support of CH-53K King Stallion aircraft production, and fielding for the Marine Corps. Work will be performed in Stratford, Connecticut; Bohemia, […]

The final meeting of the EDA project “Next Generation of Propellers” (NextProp) took place in Brussels this month. NextProp, a cross-domain activity involving EDA’s CapTechs “Naval Systems” and “Materials & Structures”, successfully developed models and tools for the design of low-noise naval propellers. With a budget of 4 million Euros, NextProp was cooperatively funded by Italy, Norway, and Poland. Eight partner entities from these three countries implemented the project over the past three years.

Designing modern naval propellers involves various considerations such as efficiency, weight, durability, cost, and detectability. Testing these propellers through experiments, using either scale models or full-size prototypes, is crucial but can be expensive and time-consuming. Fortunately, advancements in high-performance computing have increased the importance and feasibility of numerical simulations and modelling.

Creating a model for the acoustic field generated by propeller motion is a complex task. It encompasses factors like the flow around the hull, turbulence, fluid-structure interaction at the propeller blades, and the interaction between the hull wake and propeller. This complexity defines a multi-physics and multi-scale problem that needs simplification in a computational model.

Reducing the signature

The primary project outcome is an improved software tool for the minimisation of the acoustic signature of naval propellers. To this end, models based on hydro-elastic physics are used to predict the behaviour of typical propeller materials, including metals and advanced composites, under operational conditions. Results obtained from NextProp improve the understanding of sound generation and propagation from naval propellers and support advanced low-noise propeller design. Beyond this, NextProp brings forth new methods and setups for experimental propeller tests as well as advanced knowledge of sensor integration for the purpose of condition-based maintenance.

More detailed information on NextProp is available in the executive summary.

In combining knowledge in the fields of hydro-acoustics and advanced material properties, the project has effectively exploited synergies among EDA’s Capability and Technology Groups (CapTechs) “Naval Systems” and “Materials and Structures”. Several Member States support the continuation of the NextProp research line towards further optimisation and validation of the design and fabrication of composite and isotropic polymer propellers, with a follow-up project currently being prepared.

Eight partner entities from Italy, Norway and Poland

FFI (coordinator), FiReCo, Light Structures, SINTEF Ocean, CNR-INM, CETENA, Politecnico di Milano, Polish Naval Academy.

Americas Northrop Grumman  won a $23.3 million modification, which exercises an option to provide continued manufacturing and installation efforts in support of aerial refueling capability retrofit on 25 E-2D Advanced Hawkeye fleet aircraft for the Navy. Work will be performed in St Augustine, Florida (34.7%); Ronkonkoma, New York (28.9%); Melbourne, Florida (5.5%); Plainview, New York […]

(click to view full) Northrop Grumman’s E-2C Hawkeye is a carrier-capable “mini-AWACS” aircraft, designed to give long-range warning of incoming aerial threats. Secondary roles include strike command and control, land and maritime surveillance, search and rescue, communications relay, and even civil air traffic control during emergencies. E-2C Hawkeyes began replacing previous Hawkeye versions in 1973. […]

Americas The US Air Force has unveiled plans to beddown up to 12 Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-15 fighter jets at Andersen Air Force Base (AFB), Guam. The decision is part of a revised proposal for the base’s infrastructure upgrades, aligning with strategic initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region. The proposal, first announced on […]