Page 5 - Pat Host News Today

US Army identifies two finalists for unmanned aircraft portion of RS SKO competition 27 May 2021 by Pat Host The US Army is down to two finalist platforms for the unmanned aircraft competition portion of its Render Safe Sets, Kits, and Outfits (RS SKO) programme. The Teledyne FLIR Systems R80D SkyRaider and the InstantEye Robotics Mk-3 Gen4-HL Group 1 unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) are the finalists and the service is in source selection, an industry source told Janes on 26 May. The UAS comp...

Update: SOFIC 2021: SOCOM plans four demo flights for each Armed Overwatch candidate 20 May 2021 by Pat Host US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) will have candidate platforms for its Armed Overwatch manned aircraft competition, where each fly four demonstration flights between 14 June and 23 July at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. During the annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) on 17 May, James Smith, SOCOM acquisition executive, said that the command will evaluate if...

SOFIC 2021: SOCOM plans four demo flights for each Armed Overwatch candidate 19 May 2021 by Pat Host US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) will have candidate platforms for its Armed Overwatch manned aircraft competition, where each fly four demonstration flights between 14 June and 23 July at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. During the annual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) on 17 May, James Smith, SOCOM acquisition executive, said that the command will evaluate if the con...

Update: US Air Force performs proof-of-concept that could increase JASSM capacity on F-15E 17 May 2021 by Pat Host The US Air Force (USAF) on 11 May completed the Project Strike Rodeo (PSR) munitions proof-of-concept that validated loading five Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missiles (JASSMs) on a Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, according to a service statement. This lays the foundation for follow-on flight testing that would more than double the F-15E’s JASSM-carrying capa...

Pentagon pursuing V-22 software changes to better present existing information to pilots 14 May 2021 by Pat Host The Pentagon is working on a pair of software changes to its fleet of Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotors that will have the aircraft better display existing information to pilots. Colonel Brian Taylor, V-22 joint programme office (PMA-275) programme manager, said that one of these efforts is the cockpit engine health indicator (CEHI). Col Taylor said that V-22 engine performance decl...

US Air Force performs proof-of-concept that could increase JASSM capacity on F-15E by Pat Host The US Air Force (USAF) on 11 May completed the Project Strike Rodeo (PSR) munitions proof-of-concept that validated loading five Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missiles (JASSMs) on a Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, according to a service statement. This lays the foundation for follow-on flight testing that would more than double the F-15E’s JASSM-carrying capacity. The maximum nu...

USAF plans to reduce fighter aircraft fleet to about four platform types 13 May 2021 by Pat Host The US Air Force (USAF) plans to reduce its fighter fleet from seven platform types to about four, or “4+1”, according to its chief of staff. General Charles Brown said on 12 May that these platforms will include the Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support (CAS) aircraft as that platform will be around for some time because of a re-winging programme. The fighter mix, he said, wi...

Update: Lockheed Martin, Pentagon establish bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft, ground units 11 May 2021 by Pat Host Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and the Pentagon for the first time established bi-directional communications between fifth-generation aircraft in flight while also sharing operational and sensor data to ground forces during a recent test, according to a company statement on 3 May. This flight test, named Project Hydra, linked a Lockheed U-2 Dragon Lady h...

US Army awards FLIR Systems contract for Black Hornet 3 palm-sized UAVs 07 May 2021 by Pat Host The US Army has awarded FLIR Systems a USD15.4 million contract to procure Black Hornet 3 palm-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), according to a company statement. The army has placed several orders for the Black Hornet 3 totalling more than USD85 million, FLIR Systems said. These include the first order, a USD2.6 million contract awarded in 2018. A soldier holds FLIR Systems’ Black Hornet 3 palm...

Sierra Nevada protests US Air Forces planned award to Sikorsky for HH-60W upgrades 06 May 2021 by Pat Host Sierra Nevada Corp (SNC) is contesting the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) intention to sole-source a USD980 million contract to Sikorsky for HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter upgrades. The bid protest, filed in the US Court of Federal Claims, alleges that the USAF’s intent to sole-source this contract violated the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), which r...