The US Marine Corps ideally wants its new Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion to carry 13.6t (30,000lb) externally over 110nm (204km) unrefueled, but early analysis indicates that it will fall approximately 907kg short of that “objective” key performance requirement.Story here.
The minimum target is 12.2t (27,000lb) over 110nm in high, hot environments, which US Naval Air Systems Command officials expect the in-development aircraft to comfortably achieve. However, CH-53K integrated product team deputy Col John Neville says it is too early to tell exactly what external load target the CH-53K will meet or what programmatic steps the NAVAIR might take to bump up the aircraft’s performance to the objective requirement.
“From an acquisition and requirements standpoint, that’s the trade space,” Neville said during a teleconference briefing at the 72nd annual American Helicopter Society (AHS) International meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida on 19 May. “The engines are extremely powerful, but one of the things we do know is right now we’re probably somewhere in-between those two values [of 27,000lb and 30,000lb].
Lockheed has discussed the idea with Japanese defense ministry officials and will make a formal proposal in response to a Japanese request for information (RFI) after it receives permission from the U.S. government to offer the sensitive military technology, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of the proposal.Story here.
The decision on whether to release parts of the highly classified aircraft designs and software to help Japan stay ahead of Chinese advances will test President Donald Trump’s promise to overhaul his country’s arms export policy.
The proposed aircraft “would combine the F-22 and F-35 and could be superior to both of them,” said one of the sources.
Japan, which is already buying the radar-evading F-35 to modernize its inventory, also wants to introduce a separate air superiority fighter in the decade starting 2030 to deter intrusions into its airspace by Chinese and Russian jets.
The country’s air force currently flies the F-15J, based on the Boeing F-15; and the F-2, based on the Lockheed Martin F-16. Both designs are decades old.
Japan’s ambition to build its own stealth fighter was in part spurred by Washington’s refusal a decade ago to sell it the twin-engined F-22, which is still considered the world’s best air superiority fighter.
8x8, the end of the wait.Story here.
The Army's aspiration to have a modern vehicle to replace the half-wheeled veterans (BMR) and was the key vehicle of the modern Brigades comes from afar. However, the bad economic situation caused the project to be suspended. The recovery has made it possible to resume it and already has specific dates, a budget of 92 million euros and a successful bidder: the Temporary Business Union formed by Indra, General Dynamics European Land Systems-Santa Bárbara Sistemas and SAPA operations.
At the end of 2015, the contract was signed to launch the first phase (design and development), which will culminate next November with the arrival of five technological demonstrators. Once delivered, the operational tests will be carried out with them, and the Legion Brigade has been the unit chosen to make them.
The 8x8 Combat Vehicle on Wheels (VCR) program aims to obtain a combat system that incorporates new technical solutions to face the evolution of threats and is key in the new organic structure of the Army. It includes a family of armored, wheeled, medium-weight vehicles, versatile, adaptable, with high protection capacity, lethality and operational mobility (thanks to a lower fuel consumption and ease of travel using different types of communication channels). They also enjoy greater strategic mobility, since they can be projected by air more easily, due to their weight, which allows rapid deployment in any scenario, in a short space of time. At the same time, they provide the average units with superiority in the confrontation. They also stand out for their modularity and versatility, which allows the compatibility, collaboration and incorporation of future updates and subsystems as a result of technological progress, as well as their integration with the plans and programs that the Army already has in operation.
Its purpose is to replace, progressively, the historical BMR, Armored Caterpillar Transport (TOA) and Cavalry Exploration Vehicle (VEC), and vehicles acquired for protection against mines and improvised explosive devices, such as the Lynx and the RG-31.
TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. --- Marines and Soldiers will finish testing the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Thursday at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) here.Story here.
Soldiers from Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division joined with Marines of Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, to run the JLTV through its paces by conducting real-world missions in an operational environment as realistic as Iraq or Afghanistan.
Testing began late February, and according to Randall G. Fincher, JLTV test officer with the U.S. Army Operational Test Command (USAOTC), 39 JLTVs in two variants of Combat Tactical Vehicle and Combat Support Vehicle were split, with 18 going to the Marines and 21 to the Army test units.
"The Marines and the Army were equipped with both variants in the following mission packages: Heavy Guns Carrier, General Purpose, Close Combat Weapons Carrier, and the Utility version," said Fincher.
The biggest advantage to testing was the almost unreserved size of the MCAGCC training area and its harsh terrain, providing a true test of the vehicle's maneuverability.
"The Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center offers us a large expanse of maneuverable terrain with hardball routes, secondary routes, and cross-country terrain in a realistic desert environment," said Col. John W. Leffers, director of USAOTC's Maneuver Support and Sustainment Test Directorate.
"The terrain I see out there, is very indicative of what a Soldier or Marine would see in southern Afghanistan," he continued.
"It's absolutely the conditions the JLTV will be operating in, real-world, based on past deployments and the strong possibility of areas we will operate in for the foreseeable future."
Leffers said the two particular Marine and Army units performing tests represent the JLTV's primary customers.
"It's a joint vehicle," he said. "We used the Marines, who picked the company they thought would use the JLTV on a frequent basis. And, for the Army, the Recon Troop was perfect because of the number of JLTVs we wanted to test in a variety of missions that we project the JLTV might be operating under."
Operationally realistic scenarios allowed the test unit Marines and Soldiers to tell the Department of Defense how well the system supports their mission execution.
For the Marines, live fire and helicopter sling load operations, as well as a Marine Amphibious Landing mission at Camp Pendleton, Calif., were added to testing.
