United States approves possible FMS of EMALS and AAG to France. (Naval News) “The Government of France has requested to buy one (1) Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), 2 launcher configuration; and one (1) Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG), 3 engine configuration. Also included are land-based testing and test spares; shipboard install; testing and certification support; shipboard spares; peculiar support equipment; government furnished equipment; multi-purpose reconfigurable training system; operator and maintainer training; integrated electronic technical manuals; drawings and interface control documents; technical assistance; contractor engineering technical services; and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated total cost is $1.321 billion…DSCA notifications usually quote the “maximum price” and final contracts are often signed with substantially lower amounts.”
Israeli companies exported cruise missiles to China without permit. (The Jerusalem Post) “Three Israeli companies and 10 suspects were indicted on Monday after they were found to have exported cruise missiles to China without a permit… The suspects produced dozens of cruise missiles and performed a number of tests with them in Israeli territory, endangering human life, according to the State Attorney. The missiles were transferred to China in a concealed manner and Menashe received millions of dollars in return.”
French Navy FREMM frigates “hook” US Navy ASW award, again. (Naval News) “Vice Adm. Frederick C. Turner established the “Hook ‘Em” award in December 1975 to recognize 6th Fleet’s ships, submarines, and aircraft squadrons demonstrating ASW excellence. The award was discontinued two decades later, but it was reestablished by Adm. James G. Foggo III in 2016 during his tenure as Commander, US 6th Fleet… “In 2030, the French Navy will have fifteen first-line frigates including 8 FREMM, 2 air defense destroyers (Horizon-class) and 5 new generation FDI (Defense and Intervention Frigates).”
NASA’s SLS rocket just for $3.2 billion more expensive. (The Motley Fool) “Last week, NASA awarded one of its main subcontractors on the SLS project, Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC), a $3.2 billion contract to build booster rockets for five SLS rockets that will participate in the Project Artemis moon program… Yes, you read that right. For the cost of just one Northrop Grumman booster rocket (which will be discarded after launch), NASA could buy two entire SpaceX rocketships. For what Northrop is charging to help launch one single SLS, NASA could launch four Falcon Heavy missions… in fact, Falcon Heavy is even more powerful… on paper NASA could build a 40% more powerful SLS — and spend half as much on its boosters — by discarding Northrop Grumman’s contribution and strapping a pair of SpaceX Falcon Heavies to the SLS core stage instead. Granted, that’s not going to happen.”
Cloud numbers don’t add up. (Info World) “In a recent O’Reilly survey, 30% of respondents said they’re fully cloud native already, with another 17% saying they’ll get there within the next two years (and 20% more say they’ll be cloud native in roughly three years). Sounds amazing, right? Actually, it sounds impossible. Cloud spending still accounts for just 6% of total IT spending, according to analyst firm IDC… It’s also not surprising that usage aggregates around the big three cloud providers: AWS with 62%, Microsoft Azure with 48%, and Google Cloud at 33%. If you noticed those numbers don’t add up to 100%, you’re correct! Turns out multicloud is a thing, though it’s not the “build an app that runs across multiple clouds” thing that many suppose that word means. It just means enterprises are doing what they’ve always done: running different services on the cloud provider that best meets their needs for the given application.”
A new hypersonic wind tunnel will put China ’20 to 30 years ahead’ of the West. (Interesting Engineering) “The launch date for the JF-22 wind tunnel is currently classified. Still, during his lecture, Professor Guilai stated that it will be able to simulate flight at Mach 30… China’s next most powerful wind tunnel is JF-12, which runs at a fifth of the power output of JF-22… “This air is no longer the air we breathe in,” he said. “The flying vehicle we study is like swimming in mud.” The physicist explained that the surface of an aircraft inside JF-22 at Mach 30 could reach temperatures of up to 10,000 degrees Celsius (18,032 Fahrenheit), which is hot enough to break air molecules into atoms and even give some of them an electrical charge. According to Guilai, the wind tunnel will have a power output of 15 gigawatts, which is roughly three-quarters the capacity of China’s enormous Three Gorges Dam… [China] uses chemical explosions to generate high-speed air flow instead of the mechanical compressors used in other countries… NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, OH… was originally built to test nuclear thermal rocket nozzles, can test hypersonic flight up to Mach 7.”
Air Force hypersonic weapon runs into trouble after third failed test. (Breaking Defense) “… an “unknown issue” caused the launch sequence to be aborted before the booster was released, the service said in a statement… A July 28 test failed after ARRW’s engine did not ignite after launch, while an April 5 test failed when the missile was not able to complete its launch sequence. The Air Force hopes to spend $161 million to buy the first 12 ARRW missiles in FY22, but a spokeswoman for the service could not immediately confirm whether the failed test would scuttle plans to begin production this fiscal year.”
DARPA selects performers to build, test manta ray unmanned underwater vehicles. (DARPA) “DARPA has awarded Phase 2 contracts to continue the Manta Ray program that began in 2020. The effort seeks to demonstrate innovative technologies allowing payload-capable autonomous unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) to operate on long-duration, long-range missions in ocean environments. The two prime contractors, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation and Martin Defense Group, are each developing unique full-scale demonstration vehicles.”
The Air Fore isn’t doing information technology right. (War on the Rocks) “IT professionals create and manage capabilities. Cyber warriors defend them in manners similar to how the rest of the U.S. military defends America and its allies in the physical world. To remain competitive with global adversaries, the United States needs to be good — no, the best — at both. It can’t be until it recognizes them as different and distinct functions, and prepares itself accordingly by separating them and giving each the attention they deserve — and by attention, I do mean funding and resourcing. As it is, the Air Force is treating cyberspace operations and IT like conjoined twins, but only nurturing the former while the latter slowly starves. That could produce tragic results.”
Columbia: The US Navy has big plans for its new ballistic missile submarine. (1945) “Unlike the Ohios, the Columbia-class reactors do not require refueling but instead operate with their original fuel for the entirety of their service lives. As a result, the U.S. Navy estimates that a slightly smaller nuclear deterrent force will save over $40 billion over the length of the class’ service lifetime… The contract, worth $9.474 billion, covers both construction costs as well as engineering and design requirements, though the design is already over 90% complete. The final assembly is scheduled to begin in 2024, with the class’s lead entering service in 2030.”
US Army awards Northrop $1.4 billion contract for future battle command system. (Defense News) “The program has cost the Army roughly $2.7 billion to develop to date and was originally meant to serve only as the command-and-control system for the Army’s future Integrated Air-and-Missile Defense System against regional ballistic missile threats. But the service has since expanded its role to tie together a broad array of sensors and shooters capable of defeating other complex threats, such as cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft. The program experienced an almost four-year delay and struggled in a 2016 limited user test. But following several soldier checkouts and other test events over the past few years, the system had a successful limited user test in summer 2020.”
Navy’s unmanned refueling drone completes first ops on an aircraft carrier. (Breaking Defense) ““The Navy gave us two key performance parameters for the program — aerial refueling and integration onto the carrier deck,” said Dave Bujold, Boeing MQ-25 program director, said in a statement today. “We’ve shown that the MQ-25 can meet both requirements, and we’ve done it years earlier than traditional acquisition programs.””
Hypersonic strike aircraft capability is part of the Air Force’s shadowy project mayhem. (The Warzone) “”The Mayhem Program is focused on delivering a larger class air-breathing hypersonic system capable of executing multiple missions with a standardized payload interface, providing a significant technological advancement and future capability,” the contracting document says. “The system goal is to carry payloads five-times the mass and double the range of current technology capability systems. The standardized payload interface would create multiple opportunities for various payload integration within the same hypersonic system…. a program ceiling of $371M is currently anticipated.”… Interestingly, these basic payload descriptions are all labeled as Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI).”
Soldiers will test Army’s new robotic combat vehicle in 2022. (Defense News) “In 2021, the Army received both the light and medium variants of the RCV and started work in small teams before a planned company-level evaluation this coming year… The RCV Light is a diesel-electric hybrid with a gross vehicle weight of no more than 8,500 pounds and a maximum payload of no more than 7,000 pounds. It boasts a top speed of about 40 miles per hour… the RCV-M is a diesel-electric hybrid with a gross vehicle weight of 25,000 pounds. It is equipped with a remotely operated 30 mm cannon and has a top speed of over 25 miles per hour.”
The Navy’s high energy electromagnetic field generator could change warfare forever. (The National Interest) “Believe it or not, an electromagnetic propulsion system that could allow the Navy to build its own flying saucers may not be the craziest thing to come out of these efforts. According to these documents, another branch of this work deals with the concept of a compact fusion reactor, which among other things, could allow for the creation of a “Spacetime Modification Weapon.””
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