fredag 31. mars 2023

MPA - Tyskland vurderer UAV som skal samarbeide med deres P-8A - AW&ST

 

Tyskland har bestilt fem fly, men vil nå øke med et ukjent antall fly. (Red.)


German Navy Eyes Adding To Planned P-8 Poseidon Fleet


Credit: Boeing
LONDON—The German Navy wants to expand its planned fleet of Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and acquire uncrewed air systems (UAS) to supplement them. The expansion is part of the Navy’s 2035 vision, which also calls for growing its surface fleet of warships and adding more UAS in the  Army.

Investeringer i Forsvaret - Regjeringen

 Statens Pensjonsfond Utland satte for et øyeblikk siden ny toppnotering med 14 178 milliarder kroner. Regjeringen kan bruke 3% av avkastningen, men bruker på langt nær så mye. Nå bør en virkelig investere i Forsvaret før det er for sent. Kystartilleriet må gjenopprettes med NSM missiler, nye helikoptre til Hæren haster det med, etc. Målet om 2% av BNP til forsvarsformål er også langt unna. (Red.)


Prop. 94 S (2022–2023) - Investeringar i Forsvaret og andre saker

Proposisjon | 31.03.2023 | Forsvarsdepartementet

Regjeringa ber om at Stortinget godkjenner nye investeringsprosjekt for maritim helikopterkapasitet, artilleriammunisjon, levetidsforlenging av indre kystvakt, og for luftvern på Ørland. Regjeringa ber også om at Stortinget godkjenner å auka omfanget av tidlegare godkjente prosjekt for anskaffing av brupanservogn, ingeniørpanservogn, bergepanservogn, landbasert transportstøtte, elektroniske mottiltak, modernisering av kryptoløysingar, oppgradering av Very Low Frequency Novik, fasilitetar for maritime patruljefly på Evenes, samt for utbetring av hovudrullebana og ytre perimeter på Værnes. Regjeringa informerer også om status for eit oppmodingsvedtak, om gjenanskaffing av materiell som er donert til Ukraina, om amerikanske investeringar i infrastruktur på Rygge, om talet på norske F-35 fly i USA for utdanning, om ambisjonsnivå for full operativ evne for kampflyvåpenet, om infrastruktur og støtte til kampflyvåpenet, om NATO si vurdering av Noreg, om investeringsprogrammet for utbygging av Evenes, samt regjeringa sitt val av leverandør av stridsvogn.

Nyheitsvarsel om: Forsvar





INVESTERER: Forsvarsminister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp) og Forsvaret skal bruke milliarder på nye investeringer. 

Regjeringen investerer
17 nye forsvarsmilliarder

Regjeringen foreslår å ruste opp Forsvaret med fire nye milliardprosjekter. De vil blant annet kjøpe mer ammunisjon, nye helikoptre og nye bygg på Ørland.

NTB

PUBLISERT  SIST OPPDATERT 

Regjeringen kom fredag med kostnadsrammene for flere store forsvarsprosjekter som er på gang. Totalt dreier det seg om beløp på rundt 30 milliarder kroner.

 

– Vi må ha et sterkt og moderne forsvar som kan forebygge krig og forsvare Norge. Regjeringen foreslår derfor å starte opp fire nye prosjekter for om lag 17 milliarder kroner og endre pågående prosjekter for om lag 6,3 milliarder kroner for å styrke Forsvaret, sier Gram.

Den største enkeltsummen for nye prosjekter dreier seg om kjøp av amerikanske Seahawk-helikoptre til 12 milliarder kroner. Les mer om det her!

I tillegg øker regjeringen summen som skal brukes på ny artilleriammunisjon betydelig, mens det også blir økte kostnadsrammer for en satsing på norsk kryptokompetanse og kommunikasjonssystemer for ubåter.

Det er de fire nye prosjektene Gram omtaler.

De pågående prosjektene som også styrkes, får nå en kostnadsramme på opp mot 13 milliarder kroner. 

Styrker Nammos produksjonjskapasitet

Størrelsen på kontrakten med Nammo endres for å sikre raskere leveranse enn planlagt, samt legge til rette for økt produksjonskapasitet hos ammunisjonsprodusenten.

Nettopp produksjonskapasiteten til våpenprodusentene er av flere eksperter blitt sett på som et avgjørende element for at Vesten skal vinne våpenkappløpet med Russland i Ukraina-krigen.

– Det er viktig å bidra til at norsk og annen alliert forsvarsindustri øker produksjonstakten, sier forsvarsminister Bjørn Arild Gram (Sp).

Kontrakten dreier seg om K9 artilleriskyts til Hæren, noe som vil øke rekkevidden til minimum 40 kilometer. Dette er også materiell Ukraina kan be om å få donert.

Les mer om Hærens K9 artilleriskyts her! 

Penger til Ørland og til Hæren 

Samtidig vil regjeringen gjøre andre investeringer i Forsvaret

Det settes blant annet av flere hundre millioner til styrking av flystasjonen på Ørland, som er Forsvarets hovedbase for kampfly.

Det skal brukes 446 millioner kroner på å utvide og tilpasse bygg og anlegg til luftvern. I tillegg økes kostnadsrammen for ny hovedrullebane fra 448 millioner til 960 millioner kroner. Kostnadsrammen for sikring av området rundt flystasjonen økes fra 184 til 713 millioner.

Regjeringen legger også til rette for at Hæren skal vokse ved å kjøpe flere bro-, ingeniør- og bergpanservogner, mens den indre kystvakten skal oppgraderes.

GA - Cessna 172 Skyhawk er fortsatt populær - AIN

 

USAF brukte T-41 (C172) til uttaksflyging, noe også de norske kandidatene måtte igjennom. Her undertegnede ved Casa Grande Municipal i Arizona, 1967. Flyet var veldig begrenset i den forstand at det ikke kunne utføre aerobatics slik vi lærte på Værnes med SAAB Safir.

AIN Alerts

March 31, 2023



Textron Sells 15 More Skyhawks to Epic Flight Academy

Textron Aviation received an agreement from long-term customer Epic Flight Academy for 15 Cessna Skyhawk 172s, the Wichita, Kansas, airframer announced this week during the 2023 Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo.

Based at New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport in Florida, Epic Flight Academy is a Cessna Pilot Center and has trained thousands of students from more than 80 countries since 1999. Since 2016, the flight school has ordered 43 of the Cessna Skyhawks, which it uses exclusively for its piston-single training.

"At Epic, our motto has always been ‘safety first,’” said Danny Perna, Epic Flight Academy's founder and CEO. "This is why we train our pilots in the Cessna Skyhawk. This aircraft proves itself with every flight and prepares our students for a successful career."

Textron Aviation said the Skyhawk has been a dependable training platform for Epic with stable flight characteristics, Garmin G1000 NXi avionics, and proven dispatch reliability.

“The Cessna Skyhawk has been one of the world’s top training aircraft for over six decades,” noted Chris Crow, v-p of Textron Aviation piston sales. Textron has delivered more than 45,000 Skyhawks to customers worldwide.

F-35 oppgraderinger forsinket - DefenseNews

 


F-35 upgrades slip to 2024, drawing lawmaker’s ire

By Stephen Losey

 Mar 30, 06:39 PM

The first F-35 upgraded with Technology Refresh 3 hardware and software flies above the Mojave Desert in California, January 6, 2023, in its first test flight from Edwards Air Force Base. (Air Force)


WASHINGTON — The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will receive a slate of important hardware and software upgrades known as Technology Refresh 3 a year later than originally expected, the three-star general in charge of the program told lawmakers Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Michael Schmidt, the F-35′s program executive officer, said in a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing March 30 that the Joint Program Office now estimates TR-3 — which is intended to load the F-35 with improved displays, computer memory and processing power — will arrive in April 2024.

That would be a year later than the original due date of this April for TR-3, tactical air and land forces subcommittee chairman Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia, said.


RELATED
Pentagon rethinks F-35 engine program, will upgrade F135
The decision represents a major victory for Pratt & Whitney, the company that makes the F-35's current F135 engines that will be upgraded.

By Stephen Losey

The “F-35 is currently planning to achieve full operational capability status after the full TR-3 and Block 4 capabilities of the aircraft are fielded in 2028 — 27 years after the program began,” Wittman said. “That is by any measure unacceptable.”

Schmidt said Lockheed Martin, the F-35′s primary manufacturer, believes TR3 will arrive this December, and he suggested the actual arrival of TR-3 could fall in the “window” between those two dates.

The F-35 needs the TR-3 improvements, which will allow the fighter to store and process more data as well as run advanced software, before it can receive a modernization known as Block 4, which will include new sensors, the ability to carry more long-range precision weapons, more powerful data fusion, increased interoperability with other platforms and advanced electronic warfare capabilities.

Wittman criticized the F-35 program for delays and for TR-3 running about $700 million over budget, saying “the program has to do better.”

The delayed delivery of TR-3 is starting to hit already-existing fighter squadrons that are retiring older legacy fighters, Wittman said. Those squadrons won’t receive F-35As with the capabilities they need in time to avoid gaps in aircraft after their older aircraft are retired.

We currently are paying for a great capability, but we’re currently only getting a good capability fielded,” Wittman said, quoting an unnamed Air Force official as saying.

Schmidt acknowledged to lawmakers that “We are behind.”

Driving up costs

The hardware’s development lagged and initial production was slow, Schmidt said, but the hardware has now matured to the point where it is proving reliable and passing flight safety requirements.

Schmidt said software integration also proved to be a challenge, and got off to a late start.

The Government Accountability Office in 2022 said that the greater-than-expected complexity of TR-3 was driving up the costs of the Block 4 modernization effort.

The Air Force conducted the first test flight of an F-35 with some TR-3 capabilities at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Jan. 6, and Schmidt said it has now flown 25 times.

The next software drop will come in about a month, Schmidt said, and will be a critical update that “unleashes most of the tactical capabilities in there,” so the military can do more thorough flight tests.

Russland tar over ledelsen av Sikkerhetsrådet for en måned - The Hill

 

Russia set to take chair of UN security council amid Ukraine war

AP Photo/John Minchillo
Hayashi Yoshimasa, minister for foreign affairs of Japan, chairs a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters on Jan. 12, 2023.

Russia is set to take the chair position of a United Nations Security Council meeting as it continues to wage its yearlong war on neighboring Ukraine, drawing criticism from Ukrainian leaders.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s confirmation to the top Security Council slot during an April meeting in New York “a bad joke,” as the International Criminal Court (ICC) has a warrant out for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes. 

“Russian UN Security Council presidency on April 1 is a bad joke. Russia has usurped its seat; it’s waging a colonial war; its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children,” Kuleba said on Twitter. “The world can’t be a safe place with Russia at UNSC #BadRussianJoke #InsecurityCouncil.”

The 15 member states of the U.N. Security Council take turns in the presidency position every month. Only five seats on the council are permanent — those held by the U.S., the U.K., France, China and Russia. 

Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.N. highlighted comments from the international body’s Secretary-General António Guterres calling the day of Russia’s invasion the saddest moment in his tenure as U.N. chief. 

“In fact the saddest in UN history until April 1, 2023 when, unless justice prevails, [Russia] assumes presidency of [the] Security Council. Stop raping justice & quashing UN Charter! Accountability now!” Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya wrote on Twitter.

Ukrainian diplomat Olexander Scherba called Russia taking over the Security Council “a bit like Jack the Ripper taking over at the ministry of health.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that the administration expects Russia “to continue to use its seat on the council to spread disinformation” and urged the country “to conduct itself professionally” during its time with the presidency, according to Reuters.

“Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality,” Jean-Pierre said.

Russia’s permanent seat on the council — and with it, the power to individually veto any resolution that passes through the international body — has long been a topic of concern that was stoked by Moscow invaded its neighbor. Last February, Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have called on Moscow to cease its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops.

The Security Council president is responsible for setting the body’s agenda and calling meetings, though the state gains no additional power over what gets through. Russia held the rotating presidency last February, the month of its invasion.

NRK kl 1210: "Kinesiske fly fløy over Taiwan" - Heldigvis feilinformasjon


Hadde de gjort det hadde de blitt skutt ned. Flyene fløy derimot inn i Taiwans ADIZ, som du kan lese under. Det er langt fra "over" Taiwan og skjer stadig vekk. Hvorfor NRK har valgt å blåse det slik opp med en for meg åpenbar feilinformasjon, vet jeg ikke. Bare to fly er for øvrig blåbær mot det som har skjedd tidligere. (Red.)



2 Chinese warplanes, 3 warships tracked around Taiwan

China has dispatched 343 military planes and 112 naval ships around Taiwan in March


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) tracked two Chinese military aircraft and three naval vessels around the country between 6 a.m. on Thursday (March 30) and 6 a.m. on Friday (March 31).

At 9 a.m. on Friday, the MND reported that Taiwan's armed forces monitored the situation and dispatched combat patrol aircraft and navy vessels and activated land-based missile systems in response to the presence of the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) aircraft and People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels.

PLAAF Fighter Aircraft

Thus far in March, China has dispatched 343 military planes and 112 naval ships around Taiwan. Beijing has stepped up its gray zone tactics in the Taiwan Strait by regularly deploying warplanes and warships in Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, gray zone tactics are “an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.”

AAM og voldsomt press på myndigheter for å få fart på tingene - AIN / AW&ST

AAM: Advanced Aerial Mobility

Dette har vært omtalt her på bloggen mange ganger, men presset på myndigheter bare øker. Husk et par ting her: Dagens sikkerhetsnivå innen kommersiell luftfart har utviklet seg gjennom 120 år. De nye "dingsene" skal ha samme sikkerhetsnivå som flygingen i dag fra dag èn. Det betyr testing, testing og testing. Maskinene skal sertifiseres; etter hvilke forskrifter? Maskinene skal i følge produsentene, fly i hopetall, gjerne i urbane områder. Hvordan skal de kontrolleres? Artikkelen under viser tydelig at hissige politikere påvirket av meget sterke lobbyister, gjør saken vanskelig for seriøse myndigheter. Ta den tid som trengs for å slippe disse løs sammen med dagens flytrafikk. (Red.)


AIN Alerts

March 30, 2023


Hearing Urges U.S. Government To Unlock AAM

by Charles Alcock

 - March 30, 2023, 12:09 PM

 

Rep. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana), chairman of the U.S. aviation subcommittee, heavily criticized the FAA's approach to regulating the advanced air mobility sector. (Image: AIN)

The U.S. House aviation subcommittee this week turned its attention to new market entrants, such as drones and eVTOL aircraft, as it considered its position on the pending FAA reauthorization bill. In opening statements before industry testimony on March 30, several lawmakers were heavily critical of the Biden Administration, accusing it of failing to support the emerging advanced air mobility (AAM) sector.

Comparing the newcomers to the U.S. aviation system to runners in a marathon race who can’t find the finish line when signposts are removed after 25 miles, subcommittee chairman Rep. Garret Graves (R-Louisiana) said the industry has been thwarted by its own government. “We don’t have a government that has the processes in place to provide predictability in decision making, or that gets the urgency to certify and integrate these products,” he told the hearing in Washington, D.C.

“After five years, the FAA has certified just one drone,” Graves continued. “We cannot allow these opportunities to be stifled by red tape and requests for more data. We’re going to cede our leadership [in the AAM sector] to other countries.”

Subcommittee ranking minority member Rick Larsen (D-Washington) echoed some of the Republican chair’s critique, calling for an end to “organizational inefficiencies” at the FAA to create the regulatory bandwidth to certify new aircraft and approve access to the national airspace. He characterized the challenge as an opportunity to create some 280,000 jobs in the new sector, while also opening the door to new technology that could significantly cut aviation’s carbon footprint.

The subcommittee of the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee heard from eight industry witnesses representing manufacturers and operators of eVTOL aircraft and uncrewed air systems. While their contributions were less politically tinged than those of the elected officials, they urged Congress to give FAA both the mandate and resources to help the AAM sector to fulfill its potential.

Witnesses giving both oral and written testimony included the following Adam Woodworth, CEO of drone maker Wing; Roxana Kennedy, chief of police in Chula Vista, California; Stuart Ginn, medical director of WakeMed Health and Hospitals; Catherine Cahill, director of the Alaska Center of UAS Integration; Kyle Clark, CEO of eVTOL aircraft developer Beta Technologies; JoeBen Bevirt, Joby Aviation’s CEO, Chris Bradshaw, CEO of the Bristow Group, representing the Helicopter Association International; and Clint Harper, an AAM expert and community advocate.



Daily Memo: Lilium, Vertical Aerospace Face Precarious Cash Runway

 
Lilium
Lilium needs to raise an additional $540 million to fund operations through certification.
Credit: Lilium

This year is shaping up to be a pivotal one for the host of electric air taxi startups vying to establish their presence in the nascent market for urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles, with attention shifting from concepts and technology demonstrations to building type-conforming aircraft that can be flown for certification credit.

But whether each company in the advanced air mobility (AAM) race has the necessary capital to see their plans through to certification remains an open question. Financial conditions have tightened considerably over the last year, and interest rates continue to rise around the world, helping to send AAM stocks to new depths each week, with some companies now officially trading in penny-stock territory. 

Of the 10 publicly-traded companies tracked by Aviation Week’s AAM Stock Composite, two electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle OEMs—Lilium and Vertical Aerospace—are showing severe signs of financial strain, while others may run into similar problems as time progresses.

In the case of Lilium, the German startup needs to raise around $540 million to fund operations through to type certification, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange commission. The company ended 2022 with around $273 million in cash after raising an additional $119 million from investors.

Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe recently acknowledged in an interview with Aviation Week that it is “obvious” his company does not have enough cash to make it to expected type certification in 2025. But he said he remains “100% confident” that Lilium will find a way to close the funding gap, even if that means looking to potential strategic investors or government funding as options to shore up the company’s balance sheet.

Those statements did little to assuage the doubts swirling in AAM circles about Lilium’s cash runway, however. The company, which exited the third-quarter of 2022 with €160 million in total liquidity, is projected to continue burning cash at its estimated rate of €250 million per year, according to Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth, translating to a cash runway of roughly eight to nine months. 

“If you don’t have cash, you’re not going to make it to certification. It’s very simple,” says Sergio Cecutta, founder of SMG Consulting, a boutique firm that specializes in the aerospace and automotive industries. “Lilium stated clearly that it needs another $540 million to get there, and we know that raising half a billion dollars in today’s world is not an easy task at all.”

Like Lilium, the financial runway for Vertical Aerospace is looking rather precarious. The Bristol, England-based startup ended 2022 with £122.8 million in cash and expects to spend £90 million over the next 12 months, leaving it with a cash runway through the first quarter of 2024, according to Raymond James. But the company does have a further $87 million in net funds available over the remaining three-year term of the subscription line it arranged with Nomura Securities International last August, and it only burned through around $10 million in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“Vertical has a bit more runway, but whatever way you slice it, they don’t have enough money to get to certification either, so they’re going to need to raise more capital,” Cecutta says.

Raising large amounts of cash is no easy feat for AAM companies in the current financial markets. Debt servicing costs have risen tremendously in the last year, and stock valuations have plunged across the sector–Lilium and Vertical’s shares have fallen by roughly 80% and 70% over the last 12 months, respectively–meaning any new share issues will generate less cash for the companies while further diluting the share price for existing investors.

Other AAM companies may soon find themselves in a similar predicament. Cecutta highlights AutoFlight, Eve Air Mobility and Eviation as several of the OEMs that could eventually run into liquidity problems if they continue to burn cash at current rates. But the situation facing Lilium and Vertical is particularly dire, he warns, because both those companies are aiming for certification and service entry in 2025, which makes the need to raise cash this year even greater. 

“I think the proximity to certification makes raising cash more urgent,” Cecutta says. “But it depends how they raise money and at what valuation. We know for sure they need to raise more this year, but we still don’t know how they’re going to do it.”

 

Siste fra The War Zone

 Innlegget er vanskelig å formatere slik at det ser pent ut. Du kan imidlertid klikke på hver enkelt artikle for å lese hele. (Red.)


 

March 30, 2023