Category: Military

AAR Delivers first P-8A Poseidon to U.S. Navy Fleet

AAR has completed its first planned overhaul, age exploration and planned inspection of its first U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon (P-8A) aircraft.

As part of a seven-year, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract signed last year with the Navy, AAR is providing heavy depot airframe maintenance, as well as year-round field support, for the U.S. fleet. The P-8A aircraft arrived at AAR for its first Age Exploration Plan Depot (AEPD) visit, which is part of a systematic, scheduled maintenance requirement.

“Delivering a mission-ready aircraft means executing a successful maintenance-repair plan. Many thanks to the AAR team for a job well done,” said Capt. Tony Rossi, Program Manager for the NAVAIR’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Program (PMA-290). “As expected, there have been no significant aircraft condition findings. The aircraft continues to fly anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare missions, humanitarian and search and rescue missions around the world, and it’s performing well.”

“Our team is honored to perform maintenance on the P-8A Poseidon for the U.S. Navy and ensure its operational-readiness for the warfighter,” said William Patton, AAR P-8A Program Manager and 20-year U.S. Navy veteran. “With our vast experience in B737s and longstanding working relationship with military programs, AAR’s P-8A Program has excelled in meeting strict government compliance standards and maintaining the quality of the aircraft.”

In addition to the P-8A program, AAR has also performed service on the U.S. Navy’s C-40, Clipper, Harrier Jet Sustainment, C-9 Nightingale and H60R fleets.

All of the maintenance for the P-8A Program is performed at AAR’s Indianapolis facility, which has serviced over 2,000 B737 aircraft both for commercial and government customers.

Raytheon and United Technologies to Merge

Raytheon Company and United Technologies Corp. have entered into an agreement to combine in an all-stock merger of equals. The transaction will create a “systems provider with advanced technologies to address rapidly growing segments within aerospace and defense,” say the two companies.

The two say the merger of Raytheon and United Technologies, comprised of Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney, will offer a complementary portfolio of platform-agnostic aerospace and defense technologies. The combined company, which will be named Raytheon Technologies Corporation, will offer expanded technology and R&D capabilities aligned with customer priorities and the national defense strategies of the U.S. and its allies and friends. The combination excludes Otis and Carrier, which are expected to be separated from United Technologies in the first half of 2020 as previously announced.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, Raytheon shareowners will receive 2.3348 shares in the combined company for each Raytheon share. Upon completion of the merger, United Technologies shareowners will own approximately 57 percent and Raytheon shareowners will own approximately 43 percent of the combined company on a fully diluted basis. The merger is expected to close in the first half of 2020, following completion by United Technologies of the previously announced separation of its Otis and Carrier businesses. The timing of the separation of Otis and Carrier is not expected to be affected by the proposed merger and remains on track for completion in the first half of 2020. The merger is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

“Today is an exciting and transformational day for our companies, and one that brings with it tremendous opportunity for our future success. Raytheon Technologies will continue a legacy of innovation with an expanded aerospace and defense portfolio supported by the world’s most dedicated workforce,” said Tom Kennedy, Raytheon Chairman and CEO. “With our enhanced capabilities, we will deliver value to our customers by anticipating and addressing their most complex challenges, while delivering significant value to shareowners.”

“The combination of United Technologies and Raytheon will define the future of aerospace and defense,” said Greg Hayes, United Technologies Chairman and CEO. “Our two companies have iconic brands that share a long history of innovation, customer focus and proven execution. By joining forces, we will have unsurpassed technology and expanded R&D capabilities that will allow us to invest through business cycles and address our customers’ highest priorities. Merging our portfolios will also deliver cost and revenue synergies that will create long-term value for our customers and shareowners.”

Big Ass Fans Introduces Double LED Bay Light

Big Ass Fans has unveiled its latest LED product family, the Double LED Bay Light. The company says their Double LED Bay Light is the “most advanced high-bay light in the world.”

Engineered and built to be long-lasting and efficient, Double LEDBay Light’s thermodynamic design dissipates heat quickly and keeps light shining bright, worry-free for years, Big Ass Fans says. There is also a 10-year, full-fixture warranty.

With three mounting options (aircraft cable, pendant, and flush), rotatable modules providing various angles of light distribution (including full 180° rotation for 100 percent uplighting), and five interchangeable lens options to shape and direct light where it needs to go, the Double LED Bay Light is simple to install, adjust, and optimize.

With a max temperature rating of 149 °F (65 °C)and superior light output for over 150,000 hours(17 years of 24/7 operation), Double LED BayLight can hang from the highest ceiling withoutflickering, breaking, or overheating.

OGMA Awarded Best Performing Supplier by Airbus Defense

OGMA – Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal has been awarded the title of best performing Supplier in 2019 by Airbus Defense & Space in the category Best Improver, Services and IT. This award recognizes OGMA’s experience and technical competence in the field of Defense Aviation MRO.

OGMA was awarded during the 5th Airbus D&S Annual Suppliers Conference held in Munich, Germany, which brought together more than 1,000 component and service suppliers of this European OEM.

The award is the outcome of a dialogue that started one and a half years ago concerning the Airbus C-295 platform and resulted in higher output rates, less waiting time, cost of non-quality and higher adherence to on-time delivery, ultimately yielding greater satisfaction of the end customer, OGMA says.

 

Blickle Offers Heavy Duty Wheels and Castors for Equipment Mobility

Whether it’s at the airport or in the production hall: special transport platforms are often needed to move extremely heavy loads. The correct underlying components are critical. Robust wheels and castors are necessary to get the “bulky stuff” moving. Blickle offers an extensive portfolio of heavy duty wheels and castors that can handle loads of up to 100 tonnes.

For logistics providers, for example, transporting heavy and bulky goods by air is an interesting business opportunity: the total freight volume at German airports alone has risen steadily in recent years. And there’s no end in sight. For example, according to a report by the news portal Airliners, the Cologne/Bonn Airport plans to almost double its freight volume by 2030. The goal is to increase the volume from 838,000 tonnes in 2017 to 1.5 million tonnes in 2030. So that even heavy goods reach their destination safely, highly-resilient transportation platforms are required with the best possible mobility.

For many sectors, such as the aerospace or mechanical engineering industries, the wheel and castor specialist Blickle, based in Swabian Rosenfeld, offers suitable solutions for heavy duty applications. The standard range includes heavy duty wheels and castors in numerous versions.

Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Selects iBASEt for Next Generation Manufacturing Execution

iBASEt announced a contract agreement with aerospace company Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT). The company has chosen iBASEt’s digital manufacturing suite as its next-generation manufacturing execution system (MES) for its Aeronautics division, which designs and manufactures military aircraft.

iBASEt’s MES solution offers better visibility, control, and velocity to aerospace and defense manufacturers like Lockheed Martin. The solution is designed to improve manufacturing spans, quality, and compliance by giving plant managers complete visibility into their product production and offers better efficiency and continuous improvement through data capture and analysis.

“As iBASEt continues to expand in aerospace and defense on a global scale, our contract agreement with Lockheed Martin showcases the company’s commitment to assisting clients in establishing a foundation for their digital manufacturing,” said Naveen Poonian, president of iBASEt. “iBASEt’s MES solution is designed to help Lockheed Martin modernize manufacturing operations to efficiently meet global demand for aircraft production while helping to reduce operational cost.”

Successful C-26D Test Flight Advances Nextant Aerospace Cockpit Upgrade Programs in Military Aviation Sector

Nextant Aerospace, a global leader in aircraft and component remanufacturing and builders of the 400XTi, G90XT, and 604XT, has successfully completed the test flight with a US Navy C-26D in Italy. This follows the successful certification flight completed earlier for the USAF T-1A AMP program.

In early April 2019, a United States Navy C-26D transport aircraft initiated the flight from Naples, Italy, to test a newly installed precision navigation upgrade that Nextant engineered to integrate with the aircraft’s Collins Aerospace Pro Line 21TM system. “This second, successful military test flight illustrates how Nextant is emerging as a premier government contractor for efficient and cost-effective modernization upgrades,” said Mark O’Donnell, Nextant Aerospace executive vice president. “Having successfully collaborated with Collins Aerospace on several major flight deck projects, Nextant is pleased to add this upgrade to the list of successful collaborations,” commented O’Donnell.

Based at US Naval Support Activities (NSA) Naples, the USN C-26D aircraft provides mission support and distinguished visitor airlift for the US Navy 6th Fleet and NATO. To improve the aircraft’s effectiveness, the Nextant upgrade features Localizer Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV) to enable the aircraft to land with reduced minimums in poor weather.

Nextant modified Collins Aerospace Pro Line 21 Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) to meet the requirements and needs of the military program. “Collins Aerospace chose us based on our ability to work quickly and efficiently with the FAA on military commercial derivative aircraft STC projects as well as our expertise on the Pro Line 21 STC,” noted Colonel Robert Leonard (retired USAF), Nextant Aerospace Director of Government Business.

Aerospace Technology Week dates announced for 2020

Aerospace Technology Week has announced dates for next years event as 18th-19th March 2020 to take place at the Diagora Congress Center in Toulouse, France, and is set to be the largest gathering for the avionics, electronics, connectivity, aerospace testing and airline communities.

Aerospace Technology Week has developed greatly over the past two years and 2020 sees the introduction of 3 new areas of cous for the aerospace tech professional and now comprises of SIX complementary co-located Events:

(1) AVIONICS
(2) CONNECTED AIRCRAFT
(3) AEROSPACE TESTING
(4) FLIGHT OPS IT
(5) MRO IT
(6) FACE – Future Airborne Capability Environment

Each Event has a dedicated High Level Conference and there is a LARGE central Exhibition with sections for each and further details can be found at http://www.aerospacetechweek.com.

Each Event has a dedicated High Level Conference and there is a LARGE central Exhibition with sections for each and further details can be found at http://www.aerospacetechweek.com.

Avionics

Established for over 10 years, Avionics Expo is the leading exhibition and conference for both the commercial and defence sectors, fixed wing and rotorcraft.

Both SESAR and Next-Gen recognise the need to integrate the air and ground parts of their air traffic management systems by addressing efficiency needs of flight trajectories planning and execution and the seamless sharing of accurate information.

This framework provides a vehicle for the US and Europe to work together towards interoperable standards and in support of efforts towards achievement of ICAO global Harmonisation. For example, a significant achievement in the NextGen and SESAR collaboration is the delivery of an agreed-upon baseline NextGen/SESAR Joint Avionics Roadmap.

ICAO estimates that 120 billion US dollars will be spent on air transportation systems transformation in the next 10 years. While the NextGen and SESAR modernisation programmes account for a large share of this spending in Europe and the US, there are parallel investment initiatives in other regions.

Connected Aircraft

Launched in 2019, Connected Aircraft covers all the connectivity systems that airlines use (air-to-ground and nose-to-tail) including IFC, cabin IFEC, AI, M2M, VR, connected EFBs and ETLs, airline e-Enablement processes and strategies, ancillary revenues, IoT, big data analytics, flight tracking, cyber security, application disrupters, connectivity systems for operational efficiency and connectivity for predictive maintenance. The aviation industry is undergoing a technological transformation, as more aircraft are becoming “fully connected” machines in order to benefit the passenger experience, increase revenues for airlines and to improve safety, operations and maintenance – from the flight deck to the cabin.

Aerospace Testing

Launched in 2018, Aerospace Testing covers the hardware and software aspects of testing and certification related to the design, manufacture and maintenance of commercial and military aircraft (fixed-wing and rotary-wing), plus UAVs and space testing. Aerospace Testing is the key gathering for manufacturing and inspection professionals to learn about the latest regulations, challenges and technical developments for testing systems and products related to: Flight testing, Environmental testing, Climatic testing, Shock and Vibration testing, Structural testing, Avionics testing, Instrumentation testing, Fatigue testing, Test automation, MIMO testing, Wind tunnel testing, Measurement solutions, Pressure measurement, Lightning testing, Gap measurement, Air data testing, Non-destructive (NDT), Engine testing, Materials testing and Dynamics measurement.

Flight Ops IT

Launching in 2020, Flight Ops IT will cover all the software systems that airlines use for flight planning, aircraft scheduling, performance calculations, weight and balance, operations control, ground operations management, pilot training, paperless manuals, weather data, ACARS data management, crew management, EFBs and ETLs, big data analytics, e-signature, engine failure procedures, cyber security, environmental impact and noise reduction, fuel efficiency savings and CO2 emissions tracking for EU-ETS.

MRO IT

Launching in 2020, MRO IT will cover all the maintenance software systems that airlines use for legacy systems integration, digital transformation, job cards and MRO records, parts tracking and inventory management, payroll, procurement, training, supply chain logistics, fleet management, MRO scheduling and planning, blockchain, mobile maintenance Apps, voice-activated tooling, VR devices, predictive maintenance, forecasting, work orders, systems optimization, component and document tracking, reliability, planning, tech logs, maintenance control and anything else to do with aircraft fleet maintenance.

Aerospace Technology Week

Aerospace Tech Week is the annual gathering of the world’s leading aerospace companies to discuss and develop the systems and solutions to meet the needs of the evolving commercial aviation and aerospace defence industries. The show brings you the latest developments in aircraft connectivity (air-to-ground and nose-to-tail), airline e-Enablement, flight operations software, fuel efficiency, MRO software, regulatory, policy, technical SES and next-generation challenges for avionics, plus the testing systems that affect the design, construction and maintenance of all commercial and military aircraft (both hardware and software).

Bringing together the best aspects for aerospace technology, Aerospace Technology Week, comprising of Avionics, Connected Aircraft, Aerospace Testing, Flight Ops IT, MRO IT and Future Airborne Capability Environment delivers greater connectivity between these exciting, fast moving aerospace industry sectors.

CALL FOR PAPERS – deadline 21st June 2019
The conference committees for Avionics, Connected Aircraft, Aerospace Testing, Flight Ops IT and MRO IT are inviting abstracts for consideration for inclusion in the conference programme.

Representatives from airlines, airframers, prime contractors/integrators and the industry supply chain can benefit from sharing knowledge and experiences, to enhance the industry developments and solutions.

Abstracts can be submitted at http://www.aerospacetechweek.com/cfp. Deadline for abstracts is 21st June 2019.

Single European Sky and NextGen continue to dominate the aerospace industry, with targets of ensuring the utilisation of technology to increase traffic, improve aircraft and control communications whilst enhancing safety in an ever increasingly busy sky.

Passengers are demanding more from the aircraft in which they fly – 61% of passengers see high-quality inflight Wi-Fi availability as more important to them than onboard entertainment.

Airlines are wanting to see greater efficiencies whilst enhancing safety.

Adrian Broadbent, Event Director of Aerospace Technology Week, said, “There is much for the aerospace industry to discuss and develop in terms of safe and secure solutions for aircraft. Our increasing demand for air travel creates busier skies and higher expectations on aircraft to be online 24/7 means huge investments in greater connectivity. This in turn leads to increased security risks for aircraft and its passengers devices from being permanently online.”

“Aerospace Technology Week will look at these challenges across commercial, military and space crafts to understand the issues and challenges, from a regulatory perspective through to implementation and technology solutions, through the different elements of the programme – avionics, connect aircraft and testing or hardware and software applications. Aerospace Technology Week delivers an exciting programme for the global industry to explore and question the experts,” concluded Mr Broadbent.

For further information on Aerospace Technology Week visit http://www.AerospaceTechWeek.com.

USAF Selects UEI for UH-1N HUMS Upgrade

United Electronic Industries (UEI) announced the UEI-HUMS1 in-flight health monitoring system has been released for production delivery to Tyonek Global Services, and subsequent installation onto USAF aircraft. The unit recently passed DO-160 certification as required by the USAF for deployment on the Bell UH-1N Huey helicopter. In addition to the DO-160 tests, the system has already passed the requisite MIL-STD-810 testing for use on the aircraft.

The UEI-HUMS1 is a modified version of UEI’s popular DNR-MIL data acquisition chassis. The UEI-HUMS1 solution simplifies life cycle management and increases reliability by providing a single LRU replacing two separate LRUs of the previous design. The I/O provided in the UEI-HUMS1 includes dozens of Analog, Digital, Synchro/Resolver, Speed/Rotation and ARINC-429 interfaces which monitor critical aircraft systems including engine, transmission, flight control positions, fuel and hydraulic systems and more.

“We are excited that our UEI-HUMS1 monitoring system has passed DO-160 and will be going onto the UH-1N helicopters,” said Shaun Miller, president of United Electronic Industries. “The UEI-HUMS1 joins our rapidly growing family of COTS measurement and control equipment being deployed by our DoD customers. The technology in our “MIL” series of products is designed to meet all the rigorous requirements of deployed military applications including DO-160, and MIL-SPEC 810, 461, 704 and 1275. Completion of this testing confirms the proven reliability of UEI products.”

“UEI’s data aggregation system enables us to deliver a system design for the U.S. Air Force with superior data accuracy and processing power. The ability to customize the UEI component allows us to effectively match the signal processing and size constraints to the program’s requirements,” said Andy Gignilliat, senior aviation program manager, Tyonek Services Group, Inc. “The UEI system offers these enhanced capabilities while reducing material costs and increasing the ease of integration.”

The UEI-HUMS1 will become a COTS chassis and join UEI’s other military solutions with the company’s revolutionary 10-year availability guarantee and 5-year warranty. UEI optimizes the size, weight and power at the best cost.

 

ADLINK First FACE Certified TSS Product for Both C++ and JAVA APIs for Avionics Systems Integration 

ADLINK Technology is the first company to announce support for both C++ and Java in its Vortex Data Distribution Service (DDS) product. The company says their product is reliable, real-time data sharing for mission critical systems, and it has passed all the required tests for conformance certification to Edition 2.1.1 of the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) Technical Standard.

“Marking a ground-breaking achievement, ADLINK is the first DDS vendor to attain FACE TSS conformance certification for its JAVA API,” said Judy Cerenzia, director of The Open Group FACE Consortium. ADLINK’s JAVA Application Programming Interfaces (API) TSS product is already being used by a major aerospace manufacturer.

The FACE approach is a government-, industry-, academia-developed open software standard and business strategy. Providing a supplier-independent, standardized environment, it enables commercial software components to be migrated rapidly across global avionic systems that conform to the FACE Standard.

ADLINK’s Vortex DDS plays a pivotal role in many mission-critical aerospace and defense systems globally, ranging from radar processors to simulation and next-generation, network-centric systems. The standards-based, open architecture software provides efficient, secure and interoperable real-time device, edge and cloud data sharing, ensuring that the right information is delivered to the right place, at the right time.

“We’re already actively engaged on a major aerospace and defense project that is a United States DoD Program of Record; this marks a significant milestone for ADLINK,” said Mike Roberts, solutions architect at ADLINK. “Because of the maturity of our soda software and experience in the aerospace and defense sector, we were able to exactly match the Vortex DDS JAVA and C++ TSS to the FACE APIs that are included in the FACE Technical Standard Edition 2.1.1, which helps to minimize risk associated with integration.”