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Army researchers test human-like robots
By U.S. Army CCDC Army Research Laboratory Public Affairs
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ADELPHI, Md. -- Army researchers recently tested ground robots performing military-style exercises, much like Soldier counterparts, at a robotics testing site in Pennsylvania recently as part of a 10-year research project designed to push the research boundaries in robotics and autonomy.

RoMan, short for Robotic Manipulator, is a tracked robot that is easily recognized by its robotic arms and hands -- necessary appendages to remove heavy objects and other road debris from military vehicles' paths. What's harder to detect is the amount of effort that went into programming the robot to manipulate complex environments.

The exercise was one of several recent integration events involving a decade of research led by scientists and engineers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command's Army Research Laboratory who teamed with counterparts from the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Washington, University of Pennsylvania, Carnegie Mellon University and General Dynamics Land Systems.

As part of ARL's Robotics Collaborative Technology Alliance, the work focused on state-of-the-art basic and applied research related to ground robotics technologies with an overarching goal of developing autonomy in support of manned-unmanned teaming. Research within the RCTA program serves as foundational research in support of future combat ground vehicles.

The recent robot exercise was the culmination of research to develop a robot that reasons about unknown objects and their physical properties, and decides how to best interact with different objects to achieve a specific task.

"Given a task like 'clear a path', the robot needs to identify potentially relevant objects, figure out how objects can be grasped by determining where and with what hand shape, and decide what type of interaction to use, whether that's lifting, moving, pushing or pulling to achieve its task," said CCDC ARL's Dr. Chad Kessens, Robotic Manipulation researcher.

During the recent exercise, RoMan successfully completed such as multi-object debris clearing, dragging a heavy object (e.g., tree limb), and opening a container to remove a bag.

Kessens said Soldier teammates are able to give verbal commands to the robot using natural human language in a scenario.

"Planning and learning and their integration cut across all these problems. The ability of the robot to improve its performance over time and to adapt to new scenarios by building models on-the-fly while incorporating the power of model-based reasoning will be important to achieving the kinds of unstructured tasks we want to be able to do without putting Soldiers in harm's way," Kessens said.

This work, and other research, will be showcased Oct. 17 at the RCTA's integration capstone event at Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center in Pittsburgh.

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The CCDC Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command. As the Army's corporate research laboratory, ARL discovers, innovates and transitions science and technology to ensure dominant strategic land power. Through collaboration across the command's core technical competencies, CCDC leads in the discovery, development and delivery of the technology-based capabilities required to make Soldiers more lethal to win our Nation's wars and come home safely. CCDC is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures Command.



 

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Bell’s V-280 to fly without a human pilot in control

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Bell does not yet have a test card written for the autonomous flight demonstration of the V-280 Valor, but it will likely consist of simple maneuvers that showcase basic operational capability of the system. Bell Photo


Bell plans to hand over control of the V-280 Valor advanced tiltrotor to a robotic flight control system that will fly without pilot input within the next three months.

The company recently received an extension to its Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration (JMR-TD) program that will carry it through the end of the year, or about 25 more flight hours, and allow for demonstrating both sling loads and autonomous flight, according to Jeff Schloesser, Bell’s executive vice president for strategic pursuits.

“What this extension did was allow us to really bridge from this program — Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstration — into the program that will start the development . . . of the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft [FLRAA] program of record,” Schlosser told Vertical on Oct. 1 at the company’s Advanced Vertical Flight Center outside Washington, D.C. “What it allows us to do is to do a few tasks that we have not done underneath the previous contract, which was our desire and the Army’s desire to see us fly autonomously. We intend to do that around probably the December, January timeframe.”

When it does fly with the full fly-by-wire autonomous flight controls engaged, a test pilot will be in the cockpit to keep an eye on things. Bell does not yet have a test card written for the autonomous flight demonstration, but it will likely consist of simple maneuvers that showcase basic operational capability of the system, Schloesser said.

He said the flight test team will not “make it so complex; try to just ensure that you can, in fact, do the things that are required, which is . . . to get the aircraft basically started, taxi, take off, do some pedal work, [and] fly around in the airspace a little bit. [Then], bring it back into the pattern, enter the pattern and land, taxi, [and] shut down.”

The Valor now has a total of 132.6 fight test hours and at least 250 hours of ground run time. Bell is convinced it has proven the vehicle’s performance and that it can fulfill the Army’s requirements for a medium-lift assault aircraft to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. The JMR-TD extension should cover about 25 more flight test hours, Schloesser said.

Based upon the wealth of flight test data, the company has submitted a whitepaper pitch, effectively its data-driven application to compete in the Army’s FLRAA program. Those white papers were due to the Army on Oct. 1, according to Terry Horner, Bell’s director of government relations.

Bell is preparing its manufacturing plant to produce two Army aircraft at once — it also is competing for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) — while also pitching the V-280 to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps under the recently launched Attack Utility Replacement Aircraft program, Horner said.

“They’re both moving forward,” Horner added. “So they both see that the cost is affordable, it is large-fleet affordable, that we can meet the requirements of the United States military, both of the services, and Bell can do it in a sustainable aircraft.”

The white papers, using data gathered during JMR-TD were based on the Army’s draft FLRAA requirements. The Army is expected to choose two “project agreement holders” based on the extended whitepapers before the end of March 2020, Horner said. Those two teams will continue to refine the service’s desired FLRAA performance characteristics.

“What we’ll do is we’ll compete in that space to help refine the requirements. While we’re doing that we’re going to continue to work on our design, in order to be ready to go into production or to be the 2030 timeline.”

A downselect for one aircraft design to enter engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) is expected in 2023. The first unit equipped should have its FLRAA aircraft in 2030, according to the Army’s prescribed timeline.

Schloesser said Bell is confident in its design for both the V-280 and the newly unveiled 360 Invictus FARA offering. With a wealth of flight test under its belt, Bell is nearly ready to park the V-280, which is costly to fly. Both Bell and Textron executives have publicly warned that the program would be effectively mothballed without ongoing funding from the Army to continue refining LRAA offerings. Bell has invested more than $500 million dollars of internal research and development funding in the program.

“We feel very comfortable with the basic aircraft and the aerodynamics data that we’ve been able to pull out of the flight test,” Schloesser said.

By extending Bell’s V-280 testing for another three months, the Army provided “an elegant bridge into the next phase, which is actually the program,” Schloesser said.
 

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U.S. Air Force awards $6,4 billion contract to seven companies for realistic training
October 20, 2019

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A Draken International L-159E Honey Badger aircraft. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Jefferson Thompson


The U.S. Department of Defense announced on Friday an agreement worth about $6,4 billion for Combat Air Force contracted air support operations.

The DoD has contracted seven companies to provide complete contracted air support services for realistic and challenging advanced adversary air threats and close air support threats.

The companies are Air USA of New Mexico, ATAC of Newport News, Blue Air Training of Las Vegas, Coastal Defense of Pennsylvania, Draken International of Lakeland, Tactical Air Support of Reno, and Top Aces of Mesa.

“Work will be performed in multiple locations across the Combat Air Force and provide complete services including, but not limited to: aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, aircraft systems support, pilots, aircraft maintenance, support equipment, in addition to program, quality, and contract management to meet military requirements and is expected to be completed by Oct. 29, 2024,” a service news release states.

Seven companies will provide airborne adversary support, close air support, flight training, threat simulation, electronic warfare support, aerial refueling, research, testing, as well as other missions uniquely suited to their fleet of aircraft.

Companies’ support provided will consist of the replication of realistic threats for various air-to-air mission sets ranging from basic fundamentals to complex employment exercises.
 

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U.S. Army prepares Soldiers for new ground vehicle
October 20, 2019

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The U.S. Army is actively conducting driver training as part of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) operator course.

Multiple units on Fort McCoy continues to introduce the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicle by teaching them the basic operations of one of the Army’s newest ground vehicles.

The JLTV family of vehicles is designed to restore payload and performance that were traded from light tactical vehicles to add protection in recent conflict, according to the Army.

JLTVs give service members more options in a protected mobility solution that is also the first vehicle purpose-built for modern battlefield networks.

JLTV operator training at Fort McCoy began in May 2019.

Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.

The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services each year since 1984.
 

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U.S. Navy’s newest expeditionary mobile base vessel christened in San Diego
October 20, 2019

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The U.S. Navy’s newest expeditionary mobile base vessel, the future USNS Miguel Keith (T-ESB 5), was christened in San Diego on Saturday.

USNS Miguel Keith (T-ESB 5), the Military Sealift Command’s newest ship, was christened during a ceremony at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif., on 19 October.

The event was attended by the family of the ship’s namesake as well as dignitaries such as Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Thomas Savage, Deputy Commanding General 1st Marine Expeditionary Force; Rear Adm. Thomas Wettlaufer, Commander, Military Sealift Command; Vice Adm., Ricky Williamson, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics; Bilyana Anderson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Ship’s Programs; General Walter Boomer (USMC Retired), former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps; Capt. Brian Mershon, the ship’s civil service master; Sailors from the ships pre-commissioning unit, and employees of NASSCO.

“This ceremony marks the office start of the relationship between the men and women who will crew and sail this great ship, and the family of its namesake, Miguel Keith,” said Anderson in her remarks.

The official christening moment happened when Keith’s mother, Mrs. Eliadora Delores Keith, who serves as the ship’s sponsor, broke a bottle over the ship’s bow with the words, “For the United States, I christen this ship the Miguel Keith. May God protect all who sail on her”

The ship honors U.S. Marine Corps Vietnam veteran and posthumous Medal of Honor recipient Lance Cpl. Miguel Keith, and is the first ship to bear the name. Keith served as a machine gunner with Combined Action Platoon 132, III Marine Amphibious Force in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam. He was severely wounded on the morning of May 8, 1970, when his platoon came under a heavy-ground attack. Despite being injured in the attack and open to hostile fire, he continued to engage the enemy with heavy machine gun fire, resulting in him killing three attackers and dispersing two remaining two enemy soldiers.

“As Marines, we try to live up to the example of those who came before us. In the case of Miguel Keith, that is impossible,” explained Savage. “This ship will be a war ship, and it is fitting that it is name after a Marine such as Miguel Keith.”

Miguel Keith is the fifth ship in the expeditionary mobile base platform build for MSC, and the third expeditionary staging base model. When activated, Miguel Keith will primarily support aviation mine countermeasure and special operations force missions. In addition to the flight deck, the ship has a hangar with two aviation operating spots capable of handling MH-53E Sea Dragon-equivalent helicopters; accommodations, work spaces, and ordnance storage for embarked force; enhanced command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence to support embarked force mission planning and execution; and reconfigurable mission deck area to store embarked force equipment to include mine sleds and rigid hull inflatable boats.

“The ESB platform will provide leadership with options on air, sea and land,” said Wettlaufer. “Miguel Keith gives us a competitive advantage in a highly competitive world.

Miguel Keith will be delivered to the MSC fleet later this year, where it will support a variety of maritime-based missions, including Special Operations Forces and Airborne Mine Counter Measures support operations, humanitarian and traditional military missions.

Closing his remarks, Boomer, ceremony’s principal speaker addressed the ship’s crew. “When the work gets tough and the days are long, let this be your battle cry. For Miguel…For Miguel!”
 

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U.S. troops leaving Syria heading to Iraq to fight Islamic State
Oct. 20, 2019

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Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, shown here in a White House briefing earlier this month, said U.S. troops leaving Syria will end up in western Iraq. Photo by Ron Sachs/UPI | License Photo


Oct. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday that U.S. troops withdrawing from Syria will end up in western Iraq to continue their fight against the Islamic State.

Esper told reporters while traveling to the Middle East that about 1,000 troops leaving northern Syria will take weeks to reconstitute in Iraq. That presence will add to the 5,000 American forces already in that country.

U.S. troops worked alongside Kurdish fighters to expel the Islamic State out of northern Syria. The Kurds are not fleeing the region from an assault from Turkey, which considers the Kurdish fighters terrorists.

Vice President Mike Pence last week announced a cease-fire in that dispute after traveling to Turkey, but it remains uneasy at best. Esper said, though, it is holding, for the most part, allowing the Kurds to leave the region.

"We see a stabilization of the lines if you will on the ground," Esper said. "And we do get reports of intermittent fires, this and that. That doesn't surprise me necessarily."

Mazloum Abdi, leader of the Kurdish-led forces, said to reporters Saturday that Turkey is not allowing them to leave, while Turkey officials claimed there was "absolutely no impediments to withdrawal."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Jordan this weekend on a Syrian fact-finding mission to discuss other regional matters with King Abdullah II. She was joined on the trip with Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; Eliot L.Engel, D-N.Y.; and Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.

"Our bipartisan delegation is visiting Jordan at a critical time for the security and stability of the region," Pelosi said in a statement. "With the deepening crisis in Syria after Turkey's incursion, our delegation has engaged in vital discussions about the impact to regional stability, increased flow of refugees, and the dangerous opening that has been provided to [the Islamic State], Iran and Russia."
 

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3 soldiers die in training incident at Fort Stewart
Oct. 20, 2019

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Undated photo of Bradley Fighting Vehicle similar to one involved in a deadly training accident at Fort Stewart, Ga. Sunday. Photo courtesy U.S. Army


Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Three soldiers died Sunday and three others were hospitalized in an accident at Fort Stewart in Georgia, Army officials said.

The soldiers were part of the First Armored Brigade Combat Team, known as Dogface, riding in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle during a training exercise early Sunday morning, a statement from Third Infantry Division said.

Three soldiers died at the scene and three others were transported to the Winn Army Community Hospital for treatment. The statement did not comment on their condition. The Army said the incident remained under investigation.

Fort Stewart is located about 40 miles southwest of Savannah and is one of the largest Army installations east of the Mississippi River.

"Today is a heartbreaking day for the Third Infantry Division, and the entire Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Field community, as we are all devastated after a training accident this morning on the Fort Stewart Training Area," Maj. Gen. Tony Aguto, commanding general of the division, said in the statement.

"We are all extremely saddened by the loss of three Dogface soldiers and injuries to three more. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of the families affected by this tragedy," he continued.

In September, a Fort Hood soldier in Texas died while doing maintenance on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Another soldier was killed in a training exercise involving a Bradley in Fort Hood in January when the vehicle rolled over.
 

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Soldiers to get a say in light tank competition
By: Jen Judson  
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General Dynamics will compete against BAE Systems with a vehicle that takes the United Kingdom’s AJAX chassis and combines it with an Abrams turret. In this photo, a U.S. Army M1 Abrams is loaded onto a raft during a wet gap crossing exercise as part of Saber Guardian 19 in Bordusani, Romania, June 21, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Abigail Graham)

WASHINGTON — Two companies are competing to build the Army’s new light tank for Infantry Brigade Combat Teams and, in order to win, their prototypes will be judged by the users themselves.

Those tests will be part of an extensive evaluation beginning roughly a year from now, Maj. Gen. Brian Cummings, Army program executive officer for ground combat systems, told Defense News.

BAE Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems were chosen in December 2018 to build 12 prototypes each of the Army’s future Mobile Protected Firepower vehicle identified in the Army’s ground combat vehicle strategy, released in 2015, as much needed capability the service lacked.

GDLS will build a vehicle that takes the United Kingdom’s AJAX chassis and combines it with an Abrams turret.
BAE Systems will bring an M8 Buford Armored Gun System with new capabilities and components.

The MPF is going to be critical for the infantry, according to Brig. Gen. Ross Coffman, who is in charge of combat vehicle modernization.
“Looking in every war movie ever watched, the infantry has been pinned down and they have a machine gun nest or another enemy vehicle that’s preventing them to get their objective,” Coffman said. “It takes an Audie Murphy-like character to go up and sneak around and take it out from the rear.”

MPF is going to take care of those impediments to forward progression, he said, and is a “vital piece of equipment for our Army. Right now we are doing that with Humvees and Javelin.”

The soldier vehicle assessment will take place at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Stewart, Georgia, and will include live-fire tests and operating in IBCT formations, Cummings said.
The assessment will not just cover how the vehicles perform operationally, but how they hold up when assessed against warfighting doctrine, organization, training, maintenance in the field, logistics and sustainment.

“This will be different, even though we’ve done it in history,” Cummings said. A team will look at doctrine in terms of having a light tank in the formation as well as having mechanics, fuel and the ability to recover vehicles as part of the operational assessment.

“It’s important we learn that early on,” in the prototyping process rather than after choosing a winning vehicle, Cummings noted.
The Army is now reviewing design maturity of the vehicles and is making sure that everything stays on track to meet the soldier vehicle assessment requirements. These prototypes have to be ready for prime time when they get into an operational environment toward the end of next year, according to Cummings.

Cummings also has two groups working with each vendor that are firewalled from one another. Those groups will be working with vendors through the SVA and to eventual down-select to one vehicle around the second or third quarter of fiscal year 2022 to go into production.
The prototypes are expected in the third quarter of fiscal 2021. The first units will get MPF by FY25. The Army plans build 26 vehicles initially with an option to build 28 more and retrofit eight prototypes.

 

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BWXT Awarded $806M Long-Lead Material Contract in Support of Naval Reactors Manufacturing
20 Oct 2019

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BWX Technologies, Inc. (BWXT) announced that the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program has awarded subsidiary BWXT Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. a contract with options totaling approximately $806 million for the procurement of long-lead materials required for the manufacture of naval reactor components.

“BWXT remains committed to fulfilling our mission to deliver the highest quality nuclear propulsion components to the U.S. Navy,” said Rex Geveden, BWXT’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “This award enables us to begin critical procurements for long-lead items to meet the rising demand for naval nuclear propulsion systems.”

In February, BWXT announced price agreement with the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program on new contracts totaling approximately $2.1 billion, including future-year options. The contract announced now is in addition to that award and provides a significant portion of the material required for fabrication of components for those previously announced Virginia and Columbia-class submarines, and for Ford-class carrier options.

The base material procurement contract for fiscal year 2019 is valued at $75 million and is the first of seven annual options available through 2025.

The remaining six options have an average annual value of about $122 million, contingent on U.S. congressional appropriations.
 

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U.S. Coast Guard Releases RFI for Offshore Patrol Cutter Re-Competition
20 Oct, 2019
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The U.S. Coast Guard released a request for information (RFI) on Oct. 18 to gauge industry interest in re-competing the remainder of the offshore patrol cutter (OPC) program of record.

It was announced earlier this month that the original winner of the OPC competition, Eastern Shipbuilding Group (ESG), was granted extraordinary relief by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after their shipbuilding facilities sustained significant damages from Hurricane Michael.

ESG submitted a relief request on June 30, 2019, under the authority of Public Law (P.L.) 85-804, after Hurricane Michael – a Category 5 storm – made landfall at its facility in Panama City, Florida on October 10, 2018. Hurricane Michael caused widespread damage to ESG facilities as well as homes and businesses in the area.

The Coast Guard is now moving forward with an adjustment to the OPC detail design and construction contract with Eastern Shipbuilding Group for up to the first four hulls. The Coast Guard plans to acquire a total of 25 OPCs and the new RFI will inform the acquisition strategy for the follow-on procurement. The deadline to submit responses to the RFI is Nov. 6.

“The decision to immediately re-compete the remaining program is a means to balance acquisition risk. The Coast Guard is committed to conducting a fair and open re-competition in order to acquire the OPC fleet needed to address the Nation’s security needs, while maintaining public trust and stewardship of the American taxpayers’ dollars”, said a Coast Guard statement.

The OPCs, also called Heritage-class cutters, are the Coast Guard’s highest acquisition priority and will provide a capability bridge between the Legend-class National Security Cutters (NSC), which patrols the open ocean in the most demanding maritime environments, and the Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters, which serves closer to shore.

The vessels will feature state-of-the-market technology and will replace the service’s 270-foot and 210-foot Medium Endurance Cutters, commissioned between 1964 and 1991, which are becoming increasingly expensive to maintain and operate.

Production on the first OPC, the future USCGC Argus (WMSM-915), commenced in January 2019 and the vessel was initially scheduled to be delivered by 2021. The Coast Guard has also ordered long lead-time materials for the second OPC, the future USCGC Chase (WMSM-916).
 

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First of a dozen additional KC-135 Stratotankers arrived at Fairchild
October 21, 2019
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The first of a 12 additional KC-135 Stratotanker military aerial refueling aircraft has arrived at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington, according to a recent 92d Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs news release.

Fairchild is already the largest air refueling wing in the world, and the additional KC-135s will increase base aeromedical evacuation, airlift, and air refueling mission capabilities to deliver strength and hope around the globe.

“We’ve been talking about increasing our KC-135 [numbers] for a couple years now; we’ve always talked about it in the future tense. The future is now and we’re excited to be receiving our first aircraft.” said Col. Gene Jacobus, 92nd ARW vice commander. “As the largest KC-135 wing in the Air Force, we are the center of excellence for air refueling, the backbone of our global reach capability.”

Fairchild was selected by U.S. Air Force officials as the new home for these KC-135s because of its strategic location, high air refueling mission demand and lower construction and renovation costs.

“Having additional aircraft will enhance our mission in ways that we haven’t had in a long time; more aircraft means more opportunities to help the warfighter, to ensure that air refueling is being done in a more significant way, and enhance our ability to train aircrews,” said Col. Russell Davis, 92nd Operations Group commander. “Having more aircraft available to fly means we’ll have a more proficient Air Force.”

Team Fairchild Airmen are prepared for anything at any moment; adding additional KC-135’s emphasizes our existing capabilities and improves our mission readiness allowing us to compete, deter, and win against adversaries.

The Air Force’s website said the KC-135 Stratotanker provides the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and has excelled in this role for more than 60 years. This unique asset enhances the Air Force’s capability to accomplish its primary mission of global reach. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. The KC-135 is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations.
 

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This week in Congress: Syria questions abound
21 Oct 2019

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Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters on an armoured personnel carrier drive to cross the border into Syriaon Oct. 18, 2019. (Emrah Gurel/AP)

Lawmakers this week will have a series of hearings and briefings on the ongoing situation in Syria and its long-term impact on U.S. national security.

White House and Turkish government officials last week announced a temporary ceasefire in regards to fighting among Syrian, Kurdish and Turkish forces in areas of northern Syria recently vacated by U.S. troops. The moves have drawn bipartisan criticism of President Donald Trump, who has defended the move as ensuring that American troops are caught in a regional conflict.

Already the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations committees have announced plans for hearings on the issue, with other committee’s contemplating additional events to come.

Last week members of the congressional armed services committees received classified briefings on the latest developments in the region from U.S. military leaders, but those lawmakers have also promised additional investigation into the issue in coming days.

All that comes amid ongoing budget negotiations in both chambers and House Democrats impeachment investigation into Trump’s handling of military aid to Ukraine.

Tuesday, Oct. 22

House Foreign Affairs — 10 a.m. — 2172 Rayburn
Human rights
State Department officials will testify on human rights abuses in South Asia.

House Veterans' Affairs — 10:30 a.m. — H210 Visitors Center
Pending legislation
The subcommittee on disability assistance will consider nine pending bills.

House Homeland Security — 2 p.m. — 310 Cannon
Cyber threats
Federal officials will testify on emerging cyber threats and U.S. officials’ response.

Senate Foreign Relations — 2:30 p.m. — 419 Dirksen
Turkey and Syria
State Department officials will testify on the impact of Turkish military activities in Syria on regional stability.

Wednesday, Oct. 23

House Veterans' Affairs — 10 a.m. — H210 Visitors Center
Guard and reserve benefits
Outside experts will testify before the committee on issues with benefits parity for Guard and reserve veterans.

House Foreign Affairs — 10 a.m. — 2172 Rayburn
Turkey and Syria
State Department officials will testify on the impact of Turkish military activities in Syria on regional stability.

House Foreign Affairs — 2 p.m. — 2172 Rayburn
Latin America policy
State Department officials will testify on U.S. Policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean.

Thursday, Oct. 24

Senate Armed Services — 9:30 a.m. — G-50 Dirksen
Nominations
The committee will consider the nomination of Vice Adm. Charles Richard to be head of U.S. Strategic Command.
 

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The field narrows in US Army’s light robotic combat vehicle competition
21 Oct 2019
By: Jen Judson  

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A Textron, Howe & Howe and FLIR Systems team unveiled its Ripsaw M5 robotic combat vehicle at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual show in 2019. The team has been selected to compete to build a non-developmental prototype that could be the service's future RCV-Light. (Photo courtesy of Textron)

WASHINGTON — The Army has invited four teams to compete to build prototypes for its future light Robotic Combat Vehicle, according to an announcement on the National Advanced Mobility Consortium’s website.

Out of a large pool of white paper submissions, a Textron and Howe & Howe team, a team of Qinetiq North America and Pratt & Miller, HDT Global and Oshkosh were each issued a request for prototype proposal.

The Army plans to procure a light, medium and heavy RCV as part of an effort to bring next-generation combat vehicle capability to the force by 2028.

The RCV-Light competition is being managed by the NAMC. While the Army is the decision maker, the consortium is tasked to execute the competition and is also running the RCV-Medium effort.

The Army is expected to award up to two contracts toward the end of the second quarter of this fiscal year to deliver four non-developmental RCV-L surrogate vehicles for government evaluation, testing and manned-unmanned teaming experimentation over the course of a year.

The RCV-M effort is not far behind the RCV-L as white paper submissions are currently being evaluated for down-select.

NAMC also executed a week-long RCV market research demonstration with the Army at Texas A&M’s RELLIS campus in May in order to better inform requirements. Out of the companies chosen to move forward, only Oshkosh was not present at the event.

At the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual conference, Textron and Howe & Howe dramatically unveiled their RCV Ripsaw M5, which is based on Howe & Howe’s deep history of building unmanned ground vehicles, but adds technology like scalable armor and suspension and drive options to cope with the challenges expected in the future fight. FLIR Systems is also part of the team, contributing advanced sensors.

“Bringing together Howe & Howe, Textron Systems and FLIR Systems really represents a dream team,” Textron’s CEO Lisa Atherton, said in a statement released at the show. “We formed this team based on our shared focus to serve this customer with disruptive ideas and proven experience, and we are dedicated to meeting and exceeding their requirements through the RCV program.”

The team told Defense News before AUSA that it planned to submit a version of Ripsaw both for the light and medium variant of the Army’s RCV.

HDT brought its Hunter WOLF to AUSA, and Qinetiq North America announced its partnership with Pratt & Miller at the show.

Qinetiq and Pratt & Miller plan to submit a variant of the Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV) tailored for the Army’s needs. The offering combines Qinetiq’s modular open-architecture control systems with Pratt & Miller’s advanced mobility platform.
 

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Army inks deal with Blink-182 founder for UFO, weapons research
Oct. 21, 2019

The U.S. Army has signed a contract with To The Stars Academy, owned by punk rocker Tom DeLonge, for work to exploit UFO technology for the development of weapons platforms.
By Ed Adamczyk

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The U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command, charged with evaluations of military technology, signed a five-year cooperative agreement last week with the To the Stars Academy, an organization dedicated to examination of unexplained aerial phenomena, including unidentified flying objects. Photo by Jerome Aliotta/CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center/U.S. Army

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army and a leading organization of unidentified flying objects researchers agreed to a study of UFO material to improve Army ground vehicles.

The 26-page "Cooperative Research and Development Agreement" between the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command and the To the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences was signed last week, calling for "leveraging advancements in metamaterials and quantum physics to push performance gains" to develop improved capabilities of Army vehicles.

A statement by TTSA, an organization founded by former Blink-182 member Tom DeLonge, said the academy has technology solutions "in material science, space-time metric engineering, quantum physics, beamed energy propulsion, and active camouflage, [which] have the potential to enhance survivability and effectiveness of multiple Army systems."

A TTSA statement on Thursday defines the organization as a "collaboration between academia, industry and pop culture to advance society's understanding of scientific phenomena and its technological implications."

The five-year contract includes a provision that the Secretary of Defense "can share historical reports of findings and origin of materiel solutions" in TTSA's archives. It suggests that if TTSA has remnants of crashed or captured UFOs, the Defense Department is eager to study their composition.

"Our partnership with TTSA serves as an exciting, non-traditional source for novel materials and transformational technologies to enhance our military ground system capabilities," said Dr. Joseph Cannon of U.S. Army Futures Command. "At the Army's Ground Vehicle Systems Center, we look forward to this partnership and the potential technical innovations forthcoming."

The Army seeks to verify some TTSA claims to learn if advancements in material science are applicable to its vehicles and can serve in weight reduction, protection and other assets, the contract states.
 

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U.S. Navy releases ‘market survey’ in anticipation of Phalanx weapon system production
October 22, 2019

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Photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellen Hilkowski


The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command is seeking information about potential sources capable of manufacturing Mk 15 Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS), according to a recent announcement posted on the U.S. government’s main contracting website.

The Naval Sea Systems (NAVSEA) Command is seeking industry input for a fast-reaction terminal defense against low- and high-flying, high-speed maneuvering anti-ship missile threats that have penetrated all other defenses.

The CIWS, or also know as Phalanx, is an integral element of the Fleet Defense In-Depth concept and the Ship Self-Defense Program. Operating either autonomously or integrated with a combat system, it is an automatic terminal defense weapon system designed to detect, track, engage, and destroy anti-ship missile threats penetrating outer defense envelopes.

CIWS consists of 3 variants: Phalanx, which utilizes a six barrel Gatlin gun; Land based Phalanx Weapon System (LPWS) and SeaRAM, which replaces the gun with an 11 round Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) guide. CIWS is currently installed on USN and USCG ships and is also in use in foreign navies.

The Phalanx CIWS weapon systems are also being installed on low-boy trailers with self-contained diesel electric power and cooling water. This configuration of the Phalanx CIWS is the MK 15 MOD 29 LPWS. The manufacture of the CIWS includes procurement or manufacture or overhaul of all components. The units shall be satisfactorily tested prior to completion or delivery. Sources should be capable of supplying the entire quantity of CIWS systems through a Best Value, systems acquisition under a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract, over three (3) years from FY23 through FY25.
 
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