GE Aerospace has finished a fourth round of testing on the XA100 adaptive cycle engine “to gather additional data and advance this next-generation technology for future combat aircraft.”  the company said on May 8.

Last November, GE said that it had performed third phase testing of the second XA100 at its Evendale, Ohio plant outside of Cincinnati over the summer.

The following month, GE “completed a major design review” of the second engine, the XA102, which “will now continue toward a prototype engine test” as part of the U.S. Air Force’s Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion program (NGAP), the company said on May 8.

“The combination of digital design and learnings from GE Aerospace’s first adaptive cycle engine will allow XA102 to deliver the required propulsion performance key to enabling future air dominance capabilities,” GE said.NGAP engine prototyping with GE and RTX‘s Pratt & Whitney is a change from the previous strategy, which envisioned just one engine provider in the prototyping phase. That change came because of increased NGAP funding, the Air Force has said.

NGAP is to outfit the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance manned fighter.

“Adaptive cycle engines are critical to ensure U.S. combat aircraft maintain their superiority by providing 30 percent greater range and significantly more thermal management compared to today’s most advanced combat engine,” GE said on May 8.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

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California-based EpiSci said this week that the company finished multiple collaborative autonomy tests last month under the U.S. Air Force’s Autonomy Prime program to train operators on the company’s Starling Tactical Artificial Intelligence (AI) system. Autonomy Prime is under the service’s AFWERX innovation arm.

“This [Starling] effort continues EpiSci’s participation in a variety of autonomy efforts across the Department of Defense, focused on delivering trusted autonomy for a secure future for U.S. and allied warfighters,” EpiSci said on May 1.

“The flight test events demonstrated EpiSci’s autonomous search algorithms during live flight on two unique uncrewed platform types,” the company said. “The test results demonstrated Starling’s portability to integrate on and enable uncrewed aircraft to operate in contested environments and perform search and automatic target recognition tasks.”

Privately-held Anduril and General Atomics got the nod from the Air Force last week in the service’s first round of Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) picks to beat out publicly traded defense industry heavyweights, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

EpiSci has said that its Tactical AI software is hardware agnostic and has already been deployed “on a growing list of systems from swarms of uncrewed aerial and maritime systems to tactical fighter aircraft.”

Last month, EpiSci said that it had begun working with Northrop Grumman to integrate EpiSci’s TacticalAI software with Northrop Grumman’s aeronautics system architecture “to accelerate the delivery of advanced autonomous solutions.”

Dan “Animal” Javorsek, EpiSci’s chief technology officer and a former F-22/F-35 pilot and Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program manager at DARPA, said in the EpiSci statement on May 1 that company “teams have integrated and operated TacticalAI-enabled autonomy products on 10 uncrewed airborne and surface platform types in less than 6 months.”

“EpiSci is committed to accelerate the pace at which we can bring relevant operational capabilities to the warfighter across all domains,” he said.

RTX in December 2022 said its venture capital arm had made a minority investment in EpiSci.

Air Force leaders have said that CCA is one of their top priorities. Kendall has said that plans are to field “more than 100” CCAs in the next five years with a top unit cost of $25 million to $30 million.

By the end of the year, Kendall said that he will fly on the X-62A Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA) equipped with the Shield AI Hivemind AI piloting software. VISTA is a modified Block 30 F-16D in service since 1992.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense panel, said this week that he is concerned by a steep reduction in the Air Force’s request for Autonomy Prime in fiscal 2025.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

The post Collaborative Autonomy Tested in EpiSci/USAF Autonomy Prime Flights – May 2 appeared first on Avionics International.

Next year, the Block 5 Extended Range version of the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-9A Reaper drone is to receive a self-protection pod developed by GA-ASI in concert with U.S. Special Operations Command, BAE Systems and Leonardo DRS.

The Airborne Battlespace Awareness and Defense (ABAD) pod is for the MQ-9A Block 5 Medium-Altitude, Long-Endurance Tactical (MALET) Extended Range drone in use by Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

ABAD is to detect Radio Frequency (RF) and Infrared (IR) missile threats and enable defensive measures to allow the Reaper to survive and function in contested environments, GA-ASI said on May 9.

“The first phase of contract work evaluated suitable RF Electronic Warfare (EW) and IR countermeasures systems,” GA-ASI said. “This led to the down selection of a next-generation software-defined radio-based EW system from BAE Systems and the AN/AAQ-45 Distributed Aperture Infrared Countermeasure System (DAIRCM) from Leonardo DRS.”

Joshua Niedzwiecki, vice president and general manager of electronic combat solutions at BAE Systems, said in the GA-ASI statement that “BAE Systems’ advancements in small form factor EW technologies will provide affordable multifunction capabilities for the MQ-9A, enabling it to operate in previously inaccessible airspace.”

In adherence to the 2022 National Defense Strategy’s shift to deterrence of China and Russia, AFSOC is moving to have an aircrew control multiple drones under the command’s Adaptive Airborne Enterprise (A2E) effort.

A2E “is vital to thickening the Joint Force kill web throughout the spectrum of conflict and continues to be AFSOC’s number one acquisition priority,” Air Force Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the head of AFSOC, said in January.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

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DENVER — The Army recently ran the new GE Aerospace T901 next-gen helicopter engine on Sikorsky’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) prototype, gathering data ahead of a planned first flight with the new engine on a UH-60 Black Hawk in early 2025.

Brig. Gen. David Phillips, the Army’s program executive officer for aviation, told reporters further test T901 engines, developed under the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), will be delivered to Sikorsky in the coming months to begin integration work on Black Hawk.

“With that effort [on the FARA prototype], we gained a lot of data that will transition into the ITEP program. First into the Black Hawk program and then into the Apache,” Phillips told reporters at the Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit here. “We’re going to start [with Black Hawk] that at the end of May and the beginning of June. We’ll get those engines integrated into the aircraft. We’ll do some power on checks later this year. Throughout the rest of this year, there will be planning in parallel. After we finish the preliminary flight rating testing on the test stands of the other engines that would feed right into the air worthiness release to do the first test flights and ground runs. Those will probably occur next year based on the schedule where we’re at today.” 

GE Aerospace was awarded a $517 million contract in February 2019 to develop its T901 engine for ITEP, which will eventually power the Army’s AH-64 Apache and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

The T901 was also intended to power the future FARA platform before the Army announced in February its plan to cancel development of the program, which had been in a competitive prototype phase with Sikorsky and Bell.

Along with canceling FARA, the Army noted at the time it would also delay moving into production of the T901 engine and invest in further research and development efforts.

Sikorsky President Paul Lemmo told reporters at the conference here the company proposed testing ITEP on its Raider X prototype soon after the FARA cancellation announcement, viewing it as an opportunity to get a “head start” and reduce risk heading into Black Hawk integration efforts.

“I’m very pleased to announce that on April 10 we lit off the [ITEP] engine and turned rotors for the first time on our FARA [prototype]. And, again, the main point here isn’t that we’re proceeding with FARA, I want to make that clear. We are burning down risk for the ITEP engine to go on the Black Hawk. And that’s really the first aircraft [the engine’s] going to go on and then the Apache, I believe, as well,” Lemmo said. “And [the ITEP engine] performed well. We’re still analyzing the data. Essentially, we ran it at low speed, obviously, for the very first time that it was going to turn rotors.”

“So you can kind of view this as giving us a head start because we don’t have two engines today for Black Hawk. And the engines that we should get for Black Hawk, they’ll be more qualified, if you will, to move into flight and full testing than these early engines were. That’s why it didn’t make sense to just wait if we can do it on FARA, have a ground run, see what data measurements we get and results. And if we learn something negative, then GE could go work that. But fortunately, so far, we haven’t learned anything negative,” Lemmo added.

Lemmo said the Army has now authorized Sikorsky to run the T901 engine up to full speed on the ground, while he confirmed there are no plans right now to actually fly the company’s Raider X prototype with the new engine.

“We have a test plan that would get us a number of more ground runs until we kind of learn what we need to learn. And, hopefully, by that point will have received the engines for Black Hawk. And then it’ll make sense to just transition and do the rest of the work on Black Hawk,” Lemmo told reporters. 

After receiving the test T901 engines for Black Hawk in the coming months, Lemmo said Sikorsky is planning work on integration and ground runs for six months before moving into flight tests early next year. 

“We view the ITEP engine as foundational for Black Hawk modernization. It’s going to provide additionally not only efficiency with the engines, which results in more range, but also more power, so more lift capacity for the aircraft,” Lemmo told reporters. “[The Army] is committed to ITEP on the Black Hawk. Obviously, with the funding cuts, the program’s been slowed a little bit but we’re going to be off [soon] in testing.”

Lemmo noted Sikorsky has had a contract with the Army to work for the last couple years on modifying two Black Hawks so they’re ready to accept ITEP engines for testing.

“We did modify all the connections. There’s electrical connections, there’s hydraulic, there’s fuel. We’ve modified the compartment in the aircraft that the engines goes into, basically to GE’s specs,” Lemmo said. “I think the fact that we proved it on FARA that the engine fit the first time in gives us good confidence that it should fit properly [in the Black Hawk].” 

Sikorsky’s work with the ITEP engine is part of its remaining activities on FARA as the Army winds down the program through the end of FY ‘24, although Lemmo noted the company has not yet been informed on what the service may do with its prototype airframe moving forward. 

“We’ll be working through that as the contract winds down,” Lemmo said. “A lot of our investment is in our intellectual property. So we obviously retain whatever intellectual property we have invested in. But, the Army essentially owns the aircraft.”

Phillips told reporters the Army is still working through its priorities for remaining FARA activities and what will be done with Sikorsky and Bell’s airframes moving forward, calling it an “evolving process.”

“For the future long-term disposition, we haven’t decided yet. We will decide what that long-term disposition will be later this year. But it’s an evolving process as we’re working with industry to ensure we understand the opportunities that are available there to continue work or are there opportunities where we need to shift to higher priorities,” Phillips said.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

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The Naval Air Systems Command awarded Electra.aero, Inc. a contract to study how it might use the company’s hybrid-electric electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft for logistics in a contested environment, the company said Wednesday.

Electra said this contract covers a study for the company to work with the Navy where they will define specific contest logistics use cases and conduct a conceptual design study to evaluate how Electra eSTOLs can fit Navy capability gaps. 

The company underscored how the aircraft is being explored for contested logistics, when personnel or supplies need to be moved to areas that are challenging to reach or support.

Electra’s Director of Technology and Innovation Ben Marchionna noted the Navy becoming a customer comes after the company has previously started working with the Air Force and Army.

“Electra’s eSTOL has all the right technology-enabled capabilities to help the Navy address next-generation aviation logistics challenges. With our differentiated combination of hybrid-electric propulsion and a blown fixed wing, we can offer Pacific theater-relevant payloads and ranges, and the ability to operate from rough soccer field-sized spaces as well as many naval vessels and adjacent assets, all from day one,” Marchionna said in a statement.

He added that beyond standard tactical logistics cases, the company sees the aircraft as a potential “enabler” for uses like expeditionary power generation, mesh networking and as a node for Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2).

“These are all game changers for force modernization initiatives within the Navy and Marine Corps,” he added.

The company’s website markets the eSTOL aircraft as designed to fill a transportation gap between 50-500 miles and is able to carry up to nine passengers with 50-pound bags each at a cruising speed of 200 miles per hour. The aircraft only requires a 300- by 100-foot takeoff and landing area.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

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After Boeing delivered the first MQ-25 Stingray to the Navy in February for testing, a lead official said Monday the service is on schedule for the first flight test with that platform in spring 2025.

Rear Adm. Stephen Tedford, program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, also confirmed the Navy remains on track to achieve initial operational capability with the future carrier-based unmanned tanker by the end of fiscal year 2026.

“We now have our first fully-built static test article from Boeing, St. Louis. It is actually in the static test fixture now there in St. Louis,” Tedford said during remarks at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space Symposium in National Harbor, Md.

The MQ-25 Stingray aims to replace F/A-18E/F Super Hornets currently designated in refueling roles, so more of those aircraft will be freed up for combat use.

“I always am surprised and bring this up at every opportunity, most people don’t realize just how big an MQ-25 actually is. MQ-25 is the length of an F-18 with the wingspan of an E-2. It is not a small UAV. This is a 48,000-pound gross weight class UAV designed specifically for carrier operations…with a design point of 15,000 pounds of fuel give at 500 nautical miles,” Tedford said. “This is our first step to the air wing of the future, as MQ-25 will do carrier-based, unmanned operations, so we can take the burden of tanking and doing in-flight refueling off of the Hornet and make those F-18s back to being tactical shooters. That’s what MQ-25 is all about.”

Tedford said the flight test with the first MQ-25 test article will take place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland. 

Boeing said on Feb. 21 it had delivered the first MQ-25 to the Navy for testing.

“The unmanned carrier-based refueler will now undergo a rigorous airframe integrity evaluation,” Boeing wrote in a social media post. “Once operational, MQ-25 will extend the range and capability of the U.S. Navy’s air wing.”

Boeing conducted the first flight test with its own MQ-25 test asset in September 2019.

The Navy on March 29 awarded Boeing a $657 million contract modification for production and delivery of two more system demonstration test aircraft (SDTA). 

The new contract modification also includes definitizing “obsolescence phase two for non-recurring engineering to address product baseline obsolescence to support low-rate initial production for the MQ-25 Stingray program.”

A DoD Office of the Inspector General report from last year said the Navy was pushing back the MQ-25 schedule due to production maturity issues and to conduct enough testing before moving on to more production.

A low-rate initial production contract for MQ-25 is likely to be awarded in the summer of 2025 based on the Navy’s current program schedule.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

The post After Boeing Delivered First Test MQ-25, Navy Eyes First Flight In Spring 2025 – April 8 appeared first on Avionics International.

Lockheed Martin said Monday its working with Intel and its Altera semiconductor manufacturing firm to develop an open architecture, low size weight and power upgrade that increases the capability of the electronic defense system on the Navy’s MH-60R helicopters. 

Kevin Mahoney, Lockheed Martin’s director of airborne electronic warfare, told reporters the project is in support of the Office of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s (OUSD R&E) Stimulating Transition for Advanced Microelectronics Packaging (STAMP) program, with an aim to demonstrate a specific use case for upgrading capabilities using domestically-produced microelectronics.

“Secure, dependable access to microelectronics is a national security imperative. Our customers’ missions depend on advanced semiconductor technology. The 21st century technology we need to maintain our security going forward depends on a steady and secure supply of microelectronics. This strategic collaboration will help reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources for microelectronics,” Mahoney said during a briefing on the new effort.

Under a $7.7 million, 18-month Other Transaction Authority agreement, Mahoney said Lockheed Martin will take the Intel and Altera-developed Multi-Chip Package (MCP2), put it into a Sensor Open Systems Architecture (SOSA)-aligned 3U module and integrate it as a digital upgrade for the MH-60R’s AN/ALQ-210 Electronic Support Measure (ESM) system. 

“Utilizing Altera’s Multi-Chip Package, which features the latest in semiconductor technology, our project seeks to revolutionize the efficiency and effectiveness of defense systems for expected use on MH-60R helicopters. This technology promises a leap in capabilities to ensure superior performance on the modern battlespace,” Mahoney said. “That SOSA alignment that we’re doing really allows us to make this system more open, make it more easily upgradeable in the future for both hardware and software updates and eases integration into the host platform.”

John Sotir, senior director of Altera’s military aerospace and government business unit’s acceleration division, told reporters the company’s MCP2 microelectronics solution incorporates “the most advanced data converters into one package.”

“That gives you higher performance for new mission capabilities in a constrained SWaP-C environment,” Sotir said.

Mahoney said this project in support of the STAMP effort aligns the CHIPS and Science Act’s, bolstering domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity and the Pentagon’s efforts to “bridge the valley of death” in implementing new microelectronics capabilities. 

“What STAMP is focused on is helping to bridge that valley of death, [to] take the technology development and bring it further into an actual product that can be used by our armed forces,” Mahoney said. “There is not a guaranteed contract application and implementation of this at the end of STAMP. But what STAMP does is take that chip-level investment [and] turns it into a usable product so it basically shortens the putt into actual implementation onto a platform.”

Mahoney noted the technology being developed through this STAMP project has “very wide applications” beyond use on MH-60Rs, adding Lockheed Martin has its own parallel effort “investing to look at those other platforms and other opportunities where this can be applicable.”

“This versatility ensures our defense systems remain adaptable and capable of addressing emerging threats,” Mahoney said. “Everything we’re doing is applicable to all onboard ESM systems across the services. So we’ll be looking to take this and apply it to every rotary or fixed-wing platform that we currently have systems on and really maximizing this investment from OUSD [R&E], Intel and Lockheed Martin.”

Lockheed Martin is planning demonstrations for late 2024 to showcase how the technology with Altera’s chip capability can work with additional platforms, according to Mahoney.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

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An XQ-58A Valkyrie autonomous unmanned combat aircraft equipped with an electronic attack payload successfully demonstrated suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD) capabilities with two F-35 fighters in a recent live flight test event at Eglin AFB, Fla., Kratos Defense & Security Solutions said on Tuesday.

The test of Kratos’s low-cost Valkyrie completes the first phase of the Marine Corps’ Penetrating Affordable Autonomous Collaborative Killer-Portfolio (PAACK-P) program, part of an effort to inform requirements for the unmanned combat aircraft to support the Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Aerial System Expeditionary Tactical Aircraft (MUX TACAIR) for use in the SEAD role.

Kratos received a $22.9 million phase two contract modification in December 2023 to conduct additional engineering and flight tests of the Valkyrie in support of the PAACK-P program.

“MUX TACAIR promises to increase the lethality and survivability of our current crewed platforms,” Lt. Col. Bradley Buick, Marine Corps Aviation Cunningham Group Capabilities, Research, and Integration officer, said in a statement. “These platforms are the future of air warfare.”

The Marine Corps last October conducted the first flight test of the Valkyrie as part of PAACK-P, which is aimed at having the unmanned aircraft serve as a cooperative combatant.

“We’re very excited about the mission capability demonstrated during the flight and the incredible effectiveness per cost that this enables, not to mention the elimination of risk to a human pilot, and elimination of risk to expensive manned platforms,” Steve Fendley, president of Kratos’s Unmanned Systems Division, said in a statement. He also said the test included electronic warfare systems supplied by Northrop Grumman.

Kratos said all flight-test objectives were successfully met. Valkyrie can operate as a loyal wingman with manned fighters, operate in swarms, and individually.

A version of this story originally appeared in affiliate publication Defense Daily.

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The 9,000 square-metre facility at the Wellcamp Aerospace and Defence Precinct is expected to be operational in the next three years. The company’s latest investment in Australia will bring new aerospace skillsets and technologies, such as advanced composites manufacturing and robotics to Queensland.

“Boeing Australia is investing to bring this innovative, uncrewed capability to market in the timeframe that supports our customers’ future needs,” said Amy List, managing director, Boeing Defence Australia. “The MQ-28 is designed to transform air combat and provide affordable mass for Australia and our allies.”

“We’re partnering with the Queensland Government and Wagner Corporation to build Boeing’s first final assembly facility outside of North America – which is indicative of our global focus and a continued commitment to a sustainable and robust Australian aerospace industry.”

Wagner Corporation will develop and manage construction of the facility at their Toowoomba precinct using sustainable construction methods, and work with Boeing to incorporate renewable technologies and human-centric design.

The MQ-28 production facility will include aerospace manufacturing capabilities, including carbon fibre composites manufacture, along with advanced robotic assembly for major components, and final assembly and test capabilities.

The post Construction Begins on New Boeing MQ-28 Production Facility in Queensland – March 26 appeared first on Avionics International.

“The Bell AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom provide the backbone of attack and utility aviation support in the various battlespaces in which they are used, so SIEPU comes at an important time for the future strategic implementation of this platform,” said Mike Deslatte, Bell H-1 senior vice president and program director. “SIEPU will be immediately beneficial for today’s operations, and also sets the H-1 up to quickly support future operational needs, some that may not even be conceived of yet.”

With SIEPU, H-1s will be able to upgrade to current weapons systems with next generation capabilities, including kinetic long-range munitions and air launched effects as well as new non-kinetic capabilities. These upgrades greatly extend reach and range while simultaneously enhancing standoff distance.

While the H-1s have already demonstrated their capability to counter enemy unmanned aerial systems, SIEPU will also allow for there to be enough on-board power capacity for future weapons that are yet to be implemented.

“We are confident that SIEPU will help the Marine Corps expand mission essential tasks with more mission flexibility,” said Danielle Markham, SIEPU program manager. “The important thing is to make sure the H-1 is in a position to take advantage of those opportunities as they become available.”

Prior to arriving at the Bell Amarillo Assembly Center, the AH-1Z and UH-1Y completed datalink capabilities testing with the Marine Corps modifications at Camp Pendleton and testing with VMX-1 in Yuma. Bell plans to continue supporting the AH-1Z Viper and UH-1Y Venom through the 2040s in alignment with the Marine Corps Aviation Plan.

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