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Airbus Leads Large-Scale Manned-Unmanned Teaming Flight Demo

Europe’s first large-scale multi-domain flight demo, led by Airbus, included two fighter jets, a helicopter, and five drones. (Photo: Airbus)

Two fighter jets, a helicopter, and five drones participated in a large-scale flight demonstration of manned-unmanned teaming. Experts from Airbus led the multi-domain demonstration in partnership with the Bundeswehr, the Finnish Defence Forces, MBDA Germany, Patria, the startup HAT.tec, and Robonic—provider of drone launch systems. The demo is part of a project intended to pave the way for the Future Combat Air System—a European combat system of systems being developed by Airbus as well as Dassault Aviation and Indra Sistemas.

Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus, remarked in the company’s announcement that they demonstrated “manned-unmanned teaming capabilities and functionalities with up to ten connected assets work in a real-life inspired scenario and under near operational conditions.”

The five unmanned aircraft systems, also referred to as remote carriers, were modified Airbus Do-DT25 drones. The team equipped two of the drones with MBDA’s Electronic Support Measures (ESM) sensors. These sensors were used to detect the positions of ground air missiles included in the scenario. The other three remote carriers used Electro Optical cameras to visually confirm the position of the air defenses.

Patria, a networking data link provider, ensured that all assets in the flight demo were connected. The crew onboard the helicopter, an Airbus H145M, teamed up with one of the drones with an Electro Optical camera, to assist in the mission.

Airbus just signed an initial contract with German procurement agency BAAINBw, and Phase III of the Future Combat Air System Manned-Unmanned-Teaming Demonstrator project will begin soon. The project is designed to develop combat aircraft and remote carriers to enable operations in the 2030s and to mature existing capabilities for teaming.

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) will feature remote carriers operating as a team with the New Generation Fighter and the Eurofighter. According to Airbus’s announcement, these drones will “provide better protection for pilots while enhancing the operational envelope and the ability to act in risky situations.”

In 2018, when Airbus and Dassault were in the earliest stages of planning for FCAS, Dirk Hoke—the Airbus Defense and Space CEO at the time—remarked, “Today’s systems and future systems need to be working hand-in-hand in real-time connectivity and connection and communication that needs to include artificial intelligence to steer swarms of drones and connect the different platforms on information. There is a huge change in the warfare of the future.”

A video of the multi-domain flight demo can be viewed along with the Airbus announcement here.

The Bundeswehr, Airbus, the German Aerospace Center DLR, SFL, and Geradts performed the first successful launch and operation of a remote carrier flight test demonstrator from a flying A400M UAV Launcher, Airbus shared this week. The A400M military transport aircraft will be able to bring as many as 50 remote carriers to an area of operation and launch the vehicles.

The post Airbus Leads Large-Scale Manned-Unmanned Teaming Flight Demo appeared first on Avionics International.

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Raytheon Targets F135 Engine Core Upgrade for 24 F-35 Squadrons by 2030

A formation of Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-35A Lighting II’s conduct a flyover during the Misawa Air Fest at Misawa Air Base, Japan, on Sept. 11 (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Raytheon Technologies [RTX] said that it is able to outfit 24 F-35 squadrons with an Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) for the company’s Pratt & Whitney F135 engine by 2030—seven squadrons in 2029 and 17 in 2030—compared to just two F-35 squadrons that could receive a new engine under the Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) in 2030.

The ECU and Raytheon’s proposed Emergency Power and Cooling System (EPACS), which is to achieve Technology Readiness Level 6 next year, are to provide a seven percent increase in performance range and thrust for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 fighter, more than twice the cooling of the F135 to accomodate new weapons in F-35 Block 4, and a more than $40 billion savings in life cycle costs.

DoD’s upcoming fiscal 2024 budget may lay out the future engine path for the F-35—whether that be the Pratt & Whitney proposed F135 ECU or a new power plant, such as General Electric‘s [GE] proposed XA100 Tri-Variant Adaptive (TVA) engine (Defense Daily, Oct. 11).

Raytheon suggested that DoD could not accelerate AETP development and fielding.

“As to why we can’t do XA faster, it has to do with the fact that the ECU is a core upgrade, meaning 70 percent of the material likely will stay common,” Jen Latka, Pratt & Whitney’s vice president for F135 programs, told reporters in a virtual briefing/question and answer session on Dec. 13. “There’s no touching the [engine] fan. We’re not touching the back end of the engine. It [ECU] is limited in scope to the core. We are limiting the technologies that we bring in to what is absolutely necessary.”

“The supply base that we currently have is the supply base that will manufacture ECU,” she said. “They’re already up and established, and there won’t be massive changes…On the other hand, when you look at how historically how long it takes to ramp a brand-new center line engine, let alone one that has never flown before so we’ll have a tremendous amount of learning and we’ll need a very robust flight test program, given it’s only engine on this aircraft, that’s gonna take a lot of time. The test program will take a lot of time, and then standing up the supply chain and the supply base and ramping them to full rate is going to take years.”

Regarding the F135 and the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine for the U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter by Lockheed Martin, “we didn’t get to [a build] rate [of] 150 every year overnight,” Latka said. “It took many years. It [AETP] is a completely new engine with completely new parts to manufacture.”

Raytheon also said that AETP is “significantly heavier” than the 3,750 pound dry weight F135, but declined to disclose how much heavier and referred that question to the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO). Defense Daily will add any response from the F-35 JPO.

The ECU was formerly known as the Engine Enhancement Program but the F-35 JPO changed the name recently.

Pratt & Whitney recently received a more than $115 million contract for ECU work through May next year (Defense Daily, Dec. 5).

Technology Refresh 3 (TR3)–spurred by the L3Harris [LHX] integrated core processor–is the computer backbone for Block 4, which is to have 88 unique features and to integrate 16 new weapons on the F-35. The F-35 program has said that the fighter will need a new or significantly upgraded engine with improved electrical power and cooling capacity to accommodate the 53 new capabilities slated for F-35 Block 4.

In October, 48 representatives urged DoD to invest in next generation, adaptive propulsion for fighters in a letter co-sponsored by Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio).

In all, 13 of 16 Ohio representatives signed the letter.

General Electric’s GE Aviation subsidiary has its headquarters in Evendale, Ohio outside of Cincinnati.

GE has said that it began working with the F-35 JPO in the fall of last year on evaluating whether GE could alter the proposed XA100 for the U.S. Air Force’s AETP to fit on the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B.

Since 2016, the Air Force has funded the AETP.

The F-35 program has said that while the XA100 TVA is based on the F-35A’s F135 engine, the TVA would require an independent development program.

This article was first published by Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International; it has been edited.

The post Raytheon Targets F135 Engine Core Upgrade for 24 F-35 Squadrons by 2030 appeared first on Avionics International.

Eve and Volatus Partner On A Vertiport Automation Solution

Eve has signed an agreement to supply a vertiport automation solution for urban air mobility in collaboration with Volatus Infrastructure. (Photo: Eve)

Eve Air Mobility and Volatus Infrastructure have signed a Letter of Intent to supply a vertiport automation solution in support of traffic management for electric vertical take-off and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft. Volatus has designed infrastructure for eVTOLs, including a charging station, and its vertiports will incorporate Eve’s urban air traffic management software solution to make eVTOL operations more efficient. The software will be agnostic to enable integration of all users of the airspace.

Grant Fisk, co-founder of Volatus Infrastructure, remarked in the announcement by Eve that the solution will also increase safety and reliability. “It’s vitally important to get these systems up and running so that when the FAA approves the first eVTOL vehicle, we are ready to serve them,” he commented.

Andre Stein, Eve’s co-CEO, explained that the new software solution for urban air traffic management “will be specifically designed to support and maximize the capacity and efficiency of vertiports versus modifying existing software that was designed for other purposes.”

Eve, which is backed by Embraer, has developed a concept for an eVTOL aircraft tailored to the urban environment. Eve’s team has partnered with both Blade Air Mobility and FlyBlade India to conduct helicopter flights in order to further develop its understanding of urban air mobility. Eve conducted a simulation in downtown Chicago using Blade’s helicopters in September, during which it transported passengers around the city to understand the ecosystem requirements for eVTOLs.

The eVTOL designed by Eve features a conventional wing and tail. A full-sized mock-up of the vehicle’s cabin was first unveiled earlier this year. Eve is also collaborating with Halo Aviation, which will be its launch customer for the urban air mobility traffic management software solution.

“We have a strong team in FlyBIS working together with Eve’s outstanding workforce and second-to-none resources to develop and implement this project in the most financially efficient and sustainable way,” said FlyBIS Co-Founder and CEO Gustavo Zanettini (Photo: Eve)

The eVTOL developer revealed the signing of another Letter of Intent last week. FlyBIS Aviation Limited, a startup based in Brazil, will collaborate with Eve to develop eVTOL operations in South America. FlyBIS also plans to purchase up to 40 aircraft from Eve.

According to Eve’s Stein, the southern region of Brazil “has several high-traffic tourist areas that will benefit from eVTOL operations, reinforcing our commitment to fostering the urban air mobility market in different regions around the world.”

The post Eve and Volatus Partner On A Vertiport Automation Solution appeared first on Avionics International.

SpaceX Launches its First Mission for OneWeb

SpaceX launches 40 OneWeb satellites on Dec. 8. (Screenshot via SpaceX/Twitter)

SpaceX performed its first mission for OneWeb on Thursday, sending 40 satellites to Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission was notable in two ways—it was SpaceX’s first launch for Starlink broadband competitor OneWeb, and OneWeb’s second mission since resuming its launch campaign after Russia’s war in Ukraine stymied its Soyuz missions from Kazakhstan.

The Falcon 9 rocket took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 5:27 p.m. ET on Dec. 8. Stage separation occurred 2 minutes and 20 seconds into the mission, and the satellites were deployed in a series of three deployments that took place 58 minutes, about 1 hour and 14 minutes, and 1 hour and 29 minutes into the mission. OneWeb confirmed signal acquisition on all satellites post-launch.

Following stage separation, the Falcon 9 first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

This launch brings OneWeb’s constellation to 502 satellites, almost 80% of its first-generation constellation, putting the company on track to deliver global coverage in 2023.

OneWeb said this launch allows the company to expand service and initiate additional connectivity solutions soon for partners across the U.S., Europe and much of the Middle East and Asia—all points north of the 35th parallel. It will also enable coverage between the South Pole and the 35th parallel south, for Southern Australia, South Africa and parts of South America.

Neil Masterson, OneWeb CEO, commented: “This launch is an immensely gratifying way to close out 2022, bringing OneWeb another step closer to activating our space-based connectivity globally and reflecting the shared ambition and collective goodwill that is driving the satellite communications industry. We are thankful for the support of other leaders in the space industry allowing us to quickly restart our launch campaign and we are delighted to work with SpaceX today for our first-ever launch from Florida, the home where our satellites are manufactured.”

This was OneWeb’s 15th mission overall. The company’s launch campaign was caught up in geopolitical tensions with Russia’s war in Ukraine, as OneWeb was launching with Arianespace on Soyuz rockets from Kazakhstan. In March, Russian space agency Roscosmos placed intense demands on OneWeb, launcher Arianespace, and the United Kingdom government, stopping the launches.

In the aftermath, OneWeb, which had previously only launched with Arianespace, signed a flurry of launch agreements with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), SpaceX, and Relativity to secure launch capacity for its growing constellation. OneWeb returned to flight with an ISRO mission in late October.

SpaceX and OneWeb are competitors, as SpaceX operates the Starlink LEO broadband constellation and has launched more than 3,500 satellites for the constellation. While OneWeb does not sell direct-to-consumer like Starlink does, both constellations are targeting government, enterprise and mobility markets like aviation.

Yet SpaceX seems open to launch business from competitors. In 2021, SpaceX COO Gwynne Shotwell talked about the dynamic of launching competitors in an interview with Via Satellite, arguing that she sees launch and Starlink as two very separate businesses. “To not leverage what I think is the best launch capability on the planet right now, at our low prices—seems to me like companies are shooting themselves in the foot,” she said, addressing potential competitors that choose not to launch with SpaceX.

Even an Amazon executive raised the possibility of Project Kuiper launches with SpaceX. In October, Dave Limp, senior vice president of Devices and Services at Amazon, said the Falcon 9 rocket is on the “low end of capacity” needed for Kuiper launches, but Falcon Heavy and Starship are “very viable candidates.”

This article was first published by Via Satellite, a sister publication to Avionics International. Click here to view the original version.

The post SpaceX Launches its First Mission for OneWeb appeared first on Avionics International.

Debate About 737 MAX Retrofits Continues as Deadline Approaches

“Even if Congress doesn’t force U.S. airlines to retrofit two new safety upgrades in their Boeing 737 MAX fleets, Europe’s aviation regulator intends to ensure those enhancements are mandated for carriers there,” wrote Dominic Gates for the Seattle Times. (Photo: REUTERS/Peter Cziborra)

There is perhaps no aircraft more scrutinized in modern aviation than the Boeing 737 MAX. The aircraft, which is the fourth generation of the 737 family, offers increased fuel efficiency and a better passenger experience compared to earlier versions. Improvements like this caused it to become an instant commercial success, with massive carriers like Southwest, Ryanair, United, and American ordering hundreds of the jets to replace older aircraft in their fleets.

However, following two tragic crashes in both Indonesia (LionAir) and Ethiopia (Ethiopian Airlines), the 737 MAX was grounded for over two years as regulators discovered fundamental flaws in the aircraft. These flaws mainly surrounded the angle-of-attack sensor, an aircraft part that measures the angle between oncoming air and the wing.

Following the correction of these flaws and a $200 million settlement from Boeing, regulatory bodies across the world have since re-certified the MAX. This has led to carriers across the world, including Ethiopian, to put the 737 MAX back into commercial service. However, recent legislation has sparked another debate surrounding the aircraft model.

The controversy is centered around the Aircraft Certification, Safety and Accountability Act of 2020. This legislation requires any aircraft certified after the year of 2022 to have an improved crew-alerting system that complies with more recent safety standards. Because the Boeing 737 MAX 7 and 10 will not be certified by the year’s end, some believe that the deadline should be extended to allow these MAX variants to be certified without a newer crew-alerting system.

Some legislatures believe the deadline should be extended, but with a caveat: U.S. airlines currently operating the 737 MAX would have to make two additional retrofits to the aircraft to further ensure the safety of the aircraft. The first retrofit seeks to address the original problem with the MAX further by adding a measure that would cross-check the two existing angle-of-attack sensors through various technologies on the aircraft. The second retrofit would install a switch in the cockpit that would allow the pilot to disable the “stick shaker”—a feature that shakes the yoke of the aircraft to warn pilots of a stall. This feature was believed to have distracted the pilots in the crashes that originally grounded the MAX.

Congress is not alone in contemplating requiring the retrofits. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has indicated that it is planning on requiring these safety upgrades on all aircraft, because it was a condition in the plan to re-certify the already-flying 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9. It seems that Boeing will be forced to retrofit at least some of its aircraft regardless of the decision from Congress regarding the proposed deadline extension.

As politicians struggle to decide whether or not Boeing should get an extension to certify the 737 MAX 7 and MAX 10, it seems clear that the 737 MAX will continue to be a heavily scrutinized aircraft. With only half of the variants flying today, the road to certifying and implementing the entire MAX family could be a turbulent one for Boeing and its customers.

The post Debate About 737 MAX Retrofits Continues as Deadline Approaches appeared first on Avionics International.

VPorts Announces Creation of First International Electric AAM Corridor

VPorts recently announced the creation of the first international electric AAM corridor between Syracuse Hancock International Airport and VPorts’ vertiport in Mirabel, Québec, Canada. The first eVTOL test flights are planned to start in 2023. (Photo: VPorts)

VPorts announced the creation of a corridor for advanced air mobility, or AAM, last week. It connects Syracuse Hancock International Airport and Mirabel, Québec, Canada. VPorts has a vertiport—essentially a heliport designed for AAM vehicles—located in Mirabel. The company claims that this is the first international electric AAM corridor.

In a recent interview with Avionics International, Dr. Fethi Chebil, President and Founder of VPorts, explained, “The corridor is an identified airspace where we will do a safety risk assessment to demonstrate to regulators that flying an eVTOL within this corridor is safe.”

“We are working with NUAIR, which already has a 50-mile corridor for drones,” he added. “We work together in building this corridor between Syracuse and Mirabel.” In addition to NUAIR, other international organizations such as Aéro Montréal, Innovitech, the Unmanned Aerial System Centre of Excellence (Alma), and operator Helijet International all signed a Memorandum of Understanding with VPorts to establish international corridors for AAM that connect the U.S. and Québec.

“We considered the obstacles between these two vertiports, the weather, and characteristics of eVTOLs for testing the corridor,” said Dr. Chebil. VPorts chose to focus initially on transportation of cargo. “We believe that the business case is there for cargo,” he shared. “The eVTOL could provide options to make the supply chain for movement of goods between two countries efficient, reliable, and sustainable.”

VPorts also plans to deploy an operational control center to assist with eVTOL operations. This includes flight plans and integrating weather data in addition to information about the airspace configuration. The control center will then be able to provide clearance or instructions, Dr. Chebil explained.

“We are assessing different options for corridors between these two vertiports and considering data about the airspace configuration,” he commented. “We have an idea of what this corridor will look like. The next step is to work with the team to do a safety risk assessment, because then we can go to the FAA, Transport Canada, and eventually NAV Canada to start doing flight testing under their supervision.”

NUAIR CEO Ken Stewart also commented on the announcement, saying, “The development of this international AAM corridor between Syracuse, NY, and Montreal will help lay the foundation for regional air mobility operations for underutilized airports, assisting with cargo deliveries and strengthening United States supply chains.

“VPorts is thrilled to be leading the development of this first and only AAM integrator world centre. Our presence in Dubai is aligned with our strategy and ambition to build and operate 1,500 vertiports around the world by 2045.” – Dr. Chebil (Photo: VPorts)

VPorts made another big announcement this week, sharing news of a historic partnership to establish an advanced air mobility integrator center in Dubai. VPorts is partnering with the UAE

General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH) on this project. The center will require an initial investment of $40 million over three years and will begin construction in 2023. Operations and flight testing could begin as early as 2024.

The post VPorts Announces Creation of First International Electric AAM Corridor appeared first on Avionics International.

Recent Drone Cybersecurity Developments Could Lead to Fewer Attacks in 2023

Cyber attacks are predicted to increase in 2023, with drones being a primary target. Here are the proven drone cybersecurity measures available to state and private actors. (Photo: DJI)

As companies and state governments establish their 2023 priorities, cybercrime should be a top concern, especially in the drone space. Cybercrime has increased dramatically over the past decade with no sign of slowing down in 2023. Drones are a key target for these attacks, but recent drone cybersecurity developments could help protect the information they store.

If cybercrime was a country, it would have the third largest economy after China and the U.S., according to forecasts from Cybercrime Magazine. That same forecast predicted that cybercrime will cost the world $8 trillion next year.

Drones are predicted to be a significant target of these attacks for two reasons: they are often used to collect valuable information, and drones often lack the security that other aircraft have.

At the federal level, drones are used to collect critical defense information, such as the location of enemy groups and the terrain and weather across the globe. States and local governments use drones for environmental and disaster management, infrastructure updates, and other critical urban planning tasks. Any data from drones used by the federal or state governments, as well as geographical data from drones owned by private companies, could be a valuable target for cyberattackers.

Not only is this collected information valuable, drones often don’t have the same security measures as computers or manned aircraft which collect similar information. This is due to the unprecedented complexity and interconnectivity of drone systems.

“In the near future, we’ll essentially have a network of flying computers in the sky, and just like the computers we use today, drones can be hacked if not secured properly,” said Amir Husain, the CEO of SkyGrid, in a recent press statement. “In this emerging environment, traditional anti-malware technology won’t be adequate to detect these never-before-seen attacks.”

Luckily, companies like SkyGrid are exploring new ways to protect drones against cybersecurity attacks. The use of artificial intelligence has helped SkyGrid and other companies detect, prevent, and combat cyberattacks against drones.

Buying drones that are made within Europe or America can also lower the chances of a cyberattack. Some companies based in China, like DJI (which owns between 75 and 80% of the international market), keep their information on servers in China which can easily be accessed by state actors.

Due to concerns over what information is accessible by the Chinese state, the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee passed a law to ban the federal use of Chinese-made drones in 2019. The Department of Homeland Security continues to endorse this law and even recommends limiting the use of all foreign-made drones.

With that being said, there are some independent auditors who have recently tested DJI’s cybersecurity measures and offer a different perspective. The independent German company who audited DJI’s drones determined that they met the American and European standards for use by private individuals and companies.

As the contrast between the recommendations from the independent auditors and the Department of Homeland Security shows, drone cybersecurity is a rapidly evolving field and there aren’t yet established cybersecurity practices. Choosing drones from reputable manufacturers and utilizing AI technologies like SkyGrid can help protect drones against cybersecurity threats, though further research and recommendations are needed.

The post Recent Drone Cybersecurity Developments Could Lead to Fewer Attacks in 2023 appeared first on Avionics International.

Pratt & Whitney Receives $115 Million for F135 Engine Core Upgrade

A U.S. Air Force F-35A assigned to the 34th Fighter Squadron departs from a KC-10 Extender aircraft after receiving fuel over Poland on Feb. 24 (U.S. Air Force Photo)

Raytheon Technologies‘ [RTX] Pratt & Whitney snared a more than $115 million contract last week for the F135 engine core upgrade for the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35 fighter.

Pratt & Whitney is to finish the work under the new contract by May of next year.

“The F135 engine core upgrade delivers the fastest, most cost efficient, lowest risk path to F-35 Block 4 capability,” Pratt & Whitney said in a statement after DoD announced the contract on Nov. 29.

DoD’s upcoming fiscal 2024 budget may lay out the future engine path for the F-35—whether that be the Pratt & Whitney proposed Enhanced Engine Package (EEP) for the fighter’s existing Pratt & Whitney F135 engine or a new power plant, such as General Electric‘s [GE] proposed XA100 Tri-Variant Adaptive (TVA) engine (Defense Daily, Oct. 11).

Jill Albertelli, president of Pratt & Whitney’s Military Engines business, said in a statement last week that the F135 “has been pushed beyond its original specifications for too long” and that the F-35 engine core upgrade “saves taxpayers $40 billion in lifecycle costs and builds upon a combat-tested engine architecture that has more than one million flight hours.”

Technology Refresh 3 (TR3)—spurred by the L3Harris [LHX] integrated core processor—is the computer backbone for Block 4, which is to have 88 unique features and to integrate 16 new weapons on the F-35. The F-35 program has said that the fighter will need a new or significantly upgraded engine with improved electrical power and cooling capacity to accommodate the 53 new capabilities slated for F-35 Block 4.

Pratt & Whitney has said that EEP has “ample design margin” to accommodate Block 4. House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said in the company’s statement last week that the new DoD contract “will protect good paying union jobs in Connecticut, while providing a much needed charge to our economy.”

The F135 supports 27,000 jobs in the state, and EEP “is the only propulsion option that is a ‘drop in’ solution for all variants, adding no weight and avoiding disruptive and costly air vehicle changes that would introduce additional costs, schedule delays, and technical risk,” Pratt & Whitney said.

While TVA has a degree of commonality with the company’s XA100 design for the U.S. Air Force F-35A, adapting the XA100 engine or a derivative of it for the U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35B short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft would require a separate development effort, the F-35 program said in September (Defense Daily, Sept. 28).

General Electric’s GE Aviation subsidiary has its headquarters in Evendale, Ohio outside of Cincinnati.

In all, 13 of 16 Ohio representatives signed the letter.

GE has said that it began working with the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) in the fall of last year on evaluating whether GE could alter the proposed XA100 for the U.S. Air Force’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP) to fit on the F-35B.

The company “performed a study with the F-35 JPO and the AETP program Office to see if the XA100 or a derivative thereof could be adapted to work in the STOVL F-35B,” the F-35 JPO said in September. “The resultant XA100 TVA is based on the current CTOL [conventional take-off and landing] F-35A XA100 and maintains a level of commonality, but is significantly different enough that it would require its own independent EMD.”

The F-35 program and GE have declined to disclose the total nor specific projected costs of the independent EMD, but the company did say that adapting the XA100 or a variant of it for the F-35B is viable and that that engine design satisfies user improvement requests for the current engine.

The F-35 program has said that the fighter will need a new or significantly upgraded engine with improved electrical power and cooling capacity to accommodate the 53 new capabilities slated for F-35 Block 4.

The Air Force has funded the AETP since 2016.

This article was first published by Defense Daily, a sister publication to Avionics International; it has been edited. View the original version here >>

The post Pratt & Whitney Receives $115 Million for F135 Engine Core Upgrade appeared first on Avionics International.

Airlines in the EU Will Soon Provide 5G Connectivity to Passengers

In late November, the European Commission ruled that airlines will be able to provide 5G connectivity on planes. (Photo: European Commission)

In late November, the European Commission ruled that airlines will be able to provide 5G connectivity on planes. The Commission’s ruling has reserved specific frequencies to enable in-flight mobile communications since 2008. The new implementing decision makes widespread 5G deployment possible.

Cell carriers in the U.S. are still limiting the use of 5G around airports because of concerns about interference with aircraft equipment. In particular, the Federal Aviation Administration and some U.S. airlines are worried about 5G interfering with radio altimeters—critical equipment for landing a plane in low visibility conditions.

“Altimeters operate at frequencies of around 4.2 to 4.4 GHz, and certain altimeters without modern filtering technology can pick up interference from devices operating in nearby frequencies,” explained James Bikales, writing for the Washington Post. These frequencies are near those used by 5G networks in the U.S.—3.7 and 3.98 GHz. In comparison, 5G in Europe operates at frequencies of 5 GHz and higher. This provides more “gap spacing” and reduces concerns about interference.

There have been more than 100 incidents reported that involve potential 5G interference since January 2022. The FAA released a statement in June requiring regional aircraft operators to install radio frequency filters if their plane is among the most susceptible to this kind of interference.

A group of aviation stakeholders that includes the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is encouraging the FAA as well as the Department of Transportation and Department of Commerce to address this issue proactively. The aim is to avoid preventable flight delays and cancellations while introducing a solution that allows 5G to grow.

Some airlines in the U.S. have installed radio altimeter replacements for their in-service Airbus A320 model aircraft. They are installing an upgraded version of the legacy ERT 530 radio altimeter designed by avionics manufacturer Thales. As of mid-September, 50 of these aircraft had already been retrofitted with the ERT 530R.

There are still concerns about offering 5G connectivity in-flight for European airlines. If hundreds of passengers are trying to connect to 5G antennas at the same time, the output power could be high enough to raise concerns for electronic aircraft equipment.

In his article for the Washington Post, Bikales shared comments from Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who believes that concerns about altimeter interference may be overblown. “The reality is that the vast, vast majority of aircraft have altimeters that are shielded from the signals,” Wheeler stated. Additionally, older aircraft models are either being replaced or shielded.

The technical concerns that led to a ban on cell phone use in-flight may be addressed by the latest advancements in picocell technology. Picocells connect to satellite networks or ground-based networks and then emit a low power signal throughout an aircraft.

The post Airlines in the EU Will Soon Provide 5G Connectivity to Passengers appeared first on Avionics International.

AUVSI Launches “Drone Prepared” Initiative to Support Uncrewed Aircraft

Today, the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) announced the launch of Drone Prepared—an advocacy campaign designed to support lawmakers in preparing their communities for the benefits that uncrewed and autonomous aircraft will bring. (Photo: AUVSI)

The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) launched a multi-state advocacy campaign this week called “Drone Prepared.” The initiative aims to support lawmakers as they prepare their state or locality for uncrewed and autonomous aircraft operations.

To explain the importance of the new campaign, AUVSI’s announcement noted the expanding drone industry and cited the Federal Aviation Administration’s recent estimate that there are 869,000 registered drones. It is expected that there will be 2.49 million operational drones by the year 2025.

“The Drone Prepared campaign provides critical resources for communities to understand the complex, evolving industry and begin preparing in ways that will welcome the industry, and its benefits, to their geographies,” commented Michael Healander, President and CEO at Airspace Link, in the AUVSI announcement.

AUVSI will engage with its network of chapters and local advocates in order to educate lawmakers about preparing for increasing numbers of drones in the airspace and taking advantage of the associated economic and environmental benefits. The Drone Prepared initiative also includes plans to establish coalitions with various partners, publish research, and make recommendations for solutions.

Some of the partners of the new advocacy campaign include Airspace Link, Echodyne, and Aura Network Systems, which are all members of AUVSI’s Air Advocacy Committee.

The Association’s Director of Government Affairs, Michael Smitsky, remarked that commercial drone operations offer tremendous growth potential. “We welcome opportunities to share with lawmakers how they can unlock scalable, secure and sustainable commercial drone operations that will benefit their communities—while maintaining the highest levels of airspace safety and regulatory compliance,” he remarked in response to the announcement about Drone Prepared.

The Drone Prepared Flight Plan is a document created by AUVSI that outlines the strategies behind its legislative proposals for next year. The four steps of the flight plan are:

Look for Opportunities to Promote Drone Use for Public Benefit
Leave Air Navigation and Aviation Safety to the FAA
Leverage Existing Law
Use Caution When Adopting Drone-Specific Laws or Requirements

Read the full Drone Prepared Flight Plan and learn more about the advocacy campaign here.

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Category Archives: MRO’s