Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
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Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
par Jeannot Lun 28 Juin 2010, 23:43
Le prix du Global Hawk pourrait le rendre difficilement acceptable
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]Global Hawk at risk of being “non-affordable”, DOD says
The US military's top weapons buyer today repeated cost concerns about the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] RQ-4 Global Hawk first raised by a senior air force official 10 days ago.
The high-altitude unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is "on a path to be non-affordable", undersecretary of acquisition technology and logistics Ashton Carter told reporters.
Carter's comment on Global Hawk came as he announced a DOD initiative to generate 2-3% savings annually by slashing costs in the DOD's $400 billion budget spent on contractors.
The streamlining cuts across all programmes, but Global Hawk will be among the first subjected to a "should-cost" review by the DOD's cost analysts, Carter says. The review is intended to produce an independent view on what the DOD should actually be paying, versus what the contractor charges.
Concerns about the Global Hawk's cost have grown as Northrop's price rises despite heavier demand for the product, Carter says. By contrast, in the private sector, higher demand for computers produces cheaper and better products every year, he adds.
Similarly, demand for the Global Hawk has grown steadily since the long-endurance aircraft was introduced in the mid-1990s.
At least six versions of the Global Hawk, including four by the air force and two by the navy, have been or are being purchased by DOD. Northrop also has sold an export version of the aircraft to Germany called EuroHawk.
"All have a roughly comparable airframe," Carter says. "Why are these things costing more every year and not less?"
On 18 June, air force assistant secretary for acquisition David Van Buren told reporters he is "not happy with the cost of the air vehicle" and that testing has been slower than expected.
Northrop countered the air force's critical comments last week, saying overall costs have declined and not increased. Northrop attributes "cost spikes" to quantities purchased in individual lots.
Meanwhile, air force and navy leaders have been working to increase the commonality between the Global Hawk fleet and the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) programme. The focus has been on sharing systems and components in the ground systems for both fleets, as well as production efficiency.
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Jeannot- Membre
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Localisation : Vexin 78
Jeannot- Membre
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Re: Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
par Jeannot Jeu 16 Juin 2011, 05:51
Le Pentagone diminue de 11 unités la commande Global Hawk
[url=http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awx/2011/06/15/awx_06_15_2011_p0-336278.xml&headline=Carter Cuts 11 More Global Hawks&channel=defense][Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Cuts 11 More Global Hawks&channel=defense[/url]
Carter Cuts 11 More Global Hawks
Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter has sliced 11 Block 30 Global Hawks from the planned buy of 42, further reducing the total number of the aircraft in the project only months after the U.S. Air Force cut 11 from the Block 40 program.
The decision is outlined in a June 14 acquisition decision memorandum that details a restructuring of the entire RQ-4A/B program; this includes all four blocks of the aircraft (10-40). Also in this document, Carter outlines his plans to certify that the Global Hawk may move forward despite its latest cost overrun, which breached the Nunn-McCurdy statute limits and triggered a massive review of the project. He states that “continuation of the program is essential to national security . . . there are no alternatives to the program,” and new cost estimates have been established to move forward.
An April selected-acquisition report sent to Congress that includes the Global Hawk cost overrun notes a total program tally of $13.9 billion. The Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) pegs the new price at $12.4 billion, according to Carter’s memo. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor, with Raytheon playing a role in some sensor work.
Carter also directs the Air Force to break up the massive project into subprograms: one each is outlined for “Baseline,” or Block 10/20; Block 30 (with the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite and Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload); and Block 40, including the aircraft and the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program active, electronically scanned array ground surveillance system. A new subprogram will be established for the Ground Segment Re-Architecture and Communications Systems Re-Architecture, Carter says in his memo.
The intent is to more clearly account for the numerous different efforts in the Global Hawk program by breaking them out into separate line items. These different projects were the byproducts of the earlier “spiral acquisition” strategy, which called for infusing new technologies—such as sensors—into the program when they became mature. However, some in Congress have found these efforts difficult to monitor.
Also, this accounting approach is designed to better illuminate any shortfalls. In earlier budgets, Pentagon and industry sources say shortfalls in the spares accounts went unaddressed. They are now being funded, some say, at the sacrifice of total numbers of Block 40 aircraft.
Program officials appear accepting of the 11-aircraft reduction in Block 30s. These were originally slated to be attrition-reserve platforms, and one program official notes that the aircraft are lasting longer than expected thus far.
Also included in the acquisition decision memo is a directive from Carter that requires the Air Force to ask his permission before “obligating any funds beyond the specified amounts identified [in his memo], even on existing contracts.”
It is unclear how this could affect the program’s ability to be agile in responding to urgent warfighter needs. The quick integration of the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node onto two Block 20s, for example, was not originally included in the program plan. But senior Pentagon officials have praised program officials for quickly deploying the system, which is helping provide tactical communications to soldiers in Afghanistan.
[Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story reported different numbers for planned Global Hawks due to an error in the Defense Department’s acquisition decision memorandum. This version has been updated.]
[url=http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awx/2011/06/15/awx_06_15_2011_p0-336278.xml&headline=Carter Cuts 11 More Global Hawks&channel=defense][Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Cuts 11 More Global Hawks&channel=defense[/url]
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Re: Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk
par SEVRIEN Sam 26 Mai 2012, 05:07
Bonjour, chers tous.
Enfin, ..... après les tergiversations -- idiotes, d'ailleurs-- voici une commande ("Block 40") de l'OTAN pour 40 Drones / UAV Global HAWK (tout simpement le meilleur / le mieux adapté à ce stade) de NG (NORTHROP GRUMMAN).
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Northrop signs $1.7bn Nato drone deal
May 21, 2012 6:00 pm
By Carola Hoyos, Defence Correspondent
Motorisation ? RR Allison : AE 3007H turbofan engine (Rolls Royce North America).
Appelée, dans sa version militaire : Rolls Royce-North American F137-RR-100 turbofan engine
Poussée : 7,600 lbs.
Enfin, ..... après les tergiversations -- idiotes, d'ailleurs-- voici une commande ("Block 40") de l'OTAN pour 40 Drones / UAV Global HAWK (tout simpement le meilleur / le mieux adapté à ce stade) de NG (NORTHROP GRUMMAN).
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Lien et extraits :
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
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Northrop signs $1.7bn Nato drone deal
May 21, 2012 6:00 pm
By Carola Hoyos, Defence Correspondent
Significatif . A noter.[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the US defence contractor, at the weekend signed a long-coveted $1.7bn deal to supply Nato with its first unmanned surveillance aircraft.
Individual member countries have operated UAVs – also known as drones – during Nato operations but this is the first procurement of an unmanned aircraft by the alliance itself. Unmanned aircraft – even when not carrying weapons – are controversial because countries view them as spy planes that secretly invade sovereign airspace.
A noter : la disponibilité relativement rapide. Aspect 'clé', ... dans n'importe quel "procurement"(sauf pour certains, qui aiment traîner la savate, ... ou qui croient, souvent à tort, ... que 'leur' système est le meilleur !The contract between Nato and Northrop Grumman, as prime contractor, includes the purchase, initial operation and maintenance of five Block 40 Global Hawk aircraft equipped with advanced ground surveillance radar sensors. The ground surveillance system is to become an important real-time data source for the military alliance’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
Under the Northrop contract, European companies – including Cassidian, a subsidiary of pan-European [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Norway’s [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Italian Selex Galileo, a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] company – will develop mobile and remote ground stations providing real-time data, intelligence and target identification to commanders.
The contract was signed at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] after years of debate and significant scaling back because of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] plaguing almost all the alliance’s members. Some politicians had hoped to push the number of aircraft to as few as three, but commanders warned this would be too few to provide constant surveillance.
The system will be fully operational in 2017.
Oui.The radar system is the most modern available, being able to track small, moving objects across large swaths of territory and present them with greater clarity than past systems. Europe lags significantly behind the US in developing this so-called active electronically scanned array radar.
Cela est une situation qui ne va pas perdurer. C'est l'Allemagne qui a traîné la savate, comme d'habitude dans ces affaires.One recent sign of how much governments covet the technology was [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in large part because of its radar, according to military analysts. For political reasons India was unwilling to go with a US contractor, but chose France’s Rafale over the pan-European Typhoon because Dassault, maker of the Rafale, was more advanced in integrating the radar into its jet than Eurofighter was.
Oui.The Nato contract for the radar and the Global Hawks is a significant order for Northrop Grumman, ....
Y aura-t-il des exceptions ?Thirteen nations, including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the US, are expected to participate in the system’s acquisition, with the US footing the majority of the bill. All 28 Nato members are to participate in the long-term support of the programme.
Oui.The US Air Force has already ordered several Global Hawks, allowing Nato in this contract to piggy back off the research and development costs paid by the US department of defence to develop the aircraft.
Motorisation ? RR Allison : AE 3007H turbofan engine (Rolls Royce North America).
Appelée, dans sa version militaire : Rolls Royce-North American F137-RR-100 turbofan engine
Poussée : 7,600 lbs.
SEVRIEN- Membre
- Messages : 20088
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