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Results for "walrus"
Walrus Heavy-Lift Blimp Rises, Falls… Rises?
04-Nov-2009 14:53 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Blimps & LTA Craft, Contracts - Awards, DARPA, Design Innovations, Expeditionary Warfare, FOCUS Articles, Industry & Trends, Lockheed Martin, Logistics, Logistics Innovations, Materials Innovations, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Power Projection, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation, Transport & Utility
In April 2005, “USN, DARPA See Blimps & HULAs Rising”, looked at a range of projects on the drawing board, including the Walrus heavy-transport blimp (that’s “heavy” as in “1-2 million pounds”) which offered the potential for a faster and more versatile sealift substitute.
In this article DID explains the Walrus concept, details the contractors and contracts involved in this initial award (including a few updates), and lays out the program’s structure… or at least, what used to be its structure. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded phase 1 contracts, but things seemed to end in 2006. Yet the imperatives driving the need for Walrus, or even for a much smaller version of it, remain. Is the Walrus dead? What about Paul? And could it, or a HULA like like it, rise again?
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Boeing’s Skyhook Shot: Redefining the Aerial Heavy-Lift Market?
18-Aug-2009 11:21 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - Other, Americas - USA, Blimps & LTA Craft, Boeing, Contracts - Awards, Design Innovations, Helicopters & Rotary, Logistics, New Systems Tech, Partnerships & Consortia, R&D - Private, Small Business, Transformation, Transport & Utility, Warfare - Lessons
Skyhook concept
(click to view full)
In April 2006, “WALRUS Hunted to Extinction By Congress, DARPA?” dealt with the cancellation of DARPA’s WALRUS ultra-heavy lift program. WALRUS aimed to develop an airship that could lift between 250-500 tons, offering capacity that rivaled ship-borne options, but offered the benefits of transport all the way to the front without requiring ports and related infrastructure.
The program would have developed a 30-40 ton capacity demonstration model in its early stages, which would have had a useful role of its own. “Walrus Heavy-Lift Blimp Rises, Falls” also noted the requests of combat commanders for airlift options that could be used with smaller airfields, that cannot accommodate the 20-ton capacity C-130 Hercules aircraft. Not to mention related items like pressure to lower fuel use at the Pentagon, and 2005 warnings from the Army Corps of Engineers about energy costs/supplies and future military operations.
Now a private consortium sees similar needs and trends in key civilian sectors. A Canadian/American partnership that includes Boeing has set itself the public goal of building the commercial equivalent of DARPA’s desired demonstrator…
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Joint Cargo Aircraft: We Have a Winner (?)
23-Apr-2009 15:48 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Boeing, Budgets, Contracts - Awards, EADS, Europe - Other, Finmeccanica, Force Structure, Issues - Political, L3 Communications, Lobbying, Logistics, New Systems Tech, Official Reports, Policy - Procurement, Raytheon, Rumours, Transport & Utility, Warfare - Lessons
C-27J Spartan
(click to view full)
DID’s coverage of the WALRUS super-heavy cargo airship’s cancellation noted complaints from combat commanders that front-line airfields were often too short for the C-130 Hercules that make up the USAF’s tactical transport fleet. Delays in buying a small cargo aircraft to fill that role were making that problem worse. Starved of useful help due to USAF-sponsored delays, and the lack of appropriate aircraft in the USAF, the Army carried on with its aging C-23 Sherpas, and repurposed aircraft like the unprotected C-12 Hurons, in order to ferry troops, supplies, and/or very small vehicles within its theaters of operations. “The JCA Program: Key West Sabotage?” looked at the different levels of urgency and priority in the US Army and US Air Force, the resulting Congressional SNAFUs, and early-stage developments leading up to the contract award.
JCA could be worth up to $6 billion before all is said and done, and the finalists were a familiar duo. After EADS-CASA’s CN-235 and a shortened version of Lockheed Martin’s C-130J were disqualified for failing to meet requirements, JCA became yet another international competition between EADS-CASA’s C-295M & Alenia’s C-27J. The C-27J team eventually won the delayed decision in June 2007, and prevailed in the subsequent contract protests from their rivals. What’s still unclear is exactly how much they’ve won. If you thought the joint-service decision and contract announcement would end the inter-service and Congressional politicking, think again. The contractor side of the equation has been equally fractious, with Boeing pulling out of the partnership, and on ongoing drama centered around an American final assembly plant.
The latest news involves Year III orders from the program, ongoing developments around the long-rumored Jacksonville, FL final assembly plant… and reports of a secret move to slash the program and transfer what’s left to the Air Force. Which turn out to be true.
Blackwater Subsidiary’s Transport Contracts for the Central Asian Front
22-Dec-2008 14:35 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Asia - Central, Contracts - Awards, Delivery & Task Orders, Logistics, Security Contractor, Spotlight articles, Transport & Utility
C-212, hot & high
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Blackwater USA’s “brother subsidiary” Presidential Airways, Inc. of Moyock, NC uses the EADS-CASA 212 transport aircraft for its work, which is short-haul supply flights in and out of remote locations – including combat zones. Both firms are owned by Prince Group in North Carolina.
Hopefully, Presidential will be able to address some of the issues US combat commanders have raised re: the need for transport aircraft that can use smaller runways, and land closer to zones of operations.
The firm has received several contracts from the US government for these services, covering a number of Central Asian countries. The latest additions include substantial contracts that add helicopters and Dash 8 aircraft to the long-term mix in Afghanistan…
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Military Transformation Uplink: September 2007
06-Sep-2007 23:33 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Asia - India, Asia - Japan, Asia - Other, Australia & S. Pacific, Blimps & LTA Craft, Bombs - Smart, Britain/U.K., C4ISR, Coastal & Littoral, Corporate Innovations, Engines - Aircraft, Europe - France, Europe - Other, Fighters & Attack, Heavy Bombers, Helicopters & Rotary, IT - General, Interoperability, Issues - International, Issues - Political, Laser & EM Weapons, Logistics Innovations, Middle East - Israel, Missiles - Air-Air, Missiles - Ballistic, Missiles - Surface-Air, Official Reports, Power Projection, Procurement Innovations, R&D - Contracted, R&D - Private, Remote Weapons Systems, Russia, Satellites & Sensors, Shells & Mortar Rounds, Simulation & Training, Specialty Aircraft, Support & Maintenance, Surface Ships - Combat, Surface Ships - Other, Tanks & Mechanized, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation, Transport & Utility, Trucks & Transport, UAVs, Warfare - Lessons, Warfare - Trends
Militaries around the world are moving to modernize and transform themselves to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Our mission is to deliver a regular cross-section of relevant, on-target stories, news, and analysis that will help experts and interested laypeople alike stay up to speed on key military developments and issues. Stories are broken down by military category and presented as fast bullet points that orient you quickly, with accompanying links if you wish to pursue more in-depth treatments.
Some of This Month’s Targets of Opportunity Include: Aging aircraft; F-22; F-35; India’s big fighter contest; 2018 bomber; Next-gen gunships; Japan’s stealth aircraft; JCA – just confusing; Poseidon down under; Boeing’s invisibility man; Odd new satellite; unmanned fighters & swarms; Cell phones & Patriots; Huge IT contracts; DARPA’s Deep Green; Lots of MRAP; FCS spinouts; Fire Ball; Better body armor; Australia’s new fleet; Korea: us too!; Britain’s new carriers; US Navy’s new bills; Russia’s stealthy Stereguschiy; Remote firefighting; Coast Guard cutters; ADVENT of breakthrough jet engines; $1M wearable power prize; Sub-finding ‘shark’; UK’s Grand Challenge & flying saucers; Boeing’s new plane design; DARPA’s robot dog; New Russian nukes; Britain’s new maintenance concept works; Israel prepares; Counter-insurgency air needs; Export controls and their blowback; CSAR-X: rescue me!; And much, much more…
This briefing comes from a team that includes professional publications Defense Industry Daily and The Aviation Week Group, and covers events over the summer season. To contact us with story tips, email transformation, over @windsofchange dot net.
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Return of the Navy Blimps?
02-Mar-2007 07:30 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Blimps & LTA Craft, New Systems Tech, R&D - Contracted, Sensors & Guidance
TCOM 32M aerostat
(click to view full)
In the aftermath of World War 2, blimps and airships found themselves gradually phased out of the US military. That didn’t really begin to change until the 21st century (see April 2005, “USN, DARPA See Blimps & HULAs Rising”). The heavy-lift WALRUS project may have been canceled without explanation; but aerostat programs like JLENS cruise missile defense and its smaller RAID local surveillance derivative, and airships like the HAA/ISIS program, remain. The US Navy is also experimenting with aerostats for communications relay, surveillance, and radar overwatch functions – and this has become a formal program.
What’s driving this interest? Four things. One is persistence, in an era where constant surveillance + rapid precision strike creates a formidable military asset. A second is cost, especially in an era of rising fuel prices. A recent US NAVSEA release offers figures that starkly illustrate the gap in surveillance cost per hour between an aerostat and planes or UAVs:
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DARPA Funding Dropping Due to New Program Structure
01-Feb-2007 06:18 EST |
Related Stories: Budgets, DARPA, Project Methodologies
Defense Tech relays a story from Inside Defense reports that the Pentagon’s comptrollers have slashed Darpa’s budget by about 10% ($300 million) for the next fiscal year, with another $200 million cut to follow in FY 2009. The reason: indirectly, it’s the new, much tighter project management oversight structure. While funding for the agency has risen since 9/11, the number of program managers hasn’t increased as fast. Combined with the new process, that “has slowed execution of DARPA’s funding…. resulting in a significant decline in obligations and expenditures.” When a bureaucracy isn’t spending money, it tends to lose that budget. Meanwhile, DARPA programs like the WALRUS airship that have the potential to solve key near and long-term force structure problems go unfunded with no explanation.
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Popular Science on Area 51’s Aircraft
14-Sep-2006 11:57 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Design Innovations, Heavy Bombers, Materials Innovations, New Systems Tech, Rumours, Security & Secrecy, Specialty Aircraft, UAVs
“Aurora” concept
(click to view full)
“Area 51” in Nevada, USA has been the stuff of myth and legend. Known world-wide as the birthplace and testing ground of famous planes like the U-2 Dragon Lady, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, and other “black program” aircraft, it has also been the subject of wilder UFO rumours and speculation.
In the October 2006 issue of Popular Science, noted “black project” researcher Bill Sweetman pieces together “The Top-Secret Warplanes of Area 51.” It covers some of the projects he believes to be underway there, based on patent filings, budget holes, and unfilled niches in the USA’s arsenal. DID would caution readers that all of this is speculation; holes in the US arsenal could be real due to neglect or priorities, patent filings et. al. may well pertain to active programs and research related to the WALRUS, J-UCAS, HAA/ISIS and other less well-known but nonetheless public programs, etc. With that said, his article makes for interesting and entertaining reading. Sweetman’s most surprising conclusion? That the Mach 5-6 Aurora wave-rider aircraft (see extensive GlobalSecurity.org project & budget analysis) may be on again as a $9 billion program, possibly with global strike as well as reconnaissance capabilities.
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The JCA Program: Key West Sabotage?
15-May-2006 11:45 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Budgets, EADS, Field Reports, Finmeccanica, Issues - Political, L3 Communications, Lobbying, Lockheed Martin, Logistics, Partnerships & Consortia, Policy - Procurement, Raytheon, Transport & Utility, Warfare - Lessons
C-23 Sherpa in-theater
(click to view full)
(updated December 6, 2006)
Defense Tech casts a gimlet eye on the US Air Force’s recent maneuverings re: the “Joint Cargo Aircraft” (JCA). The idea is to buy smaller and cheaper planes than the C-130 Hercules, which could provide tactical transport in-theater into smaller airfields, with smaller loads, more quickly, and at less cost than C-130s or maintenance-intensive CH-47 helicopters. The $1.3 billion program for 33 initial aircraft is an Army priority, as its C-23B Sherpa and C-12 Huron aircraft are wearing out quickly and the current war has highlighted this area as a problem for soldiers on the ground. DID would add testimony that we recently covered, explaining combat commanders’ complaints re: air transport that couldn’t make full use of the shorter runways found throughout CENTCOM’s areas of operation. Despite this, the JCA program was recently on the receiving end of almost total FY 2007 cuts from a Senate committee.
Defense Tech traces the reasons behind these proposed cuts to the JCA program, and the US Air Force doesn’t exactly cover itself with glory. This DID article will also cover ongoing developments within the JCA program, which could run as high as $6 billion for 145 planes.
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Military Transformation Uplink: April 2006
28-Apr-2006 07:11 EDT |
Related Stories: Transformation
Militaries around the world are moving to modernize and transform themselves to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Our mission is to deliver a monthly cross-section of relevant, on-target stories, news, and analysis that will help both experts and interested laypeople stay up to speed on key military developments and issues. Stories are broken down by military category and presented as fast bullet points that orient you quickly, with accompanying links if you wish to pursue more in-depth treatments.
Some of This Month’s Targets of Opportunity Include: UAV plans; killer drone swarms; WALRUS mega-blimp extict?; Russian airlift for NATO; Hydras and Hellfire; space challenges; Secret weapon: two-way radios; Nano-sensors; Fighter jets as battlefield surveillance – brilliant or dumb?; money-saving supercarriers; Littoral Combat Ships; Missile defense updates; Energy conservation now a Pentagon issue… and much more.
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