Department of Defense & Industry Daily News
Advertisement
Defense program acquisition news, budget data, market briefings
  • Contact
    Editorial
    Advertising
    Feedback & Support
    Subscriptions & Reports
  • Subscribe
    Paid Subscription
    in-depth program analysis & data sets
    Free Email Newsletter
    quick daily updates
    Google+ Twitter RSS
  • Log in
    Forgot your password?
    Not yet a subscriber? Find out what you have been missing.
Archives by date > 2007 > August > 14th

Aerial Refueling: Look, Ma, No Hands!

Aug 14, 2007 20:06 UTC

AIR AARD F-18 Refueling No Hands

AARD refueling

DARPA does some quietly interesting things. The latest is an autopilot that lets an aircraft perform air-air refueling – one of the most challenging routine flight tasks outside of carrier landings – without pilot intervention. While impressive on its own, such systems have special relevance because they offer the promise of unmanned fighters that can remain aloft far longer than aircraft which require human pilots. The result would be far longer strike reach and persistence, two areas that will be critical to the US Navy’s ability to keep its carrier force relevant and effective through the next 3 decades. It’s no coincidence that the J-UCAS program, which is now the Navy’s UCAS-D, was a DARPA initiative as well.

The Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration program (AARD) aimed to demonstrate that unmanned aircraft can autonomously perform in-flight refueling under operational conditions. AARD uses precise inertial, GPS, and video measurements, combined with advanced guidance and control methods, to plug a refueling probe into the center of a 32-inch basket trailed behind a tanker. The test aircraft were a NASA F/A-18D Hornet with pilots on board for routine flight and safety backup, and a piloted 707-300 tanker (similar to the KC-135) from Omega Air Refueling Services. Each attempt was made from Edwards AFB in California across a range of turbulence conditions, the most challenging of which were characterized by up to 5 feet of peak-to-peak drogue motion. This approaches the limits of routine manned refueling operations – and that wasn’t all the AARD system was able to do…

Continue Reading… »

NAS Pensacola Base Support: Up to 10 Yrs., $206.9M

Aug 14, 2007 12:36 UTC

Advertisement

Del-Jen, Inc. in Rolling Hills Estates, CA received a $23.1 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for base operating support services at Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL and surrounding areas (Saufley Field, Corry Station, Bronson Field and Choctaw Field). This contract contains options, which if exercised, would bring the total contract value to a not to exceed value of $206.9 million.

Work will be performed in Pensacola, FL, and is expected to be completed September 2008 (September 2017 with options). Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) e-solicitation website, with 7 offers received by NAVFAC Southeast in Jacksonville, FL (N62467-06-D-0077).

Advertisement
White Papers & Events
Advertisement
August 2007
SMTWTFS
« Jul Sep »
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 
Advertisement

© 2004-2023 Defense Industry Daily, LLC | About Us | Images on this site | Privacy Policy

Contact us: Editorial | Advertising | Feedback & Support | Subscriptions & Reports

Follow us: Twitter | Google+

Stay Up-to-Date on Defense Programs Developments with Free Newsletter

DID's daily email newsletter keeps you abreast of contract developments, pictures, and data, put in the context of their underlying political, business, and technical drivers.