Lifeboat Foundation

Join our newsletter to get the latest military space news every Tuesday by veteran defense journalist Sandra Erwin.

The estimated $1 billion IDIQ contract — a pre-negotiated agreement between the government and multiple vendors — is for a program known as R2C2, short for Rapid Resilient Command and Control, focused on developing a next-generation ground system built on a commercial cloud architecture.

DefenseScoop was exclusively briefed on Central Command’s new Desert Sentry commercial solutions opening, in partnership with the CDAO.

The Army has determined who will be the functional mangers for electronic warfare.

Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has been down-selected for Phase 1B of U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) X-Plane program. The SPRINT program intends to design, build, and fly an X-Plane, an experimental aircraft to demonstrate enabling technologies and integrated concepts necessary for a transformational combination of aircraft speed and runway independence for the next generation of air mobility platforms. In Phase 1A, Bell executed conceptual design review and will move into preliminary design efforts for the SPRINT X-plane. Bell completed risk reduction testing at Holloman Air Force Base in late 2023, showcasing folding rotor, integrated propulsion, and flight control technologies.

The SPRINT X-plane is intended to be a proof-of-concept technology demonstrator and its flight test program seeks to validate enabling technologies that can be scaled to different size military aircraft. Bell is building on its investment in High-Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing (HSVTOL) technology and past X-plane experience to inform the X-plane development for this program. Bell’s HSVTOL technology blends the hover capability of a helicopter with the speed (400+ kts), range, and survivability of jet aircraft. Bell has developed high-speed vertical lift technology for more than 85 years, pioneering innovative VTOL configurations like the X-14, X-22, XV-3 and XV-15 for NASA, the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, and continues to build on its proven history of fast flight from the Bell X-1.

Tesla will not launch a refreshed Model Y this year, chief executive Elon Musk said in a post on social media X on Saturday.

As the Kremlin threatens to unleash atomic weapons in its battle to take over democratic Ukraine, and develops nuclear-armed spacecraft to challenge the allied space powers, one rising aerospace outfit says its new space station will be a symbol of international peace and camaraderie when launched into the heavens.

The American co-founders of Starlab Space, who have formed an alliance with European, Canadian and Japanese space-tech leaders, predict their orbiting station could help keep the celestial peace despite the armed clashes and nuclear brinkmanship now upending the Earth.

The Starlab Space Station is first and foremost a hyper-modern habitat and science lab, designed to enable astronauts around the world to conduct experiments in microgravity or deploy imaging satellites, all while circling the planet at 28,000 kilometres per hour.

I found this on NewsBreak: Space Engine Systems Successful in UK MoD Hypersonic Technology Challenge #Engineering

EDMONTON, Alberta—(BUSINESS WIRE)—May 29, 2024—

Space Engine Systems (SES), through its UK operations based out of Spaceport Cornwall (SES Ltd), has applied its aerospace technology expertise to a £1 Billion GBP ($1.27 Billion USD) challenge issued by the UK MoD linked to Hypersonic Technologies and was very recently notified that it had secured a place in the Hypersonic Technology and Capability Development Framework (HTCDF). DE&S to award contracts on £1 billion framework to develop UK’s first hypersonic missile — Defence Equipment & Support (mod.uk). This framework will enable the rapid development of advanced hypersonic missile capabilities, and related technology, over the next 7 years.

Continue reading “Space Engine Systems Successful in UK MoD Hypersonic Technology Challenge” »

Lockheed Martin has opened a new engineering facility, laboratory, and demonstration center in Huntsville, Alabama, to advance US security capabilities.

The $18-million, 122,000-square-foot (11,334 square meters) site will house 500 employees who will take on upgrade, readiness, and sustainment works for the US Army’s Black Hawk helicopters, as well as the Missile Defense Agency’s Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system.

It will also be responsible for the modeling and simulation framework for the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

Maj. Gen. Dr. Paul Friedrichs, MD is the Inaugural Director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, at the White House (OPPR — https://www.whitehouse.gov/oppr/), a permanent executive office aimed at leading, coordinating, and implementing actions to prepare for and respond to pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or significant public health-related disruptions in the U.S., and principal advisor on pandemic preparedness and response, appointed by President Biden.

Dr. Friedrichs was previously the Joint Staff Surgeon at the Pentagon where he provided medical advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Staff and the Combatant Commanders, coordinating all issues related to health services, including operational medicine, force health protection and readiness among the combatant commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the services. He also led the development and publication of the initial Joint Medical Estimate and served as medical advisor to the Department of Defense COVID-19 Task Force.

Continue reading “Dr Paul Friedrichs MD — Director, Office Of Pandemic Preparedness & Response Policy, The White House” »