A Virtual Tour of the USS Gerald R. Ford: Episode 3

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06/13/2020

In this episode of The House of Wolverine Lt. Donny James, Ford’s advanced weapons elevator officer, talks about the ship’s advanced weapons elevators and differences between Ford-class and Nimitz-class weapons handling.

ATLANTIC OCEAN

06.06.2020

Video by Chief Petty Officer RJ Stratchko

USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

In an article by Megan Eckstein published on June 1, 2020 by USNI News, the progress of USS Gerald R. Ford was highlighted:

If the Navy has spent the last three years taking USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) from a construction project to a platform that can launch and recover jets, the service is now taking steps to turn the ship into one that can fight in maritime combat.

Carrier Air Wing 8 embarked Ford and began cyclic operations on May 30, and some of the Carrier Strike Group 12 staff will embark this week for the first time as well, to start assembling “the basic building blocks of putting the entire strike group package together,” CSG 12 Commander Rear Adm. Craig Clapperton told reporters today.

Clapperton said he will embark some of his staff to the carrier on Wednesday for the first time ever, with the goal of permanently moving aboard the carrier by the end of the year. CVW 8 is still technically assigned to another carrier strike group for now, he noted, but by the fall it will officially become Ford’s associated air wing….

Rather than wait to learn those lessons until Ford is ready to begin pre-deployment training in a couple years, “the idea right now is to get out onboard the ship as a strike group, begin bringing in various pieces of our assets – really every single one of these underways that are going on between now and next March, we’re going to bring an increasing number of strike group players out there and then increase the complexity of our operations and our integration each time, with the specific goal of trying to figure out how is it we want to fight a Ford strike group. How is it similar and how is it dissimilar to a Nimitz strike group, and make sure we’re smart on that.”

Manufacturing a CH-53K: The Central Role of Digital Thread Production

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Manufacturing a CH-53K: The Central Role of Digital Thread Production
06/11/2020

By Robbin Laird

Sikorsky is working with NAVAIR and the USMC to deliver a new build heavy lift helicopter, the CH-53K.

This is a digital aircraft, while its predecessor the CH-53E, is a mechanical aircraft.

What this means is that the aircraft is digitally designed and manufactured by means of a digital thread production and assembly process.

This digital thread process provides a path to tap into operational data for the sustainment process.

In turn, this enables operational and sustainment data to flow back into the upgrade, redesign, and manufacturing process.

Digital design, build, sustainability forms a feedback process which unlocks more effective, including cost effective ways to manage the aircraft’s life cycle

In this article, I will highlight the nature of the design and build process for the CH-53K while the next article will focus on the sustainment and modernization processes which digital build empowers and enables.

After the first two articles, I will focus on the impact on USMC operations of having a digital heavy lift aircraft, empowering evolving expeditionary capabilities of the USMC itself.

On May 20, 2020, I had a chance to hold a teleconference with two Sikorsky manufacturing leaders involved in the design and build process.

My interlocutors for the digital design and build discussion were William Falk and Andrea Ulery.

I have included both of their biographies at the end of this article: William Falk is the Director and Program Manager for CH-53K within Sikorsky and Andrea Ulery is the CH-53K Program Director for Production.

I visited the Connecticut factory two years ago, and had a chance to talk with engineers, managers, and others as I became familiar with the establishment of the CH-53K manufacturing process.

One thing that was obvious from visiting the plant was how much larger the CH-53K is than other helicopters being built at the plant, and the need to accommodate its size on the assembly line and to find ways to enhance productivity working within and outside of the heavy lift aircraft going through an assembly line build process.

Even though the CH-53K has a similar and slightly smaller footprint to the CH-53E, which was done precisely to ensure that the new build helicopter could fit into the Navy’s existing amphibious fleet, the CH-53E aircraft was built many years ago. That the production line has been retired in the Sikorsky facility.

A new production line has been set up for the CH-53K built around the digital thread production approach and process.

With regard to the physicality of the CH-53K within the Connecticut plant, Ulery noted: “The CH-53K is a much larger aircraft than the Blackhawk and takes up a larger footprint on the floor.”

Bill Falk added: “It’s also a very different looking production line.

“The line is much cleaner and more open with regard to the work stands and workstations from position to position on the manufacturing line.

“It is clear right away that we are manufacturing the CH-53K in a very different way as compared to 1970s-designed Hawks.”

I did raise the question of the challenges of shaping understanding of how different the CH-53K is from the CH-53E given they look similar in many ways externally.

Bill Falk referred to it as both a blessing and a challenge that the CH-53K looks a lot like the CH-53E.

The casual observer would not see a dramatic difference between the two aircraft which is important as it allows for minimal disruption in the fielding of the brand-new aircraft into the existing naval infrastructure.

Falk noted: “However, because the CH-53K looks so similar to the 53E, it’s not easily recognizable or understood how different it is in terms of its overall capabilities.

“This is not just about increased  lift and range, but also how well it goes together on the production line because we used an all-digital design from the beginning.

” The aircraft on the production line now are coming together much easier than previous generation aircraft at Sikorsky.”

“Nobody would know by looking at the CH-53K that it has an all-digital fly-by-wire flight control system that delivers impressive handling qualities and preciseness in flying, landing and picking up and transporting loads.”

We then discussed how the digital design process, which preceded the build process, has shaped a more effective way ahead for production and assembly.

A major challenge, of course, is to ensure that the different subsystems on the aircraft are integratable within the overall digital architecture of the aircraft and are built in such a way that the aircraft can operate onboard a ship without interfering with the onboard ship sensors and system as well.

This is what is meant by the marination of an aircraft operating and living onboard a ship.

According to Falk, a key part of the design effort was shaped by the system integration laboratory which was established at the outset of the program.

“In the system integration lab, we worked integration of the fly-by-wire flight control computers, servos and hydraulics allowing us to actually energize and drive the servos just like when it’s all fully integrated and built on the aircraft.”

With regard to the ship side of the integration process, Falk noted that “the CH-53K will be going onboard an amphibious ship in the near term to test the ‘system of systems’ effect on the ship and the effect of the ship on the aircraft.”

We then discussed the impact of such an integrated digital design and production process on the effectiveness of the manufacturing process.

According to Andrea Ulery: “This is my fourth production program which I’ve worked on in my time with Sikorsky.

“And it’s my third where I started at the very beginning or very early in the production program.

“The CH-53K is the most effective early production process which I have been involved with.”

It is clear that with regard to a digital thread production line, “the manufacturing engineering team is embedded with the team that builds the aircraft,” according to Ulery.

We then discussed some of the digital work constructions and the digital tools that Sikorsky is using to build the aircraft.

Ulery highlighted a number of innovations associated with the production process.

Remembering the size of the aircraft poses specific challenges, the design of the manufacturing process has been shaped to better manage the challenges of producing a large combat helicopter.

The first is managing the workflow by using lifting devices that allow workers to work in an ergonomically safe position.

She mentioned the use of lifting devices to handle the airframe and its integration with landing gears as one example of this process.

The second is “our creative engineering team have come up with ways to allow us to lift and integrate harnesses, which are incredibly heavy, into the aircraft in a safer manner, which also makes it go faster in terms of the production process as well.”

The third is the use of 3D printing technology on the line.

The harnesses are very heavy as they span the length of the helicopter itself. “We’ve been able to manufacture 3D printed devices that allow us to hold and more accurately integrate where the harnesses drop off and work their way through the airframe.”

Ulery highlighted as well that with the digital systems workers can take their work  instructions or digital design data into the aircraft and work directly from their computers rather than using remote terminals.

“As they go to work onto aircraft every day, they are able to access their laptop for everything that they need, including, work instructions, 3D modeling, and additional referential material. It’s all at their fingertips. And to a person, they love having that capability easily accessible to them.”

The result according to Ulery: ‘I don’t see the volume of questions that I used to see early in a build which strengthens the case that it we’ve done a good job on the foundation.”

From my perspective, a foundation has been laid from design to production to sustainment and back to modernization and then back to design and production which provides a very new capability to build out capabilities in the future for the CH-53K.

And with an all digital aircraft, one which is digitally interoperable with the entire USMC force, new options and capabilities are opened for the USMC as a centerpiece force for expeditionary warfare.

William Falk, Director and Program Manager, CH-53K

William (Bill) Falk manages all aspects of the CH-53K program, including cost, schedule and technical execution.  His responsibilities span across development, production, and sustainment and serves as the primary interface for both internal and external customers.  In addition, Falk has a focus on flight testing, transition to production, production execution to full rate, stand-up supportability and sustainment capabilities, and will team with the appropriate stakeholders to support business capture both domestic and internationally.

Bill has over 18 years of Sikorsky experience. Bill joined Sikorsky in 2002 as an Engineer and has held roles of increasing responsibility in engineering, program management, and operations.  He most recently served as Program Director, Canadian Maritime Helicopter Program (CMHP) where he successfully managed program execution, including all qualification and production efforts to achieve business objectives and enhance profit potential.  Previously he was General Manager, Avionics Product Center, where he was responsible for the Avionics value stream operations, including management of a global supply chain base with over 200 suppliers that span 3 continents and 14 countries.  Bill also spent 13 years in positions of increasing responsibility in engineering at Honeywell and General Dynamics prior to joining Sikorsky.

Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University.

Andrea R. Ulery, CH-53K Program Director, Production

Andrea Ulery was named CH-53K Program Director, Production in March 2019. Ms. Ulery’s leadership responsibilities span the capture, production and retrofit of CH-53K aircraft for the United States Marine Corps. Prior to joining the CH-53K team, Ms. Ulery was responsible for development and production on the VH-92A Presidential Helicopter Replacement program.

She has held roles of increasing responsibility in program and operations management within Sikorsky Aircraft, including flight test and production of MH-60R and UH-60M aircraft, Federal Aviation Administration type certification of the VH-92A, and manufacture of avionic and rotor blade assemblies.

Ms. Ulery holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Studies from Southern Connecticut State University, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut.

For a Lockheed Martin video, highlighting the digital thread process, see the following:

Digital Thread Design, Production and Sustainment: Shaping a 21st Century Build and Modernization Process

For our archive of CH-53K articles, see the following:

https://defense.info/system-type/rotor-and-tiltrotor-systems/ch-53k/

 

CH-53K, K3, 1st CH-53K Aerial Refueling, NAS Patuxent River, MD 6 Apr 2020
CH-53K, K6 Blade fold testing, NAS Patuxent River MD, 24 Mar 2020
U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K, King Stallion (K4), of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two One (HX-21), conducts ALE-47 ripple and jettison testing over the Chesapeake Bay on 24 May 2019. HX-21 is part of Naval Test Wing Atlantic at NAS Patuxent River, MD. The ALE-47 Airborne Countermeasures Dispenser System is used to protect military aircraft from incoming radar and infrared homing missiles. Pilots of the CH-53K are Mr. Sean Maloney and Mr. Craig Merriman. (U.S. Navy Photo by Liz Wolter)
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Molly Hampton)

C2, the Knowledge Base and the Kill Web

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on C2, the Knowledge Base and the Kill Web

By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake

We had the opportunity to work with and for Secretary Wynne when he was in the Defense Department. He was involved in many innovations which revolved around shaping an information force before the term became fashionable, which involved pushing information to the edge of the tactical force, shaping distributed decision making and ISR enablement for what can be called the integrated distributed force.

Part of this effort revolved around the coming of the fifth-generation aircraft, first F-22 and then F-35; and the realization that these platforms had battlefield management capabilities beyond their well-known platform capabilities. 

Feedback enhanced this view, as when an F-22 expended all of its weapons during an exercise, and the force commander directed it to remain on station distributing targets to other platforms from prior generations.

Secretary Wynne was a key mover in the shaping of a coalition F-35 which, because of its multination and multidomain usage could provide for historically unparalleled shared ISR and theater level decision-making capabilities.

We lived through the critical comments about the Secretary and the COS of the USAF, General Mosely, for being too committed to future war with what President Obama came to refer to as a “Cold War” airplane.

And it is clear that for far too many defense analysts, the fifth-generation revolution, with its inherent platform capability to have deeper penetration for a prolonged period is still not viewed as a driver for transformation with regard to shaping the kill web force.

What the war game commander (referred to above with regard to the initial F-22 experience) had learned was that the aircraft could provide target acquisition for the force, and had the ability to share across multi generation platforms and potentially multi domain systems.

But this did not become ground truth for the Air Force and the joint force.

And the full impact of the coming of fifth generation aircraft, still remains too compartmentalized.

For example, at the International Fighter Conference 2019, held in Berlin last November, the entire discussion of the way ahead for the combat air force as a multi-domain force and the challenges and opportunities for shaping a way ahead really was conducted with a discussion of what the impact of fifth generation aircraft HAVE already delivered.

Notably, the presentation on F-35 given at the conference seemed more like a separate discussion related to its platform capabilities rather than being part of the challenges and dynamics of overall force transformation.

Fifth generation aircraft are not a cult; they are a force for the renorming of airpower and a driver for the creation of a kill web force.

The other driver for the Kill Web future which Wynne was associated with has been the Rover system.

Rover, which was first conceived as a means on a better, more direct transmission of information from unmanned Aircraft, ultimately became a communication device for all sorts of airborne platforms for use in battlefield elements and in first responder situations such as fire and flood.

We would note as well that the baseline Rover briefing included in our 2012 article on Rover has been downloaded thousands of times from our sister website where we provide for briefings. And it continues to be downloaded on a regular basis. 

In the world of information based warfare, this ability to transmit images and actually produce calls for fires led to the democratization of the battlefield,  which the introduction of the AC-130 Gunships and helicopter support and integration operations first generated.

Rover has led to a dramatic shift in how C2 and ISR were becoming distributed.

In many ways, the coming of Rover is a key part of the legacy of the land wars which is being taken forward into a more sophisticated and complex kill web force development and concepts of operations efforts for the joint and coalition force.

In a recent discussion we had with Secretary Wynne, we went back over his time at the birth of the kill web and the integrated distributed force. 

A key point which he highlighted was that a major challenge to hierarchical culture had to be addressed within the land wars as the introduction of JTACs into the Army.

This created  dramatic change from the top down distribution of battlefield fire assets, as it led to small unit commanders controlling seemingly theater level assets.

According to Wynne, “the US Army had a difficult time adapting to how and where they would fit into their division, battalion, company or platoon units.

“Over time they were guided by the utility that the Special Forces got from what JTACs could bring to a distributed force. But, at the outset, the Army saw their main contribution as being part of reconnaissance patrols, surfacing information to senior commanders.”

Over several years of innovation, the JTACS introduced a new way of war, information driven, with demand for fires and responses from air and ground support provided farmore rapidly at the tactical level.

Wynne noted that he took a film on this new way of war to West Point to show “the next generation of officers that information warfare is where it was at, and that a new approach, namely, being able to operate with Tactical units on the Z axis was a key way ahead.”

That presentation was in 2006.

He also sent small UAV’s and experienced JTACs to both the Air Force Academy and West Point to summer camps to gain traction with the cadre of seniors enlisted assisting in the training.

The introduction of the JTAC and an ISR officer as part of the maneuver force was a foundation for change.

Now maneuver forces can operate with new technologies to aggregate in larger combat effects, through the revolutions in computational power, C2 wave forms, and cyber capabilities to distribute into the battlespace.

The Army now leads the way in integrating both large and small UAV’s.

And with the impact of the F-35 on the joint and coalition force, a new axis of development, the Z axis is a key driver of change for the emergence of a kill web force.

Secretary Wynne argued that fifth generation aircraft would push forward a significant change whereby every shooter could become a sensor and some sensors as shooters in every domain.

It was about shaping a knowledge set in the battlespace that could inform targeting decisions, but as well to provide for a very different dynamic for battle damage assessment.

With the F-35s operating as a package, the force can deliver a strike or provide the information for a strike, can provide real time battle damage assessment, and continue target prosecution as required.

The emphasis here being to further minimize bombs on target that has been a hallmark of precision weaponry.

This Battle Damage cycle can be a major change for operating a sequential airpower operation with a C2 hierarchy informing the sequential aircraft coming into or operating in the area.

Whereas with the legacy approach, continued strikes would occur even without a need to do so, with a fifth generation enabled force, more effective use of assets can be generated.

There is a key tension built into the evolution of C2 for the kill web which was already evident in the work being conducted when Wynne was in the Department of Defense. The tension continues to ripen between strategic acquisition of information and tactical use of information.  This extends a key tension between tactical decision making at the edge, and the need for strategic direction of the combat forces.

With the new technologies, tactical decision making at the edge is empowered by computing and wave form technologies.

At the same time, determining the impact of the distributed force on desired combat outcomes is crucial for crisis management.

How to best manage the inevitable tension between tactical decision making at the edge, and the right kind of strategic decision making to manage the force to get the desired combat effects?

Wynne described this as a tension between the process owners and the implementers of the process, whereby the later are gaining enhanced knowledge resources to shape the process, while the process owners have so much information available that they now need to step back and look at the strategic picture rather than delving into detailed management of the combat process at the tactical edge.

This is a very difficult situation for command authorities to ensure that they are acting on the most salient and trusted information.

In short, as we examine the way ahead for the kill web force, working how best to manage the distributed shooters and sensors is a core challenge.

That challenge can be understood in part as the ability to provide the most effective decision making at the edge but also guided by effective strategic process assessment.

That shift started with changes made in the land wars with JTACs, and Rover introductions, and is accelerating with the growing impact of the information made available for the entire Joint and Coalition Force by the fifth-generation aircraft.

But leveraging this past, and working the with a fifth generated enabled force, we are seeing a broad transformation of the joint and coaliton force into an integrated distributed force able to operate as multiple interactive kill webs.

The featured photo:Chief Master Sgt. Keith Hunt prepares a 9-line to transmit over the radio during a Remotely Operated Video Enhancement Receiver (ROVER) Internet Protocol Network, or RIPN project field test at the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia, Sept. 24, 2013. With the assistance of the 9th EBS and Hunt, the RIPN team from the Pentagon fielded the first test of the RIPN system forming a network through the B-1B Lancer’s sniper pod to several ROVERs on the ground. Hunt is the 504th Expeditionary Air Support Group chief enlisted manger and was the JTAC during the demonstration. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Bahja J. Jones)

Iran and Its Intentions: Let Us Model a US Aircraft Carrier for Target Practice

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Iran and Its Intentions: Let Us Model a US Aircraft Carrier for Target Practice
06/10/2020

In a June 10, 2020 article by Richard Spencer of the London Times, their Middle East Correspondent, highlighted how Iran was building out its way ahead for dealing with the Untied States.

Why not build a model of a Nimitz class American carrier for target practice?

“Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has built a fake American aircraft carrier and moored it at the entrance to the Gulf, according to satellite pictures.

“The presence and purpose of the carrier, which also has 16 fake fighter jets parked on its landing deck, have not been confirmed by officials.

“It may be used as part of military exercises to shore up domestic morale that has been hit hard by sanctions, poverty and the Middle East’s worst outbreak of coronavirus. Five years ago a previous mocked-up carrier was attacked and sunk for the cameras by missiles after being used as a test target.

“The Guard and regime hardliners are attempting to maintain anti-American fervour during one of the bleakest periods of the Islamic Republic’s recent history.”

The featured photo shows the fake carrier with 16 fake jets and is credit to AP. 

 

 

RAAF Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld’s Commanders Intent

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On June 4, 2020, RAAF Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld provided his concluding remarks at the virtual RAAF Airpower Conference on the Indo-Pacific Region.

Originally, the conference was to be held in March 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19.

But the RAAF’s Airpower Development Centre has moved ahead with a virtual conference, consisting of the core presentations which would have been given in person.

In his presentation, Air Marshal Hupfeld provided his Commander’s Intent with regard to his tenure as Chief of the RAAF.

“Culturally, we need to understand that the Royal Australian Air Force cannot, and does not generate air power for itself. Rather it provides air power options as a component of Australia’s military power, realised by the Joint Force in support of broader Australian Government objectives.

“More broadly, we must acknowledge that in some areas we shape strategy, while in others we act on strategic direction.

“To shape strategy, we must continue our evolution into an intelligent and skilled workforce that develops its people and places them in positions where they will achieve the greatest strategic effect.

“In essence, we must develop and post our people for effect – not simply to fill liabilities.

“To effectively act on strategic direction we will build a force of air power professionals capable of conceptualising strategic intention and empowered to apportion resources to the Joint Force consistent with my priorities.

“This means that the Royal Australian Air Force can no longer operate in independent silos of excellence – and as technical experts in our own specialised fields – without leveraging the capacity and benefit of every part of our organisation.

“Our fundamental purpose is to deliver air power as a component of the Joint Force, and to do so we must be integrated and connected both as an air force and with the Joint Force. We must understand the difference between air force and air power, as this nuance will ensure that we avoid prioritising tactical excellence over strategic effect, or platforms over systems.”

The featured photo shows Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Mel Hupfeld, AO, DSC strapped in and ready for his exchange flight in the Koku-Jieitai F-15J during Exercise Bushido Guardian at Chitose Air Base in Japan.

In the video below, the full presentation by Air Marshal Hupfeld can be viewed:

And his remarks can be read in full below:

9_Chief-of-Air-Force’s-Intent-and-Air-Power-Conference-Closing-Statements

Scan Eagle in Iraq

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U.S. civilian contractors launch a ScanEagle unmanned aerial system at Al Asad, Iraq, Mar. 4, 2020.

The UAS provides capabilities ranging from intelligence and reconnaissance to surveillance flight capabilities. (U.S. Army video by Spc. Derek Mustard)

03.04.2020

Video by Spc. Derek Mustard

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve

Arquus Highlights Its Armis Military Truck Portfolio: A Virtual Tour in the Absence of Eurosatory

Posted on | by Robbin Laird | Leave a Comment on Arquus Highlights Its Armis Military Truck Portfolio: A Virtual Tour in the Absence of Eurosatory
06/09/2020

By Pierre Tran

Paris – Arquus, a French military vehicle builder, unveiled June 8 a virtual tour of a stand planned for Eurosatory, a trade show for land weapons, cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis.

The company, a unit of the Swedish Volvo truck company, launched its line of Armis military trucks, key in Arquus’s effort to retain pole position in light and medium vehicles for the French army.

Arquus will pitch its Armis range of four, six and eight-wheel drive trucks in a competition expected to be launched around September or October, to replace an aging fleet of some 10,000 vehicles in the GBC and TRM product lines.

Some of those trucks will continue to be operated alongside the new vehicles.

The French army requirement is for 7,020 trucks by 2030, an industry source said.

Some €2 billion has been earmarked for the trucks, website La Tribune reported.

“Mobile and resistant, they are adapted for long deployment, complex missions and lower service requirement,” Arquus said in a June 8 statement on the sales launch of Armis.

The company has built the eight-wheel drive version of the Armis, and the four and six-wheel drive variants will be ready for presentation in September, a company spokesman said.

There will likely be strong foreign competition, with offers expected from Iveco, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Mercedes, and Scania.

Arquus is also promoting its Scarabée light armored vehicle. The company is due to pitch this vehicle in an expected competition to replace the French army’s VBL scout car. The company has spent several million euros of own funds in developing the Armis and Scarabée.

Meanwhile, Nexter, KMW and Rheinmetall signed a vital contract on a joint architecture study for the Main Ground Combat System, a Franco-German project aimed at replacing the Leclerc and Leopard 2 tanks with a network of manned and unmanned combat vehicles.

The three companies set up a working group in December 2019, and signed a contract with the German Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support for a system architecture definition study – part 1, the industrial partners said a May 25 statement.

The companies signed the agreement May 12.

The German federal office signed on behalf of France and Germany.

“This contract sounds the industrial starting gun for (an) MGCS demonstration phase,” the companies said.

The study will develop the concept of MGCS, building on work conducted at the national level, seeking to arrive at a common “multi-platform” architecture.

The first phase of the architecture study is due to run for 20 months, leading to a technology demonstrator by 2024, followed by a full system demonstrator between 2024-2027, an industry executive said.

The study will be shared equally between France and Germany on a 50:50 basis, and will be conducted “under German political leadership,” the companies said.

MGCS will effectively be designed as the land version of Future Air Combat System, with a mix of manned and unmanned vehicles, all hooked up to a common network.

The new vehicles will be expected to meet operational needs of French and German armies, and be compatible with the Scorpion modernization program of the former and Digitization of Land-Based Operations (D-LBO) of the latter, the companies said.

Nexter will be prime contractor for France, assigning subcontracts of the French work, while KMW and Rheinmetall will share out the German 50 percent share.

Arquus will watch with close interest the subcontracts, having invested in hybrid diesel and electric-powered military vehicles.

Coges, the show organizer of Eurosatory, has arranged an internet platform for business-to-business video conferences on Sept. 14-15, the Coges spokeswoman said. The online presentation is in response to a poll of members of Gicat, the trade association for land weapons.

The video conferences will be organized by Proximum, which specializes in exhibitions.

The Eurosatory exhibition had been scheduled to open on June 8, but the spread of Covid-19 forced its cancellation.

The next Eurosatory show will be in 2022.

Editor’s Note: According to an article published by Armada International on June 8, 2020, the new Armis range of trucks will provide several innovations of value to the ground forces,

“The trucks of the new ARMIS range are fitted with recent technologies, adapted to the operational needs and proven in the most demanding situations. These technologies, developed in Arquus’ R&D centers, provide the ARMIS 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 with optimal mobility on all grounds, limited fuel consumption and very high resistance, which guarantee optimal uptime and low cost of ownership…

“The ARMIS can be equipped with the automation solutions currently being developed by ARQUUS, such as platooning and automatic convoys. They may be fitted with the Group’s most innovative solutions in the fields of energy optimization and maintenance…. They simplify the necessary logistics and reduce the maintenance needs.”

The featured graphic is credited to this source as well.