HII awarded advance procurement contract modification for Virginia-class Block V submarines

by Michael Fabey

Electric Boat awarded Newport News Shipbuilding a contract modification for Block V attack submarines. (Newport News Shipbuilding)

General Dynamics Electric Boat awarded HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit a USD305.2 million contract modification to procure long-lead-time material for two additional Block V Virginia-class submarines, HII confirmed on 24 May.

The contract modification brings the overall contract value to USD10.2 billion, HII said.

“These funds are critically important to stabilising and providing predictability to the thousands of suppliers across the country,” said Jason Ward, NNS vice-president of Virginia-class submarine construction. “The submarine industrial base is crucial.”

That base has become a bit unstable recently in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic-related effects, inflation, and supply issues. Officials at HII's NNS division said they are taking measures to stabilise their US nuclear submarine and aircraft construction programmes.

“It's a complex problem,” Ward said on 5 May at the company's Virginia shipyard in an interview before the 6 May christening of the Block IV Virginia-class attack submarine Massachusetts (SSN 798).

“The Virginia-class cadence has not executed [as planned],” Ward said. “We are working to stabilise and accelerate [construction].”


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TADTE 2023: GEOSAT to manufacture Japanese C-UAV systems in Taiwan

by Kapil Kajal

DDD (Drone Detective & Disabilitating System), pictured above from TADTE 2023, can detect UAVs within a range of 25 km. (Janes/Kapil Kajal)

Taiwan's GEOSAT Aerospace & Technology signed a transfer of technology (ToT) agreement with Fortunio Japan to manufacture the latter's counter-unmanned aerial vehicle (C-UAV) known as ‘DDD (Drone Detective & Disabilitating System)' in Taiwan at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2023 (TADTE 2023) held in Taipei from 14 to 16 September.

A GEOSAT spokesperson told Janes at the showthat the system will be offered to the Republic of China (RoC) Armed Forces to meet the service's C-UAV requirements.

According to the company specifications, the DDD can detect UAVs within a range of 25 km.

The DDD comprises three units: detection head unit, tripod, and software and personal computer. The circular detection head unit is mounted on the tripod with an overall height and weight of 1,430 mm and 35 kg respectively.

The height, weight, and diameter of the head unit are 150 mm, 7 kg, and 375 mm respectively. The system can be mounted on a ship or a military vehicle, the spokesperson added.


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DSEI 2023: Norway's FFI to test Viking UGVs in extreme conditions

by Ares Simone Monzio Compagnoni

IDV Robotics' Viking UGV at DSEI 2023 (Janes/Ares Simone Monzio Compagnoni)

The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) has purchased two IDV Robotics Viking Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), Janes has learned.

Speaking at DSEI 2023 in London, IDV Robotics' head of sales and marketing, Robert Mohacsi, said that the vehicles will undergo testing for operations in extreme weather conditions.

The Viking UGV is a 6×6 electric and diesel hybrid platform that features a large payload bay. It is primarily designed to operate as a robotic mule and transport up to 750 kg. At DSEI 2023, IDV Robotics also displayed a variant equipped with a 12.7 mm Machine Gun (MG) and a Thales FZ602 LGR Launcher. Janes understands that IDV Robotics is planning to perform firing tests within the next year.

According to the company, the Viking can operate in temperatures from -20 to 39 ˚C. On a flat road at the nominal temperature of 20 ˚C the range in electric and hybrid modes is 20 and 250 km respectively.


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Australia's Ryan Aerospace bags US Navy flight simulator contract

by Ridzwan Rahmat

Examples of the extended reality flight simulators that are being supplied by Ryan Aerospace to the US Navy. (Ryan Aerospace)

Ryan Aerospace (Australia) has secured a USD28 million contract to supply the US Navy (USN) with extended reality flight simulators.

Under the deal, Ryan Aerospace will supply 50 units of the equipment, which it refers to as immersive training devices (ITDs), to the USN's Naval Aviation Training Next (NATN) programme.

The ITDs can be configured to simulate a wide range of aircraft types.

Each unit consists of a virtual reality headset, a console set consisting of a monitor and a keyboard, and a cockpit seat with various flight controllers.

“The fact that they were designed with the future in mind, they can now rapidly and cost-effectively be transformed into mixed reality simulators for a different aircraft,” said Ryan Aerospace in a media statement to announce the contract.

“This is important for [the] government and taxpayers, as they are getting great value for money,” the statement added.

Ryan Aerospace has indicated that the contract will be delivered to the USN within the next 12 months.

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https://www.janes.com/defence-news/industry-headlines/latest/hii-awarded-advance-procurement-contract-modification-for-virginia-class-block-v-submarines

General Dynamics Electric Boat awarded HII's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) unit a USD305.2 million...

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