19 October 2021
by Pat Host
Rolls-Royce's AE 1107F engine on display on 13 October at the AUSA annual convention in Washington, DC. Bell will use the engine in its V-280 tiltrotor if it wins the US Army's FLRAA competition. (Janes/Pat Host)
Bell has selected Rolls-Royce's AE 1107F engine to serve as the propulsion system on the V-280 Valor tiltrotor if the programme wins the US Army's Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) competition.
John Shade, Rolls-Royce executive vice-president of business development and future programmes, told Janes on 11 October at the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA's) convention that the AE 1107F is a modification of the AE 1107C 7,000 shp turboshaft that powers the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. The company's AE product family is used on a variety of military aircraft such as the Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk and MQ-4C Triton, and the Boeing MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial vehicles, he said.
The V-280 was initially powered by a pair of General Electric (GE) T64-GE-419 free turbine turboshaft engines during the Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator phase. Ryan Ehinger, Bell vice-president and programme director for FLRAA/V-280, told Janes
18 April 2024
by Jeremiah Cushman
Actual and planned Canadian defence spending by category from 2021–22 to 2026–27. (Janes)
The Canadian government released its fiscal year (FY) 2024 defence budget on 16 April. The document projects spending of CAD33.8 billion (USD24.6 billion) in 2024–25, including adjustments from the Budget 2023 Refocusing Government Spending Exercise and incremental funding in the 2024 budget, although it warns that forecast amounts may change as programmes move through implementation. This is an increase from the forecast CAD29.9 billion spending in 2023–24, according to the document.
The 2024–25 main estimates produced by the Treasury Board projected defence spending of CAD30.6 billion, a small increase from the latest spending estimate for 2023–24, which totalled CAD30.3 billion. This is a 14% increase over the initial 2023–24 main estimate of CAD26.5 billion, according to Treasury Board figures. Expenditures in 2022–23 totalled CAD26.9 billion.
11 April 2024
by Zach Rosenberg
A Nigerian A-29 Super Tucano is pictured here. Embraer Defence CEO Bosco da Costa sees potential for up to 450 Super Tucanos over 20 years, including from Africa. (US Africa Command Public Affairs)
Embraer Defence & Security sees a market for up to 490 A-29 Super Tucano trainer and attack aircraft over the next two decades, Embraer president and CEO Bosco da Costa Jr told Janes on 10 April at the FIDAE 2024 airshow in Santiago, Chile.
“We are in touch with several countries around the world, not only here in South America, but we have some potential [customers] in Africa, in Asia, and in Europe as well,” said da Costa. “We are in advanced conversations with countries in Europe [and] in advanced conversations with countries in Asia. I cannot disclose the countries because the defence procurement process does not allow us to do that. But I assure you that we are now in a final stage in some of them.”
11 April 2024
by Olivia Savage
Saab has been contracted to upgrade the army's live training capability. Pictured are troops practising their debussing drills from a Saab DFWES-equipped Warrior infantry combat vehicle in Alberta. (Janes)
The British Army has signed a GBP60 million (USD75.7 million) three-year support contract with Saab to improve its live training capability.
The contract – Instrumented Live Training (ILT-D) – is replacing the existing Direct Fire Weapon Effects Simulator (DFWES) contract with Saab and will involve modernising its live training capabilities to improve interoperability and address obsolescence.
ILT-D is essentially a mid-life upgrade of the DFWES capability that will comprise upgrading and providing the latest soldier and vehicle training systems as well as EXCON software to ensure it remains relevant to the army's evolving training needs and is interoperable with its allies, Joakim Alhbin, the vice-president of Training and Simulation at Saab, informed Janes and other media representatives at the International Training Technology Exhibition & Conference (IT²EC) 2024.
DFWES is a laser-based Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES) capability that simulates direct and indirect fire.
Bell has selected Rolls-Royce's AE 1107F engine to serve as the propulsion system on the V-280 Valor...
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