Airbus pulls out of Canada fighter jet race, boosts Lockheed Martin's chances

OTTAWA - Airbus SE on Friday pulled out of a multibillion-dollar competition to supply Canada with 88 new fighter jets, a decision that boosts the chances of rival Lockheed Martin Corp.

The defense arm of Airbus, which indicated last month it might withdraw, cited onerous security requirements and a late decision by Ottawa to loosen the rules for how much bidders would have to invest in Canada.

Airbus and other contenders had already complained the government appeared to be tilting the race in favor of Lockheed Martin's F-35 plane, which the Royal Canadian Air Force wants. Canada is part of the consortium that developed the plane.

Canada launched the long-delayed competition last month and said it was confident no favoritism had been shown. Ottawa says the contract is worth between C$15 billion ($11.30 billion) and C$19 billion.

Canada's official opposition Conservative Party, which is seeking to defeat Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an October election, accused the government of gross mismanagement.

Reuters revealed in July that Airbus and Boeing Co had written to Ottawa to say they might pull out.

The firms are unhappy that in late May, the government dropped a demand that bidders must guarantee to give Canadian businesses 100 percent of the value of the deal in economic benefits.

Such legally watertight commitments, which Boeing, Airbus and Sweden's Saab AB had already agreed to, contradict rules of the F-35 consortium. Ottawa's move allowed Lockheed Martin to stay in the competition.

"One of the strongest points of our bid was the fact we were willing to make binding commitments," said an Airbus source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

"Once this was loosened up to a point where these commitments were no longer valued in the same way," the firm decided "that's just too much," added the source, who also cited security challenges.

European jets must show they can meet stringent standards required by the United States, which with Canada operates the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

"NORAD security requirements continue to place too significant of a cost on platforms whose manufacture and repair chains sit outside the United States (and) Canada," Airbus said in a statement.

Canadian Procurement Minister Carla Qualtrough said she respected the Airbus decision, adding Ottawa was determined there should be a level playing field.

"This included adapting the economic benefits approach to ensure the highest level of participation among suppliers," she said in emailed comments.

Canada has been trying unsuccessfully for almost a decade to purchase replacements for its aging F-18 fighters. The former Conservative administration said in 2010 it would buy 65 F-35 jets but later scrapped the decision, triggering years of delays and reviews.

Trudeau's Liberals took power in 2015 vowing not to buy the F-35 on the grounds that it was too costly, but have since softened their line.

"Justin Trudeau has spent the past four years delaying and dithering on new fighter jets for Canada only to completely mismanage the competition process," said Conservative defense spokesperson James Bezan.

Lockheed Martin declined to comment while Boeing and Saab did not respond to requests for comment.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Smartphone-like software finally heads to space

WASHINGTON - Once a traditional satellite is launched into space, its physical hardware and computer software stay mostly immutable for the rest of its existence as it orbits the Earth, even as the technology it serves on the ground continues to change. 

Just as some aerospace start-ups are developing technologies to repair, modify or refuel satellites to prolong their lives, some satellite manufacturers are looking at a complementary solution -- hoping to install smartphone-like software with more computing power and capable of receiving updates within minutes instead of days or weeks. 

US aerospace company Lockheed Martin presented its new "SmartSat" technology to journalists Wednesday near Washington.

"SmartSat" software will hitch a ride aboard mini satellites called cubesats that they plan to launch within the next 6 months. 

"Today's satellites that exist currently are durable, they're capable, they're precise, but once we launch them, they generally don't change much," Lockheed Martin's Maria Demaree explained. "We want the satellites of the future to operate more like smartphones." 

Instead of computer programs with a single processor, like satellites have today, with "SmartSat," Lockheed Martin says they'll be bringing multi-core processing to space.

"That lets satellites process more data in orbit so they can beam down just the most critical and relevant information -- saving bandwidth costs and reducing the burden on ground station analysts, and ultimately opening the door for tomorrow's data centers in space," the company said in a statement.

For example, according to the company, this technology could allow a commercial operator to more easily reprogram a communications satellite to switch to serving Eastern Europe instead of Western Europe, if necessary. 

The US military might also be interested, though Lockheed has not yet confirmed whether they are a "SmartSat" client. 

Why haven't aerospace organizations implemented such revolutionary technology before now?

Extreme conditions in space make everything more complicated.

"The hardware is very susceptible to locking up or just completely burning out," said "SmartSat" program manager Adam Johnson. "So the hardware is now catching up to the capabilities that we see on the ground, such that it's more radiation-tolerant."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Tim Apple' goes viral on social media after Trump gaffe

WASHINGTON, United States - Apple chief executive Tim Cook turned into "Tim Apple" on social media Thursday after a slip-up by US President Donald Trump sparked a viral moment on Twitter.

The Twittersphere reacted after a Wednesday White House meeting where the US president thanked "Tim Apple" for the tech giant's investments and job creations.

Cook changed his Twitter display name the following morning, using his first name followed by the Apple icon to get in on the fun.

Some Twitter users offered other suggestions for the president including Bill Microsoft (Gates), Elon Tesla (Musk) and even George America (Washington).

One user posted an image of Cook speaking with Trump with an apple fruit superimposed over his face, while another wrote "wondering what the heck #PresidentOrange is talking about."

It was not the first time Trump -- who is known for creating nicknames like "Crooked Hillary" -- made a mix-up of this nature.

Last year he introduced CEO Marillyn Hewson of the defense giant Lockheed as "Marillyn Lockheed."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Pentagon looks to exoskeletons to build 'super-soldiers'

WASHINGTON - The US Army is investing millions of dollars in experimental exoskeleton technology to make soldiers stronger and more resilient, in what experts say is part of a broader push into advanced gear to equip a new generation of "super-soldiers."

The technology is being developed by Lockheed Martin Corp with a license from Canada-based B-TEMIA, which first developed the exoskeletons to help people with mobility difficulties stemming from medical ailments like multiple sclerosis and severe osteoarthritis.

Worn over a pair of pants, the battery-operated exoskeleton uses a suite of sensors, artificial intelligence and other technology to aid natural movements.

For the US military, the appeal of such technology is clear: Soldiers now deploy into war zones bogged down by heavy but critical gear like body armor, night-vision goggles and advanced radios. Altogether, that can weigh anywhere from 90 to 140 pounds (40-64 kg), when the recommended limit is just 50 pounds (23 kg).

"That means when people do show up to the fight, they're fatigued," said Paul Scharre at the Center for a New American Security, who helped lead a series of studies on exoskeletons and other advanced gear.

"The fundamental challenge we're facing with infantry troops is they're carrying too much weight."

Lockheed Martin said on Thursday it won a $6.9 million award from the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center to research and develop the exoskeleton, called ONYX, under a 2-year, sole-source agreement.

Keith Maxwell, the exoskeleton technologies manager at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said people in his company's trials who wore the exoskeletons showed far more endurance.

"You get to the fight fresh. You're not worn out," Maxwell said.

Maxwell, who demonstrated a prototype, said each exoskelelton was expected to cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

B-TEMIA's medically focused system, called Keeogo, is sold in Canada for about C$39,000 ($30,000), company spokeswoman Pamela Borges said.

The United States is not the only country looking at exoskeleton technology.

Samuel Bendett at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNAS), a federally funded US research and development center, said Russia and China were also investing in exoskeleton technologies, "in parallel" to the US advances.

Russia, in particular, was working on several versions of exoskeletons, including one that it tested recently in Syria, Bendett said. 

The CNAS analysis of the exoskeleton was part of a larger look by the Washington-based think tank at next-generation technologies that can aid soldiers, from better helmets to shield them from blast injuries to the introduction of robotic "teammates" to help resupply them in war zones.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Israel gets F-35 fighter jets

NEVATIM AIR BASE, Israel - Israel on Monday became the first country after the United States to receive the U.S.-built F-35 stealth jet which will increase its ability to attack distant targets, including Iran.

The much-hyped arrival of the first two fighter jets was overshadowed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's tweet that Lockheed Martin's whole F-35 project was too expensive , and the delivery was delayed for hours by bad weather preventing their take-off from Italy.

The squadron is expected to be the first operational outside the United States. The planes are the first of 50, costing around $100 million each.

"Our long arm has now become longer and mightier," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Nevatim air base in the southern Negev desert.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, also attending the ceremony which was delayed until after dark, said the planes were critical to maintaining Israel's military edge in the region.

A U.S. squadron of the planes, which have suffered delays and cost overruns, became operational in August. The F-35 program is the Pentagon's largest weapons project.

"The F-35 program and cost is out of control," Trump said on Twitter, sending Lockheed Martin's shares down 4 percent.

Jeff Babione, Lockheed Martin's F-35 program leader, said the company understood concerns about affordability and had invested millions of dollars to try to reduce its price.

Israel, which finalized a 10-year, $38 billion arms deal from the United States this year, plans to maintain two F-35 squadrons.

Critics of the plane say it can carry a smaller weapons payload and has a shorter range than Israel's current squadrons of U.S.-built F-15s and F-16s.

But some experts say the F-35's stealth capabilities make up for this because it can be more accurate and fly a more direct route to its target. Israel's air force mostly flies missions close to home, in the Gaza Strip and against arms shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria.

It is also believed to have carried out bombings in Sudan against arms shipments to Palestinian militants, and to have drawn up contingency plans against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Israel initially ordered 33 of the fighters but signed off on another 17 last month.

Nimrod Shefer, a retired Israeli air force major-general, said the new aircraft were a welcome addition.

"(There are) very low- to very high-altitude missiles ... and targets that are becoming more and more difficult to detect and to destroy," he said. (Writing by Ori Lewis and Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Robin Pomeroy)

source: news.abs-cbn.com