New Strategies to Guard Against Future Security Threats
The international conference on maritime security and defense (MS&D), held for the seventh time in Hamburg during the SMM maritime trade fair, focused on current and future challenges to maritime security and defense. Twenty naval, industrial and science experts discussed topics such as how to protect international ocean trading routes, when and how to deploy naval forces on crisis missions, as well as cyber security issues.The welcome address opened the event with somber words as Rear Admiral Thorsten Kähler…
Drone Wars: French Navy Examines Cutting-edge Tech
Defense technology company Naval Group and helicopter manufacturer Airbus Helicopters will together lead an effort to develop warship based aerial drones for the French Navy. The French companies were recently contracted by the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) to perform a “de-risking” study ahead of future construction of tactical helicopter drones. The demonstration project will eventually lead to trials of the drone launch system, mission system and airborne rotary-wing vehicle, conducted from a French Navy vessel.
New Drones Are Being Developed for the French Navy
The future tactical component of France’s Naval Aerial Drone (Système de Drones Aériens de la Marine - SDAM) program is being designed by DCNS and Airbus Helicopters, who have joined forces to pool naval and aerospace skills and expertise. The teaming of DCNS and Airbus Helicopters will be equipped to address all technical challenges arising from the naval integration of the drones through the creation of a robust system architecture that can evolve and adapt to meet every need, the developers said.
Norway Helicopter Crash Investigation Focuses on Rotor Blade Mounting
An investigation into the cause of a fatal North Sea helicopter crash is focusing on the parts of the aircraft that connected the rotor blades to the main body of the helicopter, investigators said on Friday. An Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter ferrying passengers from a Norwegian oil platform operated by Statoil crashed on April 29, killing all 13 people on board. Since then the helicopter model, a workhorse of the oil industry, has been grounded for commercial flights in Norway and Britain. Investigators have ruled out human error, saying that the crash was caused by a technical fault. On Friday a preliminary report by the Norwegian Accident Investigation Board said it was focusing on a specific section of the aircraft.
Astrium Services Renamed Airbus Defence and Space
Astrium Services, the global innovative provider of satellite enabled solutions, has announced that it will operate with immediate effect under its new name Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group. The change from Astrium Services to the new Airbus Defence and Space is part of a rebranding throughout the wider EADS organization. Earlier this year, EADS became Airbus Group, with three distinct divisions: Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters. The entire Astrium Services portfolio of satellite communications and geo information services will continue under the newly created Communication, Intelligence & Security (CIS) business line of Airbus Defence and Space.
