EDA’s project on Prediction Models for the Implementation of Munition Health Management (PREMIUM), launched in May of this year with Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands as participating countries, has gained traction last week with three additional Member States joining: Germany, Poland and Portugal have become full members of the 4-year project which aims to improve Member States’ Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) based management of munition by developing models for the estimation of remaining life and health status.
The project is meant to tackle the problem of inadequate models used by Member States to predict the life cycle and functional reliability of materials used in munitions and missiles, or of newly developed materials. A better assessment and prediction of the materials’ ageing status and process can be achieved through accurate prediction models and corresponding sensors to measure the environment and change of material.
More concretely, the objectives of the project are to:
The project is expected to perform analyses of ammunition life-cycle stored in mainland depots, on board of a ship, a fighter jet and an armoured vehicle, both in Europe and outside in operations.
The expected military benefits of the project are improved missiles and munitions reliability and safety and reduced costs.
The project is implemented by a consortium composed by 13 European organisations, namely: MBDA Italy, Italian National Research Council (CNR), The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), The Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI), BAE Systems Bofors AB, Polish Military Institute of Armament Technology (MIAT), Polish Military University of Technology (MUT), Research Network Łukasiewicz - Institute of Aviation (Ł-IoA), MESKO SA, Portugal LAETA-ADAI, CINAV, CINAMIL and CIAFA.
BackgroundThe PREMIUM Project started in May 2021 and builds upon previous project called Munition Life Management or MLM (2015-2018), developed by EDA Capability and Technology group on Missiles and Munitions technologies.
MLM aimed to quantify and predict the influence of extreme conditions during Out of Area operations on safe and reliable use of ammunition. The participating Member States exchanged information concerning experiences of logistical and operational use of ammunition in Out of Area operations, on whole-life-assessment (incl. analysis on returned ammunition), data monitoring during storage and operational use, selection or development of models for predicting the environmental impact on safety and reliability.
More information:According to the UK media outlet The Sun, the recent crash of a British F-35B during take off from HMS Queen Elizabeth was caused by a rain cover not removed before take off. An F-35B [...]
The post British F-35B Crash In The Med Possibly Caused By ‘Rain Cover’ Left On During Launch appeared first on The Aviationist.
An improved, upgraded 2.0 version of EDA’s ‘IdentiFunding’ tool, an online platform that enables defence-related stakeholders (Ministries of Defence, institutes, industry, research-and-technology organisations, etc.) to easily and swiftly check if their defence-related projects and activities are eligible for existing EU funding schemes, has just been made available on the Agency’s website.
The tool is available since 2019 and was run under its 1.0 version until the end of 2020 by when it had been used by several hundreds of defence stakeholders. It then underwent the required technical maintenance work and is now back online in an enhanced, user-friendly 2.0 version on eda.europa.eu/eufunding.
Covering the EU’s multiannual budget (2021-2027)The revised tool covers the full EU multiannual budgetary framework 2021-2027, including its related funding programmes. It encompasses 25 funding windows potentially accessible to defence actors, under the European Defence Fund (EDF), the Space Programme, Digital Europe, the Structural Funds, InvestEU, the Connecting Europe Facility (namely the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research - SESAR - and the European Military Mobility windows), European Investment Bank (EIB) loans, Horizon Europe and many other funding schemes, including programmes supporting the EU Green Deal (for e.g. energy, environmental and circular economy projects in defence).
‘IdentFunding’ is free-of-charge and allows to easily identify, in a confidential and in tailored manner, which funding sources at European level may be eligible for defence-related project ideas and activities.
Try it yourself at eda.europa.eu/eufunding
For further questions: identifunding@eda.europa.eu
Several interesting projects are featured in a short promotional video, including the secretive SR-72 and the RQ-180. A video, published on Youtube on Nov. 8, 2021, by the U.S. Air Force Profession of Arms Center [...]
The post Secretive SR-72 Spy Plane And RQ-180 Spy Drone Teased In Recent U.S. Air Force Video appeared first on The Aviationist.