09 Aug 21. Peli-Hardigg presents its 65 years of experience in Customised Engineered Cases at DSEI 2021. PELI Products, the World’s largest manufacturer of Military and Aerospace approved reusable tough plastic containers, presents PELI-Hardigg, its high-end division of Engineered Case Solutions at DSEI 2021 (Stand H2-674). PELI’s Advance Case Solutions division brings more than 65 years of experience working with the Top Aerospace and Military organisations on a non-disclosure basis throughout the World, having successfully customised Cases for the most diverse type of equipment.
The complete success of any mission critical operation with Peli-hardigg Advanced Case Solutions –
Peli-Hardigg roto moulded cases can be customised according to each customer’s needs while offering the best protection possible to any type of equipment, even the most fragile one.
Peli-Hardigg offers every customer the optimised global resources of a renowned injection and roto-moulded case leader’s customised service and manufacturing capabilities. The resulting ability to respond with speed and agility benefits every Advanced Case Solutions customer, whether requiring one unique case solution or a thousand delivered worldwide.
Peli-Hardigg has been able to build a robust line of more than 500 sizes of cases that proudly live up to the harsh demands of the military, aerospace and other industries. They have been tested in the field as well as in combat situations. They are used to protect and transport aircraft pieces and engines, military diving scooters, all types of drones/UAV, weapons and missiles, satellites, robots, electronic equipment, among others. No matter the size and characteristics, Peli-Hardigg offers a solution to any company’s need of safe transportation under any type of mission critical operation where extreme protection is a must.
Peli-Hardigg™ Light Lift™ Series Rotationally Moulded Cases –
Same Protection with 30% less Weight
The advanced material used to build Peli-Hardigg Light Lift series cases makes them up to 30% lighter than traditional rotationally moulded cases, which means considerable logistics savings with less manpower and resources required. This brings a substantial benefit for the Health and Safety of professionals working in the field.
The new Light Lift case family is geared toward two or four man carry applications with a maximum 136 kg. gross payload (total of case and content weight).
Peli-Hardigg Light Lift Series cases still offer the same protection and pass the same rigorous MIL-SPEC testing as traditional Peli-Hardigg rotationally moulded cases.
The cases feature popular catch & strike hardware to tightly secure the lid and recessed handles to prevent shearing or snagging from outside forces. Additional available configurable hardware options include plastic or metal handles, airtight construction using PRV valves, edge casters, locking hardware and humidity indicators.
For more information visit https://www.peli.com/eu/en/professional/single-lid-cases/light-lift-cases/
08 Aug 21. British Army on standby to restock Britain’s shelves amid truck driver shortage. Up to 2,000 military HGV drivers on standby – however Britain is 100,000 lorry drivers short. The Army is on standby to restock Britain’s shelves as military HGV drivers are prepped to deliver food and essentials to supermarkets amid the truck driver shortage. No formal request has yet been received by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), but military drivers could be first in line to help Britain’s beleaguered supply lines as the “pingdemic” continues to hit logistic firms.
The shortage of qualified drivers has reached crisis point, with ministers now examining every means possible to keep Britain supplied.
Any action carried out by the armed forces will come under existing plans codenamed Operation Rescript.
Britain already had a shortage of 100,000 truck drivers – the situation has worsened with the NHS Test and Trace pingdemic.
It has left some supermarket shelves empty and major food companies struggling to cope with demand, according to The Sun on Sunday.
The formal request for other government departments to be supported by the military, called Military Aid to the Civil Authority, has yet to be issued. A MACA need only be an email from a minister to Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, to get things moving.
Once his authority has been given, the MoD’s Standing Joint Command, the military headquarters responsible for conducting operations inside the UK, issues activation orders to the necessary troops.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: “Messages are being sent out to all Army personnel with HGV qualifications. They are being put on [a] five-day stand-by notice for driving jobs at major distribution centres around the country.
“Soldiers will be put up in hotels where necessary and will be working extended hours to assist with the crisis.
“They will be involved with food distribution as well as the transportation of other essential goods and medical supplies.”
In July, the Government temporarily extended drivers’ working time rules, from nine to 10 hours, allowing them to make longer journeys.
However, the measure was described by the Road Haulage Association as a “sticking plaster”, and deemed insufficient to solve distribution problems.
It is understood the MoD has been in discussions with Defra, the environment agency, over the transport crisis. It led Chris Hall, the head of logistics at Asda, to say the supermarket giant was “just about keeping our head above water”.
Rod McKenzie, the RHA’s managing director of policy and public affairs, said the lorry driver shortage was “a very serious threat to the supply chain” and that using military drivers is “not a good idea”.
“The Government’s next step is to bring in the Army. There are 2,000 qualified HGV drivers in the Army. [But] we’re 100,000 lorry drivers short,” he said.
He added: “Another issue is Army drivers are used to driving Army lorries and not civilian vehicles. Once again, they are using a short-term fix. It is not a good idea. We need to address what to do to get another 100,000 drivers.” (Source: Daily Telegraph)
06 Aug 21. US Navy Plans Drone Delivery for Essential Parts at Sea. The US Navy has demonstrated that small drones could take the place of manned platforms in delivering critical spare parts, most of which weigh less than a large bag of dog food, between ships at sea.
Most ships and aircraft taken out of mission-capable status when deployed lack simple components like electronics or wiring assemblies, 90 percent of which weigh less than 50 pounds, according to Navy statistics.
When even one of the smaller components must be moved from one ship to the other, the ferry flight falls to a manned platform like an MH-60 helicopters or V-22 Osprey.
“We want to develop a logistics [unmanned aerial system] to get rid of the helos that transport parts back and forth,”
said Tony Schmidt, director of rapid prototyping, experimentation and demonstration at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division.
From there, the idea was born to use a group two or group three UAS to move some spare parts and other supplies between ships. Group two UAS, according to the Defense Department scale, are those that weigh between 20 and 55 pounds and fly below 3,500 feet above the ground like a Scan Eagle. Larger group three UAS include the RQ-7 Shadow and RQ-21 Blackjack that weigh up to 1,300 pounds.
NAWCAD put out a call to industry with its desired capabilities and put several through their paces during the 2019 Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX), which “allowed industry to demonstrate their potential solutions in an operational mission environment and we were able to say who we want to go work this problem with,” Schmidt said.
Industry was required to prove its UAV could autonomously transport a 20-pound payload to a moving ship 25 miles away without refueling. Of over 65 UAS platforms that were analyzed, two systems were technically advanced enough to partially meet the difficult requirements.
Navy engineers eventually landed on a “non-traditional partner” in Texas-based Skyways, which was determined to have the necessary size, payload capacity and range to meet the Navy’s needs. The program is now dubbed the Blue Water Maritime Logistics UAS. Skyways delivered the UAS prototype in October 2020.
The electric Skyways V2.2 drone features four rotors surrounding a tear-shaped body with an aft propeller. It sports wings and a peaked tail for forward flight and boasts a range of 65 miles and a 20-pound payload. A hybrid-electric V2.5 has the same basic configuration but can carry 25 pounds of cargo 500 miles, according to the company’s website.
At the behest of Navy leaders who saw demonstrations of the Skyways unmanned aircraft, which is capable of vertical-takeoff-and-landing, the UAS was rushed to the deck of carrier USS Gearld R. Ford (CVN-78) carrier in Norfolk, Va. There it completed two weeks of trials in February, Schmidt said.
Over two weeks in February, the system demonstrated its utility in quickly delivering small packages representing spare parts and other necessary supplies in a carrier environment aboard Ford.
With the success of the February event, Navy engineers and test pilots are continuing development of the technology, including enhancements in handling and ship storage, internal cargo carriage, advanced propulsion, navigation, collision avoidance and landing systems, according to a promotional video for the prototype drone, Schmidt said.
“That’s not the end of the story,” Schmidt said at the Navy League’s annual Sea-Air-Space 2021 symposium outside Washington, D.C. “Two weeks ago, at the end of July, we took that airplane and flew it ship-to-ship from the USS Bainbridge (DDG-96) to USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188). In nine months, we went from a prototype to demonstrating a ship-to-ship capability. Pretty exciting; pretty fast.”
Schmidt said the eventual Blue Water drone likely will not be the Skyways drone, but will be chosen based on requirements generated from testing that model. NAWCAD is looking at other UAS with delta wings and other advanced configurations, he said.
Based on the success of that demonstration and amid ongoing conversations with the Navy/Marine Corps Small Tactical UAS Program Office at PMA-263, “we’re pretty sure this is going to get picked up as a program of record,” Schmidt said. (Source: UAS VISION/USNI News)