Tech

Safran battling ‘supply chain crisis’ to serve booming helicopter market

Published

3 weeks ago

March 2, 2023

Harry Miller

Safran Helicopter Engines says the current helicopter market is booming, but that a “supply chain crisis” means that its biggest challenge in 2023 will be ramping up to meet this demand for increased production, service and support.

A Safran Helicopter Engines engineer inspects an Arrano engine. The Arrano powers the Airbus H160. Adrien Daste/Safran Photo

“The helicopter market currently is absolutely superb,” Franck Saudo, the company’s CEO, told reporters during a media briefing ahead of the manufacturer’s participation at HAI Heli-Expo 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. “It’s probably the best market I have seen for close to the past 10 years. And what is particular at the moment is there is great market momentum, both on the new helicopter market front and on the aftermarket for helicopter engines.”

He said Safran was seeing positive momentum in “next to all” market segments and geographical areas, and was noting the “beginning of a rebound” in the oil-and-gas market.

On the aftermarket side, Safran has reported an increased demand for work driven by flight hours that have returned to 2019 levels, while the company said “robust and sustained” demand for new aircraft in 2022 took sales above those of 2019.

This growth in activity, however, is taking place in the context of a very constrained supply chain, said Saudo, adding that the biggest challenge the company faces in 2023 will be to ramp up and keep up with demand in the current environment.

“We face challenges with the supply of materials and also with suppliers that are in a situation of undercapacity, mainly due to labor shortages,” he said. “It is our number one responsibility at Safran helicopter engines to protect our customers — be they helicopter manufacturers or helicopter operators — from this supply chain crisis.”

He said the company had begun investing and vertically integrating in 2020 to alleviate supply chain bottlenecks and increase capacity. To meet the ramp up required by the market activity, Safran hired 400 people worldwide in 2022, and plans to hire another 200 this year.

Saudo said the company’s investment in developing and certifying four new engine types in 2019 — the 1,300 horsepower Arrano, the 2,500 to 3,000 horsepower Aneto, and two versions of the 1,400 to 2,000 horsepower Ardiden (1U and WZ16) — means Safran is able to fully benefit from the current positive market momentum.

The Arrano powers the new medium-lift Airbus H160, entering service with the type in December 2021. The H160 has now recorded over 1,000 flight hours and is operating in three different continents with five or six different customers (according to Airbus). Saudo said more than 100 H160s are now on order from military and civil customers.

The Aneto 1K powers the Leonardo AW189 K, promising 25 percent more power for Leonardo’s super medium. The type was certified with the engine back in 2020, and while Gulf Helicopters had been announced as its launch customer that year, the purchase was put on hold after the pandemic struck.
A recovery in the super medium segment has led to a new launch customer, said Saudo.

The Aneto is set to soon enter service with the Leonardo AW189 K. Olivier Panier des Touches/Safran Photo

The Aneto has also been proposed for Leonardo’s AW149 submission for the U.K.’s New Medium Helicopter tender. “It brings for this tender superior performance for demanding military missions,” said Saudo.

During Heli-Expo, Safran will celebrate the Arriel reaching 60 million flight hours. The engine was recently announced as the new choice to power Leonardo’s upcoming AW09 light single helicopter, replacing the Honeywell HTS900.

Safran has also worked with Airbus Helicopters to create an innovative powerplant for the DisruptiveLab demonstrator, and recently announced an agreement with HAL to jointly develop a new engine for the upcoming Indian Multirole Helicopter.

Saudo said the company is committed to decarbonization, with a target of certifying all its engines to accommodate up to 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Safran recently partnered with Bell to help a Bell 505 fly with 100 percent SAF in a landmark flight.

Saudo referenced the “chicken-and-egg” problem of high cost and low demand limiting the widespread adoption of SAF.

“Governmental policies and the impulsion action of non-governmental players will be key, so that we get out of this chicken-and-egg problem,” he said. “If there is more demand, the cost of SAF will decrease, and as the cost of SAF decreases, demand will increase.”

Hybrid electric technology will also be part of the decarbonization roadmap. An “Eco Mode” system, to be tested in the Airbus Racer high speed compound demonstrator aircraft, will allow a twin-engine helicopter to put one engine in idle during cruise flight. This offers a potential 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption, said Saudo.

“There are plans to make it a market standard,” he added. “Now it starts with this [Racer] demonstrator.”

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Tech

Redmi Note 12 Turbo teaser images reveal even more specs

Published

10 hours ago

March 25, 2023

Harry Miller

We already know that the Redmi Note 12 Turbo is on its way with an expected announcement time of 7 PM on March 28. We also already know quite a bit about the phone thanks to Weibo leaks and a visit to AnTuTu. A new set of teaser images has now surfaced online alongside some additional device specs.

Teaser images

Apparently, the Redmi Note 12 Turbo’s display will be 12-bit, support HDR10+ and feature a 120Hz refresh rate, 1920Hz PWM Dimming and SGS Low Blue Light Certification. Previous rumors have indicated a display diagonal of 6.67 inches and an FHD+ resolution. The phone will boast pretty thin bezels, measuring just 1.95mm on top, and 1.42mm on the sides of the display, with a 2.22mm chin underneath it and a 93.45% screen-to-body ratio. The phone’s entire body will measure 7.9mm in thickness and weigh 181 grams.

The Redmi Note 12 Turbo is also rumored to offer a stereo speaker setup with Dolby ATMOS and Hi-Res Audio support alongside a 3.5mm audio jack. Also on board is an IR blaster. Confirming earlier rumors, the handset is expected to be among the first, if not the very first, to rock a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset, alongside up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB of UFS3.1 storage. As per the new teaser, the chip will be cooled by a 3725mm² vapor chamber cooler.

Teaser images

In a rather conflicting report, the new source now claims that the Redmi Note 12 Turbo will feature a side-mounted fingerprint reader instead of an in-display one. Also on the list of expected specs is a large 5,000 mAh battery with 67W charging. The phone is expected to have a 64MP main camera with OIS, 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro shooter. It is also said to run Android 13 with MIUI 14 on top.

There is still no word on pricing and availability. Though, it is worth noting that the Redmi Note 12 Turbo is expected to launch under the Poco F5 branding in India on April 5.

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Tech

Why can’t I sync blocked numbers to a new Android phone?

Published

11 hours ago

March 25, 2023

Harry Miller

Rita El Khoury / Android Authority

I don’t switch phones often, but when I do, I dread every single part of the process. Although Google has smoothed out some of the steps thanks to a more robust Android backup system and a new Fast Pair phone setup, a lot of tedious bits and pieces remain. It’s painful to re-pair wearables and Bluetooth accessories, adjust smart home gadgets to follow the new phone for geolocation automations, and sign into and re-customize apps to my liking. It can take a day and do all of that manually; what I can’t do, though, is transfer or sync my blocked numbers on my Android phone to a new phone.

And this little issue has been annoying me for a couple of years now. It baffles me that it hasn’t been fixed yet.

I trust Google to identify some spam numbers on its own and stop them from disrupting me, but I also make an effort to report as spam and block any other spammers and unwanted numbers that slip through. Still, every year or so, I find myself answering calls and looking at messages from these same unwanted numbers just because the blocklist didn’t carry over when I switched to a new phone.

My blocked numbers list doesn’t carry over when I switch phones. I end up answering calls and reading messages from the same unwanted numbers.

Spam and phishing are massive problems in some countries like the US and India. In my experience, they’ve been less of an issue in France, but they were a major annoyance in Lebanon where GDPR and privacy rules don’t exist. Since I was a practicing pharmacist, my number was registered with the union and was shared, without my consent, with hundreds of pharmaceutical and not-so-pharmaceutical companies. Even two years after shutting down my practice, I still get dozens of unwanted messages every week on my Lebanese number.

With spam being such an annoying everyday occurrence, you’d think that all the tools would be at your disposal to fight it. And yet, Google is fighting it with Assistant call screening and massive data collection from millions of users to identify spam before it annoys you, but it’s forgetting one very simple trick that could save everyone extra headache: Just sync my list of blocked numbers on Android across phones.

Spam, phishing, and abuse are massive issues. I should only have to block a number once, but Google is trying to solve the problem differently.

Beyond spam, the issue gets worse when you imagine that an ex or an abusive person from your past keeps calling you or messaging you. You block them and think you’re done with that crap, only to see their number pop up again when you switch to a new phone. If we’re intentionally choosing to block a number or mark it as spam, we don’t want to find ourselves looking at that same number again, ever.

Here are three ways this problem can be fixed, from simple and manual, to complex and automatic:

Add a manual export and import button to the blocked numbers list in the Google Phone and Messages apps.
Treat the blocked numbers list like the call history and make sure it backs up and restores when users switch phones.
Synchronize the blocked numbers list with my Google account (maybe as a part of Google Contacts?) so that it’s always updated across all my devices.

Apple does the latter with iCloud. You block a number on your iPhone and it’ll be synced to your iPad, iMac, and every other device you use. Google could and should do it the same way. Sure, this isn’t as sexy as Assistant call screening, but no one wants to keep blocking the same numbers again and again.

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Tech

New film by Calgary’s Tank Standing Buffalo streams on HBO

Published

17 hours ago

March 25, 2023

Harry Miller

A Calgary animator’s newest cartoon started streaming Thursday night on HBO Max.

Tank Standing Buffalo’s MONSTR was one of eight animated shorts chosen from more than 1,200 submissions to be part of the HBO Max series Only You: An Animated Shorts Collection.

MONSTR deals with Standing Buffalo’s fight with inner demons while apprenticing with a northwest totem carver following the death of his wife Marsha.

“My partner Marsha died suddenly in my arms of a brain aneurysm,” Standing Buffalo said in a release. “One moment she was there, the next she was gone. Without her, I was lost.

“I left Calgary to walk the west coast until I couldn’t walk, and ended up on carver Phil Ashbee’s doorstep. He saw I was in trouble, and took me in. I began a tough year-and -a-half apprenticeship, learning from him and another carver. The teachings were harsh, but helped me to heal.

Tank Standing Buffalo’s next project MONSTR is part of an HBO Max program for animators

“MONSTR takes place during my time with Phil, and brings to life how I confronted the grief of Marsha’s passing. It is my story, one only I can tell.”

Standing Buffalo worked with co-writer Xstine Coo, producer Amanda Miller and composers Cara Adu-Darko and Brandon Smith on the film, which features music by Walter MacDonald White Bear.

The film features the voices of Corey Feldman and Tristan Risk.

It’s Standing Buffalo’s third animated short, following RKLSS (2020), which screened at TIFF, and SAVJ (2021), which is currently being screened at a variety of film festivals.

HBO flew Standing Buffalo to Los Angeles for the Hollywood premiere of MONSTR Tuesday night.

Scene from MONSTR by Tank Standing Buffalo

In his artist statement, Standing Buffalo said art has literally saved his life – and his emergence as a rising animation star was launched by a scholarship he received to attend a Calgary animation workshop.

“I came to love animation six years ago when I received a scholarship through Quickdraw Animation Society in Calgary,” he said. “I am a person who thrives on routine and discipline. I appreciate the meditative repetition required to create animation.

“Through making my first two autobiographical shorts with monster and fantasy elements, I’ve found telling my story through animation is a form of time travel; my art is healing the person who I was in the past.”

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