April 14, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval
September 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Security
Air Force awards $38M in contracts for upgrades to airfield in Iceland
Christen McCurdy
Sept. 24 (UPI) -- The Air Force has awarded three contracts totaling $38 million to improve the airfield at Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland.
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center's Detachment 4 will direct the construction project with support from Naval Facilities Engineering Command Europe Africa Central, the Air Force said Thursday.
The work includes expansion of the airfield's parking aprons, beddown site preparation and an upgrade to the airfield's hazardous cargo pad for the safe unloading and unloading of explosives.
"We are upgrading infrastructure at Naval Air Station Keflavik to provide a high level of readiness for U.S. Air Forces in Europe," said Col. David Norton, director of AFCEC's Facility Engineering Directorate. "We have incorporated innovative design and construction techniques to build resilient facilities to ensure the longest lifespan at the overall lowest life cycle cost."
The construction projects support the European Deterrence Initiative implemented by U.S. European Command -- an initiative intended to increase the responsiveness of U.S. Air Forces and NATO members and allies in Europe.
The EDI includes military exercises and training -- including the annual Dynamic Mongoose exercise, which this year was held off the coast of Iceland -- as well as a rotational presence of U.S. forces in Europe.
An April Department of Defense memo said Defense Mark Esper planned to divert funding from overseas military construction projects -- including, critics said, some projects under the auspices of EDI -- to domestic military construction in order to compensate for funding lost to wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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May 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace
The U.S. Navy’s New Drone Could Team Up With Stealth Fighters
The U.S. Navy is spending $13 billion buying 72 MQ-25 Stingray tanker drones for its 11 aircraft carriers. The idea is for the Boeing BA-made MQ-25s to refuel manned fighters, extending their range while also relieving the fighter squadrons of their own tanking duties. But the MQ-25 always had potential to be more than just an aerial-refueler. With its stealthy airframe and high endurance, it could be a surveillance plane and even a light strike platform, too. At least one fleet community isn't waiting for the Navy and Boeing to adapt the MQ-25 to other missions. The fleet's airborne command-and-control weapons school at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, already thinks of the Stingray as more than a tanker. Robbin Laird, a military analyst and writer, spoke to Cmdr. Christopher Hulitt, the head of the school, and summarized the conversation at Second Line of Defense. Laird and Hulitt's main point is that the Navy is acquiring new aircraft with highly-sophisticated communications systems and sensors. The F-35C stealth fighter. The E-2D early-warning plane. The MQ-4C high-altitude drone. And the MQ-25. Where before, E-2s would fly over a maritime battle, detecting targets and relaying commands to fighters, now a new system is coming together. The F-35C, E-2D, MQ-4C and MQ-25 all possess the qualities of a sensor- and command-and-control platform. So instead of passing information just one way—from an E-2 to a fighter—in coming years info could begin moving in all directions. An F-35C in stealth mode might detect an enemy ship using its passive sensors and beam, via secure datalink, the target's general location to the nearby MQ-25 that just refueled the F-35C. The MQ-25 could hand off the data to an E-2D. The E-2D crew could instruct the operators of an MQ-4C to steer their drone toward the enemy ship's location. Once the MQ-4C pinpoints the ship, the E-2D could then pass the targeting data back to the F-35C as well as to other allied vessels and planes, all of which could fire missiles. Imagine this whole process happening in minutes. “It is about deploying an extended trusted sensor network, which can be tapped through various waveforms, and then being able to shape how the decision-making arc can best deliver the desired combat effect,” Laird wrote. The Navy hopes to deploy the first MQ-25s as early as 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/05/22/the-us-navys-new-drone-could-team-up-with-stealth-fighters/#9bc4fd875e2e
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February 8, 2023 | International, Other Defence
Private equity : Weinberg Capital lance un fonds dans l'industrie de la défense
Dépassant les réticences européennes en matière d'ESG, l'homme d'affaires et président du conseil d'administration de Sanofi, Serge Weinberg, vient de lever un fonds d'investissement dédié aux industriels de la défense.