Airbus to help determine path forward for Tiger helo upgrade, missile options

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  August 31, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Suisse: Six milliards en jeu pour renouveler la flotte aérienne de l’armée

  Après l'échec de l'achat des avions Gripen en 2014, le peuple suisse est à nouveau appelé à voter pour ou contre l'acquisition d'avions de combats. La Suisse doit renouveler sa flotte d'avions de combat. Les appareils en service actuellement seront en fin de vie d'ici 2030. Le Conseil fédéral et le Parlement veulent acquérir de nouveaux avions pour six milliards de francs. Les opposants y voient une dépense inutile. Le peuple tranchera le 27 septembre. La votation porte sur le montant maximal destiné à l'achat des avions de combat qui remplaceront les 26 F-5 Tiger et les 30 F/A-18 de l'armée. Les premiers, acquis en 1978, sont déjà obsolètes. Ils ne peuvent voler que de jour et par temps clair, et ne servent plus qu'à l'instruction. Les seconds atteindront leur limite dans une dizaine d'années. Après l'échec de l'achat des avions Gripen en 2014, le gouvernement a décidé de ne soumettre aux urnes que le cadre général de l'acquisition. Le choix du type et du nombre d'appareils nécessaires lui reviendra ensuite. L'enveloppe de 6 milliards de francs, soit deux fois plus que le Gripen, est plafonnée et ne pourra pas être augmentée. Elle pourra en revanche être ajustée à l'évolution des prix. L'achat des nouveaux avions de combat recueille dans les derniers sondages une majorité en sa faveur. Le clivage droite/gauche est marqué, le camp bourgeois étant favorable à la dépense et le camp rose-vert opposé. Objectif controversé Pour le comité référendaire, composé du PS, des Verts et du Groupe pour une suisse sans armée, dépenser 6 milliards de francs pour les avions est une fausse promesse de sécurité. Le scénario d'une guerre aérienne en Europe n'est pas réaliste. La Suisse doit plutôt se préparer à de nouveaux types de menace: catastrophes, cyberattaques, pandémies ou changement climatique. Les avions de combat ne pourront pas contrer ces menaces. Des investissements dans la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique ou la pénurie d'électricité seraient plus sensés, selon les opposants. L'émergence de nouvelles formes de guerre ne remplace pas les anciennes menaces, répond le camp des partisans dans les rangs duquel se trouvent des membres du PLR, de l'UDC, du PDC, du PBD, des Vert'libéraux, du PEV et de nombreuses organisations militaires. Bien qu'il n'y ait pas de conflit armé en Suisse, les conditions peuvent rapidement changer. Il s'agit de l'avenir de la politique de sécurité. Une menace imprévisible La menace évolue constamment et la population doit être protégée contre les attaques imprévisibles, argumente la ministre de la Défense Viola Amherd. L'armée de l'air a de nombreuses t'ches pour lesquelles des avions de combat sont nécessaires. Elle intervient si un avion se trouve en situation critique ou s'il viole les règles. Lorsque Genève accueille une conférence internationale sur la paix, des avions doivent en permanence être dans les airs. L'armée doit également pouvoir contrôler de manière plus intense ses frontières en cas de tensions dans les environs et s'assurer qu'aucun appareil militaire étranger ne survole le territoire. Elle doit protéger son espace aérien en cas d'attaque directe. Coûts à définir L'argent dépensé pour les avions fera défaut dans d'autres domaines comme l'éducation, la santé, la sécurité publique ou sociale ou encore la culture, rétorquent les opposants. Cet achat serait en outre un chèque en blanc donné au gouvernement et au Parlement. Le jour de la votation, les électeurs ne connaîtront pas les coûts concrets. Si l'on prend en compte l'ensemble des coûts sur la durée de vie des avions, la facture s'élève à 24 milliards, avancent les référendaires. Le Département fédéral de la défense estime pour sa part la dépense à 18 milliards. Le PS propose l'acquisition d'avions de combat légers, moins onéreux. Pour Viola Amherd, ces appareils ne valent rien pour le service de police de l'air et encore moins pour protéger la Suisse en cas de crise. Ils ne volent pas assez haut, sont trop lents ou n'ont pas les radars ou l'armement nécessaires. Compensations prévues L'arrêté sur lequel le peuple doit se prononcer inclut des conditions. Il précise que le constructeur remportant l'appel d'offres devra investir 60% du montant du contrat dans l'économie suisse (65% en Suisse alémanique, 30% en Suisse romande et 5% en Suisse italienne). L'achat sera coordonné avec la modernisation du système de défense sol-air. Quatre jets sont encore en lice: le Rafale du français Dassault, l'Eurofighter de l'européen Airbus et les deux avions américains, le Super Hornet de Boeing et le F-35A de Lockheed-Martin. https://www.lematin.ch/story/six-milliards-en-jeu-pour-renouveler-la-flotte-aerienne-de-larmee-442405814349

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  July 3, 2018 | International, Naval

  Australia officially announces $26B frigate contract. Here are the build details

  By: Nigel Pittaway MELBOURNE, Australia ― Australia will acquire nine high-end anti-submarine warfare frigates from the end of the next decade under a deal with BAE Systems worth AU$35 billion (U.S. $26 billion). The announcement was formally made Friday at the ASC shipyard in Osborne, South Australia, by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Minister for Defence Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne. A version of BAE Systems' City-class Type 26 ASW frigate, now under construction for the British Royal Navy, will be acquired under Australia's SEA 5000 Phase 1 project, also known as the Future Frigate Project. Referred to as the Global Combat Ship―Australia, or GCS-A, during the competition, the design will be known as the Hunter-class in Royal Australian Navy service and will replace the Navy's existing Anzac-class frigates. There has been speculation in the media that the decision to go with BAE may be driven, in part, by Australia's desire to secure strong terms with the U.K. as it negotiates a series of new trade agreements after Britain leaves the European Union. Payne noted Friday that the GCS-A design was selected because it was the most capable ASW platform. “This is a decision entirely based on capability, the best capability to equip the Navy in anti-submarine warfare,” she said. Regardless, news of BAE's win was welcomed in the United Kingdom, with Secretary of State for Defence Gavin Williamson referring to it as the “biggest maritime defence deal of the decade.” “This £20 billion ‘deal of the decade' demonstrates how British defence plays a huge role in creating jobs and prosperity and is ‘Global Britain' in action,” he commented on social media. “Great to see our military and industrial links strengthen with Australia.” The ships will be built by ASC Shipbuilding in South Australia, using local workers and Australian steel, under the Turnbull government's continuous naval shipbuilding program. “What we are doing here is announcing our commitment to build the nine Future Frigates,” Prime Minister Turnbull said. “The Hunter-class frigates will be the most advanced anti-submarine warships in the world.” The Hunter-class frigates will be equipped with CEA Technologies-built CEAFAR phased array radar currently fitted to the Navy's post-anti-ship missile defense Anzac frigates, together with Lockheed Martin's Aegis combat system and an interface provided by Saab Australia. The Aegis combat system was mandated for all of Australia's major surface combatants by the Turnbull government in October 2017. The GCS-A design was selected in preference to Fincantieri's Australian FREMM, dubbed FREMM-A, a variant of the ASW-optimized FREMM frigate now in service with the Italian Navy; and the F-5000 from Navantia, based on an evolution of the Royal Australian Navy's Hobart-class air warfare destroyer, which in turn is a derivative of the Spanish Navy's F-100 Álvaro de Bazán class. An ASW capability was the highest priority for the Royal Australian Navy, according to Chief of Navy Vice Adm. Tim Barrett. “I spoke as recently as last night to the First Sea Lord, my equivalent in the [British] Royal Navy, and I am assured by his comments on just how successful this platform will be as the world's most advanced anti-submarine warfare frigate,” he said Friday. The first steel is due to be cut on prototyping activities for the build at Osborne in late 2020, with full production following in 2022. The first ship of the class will be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in the late 2020s. Under the deal, the government-owned shipbuilder ASC will become a subsidiary of BAE Systems during the build, with the government retaining a sovereign share in the entity. The shipyard will revert to government ownership at the end of the project. Turnbull said the arrangement ensures BAE Systems is fully responsible and accountable for the delivery of the frigates, noting that Australia retains the intellectual property and a highly skilled workforce at the end of the program. “My expectation is that the next generation of frigates that comes after the ones we're about to start building at ASC will be designed and built in Australia,” he said. BAE System's global maritime systems business development director, Nigel Stewart, told Defense News that he welcomes the build strategy. “We were really pleased with that as an outcome because ASC has great capability. We always wanted to use the workforce, but this allows us to join ASC and BAE together much earlier, and we think that will be really positive,” he said. Stewart said the plan was for the Hunter-class build to follow the Type 26 activity in the U.K. by around five years, which will serve to de-risk the Australian program. BAE is due to deliver the first ship, HMS Glasgow, to the British Royal Navy in 2025, with entry into service in the 2027 time frame. “We cut steel for the first Type 26 in the U.K. in June 2017, and we'll cut steel for full production of the Hunter class in South Australia in 2022,” he said. “We'll run at an 18-month drumbeat in the U.K., and somewhere between 18 months and two years in Australia. That will keep a five-year gap, which is almost perfect. You are de-risking the Australian program in the U.K. and you don't get the obsolescence issues you would if there was a longer gap, so it's a really good program overlap.” In other news Friday, the Turnbull government announced it will set up a AU$670 million training and capability center for the Hunter-class frigates in Western Australia. Known as Ship Zero, the initiative will be established at HMAS Stirling, the Navy's Fleet Base West, at the shipbuilding facility in Henderson. Much of the training traditionally performed at sea will be transferred into the land-based facility. The capital works project will be considered by the Australian Parliament early next year, and construction is expected to commence in 2019. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/06/29/australia-officially-announces-26b-frigate-contract-here-are-the-build-details/

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  May 2, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  RPAS maritime surveillance services now underway in Iceland

  A medium altitude long endurance RPAS drone is being used by the Icelandic maritime authorities to enhance the maritime picture over its Exclusive Economic Zone, the service follows a request made by the Icelandic coast guard to EMSA and is expected to run until mid-July. The RPAS chosen will be integrated into the existing surveillance mechanisms and procedures covering coast guard functions in the areas of maritime safety and security, search and rescue, environmental protection, law enforcement and fisheries control. The particular RPAS in use is adapted to withstand the strong winds and icy conditions common to the North Atlantic Ocean. It has an endurance of over 12 hours and may perform maritime surveillance tasks in areas extending as far as 200nm from the shoreline. The operations are based at the Egilsstaðir airport in the east of the island. From there, they have the capability to cover more than half of the Icelandic Exclusive Economic Zone. EMSA's RPAS services for Iceland involve the cooperation of several Icelandic authorities, who will be able to follow the missions remotely thanks to EMSA's RPAS data centre. Users will include the Icelandic coast guard, the fisheries directorate, the environment agency, the customs directorate, the police force, and the search and rescue association. The Hermes 900 RPAS is under contract by EMSA from CEiiA – the Centre of Engineering and Innovation. It is a MALE-class fixed wing, single engine RPAS and is capable of night and day operations. Using SATCOM technology, it can operate beyond radio line of sight. The payload consists of electro-optical and infra-red video cameras, maritime radar, AIS receiver, and an EPIRB receiver. “EMSA's RPAS services give us and our users, in this case Iceland, another lens through which we can gain even greater situational awareness. Our services have been used by three different member states since the beginning of the year and more are in the pipeline for the upcoming months,” explained Executive Director, Maja Markovčić Kostelac. EMSA's RPAS services were set up in 2017 for maritime surveillance and monitoring operations to support national authorities involved in coast guard functions. This includes: maritime pollution and emissions monitoring; detection of illegal fishing, anti-drug trafficking, and illegal immigration; border surveillance; and, search and rescue operations. For further information and media enquiries, please contact: Tel. +351 21 1209 281 e-mail information@emsa.europa.eu http://www.emsa.europa.eu/emsa-homepage/2-news-a-press-centre/news/3525-press-release-rpas-maritime-surveillance-services-now-underway-in-iceland.html