Armsmaker's sponsorship of soccer club BVB shows new reality, says German minister

On the same subject

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  October 21, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Le choix du remplaçant des F-16 belges va tomber

  Le gouvernement fédéral est désormais en mesure de formaliser sa décision sur le choix du prochain avion de combat de l'aviation belge. Un appareil qui devrait voler à partir de 2023 et durant au moins quatre décennies sous les cocardes tricolores rouges, jaunes et noires, qu'il soit américain ou européen. Les principaux ministres de l'équipe Michel ont été «briefés» mercredi par des experts sur le «retour sociétal» (les retombées économiques et les autres formes de coopération offertes à la Belgique) proposé par les promoteurs des deux candidats officiellement en lice pour le remplacement des F-16 vieillissants: le F-35 Lightning II du groupe américain Lockheed Martin et l'Eurofighter – alias Typhoon – du consortium européen éponyme promu par le Royaume-Uni, dans le cadre d'un marché d'État à État. Le 4 octobre, le conseil ministériel restreint (»kern») avait déjà entendu le rapport des militaires qui ont conduit l'évaluation exhaustive des deux candidats, sous l'égide d'une cellule de l'état-major de la Défense, l' «Air Combat Capability Program» (ACCaP), dirigée par le colonel Harold Van Pee. Un troisième candidat potentiel est le Rafale de l'avionneur français Dassault Aviation, pour lequel peu de données chiffrées sont disponibles. Car Paris n'a pas répondu à l'appel d'offres officiel, préférant proposer à la Belgique un «partenariat approfondi et structurant» fondé sur le Rafale et une implication belge dans le développement d'un avion de combat de nouvelle génération, envisagé par la France et l'Allemagne à l'horizon 2040 dans le contexte d'une relance de la défense européenne. Avant le départ de Vandeput? Le gouvernement dispose de toutes les informations pour faire son choix, dans un climat de lobbying intense et alors que les États-Unis ont accepté de prolonger pour une courte période – apparemment jusqu'à la fin du mois – leur offre pour le F-35 qui expirait formellement le 14 octobre, date des élections communales et provinciales. Le ministre de la Défense, Steven Vandeput (N-VA), qui quittera cette fonction d'ici le 1er janvier pour devenir bourgmestre de Hasselt, a dit lundi espérer encore pouvoir boucler cet épineux dossier avant son départ. «Ce serait beau si je pouvais conclure les gros investissements. Nous avons mis beaucoup de choses sur les rails qui sont aujourd'hui mûres pour être tranchées», a-t-il déclaré. Le Premier ministre Charles Michel (MR) a lui aussi cité, dans sa déclaration de politique générale à la Chambre le 8 octobre, les chantiers à boucler par le gouvernement – dont les décisions à prendre pour plusieurs programmes militaires, comme le remplacement des F-16 – mais en se montrant plus prudent sur l'échéance. «Nous prendrons très vite, et en tout cas avant la fin de la législature (en mai prochain, NDLR), les décisions qui s'imposent pour chacun de ces programmes», a assuré M. Michel. Car, comme souvent en Belgique, le dossier ACCaP s'est retrouvé mêlé à au moins deux autres programmes militaires: l'achat de nouveaux drones, potentiellement armés, et de nouveaux blindés pour la composante Terre, un programme baptisé «CaMo» portant sur 477 engins et à mener en coopération avec la France. L'approche de la dernière ligne droite avant une décision sur le nouveau chasseur-bombardier a accentué les efforts de lobbying dans ce marché d'un montant initial de 3,6 milliards d'euros – et une quinzaine de milliards sur la durée de vie attendue de l'appareil, soit une quarantaine d'années – même si les offres américaine et britanniques semblent «en dessous» de ce cadre financier, selon des sources concordantes. Les Britanniques, qui promeuvent le Typhoon au nom du consortium Eurofighter (rassemblant également l'Allemagne, l'Espagne et l'Italie), craignent une décision (trop) h'tive en faveur du F-35 prise en dépit de nombreuses incertitudes sur le coût du chasseur furtif américain, tant à l'achat – la version proposée à la Belgique est le Block 4, dont le développement n'a pas encore été financé – qu'à l'utilisation. Plusieurs ministres britanniques, dont ceux des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce international, Jeremy Hunt et Liam Fox, viennent ainsi d'écrire à leurs homologues belges pour, selon une source informée, leur rappeler l'intérêt pour la Belgique d'une solution européenne, l'Eurofighter étant produit à 75% sur le continent. https://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20181018_01244354/le-choix-du-remplacant-des-f-16-belges-va-tomber

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  July 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  House panel isn’t giving defense industry all the COVID aid it wants

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon would have $758 million to help mid-tier defense firms weather the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic as part of the annual defense spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. But the aid, which was part of the panel's proposed $694.6 billion bill, falls short of the “lower double-digit billions” Pentagon officials say defense firms will claim under the stimulus bill Congress passed in March. As Congress debates the next stimulus, the defense industry has been urging lawmakers to appropriate enough to reimburse the Pentagon's suppliers for pandemic-related disruptions. Under Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, contractors can seek to recover such costs, but Congress has yet to appropriate money for it. “While helpful and our industry appreciates the recognition of the need in the HAC mark and all the support we have received from the Pentagon and Congress to date, this level is insufficient to provide the support indicated previously by [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] and also by company leaders who have been communicating with the Pentagon, the Congress and the White House, including [the Office of Management and Budget],” said National Defense Industrial Association Vice Chairman Arnold Punaro. “We are urging that the next stimulus bill provide the needed funds particularly to support section 3610, the reasonable adjustments due to disruptions, and the added costs of protecting the workforces and doing business in a COVID-19 environment,” he added. Not all of the details of the defense bill were available Wednesday, but a committee summary says it provides “$758 million to mitigate the impacts of COVID on second, third, and fourth tier suppliers in the Defense Industrial Base.” Such support would supplement $688 million for the defense-industrial base that the Department of Defense previously set aside as part of the $10.5 billion it got from the coronavirus relief fund created under the CARES Act. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord warned Congress last month that the DoD's pandemic-related costs, which include 3,610 claims, may nonetheless force it to dip into modernization and readiness accounts if Congress doesn't backfill the money. “The department does not have the funding to cover these costs,” she said. The House Appropriations Committee's bill is not the last word, and Republicans, who control the Senate and the White House, will negotiate over the final numbers. “FY21 appropriations bills must be changed before they have any chance of becoming law,” the panel's top Republican, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, said Tuesday. This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., began to outline a forthcoming GOP-drafted coronavirus relief package, but it was not immediately revealed what the Pentagon's share might be. House Democrats are reportedly seeking $250 billion in emergency spending for an array of issues, to include rural broadband and transportation infrastructure to health care and global coronavirus relief. As lawmakers reconcile these many priorities, at least one one influential lawmaker on defense ― House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash. ― has said repeatedly that the Defense Department should draw from its existing budget. The Project on Government Oversight's Mandy Smithberger said the Pentagon has yet to make the case that payments to the defense industry will be the best means to stimulate the economy. “Even though they often don't act like it, resources are still limited to a degree and Congress has to consider fairness as part of that distribution, including who needs the government's help most, and which sectors are going to do the most to help the country,” Smithberger said. “These companies have much better access to capital than a number of other industries and individuals. Even from a reviving-the-economy perspective, this sector has always been one of the poorer performers per dollar for job creation.” The health care and education sectors create more than twice as many jobs per $1 million than the military, and the energy and infrastructure sectors create 40 percent more, according a 2019 analysis by the Costs of War project at Brown University. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/07/08/house-panel-isnt-giving-defense-industry-all-the-covid-aid-it-wants/

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  February 17, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  Czech aircraft maker boosts Asian presence with Vietnam jet trainer deal

  By: Jaroslaw Adamowski and Mike Yeo WARSAW, Poland, and MELBOURNE, Australia — Securing the first Asian customer for its latest product, Czech aircraft maker Aero Vodochody has signed a contract to sell 12 L-39NG jet trainers to Vietnam's Ministry of National Defence. Deliveries are scheduled for the years 2023 to 2024, and Czech arms exporter Omnipol is acting as an intermediary for the deal. “We are proud to announce this crucial and strategic cooperation which is an important milestone for the L-39NG project,” Jiří Podpěra, the president of Omnipol, was quoted as saying in a statement. The value of the deal, which includes training, spare components and related logistics support, was not disclosed. The sale includes a range of related services such as pilot and instructor training, spares, as well as ground and logistical support equipment, the company said. The Czech Ministry of Defence certified the jet trainer last September, paving the way for the L-39NG's exports. The move followed about 300 test flights on two flying prototypes and ground tests on two static prototypes, according to the producer. Since then, Aero Vodochody has managed to secure a contract to deliver four such aircraft in a light-attack variant to Senegal's Air Force. Omnipol is a minority shareholder in Aero Vodochody, with a 49 percent stake. Hungarian businessman Andras Tombor holds the remaining 51 percent of the shares. The L-39NG is a modernized version of the L-39 trainer that was originally introduced into service in 1970. The new aircraft features a host of improvements over the original design, with a modern glass cockpit, improved avionics and the FJ44 turbofan engine by U.S. manufacturer Williams International. The Vietnam People's Air Force or VPAF currently operates older versions of the L-39, with an estimated two dozen aircraft still in service. The announcement that Vietnam will acquire the L-39NG comes after the country ordered a similar number of Yak-130 jet trainers from Russia in early 2020. A news segment on Russian state TV from January showed a Yak-130 for Vietnam on the production floor of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant, which produces the jets. It is likely that the VPAF will operate the L-39NG as a basic jet trainer, with the higher-performance Yak-130 acting as an advanced jet or lead-in fighter trainer. Vietnam is one of six countries claiming ownership of the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands in the South China Sea, and has been one of the most vocal in pushing back against fellow claimant China's increasingly assertive military activities in the area. The Vietnamese military still operates primarily Russian equipment, but has in recent years acquired transport aircraft from European manufacturer Airbus and taken delivery of surplus ships from the South Korean navy and U.S. Coast Guard. An arms embargo on the country imposed by the United States following the end of the Vietnam War was lifted in 2016, and U.S. Navy ships, including aircraft carriers, have made port visits to Vietnamese ports in recent years. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2021/02/16/czech-aircraft-maker-boosts-asian-presence-with-vietnam-jet-trainer-deal/