Avion de combat: premiers tests d'un prototype de moteur pour le Scaf

On the same subject

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  May 22, 2024 | International, Land

  US, Gulf states meet for first security forum since war in Gaza

  The group will discuss better coordination on security in a time when the region is facing multiple crises.

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  April 9, 2020 | International, Naval, Land

  The Marines want to get rid of their tanks. Here’s why.

  Shawn Snow A series of wargames conducted between 2018 and 2019 helped inform the Corps' decision to divest of tanks and outmoded units and equipment that will have trouble surviving in fight with peer adversaries like China, according to a Marine Corps force redesign report. From those wargames the Corps learned that the unit that shoots first has a “decisive advantage” on the battlefield and forces that can operate inside the range of enemy long-range precision fires “are more operationally relevant than forces which must rapidly maneuver to positions outside the ”weapons engagement zone, the report reads. The Corps' decision to divest of tanks, cut ground cannon artillery and light attack air platforms has stoked some criticism. Tanks historically have had success in high-end and urban warfare for decades boasting devastating firepower highly lethal to ground forces. But tanks and armored vehicles have had trouble surviving against the threat of precision strike and the plethora of drone and reconnaissance systems flooding conflict zones across the Middle East. For recent evidence, a Turkish launched operation targeting Syrian regime army troops in late February decimated more than a hundred tanks and armored vehicles, dozens of artillery pieces and hundreds of Syrian forces, according to the Turkish National Ministry of Defense. Turkey posted videos highlighting a mixed role of drones, Paladin artillery systems and aircraft pounding Syrian armor from the skies over the course of several days. The Syrian army appeared helpless to defend from the onslaught of long range systems. Even tanks camouflaged by buildings and bushes were no match for sensors and thermal imaging watching from the skies. The problem is exacerbated by the number of sophisticated anti-tank systems flooding counterinsurgency conflicts across the globe and access to long range drones once only in control by state actors are now being operated by militia groups. In Libya, the Libyan National Army has the upper hand in its drone war with the UN-backed Tripoli government. It's equipped with an alleged UAE-supplied Chinese drone known as the Wing Long II that boasts a 2,000 km range through a satellite link and is reportedly armed with Chinese manufactured Blue Arrow 7 precision strike air-to-surface missiles. “Mobility inside the WEZ [ weapons engagement zone] is a competitive advantage and an operational imperative,” the Marine Corps report reads. The Corps instead is looking for mobile systems and units that can survive within the reach of precision fires to “attrit adversary forces," create dilemmas for the enemy and “consume adversary ISR resources,” according to the report. “The hider-versus finder competition is real. Losing this competition has enormous and potentially catastrophic consequences,” the report reads. Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities will be key on the modern battlefield. “We have sufficient evidence to conclude that this capability [tanks], despite its long and honorable history in the wars of the past, is operationally unsuitable for our highest-priority challenges in the future,” the report said about the divestment of Marine tanks. But tanks aren't disappearing from the fight. The Corps says heavy ground armor will still be provided by the Army. The Corps says it plans to develop heavily into unmanned ground and air systems and rocket artillery and long range fires. According to the report, the Corps is increasing its rocket artillery batteries by 14 to 21 over a 10-year period. Wargaming that inferred the Corps' force redesign efforts were carried out by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, among others. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/flashpoints/2020/03/26/the-marines-want-to-get-rid-of-their-tanks-heres-why

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  October 15, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  ImSAR LLC wins $$7.2M contract for work on RQ-21A unmanned aerial systems

  ByEd Adamczyk Oct. 11 (UPI) -- ImSAR LLC was awarded a $7.2 million contract for work on payload systems and communications packages of the RQ-21 Blackjack unmanned aerial system. The cost-plus-fixed fee delivery order against a previous ordering agreement calls for work to be executed by October 2020, the Defense Department announced Thursday. The RQ-21 Blackjack is 8.2 feet long, weighs 134 pounds and has a wingspan of 15.7 feet. It can carry a payload of up to 39 pounds, and is used primarily for forward reconnaissance. Introduced in 2014, it was designed by Insitu, a Boeing Co. subsidiary. The contract with the U.S. Navy is in support of a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research program effort named "Advanced Radar Concepts for Small Remotely Piloted Aircraft." ImSAR, headquartered in Springville, Utah, will provide research, development, procurement and sustainment of the AN/DPY-2 split aces payload systems and communications relay package aboard the RQ-21A. The SBIR program is coordinated by the U.S. Small Business Administration to aid small businesses conduct research and development for future U.S. government needs, with a goal of technical innovation through investment of federal research funds. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/10/11/ImSAR-LLC-wins-72M-contract-for-work-on-RQ-21A-unmanned-aerial-systems