Boeing to launch space-based quantum demo in 2026

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  September 7, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

  Réglementation ITAR : la France veut réduire sa dépendance aux Etats-Unis

  Par Michel Cabirol La France a lancé un plan pour réduire les dépendances de l'industrie d'armement aux composants américains qui entrent dans la fabrication de certains programmes français. La France veut réduire sa dépendance aux composants américains dans la Défense afin de ne pas gêner l'exportation de ses programmes, a déclaré jeudi la ministre des Armées Florence Parly. La France doit actuellement demander aux Etats-Unis la levée d'interdictions sur certains composants. "Nous avons besoin progressivement de nous désensibiliser par rapport à un certain nombre de composants américains, ce qui ne veut pas dire nécessairement pouvoir se désensibiliser complètement", a-t-elle expliqué lors d'une rencontre avec l'Association des journalistes professionnels de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (AJPAE). La France a d'ailleurs lancé un plan pour réduire les dépendances par rapport à ces composants américains. "Je ne donnerai pas d'exemple précis mais nous avons été confrontés, dans des échanges liés à des prospects exportations, à des difficultés. Et nous savons bien que ces difficultés sont liées en apparence à des questionnements stratégiques et en réalité souvent à des problèmes de concurrence commerciale. Il ne faut pas en être dupes", a-t-elle expliqué. Si un système d'armes contient au moins un composant américain sous le régime de la réglementation américaine ITAR, les Etats-Unis ont le pouvoir d'en interdire la vente à l'export à un pays tiers. Ainsi, ils ont récemment bloqué la vente de missile de croisière Scalp, qui devait armer le Rafale, à l'Egypte et au Qatar. En 2013, Washington avait déjà refusé une demande de réexportation de la France aux Emirats Arabes Unis de composants "made in USA" nécessaires à la fabrication de deux satellites espions français (Airbus et Thales). La visite de François Hollande aux États-Unis en février 2014 avait permis de régler positivement ce dossier. Lors de son audition en juillet dernier à l'Assemblée nationale, Florence Parly avait reconnu que "nous sommes à la merci des Américains quand nos matériels sont concernés". "Avons-nous les moyens d'être totalement indépendants des composants américains ? Je ne le crois pas. Cherchons-nous à améliorer la situation ? La réponse est oui", avait-elle déjà assuré en juillet. La France travaille notamment à désensibiliser les futurs programmes d'armement. Ainsi Florence Parly a affirmé que cette moindre dépendance serait cruciale pour la viabilité du futur programme d'avion de combat (SCAF). Cela passe pour Paris et Berlin d'avoir la capacité d'exporter ce futur système d'armes. Elle a estimé que les industriels devaient prendre en compte ce dossier en lançant des investissements en matière de recherche et de technologie pour être en mesure de fabriquer un composant analogue qui échapperait au dispositif ITAR. "Certains industriels l'ont compris", a-t-elle précisé. C'est le cas du missilier MBDA dans le cadre du développement du futur missile air-air MICA-NG. Ce programme, qui sera opérationnel en 2025, est développé en prenant en compte la contrainte ITAR. Ils seront ITAR Free, assure-t-on à La Tribune. Florence Parly a également rappelé la dépendance de la France pour les drone MALE Reaper. "Pour armer les Reaper, il faut une autorisation du Congrès américain. Est-ce satisfaisant ? Non. Mais aujourd'hui on n'a pas le choix", a-t-elle expliqué, faisant référence aux drones achetés aux Etats-Unis depuis 2013. Pour autant, l'armement des Reaper ne signifie pas que la France armera le futur drone MALE de reconnaissance et de surveillance en préparation pour 2025. "Dans les spécifications, il sera possible de l'armer, ce qui ne signifie pas qu'aujourd'hui la décision est prise sur la question de savoir s'il sera en définitive armé", a-t-elle souligné. https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/reglementation-itar-la-france-veut-reduire-sa-dependance-aux-composants-americains-789612.html

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  January 26, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  £30-million injection for UK’s first uncrewed fighter aircraft

  The UK's first fleet of uncrewed fighter aircraft is one step closer to reality following a £30-million contract to design and manufacture a prototype in a three-year deal supporting more than 100 jobs in Belfast. Published 25 January 2021 From: Ministry of Defence, Northern Ireland Office, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, The Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP, and Jeremy Quin MP The uncrewed combat aircraft will be designed to fly at high-speed alongside fighter jets, armed with missiles, surveillance and electronic warfare technology to provide a battle-winning advantage over hostile forces. Known as a ‘loyal wingman', these aircraft will be the UK's first uncrewed platforms able to target and shoot down enemy aircraft and survive against surface to air missiles. In a boost for Northern Ireland's defence industry, Spirit AeroSystems, Belfast, have been selected to lead Team MOSQUITO in the next phase of the Project. Utilising ground-breaking engineering techniques, the team will further develop the RAF's Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept, with a full-scale vehicle flight-test programme expected by the end of 2023. Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis said: This is fantastic news and underlines the distinct strengths in Northern Ireland's economy, through its advanced engineering and manufacturing capabilities. This ground-breaking project will involve significant investment which will not only support local employment, but also reinforce Northern Ireland's contribution to the security of our nation. Team MOSQUITO, which also includes Northrop Grumman UK, will mature the designs and manufacture a technology demonstrator to generate evidence for a follow-on LANCA programme. If successful, Project Mosquito's findings could lead to this revolutionary capability being deployed alongside the Typhoon and F-35 Lightning jets by the end of the decade. Defence Minister, Jeremy Quin said: This is a great win for the Northern Ireland defence industry and will showcase some of the most pioneering engineering work currently being undertaken in the UK. The £30 million project will accelerate the development of the UK's future air power by delivering cutting-edge uncrewed aircraft, maintaining our position as a world leader in emerging technologies. Working with innovative partners from across the UK, Project Mosquito is transforming traditional approaches to combat air to enable the rapid development of technology. By utilising the latest software development techniques and civilian aerospace engineering and manufacturing expertise, the project will deliver dramatic reductions in costs and development timelines, so their innovations can reach the front-line quicker than ever before. This game changing research and development project will ensure the final aircraft design will be capable of being easily and affordably updated with the latest technology so we remain one step ahead of our adversaries. The aircraft's flexibility will provide the optimum protection, survivability and information as it flies alongside Typhoon, F-35 Lightning, and later, Tempest as part of our future combat air system. Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston, Chief of the Air Staff said: We're taking a revolutionary approach, looking at a game-changing mix of swarming drones and uncrewed fighter aircraft like Mosquito, alongside piloted fighters like Tempest, that will transform the combat battlespace in a way not seen since the advent of the jet age. Director Future Combat Air, Richard Berthon said: Project Mosquito is a vital element of our approach to Future Combat Air, rapidly bringing to life design, build and test skills for next generation combat air capabilities. Autonomous ‘loyal wingman' aircraft create the opportunity to expand, diversify and rapidly upgrade Combat Air Forces in a cost-effective way, now and in the future. As announced by the Prime Minister in November 2020, the UK's Future Combat Air System (FCAS) programme is set to benefit from a portion of the extra £1.5 billion investment into military research and development, which will help ensure our Armed Forces are prepared to meet the threats of tomorrow. LANCA originated in 2015 in Dstl to understand innovative Combat Air technologies and concepts that offer radical reductions in cost and development time and is a RAF Rapid Capabilities Office led project under the Future Combat Air System Technology Initiative (FCAS TI). The UK MOD's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) provides the project management and is the MOD's technical authority for LANCA and Project Mosquito on behalf of the RCO. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/30m-injection-for-uks-first-uncrewed-fighter-aircraft

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  October 22, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR

  BAE teams up with Elbit on combat vehicle tech

  Jen Judson BAE Systems is teaming up with Elbit Systems of America to develop combat vehicle technology, according to an Oct. 21 BAE statement. “The arrangement is focused on validating and integrating new technologies on combat vehicle systems to deliver advanced warfighting capabilities,” the statement reads. On the eve of the start of the Army's second attempt to hold a competition to replace its Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle with an Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV), the announcement could signal BAE's plans to take a shot in the new effort. BAE Systems — Bradley's manufacturer — opted out of the previous OMFV competitive effort because the company felt the requirements and timeline to design, develop and field a new vehicle wasn't realistic. And the Army ended up withdrawing its first solicitation in that competition because just one competitor was able to deliver a physical bid sample within the required timeline. BAE has been quiet about whether it plans to invest its time and money into the new OMFV competition, but a partnership with Elbit, which is a leader in advanced turret solutions, could be a sign that it will participate this time around. “The teaming arrangement will explore crew automation, vehicle protection systems and other defensive and offensive systems for integration into turrets of various cannon calibers and supporting weapon systems for combat vehicles,” according to the statement. “BAE Systems and Elbit America are investing in transformational combat vehicle technologies and turret solutions that will greatly enhance the lethality and survivability of next-generation combat vehicles for the U.S. and international militaries,” Jim Miller, director of business development at BAE Systems, said. “Our relationship demonstrates a commitment to provide our customers with solutions for future battlefields based on our collective combat vehicle expertise.” The day before the announcement, Rheinmetall put out a statement saying it was teaming with Textron Systems to pitch its Lynx41 vehicle for the OMFV competition. Rheinmetall made an unsuccessful attempt last year to enter the OMFV competition with Raytheon as a US-based partner, but said it was unable to get its single Lynx vehicle in existence to the United States by the Army's due date to deliver a physical bid sample. General Dynamics Land Systems is also expected to compete in the OMFV competition. It was the only company to deliver physical bid sample in the last go-around. The Army is not requiring a bid sample in the new OMFV competition. The Army put out a draft solicitation in July and plans to release its request for proposals to industry in December. The service plans to request whitepapers and then choose five prime contractor teams to design rough digital prototypes. The service will then award up to three contracts for a detailed design and prototype phase that will include options for low-rate initial production. One vendor will be selected to go into production. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/10/21/bae-teams-up-with-elbit-on-combat-vehicle-tech/