July 15, 2022 | International, Aerospace
German lawmakers greenlight $344 million support package for future P-8 fleet
Questions are still swirling here about how many additional Poseidon aircraft, if any, the government will move to buy.
June 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Can Tempest and FCAS projects both succeed in Europe?
By Flight International 26 June 2020
For some, a time of global economic crisis might not feel like the perfect moment for nations to invest huge sums of money to develop a new class of combat aircraft only due to enter use around 2035-2040.
Currently, six European governments and their national defence industry champions are involved in the early phases of two competing – and comparable – projects to deliver such a capability.
In the opinion of Airbus Defence & Space chief executive Dirk Hoke, Europe's current trio of advanced fighters – the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and Saab Gripen – represent a wasteful replication of industrial effort – and all lose out by battling for the same orders.
Hoke is championing a future combat air system (FCAS) project now combining the resources and know-how of French and German industry, and also later incorporating Spain.
With its Tempest development having drawn interest from Italy and Sweden, the UK is not only turning away from its co-operation with Germany and Spain on Eurofighter, but applying the afterburners on their separation.
Key players behind both efforts are united in their calls to “avoid the mistakes of the past”. For some, that refers to compromised yet complex requirements, sprawling manufacturing and final assembly arrangements, and political interference during export activities, while for others, a simple lack of harmony was at fault.
Getting everyone to agree that having multiple final assembly lines for a fighter with a comparatively small production volume is an inefficient luxury is one thing – agreeing which will lose the strategic capability is quite another.
International partnering spreads a programme's investment burden, but elements of the Eurofighter set-up and the Airbus Defence & Space A400M airlifter serve as cautionary tales. Three can be a crowd, but a lack of agreement among four or seven involved nations can cause lengthy delay and spiralling costs.
Surely Europe can comfortably support two next-generation combat aircraft programmes? Indeed, those involved in FCAS and Tempest eye them as offering a real opportunity to power part of their nations' economic recovery in the post-coronavirus era.
For an alternative view should the projects eventually have to merge, a unified solution could serve all 27 EU member states, plus the UK. Such a prospect could make the US-led Lockheed Martin F-35 programme look like a bureaucratic cakewalk by comparison.
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May 6, 2021 | International, Naval
Thales fournira 55 sonars à l’US Navy
Les sonars « Airborne Low Frequency Sonar » (ALFS) de Thales, conçus pour la lutte anti sous-marine, équiperont les hélicoptères MH-60R (Sikorsky) de l'US Navy. 42 seront livrés durant les cinq prochaines années et une option quant à la livraison de 13 systèmes supplémentaires au cours de la sixième année serait prévue. Thales est un partenaire important de l'US Navy puisque 300 sonars ALFS ont déjà été exportés aux Etats-Unis. Ces sonars équipent aussi les MH-60R destinés à l'export. Air & Cosmos, 5 mai
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May 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Land
India ups foreign investment, but will stop importing weapons that can be made locally
By: Ashok Sharma, The Associated Press NEW DELHI — India announced Saturday that global companies can now invest up to 74 percent in the country's defense manufacturing units, up from 49 percent, without requiring any government approval. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed hope that the new policy will attract foreign companies with high-end technologies to set up their manufacturing bases in India in collaboration with Indian companies. Sitharaman's announcement came as part of reforms Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is implementing to revive India's economy, which has been shattered by the coronavirus pandemic. She also told reporters that India will stop importing weapons that can be made in the country. “We will notify a list of weapons and platforms for ban on their imports and fix deadlines to do it,” she said, adding that this will improve self-reliance on defense manufacturing. India introduced up to 49 percent foreign direct investment in defense production in 2016 to attract modern technology in the country. That attracted more than 18.34 billion rupees (U.S. $244 million) until December last year, according to a government statement. India issues defense-industrial licenses for making tanks, military aircraft, spacecraft and their parts, UAVs, missiles for military purposes, and warships. India, a major buyer of military equipment, depended largely on the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. But it has been diversifying its purchases by opting for U.S. equipment as well. During U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to India in February, the two countries signed a deal for India to buy from the U.S. more than $3 billion in advanced military equipment, including helicopters. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2020/05/18/india-ups-foreign-investment-but-will-stop-importing-weapons-that-can-be-made-locally