Conférence sur la sécurité de Munich : faire revivre l’Europe comme une puissance politique stratégique.

On the same subject

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  October 11, 2018 | International, Naval

  Italian shipbuilders tout systems-engineering chops ahead of French merger talks

  By: Tom Kington ROME – Italian firms Leonardo and Fincantieri have announced tighter cooperation on naval systems work to help them build better ships and get ready for an expected Italo-French team-up in warship construction. The two firms said they would relaunch Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, an existing joint venture between them, to develop naval combat systems. Leonardo, which holds 49 percent of the joint venture, has long supplied radars, guns and systems to ships built by shipyard Fincantieri, which holds a majority 51 percent stake. OSN was created in 2002 to integrate the work of the two firms on Italy's Horizon frigates, Cavour carrier and FREMM frigates, but was not used for the more recent construction of Italy's new PPA frigates. In its new form, OSN will “assume responsibility for the development of the combat systems and the definition of subsystem requirements and individual components' architecture, including the Combat Management System (CMS),” in new vessels, the firms said in a statement. “Fincantieri will act as prime contractor, the single interface to customers and hold responsibility for the warship as a whole (Whole Warship Design Authority), therefore in charge, on behalf of OSN, of the architecture of the ship system concerning both the platform and the combat system. Leonardo will be the preferred partner for the Combat Management System and the equipment and systems of the ship,” the statement reads. An Italian industrial source said the deal was designed to make systems integration more central to shipbuilding by the two firms. “Until now a lot of work on integration took place during the ship building process. Now, integration should happen earlier in the process,” the source said. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/10/italian-shipbuilders-tout-systems-engineering-chops-ahead-of-french-merger-talks

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  February 14, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Sikorsky Delivers Two More CH-53K® Helicopters To U.S. Marine Corps

  Stratford, Conn., February 13, 2023 – Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), delivered two CH-53K helicopters to the U.S. Marine Corps in the final quarter of 2022. These CH-53K heavy...

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  January 23, 2020 | International, Naval

  Congress should fund new, not used sealift vessels, say former Maritime Administration officials

  By: David B. Larter WASHIGTON — Five former Maritime Administration officials have called on Congress to fund the construction of new sealift vessels instead of pushing the plan to buy and convert used ships on the open market. In a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations committees, officials from both Republican and Democrat administrations said replacing the nation's organic surge sealift fleet, which has an average hull life of 44 years, is essential to maintaining the ability to send troops and materiel overseas on short notice. The letter, signed by former MARAD Administrator Clyde Hart, as well as four other former MARAD attorneys and policy chiefs, called for Congress to build new ships to spur shipbuilding in the United States and to cut down on maintenance hassles that could spell delays in a crisis. “First, the new ships would be immediately operational,” the letter said, “and the Maritime Administration won't have to spend precious time finding long-obsolete parts, therein delay surge capacity. Second, building ships in the United States creates jobs, spurs spending and strengthens the U.S. shipbuilding industry.” The letter comes in the wake of findings from last year's turbo activation that only about 40 percent of the sealift fleet would be ready to surge in a crisis, and that the force would be “challenged to be immediately ready for a large-scale inter-theater force deployment,” which is its entire raison d'etre. The sealift fleet is composed of 26 Military Sealift Command pre-positioning ships, 46 ships in the Ready Reserve Force and 15 command-owned roll-on/roll-off surge force ships. Many of the roll-on/roll-off ships are steam-operated, and the obsolete equipment is causing significant personnel issues in the pool of qualified civilian mariners needed to operate them. The White House's Office of Management and Budget favors a “buy used” policy for the sealift fleet, which is rapidly aging out. The Army in 2018 sent a warning to the House Armed Services Committee in an information paper regarding the nation's surge sealift capacity — which would be responsible for transporting up to 90 percent of Army and Marine Corps equipment in the event of a major war. The Army said the capacity would fall below its requirement by 2024. “Without proactive recapitalization of the Organic Surge Sealift Fleet, the Army will face unacceptable risk in force projection capability beginning in 2024,” the document said, adding that the advanced age of the current fleet adds further risk to the equation. “By 2034, 70% of the organic fleet will be over 60 years old — well past its economic useful life; further degrading the Army's ability to deploy forces,” the document read. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/01/22/congress-should-fund-new-not-used-sealift-vessels-former-maritime-administration-officials-say/