December 11, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

Congress wants five-year budget plan for European defense fund

By: Jen Judson

WASHINGTON — Congress wants the Pentagon to produce a five-year plan for the European Deterrence Initiative fund, much like what is required each year when the Defense Department rolls out its base budget request.

In the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill's conference report released Dec. 9, Congress gives the Pentagon a tight deadline to produce a future years plan for the EDI account for FY20 — no later than the end of the year — that covers “not fewer than the four succeeding fiscal years.”

Congress wants the defense secretary and the head of U.S. European Command to submit to congressional defense committees subsequent future five-year plans beginning in FY21 at the same time as budget requests are submitted.

The EDI account — initially called the European Reassurance Initiative — was created to help Eastern European allies deter Russia from further incursion into Europe following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and continued military activity in the region.

The U.S. Army's presence at the time of the annexation had dwindled from roughly 200,000 troops in Europe in the 1980s to around 33,000 in 2015. The Army had only two permanently stationed brigade combat teams, had closed more than 100 sites since 2006, and was concentrated in Italy and Germany rather than along NATO's eastern flank.

The plans should contain a description of the “intended force structure and posture” of the assigned forces in Europe for the last fiscal year as well as “the manner in which such force structure and posture support the implementation of the National Defense Strategy,” according to the bill's report.

The plan should also detail infrastructure and military construction investments and the assessment of resources including cost estimates for each project needed to achieve requirements such as increased presence, exercises, training, enhanced pre-positioning of stocks and building partnership capacity, the bill noted.

The Pentagon should also include a timeline to achieve force posture and capabilities to include permanent posture requirements as well as a detailed account of what has changed from the previous year, according to the bill.

Additionally, the Defense Department is required to submit a report no later than the end of November 2020 and each year after summarizing in detail funds obligated for EDI for the past fiscal year, as well as a comparison of funds requested for the following fiscal year.

Under the bill, the Pentagon must also provide an interim briefing no later than the end of March 2021 and each year after covering the status of all matters to be included in the future years plans and reports on EDI.

Funding for EDI has continued to grow since its inception almost five years ago. In FY19, the Pentagon requested $6.5 billion, up from $4.8 billion in FY18 and $3.4 billion in FY17. Only in FY20 did the funding come down, when the Pentagon cut the account by 10 percent.

The Pentagon said the cut accounted for some one-time expenses such as military construction and a look toward increased burden-sharing from allies.

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/12/10/congress-wants-five-year-budget-plan-for-european-defense-fund/

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July 7, 2020 | International, Land

India accelerates weapons purchases in wake of border clash with China
By: Vivek Raghuvanshi NEW DELHI — India has accelerated the domestic and foreign purchase of weapons in the wake of a border clash between Indian and Chinese troops. Sino-Indo relations are suffering after a skirmish with Chinese troops on June 15 in Galwan Valley. India said 20 of its soldiers were killed, as were Chinese soldiers. Chinese officials have not confirmed any casualties. The Defence Acquisition Council on Friday approved a collection of arms procurement projects worth $5.55 billion, including domestic efforts worth $.4.44 billion. DAC is an apex-level body that falls under the purview of the Ministry of Defence. “In the current situation and the need to strengthen the armed forces for the defence of our borders, and in line with our Prime Minister's clarion call for ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat' [self-sufficient India], the DAC, in its meeting of July 2 held under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, accorded approval for capital acquisitions of various platforms and equipment required by the Indian armed forces. Proposals for an approximate cost of $5.55 billion were approved,” the MoD said in a statement. Under the approval, India will upgrade 59 of its MiG-29 aircraft and buy 21 more from Russia for about $1 billion. In addition, India will order 12 Russian-made Su-30MKI fighters from the local state-owned company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for $1.53 billion. The government has also approved several indigenous development programs, including ammunition for Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers; an armaments upgrade of BMP-2 infantry combat vehicles; software-defined radios; Nirbhay land-attack cruise missiles; and Astra beyond-visual-range missiles. The government also approved the emergency purchase of Excalibur artillery rounds for M777 ultralight howitzers from the United States, Igla-S air defense systems from Russia and Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel. It's also granted special financial powers that comes with a ceiling of $71.42 million to rapidly buy weapons. But these fast-track purchasing programs will still involve a multi-vendor competition. Twenty-five of these procurement programs are for the Army and the Air Force; 10 are for the Navy. The Army is likely to buy ammunition for its T-90 tanks, BMP-2 vehicles, air defense guns, artillery guns and small arms, as well as rockets, missiles and mortars. The Air Force is likely to buy air-to-air missiles, air to-ground missiles, smart bombs, chaffs, flares and precision-guided munitions. As part of the procurement effort, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar visited Moscow from June 22-25 and met with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov and chief of Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheev. An MoD official said India requested the immediate supply of spare parts for Su-30MKI fighters, Kilo-class submarines and T-90 tanks, as well as the emergency purchase of missiles and specialized ammunition for Russian-origin fighter jets, tanks, warships and submarines. Another MoD official said the Indian government plans to sign defense contracts with Russia worth $800 million to buy weapons and spare parts. DAC-approved projects are expected to be awarded within a year, with technology induction starting after about three years. For fast-track and emergency purchases, induction is to begin within a month and be completed within a year. Ashok Sharma with The Associated Press contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2020/07/06/india-accelerates-weapons-purchases-in-wake-of-border-clash-with-china/
April 24, 2022 | International, Aerospace

Détail d'article
Trois des quatre principales composantes de l'armée américaine ont exprimé le besoin d'acquérir en 2023 davantage d'avions de combat F-35 que ne le prévoit le Pentagone dans son projet de budget, a rapporté ces dernières semaines la presse spécialisée.
November 5, 2020 | International, Naval

Taiwan to start building first indigenous submarine before end of November
by Gabriel Dominguez & Matteo Scarano The Republic of China Navy (RoCN) has announced that construction work on Taiwan's first locally designed and developed diesel-electric attack submarine (SSK) will begin before the end of November. The RoCN said in a 2 November statement that the island's new submarine-building facility, located in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, will become operational this month, with local naval shipbuilder CSBC Corporation expected to hold a ceremony to mark the beginning of production of the first of eight planned submarines. According to Taiwanese media, the first boat is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2024, with sea trials and commissioning scheduled for 2025. The boats will be built under the Indigenous Defence Submarine Programme, also known as the Hai Ch'ang programme. CSBC Corporation (formerly the China Shipbuilding Corporation) is Taiwan's largest shipbuilder and is partly owned by the state. It had broken ground on the new facility in May 2019 in a ceremony presided over by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who was quoted at the time as saying that the facility had become necessary because international submarine manufacturers “no longer dared sell” Taiwan submarines because of pressure from China, which regards Taiwan as a break-away province. As Janes reported, the corporation – and its development partner, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) – were awarded a contract in 2017 to design and construct the submarines. The project is supported by a submarine development centre that CSBC inaugurated in 2016. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/taiwan-to-start-building-first-indigenous-submarine-before-end-of-november

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Congress wants five-year budget plan for European defense fund

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Détail d'article Trois des quatre principales composantes de l'armée américaine ont exprimé le besoin d'acquérir en 2023 davantage d'avions de combat F-35 que ne le prévoit le Pentagone dans son projet de budget, a rapporté ces dernières semaines la presse spécialisée.

Détail d'article
Trois des quatre principales composantes de l'armée américaine ont exprimé le besoin d'acquérir en 2023 davantage d'avions de combat F-35 que ne le prévoit le Pentagone dans son projet de budget, a rapporté ces dernières semaines la presse spécialisée.