Contracts for May 5, 2021

On the same subject

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  October 3, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Bell dévoile le 360 Invictus, un nouvel hélicoptère d’attaque et de reconnaissance pour l’US Army

  PAR LAURENT LAGNEAU Outre le renouvellement de ses véhicules blindés, confié à la « Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team », l'US Army a également lancé le plan Future Vertical Lift, lequel doit lui permettre de remplacer une grande partie de ses voilures tournantes ères à l'horizon 2028/30. En avril, dans le cadre du Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft [FARA], un sous-programme de ce plan, l'US Army a pré-sélectionné cinq industriels qui devront chacun présenter un prototype. Ont donc été retenus Karem Aircraft [associé à Raytheon et Northrop Grumman], Boeing, AVX Aircraft [avec L3], Sikorsky [groupe Lockheed-Martin] et Bell [filiale de Textron]. Selon les spécifications de l'US Army, ce futur hélicoptère d'attaque doit loger dans la soute d'un avion de transport C-17, voler à la vitesse de 200 noeuds, présenter une architecture modulaire, mettre en oeuvre des drones et se passer, le cas échéant, d'équipage pour certaines missions, en particulier dans les environnements fortements contestés. Et son coût devra être « abordable ». Depuis, et alors que Boeing et Karem Aircraft sont encore discrets sur les intentions, AVX Aircraft a présenté le concept Compound Coaxial Helicopter [CCH], qui repose sur un hélicoptère doté de commandes de vol électriques, d'un rotor contrarotatif et de deux turbines. Quant à Sikorsky, il mise sur son S-97 Raider, également muni d'un rotor contrarotatif, complété par une hélice propulsive. De son côté, le 2 octobre, soit après avoir annoncé un partenariat avec Collins Aerospace pour le système de mission et l'avionique, Bell a levé le voile sur le « 360 Invictus » [tiré du mot latin signifiant « invicible » ou du poème du même nom signé William Ernest Henley?]. Reprenant des technologies développées pour le Bell 525 Relentless, notamment au niveau du rotor, cet appareil serait en mesure de voler à une vitesse supérieure à 185 noeuds [cela dépendra de sa configuration]. Côté armement, il sera équipé d'un canon de 20 mm et pourra emporter des missiles air-sol. Son rayon d'action devrait être de l'ordre de 135 nautiques, avec la possibilité de rester 90 minutes sur zone. « La lutte multi-domaines sera complexe et notre équipe fournit une solution hautement performante et à faible risque pour répondre en toute confiance aux exigences opérationnelles avec une flotte durable », a fait valoir Vince Tobin, le directeur des affaires militaires chez Bell. En effet, disposant de commandes de vol électriques, le Bell 360 Invictus fera appel à des technologies déjà éprouvées ainsi qu'à quelques innovations issues de programmes civils et militaires. Procéder de la sorte permet ainsi à l'industriel d'être très compétitif en terme de coûts, l'US Army ayant fixé à 30 millions de dollars le prix unitaire de ses futurs hélicoptères d'attaque et de reconnaissance. Les autres constructeurs qui ne l'ont pas encore fait devraient prochainement abattre leurs cartes, la prochaine phase du programme FARA devant commencer en 2020, après la sélection de deux concepts. http://www.opex360.com/2019/10/03/bell-devoile-le-360-invictus-un-nouvel-helicoptere-dattaque-et-de-reconnaissance-pour-lus-army/

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  January 11, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  French Defence Staff chief: France is making moves to guarantee its survival in the face of existential threats

  By: Gen. Francois Lecointre The singularity of the military lies in its raison d'être: to wage war in order to guarantee France survives an existential threat. To this end, the armed forces are alone in having limitless power to use deliberate force and to kill, if that is what the mission requires. This is what distinguishes them from law enforcement agencies who use force strictly in proportion to the risks incurred and who are constrained by the notion of self-defense. This military singularity is based on several fundamental principles. Discipline: The armed forces are the strength of the nation, and it is out of the question that one should be able — for even a second — to suspect them of wishing to become emancipated from legitimate political power. They are therefore strictly and totally subordinated to this political power, the delegatee of national sovereignty. As a counterpart to this subordination, the armed forces must be involved in making the decisions that they will implement under strong ethical requirements and with the knowledge that they may pay with their blood. Moreover, this very strict subordination to political power means they must also be perfectly neutral, both philosophically and politically. Responsiveness and availability: Together these must ensure that any form of surprise — the very essence of war — is averted. Nuclear deterrence is therefore the most successful expression of military singularity, notably because it is based on an operational organization and culture that guarantees its absolute responsiveness. The capacity for independent action: On the battlefield, an army must have every skill at its disposal so that it can conduct its mission, including in a totally disorganized environment. It cannot count on the services of the state and must therefore have on hand the whole range of professions it needs to carry out its mission, including those that might seem quite far removed from the implementation of force. If we relate this autonomy to reactivity, then the question arises of conferring the former in peacetime in order to guarantee the latter when the army needs to engage. Ethics: At the moment they commit the most extreme act possible — taking life — soldiers must be able to find support in high ethical standards and a corpus of values. More broadly, this is what constitutes a military culture, shared by all civilian and military personnel in the armed forces. Based on these principles, military singularity is expressed in many ways. Beyond the rules of status or pay, which first come to mind, it is notably the modes of operation, structuring and organization that singularize our armed forces. This notably involves subsidiarity; the creation of intermediary echelons whose task is to synthesize and summarize data for subordinates; and the capacity of commanders, who hold all the levers for action, to respond as fast as possible to a crisis. Military singularity today has been weakened by a certain number of changes: an organization and operational mode that gives preference to management over command; outsourcing; the adoption of civilian flow logic, including for vital functions; and the lack of reserves in military human resources. These phenomena are obstacles to our full effectiveness. We must consolidate military singularity by modernizing our defense tool into one that is capable of fighting in all fields, with sufficient mass, organization and depth of capabilities to allow it to assume all of its functions both in war and in crisis. This is the aim of the actions we are currently undertaking with the minister of the armed forces. To meet the objective set by the president of the republic — that France should have “a comprehensive, modern, powerful, balanced defense tool, implemented by reactive armed forces looking to the future” — the Military Program Law 2019-2025 must allow us to repair our defense tool before the next military program law modernizes it. We are working to restore the foundations of an organization and a culture compatible with the purpose of armed forces: to guarantee the survival of the nation in the face of an existential threat, in a world marked by uncertainty and a return of tragedy. Gen. Francois Lecointre is the chief of the French Defence Staff. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2021/01/11/french-defence-staff-chief-france-is-making-moves-to-guarantee-its-survival-in-the-face-of-existential-threats/

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  November 27, 2024 | International, Aerospace

  Russian jets intercept B-52s during Baltic training flight

  A defense official said the interception was safe and professional. However, it comes at a time of increasing tension between the U.S. and Russia.