September 22, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
May 17, 2021 | International, Aerospace
While armed UAVs arguably have been the most high-profile element of air power in the 21st century, rarely have they been more central to military thinking around the world than they are today.
August 14, 2020 | International, Land
Nathan Strout The U.S. Army has invested another $190 million into a counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS), but it's determined that the system will need to be replaced by a U.S. Marine Corps alternative. On July 20, the Army announced it was awarding DRS Sustainment Systems $190 million to develop, produce and deploy the Mobile-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (M-LIDS). While the system will be deployed, it doesn't have a long-term future with the military. Despite the Army investing in the program for years, M-LIDS is a casualty of redundancy. As the Department of Defense has become more concerned by the threat posed by small drones in recent years, the services have each developed their own C-sUAS responses — mobile, stationary and dismounted. Recognizing the redundancy in that approach, the defense secretary delegated the Army to lead the effort to narrow the number of C-sUAS solutions for use by the joint forces. On June 25, the Army's Joint C-sUAS announced it had selected eight C-sUAS for future investment and deployment by the joint forces. M-LIDS didn't make the cut. But then, about a month later, the $190 million M-LIDS contract was announced, “Mobile-LIDS (M-LIDS) was not selected and will be replaced by the next generation mobile system,” said Jason Waggoner, an Army spokesman. In the meantime, “M-LIDS will be deployed with Army units to the CENTCOM area of operations.” M-LIDS would likely be replaced by the Light-Mobile Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS), a C-sUAS developed by the U.S. Marine Corps and the only mobile solution approved by the Joint C-sUAS Office. L-MADIS has already been deployed for testing and was reportedly used to down a drone off the coast of Iran last year. The Joint C-sUAS office told reporters in June that the services were conducting an analysis of how many systems would need to be replaced under the new arrangement. However, leaders were not able to provide a timeline for how quickly they expected to replace those systems. The series of announcements in this market came quickly this summer. Two days after the M-LIDS award, the Army announced a contract for one of the C-sUAS solutions that was included on the list for future investment: the Expeditionary-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft System Integrated Defeat System (now known as FS-LIDS). The $426 million contract with SRC Inc. provides for the development, production, deployment and support of FS-LIDS, the only fixed-site solution approved for the joint forces by the Joint C-sUAS Office. “Development of FS-LIDS is complete and systems are being deployed to U.S. forces globally, with a focus in the CENTCOM area of operations,” Waggoner said. “FS-LIDS will remain in use until replaced with newer technologies.” C-sUAS spending hasn't been limited to the Army in recent weeks. On Aug. 10, the U.S. Air Force issued Black River Systems Co. an $89 million contract for an operational C-sUAS open systems architecture https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/08/13/army-buys-189m-counter-drone-system-but-already-has-plans-to-replace-it
March 30, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
DÉFENSE Bilan de Florence Parly : des exportations qui atteignent des sommets jamais atteints En cinq ans à l'Hôtel de Brienne, la ministre des Armées Florence Parly a permis à la France de renforcer ses exportations dans le monde, avec des montants croissants chaque année. C'est surtout en 2021 que les exportations ont atteint des sommets, totalisant plus de 65 Md€ d'exportations sur le quinquennat. En 2022, Dassault Aviation a déjà engrangé deux méga contrats (80 Rafale aux Émirats arabes unis et 42 en Indonésie) ainsi que six appareils supplémentaires en Grèce. Le ministère des Armées estime d'ores et déjà que les exportations vont s'élever pour les années 2021 et 2022 à un montant cumulé de plus de 30 Md€. Au total, depuis son arrivée au ministère des Armées en 2017, Florence Parly a aidé à la vente de 201 Rafale, sur les 285 vendus à l'export depuis 2015. Au-delà de tous ces succès, Florence Parly a souhaité faire de l'Europe une priorité des exportations d'armement françaises : la part de la zone Europe a atteint en 2019 et 2020 un niveau significatif, respectivement 45% et 25% des prises de commande. Des niveaux jamais atteints jusqu'ici. La Tribune du 30 mars