Did Pakistan drop Leonardo as lead on Sea Sultan aircraft conversion?

On the same subject

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  October 8, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Avion de combat du futur: Dassault et Airbus appellent Paris et Berlin à avancer «sans plus attendre»

  Dassault Aviation et Airbus ont appelé lundi Paris et Berlin à lancer «sans plus attendre» les études menant à la conception d'un démonstrateur pour le Système de combat aérien futur (SCAF), remplaçant des Rafale et Eurofighter. «Il importe à présent de faire avancer concrètement le SCAF», affirment les deux groupes dans un communiqué commun. Il s'agit notamment de notifier aux industriels les contrats pour les études menant à la construction d'un démonstrateur en 2026. «Le prochain conseil des ministres franco-allemand doit servir de catalyseur à cette volonté commune d'aller de l'avant par le lancement rapide de cette phase de démonstrateurs et par l'engagement des nations partenaires sur un plan de financement fiable pour confirmer le caractère pérenne et cohérent de ce programme de développement européen», ajoutent-ils. «Nous appelons les responsables politiques à tout mettre en oeuvre pour lancer le plus rapidement possible ces démonstrateurs, étape clef pour mettre cet ambitieux projet en marche», affirment le PDG de Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier et le président exécutif d'Airbus Defence and Space, Dirk Hoke, cités dans le communiqué. La ministre française de la Défense Florence Parly se rendra mercredi à Berlin pour préparer le futur conseil des ministres franco-allemand. Paris, Berlin et Madrid ont signé le 17 juin lors du salon du Bourget un accord-cadre structurant les trois pays autour du SCAF. Au coeur de ce système se trouve le futur chasseur (NGF, Next Generation Fighter) destiné à remplacer les actuels Rafale et Eurofighter à l'horizon 2040. «Les technologies futures doivent être développées dès maintenant pour être ensuite testées et qualifiées en vol» par le biais de ce démonstrateur, arguent Dassault et Airbus, qui rappellent avoir pour leur part «su rapidement trouver des accords et se mettre en ordre de marche». «On espère notifier les contrats d'ici la fin de l'année» a-t-on indiqué à l'AFP au ministère des Armées, où l'on se dit «raisonnablement confiants» sur le fait d'avoir «un démonstrateur du NGF qui vole en 2026». Mi-septembre, le patron de Dassault avait imputé ce retard de notification de contrats à des règles «d'exportabilité» du futur SCAF à définir entre Paris et Berlin. Selon une source gouvernementale française, un accord sur la question des exportations est en passe d'être conclu. http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/avion-de-combat-du-futur-dassault-et-airbus-appellent-paris-et-berlin-a-avancer-sans-plus-attendre-20191007

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  July 12, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Slovakia selects F-16 over Gripen for new fighter

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON ― Slovakia has decided to purchase 14 new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to replace its Russian made MiG-29 jets. The Slovakian Defence Ministry's announcement Wednesday means the F-16 has beat out the Saab Gripen. In a statement on the ministry's website, Defence Minister Peter Gajdoš said the U.S. jets were selected because they are “state-of-the-art modern machines,” and the ministry statement said the U.S. planes were cheaper according to an analysis done through 2040. However, the ministry did not put a final price tag on the F-16 purchase, but Reuters reported that the dollar figure could be €1.1 billion (U.S. $1.3 billion) for the 14 jets. “We are pleased Slovakia has selected the F-16 Block 70,” Lockheed spokesman John Losinger said. “This partnership will deliver new capabilities to the Slovak Armed Forces and strengthen Slovakia's strategic partnership with NATO and the U.S.” In April, the U.S. State Department OK'd the potential sale of 14 Block 70/72 F-16Vs for Slovakia, indicating the process for getting those planes on contract should be fairly smooth. Slovakia's choice of the U.S. jet over its Swedish counterpart is notable in a regional context, as two of its closest neighbors ― Hungary and the Czech Republic ― operate the Gripen. Poland, however, operates the F-16, as do a number of other NATO nations. Lockheed's sale of the F-16 to Slovakia is the second order since the company made the decision to move its production line from Fort Worth, Texas, to Greenville, South Carolina. The Slovakian sale, coupled with the Bahrain deal cemented last month, will help Lockheed keep production of the F-16 going while its biggest potential customer, India, figures out what it wants out of a future fighter. Lockheed has proposed moving the entire F-16 line to India in exchange for a large order, but India seems to be taking its time, having released a request for information to a handful of defense aviation companies in April. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/riat/2018/07/11/slovakia-selects-f-16-over-gripen-for-new-fighter/

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  April 14, 2020 | International, Land

  Army to hold competition to build ventilators for COVID-19 emergency response

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army's acquisition chief, Bruce Jette, has directed the Army's Expeditionary Technology Search program to hold a competition for solutions to rapidly build ventilators to support the COVID-19 virus emergency response, according to an April 9 service statement. Addressing the United States' ventilator shortage needed to treat severe cases of COVID-19, the xTechSearch team will tap industry for innovative approaches to building an inexpensive, emergency ventilator “that requires minimal components and is designed for simplified mass production,” the statement reads. The competition will be open to “any American business, regardless of size,” the statement notes. The team will begin accepting virtual pitches from competitors starting April 13. “Novel solutions” will win a prize of $5,000 to present pitches of the concepts virtually to a panel of judges, according to the statement. The Army will then award $100,000 cash prizes to winning solutions to develop concept prototypes, it adds. Some technologies could receive follow-on contracts for further production and deployment. "The technology solution must provide a rapid-response breathing apparatus capable of short-term, rugged field operation in a small footprint that will support field hospitals," Zeke Topolosky, the Army xTechSearch program manager, said in the statement. The statement did not detail how rapidly technologies should move from concept to prototype to production. xTechSearch is a competition sponsored by the Army's acquisition branch “targeting small businesses to uncover novel dual-use science and technology solutions,” according to the program's website. “The competition aims to tackle the Army's most critical modernization challenges supporting the top Army focus areas.” https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/04/09/army-to-hold-competition-to-build-ventilators-for-covid-19-emergency-response/