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May 24, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

Europe de la défense: entre Paris et Berlin, des ambitions et de la méfiance

Char, avion de combat du futur: Paris et Berlin travaillent sur d'ambitieux projets industriels communs dans la défense, mais les rapports restent teintés de méfiance et marqués par des divergences de vue autour de la question des exportations d'armement.

Face au Brexit, au rel'chement des liens transatlantiques sous l'ère Trump, et malgré une mauvaise passe dans la relation franco-allemande, Emmanuel Macron a fait de l'Europe de la défense l'un de ses grands chevaux de bataille, qui figure en bonne place dans le programme des candidats de son camp aux élections européennes de dimanche.

Réunis par un même besoin de renouveler leurs capacités militaires à horizon 2035-2040, Français et Allemands ont convenu à l'été 2017 de développer main dans la main deux programmes d'équipements majeurs: le système de combat aérien du futur (SCAF), sous leadership du français Dassault, pour remplacer les Rafale et les Typhoon, et le char de combat du futur ayant vocation à remplacer les Leclerc et les Lepoard, sous leadership allemand.

Concernant le SCAF, dont le premier contrat d'architecture a été notifié à Dassault et Airbus en janvier, Paris et Berlin comptent annoncer "cet été" le lancement des études de recherche et développement destinées à jeter les bases des démonstrateurs, pour un montant de 150 millions d'euros sur deux ans, selon des sources concordantes.

- pas d'annonce au Bourget? -

Il n'est toutefois pas certain que l'annonce soit faite mi-juin au salon aéronautique du Bourget comme initialement prévu, admet Paris.

Objectif: développer un démonstrateur d'ici 2026 -- pour un coût estimé entre 2 et 3 milliards d'euros -- avant une entrée en service en 2040 de ce système associant avion de combat, drones, futurs missiles de croisière et drones évoluant en essaim.

Pour le char, "les industriels préparent une offre pour l'étude d'architecture à horizon de l'été", indique-t-on de source gouvernementale française.

Pour continuer à avancer, reste à venir à bout des inquiétudes et grincements de dents de part et d'autre du Rhin.

Parmi les motifs de friction figure le partage des compétences de pointe censées alimenter ces grands programmes communs d'armement.

En France, où le groupe Dassault a conduit seul le programme-phare du Rafale, certains ne cachent pas leur méfiance. "Il ne faudrait pas que les Allemands profitent de cette coopération pour chiper notre savoir-faire stratégique", glisse-t-on de source proche du dossier.

En Allemagne, des parlementaires de la coalition au pouvoir reprochent au gouvernement d'Angela Merkel d'avoir mal négocié la répartition industrielle du projet SCAF et critiquent les exigences françaises en matière de propriété intellectuelle, affirme jeudi le quotidien allemand Die Welt.

"Au regard des enjeux industriels et économiques du projet, j'attends de Mme Merkel et de Mme von der Leyen (ministre allemande de la Défense) qu'elles prennent en main ce dossier et en fassent une priorité, comme l'a fait le président Macron", déclare au journal le responsable défense du parti social-démocrate allemand (SPD), Thomas Hitschler.

- ventes d'armes aux Saoudiens -

"Des débats sur le partage des technologies, les questions de propriété intellectuelle peuvent exister mais ils sont en train de se résoudre. C'est normal que ça tiraille, derrière il y a des enjeux financiers et de compétences industrielles", relativise-t-on à Paris, où l'on préfère vanter "la rapidité" avec laquelle un projet de cette ampleur s'est mis en route.

Autre obstacle à franchir: la question des conditions d'exportation des armements, objet de frictions ouvertes entre Paris et Berlin.

Depuis l'assassinat fin 2018 du journaliste saoudien Jamal Khashoggi à Istanbul, le gouvernement allemand a décidé de geler les exports d?armes à destination de l'Arabie Saoudite, client controversé de l'industrie française de défense.

Une décision vertement critiquée par Emmanuel Macron, puis par l'ambassadrice de France en Allemagne, qui a déploré fin mars "la politisation croissante du débat allemand sur les exportations d'armements", susceptible selon elle de "faire peser un risque sur la coopération de défense européenne".

"On ne peut pas se mettre d'accord sur des projets d'une telle envergure sans trouver une position commune sur les conditions d'exportation", renchérit un haut responsable français.

Or le sujet est politiquement ultra-sensible en Allemagne. "L'opinion publique allemande est vent debout contre les exports d'armement. Quel est l'homme politique allemand qui se risquera à aller contre ça?", souligne Gaëlle Winter, chercheuse associée à la Fondation pour la recherche stratégique (FRS).

Paris accuse en outre Berlin de pratiquer un double jeu en feignant d'ignorer la livraison d'armement à Ryad par l'industriel allemand Rheinmetall, via ses filiales à l'étranger.

"J'entends dans certaines capitales les protestations de vertus offusquées lorsqu'il s'agit d'exportations françaises, mais j'observe que les mêmes responsables ignorent volontiers ce que font les filiales ou les joint ventures de leurs champions nationaux de l'armement", s'est récemment agacée la ministre française des Armées Florence Parly.

Sollicité par l'AFP, le ministère allemand de la Défense n'a pas donné suite.

https://www.courrierinternational.com/depeche/europe-de-la-defense-entre-paris-et-berlin-des-ambitions-et-de-la-mefiance.afp.com.20190523.doc.1gt4y7.xml

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    SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. The Light Reconnaissance Vehicle, an off-road truck to scout ahead of airborne and light infantry units, could lead the Army's move to electric motors. But electrifying heavy cargo trucks, let alone tanks, could take decades. WASHINGTON: The Army will brief interested companies Oct. 20 on an electric-drive version of the long-delayed Light Reconnaissance Vehicle and the service's emerging strategy to convert its gas-guzzling formations to electric power. The service is working with a non-profit consortium of more than 200 companies and universities developing clean transportation technologies, CALSTART. But the driving logic here is pure Army green, not eco-friendliness. Tactically, electric vehicles accelerate quicker, run cooler, and move quieter than internal combustion ones – advantages that are all especially valuable for stealthy scouts like LRV. 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From Light to Heavy Ressler hopes to have a formal Abbreviated Capabilities Development Document (ACDD) for ELRV approved “in a matter of months,” he told me. “We see this as the first electrified vehicle for the Army ground combat fleet.” Industry feedback on ELRV – and progress on development, if the program goes ahead – will then inform the long-term strategy for Tactical and Combat Vehicle Electrification across the wider fleet. Ressler's team is now drafting what's called an Initial Capabilities Document for TaCVE. To test those concepts out in practice, he added, “we're looking at other potential candidates for electrification right now.” High on that list is the Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV) being built by GM Defense, an air-droppable light truck designed to carry airborne troops from their drop sites to the objective. 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He just took on a private-sector job with Flyer Defense, a maker of lightweight off-road trucks that's now developing an electric-drive vehicle with a small, built-in diesel generator to recharge itself. (This isn't a hybrid-electric drive, since the diesel doesn't' drive the wheels; it just charges the batteries). “Moving energy on the battlefield is the biggest challenge commanders will have in the future,” Wesley told me. But if you electrify your vehicle, he argued, it can “become more than just a combat vehicle: It becomes an energy node [in] a distribution network, where every vehicle is part of your energy distribution plan.” Such a decentralized and flexible system, he argues, is much harder for a Russian missile strike to take out than a fuel depot. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/10/army-seeks-electric-scout-by-2025/

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