August 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace
COLOGNE, Germany — With mainland Europe and the United Kingdom pursuing their own sixth-generation fighter programs, differing views have started to emerge about how many nations should partake in the action.
At issue is whether the British Tempest and the German-French-Spanish Future Combat Air System can coexist in the long run without cannibalizing the continent's defense budget.
What's more, while leaders in the U.K. have openly advertised their appetite to pick up partner countries for Tempest, Paris and Berlin are divided about admitting additional members, besides Spain, for fear of slowing down their effort.
German defense officials early this year told Bundestag lawmakers they consider it risky to keep the circle of participants too small because team Tempest could go around snagging up contributors, though that concern has yet to bear out.
To Dirk Hoke, the CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, the issue comes down to the budget. His company is the co-lead for the FCAS program along with France's Dassault Aviation. Notably, the French have the lead for the Next-Generation Fighter, envisioned as the central aircraft for the larger program of supporting drones and command-and-control equipment.
“Europe can't afford two new systems,” Hoke said in a virtual panel discussion organized by a German defense industry lobbying association.
That is especially the case, he argued, because a competition between the U.K. and members of the European Union would reinforce the perception that Britain's divorce from the bloc has weakened the intra-continental defense alliance — a notion that leaders on both sides of the Channel have been trying to dispel.
Finding a way to merge FCAS and Tempest should become a top priority for decision-makers once a Brexit agreement on future trade and defense relations is in the bag, according to Hoke. Until then, he said, “we simply have to be patient.”
In order to be prepared for “an opportunity to negotiate at eye level,” both projects should continue to work through their technology development so that eventual touchpoints for cooperation are already far along, he explained.
In contrast, Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier has urged caution when it comes to broadening the FCAS circle too soon.
“I don't know if there won't be some new partners in the future,” he said during a company earnings call late last month. “We must not exclude them.”
Noting that Spain already was admitted to the program after Germany and France had kicked it off, Trappier said the companies involved were still learning to work together. “We have to get to know each other and share our work together,” he said.
“If we change partners every six months, I can tell you that we will not reach 2040,” he added, referring to the envisioned in-service date for the futuristic weapon.
The next big milestone for the program is fielding a demonstrator aircraft in 2026.
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More than a year and a half after receiving proposals to ramp production of artillery shells, the Canadian government is still debating whether to make investments in plants in Quebec and Ontario. Defence Minister Bill Blair says he's had discussions but has not signed any deals.
September 17, 2023 | International, C4ISR
China will impose sanctions against U.S. aerospace and defence firms Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin for providing weapons to Taiwan, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday.
September 5, 2019 | International, Aerospace
KIELCE, Poland, Sept. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- During the MSPO International Defence Industry Exhibition, PZL Mielec, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT) displayed an S-70i™ Armed Black Hawk® helicopter fitted with a single-station external stores pylon. Designed at PZL Mielec as a lighter weight, lower cost alternative to currently fielded dual-station external wings, a single-station pylon attached to one or both sides of the aircraft will be compatible with the advanced weapon system that allows Black Hawk pilot gunners to support battlefield operations using forward firing guns, rockets and air-to-ground missiles. "We're developing the single-station pylon in response to requests by militaries across Europe, Latin America and Asia for a battlefield support helicopter that can be armed for different types of missions that may not always need four weapons stations," said Janusz Zakręcki, president, general director of PZL Mielec. "Operators can arm the aircraft for suppressive fire, surveillance, armed reconnaissance, armed escort and air assault missions, and still carry out other utility roles whenever pylons and stores must remain on the aircraft." At a quarter the cost and weight of a dual-station wing, a pylon can be removed or attached by two people in 15 minutes, produces less drag during flight, offers a wider field of fire to window or door gunners, and opens more space to hoist a litter into the aircraft while in a hover. For large targets, a pylon will be able to carry HELLFIRE™ or Spike air-to-ground missile launchers. A pylon also can extend aircraft range with an 80-gallon external fuel tank. As a complementary option for the S-70i / S-70M Armed Black Hawk with dual-station wings, the single station pylon will integrate with the aircraft's weapons management system that calculates the range and complex ballistics required for pilot gunners to engage targets with high accuracy and reliability from stand-off distances during day and night operations. PZL Mielec expects to begin airworthiness flight testing of the prototype pylon design in 2020. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-09-04-PZL-Mielec-Displays-Single-Station-Stores-Pylon-for-Armed-Black-Hawk