August 7, 2023 | International, Land, Security
What challenges will the next Missile Defense Agency director face?
The agency recently began building a robust air and missile defense architecture in Guam to protect the island from attack.
February 12, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Finland launches HX evaluations for F-35A
Lockheed Martin has officially launched the flight evaluation phase of its F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) for Finland's HX programme, with a pair of aircraft arriving at Tampere-Pirkkala Airbase north of Helsinki on 9 February.
The two aircraft were part of a flight of four that departed Luke Air Force Base (AFB) in Arizona on 5 February but problems with the aerial refuelling tankers assigned to support the aircraft on their trans-Atlantic crossing meant that only two F-35As were able to make the journey.
Lockheed Martin's arrival in Finland for its HX Challenge evaluation followed earlier stints from the Eurofighter Typhoon from 9 to 17 January, the Dassault Rafale from 20 to 28 January, and the Saab Gripen E and GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft from 30 January to 6 February. With the F-35A evaluation set to run through to 17 February, Boeing will conclude proceedings with its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft from 18 to 26 February.
For the HX evaluations, Finland is assessing a potential replacement for the air force's 55 Boeing F/A-18C and seven F/A-18D Hornet fighters. The government's request for quotations (RFQs) calls for a "capability" to be delivered for EUR10 billion (USD13 billion), which includes the cost of acquiring the aircraft, infrastructure, training, and support from the arrival of the first aircraft in 2025, through the declaration of initial operating capability (IOC) in 2027 and full-operating capability (FOC) in 2030. After this time, support and sustainment funding will move from the acquisition to the operations budget.
The evaluations are being held in three phases against the Finnish Air Force's concept of operations (CONOPS).
https://www.janes.com/article/94239/finland-launches-hx-evaluations-for-f-35a?from_rss=1
On the same subject
-
-
October 27, 2020 | International, Naval, C4ISR
Rafael pitches naval capabilities to counter ‘asymmetric power projection’
Seth J. Frantzman JERUSLAEM — Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is presenting a number of technologies during the Euronaval conference meant to counter “asymmetric power projection” at sea. The Israeli company is making its pitch to navies during the European maritime trade show, which is being held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ran Tavor, vice president of Rafael's naval systems business and a former Israeli Navy officer, said the company's offerings are divided by offensive and defensive purposes. For the former, it is offering naval versions of the Spike ER and NLOS missiles with increased range. The missiles are typically used by ground forces and on helicopters. The NLOS version can reach up to 32 kilometers, and the ER variant can reach up to 10 kilometers. The company says they can operate in GPS-denied environments and penetrate areas defended by electronic warfare systems. The weapons are equipped with electro-optical target automatic recognition as well as artificial intelligence to make them more lethal and precise. The Spike naval system is mounted with a launcher that has multiple cannisters for different systems in the missile family. “You don't need to be too close to the enemy, and this capability allows [it] to launch ship to ship and ship to shore," Tavor said, "and basically it is [a] relatively small footprint due to size and weight, and you can leverage a fast patrol boat to [become] a missile boat, so we change the way the fast patrol boat is used.” The missile systems are operational, but Rafael, like most Israeli defense companies, does not disclose where they have been sold outside of Israel. Rafael is also pitching its Typhoon naval remote weapon station that could be used to counter drones. The company says the platform is aided by multispectral sensors. The system fires 30mm rounds, which can prove ineffective against small drone targets at a distance that might have cross-sections of about 1 foot. Rafael has increased the weapon's magazine to 400 rounds to give it more firepower. Rafael is also showing off its C-GEM rocket decoy and fourth-generation Torbuster decoy for torpedo threats as another example of defensive technology. Tavor said the key to defense at sea is not any one item, but tailored solutions for navies that are part of an integrated, multilayered system involving a variety of sensors, algorithms and artificial intelligence to reduce the necessity for “man-in-the-loop” technology. “You need to detect, classify and engage to deal with a single threat, and if there is multiple-layer threats you are limited with [in terms of] line of sight and you have a big challenge — so here we come into play with all capabilities of detecting and classification and automatic tracking and automatic engagement,” he added The company reports that it has done business with 34 navies, including those of the U.S. and Australia, but doesn't identify other customers. http://https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/10/23/rafael-pitches-naval-capabilities-to-counter-asymmetric-power-projection/
-
June 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Des commandes publiques pour les armées et les forces intérieures, à hauteur de 832 millions d'euros
Afin de soutenir les entreprises aéronautiques, le gouvernement anticipe des commandes d'avions, d'hélicoptères et de drones militaires pour les armées et les forces intérieures, pour un montant de 832 millions d'euros. La ministre des Armées, Florence Parly, a annoncé l'acquisition de trois avions ravitailleurs A330-MRTT, d'un avion de surveillance et de renseignement, de huit hélicoptères de transport militaire Caracal et de drones de surveillance navale, ce qui représente « une charge de travail de 1 200 emplois sur trois ans». «La commande de trois nouveaux MRTT à livrer en 2021 et 2022 au lieu de 2027 et 2028 est très importante. Elle va nourrir la chaîne de fabrication des A330 à un moment critique, alors que la crise pèse davantage sur les gros-porteurs A330 et A350 », explique Antoine Bouvier, directeur de la stratégie chez Airbus. La sécurité civile et la gendarmerie ont également concentré leurs commandes sur les nouveaux modèles d'hélicoptères afin d'appuyer leur commercialisation. La Sécurité civile commande ainsi deux hélicoptères H145 de nouvelle génération (5 pales), dont la certification est en cours, tandis que la gendarmerie commande 10 H160 pour 200 millions d'euros. En développement depuis près d'une décennie, le nouvel H160, présenté pour la première fois dans sa version militaire au Bourget en juin dernier , attend de manière imminente sa certification européenne. La ministre des Armées a également indiqué que de nouveaux engagements sur la commande d'avions de combat Rafale de Dassault Aviation pourraient être examinés. Ensemble de la presse du 10 juin