October 24, 2024 | International, Land
Spain contracts Rheinmetall for 81mm Eimos mortar systems
Rheinmetall has a contract with the Spanish government to supply 84 units of its 81mm Eimos mortar systems, valued at approximately €150m.
June 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace
French aviation rescue plan bets on defence helicopters, drones and tankers
The French government has pledged to buy new military heavy-lift helicopters and accelerate plans for naval drone, ISTAR and tanker aircraft programmes as part of a wider economic stimulus package, worth €15 billion ($17 billion), aimed at protecting the country's aviation industry from faltering under the strain of COVID-19.
Based on the PlanAero initative, a decision to specifically issue the defence industry with funding of €600 million means that eight H225M rotary platforms will be ordered, while orders for three A330 MRTT and one Beechcraft King Air 350 ALSR will be expedited. VSR700 rotary-wing UAS and Aliaca mini drone plans have also been brought forward.
The H225M order confirms that Paris will opt for it as a replacement for legacy French Air Force Puma helicopters while the new A330 MRTT arrangements will lead to retirement of the A340 being reset from 2028 to this year. A310s will similarly be taken out of service in 2021 – two years earlier than scheduled.
The ALSR is under contract with Thales and Sabena Technics with a host of additional French suppliers contributing to the programme, including Ecrin, Aquitaine Electronics, Arelis, Avantix, Elvia and Protoplane, although a 9 June announcement from the French Ministry of Armed Forces does not mention a delivery date for the aircraft.
PlanAero unmanned details include the addition of a second VSR700 demonstrator as part of the French Navy's SDAM programme but new commitments for the effort and the navy's SMDM mini drone programme stop short of exact order quantities.
SDAM has been contracted to Airbus and Naval Group who have designed the in-development VSR700 from the Cabri G2 light helicopter, while SurveyCopter supplies the Aliaca for SMDM.
'This additional SDAM demonstrator will enable the programme to further secure the next steps, and in particular the development of technologies and the refinement of specifications to meet the French Navy's operational requirements,' an Airbus spokesperson told Shephard.
The VSR700 is due to enter service in 2028 and boasts a 500-1,000kg MTOW capability. In November 2019, Airbus announced the platform had undergone tethered flight testing with future free flight trials anticipated.
A VSR700 demonstrator phase. to include ship-based flights off French Navy frigates, has been laid out as part of risk reduction activities that were originally due to be completed by 2021. Shipborne deployments from the future FTI medium frigate are a longer-term target.
Following on from France's aviation support plan, the European Commission warned on 10 June that budgetary pressures stemming from COVID-19 could impact member states, calling on them to 'spend better together'.
In a joint statement Josep Borrell, VP of the European Commission and Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, said that common capabilities, critical technologies and infrastructure must be strengthened but they questioned if Europe had given itself 'the means to do so'.
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October 8, 2023 | International, Aerospace
How a shovel can help with training, plus common mistakes during drill
Basic security tasks, communication, logistics and maintenance planning make all the difference.
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September 6, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
Adam Smith expects future defense budgets to dip below $716 billion
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — When Congress delivered a $716 billion defense budget to the Pentagon, defense leaders made it clear it was a welcome boost — but some questioned if the number would be enough to do everything the department foresees as necessary. Now the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee — who is poised to take over the HASC should November elections go blue — is warning that tightened belts are on the horizon. Asked specifically if $716 billion is the right number for defense and whether future budgets will stay at that level, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash, said flatly: “No and no.” “I think the number's too high, and its certainly not going to be there in the future,” Smith said at the second annual Defense News Conference. The congressman argued that the debt and deficit situation facing the country requires balancing out how the government is spending, particularly after the Trump administration's tax cuts made it “even more difficult to get our budget under control.” But drawing down the defense budget has to be part of a broader look at U.S. strategy, something that Smith said requires a realistic look at America's military strategy. He pointed to the idea that 355 ships are vital for the Navy as an example of flawed logic, because “capability matters.” “We can do this,” Smith said of the U.S. remaining the key world power. “I'm not even remotely worried about it. It is a more complicated and different world in some ways, but the Cold War was no walk in the park either. World War II certainly wasn't. We will always face challenges. The question is about being smart. “We just have to be smart instead of trying to force our way back into a world that is never going to be again." “We are going to be a major, major player, probably the major player, on the global stage” for a long time to come, Smith added. “But we are not going to be utterly and completely dominant.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2018/09/05/adam-smith-expects-future-defense-budgets-to-dip-below-716-billion