French Defence Staff chief: France is making moves to guarantee its survival in the face of existential threats

On the same subject

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  May 25, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  The U.S. Navy’s New Drone Could Team Up With Stealth Fighters

  The U.S. Navy is spending $13 billion buying 72 MQ-25 Stingray tanker drones for its 11 aircraft carriers. The idea is for the Boeing BA-made MQ-25s to refuel manned fighters, extending their range while also relieving the fighter squadrons of their own tanking duties. But the MQ-25 always had potential to be more than just an aerial-refueler. With its stealthy airframe and high endurance, it could be a surveillance plane and even a light strike platform, too. At least one fleet community isn't waiting for the Navy and Boeing to adapt the MQ-25 to other missions. The fleet's airborne command-and-control weapons school at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, already thinks of the Stingray as more than a tanker. Robbin Laird, a military analyst and writer, spoke to Cmdr. Christopher Hulitt, the head of the school, and summarized the conversation at Second Line of Defense. Laird and Hulitt's main point is that the Navy is acquiring new aircraft with highly-sophisticated communications systems and sensors. The F-35C stealth fighter. The E-2D early-warning plane. The MQ-4C high-altitude drone. And the MQ-25. Where before, E-2s would fly over a maritime battle, detecting targets and relaying commands to fighters, now a new system is coming together. The F-35C, E-2D, MQ-4C and MQ-25 all possess the qualities of a sensor- and command-and-control platform. So instead of passing information just one way—from an E-2 to a fighter—in coming years info could begin moving in all directions. An F-35C in stealth mode might detect an enemy ship using its passive sensors and beam, via secure datalink, the target's general location to the nearby MQ-25 that just refueled the F-35C. The MQ-25 could hand off the data to an E-2D. The E-2D crew could instruct the operators of an MQ-4C to steer their drone toward the enemy ship's location. Once the MQ-4C pinpoints the ship, the E-2D could then pass the targeting data back to the F-35C as well as to other allied vessels and planes, all of which could fire missiles. Imagine this whole process happening in minutes. “It is about deploying an extended trusted sensor network, which can be tapped through various waveforms, and then being able to shape how the decision-making arc can best deliver the desired combat effect,” Laird wrote. The Navy hopes to deploy the first MQ-25s as early as 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2020/05/22/the-us-navys-new-drone-could-team-up-with-stealth-fighters/#9bc4fd875e2e

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  July 26, 2019 | International, Other Defence

  Budget deal advances despite GOP worries over costs, smaller boost for military

  By: Leo Shane III and Joe Gould House lawmakers on Thursday advanced a two-year, $2.7 trillion budget plan with $738 billion in military funding in fiscal 2020 over the objections of conservative colleagues who objected to the increased federal spending levels. The measure — which passed 284-149 — has the support of President Donald Trump and leaders from both chambers, but drew the support of only 65 Republicans in the final vote. That's roughly one-third of the House GOP membership. Senate lawmakers are expected to take up the matter next week. The measure is designed to prevent a partial government shutdown this fall and stabilize appropriations plans for all aspects of federal agencies until after next year's presidential election. On the House floor Thursday, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., called the deal a critical step forward in restoring regular budget order and predictability not just for military programs, but for all of the government. “There is no secret we have big differences between the Democratically controlled House and White House and the Republican-controlled Senate,” he said. “Despite those differences, we have to function. We have to be able to fund the government and meet our responsibilities to the American people.” Ahead of the vote, Trump worked to bolster Republican support for the measure, which would increase Defense Department spending by more than 3 percent over fiscal 2019 levels. He tweeted that the new budget plan “greatly helps our Military and our Vets.” White House officials (and Republican congressional leaders) had pushed for even more in defense spending recent weeks, while congressional Democrats had insisted any military funding increase be offset with additional non-defense spending. In the end, the non-military money in the new budget deal will grow by about $10 billion more than defense spending over the next two years, and the military spending for fiscal 2020 will fall about $12 billion short of the White House's hopes. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., and chairman of the Republican Study Committee, in a statement called the compromise plan “a massive spending deal that will further in debt future generations and remove reasonable safeguards to prevent the growth of government and the misuse of taxpayer dollars.” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and a House Armed Services Committee member, said he would only vote for the deal if it were paired with congressional action to look for paths toward debt reduction. “It you could create a commission that was empowered to bring its recommendations to the floor for an up or down vote, and had members who were younger, next-generation members, I think it could work,” Gallagher said in a video posted to Twitter. Two weeks ago, House Republicans voted against a $733 billion military spending topline as part of the annual defense policy bill, in large part citing insufficient funding totals for national security. House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Mac. Thornberry, R-Texas, on Thursday voted for the slightly larger defense spending total, telling reporters the two-year deal would provide much-needed stability for the military. “Given the political turmoil that comes with an election year ... having a two-year budget deal that takes us to the end, hallelujah, of the Budget Control Act is more valuable than if you had held out for a few billion,” Thornberry said. Democrats had misgivings of their own, including the deal's lack of restrictions on Trump's ability to shift money within the budget toward a controversial border wall. The Pentagon was expected to shift a total of about $6.1 billion from its budget to help build a border wall, including about $3.6 billion from military construction projects. But in the end, all but 16 Democrats in the House backed the measure. House members began their extended summer break on Thursday night, leaving the details of separate appropriations bills reflecting the new budget deal to be sorted out in September. The Senate is scheduled to begin their break at the end of next week, after voting on the measure. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/07/25/budget-deal-advances-despite-gop-worries-over-costs-smaller-boost-for-military/

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  September 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Dassault Aviation, un modèle à toute épreuve

  HASSAN MEDDAH Le modèle de Dassault Aviation fondé sur la coexistence d'une activité militaire avec les Rafale et d'une activité civile avec les jets d'affaires a encore montré toute sa pertinence. Gr'ce à cette dualité, l'avionneur traverse la crise du marché de l'aviation d'affaires sans perdre une plume. Il vient d'annoncer de solides résultats financiers pour le premier semestre 2019. Son chiffre d'affaires progresse à 3,1 milliards d'euros (contre 1,71 milliard au premier semestre l'an passé), et son résultat net est en hausse de 54 % à 286 millions d'euros. Dans le domaine de l'aviation d'affaires, Éric Trappier, le PDG du groupe, a pourtant évoqué "un début d'année difficile et un semestre particulièrement plat" avec seulement sept commandes au 30 juin, contre dix-huit à la même période de l'an passé. Il peut toutefois miser sur le Rafale pour effacer cette contre-performance. Dassault a remporté le juteux contrat Ravel de maintenance de l'avion de combat passé par le ministère français des Armées. Cette prestation englobe le pilotage de toute sa supply chain et court sur dix ans. En matière de livraison, l'export a pris le relais à point nommé puisqu'aucun Rafale ne sera livré aux forces françaises en 2019. Depuis le début de l'année, Dassault a livré quinze appareils aux forces qataries. L'avionneur a même confirmé qu'il envisageait d'assembler des Rafale en Inde s'il était sélectionné pour livrer de nouveaux appareils au-delà des trente-six premiers commandés. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/dassault-aviation-un-modele-a-toute-epreuve.N882100