September 13, 2018 | International, Naval
By: Pierre Tran
PARIS – Naval Group finds itself in direct competition with German rival ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in Egypt's acquisition of two more corvettes, Hervé Guillou, CEO of the French shipbuilder told Defense News.
The contest comes after Egypt in 2014 placed an order for four Naval Group Gowind corvettes worth some €1 billion, with options for two more units. Winning that two-year option has since become anything but certain for the French company.
“TKMS is not sitting on its hands,” Guillou said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Summer Defense University event at the military staff college here.
There already is a “permanent presence of the Germans” in Egypt, which operates a fleet of German submarines, Guillou explained. Egypt attracts strong international interest, with the Chinese, Koreans, Dutch shipbuilder Damen and French electronics company Thales very active, he added.
The TKMS offer consists of two Meko 200 corvettes, worth €1 billion (US $1.2 billion) excluding weapons, business publication La Tribune reported Sept. 3. That is double the value of the two Gowind 2500 corvettes pitched by Naval Group, the report said.
A spokesman for Naval Group declined to comment on the prices.
If TKMS were to snatch the business in the end, the French interministerial committee overseeing arms export likely would approve a sale of MBDA-made Aster 15 missiles for the German ships, a French government official said.
The company, a joint venture by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo, is pursuing a “platform neutral” sales pitch, placing an emphasis on boosting foreign sales, according to an industry source.
Guillou said he attended Egypt's launch on Sept. 6 of the first locally built Gowind, christened Port Said. “It all went well,” he said.
The Egyptian Navy sails a FREMM multimission frigate and two Mistral-class helicopter carriers. The four Gowind corvettes will complement that fleet.
The day before the Egyptian launch, Guillou was in Poland pitching three Scorpene diesel-electric submarines to the Polish authorities.
“There is political support at the highest level,” he said, referring to the French government backing. That offer competes with TKMS offering its 212CD and Saab the A26 boat.
Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/09/12/french-naval-group-and-germanys-thyssenkrupp-square-off-in-egyptian-warship-deal
March 8, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Sikorsky's HH-60W Jolly Green II has multiple improvements to make it safer in a crash and collect information on where the rescue needs to take place.
July 23, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Air & Cosmos consacre un dossier aux travaux menés par l'ONERA et MBDA, qui prévoient de faire voler, en collaboration avec la DGA, un véhicule hypersonique propulsé par un statomixte, c'est-à-dire un moteur capable de réaliser successivement une combustion subsonique et supersonique. L'objectif est de réaliser un véhicule d'essai unique, qui permettra de « vérifier le comportement d'un tel véhicule dans le domaine du vol hypersonique », explique Olivier Dessornes, directeur adjoint du DPME (département multi-physique pour l'énergétique) à l'ONERA. Il existe « une très grande expertise française » en la matière, « qui a commencé à l'ONERA et s'est poursuivie en collaboration avec Aérospatiale puis MBDA, sous l'égide de la DGA » insiste Laurent Serre, directeur de programme dissuasion à l'ONERA. L'essai en vol devrait être réalisé d'ici fin 2021, depuis la côte Est des Etats-Unis. Le véhicule sera accéléré et mis en poste et à l'altitude voulue pour une fusée-sonde. Les données seront récoltées avant que le véhicule ne fonde et que ses restes ne soient perdus en mer. Air & Cosmos du 23 juillet
June 21, 2018 | International, C4ISR
Mark Pomerleau   With cyber playing a critical role in conflict going forward, the Army has begun to recognize the need to have organic cyber planners within a brigade's staff to offer commanders options related to cyber as well as electronic warfare. Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities, or CEMA cells, have been stood up in each brigade acting as planners to provide targeting options and capabilities to get at commander objectives just as an artillery planner would offer the commander choices related to their field for a pending operation. At the tactical level, these two disciplines – cyber and electronic warfare – have become intertwined. “When I talk to Army commanders and staffs, I try to make the point that I want you to worry less about whether it's a cyber or EW effect,” Lt. Col. Christopher Walls, deputy director for strategy and policy, at the Army's Cyber Directorate within the G-3/5/7, said at the C4ISRNET Conference in May. For example, Walls said for a river crossing mission, a commander might say he needs to buy a few hours to get a battalion across. The CEMA cell, in turn, would look across the capability sets in its portfolio and come up with a course of action. These cells potentially have the ability to allow the commander to target local internet service providers or local routers and prevent opposing forces from using them. The teams may also have an electronic warfare capability that can jam local area network protocols. Finally, these teams might know where mobile switching centers are by digitally geolocating them allowing physical strikes to take them out, Walls said. “I don't want the commander to worry about which of those three things, I just want him to talk to me in terms of desired objective and effects and then us, along with the staff, will determine which capability makes sense,” Walls said. “That's kind of the way we're thinking about the tactical fight.” The best choice comes down to understanding the commander's objectives and intent in order to offer the best solution. “What I would do is understand his intent, what effect he wants and what I'll do is submit that in a formal request and I'll let the higher echelons determine if they can provide that effect,” Capt. Daniel Oconer, brigade CEMA officer, told C4ISRNET during a recent visit to the National Training Center. “In general, all I really need to know for my planning processes is understand what the maneuver force wants to do,” he added. “How do tanks and Bradleys [move], how are the troops on the ground moving. Then, what is their mission? What is their objective? What is the commander's intent? Once I understand that I throw some CEMA flavor, so to say, onto it and then enable them to accomplish their mission.” Oconer is currently billeted as a 29 series electronic warfare officer. The Army will begin to transition these individuals into the cyber branch, or 17 series, so they will all eventually be cyber planners in the CEMA cell. “The way that we're transforming our electronic warfare professionals is they will become cyber operators. They will be the face inside our brigade combat teams and our maneuver formations for cyber operational planning,” Maj. Gen. John Morrison, commander of the Cyber Center of Excellence, said during a May speech. “They're complimentary. You cannot look at electronic warfare professionals and cyber operators in isolation.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2018/06/20/how-the-army-will-plan-cyber-and-electronic-warfare-operations/