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February 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace

Germany officially knocks F-35 out of competition to replace Tornado

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COLOGNE, Germany ― Germany's Ministry of Defence has officially ruled out the F-35 joint strike fighter as a choice to replace its aging Tornado fleet, Defense News has learned.

An official from the ministry confirmed that the F-35 is not a finalist in the competition, which seeks a replacement for the 90-jet fleet. The news was first reported by German site AugenGeradeaus.

The move is not altogether surprising. Berlin for some time has officially favored an upgraded version of the fourth-generation Eurofighter Typhoon, built by a consortium of Airbus, Leonardo and BAE Systems, as the Tornado replacement. The main argument is to keep European companies involved in building combat aircraft and, perhaps even more importantly, staying clear of disturbing Franco-German momentum in armaments cooperation.

However, the decision leaves open the question of certification for nuclear weapons. The Typhoon is not certified to carry the American-made nuclear bombs that Germany, as part of its strategic posture, is supposed to be able to carry on its jets.

Competing against the Typhoon is Boeing's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

Before the German MoD confirmed that the F-35 was officially out of the running, Reuters on Thursday reported that the ministry was considering splitting the buy between the Typhoon and either the F-35 or Super Hornet.

Ordering both the Typhoon and an American aircraft would make it easier to continue carrying out the NATO nuclear mission, while also lending support to the European industrial base. However, it could complicate logistics, adding more expense and forcing the German air force to maintain two supply chains.

It is worth noting that despite complaints about the cost of keeping the ageing Tornados flying, keeping around a certain number of them always has been considered a painful, but not impossible, proposition among some defense experts. That is especially the case for the nuclear mission.

“There does not have to be a nuclear Tornado replacement,” Karl-Heinz Kamp, president of the Federal Academy for Security Policy, a government think tank, told Defense News last August. He noted that any German government is acutely averse to the publicity surrounding Berlin's would-be atomic bombers.

“That's why they will keep flying the Tornados, despite the price tag and despite having asked about a Eurofighter nuclear certification in Washington,” Kamp predicted at the time.

German defense officials on Thursday evening stressed that no decisions had been made besides reducing the playing field to the FA-18 and the Eurofighter Typhoon. The Defense Ministry will request additional information from the respective manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, on the issues of operations, economic viability and timing, these officials said.

Germany's decision appears to have come at the surprise of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, which was not told by the ministry of the imminent announcement.

“We have not been officially notified of a decision on Germany's future fighter,” Lockheed spokesman Mike Friedman said in an emailed response to a query. “The F-35 delivers unmatched value as the most capable and lowest life-cycle cost aircraft, while delivering the strongest long-term industrial and economic opportunities compared to any fighter on the market. As the foundation of NATO's next generation of air power, the F-35 is the most advanced aircraft in the world today, and includes Electronic Attack capabilities well beyond any specialized fourth generation aircraft.”

Valerie Insinna in Washington contributed to this report.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/01/31/germany-officially-knocks-f-35-out-of-competition-to-replace-tornado/

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  • Cash-strapped Britain eyes shrinking its order of new early-warning planes

    September 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    Cash-strapped Britain eyes shrinking its order of new early-warning planes

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Replying to a tweet in The Times Sept. 22 an MoD spokesperson pretty much confirmed the cuts were under consideration. “We regularly discuss equipment programs with our partners, particularly when it comes to making savings and cutting costs, where appropriate,” they said. A Boeing spokesperson in London said the company “doesn't comment on commercial matters.” Defense consultant Howard Wheeldon of Wheeldon Strategic Advisory said leaving the RAF with just three Wedgetails would leave the UK seriously short of aerial command-and-control and situational awareness capability. “Personally, I regard this as little short of insanity. ... To guarantee 27/7 capability requires that the UK has a minimum of five airframes. Potentially reducing the number to three would have very serious consequences and if this really has already been decided it needs to be reconsidered very quickly. Assured 24/7 AWACS capability is not just an option – it is an absolute necessity,” said Wheeldon. A potential reduction in Wedgetail numbers is not the only ISTAR capability cut in the cards. The RAF remains on track to take out of service next year its Raytheon-supplied Sentinel battlefield surveillance aircraft. In early 2019 the MoD controversially signed a deal worth £1.5 billion – without a competition – to supply five of the Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft to the RAF with deliveries starting in 2023 and the final platform being handed over in 2025. The aircraft will replace the RAFs increasingly ancient Sentry E-3D's, whose capability has been limited by under-investment going back years. The deal with Boeing was meant to restore high-quality airborne early warning to the RAF by the mid 2020s. Last year the company signed a deal with STS Aviation to modify the 737NG commercial aircraft used for Wedgetail to an AEW configuration at a hangar on Birmingham airport in England. 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The trouble is Britain's Brexit- and Covid-19-battered economy is unlikely to find much, if anything, in the way of additional resources for an MoD which already has significant funding issues. To make room for costly future technology programs the armed services are going to have to make sacrifices elsewhere. The procurement process is likely to be in Cummings cross hairs along with conventional capabilities like main battle tanks and army personnel numbers. When the review is published, possibly around mid-November, it's likely to be a bloody affair. One industry executive here, who asked not to be named, said he thought the outcome was likely to be worse than the 2010 strategic defense and security review, which stripped out capabilities like aircraft carriers, fast jets, maritime patrol aircraft and personnel. Wheeldon said by now nobody should imagine the integrated defense review is about building Britain's defense capabilities, but quite the reverse. “If anyone really is still under the illusion that the underlying intention behind the 2020 ‘Integrated Review' process – that of forming a soundly based long-term strategic decision making process of where the UK wants to be in the future, why and what defense and security capability will be required to meet those ambitions – let them now understand that the reality is that what eventually emerges will primarily have been about further cutting of UK defense capability at a time when others, including our adversaries and would-be enemies, are increasing their expenditure in the sector.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/09/22/cash-strapped-britain-eyes-shrinking-its-order-of-new-early-warning-planes/

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  • How Poland plans to land an F-35 deal and ‘Fort Trump’

    August 30, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    How Poland plans to land an F-35 deal and ‘Fort Trump’

    By: Jaroslaw Adamowski This story has been updated to provide details about President Trump's decision to stay in the United States rather than make a planned visit to Poland in order to deal with a hurricane at home. WARSAW, Poland — By 2026, the Polish Ministry of Defence plans to allocate about 185 billion zloty (U.S. $47 billion) toward acquiring new weapons and military equipment, with fifth-generation fighter jets a top priority. Twenty years after Poland joined NATO, and despite the integration of some Western-made fighter jets and armored vehicles, the country still uses Soviet-designed gear dating back to the 1955 Warsaw Pact. Poland and other allies in Eastern Europe are intensifying their military modernization efforts in response to Russian activity along NATO's eastern flank and its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. For 2019, the Polish MoD set a record budget, at more than 44 billion zloty, as required by the country's plan to raise defense spending to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product in 2020, and reach 2.5 percent in 2030. A significant share of the country's defense spending is to be directed at the acquisition of Western-made gear. Warsaw's potential acquisition of fifth-gen fighters is one of the top modernization projects in the pipeline. In May, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said the ministry sent a letter of request to the U.S. regarding Warsaw's plan to acquire 32 F-35A aircraft. The fighters are to replace the Air Force's outdated, Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-22 and Mikoyan MiG-29 jets. Negotiations for the jets are taking place as Warsaw is seeking a permanent U.S. military presence in Poland, dubbed “Fort Trump.” Warsaw offered to allocate at least $2 billion toward the project under which the U.S. would build a military base in the country. On June 12, Polish President Andrzej Duda met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss the initiative and ink a joint declaration on defense cooperation regarding U.S. force posture in Poland. “The United States plans to enhance its current military presence of approximately 4,500 rotational U.S. military personnel in Poland. This enduring presence is expected to grow by about 1,000 additional U.S. military personnel in the near-term, and would focus on providing additional defense and deterrence capabilities in Poland,” the declaration read. “With the understanding that the increased U.S. force presence in Poland is made sustainable with Polish support, Poland plans to provide and sustain jointly determined infrastructure for the initial package of additional projects listed below, at no cost to the United States and taking into account the planned level of its use by U.S. forces.” Trump was scheduled to visit Poland, but he canceled the trip to deal with a hurricane at home. The topics of a stronger U.S. troop presence in the country, as well as a potential F-35 sale, were expected to come up. Trump is instead sending Vice President Mike Pence to observances Sunday marking the 80th anniversary of the start of World War II and for meetings with Polish leaders Monday expected to include new military and energy deals. But F-35 acquisition negotiations will likely be separate from Fort Trump discussions, as the logistics and technical aspects of a troop deployment deal are nearing a conclusion, according to Tomasz Smura, the director of the research office at the Warsaw-based Casimir Pulaski Foundation. “If Poland decides to buy the F-35, this will open an array of new possibilities before the Polish Air Force in the upcoming decades. This aircraft offers stealth and interoperability capacities that are currently not available to the Polish military,” Smura told Defense News. “However, there are also some critical voices on this potential purchase. Some analysts doubt whether we should introduce a second type of fighter instead of expanding Poland's fleet of 48 F-16s. This number of modern fighter jets doesn't match Poland's military needs and the country's size. Other analysts add that we're simply not ready to fully use the capacities offered by the F-35, and that further F-16s would suffice to match the current state of development of the air forces of our eastern neighbors.” Despite the country's rising defense expenditure, some observers also doubt Poland's capacity to finance the F-35 acquisition alongside other ambitious military procurements, such as the Wisla air defense program. In March 2018, Poland signed a letter of offer and acceptance with the U.S. government to purchase Raytheon's medium-range Patriot system. Under the deal, Warsaw is to acquire two Patriot Configuration 3+ batteries fitted with Northrop Grumman's Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System, as well as Lockheed Martin-made Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles. Deliveries are expected by the end of 2022, with plans to reach an initial operational capacity around the 2023-2024 time frame, according to data from the Polish MoD. Warsaw's other procurement plans include short-range air defense systems, combat helicopters for the country's Air Force, new submarines for the Polish Navy, UAVs for various military branches, and the buildup of cyber warfare capacities using new hardware, the ministry said. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/dsei/2019/08/29/how-poland-plans-to-land-an-f-35-deal-and-fort-trump/

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