April 21, 2020 | International, Aerospace

Germany’s Defence Ministry is under the gun to name a Tornado replacement

By: Sebastian Sprenger

COLOGNE, Germany — You can count on Germany to stir the pot of nuclear weapons sharing amid a global pandemic.

Such was the case in the past few days in a country that, armed with a superb health care system and a relatively low COVID-19 mortality rate, is seen as a model for managing the coronavirus crisis. But as of Sunday afternoon, the national security community was abuzz about a news report saying Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer effectively promised her U.S. counterpart that the ministry will buy 45 F-18 jets from Boeing.

The Der Spiegel report comes after news broke a few weeks ago that Berlin planned to acquire a mix of Airbus Eurofighter jets and Boeing F-18s for a smattering of air warfare jobs too demanding for the country's aging Tornado fleet. Those jobs include flying conventional fighter-bomber missions, jamming enemy air defenses and carrying U.S. nuclear-tipped gravity bombs to hypothetical World War III targets somewhere eastward, per NATO's so-called nuclear sharing deal.

According to Der Spiegel, Kramp-Karrenbauer sent U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper an email last week detailing her ministry's wish to buy F-18s not only for the atomic mission — which comes as little surprise — but also for the electronic warfare role.

That reported promise stung Eurofighter advocates — even those who might begrudgingly accept an American product for the nuclear mission — because Airbus has plans for a souped-up jamming plane that it wants to see in Germany's inventory.

In short, the Eurofighter crowd wants nothing more than Berlin to pick a pure Eurofighter fleet, arguing that the F-18′s shelf life is expiring in U.S. budget planning anyway, and that the Boeing jet is no closer to nuclear weapons certification than any other aircraft.

The German Defence Ministry has always signaled it will take into account industrial policy considerations in the Tornado-replacement question. So strongly did senior leaders believe in the idea of a keeping the European industrial base humming toward an eventual Franco-German aerial über-weapon that they nixed Lockheed Martin's F-35 from the competition.

But keeping American aircraft entirely out of the loop has always seemed a nonstarter.

A ministry spokesman on Monday said Kramp-Karrenbauer's missive to Esper was only meant to test the waters regarding America's ability to start delivering those planes when the actual acquisition program gets underway in a few years.

A formal decision on replacing the Tornados had initially been expected by the end of March. But as the coronavirus crisis unfolded, that decision was pushed to after Easter.

Kramp-Karrenbauer is expected to announce her plans before the parliamentary Defence Committee on Wednesday, where she is likely to face opposition from lawmakers of the SPD coalition partner.

Until then, Germans have yet another puzzle to discuss, as an increasingly divisive debate unfolds here over reopening the country.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/04/20/germanys-defence-ministry-is-under-the-gun-to-name-a-tornado-replacement/

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October 2, 2018 | International, Land

China building bridging systems for heavy vehicles
Christopher F Foss, London - Jane's International Defence Review China's NORINCO and its partners are producing and offering for export a range of bridging systems - including the new HZ21 - that must handle the newer, heavier armoured platforms replacing older Chinese systems. NORINCO markets a range of mobile bridging systems on tracked and wheeled platforms, but the prime contractor for some of these bridging systems is the China Harzone Industry Corporation (CHIC), which is a subsidiary of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). CHIC confirmed that it has two major production facilities and one research and development facility, with sales of commercial and military bridging systems to more than 40 countries. The HZ21 military bridging system is deployed by China and referred to by CHIC as a 'fast bridge'. It is transported and launched over the rear of a forward control 8×8 cross-country truck. Prior to launching the two-part bridge, a stabiliser is lowered on either side at the rear of the platform. The lower part of the bridge is then extended over the gap, followed by the upper part - the complete bridge is then lowered into position. When fully extended, the 10.5-tonne (11.6 ton) two-part bridge is 21 m (69 ft) long and has a roadway width of 3.3 m; it can bridge a wet or dry gap of up to 19 m. According to CHIC, it can be deployed in fewer than 10 minutes and retracted in a similar time. The HZ21 can handle tracked vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of up to 60 tonnes, or wheeled platforms with a maximum axle load of up to 17 tonnes. In many respects, the HZ21 is similar in concept and operation to the General Dynamics European Land Systems - Germany (GDELS-G) Rapidly Emplaced Bridge System (REBS) deployed by the US Army, which is transported and launched from a Common Bridge Transporter (CBT). https://www.janes.com/article/83472/china-building-bridging-systems-for-heavy-vehicles
March 3, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval

Des Rafale de la Marine nationale s’équipent de pièces imprimées en 3D
Un Rafale de la Marine nationale vient d'effectuer son premier vol avec une pièce imprimée en 3D avec succès : dessinée et prototypée sur le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle, la pièce est un boîtier de commande de vidanges des réservoirs de carburant. C'est une première pour la marine qui peut ainsi compter sur la fabrication additive pour concevoir des pièces détachées rapidement et proposer diverses itérations à moindre coût. Le composant final a été imprimé en 3D par Dassault Systèmes et pourrait bien être le premier d'une longue série. En février 2019, le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle s'équipait d'une imprimante 3D, probablement d'une machine de bureau à dépôt de matière fondue, afin de concevoir toutes sortes d'objets pour dépanner l'équipage parti en mission. Un ravitaillement ou une réparation en pleine mer est très coûteux et long, un temps que les techniciens de la Marine nationale ne peuvent parfois pas s'offrir. La fabrication additive pourrait être une première solution : en ayant une imprimante 3D à bord du porte-avions, son équipage produirait ce dont il a besoin sur place, s'affranchissant de nombreuses contraintes. La Marine nationale possède aujourd'hui 40 Rafale, dont 28 en ligne. C'est aujourd'hui l'avion de combat le plus moderne en service sur le territoire français. L'Etat-major des armées (EMA) explique qu'une équipe de techniciens de la Marine nationale a proposé d'utiliser l'imprimante 3D à bord du porte-avions Charles de Gaulle pour imaginer différentes pièces détachées intégrées à leur Rafale. Ils ont donc dessiné une maquette de renfort qui a ensuite été imprimée en 3D sur le bateau directement. L'EMA ajoute : “Le projet est immédiatement retransmis à la Direction de la maintenance aéronautique pour analyse au sein du plateau technique central mis en place dans le cadre du premier marché verticalisé de la flotte et rassemblant les spécialistes étatiques et industriels du domaine.” Le marché évoqué concerne le contrat RAVEL obtenu en mai 2019 par Dassault Aviation et ce pour une durée de 10 ans. Celui-ci a notamment pour objectif d'assurer l'entretien des Rafale, une assistance technique et une meilleure gestion des stocks. Après quelques jours d'études, le modèle imprimé sur le porte-avions a été adapté afin que le groupe Dassault puisse imprimer en 3D un produit fini. On ne sait pas quels matériaux et technologie ont été utilisés mais les pièces auraient été montées sur l'ensemble des Rafale embarqués dans le cadre de la mission Foch qui a débuté le 22 janvier dernier. La direction de la maintenance aéronautique (DMAé) conclut : « L'endommagement d'un aéronef en mer étant plus sévère qu'à terre, il revient à la DMAé de calculer et d'anticiper les besoins des différents aéronefs embarqués pour soutenir au mieux les équipes du porte-avions dans leur travail quotidien. » La fabrication additive pourrait donc répondre à ces objectifs et aider les équipes à concevoir des pièces détachées plus rapidement et efficacement. On espère que d'autres Rafale pourront être équipés de pièces imprimées en 3D ! En attendant, vous pouvez retrouver davantage d'informations ICI. https://www.3dnatives.com/rafale-marine-nationale-impression-3d-03032020/
October 25, 2018 | International, Naval

Lockheed planning big shift away from LCS propulsion system for its future frigate offering
By: David B. Larter PARIS – Lockheed Martin is planning to shift from its littoral combat ship's water-jet propulsion to a propulsion system that the U.S. Navy is more familiar with for its future frigate offering, Lockheed's vice president for small combatants and ship systems told reporters at the 2018 Euronaval show. As it works through the Navy's requirements for its FFG(X) program, Lockheed is hoping that a more traditional twin-screw design with independent drive trains will entice the service towards its offering. One of the major hang-ups with the design requirements for all the competitors has been requirement that the engineering spaces be separated by a certain number of meters so that if the ship takes damage in one area, the other space should be online to drive the ship. If the design can't meet the spacing requirement, an alternative propulsion unit has to be installed. For Lockheed, the decision was to try and meet the spacing requirement, which is making its FFG(X) offering a bigger ship than the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship. “We felt the more traditional approach to the suite, going with more of the ... port and starboard side, redundant type of propulsion trains, that familiarity would be well received by the Navy. Going to more of a common system sized for the FFG(X),” said Joe DePietro. “It does require the ship to be longer, given those separation requirements and how you plan to stagger your port and starboard configuration of the combining gear/reduction gear, running into a single shaft into a screw on either side. You have to have a certain amount of separation and they have to be fully independent.” As for the system itself, Lockheed is keeping its options open, but is looking hard and combined diesel and gas systems, or even combined diesel and diesel, give the speed requirements for FFG(X), which are well reduced from what they were for the speedy LCS. The fleet has been receptive but mixed on the idea of a straight diesel propulsion system. But the trade-off for gas turbines is less fuel efficiency, which impacts range, DePietro said. In February, the Navy announced that it had awarded design contracts to asked to Huntington Ingalls, Lockheed Martin, Austal USA, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, and Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri have all been asked to submit mature designs. Lockheed is playing a strong hand going into selection, however, because of its partnership with Fincantieri on the Freedom-variant LCS, which is built at Fincantieri's Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin. Lockheed will either win the award for its modified LCS or it will be a systems integrator for Fincantieri's FREMM, which is another leading competitor for the program. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/euronaval/2018/10/23/lockheed-planning-big-shift-away-from-lcs-propulsion-system-for-its-future-frigate-offering

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