July 16, 2018 | International, Naval
By: Pierre Tran
PARIS — France and Italy received in June plans for industrial cooperation from shipbuilders Fincantieri and Naval Group, the spokeswoman for the French Armed Forces Ministry said.
“The governments concerned received the proposals from the companies and these proposals are being studied,” Valérie Lecasble said July 12, replying to a question from Defense News.
That delivery last month met a timetable for the Italian and French shipbuilders to pitch their plans for an industrial alliance in building warships and cooperating in export sales. Submarines are excluded from that proposed cooperation.
Naval Group is pursuing that link up with “great determination,” a company spokesman said.
Meanwhile, a 36-page report from ADIT, a partially state-owned company working in economic intelligence, has painted a “highly negative” picture of the compliance and ethics of Fincantieri, business paper La Tribune reported July 12. That ADIT report is circulating in the French Economy and Finance Ministry and the offices of the Armed Forces Minister, the report said.
There is also a report from the DGSE foreign intelligence service that cites “doubtful practices” Fincantieri's commercial matters. That DGSE report has been handed to the French prime minister's office, as well as the two French ministries.
The business model for the proposed Franco-Italian deal is seen by Naval Group as similar to the partnership between French carmaker Renault and its Japanese ally Nissan, in which there is close cooperation but the two are separate companies.
That proposed cross-border collaboration would seek synergies by pooling research, development and the procurement of equipment, and by cooperating on export offers in a bid to cut competition between the two companies.There would also be a cross shareholding of some 10 percent between the two companies.
It remains to be seen how the two partners have brought into the plan the French and Italian systems companies Thales and Leonardo, respectively, which supply electronics for warships. Thales holds a 35 percent stake in Naval Group, with the majority of the remainder owned by the French state.
September 10, 2023 | International, Aerospace
“The longer you take to get started, obviously, that has back-end consequences,” Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter told Defense News.
September 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval
David B. Larter WASHINGTON — A rash of technical and safety problems has left the U.S. Navy's fleet short by about 90 fighter pilots. Fixing the issue is an uphill battle, a top aviator said last week. The Navy has seen a slew of issues, including problems with the oxygen flow to the pilots causing negative and unsafe physiological responses in pilots and trainees, as well as readiness and engine trouble with aircraft. All of this has extended the time it takes to create a fighter pilot from three to four years, and the issues have created a gap in the number of pilots in the fleet, naval air training chief Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff said at a virtual Tailhook symposium on Saturday. “We can't just snap our fingers and produce those immediately. The time to train of a strike fighter pilot is about three years; due to the bottlenecks we've had, its getting closer to four years,” Westendorff said. “We're doing everything we can to get that back down to the three-year mark. But the recovery plan is a three-year plan. And if we stay on track, it should take us about three years.” An issue with the T-45′s engines “dramatically reduced” the availability of the aircraft this year, but the program is getting back on track, Westendorff said. Additionally, the general shortfall of F/A-18 Super Hornets throughout the fleet has impacted training, but Naval Aviation has been focused on bringing those numbers back up in recent years by fixing jets unable to fly for mechanical reasons. Naval air training has been beset in recent years with controversy over the so-called physiological episodes, the cause of which has been very hard to pin down. The Navy now believes it's a complex issue involving air flow and air pressure related to the breathing apparatus, and measures have been put in place to mitigate it, USNI News reported in June. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/09/17/the-us-navy-is-short-almost-100-fighter-pilots/
October 13, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security
PATRICK DÉSAVIE Le spécialiste des équipements complexes de radiofréquences et de télécommunications Bowen a inauguré le 8 octobre son nouveau centre de R&D aux Ulis (Essonne) où travaillent une cinquantaine de salariés. Spécialisé dans la conception et la fabrication d'équipements complexes de radiofréquence et de télécommunications, le groupe Bowen a inauguré, le 8 octobre son nouveau centre de R&D situé dans la grande zone d'activités de Courtabœuf aux Ulis (Essonne). Spécialisé dans la conception et la fabrication d'équipements complexes de radiofréquence et de télécommunications, le groupe Bowen a inauguré, le 8 octobre son nouveau centre de R&D situé https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/bowen-inaugure-son-centre-de-r-d-aux-ulis.N1014414 .