Le numéro deux de Thales favori pour diriger Naval Group

On the same subject

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  April 19, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  France orders H225Ms and VSR700 prototype in support of helicopter industry

  This order is part of a Stimulus plan to support the national aeronautical industry announced by the French government in 2020

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  March 1, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  The US Air Force doesn’t want F-15X. But it needs more fighter jets

  By: Valerie Insinna ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force wants more fighters. But it didn't necessarily want the F-15X, and it didn't intend to buy any in the upcoming fiscal 2020 budget, its top two leaders confirmed Thursday. “Our budget proposal that we initially submitted did not include additional fourth-generation aircraft,” Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told reporters during a Feb. 28 roundtable at the Air Force Association's Air Warfare Symposium. Wilson's comments confirm reporting by Defense News and other outlets who have reported that the decision to buy new F-15X aircraft was essentially forced upon the Air Force. According to sources, the Pentagon's Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office was a key backer of the F-15X and was able to garner the support of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Asked by one reporter, point blank, whether the Air Force wanted new F-15s, Wilson and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein danced around the question. “We want to buy new airplanes,” Goldfein said. “We want to buy 72 aircraft a year,” Wilson added. Air Force leadership has confirmed that, as long as current budget plans don't change, it will request money for new F-15s in FY20. The service plans to purchase eight F-15X planes from Boeing in FY20, with an expected total buy of about 80 jets, Bloomberg reported Feb. 19. It's normal for the Pentagon to be intimately involved with each service's portion of the budget — and even to overrule service leadership and move funding around to better support the White House's aims — something that Wilson herself alluded to in her comments. “The Air Force and each of the services put in their budget proposals, given the top line that we've been allocated, and then there are further discussions that include the potential for some additional funds throughout that process,” she said. “It's not something that is an Air Force decision. Ultimately it's a Defense Department budget, and it goes into an overall presidential budget.” However, the potential F-15X buy has received increased scrutiny for a number of reasons. For one, Wilson has been vocal in dismissing reports that the Air Force had been considering purchasing an upgraded F-15. “We are currently 80 percent fourth-gen aircraft and 20 percent fifth-generation aircraft,” she told Defense News in September. "In any of the fights that we have been asked to plan for, more fifth-gen aircraft make a huge difference, and we think that getting to 50-50 means not buying new fourth-gen aircraft, it means continuing to increase the fifth generation.” Additionally, when Bloomberg broke the news that the Air Force would buy new F-15Xs in December, it reported that the decision was pushed by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who has since become acting defense secretary. Shanahan's spokesman has rebutted those reports, stating that “any DoD programmatic decisions impacting Boeing were neither made nor influenced by Mr. Shanahan.” One official alluded to sustainment costs as being a critical factor in the decision to buy the F-15X over additional F-35 fighter jets. Boeing has not disclosed its proposed F-15X unit price, with numbers from $100 million to less than $80 million having been reported by various outlets. Gen. Mike Holmes, head of Air Combat Command, declined to comment on the cost per plane in a later roundtable, but said that some of the value of the F-15X proposal lays in the total ownership cost of the plane, especially when taking into account the expense of sustaining the F-35. “There's more to think about than just the acquisition cost. There's the cost to operate the airplane over time. There's the cost to transition at the installations where the airplanes are — does it require new military construction, does it require extensive retraining of the people and then how long does it take?” he said. “We're pretty confident to say that we can go cheaper getting 72 airplanes with a mix of fifth and fourth gen than we did if we did all fifth gen.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/air-warfare-symposium/2019/02/28/the-air-force-doesnt-want-f-15x-but-it-needs-more-fighter-jets/

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  June 14, 2019 | International, Other Defence

  Invisible Interdiction: Air Force Awards Contract for Rail-Mounted Anti-Drone System

  By: Harry McNabb While drone detection systems are proliferating recently, what to do when you've identified a rogue drone is still a problem. Solutions range from catcher drones equipped with nets to shoulder mounted “ray guns” and even drone hunting birds. In a recent press release (below), Invisible Interdiction announced the award of a U.S. Air Force contract to design and test a small lightweight rail-mounted drone jamming module: a device that can be attached to other weapons carried by military personnel. We reached out to Invisible Interdiction president, Clay Wild to learn more about the development of their technology: DRONELIFE: Congratulations on your award. Do you have a image that you could share with our readers? Clay Wild: “The system itself is still a rendering, but I've attached a couple of photos that might be useful. It will be an interesting capability.” DroneLife: Who is the Audience for your system? Whom is it designed for? Clay Wild: “The initial users will be US Air Force Security Forces personnel. The guys who guard Air Force bases. DRONELIFE: What is important about this award to Invisible Interdiction? Clay Wild: “This is our first major contract award. We are going to provide Security Forces Airmen the ability to stop drones interfering with their operations without the need to carry extra equipment. Attaching the countermeasure to the weapon provides them instant access to this device”. DRONELIFE: Tell us a little bit about Invisible Interdiction and how you got started. Clay Wild: “Invisible Interdiction was started only a year ago in March 2018 but we've been in the counter-drone business for almost four years now with other organizations. We are currently marketing to defense agencies in the U.S. but have a very active international representative network around the world introducing our capabilities to those military and police agencies that are allowed to deploy jamming capabilities. As you are aware, the RF jamming is a very sensitive technology around the world because of the potential for collateral effects. With most drones using the WIFI bands for control, jamming this part of the spectrum can impact everyday things like WIFI routers, Bluetooth devices, etc. We happen to design very directional and low-power jamming systems, but they can be temporarily impactful nonetheless. The use of this, and other types of countermeasures, is an interesting debate that is just starting.” DRONELIFE: How did you come up with the name of the company? Clay Wild: “The company name Invisible Interdiction refers to the use of ‘invisible' RF energy for interdiction of errant drones. This appeared to be an interesting play on what we do. Once folks think about it for a minute, the light goes on and..”oh yeah, I get it.” The following is an Invisible Interdiction press release. Invisible Interdiction Awarded Air Force Contract for Rail-mounted UAS Denial System. Melbourne, FL, May 30, 2019: Melbourne, Florida based Invisible Interdiction has been awarded a contract to design, test and qualify a very small, lightweight rail- mounted C-UAS jamming module. This Phase 3 contract is the result of a Special Topic SBIR award originally envisioned by the Air Force's Las Vegas-based innovation hub called AFWERX. Several barriers to working with the Air Force were removed including a shorter application process, an accelerated contract award and a shorter period of performance. This effort started in the fall of 2018 in response to the Air Force's pursuit of innovative counter-drone technologies. Invisible Interdiction submitted a concept that was selected and proven feasible late last year. This UAS denial system will be similar in size and weight to existing rail-mounted aiming lasers that are mounted on the Picatinny rail of issued shotguns or M4 rifles. Noted Invisible Interdiction CEO Bryan Sydnor, “We already have considerable experience designing small and lightweight hand-held and modular jamming systems. This weapon attachable jamming module will test our ability to design an effective capability that easily attaches to the service rifle or shotgun.” Prototype testing and qualification is scheduled for later this summer with production units available by the end of 2019. https://dronelife.com/2019/06/12/invisible-interdiction-air-force-awards-contract-for-rail-mounted-anti-drone-system/