Leonardo, Elbit units to prototype targeting device for US Army

On the same subject

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  October 25, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Italy plans to slash half a billion dollars from defense in 2019

  By: Tom Kington ROME — Italy will cut €450 million (U.S. $512.3 million) from its planned defense spending in 2019 by suspending helicopter and missile purchases and canceling an office move by the defense ministry to help shore up social welfare and tax cuts, a defense source has told Defense News. Italy's total outlay on defense in 2019 will be announced in parliament in the next few days, as Rome's populist government seeks support by members of parliament for its state budget, which contains billions of euros for a new wage for the unemployed. To free up funds to cover spending, Rome has made its cut to the defense budget, just as most European states are increasing their military outlay. During 2019 all ongoing purchases of NH-90 helicopters for the Italian Army and Navy will be suspended, the source said. Italy is planning to buy 60 NH-90s for the Army and 56 for the Navy at a total cost of €4 billion, with the procurement due to wind up in 2024. Upgrades to Tornado aircraft will also be suspended, said the source, who added that the two measures would save €370 million. Italy's purchase of the MBDA Camm-Er missile defense system will also be put off for a year, saving €30 million in 2019, the source added. Another €50 million — to reach the total of €450 million — will come from the cancellation of plans to move the headquarters of Italy's armed forces out of their separate buildings in Rome's city center to a unified HQ in the suburbs. The plan, dubbed ‘Italy's Pentagon,' was due to cost a total of €1.1 billion, the source said. The source added that F-35 purchases would be “slowed” in order to spread out payments. Italy is currently planning to buy 90 aircraft. Italian defense minister Elisabetta Trenta will discuss the plan with U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis when she visits the United States in November, the source said. The Italian coalition government which took office in June combines the anti-migrant League party with the anti-establishment Five Star party, which has long criticized spending on defense in Italy. A second defense source said that the defense ministry was about to publish its much delayed document breaking down the year's defense spending by program, which is normally released in the spring. The source said the document would this year indicate military procurement programs considered “ethical” by the new government. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/24/italy-plans-to-slash-half-a-billion-dollars-from-defense-in-2019

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  December 12, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  Rheinmetall’s Skymaster to bolster Austrian drone, missile defenses

  Vienna's forces are slated to receive upgrades to the Skyguard cannon-based defenses previously purchased from the German vendor.

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  October 29, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Export constraints emerge as sticking point for future German-French combat aircraft: report

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — French-German plans for a joint fighter aircraft project may be off to a rocky start, as reports emerged last week about fundamental disagreements between the two partners over export restrictions for such a weapon. According to a report on the website of the German magazine Der Spiegel, French negotiators made unlimited exportability of the so-called “Future Combat Air System” a prerequisite for getting started on the project. The position is at odds with a more restrictive policy by Berlin, where arms deals to sensitive countries traditionally are more heavily scrutinized for the potential of human-rights abuses by the recipient government. The Spiegel based its report on a four-page confidential cable from Germany's ambassador in Paris, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, describing the outcome of a Sept. 21 “crisis meeting” in the French capital. So deep ran the diverging views at the gathering that Claire Landais, the French secretary-general for defense and national security, threatened to cancel further planning unless Germany would agree to French demands for unconstrained exports of the future combat aircraft, according to the Spiegel. Airbus CEO Tom Enders, whose company is involved in the planning alongside Dassault Aviation, criticized the reported German insistence on export caveats. “Berlin can't urge greater European cooperation in its Sunday speeches and then refuse it when concrete projects are taking shape,” he told the magazine. The idea behind the Future Combat Air System program is to create a sixth-generation aircraft that would eventually help wean European air forces from U.S.-made hardware. A development contract is eyed for the mid-2020s following years of concept studies. The future weapon is envisioned as a collection of aerial capabilities built around a new fighter aircraft. Supporting systems are eyed to include unmanned aircraft of various types plus a datalink architecture connecting all elements. German arms exports outside NATO and EU countries have come under renewed fire here since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered by regime agents in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The Saudi government initially denied knowing about the crime but was forced to acknowledge Khashoggi's death following weeks of international pressure. The reported French-German disagreement on the exportability of FCAS comes on the heels of an interview by Airbus Defence and Space chief Dirk Hoke in the French business journal La Tribune on Oct. 18. Hoke said Airbus would take leadership of the overall system package of FCAS while Dassault would spearhead the fighter aircraft — a position that has the potential to create additional friction in the project. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/28/export-constraints-emerge-as-sticking-point-for-future-german-french-combat-aircraft-report