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December 16, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval

L'US Navy souhaiterait racheter 22 avions de chasse à la Confédération

Selon la SonntagsZeitung, le président américain Donald Trump veut acheter des anciens avions de combat Tiger de l'armée suisse. Un accord serait sur le point d'être conclu.

Quelque 40 millions de dollars sont prévus pour ce rachat dans le budget 2020 de Donald Trump, explique le journal alémanique. La livraison des Tiger F5, des jets vieux de 35 ans, serait prévue dès janvier 2021.

Selon Armasuisse, des discussions ont eu lieu cet été, mais il faut encore le feu vert du Congrès et du Sénat au budget de la Défense pour conclure l'accord.

Même s'ils ne sont plus en service, les avions coûtent encore un demi-million de francs par an pour l'entretien et le stationnement.

Des jets suisses pour les entraînements

La Marine américaine a déjà acheté 44 F5 à la Suisse entre 2002 et 2009 à des fins de formation. Le prix par engin était alors d'un demi-million de dollars, contre 1,8 million pour les avions prévus dans l'accord en préparation, détaille encore la SonntagsZeitung.

>> Lire aussi: Les anciens Tiger F5 suisses font le bonheur de l'armée américaine

Le concept de défense aérienne Air2030 prévoit le renouvellement de la flotte suisse et du système de défense sol-air de longue portée entre 2025 et 2030. Les Tiger F5 encore en service ne sont opérationnels que de jour et par bonne visibilité, alors que les F/A-18 arrivent au terme de leur durée d'utilisation dans dix ans au plus tard.

Pour les remplacer, quatre constructeurs sont en lice: le français Dassault (Rafale), l'européen Airbus (Eurofighter) et les américains Boeing (F/A-18 Super Hornet) et Lockheed-Martin (F-35A).

https://www.rts.ch/info/economie/10945692-l-us-navy-souhaiterait-racheter-22-avions-de-chasse-a-la-confederation-.html

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  • Littoral Combat Ship 19 (St. Louis) Completes Acceptance Trials

    December 16, 2019 | International, Naval

    Littoral Combat Ship 19 (St. Louis) Completes Acceptance Trials

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  • US, South Korea and Japan hold first-ever trilateral aerial exercise

    October 23, 2023 | International, Aerospace

    US, South Korea and Japan hold first-ever trilateral aerial exercise

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  • Coast Guard Commandant Schultz Optimistic Congress Will Fund New Heavy Icebreaker Program

    August 3, 2018 | International, Naval

    Coast Guard Commandant Schultz Optimistic Congress Will Fund New Heavy Icebreaker Program

    By: Ben Werner WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fiscal Year 2019 money for a Coast Guard heavy polar icebreaker is frozen on Capitol Hill, but the service's commandant is optimistic the project will ultimately be funded. The Senate's Fiscal Year 2019 Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill includes $750 million for the heavy icebreaker but the House version zeroed-out the heavy icebreaker money for the year to make additional funds available for building a barrier along the U.S. southern border. The department's border wall budget request was for $1.6 billion, but House appropriators recommended spending $5 billion on border security infrastructure, according to the Homeland Security Funding bill approved last week by the House appropriations committee. However, there is still time to make the case for restoring polar icebreaker funding, Adm. Karl Schultz, the new Coast Guard commandant, said on Wednesday at a Maritime Security dialogue hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The Senate marked up their version of the project and the $750 million (for a heavy icebreaker) was still in. That bill has to be conferenced,” Schultz said, referring to the process where members of both the Senate and House iron out differences in their appropriations bills before each chamber votes on the new unified version. The process is long and because of some of the contentiousness surrounding funding for Department of Homeland Security programs, Schultz said there's a strong chance a final bill will not be considered until after the fall midterm elections. Along with overseeing the Coast Guard, DHS is in charge of several agencies governing immigration, customs and border control. Building a heavy polar icebreaker has strong support inside the Trump administration, Schultz said. His superiors – both the secretary of Homeland Security and President Trump – support the project. Trump even mentioned the project during his remarks at the June 1 change of command when Schultz took charge of the Coast Guard. Full article: https://news.usni.org/2018/08/01/35453

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