August 1, 2024 | International, Land
Israel moves to strengthen defense production amid boycott calls
Calls to boycott the sale of ammunition to Israel have led to a push to strengthen production independence.
December 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval
Macron kicks off French race to build a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Dec. 8 that his country's next aircraft-carrier will be nuclear-powered and should be operational by 2038 in time to replace the Charles de Gaulle, which entered active service in 2001.
The new aircraft carrier is expected to be the biggest warship France has ever built. Florence Parly, the armed forces minister, said in October that the ship, whatever its propulsion, would be designed to deploy the future combat aircraft system (FCAS) and today her ministry confirmed that the vessel would deploy about 30 of these aircraft “which will be bigger than the Rafales.”
The ministry said the ship would be in the 75,000 tonne class (82,673 tons), be around 300 meters long (984 feet) and be able to sail at 27 knots (31 mph), even bigger than the second aircraft carrier that Naval Group was working on in the early 2000s until that program was shelved by the government for lack of money. In comparison, the Charles de Gaulle is 261m (856 feet) long and weighs 42,000 tonnes (46,297 tons) fully loaded. The new ship will have a crew of about 2,000, including the air group.
Speaking at Framatome, France's principal nuclear-power company headquartered at Le Creusot in the centre of France, Macron announced just four minutes before the end of his 28 minute speech that he had “decided that the future aircraft-carrier which will serve our country and our navy will, like the Charles de Gaulle, be nuclear-propelled.”
It will have two K22 power generators each generating 220 megawatts (hence the 22) derived from the K15 (that generate 150 MW each) that currently power the Charles de Gaulle.
Naval Group, which is the prime contractor for these major ship-building projects, immediately issued a statement hailing the decision, pledging to work with its major industrial partners Chantiers de l'Atlantique, TechnicAtome and Dassault Aviation.
Pierre Eric Pommellet, chairman and CEO of Naval Group, said, “We are delighted with the announcement (...) which will enable France to maintain its position in the very restricted circle of major powers holding a nuclear aircraft carrier.”
Echoing what Macron had said in his speech, Pommellet stressed the importance of projects like this to “ensure the continuity of our skills” and of developing innovative solutions “in the fields of propulsion and high added-value military systems, thus maintaining France's technological lead and its position as a key geostrategic player.”
Now that the nuclear option has been chosen to power France's new aircraft carrier, other major decisions will have to be taken, notably concerning the catapults which are a vital part of the project. France has no expertise in this highly specialized technology and so will have to import the catapults from the United States, as it has done for the past 60 years. Those on the Charles de Gaulle are steam-powered, but those on the new aircraft carrier will be electromagnetic.
Naval Group and its partners will now start a two-year preliminary design study, which sources said may use a number of the ideas that had been worked on for the aborted second aircraft carrier. That will be followed by more detailed plans with the development phase expected to finish at the end of 2025 at which point the ministry will order the ship. The design phase up to the end of 2025 is expected to cost some €900 million ($1.09 billion) of which €117 million ($142 million) will be spent in 2021.
On the same subject
-
-
March 11, 2022 | International, Aerospace
Saudi Arabia Prioritizes Drone Development and Procurement
-
December 26, 2018 | International, C4ISR
How the new acting Pentagon chief views cybersecurity
By: Justin Lynch President Donald Trump announced in a Dec. 23 tweet that Patrick Shanahan will become acting secretary of defense Jan. 1, replacing outgoing Pentagon chief Jim Mattis two months early. While it is not clear how long Shanahan will remain in the job, he is on the short list of officials who could become the full-time Pentagon chief. Regardless of the length of his tenure, Shanahan, the Pentagon deputy since 2017, has been one of the Pentagon's top advocates for stronger contractor cybersecurity and IT acquisition and will lead the department months after it was given expansive and loosely defined authorities to conduct offensive cyber operations. How Shanahan will handle these greater cyber authorities, even on a temporary basis, remains an open question that will be tested immediately amid evolving challenges, such as an alleged hacking campaign from China. Unclear views on cyber operations In August, the secretary of defense was given the ability to conduct offensive cyber operations without informing the president as long as it does not interfere with the “national interest” of the United States, four current and former White House and intelligence officials have told Fifth Domain. A Pentagon official told Fifth Domain that while there is a general outline of what specific operations may affect the American “national interest,” some details are not explicitly defined. And a review of his public remarks show that Shanahan has not made significant comments about how America should conduct offensive cyber operations. He has shiedaway from giving detailed responses about U.S. Cyber Command. “There are two new war-fighting domains, cyber and space, for which we are developing doctrine and capabilities,” Shanahan said Sept. 19. A spokesperson for Shanahan did not respond to questions from Fifth Domain. Focus on defense contractors As deputy, Shanahan has focused on “re-wiring” the Pentagon. He has called good cybersecurity “foundational” to working with the department. “Cybersecurity is, you know, probably going to be what we call the ‘fourth critical measurement.' We've got quality, cost, schedule, but security is one of those measures that we need to hold people accountable for,” Shanahan said Sept. 19 during an Air Force Association conference. Shanahan's focus on contractor cybersecurity comes as China is believed to be targeting defense contractors, particularly those on the lower end of the supply chain, in an attempt to steal sensitive American secrets, according to intelligence officials and industry executives. Shanahan, however, has placed responsibility among the top defense firms. “I'm a real strong believer that the Tier 1 and Tier 2 leadership has a responsibility to manage the supply chain,” Shanahan said in the Sept. 19 speech. In October, Shanahan was put in charge of a new Pentagon task force to combat data exfiltration that focuses in part on these defense firms. “Together with our partners in industry, we will use every tool at our disposal to end the loss of intellectual property, technology and data critical to our national security,” Shanahan told Fifth Domain in October. A specific area of focus inside the department is finding out which companies are in the Pentagon's supply chain, according to officials involved in the process, but it is not clear if it is specifically part of Shanahan's task force. Inside the Pentagon, Shanahan has also emphasized the need for smarter IT acquisition. In an October. interview with Fifth Domain, Shanahan expressed frustration with the Pentagon's procurement process, but said to expect “a number of things that are foundational to being able to achieve enterprise solutions.” He hinted that those changes are focused on the “right platforms and the right level of integration” that can support high-end computing and artificial intelligence. “I'm super frustrated that we can't go faster on like basic things like the cloud,” Shanahan said. “Most of everything we do is software-driven.” Aaron Mehta contributed to this report. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/2018/12/24/how-the-new-acting-pentagon-chief-views-cybersecurity