Orizzonte Sistemi Navali signs contract for new Italian Navy OPVS

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  February 10, 2020 | International, Naval

  Spain seen joining Greece, France, Italy on European Patrol Corvette program

  By: Tom Kington ROME – Plans by Italy and France to win European Union funding for the construction of a new corvette have been boosted as Spain looks set to follow Greece and sign up to the program. The planning for a new 3,000 ton corvette is a cornerstone of the new naval joint venture between Italy's Fincantieri and France's Naval Group which was launched last year and named Naviris. The two firms are hoping to match Italian and French navy requirements with a jointly built, modular vessel that can handle patrol and surveillance missions as well as taking second-tier roles in anti-submarine and anti-surface missions. The program, dubbed the European Patrol Corvette, has also been inserted in the EU's so-called Permanent Structured Cooperation, or PESCO, list of recommended pan-European defense programs, which according the EU offers members “options on how to plan and bridge capability gaps in a collaborative manner.” The PESCO corvette project is coordinated by Italy, with France as partner, but in recent weeks, Greece has also joined as a partner, following discussions between the countries' navies. And now Spain is likely to follow, an industrial source told Defense News. “Naviris presented the program to Spain's Navantia which is interested and it is likely Spain will sign up,” said the source. On its PESCO listing for the corvette, the EU states “the objective is to design and develop a prototype for a new class of military ship, named “European Patrol Corvette” (EPC), which can host several systems and payloads, in order to accomplish, with a modular and flexible approach, a large number of tasks and missions.” Adding new partners to the roster of Italy and France is key to winning EU funding. PESCO programs are possible candidates for cash from the European Defence Fund, but only if they have more than two partners on board. “The corvette is the only naval program on the PESCO list and it should be a priority,” said the source. Naviris expects the EU fund to issue a Request for Proposal for projects this year, with proposals to then be submitted by industry in 2021, and for decisions on fund allocation to be made the same year. The source said that if the corvette program gets EU part-funding, it would help sustain the development of the ship's modularity, allowing it to serve different functions for different navies. “It would have a very open architecture, as well as having a basic and enhanced version,” he said. Apart from the boost given the program by potential EU funding, the corvette remains a requirement for Italy and France. Rome needs to replace Cassiopea- and Minerva-class vessels being phased out as well as aging Commandante-class vessels. France is looking to substitute its Floréal-class vessels. “Italy might need eight corvettes and France is looking to substitute six ships. They both have a need, so the EU funding would be an added opportunity that could create a bandwagon effect with other navies,” said the source. As Naviris picks up steam, Naval Group CEO Hervé Guillou has said the industrial alliance is open to new partners joining, but so far Germany seems to be uninterested. Addressing the economic affairs committee of the French Senate on Jan. 28, Guillou said he had visited Berlin the week before to sound out German interest but got little response. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/02/07/spain-seen-joining-greece-france-italy-on-european-patrol-corvette-program

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  October 10, 2018 | International, Land

  Army in final stages of hashing out Stryker lethality requirements

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army has entered the final stages of hashing out requirements for ramping up Stryker combat vehicle lethality and will make a decision in January on what it wants in order to increase its battlefield effectiveness. The service in January will hold an Army Requirements Oversight Council meeting, with Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, to cement requirements on how it will improve the Stryker fleet's lethality, according to Lt. Gen. James Pasquarette, the service's new G-8 lead, in charge of program development and justification. The AROC will produce a “kind of ‘Y in the road' of what we think we are going to want to look at,” when it comes to making the Stryker more lethal, Pasquarette told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting. The Army conducted a test fire of one of its 30mm cannon solutions on Stryker at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, as recently as last month, he noted. “We know we believe the Stryker has to have capability to defeat light armor,” Pasquarette said. “We are developing the concept more to validate that on the front-end.” The Army is looking at roughly three different caliber weapons systems, he said. They include a couple of Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations with different caliber weapons, as well as a 30mm cannon like what was outfitted on Strykers that went to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Germany earlier this year. “We want to make sure the concept is tight, about what we think we need based on threat and capability we want to have, then we will have to see what direction we go,” which could include competitions to upgun the fleet — or parts of the fleet — in the future, Pasquarette said. “We are still determining balance. Does everyone need to have this, or is it just parts of the fleet?” Pasquarette asked. “How do we want to fight Stryker units, if we have this capability in there?” Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/10/army-in-final-stages-of-hashing-out-stryker-lethality-requirements

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  September 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Nouvelle commande pour l'Airbus A330 MRTT

  L'Occar transforme en commande ferme une option sur un Airbus A330 MRTT dans le cadre du contrat MMF qui vise à créer une flotte de ravitailleurs pour plusieurs pays européens. Quatre Airbus A330 MRTT en un mois Après la commande passée par la France pour trois Airbus A330 transformables en MRTT dans le cadre du plan de relance du gouvernement, c'est au tour de l'Occar transformer en achat ferme une des trois options prises dans le cadre du contrat MMF (Multinational MRTT Fleet) qui porte sur huit Airbus A330 MRTT fermes. Initié en 2012 par l'Agence européenne de la Défense, ce contrat est géré par l'Occar pour le compte de la NSPA, l'agence de soutien et d'achats de l'OTAN. L'objectif est de mettre le parc à la disposition de plusieurs pays européens : les Pays-Bas, le Luxembourg, la Norvège, l'Allemagne, la Belgique et la République Tchèque. Le Luxembourg veut plus d'heures Les Etats participant au programme MMF ont un accès exclusif aux ravitailleurs qui sont gérés en pool par l'OTAN. Les coûts et le personnel sont répartis en fonction du nombre d'heures de vol requises par chaque pays. C'est la demande du Luxembourg d'augmenter son quota d'heures de vol qui a d'ailleurs déclenché cette commande qui porte désormais à neuf le nombre d'Airbus A330 MRTT commandés fermes auxquels s'ajoutent deux options. Le Luxembourg veut en effet passer de 200 à 1 200 heures de vol. Des avions multimissions Comme les deux premiers exemplaires livrés, l'appareil sera configuré pour réaliser plusieurs missions : le ravitaillement en vol mais aussi le transport de personnels et de fret ainsi que les opérations d'évacuation médicale. La pandémie de coronavirus ou covid-19 a d'ailleurs été l'occasion pour les A330 MRTT Phénix de l'Armée de l'Air de démontrer ses capacités en matière d'évacuation médicale d'urgence dans le cadre de l'Opération Résilience qui a nécessité l'installation de postes de réanimation lourde pour accompagner le transport des patients. https://air-cosmos.com/article/nouvelle-commande-pour-lairbus-a330-mrtt-23664