March 16, 2021 | International, Aerospace
A diplomatic row between the United States and Turkey is continuing to jeopardize a planned procurement by Pakistan.
March 17, 2023 | International, Other Defence
Dans "Apolline Matin" ce mercredi sur RMC et RMC Story, Emmanuel Lechypre se penche sur le classement mondial des ventes d’armes. En progression, la France se rapproche de la 2e place, occupée par la Russie.
July 15, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR
By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — Government officials have signed an agreement that could lead to the joint modernization of the British and U.S. armies in key technology areas. British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey and U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy signed a memorandum of agreement on joint modernization for a number of technologies during a meeting in London, the British Ministry of Defence announced July 14. In a statement, the British government said the agreement is a sign of “intent to formalise a number of ongoing initiatives between the two Armies, boosting opportunities to co-operate effectively as modern warfare continues to evolve.” The agreement initially aims to cover developing, complementary capabilities from 2023 to 2027, specifically: Networks: the shared development of digital infrastructure to support U.K.-U.S. operations. Long-range precision fires: improving the bilateral capability development. Future vertical lift: creating closer affiliation in the development of helicopter capabilities. Soldier and ground lethality: building on the existing collaboration to improve the effectiveness of land forces. Assured positioning, navigation and timing: providing greater coherence in the development of multidomain technologies. The goal is to narrow the gap between British and American forces during joint operations, according to the announcement. Heappey said the agreement “signals our shared determination to develop the novel capabilities that will give us that battle-winning edge and opportunity for the defense industry on both sides of the Atlantic.” The MoD said the officials discussed in detail plans to work together to modernize programs and capabilities of shared importance. McCarthy said the partnership “allows costly and complex problems to be distributed and helps protect the industrial base through enabling faster innovation and cost-sharing towards achieving our modernization priorities.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/the-americas/2020/07/14/us-and-british-armies-eye-technology-collaboration/
June 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — As the Pentagon focuses on developing new technologies such as artificial intelligence and directed energy, department officials have declared the need to ensure foreign nations are not buying their way into the defense-industrial base. But a new report warns China may already have ownership over a key focus: hypersonic weapons. Hypersonic missiles, which are capable of going faster than five times the speed of sound, are expected to become a backbone of the U.S. military in the coming decades. As part of its annual Federal Scorecard, data and analytics firm Govini found that tier one suppliers in the hypersonic supply chain — seven major companies that are working most closely with the Department of Defense on the technology development — has done a good job of keeping Chinese-owned companies out of the process. But at the tier three level, where companies provide smaller but still critical components, the exposure to Chinese suppliers jumps to nearly 10 percent. And that exposure grows slightly by the time it reaches tier five suppliers, with Govini seeing signs of overlap among companies at those lower levels. “This does not necessarily mean that Chinese parts are ending up in DoD'a hypersonics,” explained Jim Mitre, Govini's senior vice president for strategy and analysis. “However, China may have opportunities to jeopardize the development [of] hypersonics through engagement in the supply chain, and it's critically important for DoD and industry to ensure that's not the case.” That is “an area that we're regularly working with the department on exploring and unpacking” to understand the challenges in the supply chain, Mitre added. A series of Pentagon reports in the last two years have raised concerns about the defense-industrial base, particularly when it comes to high-end materials and design knowledge for missiles. In some cases, the only supplier for critical materials come from China, the exact country the U.S. is looking to counter by investing in hypersonic weapons. In March, the Pentagon announced it was launching a deep dive into the hypersonic industrial base specifically to understand the vulnerabilities at the lower-tier suppliers. That study is ongoing. Meanwhile, officials have acknowledged that smaller suppliers have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Govini also found that the U.S. is under investing compared to China in the realm of quantum technologies, with the Pentagon's fiscal 2021 research, development, testing and evaluation budget for quantum-related programs decreasing by nearly 10 percent from the previous year. The department has requested $3.2 billion for RDT&E funds related to hypersonic weapons in FY21. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/06/09/is-china-already-inside-americas-hypersonic-industrial-base/