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August 13, 2018 | International, Aerospace

Pourquoi Trump veut briser le Rafale

Le fleuron de l'armement français et ses équipements intègrent des composants américains dont Washington pourrait interdire l'exportation. Révélations.

Par Ariane Lavrilleux et Guerric Poncet

Ala veille de sa rencontre avec Vladimir Poutine à Helsinki mi-juillet, Donald Trump s'est fendu d'une phrase que les industriels français n'ont pas oubliée : « L'Union européenne est un ennemi (...) et profite vraiment des Etats-Unis. » Les mots du président de la première puissance mondiale ne sont pas que provocateurs : une véritable épée de Damoclès est suspendue au-dessus du secteur de la défense, et elle se nomme Itar. Derrière ce sigle se cache la régulation internationale sur le commerce des armes (International Traffic in Arms Regulations).

Article complet: http://www.lepoint.fr/economie/pourquoi-trump-veut-briser-le-rafale-09-08-2018-2242513_28.php

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  • NATO's East Is Rearming, But It's Because of Putin, Not Trump

    August 14, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

    NATO's East Is Rearming, But It's Because of Putin, Not Trump

    Ott Ummelas Donald Trump has taken credit for a rise in military spending by NATO states, but in the alliance's eastern reaches, it's his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, who's driving the rearming effort. Last month, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked the U.S. President for “clearly having an impact” on defense spending by allies while Trump said his demands had added $41 billion to European and Canadian defense outlays. But the jump in acquisitions behind the former Iron Curtain of aircraft, ships and armored vehicles began when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, well before Trump's 2016 election victory, according to analysts including Tomas Valasek, director of Carnegie Europe in Brussels. While the median defense expenditure of NATO members is 1.36 percent of gross domestic product, below the alliance's requirement of 2 percent, eastern members comprise seven of the 13 members that are paying above that level. “Countries on NATO's eastern border do not need Donald Trump to boost defense spending,” Valasek said. “They decided this long before he came to power. The spending boost was because of a president, but it was Vladimir Putin, not the U.S. President.” Constant overflights by Russian aircraft into NATO airspace, cyberattacks on government and military installations, wargames on the borders of the Baltic states and accusations that Russia was behind a failed coup in newest member Montenegro have put NATO's eastern quadrant on alert for what it says is an increasingly expansionist Russia. Of the 15 members exceeding the bloc's guideline that 20 percent of total defense spending should go to equipment, six are from eastern Europe. At the time of the NATO summit in Brussels, Romania said it would buy five more F-16s from Portugal, raising its squadron to 12, after it signed a $400-million deal to acquire a Patriot missile air-defense system with Raython in May. The country of 20 million people bordering Ukraine, Moldova and the Black Sea plans to buy 36 more F-16s, four corvettes, at least 3,000 transport vehicles and coastal gun batteries over the next five years. Slovakia also announced the purchase of F-16 fighter jets at the summit to replace its aging Russian Mig-29s in a deal that was years in negotiating. And last month, Bulgaria asked for bids for at least eight new or used fighter jets by October at a total cost of 1.8 billion lev ($1 billion). By end-2018, the government in Sofia plans to buy 1.5 billion lev worth of armored vehicles and two warships for 1 billion lev. Neighboring Hungary said in June that it had agreed to buy 20 Airbus H145M multi-purpose helicopters, the country's largest military purchase since 2001. NATO's European members are expected to spend around $60 billion on equipment this year, with the 13 eastern members accounting for about 10 percent, said Tony Lawrence, a research fellow with the International Center for Security and Defense in Tallinn. The newer members will together spend about $2 billion more on equipment this year than last, he said. According to NATO, seven of its 10 biggest spending increases will be in the east. “Since these nations' membership in NATO, there has been a clear inclination to foster and strengthen their link with the U.S.,” said Martin Lundmark, a researcher with Swedish Defense University in Stockholm. “By procuring strategic defense systems, they willingly become interdependent and inter-operable with the U.S.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-13/nato-s-east-is-rearming-but-it-s-because-of-putin-not-trump

  • Top Marine ‘signaling’ to industry that F-35 cuts are on the table

    April 3, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval

    Top Marine ‘signaling’ to industry that F-35 cuts are on the table

    By: Aaron Mehta How will US Marines adjust for the future fight? | Reagan Defense Forum 2019 WASHINGTON — The top officer in the U.S. Marine Corps is sticking to the planned procurement of the F-35 joint strike fighter — but indicated a willingness to cut planes in the future if analysis says it makes sense. Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger told reporters Wednesday that he is a firm believer in the capabilities the F-35 is bringing, in particular the jump-jet B model favored by the service. However, Berger made it clear he's not wedded to long-term procurement plans, at a time the corps is shedding legacy missions as it pivots to focus to a primarily naval-focused service. “Right now, the program of record plows ahead as it is,” he said. “But I'm signaling to the industry, we have to be prepared to adjust as the operating environment adjusts. Right now, the program of record stays the same, but we will — we must — adapt to the adversary and we must adapt to the operating environment that we're challenged with being in.” Berger noted that an upcoming independent review of his force posture plans, expected to be completed in the next few months, could be a forcing function for more changes. Already, his planning guidance to the corps changed how many planes are featured in each F-35 squad, from 16 to 10. Longstanding plans call for the Marines to procure 353 of the F-35B and 67 of the F-35C carrier variants. “There's nothing like it,” Berger said of the jet. “The F-35B, the ability to operate from austere airfields and ships both, [is] incredible. In wargames, it's one of the handful of capabilities that really caused an adversary problems, because it is so flexible, it's deployable ashore or from ship. Gamechanger is sort of an overused phrase, but I'm a huge advocate of the F-35 and its capabilities.” Broadly speaking, Berger said, what will drive how many F-35s are in a squadron going forward, or how many the Corps eventually buys, comes down to maintenance — a longstanding issue for the stealthy jet. “If the maintenance readiness of the F-35 proves to be very, very strong, then of course, like any other system you need less of them because more of them are up all the time. On the other hand, if it turns out not to be so, then you're going to need more of them, to account for the ones that are in repair, that are down right now,” he said. Complicating that issue is what he called the “unique” supply chain for the jet, which in theory lets parts flow in from all over the world, as opposed to the traditional U.S. based supply. “In all aspects, we absolutely know we will learn along the way, and if its appropriate we will make adjustments” to either the squad level or the overall buy, Berger said. “But it's not a lack of confidence in the airframe at all.” https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/01/top-marine-signaling-to-industry-that-f-35-cuts-are-on-the-table/

  • Leonardo’s new airborne HF radio to equip the Northrop Grumman E-2D fleet purchased by the U.S. Navy and international customers

    February 5, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    Leonardo’s new airborne HF radio to equip the Northrop Grumman E-2D fleet purchased by the U.S. Navy and international customers

    Rome, February 4, 2021 - Leonardo has been awarded a contract by Northrop Grumman to provide its new high frequency (HF) radio system, the SRT-400, for the U.S. Navy's fleet of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft. Leonardo has been involved in the design and manufacture of airborne HF systems for decades. Leonardo's experience dates back to the 1970s, having sold thousands of its previous generation RT-170 (170W), RT-270 (200W) and RT-470 (400W) to customers around the world. Leonardo's extensive research and development activities in the high frequency airborne radio field has led to the design and production of the state-of-the-art HF Single Side Band system SRT-400, which is suitable for fixed and rotary wing aircraft. A patented Leonardo technology reduces TX power consumption by more than 40% compared to previous designs, reducing heat dissipation and greatly improving reliability. Both transceivers can be interfaced with multiple Antenna Tuning Units (ATU) matching all kinds of existing antennas (loop, wire or notch). The SRT-400 and its low power variant, the SRT-200, combine high flexibility and simplified operations into a reduced size and weight package achieved through innovative electrical and mechanical design. Variants of the E-2 Hawkeye have been in operation since the early 1960s. It provides ship or land based all-weather airborne early warning and command and control, detecting and tracking targets at extended range in deep water, littoral and over-land environments. View source version on Leonardo: https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/04-02-2021-leonardo-s-new-airborne-hf-radio-to-equip-the-northrop-grumman-e-2d-fleet-purchased-by-the-u-s-navy-and-international-customers

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