Project Overmatch budget details too sensitive to share, Navy says

On the same subject

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  January 14, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Parly annonce un programme de Rafale à €2 mds pour les forces françaises

  BORDEAUX, 13 janvier (Reuters) - La ministre des Armées Florence Parly indique dans un entretien à paraître lundi dans Sud-Ouest qu'elle annoncera le lancement d'un nouveau programme de Rafale pour un montant de près de 2 milliards d'euros pour les forces aériennes françaises. La commande, qui sera annoncée lundi lors de sa visite aux usines Dassault Aviation de Mérignac (Gironde), porte sur des Rafale au standard F4 dont les premiers exemplaires seront livrés dès 2023. “Le Rafale F4 bénéficiera d'une connectivité, d'une fiabilité et d'une capacité à contrer les menaces renforcées. Ces améliorations amèneront cet appareil au niveau des avions de dernière génération et permettront à nos forces aériennes de maintenir leur supériorité dans des espaces de plus en plus contestés”, précise Florence Parly. Le contrat de près de 2 milliards d'euros est une bonne nouvelle pour le constructeur aéronautique français qui emploie à Mérignac 1.400 personnes et pour ses sous-traitants. “La loi de programmation militaire prévoit également, en 2023, une commande de 30 nouveaux avions pour des livraisons qui s'échelonneront entre 2027 et 2030. Entre-temps, l'usine Dassault sera bien occupée puisqu'elle livrera à l'armée de l'air des Rafale en version 3 à hauteur de 28 exemplaires entre 2022 et 2024. Nous en avons déjà reçu trois en 2018”, indique la ministre. Florence Parly rappelle les grands contrats déjà signés pour la vente de Rafale à l'Inde, le Qatar et l'Egypte, permettant à l'usine Dassault de tourner à plein régime jusqu'en 2021 et que “plusieurs appels d'offres vont être lancés, en particulier en Suisse et en Finlande”. “Il y a de nouvelles possibilités. Nous y travaillons activement”, dit-elle. (Claude Canellas, édité par Julie Carriat) https://fr.reuters.com/article/topNews/idFRKCN1P81H5-OFRTP

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  July 9, 2020 | International, Other Defence

  House panel would block Pentagon from extra sway over nuclear weapons budget

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― House appropriators on Tuesday approved a spending bill that would block plans from defense hawks to give the Pentagon a stronger hand in crafting nuclear weapons budgets. The House Appropriations Committee passed their Energy-Water bill, which contained the provision, by a voice vote. The $49.6 billion spending bill contained $13.7 billion for nuclear weapons accounts ― a $1.2 billion increase over fiscal 2020 that's still $1.9 billion less than the president's request. Lead Republicans voiced opposition to the bill, arguing that Democrats had not consulted with Republicans on pandemic emergency funds in the bill and that Democrats included policy riders the White House will seek to cut. The top Republican on the House Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, said the bill “still shortchanges funding for the nuclear weapons program.” “While I acknowledge the increase above last year, we must also acknowledge that the threats we face today are not the same threats we faced in the years immediately following the end of the Cold War,” he said. “We must adequately fund the activities necessary to maintain a safe, reliable and effective stockpile.” The bill would bar funding for the Pentagon-led Nuclear Weapons Council, and would prevent it from assisting with the budget of the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency under the Energy Department. The Senate Armed Services Committee's version of the annual defense policy bill would allow the council to edit the budget request after the Energy Department crafts it and before the request is submitted to the White House budget office. The move was seen as giving the Pentagon extra sway to boost warhead programs and nuclear weapons laboratories. Its introduction came after Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette clashed with SASC Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who backed a budget request for the larger number than Brouillette sought. The Energy-Water spending bill contains language ordering no funds “may be used in furtherance of working through the Nuclear Weapons Council to guide, advise, assist, develop, or execute a budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration.” Separately, the proposed bill would ban the Trump administration's reported plan to resume nuclear weapons testing. The bill would prohibit funding “to conduct, or prepare to conduct, any explosive nuclear weapons test that produces any yield.” “Critically, the bill would prevent the Trump administration from using any funds to carry out its dangerous and short-sighted plan to resume nuclear testing,” House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., said in a statement. The Trump administration was reportedly discussing whether a “rapid test” could aid it in negotiations with Russia and China, as the White House seeks a trilateral nuclear weapons pact. The defense appropriations bill introduced Tuesday would also bar funding for explosive nuclear weapons tests. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/07/07/house-panel-blocks-pentagon-from-extra-sway-over-nuke-budget/

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  September 17, 2018 | International, Naval

  Marines want to use artificial intelligence to help find and neutralize sea mines

  By: Todd South The Marines are looking for ways to leverage artificial intelligence and autonomy to find sea mines as they improve their ability to conduct littoral combat operations. A recent posting on the government website fbo.gov shows that the Marine Corps Rapid Capability Office is seeking such technology as early as fiscal year 2019 to “detect, analyze and neutralize” explosive ordnance in very shallow water and the surf zone. Chinese maritime doctrine and equipment development in recent years has included strategies to deploy scores of sea mines in key ocean chokepoints. Full article: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/09/14/marines-want-to-use-artificial-intelligence-to-help-find-and-neutralize-sea-mines