Rafael Not Giving Up UAS Ambitions

On the same subject

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  November 1, 2022 | International, Aerospace

  Macron va t-il faire de la France la cliente de lancement du DHC-515 canadien ? - avionslegendaires.net

  31 octobre 2022, par Arnaud. L'Élysée semble vouloir aller vite sur ce dossier, quitte à bousculer un peu les habitudes françaises. Lors d'une réunion avec de nombreux

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  November 30, 2018 | International, Land

  With nod to Paris, MBDA claims lead on EU tank-killing missile

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — Missile-maker MBDA is banking on a new European Union project to help boost wider adoption of its Missile Moyenne Portée anti-tank weapon on the continent. The confidence by executives stems from last week's European Council approval of a Beyond-Line-of-Sight Land Battlefield Missile System. The project is one of 34 efforts under the union's new Permanent Structured Cooperation scheme, or PESCO. The framework is meant to unify military capabilities of the member nations with an eye toward establishing the EU as a military player on the world stage. The new missile project offers an glimpse into PESCO's nascent process for turning political ambitions into actual hardware made by national vendors. Such is the case here, says MBDA, which released a statement saying its MMP anti-tank weapon had been “endorsed” by the EU even though the official, one-paragraph project description makes no mention of a specific weapon. Company executives told Defense News that the MMP is what defense officials in France — which has the project lead together with Belgium and Cyprus — had in mind from the start when offering the project under an EU umbrella. The weapon, they argue, is the natural choice because it is already in service with French forces and because it is the sole wholly European option available. (MBDA is a joint venture of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.) A spokeswoman for the French delegation to the EU in Brussels did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The guided MMP, which boasts a range of 4 kilometers, can be fired by dismounted soldiers or from vehicles. Its competitors include the American-made Javelin and variants of the Spike, designed by Israel's Rafael. The Israelis market their offering through the Germany-based company Eurospike, and the missiles are produced in that country. But MBDA argues the “design authority” for both competitors lies outside of Europe, which means the joint venture would be ineligible for a role — and funding — under PESCO or its associated funding stream, the proposed €13 billion (U.S. $15 billion) European Defence Fund. It remains to be seen whether the apparent PESCO blessing can help propel the MMP weapon to greater popularity in European armies. There is already lower-hanging fruit included in the partnership with project co-sponsor Belgium: Brussels plans to buy a new fleet of armored combat vehicles from France's Nexter, a portion of which stands to be equipped with an anti-tank weapon. That's where EU funding support could come into play. Players of any PESCO project can get EU co-financing for the modification work required to make one weapon interoperable for several partner forces. On paper, the EU missile project has ambitious goals. The weapon eventually chosen — presumably the MMP — “is intended to be integrated on an extensive variety of platforms,” a PESCO project overview states. “The project includes joint training and formation aspects. A dedicated ‘users club' is envisioned develop a common European doctrine on BLOS firing.” Industry officials expect an initial kickoff meeting of the partner nations to hammer out a way ahead, though the timing is unclear. At that point, there could be a formal commitment to the MMP weapon. MBDA, for its part, is painting a purely altruistic picture of what's to come for the missile. “France is opening a collaborative approach for how to use it,” a spokesman told Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/11/29/with-nod-to-paris-mbda-claims-lead-on-eu-tank-killing-missile

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  July 3, 2019 | International, Other Defence

  Peraton Awarded $185.8 Million Tactical Aerostat Systems Contract

  (Source: Peraton news release) Peraton was awarded the Tactical Aerostat Systems (TAS) contract in support of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol (USBP), under the U.S. General Services Administration's One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) vehicle. The five year contract, valued at $185.8 million, is comprised of one base with four option years. Under the TAS program, Peraton will help provide round-the-clock regional domain awareness and long-range persistent ground surveillance along the United States–Mexico border. Operating from sites across the Rio Grande Valley in Southeast Texas, TAS are strategically used to enhance mission coverage by maintaining surveillance of challenging terrain and over-the-horizon situations, enabling USBP to detect, identify, classify, and track cross-border activity. "The TAS program builds on our decade-plus partnership with DHS CBP providing integrated logistics support for the Tethered Aerostat Radar System program," said John Coleman, president, Defense and Homeland Security sector. "Peraton operates and maintains the critical communications infrastructures that equip USBP agents with the vital intelligence to enforce functional borders – facilitating the flow of legal immigration and goods while preventing illegal trafficking of people and contraband across our nation's borders." With its legacy of delivering maximal aerostat availability through effective logistics management, while implementing staffing efficiencies, integrating emerging technologies, and satisfying evolving mission demands, Peraton's deep expertise drives the strong customer partnerships that advance desired mission outcomes. http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=eec2e7e4-68e1-4e91-86ba-8746cb036548