October 31, 2024 | International, Aerospace
June 2, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Réunion extraordinaire du Conseil européen, consacrée à la Défense
A Bruxelles, lundi 30 et mardi 31 mai, les pays européens dessinent les contours d'une véritable Défense européenne, lors de la réunion extraordinaire du Conseil européen. Avec l'appui de l'Agence européenne de Défense (AED), la Commission européenne a présenté, le 18 mai, une analyse sur les déficits d'investissements en matière de capacité de Défense et sur les réponses à y apporter. Ainsi, entre 1999 et 2021, les dépenses combinées de l'Union européenne dans le domaine de la Défense ont augmenté seulement de 20%, contre 66% pour les États-Unis, 292% pour la Russie et 592% pour la Chine. « Notre base industrielle de Défense n'est aujourd'hui plus adaptée, ni dimensionnée - en volume et cadence - au type de menaces de haute intensité auxquelles nous faisons face » avait commenté, le 18 mai, le commissaire européen Thierry Breton. La Commission envisage lors de la révision du cadre financier pluriannuel de renforcer les budgets du Fonds européen de la Défense (FED) et la mobilité militaire gr'ce au Mécanisme pour l'Interconnexion en Europe (MIE).
Ensemble de la presse du 30 mai
On the same subject
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December 19, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Start of Air Force’s light attack plane competition pushed back until next year
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — If the Air Force moves forward on a proposed initiative to buy light attack planes, it won't happen by the end of 2018. The service intended to put out a final request for proposals this month for a potential light attack aircraft program, but the date has now slipped into 2019, an Air Force official confirmed Tuesday. “The Air Force does not anticipate release of the final Light Attack Request for Proposal by the end of the calendar year as we complete additional analysis,” said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Hope Cronin in an emailed response to Defense News. The service released a draft solicitation on Aug. 3, following two experimentation campaigns that brought the Sierra Nevada Corp.-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, Textron's Scorpion jet and AT-6 attack plane, and L3's AT-802L Longsword to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico for several rounds of test flights. The second set of flight experiments between the A-29 and AT-6 were curtailed this summer after an A-29 crashed, killing its pilot. However, the Air Force maintained that it could garner the data it needed on aircraft maintenance and network operations while testing the planes on the ground. Air Force acquisition officials have shied away from declaring whether a program of record will begin in the fiscal year 2020 budget, but the August presolicitation seems to limit the contenders to the A-29 and AT-6, stating that SNC and Textron “are the only firms that appear to possess the capability necessary to meet the requirement within the Air Force's time frame without causing an unacceptable delay in meeting the needs of the warfighter.” The goal of the light attack experiments is to prove whether the Air Force can quickly bring industry to the table to experiment with off the shelf equipment and rapidly make a decision about whether to buy it. In that light, the delay in releasing the final request for proposals is at least a slight setback, as it's unclear whether the wait for a final RFP could also push back the Air Force's proposed due date for awarding a contract — before the start of the 2020 fiscal year on Oct. 1. But it remains unclear whether the Air Force will have the money to buy it. Officials have maintained that a light attack capability is “additive," meaning that they would not be willing to sacrifice procurement dollars designated for aircraft in existing or planned programs of record so that it could buy the AT-6 or A-29. However, the Pentagon's topline budget is still uncertain. Defense Department budget officials had geared up for a $733 billion budget in FY20, only to have President Donald Trump call for a cut to $700 billion. Now, it appears that number is growing after intervention from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and congressional hawks, and could be as high as $750 billion. Whether the light attack aircraft program fits into any of those topline budgets is currently unknown. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/12/18/start-of-air-forces-light-attack-plane-competition-pushed-back-until-next-year
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July 8, 2019 | International, Other Defence
Pentagon Looks into Virtual Reality to Prepare Troops for Nuclear War
By JACK CORRIGAN The Defense Department is considering investing in virtual reality platforms to prepare troops to face nuclear threats. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency on Tuesday began seeking information on virtual reality training systems that would allow troops to rehearse different scenarios involving “radiological threats.” The agency, which focuses on countering weapons of mass destruction, could one day use the tech to train troops to intercept radiological weapons on the battlefield, respond to radioactive contamination and even prepare for full-fledged nuclear war, officials wrote in the solicitation. While virtual and augmented platforms wouldn't entirely replace the agency's current training regimen, they would expose troops to more training exercises than they could ever experience in the real world. Physical training is expensive and time-consuming, but through virtual reality, troops could run through more exercises more frequently and at a lower cost. Under the solicitation, officials are looking for industry to outline their own virtual reality platforms, the hardware required to use them and how environments can be modified to accommodate new exercises. Officials plan to use the information collected under the solicitation to inform potential future acquisitions. Responses are due Aug. 12. This wouldn't be the first time the Pentagon turned to virtual platforms to train troops for real-world scenarios. Last year, Microsoft won a $480 million contract with the Army to adapt its HoloLens augmented reality headsets for use in military training and combat operations. The headsets would be outfitted with artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities, and provide troops with “increased lethality, mobility, and situational awareness.” In February, Microsoft employees wrote a letter to executives demanding the company pull out of the contract, saying they “refuse to create technology for warfare and oppression.” The company opted to stand by its partnership with the Pentagon. https://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2019/07/pentagon-looks-virtual-reality-prepare-troops-nuclear-war/158227/