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June 19, 2023 | International, Aerospace

Reveal of French-made combat drone stirs up industry

The Aarok is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) combat drone, designed and made in France by Turgis & Gaillard.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2023/06/19/reveal-of-french-made-combat-drone-stirs-up-industry/

On the same subject

  • US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons

    November 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    US Army floats the option of fielding high-altitude balloons

    By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is now carving out a path to field high-altitude balloons to provide an additional but less expensive layer of communications, connectivity, range extension and surveillance capabilities, adding resiliency to the service's existing architecture of space assets and aircraft supporting multidomain operations. Recent tests and experiments with high-altitude balloons at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, left an impression on the head of the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command. “It's just phenomenal what we're able to do with high-altitude balloons,” Lt. Gen. Daniel Karbler told Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference, which took place virtually Oct. 13-16. “I don't have the cost analysis but, in my mind, pennies on the dollar with respect to doing it. If I had to do it via a [low-Earth orbit] or some satellite constellation, what we are able to provide with high-altitude balloons, it's tactically responsive support to the war fighter,” he added. Karbler said he sees the balloons supporting the Army's Multidomain Task Force in the future. “Conceptually, with the types of missions that the Multidomain Task Force is working, the high-altitude balloons would be a key capability enabler,” Brent Fraser, concept development division chief at SMDC's Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, told Defense News in an Oct. 29 interview. “[The balloons would] be able to provide some beyond-line-of-sight capability, whether it's communications, extended distances, to be able to provide the ability to enable sensing of targets deep in the adversary's areas, to be able to reinforce and complement existing sensing systems other than the aerial layer as well as the space layer,” Fraser added. In terms of war games and experiments conducted with high-altitude balloons, “as we look at a number of emerging concepts and capabilities and formations,” he explained, “I think we still have a ways to go, but I think we're on a positive path to continue.” SMDC has been working on high-altitude balloons — basically dirigibles that can camp out roughly 60,000-90,000 feet in the air — for a long time, but recently the technology has improved, particularly through the commercial market. Google, for instance, used high-altitude balloons to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria to help establish internet connectivity. Duration is one of the areas that has greatly improved. High-altitude balloons can now stay aloft for weeks, if not months, rather than just hours or days. Users can also command and navigate the balloons better than before, and the platforms can more easily be recovered after missions. “The technology readiness levels have really come a long way,” Fraser said. SMDC has partnered with Army Futures Command to advance the technology, particularly involving the latter's Assured-Positioning, Navigation and Timing cross-functional Team as well as Training and Doctrine Command, the Army Intelligence Center, and cyber and special operations personnel. Several years ago, the Army developed a high-altitude concept that established a foundation on which to build, Col. Tim Dalton, Army capability manager for space and high altitude within the SMDC's center of excellence, said in the same interview. After integrating the concept into a variety of war games with Futures Command and other entities, the Army is starting to develop requirements. “We're in the initial stages of defining what those requirements would be,” Dalton said. “There's kind of two aspects to the high-altitude piece: the high-altitude platform, so it's the balloon, and then whatever it's carrying on there for a payload.” The Army has created initial documents for staffing through Futures Command, and over the next couple of years the service will run those requirements through the Joint Capabilities and Integration and Development System process, which will lead to review by the Army Requirements Oversight Council. The service is in the early stages of figuring out what a program of record would look like, but it has some options, Dalton said. “What we're kind of hoping to do over the next couple of years as part of our campaign of learning is to help define what that looks like and the best way to resource those requirements for the Army.” https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2020/11/09/us-army-floats-the-option-of-fielding-high-altitude-balloons/

  • Défense : un budget en hausse de 4,5% tourné vers les nouveaux équipements

    September 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land

    Défense : un budget en hausse de 4,5% tourné vers les nouveaux équipements

    Le budget du ministère des Armées va de nouveau croître en 2020, à 37,5 milliards d'euros. C'est un budget qui ne connaît pas la crise, malgré le contexte économique. Le budget du ministère des Armées va de nouveau croître en 2020 à 37,5 milliards d'euros, soit +4,5%, conformément à la loi de programmation militaire 2019-2025 (LPM), permettant d'investir dans de nouveaux équipements militaires. Il s'agit du ministère qui bénéficie de la plus forte hausse des crédits dans le projet de loi de finances (PLF) pour 2020. "L'effort en faveur de la défense, très nécessaire après une dizaine d'années de restrictions très fortes, est assez exceptionnel dans le contexte budgétaire et financier actuel", commentait-on mercredi dans l'entourage de Florence Parly. Les crédits de la mission "Défense" (nouveaux programmes d'armements, défense spatiale, cybersécurité, nouvelle politique de rémunération des militaires) seront augmentés de 1,7 milliard d'euros l'an prochain après deux années consécutives de hausse. Objectif: 2% du PIB d'ici 2025 Hors de ce périmètre, les crédits de la mission "Anciens combattants" baissent quant à eux d'environ 150 millions d'euros. La LPM prévoit que le budget défense bénéficie d'une hausse de 1,7 milliard d'euros par an jusqu'en 2022, avant des "marches" de 3 milliards par an à partir de 2023. En 2020, les dépenses consacrées à la défense atteindront ainsi 1,86 % du PIB français. L'exécutif s'est engagé à y consacrer 2% du PIB d'ici à 2025. "Les engagements sont tenus", se félicitait mardi soir la ministre Florence Parly au micro d'Europe 1. L'an prochain, "deux tiers de cette hausse, soit 1,1 milliard d'euros, seront consacrés à l'accroissement de nos capacités" militaires, souligne-t-on au ministère des Armées. En 2020, dans le cadre du programme Scorpion de renouvellement des capacités de combat terrestre, le ministère prévoit de commander 271 blindés lourds Griffon (destinés à remplacer la flotte vieillissante de véhicules de l'avant blindé - VAB), 364 blindés légers Serval et 42 engins de reconnaissance et de combat Jaguar, comme prévu dans la LPM. Dans la Marine, les sept premiers avions de reconnaissance maritime (AVSIMAR) seront commandés, ainsi que trois avions de guet aérien Hawkeye E2D. L'Armée de l'Air bénéficiera de la rénovation de quatre avions de transport C-130H. Côté livraisons, les armées recevront en 2020 128 blindés Griffon et quatre blindés Jaguar, le premier sous-marin d'attaque (SNA) de type Barracuda, deux hélicoptères NH90, deux avions ATL-2 rénovés, deux Mirage 2000D rénovés, un avion ravitailleur A330 Phénix ainsi que deux avions de transport militaire A400M. Quelque 12 000 nouveaux fusils d'assaut Les militaires français recevront 12 000 nouveaux fusils d'assaut HK-416 (remplaçant du Famas), dont le nombre dans les forces s'élèvera à 41 300 d'ici fin 2020. Côté ressources humaines, quelque 300 postes supplémentaires seront créés dans les armées en 2020 (contre 450 en 2019), dont 150 dédiés au renseignement et une centaine dans la cyber-défense. Dans un souci de fidélisation, le ministère consacrera par ailleurs 40 millions d'euros à des "mesures catégorielles", notamment sous la forme de primes. "L'enjeu est de retenir les militaires, alors que l'on recrute 26 000 personnels par an", explique le cabinet de Florence Parly. Le montant des provisions destinées à financer les opérations extérieures (Sahel, Levant...) sera augmenté l'an prochain à 1,1 milliard d'euros, contre 850 millions en 2019. https://lexpansion.lexpress.fr/actualite-economique/defense-un-budget-en-hausse-de-4-5-tourne-vers-les-nouveaux-equipements_2099727.html

  • Navy awards $732M contract for satellite ground systems

    December 3, 2019 | International, Naval

    Navy awards $732M contract for satellite ground systems

    By: Nathan Strout General Dynamics will provide sustainment services for the ground system for the Navy's narrowband satellite communication systems over the next decade, the company announced Nov. 27. The sole-source $732 million contract was awarded Nov. 8 and work expected to be completed by Nov. 2029. The Mobile User Objective System is the Navy's next generation narrowband satellite communications system, providing secure voice, video and data communications to military users all over the globe. MUOS was built to replace the Ultra High Frequency constellation, although the new system will support the legacy system for now. According to General Dynamics, just one MUOS satellite can provide four times the capacity of the entire legacy system. The MUOS ground segment is made up of four ground station facilities located around the world. According to the General Dynamics web site, each ground station has three free-standing antennas to receive radio call relayed through the MUOS satellites. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the MUOS satellites, while General Dynamics was selected to build the ground system. “MUOS will provide our warfighters with the ability to communicate securely, anywhere, anytime, with voice clarity and data transmission speed similar to using a civilian cellphone,” said Manny Mora, vice president and general manager for General Dynamics' space and intelligence systems. “This capability delivers a whole new level of connectivity for troops in the field." On Oct. 16, the Navy announced that MUOS was deemed operationally effective following its months-long multiservice operational test and evaluation over the summer. With that designation, the new system is ready to be used in unrestricted operation. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/c2-comms/2019/12/02/navy-awards-732m-contract-for-satellite-ground-systems

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