January 3, 2024 | International, Land
European nations team up to buy Patriot missiles in $5.5 billion deal
If all options are exercised, the four states will procure a joint quantity of up to 1,000 Patriot Guidance Enhanced Missiles.
June 22, 2018 | International, C4ISR
The US made the wrong bet on radiofrequency, and now it could pay the price
By: Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon's belief in its technology drove the Department of Defense to trust it would have control over the electromagnetic spectrum for years to come, but that decision has left America vulnerable to new leaps in technology from China and Russia, according to a top military official.
Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has now concluded that the Pentagon needs to ensure it is keeping up with those near-peer nations, let along reestablishing dominance of electronic warfare and networking.
“I think we assumed wrongly that encryption and our domination over the precision timing signals would allow us to evade the enemy in the electromagnetic spectrum. I think that was a bad assumption,” Selva said Thursday at the annual Center for a New American Security conference.
“It's not that we disarmed, it's that we took a path that they have now figured out,” Selva said. China and Russia instead focused on deploying “digitally managed radio frequency manipulation, which changed the game in electronic warfare.”
He added that a DoD study looking at the next decade concluded “We have some work to do.”
Specifically, the United States needs to discover what Selva dubbed “alternative pathways” for communications and command and control systems.
“It doesn't have to be a [radiofrequency] game. It's an RF game because we choose to make it so. And we're going to have to do some targeted investments in expanding the capacity of the networks that we use for command and control and battle management,” he said. “If we fail to do that, we're going to kick ourselves into the force-counterforce game inside the electromagnetic spectrum for the balance of the next couple of decades.
“We have to adapt to that, and adapt quickly. The work has been done to characterize the problem, and the problem is, we're locked in this point-counterpoint fight with two potential competitors who have taken alternative paths. So we have to unlock a different way to do that work.”
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February 7, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Airbus Helicopters poursuit la militarisation du H160 et du soutien associé
Airbus Helicopters et la Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) s'engagent sur des études complémentaires pour la militarisation du H160 et du soutien associé, dans le cadre du programme d'Hélicoptère Interarmées Léger (HIL). Ce marché va permettre le lancement des activités de développement préliminaires de la version militaire du H160, aussi connue sous le nom de Guépard, afin de tenir le calendrier de livraison accéléré annoncé en mai 2019 par la Ministre des armées, Florence Parly. Ces études complémentaires comporteront également un volet visant à définir le modèle optimal du soutien pour cette flotte interarmées. Airbus Helicopters, Safran Helicopter Engines et la DGA travailleront en étroite collaboration avec pour objectif de maximiser le taux de disponibilité des hélicoptères tout en optimisant les coûts de soutien de la flotte. « Le lancement dès la phase de pré-développement de ce travail collaboratif entre l'industriel et le ministère des armées pour définir le modèle de soutien du Guépard et les processus associés est essentiel. Cela permettra de garantir un taux de disponibilité élevé dès son entrée en service au sein des forces armées » a déclaré Alexandra Cros, Directrice des Affaires Gouvernementales France d'Airbus Helicopters. « Ces études s'inscrivent dans la continuité des travaux et des engagements pris récemment dans les contrats « verticalisés » pour les flottes Cougar, Caracal et Tigre des armées françaises ». Hélicoptère modulaire par conception, le Guépard permettra de couvrir avec une plateforme unique des missions allant de l'infiltration de commandos à la lutte antinavire, en passant par l'interception aérienne et l'appui-feu, répondant ainsi aux besoins de l'armée de Terre, de la Marine Nationale et de l'Armée de l'air dans le cadre du programme HIL. Le lancement du HIL anticipé en 2021 permettra de livrer les premiers hélicoptères à l'armée française dès 2026. https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/airbus-helicopters-poursuit-la-militarisation-du-h160-et-du-soutien-associ-22521
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June 5, 2020 | International, Naval
French-Italian naval joint venture invests in future technologies
By: Tom Kington ROME – Italy and France are to fund half the cost of new cutting-edge technology projects launched by Naviris, the joint venture between the countries' leading shipyards. The money will be used for development work on computer-aided engineering, vessel lifecycle simulation, energy efficiency, fuel cells for surface vessels, logistics and new technologies for helping sail in rough weather. Naviris is a 50-50 joint venture launched in 2019 by Italy's Fincantieri and France's Naval Group to develop common vessels including a new European corvette which has attracted interest from Spain after Greece signed up. The deal on funding for new research, announced on Thursday, will see the injection of state cash overseen by OCCAR, the European procurement organization which is used by nations to manage multinational programs. “Through this deal, managed by OCCAR, Naviris will provide half the funding for the research, while the defense ministries of Italy and France will provide the other half,” said a Fincantieri source. “Naviris will have the intellectual property of the results, which can be exploited by Italy and France for their navies,” he added. No value was given for the three-and-a-half-year contract. In a statement, Naviris said that three Naval Group sites will be involved in the projects – Nantes-Indret, Ollioules and Lorient, as well as its subsidiary SIREHNA. Fincantieri facilities at Genova and Trieste will work on the project, along with its subsidiaries Cetena and Seastema. OCCAR said that the contract would be followed by a successive deal involving the European organization in upgrade work undertaken by Naviris on Horizon frigates operated by France and Italy. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/06/04/french-italian-naval-joint-venture-invests-in-future-technologies/