March 11, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Air Combat Command chief talks NGAD, Tacair study, and acknowledges current F-35 problems.
https://skiesmag.com/news/top-usaf-general-urges-support-next-gen-fighter/
February 10, 2024 | International, Land
We have been warned — over and over again lately — that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an inflection point in history. And while the soaring political rhetoric may have sounded good over the last few years, it's very likely that this week, we truly arrived at that turning point.
November 8, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Deux officiers à la retraite, proches du MR, ont défendu la décision du gouvernement de sélectionner l'avion de combat américain F-35 pour succéder aux F-16 vieillissants, en assurant dans une carte blanche qu'il s'agissait d'une "excellente nouvelle pour la défense européenne". "C'est au terme d'une sélection transparente présentée au Parlement, procédure unique au plan européen pour ce type d'investissements sensibles, que l'avion américain a remporté le marché en l'emportant dans l'intégralité des 7 critères majeurs retenus. Pour couronner le tout, le F-35 affiche le prix le plus bas", affirment l'ancien colonel aviateur Luc Gennart, désormais échevin MR à Namur, et le général de brigade Raymond Dory, ex-conseiller militaire du ministre des Affaires étrangères Didier Reynders. "Les retours sociétal et industriel vont pouvoir être maintenant négociés très concrètement entre l'avionneur et les acteurs institutionnels et industriels belges. Ils s'annoncent d'ores et déjà prometteurs", ajoutent les deux anciens officiers, dans une carte blanche adressée à plusieurs quotidiens. Ils rappellent que le choix du F-35 du groupe américain Lockheed Martin a provoqué des "réactions courroucées", principalement à Paris, qui avait proposé - mais en dehors de la procédure officielle - son avion de combat Rafale, alors que le Royaume-Uni promouvait l'Eurofighter Typhoon. Selon MM. Gennart et Dory, le reproche est fait à la Belgique d'affaiblir la défense européenne est "proprement inacceptable". "Le Danemark, l'Italie, le Royaume-Uni et les Pays-Bas (sans parler de la Norvège, hors UE) ont fait le choix du F-35, les accuse-t-on de torpiller la défense européenne? ", s'interrogent-ils. https://www.rtl.be/info/belgique/societe/deux-officiers-a-la-retraite-defendent-le-choix-du-chasseur-f-35-americain-1075326.aspx
October 8, 2020 | International, C4ISR
Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The live-fire and virtual weapons training company Meggitt Training Systems is rebranding to InVeris Training Solutions, the company announced Wednesday. The Suwanee, Ga., firm, is shedding the name of its former parent company, Meggitt Plc., which sold the former subsidiary to private investment firm Pine Island Capital Partners LLC for $146 million in July. The new name is meant to connote trust and integrity, the company said. Pine Island's partners include former former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy. Partner Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola executive, serves as interim CEO for InVeris, and Chambliss ― a partner at Pine Island ― is non-executive chairman for InVeris. Chambliss, now with Washington law firm DLA Piper, represented Georgia as a Republican and served on the armed services and intelligence committees before retiring from Congress nearly six years ago. He became aware of the company now known as InVeris while serving in Congress and said it was a natural fit for Pine Island because of his partners' backgrounds in the defense space. “We clearly understood at the time of the purchase back on July 1 that we were buying a company that is the gold standard when it comes to providing training for the United States military as well as to international clients in the same arena,” Chambliss said. “Going forward, we think that clearly we have the opportunity, number one, to provide the resources to what is now known as InVeris to expand from a technology standpoint the products that we have been making for years, and to further develop and bring those products into the 21st Century.” The company, which employs roughly 450 people, will retain its ownership of its legacy brands, FATS (a line of virtual systems) and Caswell technologies. The company continues to work on the U.S. Army's Engagement Skills Trainer II contract and Squad Advanced Marksmanship-Trainer program, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps' Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer, according to Vice President of Strategy, Sales and Marketing Andrea Czop. It's also fielded derivatives of those systems to the Navy and Air Force. The company has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual training systems globally in its 90-year history. It also has clients in more than 55 countries―including programs of record in Canada, Australia and the U.K. for more than 25 years. Foreign sales are key to its growth plans, company executives say. “We continue to be very active with all those international customers, and we're growing,” said Czop. “There are a lot of opportunities for us right now, and the focus is our international strategy.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/10/07/meggitt-training-systems-changes-name-to-inveris-training-solutions/