UK: Modernising Defence Programme public consultation

On the same subject

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  August 25, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security

  CISA Urges Federal Agencies to Patch Versa Director Vulnerability by September

  CISA warns of active exploitation of Versa Director vulnerability CVE-2024-39717. Agencies urged to patch by September 2024.

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  September 10, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  ‘We are not dupes’: France takes step away from US with fighter program

  By: Pierre Tran PARIS — France has linked its search for independence from U.S. export rules with the Franco-German project for a future fighter jet, in a bid to boost foreign sales of the aircraft, the French armed forces minister said. France's effort to become less dependent on U.S. components and promote exports were written into the same letter of intent signed in June with Germany for the FCAS project, Florence Parly told AJPAE, the aeronautics and space journalists association, on Sept. 6. “The exportability of the (Future Combat Air System) is a key element to ensure the economic viability of the program,” she said. “We have to think as upstream as possible to secure this exportability.” The minister previously told parliamentarians the French government aims to cut its reliance on U.S. components in the wake of an American refusal to authorize the sale of parts for a French Scalp cruise missile requested by Egypt. French attempts to persuade Washington to lift restrictions under U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations have failed. Parly declined to give examples, but she said the problems Paris has encountered in the pursuit of foreign arms sales “stemmed in appearance from strategic factors and in reality from commercial competition." “We are not dupes,” she said. France needs to gradually cut its reliance on certain American components, although it is impossible to be completely independent, she admitted, adding that there is a plan to reduce that dependence. “Experience has led us to undertake this action,” she said. Companies should take the responsibility for greater independence, as they faced the consequences of failed export efforts, she said. “They are in the front line,” she said, noting that the government is in dialog with industry and that some companies already understand the situation and are fully committed. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/09/07/we-are-not-dupes-france-takes-step-away-from-us-with-fighter-program

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  August 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed dives into next-generation missile defense interceptor competition

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin said it will compete to build the Missile Defense Agency's Next-Generation Interceptor designed to protect the homeland against intercontinental ballistic missile threats from North Korea and Iran. The company is “excited to confirm that we are putting in a bid for the Next-Generation Interceptor,” Sarah Reeves, Lockheed's vice president of missile defense programs, told reporters Aug. 3. Bids were due July 31. Boeing and a Raytheon-Northrop Grumman team have already announced their intentions to compete to develop and field the agency's new interceptor following the cancellation of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle meant to replace the warhead on the current Ground-Based Interceptors. Those missiles are part of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System, which is operational at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The RKV program was paused in May 2019 and then abruptly terminated in August 2019 due to insurmountable technical issues resulting in delayed schedules and cost increases. The Defense Department announced at the time that it would embark on an entirely new program to field a future interceptor. MDA now plans to downselect to two companies, which will then compete for the right to build the interceptor. While MDA struggled with RKV, Lockheed invested the last two decades on multi-kill vehicle technology,” Reeves said. Lockheed had one of three small contracts to design a kill vehicle that could take out multiple warheads several years ago that would lead to a program that would replace the RKV called the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle (MOKV) program. Raytheon and Boeing had won the remaining two contracts. Reeves stressed the need for the new interceptor to be able to go after threats that disperse multiple objects including decoys. “We are looking carefully at the lessons learned from RKV including parts survivability testing which, in that program, was done too late and caused a major system redesign, as well as ensuring early-and-often testing and fly-before-you-buy mentality,” Reeves said. Lockheed plans to conduct two successful flight tests before going into production, Reeves said, which as an MDA program requirement. “The time is right now,” Reeves said. “We have significant investments and the technology a couple of decades ago, when this was initially a vision of MDA, wasn't quite there, but now it is ready to go.” The company plans to take elements from its existing capabilities such as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which Reeves said has had a 100 percent mission success rate, and the Aegis missile defense system. Lockheed also will garner experience from its partnership with the U.S. Navy on its Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile system, which “has to survive these more hostile environments,” she said. And Lockheed's experience with space is another asset that will contribute to understanding technology needed for an NGI, which will need to travel through space, according to Reeves. Lockheed is also optimistic, Reeves said, that it can meet a faster schedule for NGI than currently planned. Some Defense Department officials said NGI could not be fielded until the 2030s but the MDA director and U.S. Northern Command's commander believe it is possible to move that timeline to at least 2028 or earlier. The company plans to use tools such as artificial intelligence, machine-to-machine learning, big data analytics and 3-D printing to “accelerate the schedule and to deliver products faster than we have had in the past,” Reeves said. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/08/03/lockheed-dives-into-next-generation-missile-defense-interceptor-competition