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  April 24, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Coronavirus: les industriels de défense plaident pour un "plan de relance"

  Par AFP ,publié le 23/04/2020 à 19:52 , mis à jour à 19:52 Paris, 23 avr 2020 - Les industries de défense jugent "fondamental" un plan de relance de l'économie dont elles bénéficieraient face à l'épidémie de coronavirus, mettant en avant les emplois en jeu en France et la concurrence internationale, ont affirmé jeudi leurs représentants. "Nous proposons un plan de relance pour soutenir la base industrielle et technologique de défense à l'image de ce qui avait été réalisé après la crise de 2008 pourtant beaucoup moins forte", a plaidé Stéphane Mayer, président du Conseil des industries de défense française (Cidef) lors d'une audition par les députés de la commission des Forces armées. Il était entendu en tant que président du Groupement des industries françaises de défense et de sécurité terrestres (Gicat) au côté de ses homologues du Gifas (industries aéronautiques et spatiales), Eric Trappier, et du Gican (constructions navales), Hervé Guillou. Le volet défense du plan de relance lancé en 2008 représentait 2,4 milliards d'euros. Il avait notamment donné lieu à la commande d'un porte-hélicoptères supplémentaire, le Dixmude, qui croise aujourd'hui dans les Antilles pour y apporter soutien logistique et matériel sanitaire face à l'épidémie de Covid-19. Un tel plan de relance est aujourd'hui "absolument fondamental", selon eux. "La commande publique est le meilleur moyen de redémarrer l'économie", a jugé Hervé Guillou. "Il faut être capable de relancer notre économie au risque sinon de voir déferler une vague relativement forte de problématiques d'emplois, de problématiques d'activités qui serait désastreuses", a observé Eric Trappier pour le Gifas. Les salariés des industries de défense sont estimés à au moins 165.000 personnes, pour beaucoup très qualifiés et répartis sur l'ensemble du territoire. "Avant de parler de relocalisations, l'industrie de défense est déjà localisée en France, donc un euro dans le budget français va directement dans l'emploi en France et l'export c'est du budget étranger qui donne de l'emploi en France", selon M. Trappier. Le secteur est contributeur net à la balance commerciale, mais fait face à une forte concurrence internationale, notamment d'Allemagne, de Chine ou des États-Unis. "Or, nos principaux concurrents se sont mis dans une situation de redémarrage [de l'activité] qui pourrait très rapidement tuer nos parts de marché", a estimé Hervé Guillou. Entendue par les sénateurs le 10 avril, la ministre des Armées Florence Parly avait affirmé que son ministère, "premier investisseur de l'État", aurait "un rôle particulier à jouer lorsqu'il s'agirait de relancer l'économie française". https://lentreprise.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/actualites/coronavirus-les-industriels-de-defense-plaident-pour-un-plan-de-relance_2124513.html

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  April 17, 2020 | International, Land

  Great Britain procures Rheinmetall Mission Master – Cargo

  April 16, 2020 - Her Majesty's Armed Forces have ordered four Rheinmetall Mission Master robotic vehicles. Configured for transporting cargo, these unmanned ground vehicles will form part of the United Kingdom's Robotic Platoon Vehicle programme. This programme is designed to determine the extent to which unmanned vehicles can boost the combat effectiveness and capabilities of dismounted troops at platoon level. The four Mission Master – Cargo vehicles will be delivered throughout the spring of 2020. In addition, the scope of supply comprises two stretcher systems that can be integrated into the cargo vehicle in just 60 seconds. The order, which was placed at the end of 2019, also includes training and service support, as well as spare parts. The vehicles will be supplied by Rheinmetall Canada, with Rheinmetall BAE Land Systems providing on-location support services in its capacity as cooperation partner. Robotics is already changing the modern battlefield. A modular unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), Rheinmetall's new Mission Master enhances the combat performance of soldiers deployed on the ground in numerous ways. The Mission Master's artificial intelligence and robotic brawn mean that it can execute a multitude of dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks that troops would otherwise have to perform themselves, letting them get on with the most important thing of all: their core mission. The Mission Master – Cargo system reduces the combat load soldiers have to carry, boosting their mobility and efficiency. Its flexible stowage concept and robust design let the Mission Master – -Cargo shoulder a payload of up to half a ton of supplies, tactical kit, or medical equipment Ready for action, the Mission Master can operate in autonomous or semiautonomous mode as a fully-fledged member of the combat team. The Mission Master platform is designed for maximum flexibility, and can be readily adapted for a wide variety of different missions thanks to modular build-ons specially engineered for quick installation. Potential applications include surveillance, protection, evacuation of casualties, firefighting, and CBRN reconnaissance and detection. It can also serve as a mobile radio relay station. Speed, scalable autonomy, and proven high mobility in all types of terrain combine to make the amphibious Mission Master a powerful, highly reliable comrade of dismounted forces operating in small groups. View source version on Rheinmetall : https://rheinmetall-defence.com/en/rheinmetall_defence/public_relations/news/latest_news/index_23616.php

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  December 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, C4ISR

  Lockheed Martin: AI, Data Analytics Will Transform Navy Ship, Aircraft Repairs

  Posted on December 9, 2020 by Seapower Staff BETHESDA, Md. — Sailors will soon spend more time focused on the mission and less on aircraft and ship repairs with a new information system driven by artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, Lockheed Martin said in a Dec. 9 release. Digitally re-engineering more than 20 standalone applications into one integrated system, this new tool enables Sailors and Marine Corps maintainers, to anticipate and resolve potential maintenance issues or part failures on aircraft, ships and other systems. The U.S. Navy is digitally transforming its legacy maintenance systems with a fully modernized, responsive logistics information systems solution developed by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin partnered with the Navy to rapidly develop and test the integrated logistics information systems solution, emphasizing simplified user interfaces, streamlined workflows, and time-saving features such as auto-population and smart searching. “Lockheed Martin's solution is both intuitive and streamlined to maximize end user efficiency,” said Capt. Allan Walters, former program manager of the Navy's Command and Control Systems Program Office. “The ability to execute rapid and flexible changes to the software is impressive and designed to improve Navy readiness both ashore and afloat through reduced failure rates and improved repair times.” The solution's advanced software capabilities use the latest Department of Defense-approved DevSecOps tools, so software updates can happen in days or weeks instead of months and years, enabling the Navy's vision of “Compile to Combat in 24 Hours.” Navy maintainers can create, view and complete maintenance work orders from a mobile device. Instead of referencing a paper or digital manual, sailors can view 3-D models of objects and see where they're located in the context of an entire ship or aircraft. “Our logistics solution provides a digital twin capability, integrating 3-D model visualization with material data, maintenance history and the entire operational environment,” said Reeves Valentine, vice president of Lockheed Martin Enterprise Sustainment Solutions. “Sailors can simulate a maintenance action and see its results before doing it on the real thing. Having this capability will result in a greater ability to predict part failure, resulting in optimized maintenance actions to improve asset readiness.” Smart searching and auto-population functionality help identify proper parts and common issues when creating work orders, which eliminates work and reducing errors. Lockheed Martin partnered with non-traditional vendors IFS – an enterprise software developer – and Beast Code, a Florida software start-up, to create the logistics information systems solution, which will be initially fielded at 10 Navy sites with about 10,000 users. The delivered solution is part of the U.S. Navy Naval Operational Business Logistics Enterprise (NOBLE) family of systems providing enhanced situational awareness, planning, execution, and management of maintenance and supply logistics and business functions for more than 200,000 sailors. https://seapowermagazine.org/lockheed-martin-ai-data-analytics-will-transform-navy-ship-aircraft-repairs/