Why the Navy will deactivate an F-35 Squadron next year

On the same subject

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  December 26, 2024 | International, Land

  US approves two foreign military sales to Morocco

  The US State Department has approved two potential foreign military sales (FMS) to Morocco.

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  January 21, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Thales à bord du standard F4 du Rafale

  Par Justine BOQUET Thales participe au développement des capacités du Rafale dans le cadre du contrat standard F4. Le 18 janvier, Thales a annoncé sa participation au développement du standard F4 du Rafale. Aux côtés de Dassault Aviation et de Safran, Thales a ainsi été notifié par la DGA « pour le développement des futurs capteurs et systèmes de communication qui seront à bord du Rafale au standard F4 » a annoncé Thales. L'un des enjeux majeurs du standard F4 repose sur la connectivité et le partage de données. Cela est d'autant plus vrai alors que nous nous dirigeons vers le développement de systèmes de systèmes, fonctionnant en réseau. Le programme SCAF (système de combat aérien du futur) illustre cette tendance. « Thales travaillera notamment à l'introduction de la radio CONTACT, d'un serveur de communication intelligent sécurisé et d'une solution de transmission par satellites (SATCOM) via Syracuse IV » annonce Thales. Afin de prendre en compte l'évolution des menaces et renforcer les capacités du Rafale, Thales poursuivra le développement du système de guerre électronique SPECTRA. « Le radar à antenne active RBE2 verra son emploi amélioré notamment pour ses capacités en mode air/sol. Quant à la nacelle optronique TALIOS, l'Intelligence Artificielle permettra un traitement en vol presque en instantané des données collectées pour extraire et identifier les cibles », ajoute Thales. Le traitement des informations collectées par les capteurs du Rafale sera donc amélioré et permettra aux pilotes d'appréhender au mieux la situation opérationnelle. Enfin, les technologies développées par Thales participeront également à la maintenance prédictive et au MCO du Rafale standard F4. « Prévoir les défaillances avant qu'elles ne surviennent, tel est l'enjeu auquel nous devons répondre à bord du Rafale au standard F4 », précise Thales. http://www.air-cosmos.com/thales-a-bord-du-standard-f4-du-rafale-119443

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  October 4, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Chinese armed drones now flying over Mideast battlefields. Here’s why they’re gaining on US drones

  By: Jon Gambrell and Gerry Shih, The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — High above Yemen's rebel-held city of Hodeida, a drone controlled by Emirati forces hovered as an SUV carrying a top Shiite Houthi rebel official turned onto a small street and stopped, waiting for another vehicle in its convoy to catch up. Seconds later, the SUV exploded in flames, killing Saleh al-Samad, a top political figure. The drone that fired that missile in April was not one of the many American aircraft that have been buzzing across the skies of Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. It was Chinese. Across the Middle East, countries locked out of purchasing U.S.-made drones due to rules over excessive civilian casualties are being wooed by Chinese arms dealers, who are world's main distributor of armed drones. "The Chinese product now doesn't lack technology, it only lacks market share," said Song Zhongping, a Chinese military analyst and former lecturer at the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force University of Engineering. "And the United States restricting its arms exports is precisely what gives China a great opportunity." The sales are helping expand Chinese influence across a region vital to American security interests. "It's a hedging strategy and the Chinese will look to benefit from that," said Douglas Barrie, an airpower specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "I think the Chinese are far less liable to be swayed by concerns over civilian casualties," he said. At the start of the year, a satellite passing over southern Saudi Arabia photographed U.S.-made surveillance drones at an airfield, alongside Chinese-manufactured armed ones. According to the Center for the Study of the Drone at New York's Bard College, that was the first documented example of the two drone systems being used in the war in Yemen. The country has emerged as a "sort of a testing ground for these strike-capable drones," said Dan Gettinger, the co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone. "There's a rapid turnaround from delivery to deployment." U.S. drones were first used in Yemen to kill suspected al-Qaida militants in 2002. One of the biggest Chinese exports is the Cai-Hong, or Rainbow, series made by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., or CASC, the largest contractor for the Chinese space program. CASC's CH-4 and CH-5 models are on a par with San Diego-based General Atomics' Predator and Reaper drones, and much cheaper. Independent analysts say the Chinese models lag behind their American counterparts but the technology is good enough to justify the price tag, which might be half or less. A CASC executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to journalists, said cutting-edge U.S. models like Boeing Co.'s Stingray, introduced this year for the U.S. Navy, still hold a technological advantage. And while price is an advantage, so too is a more relaxed attitude toward how drones are used, said Ulrike Franke, an expert on drones and policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations Since 2014, China has sold more than 30 CH-4's to countries including Saudi Arabia and Iraq in deals worth over $700 million, according to CASC. Ten countries are currently in negotiations to purchase the CH-4, according to the firm. Last year, China sold to the UAE the Wing Loong II, an armed unmanned aerial vehicle roughly equivalent to the American MQ-9 Reaper. "In recent years, all types of drones have proven their value and importance through a high degree of use in warfare, and the military has noticed," said the top CASC executive. "Many countries are now speeding up the development for these weapons systems, including China." During President Xi Jinping's five years in power, China has stepped up spending on stealth fighters and aircraft carriers for its own military, while boosting sales of advanced equipment such as attack submarines to close allies like Pakistan. China still lags behind the U.S., Russia, France, and Germany in total arms sales but it's catching up. Chinese arms exports rose by 38 percent between 2008-12 and 2013-17, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks the global arms trade. Mounting criticism over the rising civilian death toll in Yemen prompted the U.S. to impose restrictions on drone sales, forcing foreign countries to go through the U.S. government to buy armed drones, including those with laser-guidance systems. The Washington-based New America Foundation estimates more than 240 drone strikes in Yemen have killed more than 1,300 people, including at least 111 civilians. But with China's drone sales booming, there's growing pressure from U.S. arms makers to remove restrictions to let them catch up. After some U.S. lawmakers urged President Donald Trump to loosen controls and let General Atomics sell its armed Reapers to Jordan and the UAE, the administration on April 19 permitted U.S. manufacturers to directly market and sell drones, including armed versions. The government must still approve and license the sales, which are also contingent on human rights and proliferation reviews and congressional authorization. General Atomics did not respond to a request for comment. China doesn't routinely announce arms sales like the U.S. and others, but a review of drone spottings gives some indication of who its customers are. In Iraq in October 2015, the country's then-defense minister inspected a CH-4 drone at an air base in the city of Kut. Chinese armed drones have been operating at Jordan's Zarqa Airport, at an air base in Pakistan and from bases in Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula and near its border with Libya, according to satellite photos analyzed by the Center for the Study of the Drone. Satellite photographs taken of a mysterious air base in the United Arab Emirates' deep south — a desert area known as the Empty Quarter — appear to show three Wing Loong IIs, IHS Jane's Defense Weekly reported in January. Two CH-4s were spotted by satellite alongside surveillance-only Predators purchased by the UAE at Jizan Regional Airport in southern Saudi Arabia, near the kingdom's border with Yemen, according to the Center for the Study of the Drone. Outside of the Mideast, Nigeria has used Chinese armed drones against the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. Shih reported from Beijing. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/10/03/chinese-armed-drones-now-flying-over-mideast-battlefields-heres-why-theyre-gaining-on-us-drones/