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Par Sébastien Galliker Avions de combatEurofighter, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Rafale, F-35A et Gripen E sont testés par Armasuisse sur la base de Payerne. Cinq avions de combat sont en lice pour remplacer les Tiger et les F/A-18 de l'armée suisse. Quatre jours de tests sont prévus pour chacun, selon l'ordre alphabétique. L'Eurofighter d'Airbus était le premier sur la sellette, dès le 11 avril. La phase de sélection du F/A-18 Super Hornet de Boeing a débuté le 29 avril. Le Rafale de Dassault suivra dès le 20 mai, puis le F-35A de Lockheed-Martin le 6 juin et enfin le Gripen E de Saab à partir du 24 juin. Pour chaque avion, Armasuisse a prévu un après-midi aux spotters et autres citoyens intéressés pour approcher l'avion respectif à l'intérieur de l'aérodrome militaire. Les places sont toutefois limitées et l'attrait du public et surtout des photographes est grand. «C'est un peu comme le Paléo pour s'inscrire, il faut être connecté au moment où les places sont ouvertes», commente un spotter. Armasuisse précise aussi sur son site qu'«il ne s'agit pas d'un meeting aérien. Aucune manœuvre supplémentaire, des loopings par exemple, ne sera présentée.» Les essais incluent huit missions comportant des t'ches spécifiques. Effectuées par un ou deux avions de combat, parfois en en solo par un pilote étranger pour le F-35A et le Gripen E qui sont des monoplaces et sinon en présence d'un ingénieur helvétique, ces missions consisteront en 17 décollages et atterrissages. Elles seront axées sur les aspects opérationnels, les aspects techniques et les caractéristiques particulières. «L'objectif n'est pas de sélectionner le meilleur avion, mais le meilleur pour la Suisse», avait présenté Christian Catrina, délégué du Conseil fédéral pour ce dossier, lors de sa présentation. La taille de la future flotte n'est pas encore déterminée, même si les prévisions oscillent entre 30 et 40 avions de combat. Le Conseil fédéral fera son choix à fin 2020, début 2021 et la facture totale sera de l'ordre de 8 milliards de francs, y compris la défense sol-air. La population suisse se prononcera sur cette acquisition, mais pourrait ne voter que sur l'achat des avions, pour un montant estimé de 6 milliards de francs. (24 heures) https://www.24heures.ch/news/news/cinq-candidats-evalues-jusqu-fin-juin/story/30895634

By Vivienne Machi The Air Force is conducting a market survey for new F-15E simulators to train pilots should the service receive new Boeing [BA]-made F-15EX aircraft, according to an April 24 solicitation. The notice, posted Wednesday on FedBizOpps, states that the Air Force... https://www.defensedaily.com/air-force-seeking-sources-for-new-f-15ex-virtual-reality-trainers/business-financial/

By Allen Cone April 30 (UPI) -- Boeing's prototype MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling drone is so huge it needed help from government agencies in Missouri and Illinois to move 40 miles. With assistance from law enforcement in both states, a truck carried the aircraft -- which is the size of an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter -- from Boeing's technical plant at St. Louis's Lambert International Airport across the Mississippi River to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, a small regional airport next to Scott Air Force Base in rural Illinois. The semi traveled on side roads and at 5-10 mph for much of the trip Sunday night, KDSK-TV reported. Temporary road closures were in Edwardsville, Marine and Lebanon as the jet moved through. The plane arrived before 6 a.m. Monday, KMOV-TV reported. The regional airport is in less crowded airspace, which "gives us some flexibility in how we can fly," Dave Bujold, the Boeing program manager overseeing drone project, told The Drive. Boeing plans to test fly the MQ-25 Stingray, known as known as T-1 or "Tail 1," before the end of the year. But first it must pass ground taxiing tests and the Federal Aviation Administration must certify the aircraft and grant clear airspace for it to fly. Ground control stations are being installed at the airport. The Boeing test aircraft later will undergo testing on the East Coast. The Navy will also hoist it onto an aircraft carrier for deck handling testing. "By the time the Navy's assets are jumping in the air, we will already have had thousands of test hours on the ground and hundreds in the air," Bujold said. The first Navy aircraft is scheduled to fly in fiscal year 2021. Last August, Boeing was awarded a $805 million contract to build four aircraft for the U.S. Navy. The drones, which won't carry weapons, will be based on aircraft carriers to refuel other aircraft mid-flight, including the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters. "The MQ-25 program is vital because it will help the U.S. Navy extend the range of the carrier air wing, and Boeing and our industry team is all-in on delivering this capability," Bujold said. Curtiss-Wright's Defense Solutions, which has been a Boeing contractor for 60 years, announced last week it has been awarded a contract by Boeing to supply data technology systems for the program. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/04/30/Boeings-MQ-25-refueling-drone-moved-to-air-base-for-flight-testing/5091556634478/

By: Jarosław Adamowski WARSAW, Poland — Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said April 29 that the Polish government aimed to sign a deal to station U.S. troops in Poland this year, and a contract to purchase F-35 fighter jets was “not far away” from being signed. Blaszczak's announcement in an interview with local broadcaster TVP indicates that Warsaw could aim to negotiate on the potential troop deployment in parallel with the aircraft acquisition. Poland has pitched for the United States to build a permanent military base in the country, offering to pay at least $2 billion toward the project, dubbed “Fort Trump.” On April 25, during her visit to Warsaw, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said that a U.S. Air Force team was to be sent to Poland in May to demonstrate the capabilities of the F-35 to Polish defence ministry officials, as reported by local news agency PAP. Last February, Blaszczak said the planned acquisition of 32 fifth-generation aircraft would be carried out as part of the country's military modernization program. Under the initiative, Warsaw aims to spend 185 billion zloty ($48.5 billion) on new weapons and equipment by 2026. The envisioned procurement is part of Poland's efforts to to replace its outdated Soviet-designed Sukhoi Su-22 and Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/04/30/polish-defense-minister-f-35-acquisition-not-far-away/

By Allen Cone April 30 (UPI) -- Boeing has been awarded a $5.7 billion post-production contract for combat capability for the U.S. Air Force's troubled K-46 Pegasus refueling tanker aircraft. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, includes non-recurring and recurring requirements centered on user-directed and Federal Aviation Administration-mandated KC-46 air vehicle needs. The KC-46 fleet is planned to replace the Air Force's Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. The company's $49 billion KC-46 program has seen multi-year delays and expenditure overruns. And deliveries have been halted multiple times because of foreign materials found in the jets after arrival from the factory. Work on the new contract will be performed at Boeing's plant in Seattle and is expected to be complete by April 28, 2029. Fiscal 2018 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $9.1 million have been obligated on the first delivery order at the time of award. The military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft are built from from empty Boeing 767 jet airliners in Everett, Wash., then transferred to a facility at the south end of Paine Field called the Military Delivery Center. That's where the jet's military systems, including the refueling and communications equipment, are installed. The first two KC-46s were flown from Boeing's facilities to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., in January, but deliveries were stopped within weeks. The Air Force halted deliveries of the aircraft on Feb. 21 due to foreign object debris, including trash and industrial tools. Eight tools were found in aircraft under production at Boeing's facility, and two more in tankers delivered to the U.S. Air Force, according to an internal Boeing memo. After inspections by the Air Force and the creation of an additional inspections plan, deliveries resumed about one week later. In April, however, the Pentagon again halted accepting deliveries aircraft due to foreign object debris. The Air Force and Boeing has been working on an even more intense inspection process, including draining fuel tanks on all new aircraft so that they can be inspected for foreign object debris -- as with the rest of the planes -- Defense News reported. Boeing plans to deliver 36 aircraft this year, said Mike Gibbons, Boeing vice president. https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2019/04/30/Boeing-awarded-57B-for-KC-46-Pegasus-combat-capability-work/4791556625605/

By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR. A light scout and a mid-size transport remain Army aviation's top two priorities, Secretary Mark Esper said, but industry needs to start thinking about the next heavy-lift aircraft and stop fighting against cuts to the venerable CH-47. WASHINGTON: “I'm asking industry is to think about heavy future vertical lift,” Army Secretary Mark Esper told reporters today. “Where I need their heads to be is thinking about future heavy vertical lift, not about how do we maintain what we have now and make upgrades here or there.” Translation: Boeing and Pennsylvania legislators, stop fighting me to restore funding for the latest upgrade to the venerable CH-47 Chinook — built outside Philadelphia — and join me in brainstorming a radically better aircraft for future great-power wars with Russia or China. “I really want to think aggressively, boldly about what the future may hold, how it can be different,” Esper said. Is that just your advice to industry, I asked, or is there some kind of preliminary study planned that companies could actually get government money for? It's premature to talk dollars, Esper replied. “Whether we help fund that at some point, I don't know, I'm not going to talk about that right now,” he said. “My comment was only we need aircraft in the future that can do that heavy vertical lift movement, but can ... survive in a very contested airspace and keep up with the FARAs and FLRAAs.” That's the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft — a light scout to fill the gap left by the retired OH-58 Kiowa — and the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft — a mid-size transport to replace the UH-60 Black Hawk. Both are intended to be high-speed, long-range aircraft.The solution probably will be turboprop/helicopter hybrids, rather than conventional helicopters, that can operate on fast-paced, far-flung future battlefields where precision-guided missiles can kill the forward fuel depots and maintenance bases on which today's shorter-ranged helicopters rely. FARA is the Army's top-priority aircraft program, Esper reiterated here at the Brookings Institution today, and FLRAA is No. 2. But once the light scout and the mid-size transport programs are further along, Esper said for the first time today, his no. 3 priority will be a new heavy hauler. “We're not there yet, right, obviously we need to get FARA and FLRAA moving,” Esper said. “No. 3 is I need to eventually think about what's the future of heavy vertical lift,” Esper told the audience at Brookings. “What's the future replacement for the Chinook” with the greater speed, range, payload, and survivability required for future battlefields? Full article: https://breakingdefense.com/2019/04/beyond-chinook-army-secretary-challenges-industry-to-revolutionize-heavy-lift

DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN BAE Systems is no longer in the running to bid on a new program to provide Canada with military aircrew training services. BAE Systems was on the list of qualified suppliers for the Future Aircrew Training (FAcT) program when it was established in December 2018. But on April 2, BAE Systems informed Canada of its decision to officially withdraw from the solicitation process, Public Services and Procurement Canada announced Monday. “BAE Systems is therefore no longer a qualified supplier in the competitive process and will not be invited to submit a proposal to Canada for the FAcT program,” Procurement Canada noted in a statement. The Royal Canadian Air Force has a need for ongoing pilot training, as well as training for air combat systems officers and airborne electronic sensor operators and the FAcT program will provide that training, according to the Department of National Defence. BAE Systems has not yet provided comment on its reasons for withdrawing from the competition. Here is the list of qualified suppliers (in alphabetical order) that the federal government originally published: Airbus Defence and Space Babcock Canada Inc. Leonardo Canada Lockheed Martin Canada Inc. SkyAlyne Canada Limited Partnership https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/bae-systems-withdraws-from-canadian-pilot-training-competition

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that an F-35 fighter jet project without Turkish participation was bound to collapse and would be an injustice to exclude Ankara over its plans to buy Russian air defense systems. Turkey's plans to buy the Russian S-400 missile defenses has strained its ties with Washington, which has said they would compromise the security of Lockheed Martin F-35 jets and warned of potential U.S. sanctions. Turkey is both a partner in production of the F-35s and a prospective buyer. It has proposed a working group with the United States to assess the impact of the S-400s, but says it had not received a response from U.S. officials. Speaking at a defense industry fair, Erdogan said those trying to exclude Turkey from the F-35 project had not thought through the process and that Ankara's allies had disregarded its defense needs. “We were surely not going to remain silent against our right to self-defense being disregarded and attempts to hit us where it hurts,” Erdogan said. “This is the kind of process that is behind the S-400 agreement we reached with Russia,” he added. “Nowadays, we are being subject to a similar injustice - or rather an imposition - on the F-35s... Let me be open: An F-35 project from which Turkey is excluded is bound to collapse completely,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey was also rapidly working to develop its own air defense systems. Erdogan's comments, his strongest challenge yet to warnings that Turkey could be removed from the F-35 project, came a day after he discussed the purchase of the S-400s and the working group proposal with U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call. Turkey said two weeks ago it expected Trump to use a waiver to protect it against penalties over its purchase of the S-400s, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Ankara could face retribution for the deal under a sanctions law known as Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CATSAA). Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ece Toksabay; Editing by Dominic Evans https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-usa-defence/erdogan-says-f-35-project-would-collapse-without-turkey-idUSKCN1S60RR?il=0

By: Jen Judson HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The U.S. Army's $2.3 billion unfunded requirements list — or wish list — sent to Capitol Hill includes money to speed up the service's plan to buy a future long-range assault helicopter and efforts to boost lethality, such as outfitting more Stryker combat vehicles with a 30mm gun. The unfunded requirements list is something the military services send to Congress each year shortly following the release of the defense budget request to inform lawmakers on where money would be spent if there was more of it. The lists are usually provided at the request of congressional defense committees. The service has pivoted toward six modernization priorities it deems necessary to modernize the force, and through a rigorous review of every program within the Army by leadership, billions of dollars were found within its $182 billion fiscal 2020 budget to devote to the ambitious efforts within that modernization portfolio. But the Army would spend another $243 million to advance certain modernization efforts if it could, according to the wish list. For instance, if the Army had additional funds, it would want to spend $40 million to buy the XM-913 weapon system — a 50mm gun, ammunition-handling system and fire control — to outfit two next-generation combat vehicle prototypes. The NGCV is the second-highest modernization priority. The service would also want to spend $75.6 million to speed up decision-making on the future long-range assault aircraft, or FLRAA — one of the two future vertical lift lines of effort to replace the current fleet. Gen. John “Mike” Murray, Army Futures Command commander who is in charge of the service's modernization, told Defense News in a March 26 interview at the Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Symposium that the service would like additional funding to close the gap between what it is seeing now with the two technology demonstrators, which are both flying, and a decision on the way ahead to procure FLRAA. Bell's V-280 Valor tilt-rotor aircraft has been flying for nearly two years, and the Sikorsky-Boeing team's SB-1 Defiant flew last week. The demonstrator aircraft were originally funded to help shape the service's requirements for a future vertical lift family of aircraft. The Army also wants additional funding to extend the range of the Q-53 counter-fire target acquisition radar and funding to preserve a new program for a low-Earth orbit, space-based capability to extract data and tactical imagery in denied or contested environments, something that is critical to the Long-Range Precision Fires program, the Army's top modernization priority. Lastly, additional funding would also support rapid prototyping for the next-generation squad weapon—automatic rifle. The service would want an additional $1 billion to address readiness to include $161 million in more aviation training, $118 million in bridging assets and $128 million for mobilization needs. Also included in the readiness funding: money to further enhance interoperable communications with allies and partners, and funds to help restore airfields, railheads and runways in Europe that would enhance better movement. U.S. Army Europe commanders in recent years have stressed the need to build better infrastructure to move troops and supplies more freely in the region and have cited interoperability issues with allies as one of the toughest aspects to overcome in joint operations. Funding would also be used to enhance the Army's pre-positioned stock in Europe with petroleum and medical equipment. In the Pacific area of operations, the funding would also cover needed multidomain operations capabilities and force protection for radar sites and mobile ballistic bunkers. Focusing on lethality requirements, the Army wants an additional $249 million to upgrade more Strykers with 30mm cannons. The service is already up-gunning Strykers for brigades in Europe and recently wrapped up an assessment of the enhanced Strykers to inform a decision on whether to outfit more Strykers with a larger gun. The Army is expected to make a decision within days on whether it will up-gun more Stryker units and how many it plans to upgrade. Additionally, the Army wants $130 million to prototype hypersonic missile capabilities and another $24 million to integrate the Joint Air-to-Ground Munition's seeker and guidance kit into an Army Tactical Missile System. JAGM is the service's Hellfire replacement, and ATACMS will be replaced with the service's long-range precision fire missile — the precision strike missile — currently under development. The Army is also asking for $565 billion for infrastructure improvements both in the United States and in the Indo-Pacific area of operation. Congress reporter Joe Gould contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/global-force-symposium/2019/03/27/armys-23b-wish-list-would-speed-up-future-helo-buy-boost-lethality-efforts/