25 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Mardi 23 octobre 2018, 0800, Lausanne, entrée en lice des avionneurs américains.
Pour rappel, deux avions américains sont en compétition dans le cadre du programme AIR2030, le F/A 18 Super Hornet de Boeing et le F35 de Lockheed Martin.
Au menu de cette matinée, le F/A 18 Super Hornet de Boeing.
L'avion proposé n'est pas inconnu puisqu'il avait été naturellement envisagé lors de la précédente campagne de renouvellement de la flotte avant que Boeing ne renonce à faire une offre à la Suisse.
Boeing avait expliqué à l'époque que « le nouveau Super Hornet est peut-être un avion trop poussé par rapport aux besoins de la Suisse. ».
Huit ans plus tard, les besoins exprimés par la Suisse pour son nouvel avion de combat ont évolué et le Super Hornet fait à nouveau office de candidat sérieux.
En effet, les F/A 18 Hornet dans leur version C et D sont en service dans les forces aériennes suisses depuis maintenant vingt ans et l'avion est bien connu de nos pilotes et militaires.
Quelles différences par rapport au modèle actuel ?
Le F/A 18 Super Hornet n'est pas un nouvel avion mais bien une évolution du Hornet que nous connaissons. Il s'agit cependant d'une évolution en profondeur avec une refonte du design, de la signature radar, une mise à jour des systèmes d'armes et de l'électronique embarquée ou encore une augmentation importante de l'autonomie.
Aujourd'hui, le F/A 18 Super Hornet E/F est un biréacteur de 4ème génération + disponible en monoplace et biplace comme les variantes C et D de son prédécesseur.
Boeing va droit au but
La présentation du jour de Boeing est, comme disent les américains, « straight to the point ».
Communication à l'américaine oblige, on débute avec un clip vidéo figurant un compte à rebours égrené par une voix féminine à l'issue duquel divers types d'engins fabriqués par Boeing s'élancent dans le ciel dans un panache de fumée incandescent.
Sans autre intermède, le représentant de Boeing, Monsieur CRUTCHFIELD, développe directement sur la facilité de transition entre le modèle actuel de l'armée suisse et le Super Hornet, un mois d'entraînement au maximum étant selon lui nécessaire aux pilotes aguerris sur F/A 18 Hornet pour se familiariser avec cette nouvelle version.
Quant au matériel d'entretien et à l'armement, il est en partie compatible entre les deux versions.
Compte tenu de l'avenir bien incertain des F/A 18 suisses actuels dans le contexte politique tendu des exportations d'armes, le recyclage partiel est un point pour le moins pertinent.
Pour Boeing, le Super Hornet est la transition la plus simple et la moins onéreuse pour la Suisse.
C'est au tour de Madame Nell BRECKENRIDGE, première femme à s'exprimer pour un constructeur, de prendre le relais.
Elle partage premièrement quelques chiffres : Boeing est un géant de l'industrie, qui a l'habitude de l'offset et de travailler avec des partenaires dans le monde entier.
Historiquement, l'offset Boeing c'est près de 50 milliards USD dans environ 40 pays depuis 35 ans. Actuellement, c'est 65 collaborations pour un montant de 20 milliards USD dans 20 pays.
Efficacité et engagement
Viennent ensuite les arguments phares de Boeing pour la Suisse.
Premièrement, le géant américain, en tant que constructeur du F/A 18 Hornet, le dernier avion acquis par l'armée suisse, peut s'appuyer sur sa propre expérience dans le cadre du programme offset d'USD 1,3 milliards réalisé en Suisse dans le cadre de l'achat de cet avion en 1997.
Détail piquant au pays de la ponctualité, le programme d'offset de l'époque a été complété 3 ans avant le délai prévu.
Dans la même veine, un nouveau programme d'offset a été signé par Boeing avec la Suisse en 2009 pour la mise à jour des F/A 18 Hornet, lequel a également été complété, selon Boeing, en avance du calendrier prévu.
Au total, toujours selon Boeing, ce sont plus de 600 sociétés suisses qui font ou ont fait affaire avec l'avionneur au cours des vingt dernières années.
Sur leur dernier slide de présentation, Boeing déclare : Promises made, promises kept. (Promesses faites, promesses tenues)
Tout un programme.
29 août 2023 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
This important contract underscores once again the great trust the Common-wealth of Australia places in Rheinmetall and its products
22 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense
NAVY Heffler Contracting Group,* El Cajon, California (N62473-20-D-1122); HHI Corp.,* Ogden, Utah (N62473-20-D-1123); I.E.-Pacific Inc.,* Escondido, California (N62473-20-D-1124); Peter Vander Werff Construction Inc.,* El Cajon, California (N62473-20-D-1125); and R. A. Burch Construction Co., Inc., Ramona, California (N62473-20-D-1126), are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity multiple award construction contract for new construction, renovation and repair of general building construction at various government installations located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. The maximum dollar value including the base period and one option period for all five contracts combined is $495,000,000. The work to be performed provides for new construction, renovation and repair of administration buildings, armories, auditoriums, bachelor enlisted quarters, child care centers, fire stations, gymnasiums, hangars, hospitals, maintenance/repair facilities, warehouses and other similar facilities. The initial task orders will be to issue minimum guarantees in the amount of $5,000 for all five offerors. All work on these contracts will be performed at various government installations within the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest area of responsibility including, but not limited to, California (90%); Arizona (6%); Nevada (1%); Utah (1%); Colorado (1%); and New Mexico (1%). The terms of the contracts are not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of September 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (O&M) (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $25,000 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by military construction (Navy); O&M (Navy); O&M (Marine Corps); and Navy working capital funds. This contract was competitively procured as a small business set-aside procurement via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website with 16 proposals received. These five contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contracts. NAVFAC Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $351,810,277 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to previously awarded contract N00024-18-C-4314 for the USS Boise (SSN 764) early production period that encompasses continued advance planning, execution services, production and availability preparations for the USS Boise engineered overhaul. This contract modification includes options, which if exercised, will bring the cumulative value of this action to $355,015,496. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by May 2023. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $351,810,277 will be obligated at time of award, of which, funds in the amount of $351,810,277 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. Vertex Aerospace LLC, Madison, Mississippi, is awarded a $21,747,155 modification (P00014) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, cost reimbursable, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N61340-17-D-0005. This modification exercises options to provide intermediate-level maintenance, repair and logistics support services to include labor, direct and indirect material for Chief of Naval Air Training aircraft. Additionally, this modification procures tooling and equipment required to support and maintain four aircraft intermediate maintenance departments and related support equipment. Work will be performed in Pensacola, Florida (47%); Corpus Christi, Texas (40%); Whiting Field, Florida (10%); and Meridian, Mississippi (3%), and is expected to be completed in September 2021. No funds are being obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity. USA Waste of California Inc., doing business as Waste Management, Los Angeles, California, is awarded a maximum amount of $21,658,159 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, firm-fixed-price contract for integrated solid waste management services at various Navy and Marine Corps installations within the San Diego metropolitan and San Diego County areas. The work to be performed provides for labor, supervision, management and materials to perform various integrated solid waste management service functions as follows: refuse and recycling collection and disposal services. An initial task order is being awarded at $2,317,525 for integrated solid waste management services at Naval Base, San Diego, California (45%); Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California (24%); Naval Base Point, Loma, California (24%); Marine Corps Recruit Depot, California (6%); Camp Michael, Monsoor, California (less than 1%); Remote Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape Camp, Warner Springs, California (less than 1%); and Camp Morena, California (less than 1%). Work for this task order is expected to be completed by September 2021. The term of the contract is not to exceed 96 months with an expected completion date of September 2028. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance Navy (O&M, N); operations and maintenance Defense Health Program (O&M, DHP); and Navy working capital funds (NWCF) in the amount of $2,317,525 will be obligated at the beginning of the fiscal year and will expire at the end of that fiscal year. Future task orders will be primarily funded by O&M, N; O&M, DHP; and NWCF contract funds. This contract was competitively procured via the Federal Business Opportunities website with two proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity (N62473-20-D-1128). Management Services Group Inc., doing business as Global Technical Systems,* Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded a $21,580,941 firm-fixed-priced modification to previously awarded contract N63394-19-C-0008 to exercise options for the production of ordnance alteration kits, on-board allowance spares and installation and checkout kits for Technical Insertion 12H of the Common Processing System. Work will be performed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and is expected to be completed by April 2021. Fiscal 2019 other procurement (Navy); fiscal 2019 procurement (defense-wide) funding; and fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) funding in the amount of $21,580,941 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division, Port Hueneme, California, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Marietta, Georgia, is awarded a $12,772,525 modification (P00012) to previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract N00019-19-D-0014. This modification exercises options to procure consumable parts and material in support of the C/KC-130J aircraft for the Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserves, Coast Guard and the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in Marietta, Georgia (66.5%); Palmdale, California (15.5%); Abdullah Al-Mubarak Air Base, Kuwait (2.5%); Iwakuni, Japan (2.5%); Miramar, California (2.5%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (2.5%); Elizabeth City, North Carolina (2.5%); Fort Worth, Texas (2.5%), Newburgh, New York (2.5%); and Greenville, South Carolina (0.5%), and is expected to be completed by December 2023. No funds are being obligated at time of award, funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Alexandra Construction Inc.,* Newton, Massachusetts, is awarded an $11,213,400 firm-fixed-price contract for the renovation of the communications building at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. The work to be performed will consist of a total interior and partial exterior renovation of Building 13, including abating hazardous materials; a new stair and elevator tower; upgrading the building's structural support system; restoring original window openings; providing offices, conference and break areas; providing accessibility via ramp and elevator; and completely overhauling the building's mechanical, electrical, data and fire protection systems. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine, and is expected to be completed by November 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $11,213,400 are obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via the Contract Opportunities website with three proposals received. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N40085-20-C-0071). L3Harris Technologies Inc., North Amityville, New York, is awarded a $7,363,788 firm-fixed-price contract that continues efforts associated with Small Business Innovation Research Phase III Topic Number 9895 titled “MIL-STD-1760A Compatible Multiple Smart Weapon Employment Mechanism.” This contract provides for the production and delivery of 1,168 umbilical cables and attaching hardware for use on the Bomb Rack Unit (BRU)-55. Work will be performed in Brighton, United Kingdom (79.13%); Franklin, Pennsylvania (10.51%); and Amityville, New York (10.36%), and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,363,788 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(5). The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity (N68335-20-C-0368). Delphinus Engineering Inc.,* Eddystone, Pennsylvania (N55236-18-D-0001); Q.E.D. Systems Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (N55236-18-D-0002); Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc.,* National City, California (N55236-18-D-0003); Tecnico Corp.,* Chesapeake, Virginia (N55236-18-D-0004); Southcoast Welding and Manufacturing LLC,* Chula Vista, California (N55236-18-D-0005); Bay City Marine Inc.,* National City, California (N55236-18-D-0006); Pacific Ship Repair and Fabrications Inc.,* San Diego, California (N55236-18-D-0007); and Miller Marine Inc.,* San Diego, California (N55236-18-D-0008), are each awarded firm-fixed-price contract modifications with a combined overall ceiling increase of $7,208,259 to exercise Option Year Three of their respective previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple award contracts to provide depot level repairs, interior and exterior preservation, barge modernization upgrades, dockside and dry dock services for Navy barges. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by October 2021. No funding is being obligated at time of award. Each contractor was awarded one contract and subsequently will compete for each delivery order when a requirement is identified. The Southwest Regional Maintenance Center, San Diego, California, is the contracting activity. AIR FORCE The MITRE Corp., Bedford, Massachusetts, has been awarded a $463,002,062 cost reimbursement option contract for support to the Air Force from MITRE as the administrator of the National Security Engineering Center Federally-Funded Research and Development Center. Work will be performed in Bedford, Massachusetts; McLean, Virginia; and various locations throughout the continental U.S. and outside the continental U.S., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2021. This award is the result of a sole-source acquisition. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $158,100 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity (FA8702-19-C-0001). L3Harris Technologies Inc., Colorado Springs, Colorado, has been awarded a $119,172,657 cost-plus-incentive-fee modification (P00007) to contract FA8823-20-C-0004 for the Ground-Based Electro Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) System upgrade on Ground-Based Optical Sensor System (GBOSS) engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) pre-priced option. This modification provides for the exercise of an option for the GBOSS EMD Phase to complete the design for the integrated system; develop and/or modify software required to support the system; design and build new European and Pacific sites and add an additional sensor tower enclosure to the GEODSS White Sands Missile Range site; upgrade and/or acquire, integrate, test and field the 12 GEODSS Enhanced Technology sensor towers; and design, develop and/or acquire, integrate, test and field the three Advanced Technology Sensor towers. Work will be performed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by June 27, 2024. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $12,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $218,167,008. The Space and Missile Systems Center Directorate of Contracting, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. PAR Government Systems Corp., Rome, New York, has been awarded an $11,972,009 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for software deliverables. This contract provides for the research, design, development, assembly, integration, demonstration, experimentation, analysis, testing and further development of innovative technologies, concepts, architectures, capabilities and a concept of operations using the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Integrated Information Management System Cyber Technology Maturation Framework Form, Fit, and Function prototype environment and other relevant frameworks. Work will be performed in Rome, New York, and is expected to be completed by October 2025. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $190,000 are being obligated at the time of award. AFRL, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-C-1545). Rockwell Collins Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been awarded an $8,714,641 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for Software Programmable Agile Radio for Tactical Connected Ubiquitous Systems software/hardware system prototype. This contract provides for the communication challenges of multi-domain operation by combining the Software Programmable Agile Radio next program's true Software Defined Radio approach with low-cost, state-of-the-art, digital hardware and front-end modularity, to develop a low-cost, high-performance ground radio that supports multiple waveforms. Work will be performed in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is expected to be completed Sept. by 21, 2023. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and two offers were received. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $530,000 are being obligated at time of award. Air Force Research Laboratory, Rome, New York, is the contracting activity (FA8750-20-C-1542). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Alliant Enterprises LLC,* Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $225,000,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for patient monitoring and capital equipment systems and accessories. This was a competitive acquisition with 50 offers received. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. Location of performance is Michigan, with a Sept. 20, 2025, ordering period end date. Using customers are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2D1-20-D-0012). ARMY BAE Systems Ordnance Systems, Kingsport, Tennessee, was awarded a $17,470,393 modification (P00727) to contract DAAA09-98-E-0006 to complete the modernization of existing neutralization basins and upgrade clarifiers at the industrial wastewater treatment facility and complete facility maintenance at Holston Army Ammunition Plant. Work will be performed in Kingsport, Tennessee, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2023. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition (Army) funds in the amount of $17,470,393 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. BAE Systems Ordnance System, Kingsport, Tennessee, was awarded a $17,211,588 modification (P00716) to contract DAAA09-98-E-0006 to complete the design of the Filter Wash Facility Building E at Holston Army Ammunition Plant. Work will be performed in Kingsport, Tennessee, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 31, 2021. Fiscal 2020 procurement of ammunition (Army) funds in the amount of $17,211,588 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2355497/source/GovDelivery/
2 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By: Mike Griffin Nov. 9 marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event followed within a couple of years by the reunification of Germany, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the freeing of the Eastern European vassal states. Francis Fukuyama thought we had reached “the end of history,” that global great power conflict was at its end and that the ascendancy of the Western liberal concept was the permanent future. “We won the Cold War” — it says so in all the history books. Winning is great, except for the part where the losers retreat, rethink, retrain and try again; while the winner thinks the race is won once and for all — which is why the United States now finds itself running from behind in certain aspects of today's great power rivalry. How did we get here, and what should we do about it? It turned out that Fukuyama was optimistic; Russia and China never accepted Western ideals as future standards. Their adherence to and promulgation of authoritarian values and behaviors was, at most, slowed by the ascendancy of the Western alliance after World War II. Russia's resurgence and China's rise offer the sobering reminder that individual freedom, property rights, free trade in open markets, transparency and accountability in government, the rule of law, and the sovereignty of nations are not universally accepted as foundational principles for human society. They are privileges to be purchased by every generation, at a high price in blood and treasure. Where possible, the United States has paid with treasure rather than with blood. This principle guided our Cold War policies. Knowing that we could not outnumber our adversaries, we invested to prevail technologically and sustained that discipline through eight presidential administrations. President Ronald Reagan won the Cold War by doubling down on the policies of the seven presidents who preceded him. Premier Mikhail Gorbachev lost because the Soviet Union could not keep up. What did we buy with those investments? First was the nuclear triad: our land-based intercontinental missiles, fleet ballistic missile submarines and strategic bombers. That force left no option for an adversary to surprise the U.S. and its allies with a decapitating first strike because the certainty of complete annihilation following such a strike was always there. Equally critical was the ability to prevail against a larger force in a conventional fight. The U.S. seized the advantage with precision, with a precise conventional strike, enabled by pattern-matching seekers. With a global positioning system to guide force projection to the right place, stealth technology to hide our aircraft from enemy radar, encrypted high-rate communications to enable superior command and control, electronic warfare to deny that advantage to our enemies, unmanned aerial vehicles for both reconnaissance and force projection, and the uncontested dominance of the space domain to tie it all together, we prevailed. These capabilities were transformational when first deployed, beyond the reach of any other society on Earth. But many are now available commercially, and others, such as electronic warfare and stealth, are now widely understood. Some potentially transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, 5G, and microelectronics are driven not by defense but by commercial interests, and not solely by our domestic industrial base. In certain areas with no present commercial applications, such as hypersonic flight, we are simply behind. And in space — once the uncontested linchpin of the U.S. war-fighting advantage — we are challenged by Russian and Chinese determination, and capability, to deny that advantage. In brief, the United States no longer possesses the unquestioned technical superiority to dominate a future fight. At this juncture, we have not undertaken concerted defense modernization in more than a generation, and therefore have made marginal improvements to existing capabilities. These will not affect the outcome of a conflict for which our adversaries, knowing how we fight, have been preparing for a generation. We know what we need to do. The National Defense Strategy outlines the investments we must pursue: a revitalized nuclear triad, microelectronics, cybersecurity, biotechnology, 5G, space, hypersonics, artificial intelligence, directed energy, autonomous systems, networked communications, missile defense and quantum science, among others. Superiority in these technologies, woven into a war-fighting architecture that challenges our adversaries rather than reacting to them, is the key to deterring or winning future conflicts. The taxpayers have been generous with the defense budget, but it is insufficient to purchase more legacy systems while also creating the future force. So we must decide: What near-term risks are we willing to take, and what current systems are we willing to let go, so that we can invest in capabilities that will impose costs on our adversaries and deter them from starting a fight because they know they cannot win? This is the critical national security challenge of our time. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2019/12/02/pentagon-rd-boss-the-challenge-of-our-time