Airbus remporte une commande de 38 avions de combat Eurofighter par l’Allemagne

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  27 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Chile approved for $634M worth of F-16 upgrades

  By: Aaron Mehta Updated at 6:35 PM EST to include information on the number of planes being upgraded. WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department has cleared Chile to purchase modernization upgrades for its F-16 fleet, with a potential $634 million price tag. Chile currently operates 44 F-16s. That includes 10 Block 50 models purchased in the early 2000s, as well as 36 older models bought second-hand from the Netherlands. Reports that Chile would look to upgrade their existing F-16 fleet first emerged in 2017, but final details had not been made public. Analysts have also speculated that Chile may look to buy a small number of new F-16s to supplement its fleet. The upgrades included in this potential sale include 19 Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS); six inert MK-82 (500LB) general purpose bomb bodies; two MXU-650KB Air Foil Groups (AFG); 44 LN-260 Embedded GPS/INS (EGI) and 49 Multifunctional Information Distribution System Joint Tactical Radios (MIDS JTRS). Also included are avionics equipment and software upgrades, new radios, upgraded IFF transponders, secure communications equipment and other parts. The upgrades are expected to go across the 44 plane fleet. “The proposed sale will improve Chile's capability to meet current and future threats by modernizing its F-16 fleet, which will allow Chile to maintain sovereignty and homeland defense, increase interoperability with the United States and other partners, and deter potential adversaries,” per a statement on the website of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Lockheed Martin, which produces the F-16, will be the prime contractor on the deal, should it go through. All DSCA announcements must be cleared by Congress. At that point negotiations begin. Quantities and dollar values often change in the final agreement. Although this is the first FMS case approved for Chile since the start of fiscal 2017, the F-16 has proven to be a reliable sales vehicle for Lockheed abroad, with 14 F-16 related FMS requests cleared by DSCA during this time period. https://www.defensenews.com/global/the-americas/2020/07/23/chile-okd-for-f-16-upgrades/

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  16 août 2019 | International, Naval

  Marines will be getting these ‘tacticool’ over-the-ear headsets

  By: Shawn Snow The iconic over-the-ear style headsets worn by the Corps' special operations Raiders will soon be in the hands of conventional Marines. The Marine Corps is ordering 4,519 headsets produced by INVISIO to the tune of $4,800,340.89, according to Manny Pacheco, a spokesman with Marine Corps Systems Command. INVISIO is expected to deliver those headsets between this November and March 2020, with the first order going to artillery and recon Marines, according to Pacheco. Pacheco explained that infantry Marines will be fielded new headsets on another contract. Marines will be getting two versions of INVISIO's T5 headset, according to Ray Clarke, a spokesman for INVISIO. One headset will be a stand-alone to provide hearing protection, while the other will interface with Marine Corps radio systems allowing for hearing protection and communications, Clarke said. INVISIO said in a press release that the headsets being delivered to the Corps would be compatible with the enhanced combat helmet. “Infantry, artillery, reconnaissance and combat engineer Marines decided on INVISIO systems based on fit, form, function and comfort,” the release said. Marines will also be getting the V50 controller that will serve as a communications hub and allow Marines to better operate their radio systems. The Marine Corps announced in September that it was ready to order thousands of new headsets and was looking at a range of systems. As part of that effort, the Corps also kicked off testing of various mid to high cut versions of the enhanced combat helmet to gauge the best ballistic and hearing protection fit. For that testing, the Corps ordered nearly 200 ECH helmets from Gentex Corp., the maker of the iconic Ops-Core helmets worn by special operators. The Corps also announced in June that it was also pursuing a new lightweight integrated helmet system for grunts that can better work with the slew of cables and electronic devices carried by infantry Marines. “With the increased number of battery powered optics and other attachments to the helmet, the amount of exposed/unsecure wires and battery packs are increasing,” a June posting on the government's business opportunities website reads. “The Marine Corps is looking for an optimized configuration to allow power and/or data to flow to the attachments while minimizing bulk," the posting reads. Clarke said INVISIO also provides Marine Raiders with the Maritime Communications Accessory Suite that comes with the V60 controller and X5 in-the ear headset. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/08/15/marines-will-be-getting-these-tacticool-over-the-ear-headsets/

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  16 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  UK hits pause on defense review due to coronavirus

  By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — The British government has hit the pause button on its integrated defense review as it pours its efforts into battling the coronavirus crisis, Cabinet Office officials have told the parliamentary Defence Committee. “The Cabinet Office has informed the defence select committee that work on the integrated review has been formally paused across Whitehall,” the committee announced April 15. Committee chair Tobias Ellwood said in a statement that the move by the Cabinet Office, the department leading the review, was the right move to take given the crisis. “There would be no point in conducting an in-depth review of the nation's defence and security challenges to an artificial deadline, especially at a time when Whitehall is rightly focusing on tackling conronavirus,” Ellwood said. The recently appointed Defence Committee chair said that when the review restarts it will have to do so “with the added consequences of the pandemic to be considered.” A spokesperson for the Defence Committee said the Cabinet Office had not given any indication as to when it might start to ramp up the review effort again. However, two sources tell Defense News that the review could go on ice for up to a year. In a letter announcing the pause, deputy national security adviser Alex Ellis said that while the review was on hold, the government would be retaining a “small core capacity to think about the long-term effects of COVID-19 and issues expected to be covered in the Integrated Review." This team will be very limited in size and function, he added. The Ministry of Defence already faced mounting budget problems before the pandemic struck. Now, the massive economic crisis facing the British government makes it highly unlikely any additional cash will be found for defense, despite the prominent role the military is playing here combating the virus. The review was initiated immediately following Boris Johnson's election as prime minister in early December. Johnson promised it would be the most fundamental review of its kind since the end of the Cold War. Defense, security, foreign policy and international development strategy were to all be part of the effort. The review was scheduled by the government to be completed by July, a timescale the Defence Committee, analysts, lawmakers and others all said was too quick. Johnson first signaled his intention to slow down work on the review in a letter to Ellwood and two other committee chair dated March 24. “We have diverted resources from across Government and the Civil Service to work on COVID-19, scaling back efforts on the Integrated Review,” Johnson said at the time. Quizzed last month by parliamentarians about a possible delay to the review, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the government was open-minded about putting the work on hold. “There is no ideological block or determination to carry on come what may," Wallace said then. “With this coronavirus growing, if it is the right thing to do, we will absolutely pause the review if necessary; if not, we shall move forward.” Jon Louth, an independent defense analyst, believes the government may have to start the review process over again, given the changing circumstances. “I think we are close to going back to square one, if the budget settlement for defense is to be unpicked and secured as part of a late Autumn or Spring [2021] government-wide spending review,” he said. “Who could have any confidence in what the defense equipment program funding settlement would actually be? It could involve unpacking current contracts, but also unpick some of the ambition we have in terms of new things. “What we have and what we would like are going to be colored by a budget settlement smaller than people were anticipating; in fact, quite substantially smaller. Whether that means the MoD starts to think about reprofiling things to the right or really starts taking strategic choices, we will have to wait and see,” added Louth, who until recently was a senior analyst at the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/04/15/uk-hits-pause-on-defense-review-due-to-coronavirus/