Babcock awarded Asset Availability Service contract continuing in-service support to Phalanx Close Weapon System

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  13 décembre 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  F-35 Will Be Finland’s Next Fighter

  National evaluations put the F-35's military capability well ahead of its competitors, Helsinki says.

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  18 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  Netherlands signs deal for unarmed MQ-9 Reaper drones

  By: Valerie Insinna FARNBOROUGH, England — The Netherlands on Tuesday inked a deal to purchase four MQ-9 Reaper Block 5 drones from General Atomics, marking the first sale of unmanned aerial systems since U.S. President Donald Trump signed off on a policy to loosen up arms sale restrictions. During a ceremony at the Farnborough Airshow, Vice Adm. Jan de Waard, the director of the Netherlands' Defence Materiel Organisation, and Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, head of the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, signed a letter of offer and acceptance. Such a letter cements a foreign military sale between the United States and a foreign nation. The sale of MQ-9s to the Netherlands has been in the works for a long time. “It's a party time today,” de Waard said. “We started this program in 2003. We postponed it in 2005, then we revitalized it in, I think, in 2010, and then we postponed it again.” The U.S. State Department first approved the Netherlands for a potential MQ-9 sale in 2015, when it valued the order at about $339 million for four air vehicles, six Honeywell TPE331-10T turboprop engines, ground stations, Lynx radars, and a variety of other subsystems and spares. The deal is for the unarmed configuration of the Reaper. Hooper said the Dutch MQ-9s would “not only accentuate their own domestic national security capabilities but will add to their capability to contribute to NATO as a part of that alliance and coalition.” The announcement of the deal with the Dutch comes just a day after Trump approved an implementation plan for his new export reform policy, called the Conventional Arms Transfer policy. U.S. government agencies been awaiting guidance about how to interpret new arms transfer rules. The Royal Netherlands Air Force will join Spain and the U.S. in operating the Block 5 variant of the MQ-9, the former of which will begin receiving its aircraft in 2019. France and Italy additionally operate Block 1 systems, as does the U.K., although the British Royal Air Force is acquiring the new certifiable MQ-9B version via its Protector program, which is expected to enter service in the early 2020s. India is additionally looking to acquire 22 of the Sea Guardian variant from the U.S., and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. sources claimed that a letter of offer and acceptance for this is expected to be signed by the end of 2018. There is an option to retrofit the Block 5 to carry the wings and tail of the SkyGuardian, although no detail has been provided on whether or not any of the other nations are currently planning on selecting the option. Dave Alexander, president of GA-ASI, told Defense News that while there is no immediate demand for either the SkyGuardian or the retrofit option from the largest Reaper operator, the U.S. Air Force special operations forces have shown an interest in it due to an ability to operate from a shorter runway in support of expeditionary operations. The company has orders to fulfill production of the Block 5 MQ-9 for another five years, he added, noting that GA-ASI is planning to expand its production capabilities to enable it to fulfill forecast orders from India and three other customers. Aside from the deal with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, a number of agreements were signed between GA-ASI and partners throughout the Farnborough Airshow, an apparent move by the company to demonstrate its willingness to transfer work and technology to customer nations. Leonardo UK announced it signed an agreement with GA-ASI for the companies to jointly offer the former's Sage electronic support measure system for both the SkyGuardian and Sea Guardian variants. It will be integrated without the need for an external pod and will be available to order from 2019. Furthermore, General Atomics and GKN Aerospace signed a letter of intent July 17 to facilitate the development of composite tails for the MQ-9 in the U.K., while Dutch company Fokker has developed landing gear subsystems for the UAV since 2016. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/farnborough/2018/07/17/netherlands-signs-deal-for-unarmed-mq-9-reaper-drones

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  1 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  SAAB wants to offer Gripen at half of Rafale cost, with full tech transfer, local production

  SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP New Delhi: As India looks to acquire 114 new medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to shore up its depleting strength, Swedish defence major SAAB has pitched for a complete Transfer of Technology (TOT) and local production of its Gripen fighter jet at “half” the cost of French alternative Rafale. SAAB India's chairman and managing director (CMD) Ola Rignell made the cost claims in an interview to ThePrint, but added that he wouldn't be surprised if India went in for additional 36 Rafale fighters in the coming years, circumventing the ongoing process to acquire new jets in larger numbers. “India bought 36 Rafale fighter jets from France off the shelf. SAAB and Brazil also signed a contract in 2015 for the sale and local manufacturing of 36 Gripen. The cost was half of what the value of the Indian deal was,” said Rignell, referring to Brazil's $4.68 billion deal with SAAB to manufacture the Gripen locally. “We are setting up an entire aviation ecosystem in Brazil. And the experience and knowledge that Brazil is gaining from this manufacturing is being used by them to design their indigenous fighter aircraft,” the SAAB India CMD said. In 2012, EADS's Eurofighter and Dassault Aviation's Rafale had emerged as the winner of the 2007 MMRCA bid, with the latter being the lowest bidder. But the contract negotiations got stuck over prices. Three years later, the Modi government cancelled the protracted talks and decided to buy 36 Rafale fighters in fly-away condition in a €7.87 billion deal. Now, France is offering another 36 Rafale fighter jets in a government-to-government deal. But these numbers will not suffice in view of the Indian Air Force (IAF)'s MMRCA requirements. During the interview last week, Rignell spoke about what the company is offering to India, his expectations, and the issue surrounding its sales to Pakistan. ‘Gripen cheaper than Rafale' Speaking to ThePrint, Ola Rignell highlighted the efficiency of SAAB's single-engine multirole fighter aircraft vis-à-vis the Rafale, which is being called a game changer for the IAF in the region due to its weapons package. Gripen has the same weapons package as Rafale including the Meteor air-to-air missile, said Rignell. “All NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) missiles are integrated with the Gripen. The only one which is missing is SCALP because it is a French missile. But if India wants, we can integrate the SCALP also though Gripen already has a substitute,” said Rignell. He pointed out that European missile manufacturer MBDA, which makes both Meteor and SCALP, actually found Gripen as the most mature jet to test their missiles on. “MBDA ‘test beded' the Meteor on a Gripen. They found the Gripen to be the most mature. Eighty per cent of Meteor firing tests took place from a Gripen,” he said. Rignell added that Gripen will always be cheaper in comparison to Rafale in life cycle costs as well because of its single-engine build. ‘Would not be surprised' SAAB's India chief said the defence major is offering the best deal to the country, but he won't be surprised if India opted to buy another 36 Rafale jet from France. “I would not be surprised,” said Ola Rignell. But he noted that the additional 36 jets will not fulfill the IAF's requirement. “The original 36 Rafale was bought when the IAF needed 126 MMRCA. Now there is an RFI (Request for Information) for 114 aircraft. Additional 36 Rafale would still not fulfill what the IAF actually not just wants but needs,” he said. India and France have already spoken about the latter's proposal for 36 additional Rafale jets, but New Delhi hasn't disclosed any information about such a move. No fresh deal with Pakistan While Saab is offering the Gripen fighters to India, it is also providing the early warning aircraft system to Pakistan — an issue that has upset the IAF. Pakistan used the SAAB-manufactured early warning aircraft system to coordinate its attack on an Indian military installation in Jammu and Kashmir a day after the Balakot strike earlier in February. During his visit to Sweden in June this year, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa had expressed his displeasure with the defence major for supplying Pakistan with early warning systems and also offering Gripen fighters to India. New Delhi is of the view that it will be difficult to do business with a country that also arms the enemy. In a bid to pacify the IAF, Ola Rignell persisted that SAAB is not selling any new products to Pakistan. He also pointed out that every contender has dealt with Pakistan, and other assets were also used in the post-Balakot action. Pakistan had used French fighters Mirage as well American F-16s. However, Rignell remained non-committal on future sales to Pakistan, saying the Swedish government decides on such matters and not the company. “As far as I know, we are not selling any new products to that country (Pakistan). There is an old order and we are fulfilling our contract obligation,” Rignell said. The Pakistan Air Force had ordered three new SAAB 2000 early warning aircraft in 2017 to supplement the ones that were destroyed in a terror attack on Minhas air base five years before that. Rignell added that he was part of the meeting in Sweden when Dhanoa raised the issue and this is exactly what he had told him as well. “We are trying to sell the latest AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) — Golden Eye — to India. We have sold them to UAE. (But) India is already working on its indigenous systems,” he said. India operates the IL76 ‘Phalcon' AWACS as well as the Embraer ‘Netra' early warning aircraft. https://theprint.in/defence/saab-wants-offer-gripen-half-rafale-cost-full-tech-transfer-local-production/298778/