6 avril 2021 | International, Aérospatial

Bell and U.S Army advance development of V-280 Valor and aviation modernization

Bell’s flight-proven V-280 Valor design advances from an aircraft with transformational speed and survivability towards a low-risk weapons system ready to support joint combined arms and maneuver operations around the...

https://www.epicos.com/article/690793/bell-and-us-army-advance-development-v-280-valor-and-aviation-modernization

Sur le même sujet

  • Japan to order 100 more F-35 fighters from US

    28 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

    Japan to order 100 more F-35 fighters from US

    Nikkei staff writers TOKYO -- Japan is preparing to order another 100 F-35 stealth fighter jets from the U.S. to replace some of its aging F-15s, according to sources. The plan can be considered a response to China's military buildup, as well as a nod to U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Tokyo to buy more American defense equipment. Japan already intended to procure 42 of the new fighters. A single F-35 costs more than 10 billion yen ($88.1 million), meaning the additional order would exceed 1 trillion yen. Japan's government plans to approve the purchase when it adopts new National Defense Program Guidelines at a cabinet meeting in mid-December. It will also include the F-35 order in its medium-term defense program, which covers fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2023. The government wants to obtain 42 F-35s as successors to its F-4s by fiscal 2024. The 42 fighters Japan originally planned to buy are all F-35As, a conventional takeoff and landing variant. The additional 100 planes would include both the F-35A and F-35B, which is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings. At present, Japan deploys about 200 F-15s, roughly half of which cannot be upgraded. The Defense Ministry wants to replace the planes that cannot be upgraded with the 100 F-35s, while enhancing and retaining the remaining F-15s. To accommodate the F-35Bs, the government intends to revamp the Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Izumo helicopter carrier to host the fighters. Japan's neighbors are busy introducing their own advanced military aircraft. China deployed its homegrown J-20 stealth fighter in February, and by 2030 some experts expect the country to build a fleet of more than 250 fifth-generation jets -- as the latest generation of fighters like the F-35 is known. Russia, too, is expected to introduce its fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 in 2019, at the earliest. To keep up, Tokyo believes it is imperative to significantly increase its procurement of the most sophisticated stealth jets. At the same time, Trump has repeatedly urged Japan to purchase more American hardware and reduce the trade imbalance between the countries. Buying more of the high-priced fighters is a quick way to do that. In September, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Trump, "Introducing high-performance equipment, including American [materiel], is important for our country to strengthen its defense capabilities." https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-Relations/Japan-to-order-100-more-F-35-fighters-from-US

  • Rolls-Royce welcomes Australian investment in AUKUS preparation plans

    21 mars 2024 | International, Terrestre

    Rolls-Royce welcomes Australian investment in AUKUS preparation plans

    This commitment of funding to our existing expansion work shows the trust Australia places on our nuclear expertise and our ability to deliver

  • The report card is in for the US defense industry’s health

    3 février 2021 | International, Naval

    The report card is in for the US defense industry’s health

    By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The health of America's defense industrial base ranks a middling “C” due to growing cyber vulnerabilities, a poor ability to surge production in a crisis, and political obstacles for defense budgeting, according to a lead defense trade group's new study. According to the National Defense Industrial Association's second annual “Vital Signs” report, the defense industrial base entered the COVID-19 pandemic in a weakened state despite healthier marks for competition, profitability and demand. The report, released Tuesday, graded eight performance areas from 0 to 100 for an average score of 74 for the year 2020. Government data firm Govini co-produced the data-driven report, which used the Pentagon's 2018 assessment of the defense industrial base as a jumping off point. “The defense industrial base is facing multiple headwinds: industrial security threats, flat future defense budgets, a shortage of skilled, cleared workers and decreased investments in the sciences that fuel U.S. innovation,” NDIA's chief executive, Hawk Carlisle, said in a statement. “Add to these the increased regulatory burdens and barriers for new entrants, which continue to shrink both the number of companies that participate in the DIB and the number of new companies entering the defense marketplace.” He added that the report, which makes no recommendations, ought to drive discussions as the Pentagon ramps up for competition with China and Russia. Though the study predates both COVID-19 and the revelation that elite cyber spies have spent months secretly exploiting SolarWinds' software to peer into computer networks, it raised alarms over industrial security. As data breaches and cybersecurity vulnerabilities both surged, industrial security overall showed “clear and continued deterioration,” ranking the lowest of all with a 56. The industrial base's ability to meet surge demand during a crisis received a failing grade of 66. Companies NDIA surveyed said that in the first 30 days, the industrial base could ramp up quickly but the rate of progress would slow soon thereafter; more than a 100 percent increase would take 180 days. More than half of firms said the availability of skilled labor would be a factor in increasing defense production, and 16.5 percent said a gap in U.S.-based human capital was the most vulnerable part of their supply chain ― in part fueled by a security clearance backlog. The size of the defense industry workforce fell to about 1.1 million people from its mid-1980s peak of 3.2 million, the report said. An analysis of public opinion, congressional action and regulatory action downgraded the “political and regulatory” outlook by 10 points since 2018 ― even prior to the pandemic and a related emphasis on domestic spending. A key factor was a new Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification framework and its “additional regulatory burdens for all defense contractors,” the report said. Also, public opinion in favor of defense spending saw its largest decline since the Reagan-era defense buildup of the 1980s: A Gallup poll found that 17 percent of respondents felt the United States is spending too little on national defense and military purposes, down from 25 percent in 2019 and 33 percent in 2018. Industry can be pleased the “Demand” category jumped 16 points, corresponding with an increase in contract obligations issued by the Department of Defense. DoD contract obligations grew from $329 billion in fiscal 2017 to $394 billion in fiscal 2020, marking about a 20 percent increase. Foreign military sales also grew by nearly 20 percent over the same time period. Among all categories, major defense platforms ― aircraft, naval vessels and land vehicles ― were awarded the largest share of total contract obligation value, but contract obligation value for electronics and communication services grew 89 percent, leading all service categories. https://www.defensenews.com/2021/02/02/c-grade-for-us-defense-industrys-health-warns-trade-group-report

Toutes les nouvelles