11 juin 2024 | International, Terrestre

Bill aims to strengthen contested logistics strategy in Pacific

Senators introduced bill today that aims to ensure the U.S. is on track to strengthen its contested logistics capability in Pacific to deter China.

https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2024/06/11/bill-aims-to-strengthen-contested-logistics-strategy-in-pacific/

Sur le même sujet

  • Tribune : « Préservons l'industrie de Défense »

    26 janvier 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Tribune : « Préservons l'industrie de Défense »

    Dans une tribune publiée par Les Echos, des élus locaux, dont, notamment, Xavier Bonnefont, maire d'Angoulême, Yann Galut, maire de Bourges, et François Cuillandre, maire de Brest, appellent à « préserver l'industrie de Défense ». Ils alertent sur le risque que représente le manque de financements : au-delà du rôle de l'Etat, le financement de l'innovation de Défense « repose aussi sur le financement bancaire, qui se réduit du fait de l'accumulation de normes internationales qui conduisent les banques et les fonds d'investissement à exclure certains secteurs, comme celui de la Défense ». Cette exclusion touche les grands groupes, mais surtout les startups, ETI et PME, observent-ils. Ils soulignent qu'« à côté de quelques groupes d'envergure internationale qui font la fierté de notre pays », la base industrielle et technologique de défense (BITD) française repose essentiellement sur des milliers de PME, ETI et TPE sur l'ensemble du territoire : « Chaque département accueille des entreprises du secteur de la Défense, soit un tissu de plus de 200 000 emplois de haute technicité, non délocalisables, qui contribuent positivement à la balance commerciale. Dans plusieurs régions, la Défense représente plus de 7% des emplois industriels ». Les élus appellent à « veiller impérativement à ne pas exclure des entreprises stratégiques qui bénéficient d'une avance technologique et sont le terreau de notre souveraineté nationale ».

  • Defense authorization bill delayed until after election

    10 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Defense authorization bill delayed until after election

    By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON — A bipartisan compromise and vote on the 2021 defense policy bill isn't likely before the Nov. 3 elections, but it should come “quickly” thereafter, the House Armed Services Committee's top Republican said Wednesday. The vote would delay a decision from Congress about whether the Defense Department to rename military bases honoring Confederate leaders. It's defining issue for the $740.5 billion defense authorization bill, which includes must-pass provisions like military pay hikes, defense equipment purchase plans and strategic posturing of forces in coming years. “There are more negotiations that have to occur, and part of that negotiation is talking with the White House about the shape of that provision,” Rep. Mac Thornberry, of Texas, said at the Defense News Conference. “Is there a way to get everybody to ‘good?' Of course there is. Is it likely to happen before the election? No, it's not.” Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to back language requiring the changes, though the House requires the names changed within one year and the Senate bill requires them within three years. President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act over the Confederate name changes among other issues. Trump has said Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., personally assured him that Congress will not force the Pentagon to change the names. That's fueled speculation that bipartisan negotiations to reconcile the bills could drag on. The summer's sustained protests over racial injustice have buoyed the provision, while Trump has argued that changing the names would dishonor troops who have served at the sites and that Confederate symbols aren't racist. “We can't cancel our whole history,” he told Fox News last month. Thornberry, who had offered a softer alternative as a House amendment, said Wednesday that both sides have political incentives not to compromise on the base renaming provision, among other issues. “I don't know how that will come out in conference, but I do think we are in a time when neither party is rewarded for compromise, and coming together and getting things done,” he said. “On the other hand, I think we should be able to get a conference report pretty quickly after the election.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/09/09/no-defense-authorization-bill-before-election-says-thornberry/

  • To up fighter readiness levels, Pentagon looks to retire older planes and fix supply chains

    12 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

    To up fighter readiness levels, Pentagon looks to retire older planes and fix supply chains

    By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — With Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis issuing new guidancedemanding readiness for tactical air assets increase in just one year, the Pentagon is openly acknowledging that older planes will have to be retired and cannibalized for parts to make it happen. The department will also look to overhaul how it handles its supply chain, according to the department's No. 2 official. In a September memo, first reported by Defense News, Mattis ordered the Air Force, Navy and Marines to get the Pentagon's fleets of F-16, F-18, F-22 and F-35 fighters to a minimum of 80 percent mission ready. That would represent a major jump in readiness over a short period of time, raising skepticism amongst analysts. From a pure numbers-on-paper standpoint, the easiest way for getting readiness rates up on the fleet would involve retiring older, less ready aircraft — essentially increasing the percentage of good-to-go planes by reducing the overall size of the fleets. Such a move may not be popular on the Hill, which routinely complains about the size of the military compared with previous eras. But it's a logical step being endorsed by both Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Gen. Robert Neller, the Marine Corps chief of staff. “You gotta get rid of airplanes. At some point, you gotta get rid of the old ones,” Neller told reporters Wednesday at a Defense Writer's Group event, when asked how he would hit that 80 percent mark. Neller added that such a move has to be part of a broader spectrum of moves, including better quality parts from vendors, being more efficient with maintainers, and adjusting the flying hours for pilots to make sure the wings aren't being worn off on jets. “It's not going to be a single thing, so we've got to do our part,” he added. Speaking to reporters at the AUSA conference the same day, Shanahan seemed to zero in on the oldest Navy jets as ones that could be retired. “Well, when you look at the size of the fleet of the F-18s, you got [F-18A models] out there, then you look at what it would take to restore them to a certain level of readiness, you might say it's much easier just to retire those,” he said. “So, I mean, there's a mix of answers.” “It probably doesn't make sense to generate a lot of activity to make something that is older more reliable, but when you think about the joint strike fighter and the hundreds of those that we're going to take, 80 percent should be the minimum, OK? It shouldn't be some aspirational goal, it should be the minimum.” However, he pushed back at the idea that anyone will “game the system” to get those readiness percentages up. Commercial practices In the memo, Mattis specifically notes the commercial aviation industry is able to maintain higher readiness rates and directs the service to look that way for inspiration. “I am confident in our department's ability to generate additional capacity from our current aircraft inventory, alongside the commercial aviation industry's sustainment of high availability rates,” Mattis wrote. “As we seek to achieve our goals, we can learn from industry's benchmarks for measuring speed, cost and mission capability, as well as its best practices for implementing a sustainable, Department-wide system.” Shanahan, who will be the overall leader of the readiness rate improvement efforts, is a longtime Boeing executive who worked directly on a number of commercial jet production programs. And to him, there are absolutely lessons that can be drawn from passenger aviation. “A jet engine is a jet engine; no one will convince me otherwise,” he said. “I've lived in both worlds, I've been on more airplanes than anybody in the United States, I know these things, OK?” The deputy said his focus was on helping the service develop “methods, systems and practices” that will lead to systemic changes in how maintenance is done and provide dividends for years to come. “When you look at the F-18s, this is the same size of fleet as Southwest has. It's not a super-large fleet, they're all basically the same,” Shanahan noted. “So how do we put in place, you know, the support practices and the parts so that people aren't working as hard?” The need to keep part quality and quantity up were on display just a day after Shanahan and Neller's comments. On Thursday, the Pentagon ordered a temporary stop to flying the F-35 as it investigated a fuel tube inside the engines of the fleet. That same day, an F-22 crashed on its side following a landing gear malfunction. During his talk with reporters, the Navy was singled out as already having committed to improving their methodologies. And he called out the need to “restructure” how both the Navy and Air Force handle their supply chains — something he said will ultimately bleed over into maintenance beyond the four selected jet fleets. “The real end game to me is as a department, how do we end up with a single sustainment system? And what was good about this is that once you get the F-18 right, it spills over into the P-8, because they're side-by-side, so [the P-8 maintainers] going to be like, ‘Those guys, they're working a lot less hard than we are and they're getting much better results, why don't we just do it that way?' “And then as people see the methods they apply to shipbuilding or ship maintenance,” he added. Shawn Snow of Marine Corps Times contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/10/11/to-up-fighter-readiness-levels-pentagon-looks-to-retire-older-planes-and-fix-supply-chains

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