‘Cautionary tale’: How Boeing won a US Air Force program and lost $7B

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  26 mars 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre

  Deux candidats encore en lice pour l'achat de la défense sol-air

  Berne (awp/ats) - Deux systèmes de défense sol-air de longue portée sont encore dans la course pour le renouvellement de la défense de l'armée suisse. Le consortium français Eurosam et la société américaine Raytheon ont transmis leurs offres. Israël a renoncé. La soumission de cette première offre marque le début de la phase d'analyse et d'essais, a indiqué armasuisse lundi. Un deuxième appel d'offres aura lieu dans le courant de l'hiver prochain. Des spécialistes du Département fédéral de la défense vont analyser les offres des fabricants en évaluant l'efficacité des différents systèmes et en testant la performance du radar. Aucun essai de tir ne sera effectué. Ces analyses donneront lieu à des rapports individuels. Les candidats ne seront comparés qu'ensuite. Suivra un deuxième appel d'offres. Le Conseil fédéral tranchera. La surface à couvrir par la défense sol-air doit être de 15'000 km2 au moins. Le système doit atteindre une altitude d'engagement de plus de 12'000 m et une portée supérieure à 50 km. Il n'est pas nécessaire de disposer d'une capacité de défense contre des missiles balistiques. Le renouvellement des moyens de défense sol-air de longue portée fait partie du programme d'achat de la nouvelle flotte d'avions de combat de l'armée suisse. La facture totale se monte à 8 milliards de francs suisses. Cinq appareils sont évalués pour remplacer les Tiger et les F/A-18 de l'armée: le Gripen E suédois (Saab), le Rafale français (Dassault), l'européen Eurofighter (Airbus), ainsi que les américains Super Hornet de Boeing et le F-35A de Lockheed-Martin. https://www.zonebourse.com/SAAB-6491624/actualite/Deux-candidats-encore-en-lice-pour-l-achat-de-la-defense-sol-air-28231928/

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  18 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  BAE nabs next-gen seeker design work for US Army’s missile defense system

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin, which builds the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense weapon system for the U.S. Army, has awarded BAE Systems a contract to design and manufacture a next-generation seeker for the system's interceptors, according to a BAE announcement posted March 17. “The sensor design work will improve the missile defense system's ability to neutralize more threats and improve its manufacturability,” the statement read. The company did not disclose the contract amount or timelines to develop a design. The THAAD weapon system is part of the Army's layered approach to missile defense, now with its ability to defeat ballistic missile threats in the terminal phase of flight, but the Missile Defense Agency also wants to make it part of its future homeland defense architecture. BAE already provides the seeker for the THAAD system, which uses infrared imagery to guide the interceptors to threat targets, and the company has delivered more than 500 THAAD seekers to date, according to the statement. While the seekers are built in Nashua, New Hampshire, and Endicott, New York, the company plans to conduct design work for the next-generation seeker in Huntsville, Alabama, home of Redstone Arsenal and the Army's missiles and space programs. BAE Systems is building a state-of-the-art facility that will house a “cutting-edge” design program in Huntsville, the company noted. While the Army plans to continue using THAAD far into the future, the MDA is, in fiscal 2021, planning to allocated $273.6 million for THAAD development efforts, including the THAAD homeland defense tier. Specifically, the agency is asking for $139 million in FY21 to start the development and demonstration of a new interceptor prototype for THAAD, which could support a tiered and layered approach to homeland defense. BAE Systems did not say whether the next-generation interceptor design work includes efforts related to MDA's desire to produce a new interceptor prototype. The agency is “challenging ourselves” to figure out how to develop a THAAD interceptor that would work against an intercontinental ballistic missile, Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the MDA's director, said when the FY21 defense budget request was released in February. To do that, the MDA is seeking to draw lessons from building THAAD batteries for Saudi Arabia, he said. The agency is also looking at the existing engineering trade space. “We may consider an upgraded propulsion stack to give [THAAD] extended range, don't know yet,” he said. “It could be that we don't want to update the propulsion. Maybe there is something in the seeker that would buy us more in the trade space now.” The THAAD interceptor program is a new start in the FY21 budget request, Hill noted. “We are working our way through what that program would look like.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/army-modernization/2020/03/17/bae-nabs-next-gen-seeker-design-work-for-us-army-missile-defense-system/

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  11 octobre 2018 | International, Terrestre

  Inflection point: Army wrestles to strike balance between current and future capability

  WASHINGTON — The Army is at an inflection point. It's a statement its top leaders have acknowledged countless times in recent months as they have made the case to begin major investment in future capability. But to bring online state-of-the-art technology and weapons and equipment that will maintain overmatch against peer adversaries like Russia and China, the Army will need money. Lots of money. And that means, at some point soon, the Army will have to make difficult decisions on how long legacy weapon systems and planned upgrades for those capabilities can — or should — carry the service into the future. It is Army Secretary Mark Esper and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley's goal and mandate to have a fully modernized Army that aligns with the service's multidomain operations doctrine by 2028. It logically follows that to get there, much has to happen in the 10 years between now and then. The Army wants longer-range fires, new combat vehicles and tanks, two new helicopters, highly capable autonomous vehicles and aircraft, a robust and resilient network tying together everything on the battlefield, a layered and more advanced air-and-missile defense capability and more lethal systems for warfighters. These capabilities all fall under the Army's top six modernization priorities, which the service laid out a year ago in an overarching modernization strategy. The Army then stood up Army Futures Command — a new four-star command — that will focus on rapidly bringing online modernized equipment and weapons that fit under the top six priorities. And it put a general officer in charge of a cross-functional team for each priority to advance prototypes and technology development. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/10/inflection-point-army-wrestles-to-strike-balance-between-current-and-future-capability/