20 mai 2022 | International, Terrestre

Colombia to buy 12 French-made Caesar howitzers

The acquisition is part of the country's effort to modernize and to increase its conventional military capabilities for countering insurgencies and drug trafficking.

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/05/19/colombia-to-buy-12-french-made-caesar-howitzers/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dfn-ebb

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  • Drone maker General Atomics lays off hundreds

    28 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Drone maker General Atomics lays off hundreds

    By: Joe Gould and Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON ― Privately held drone maker General Atomics, of San Diego, is laying off approximately 630 of its roughly 10,000 employees. “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. can confirm a reduction in force involving 6% of its workforce,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to Defense News late Wednesday. “This reduction was made to balance resources with customer requirements.” The layoffs were announced internally Wednesday and confirmed by the company, which did not specify which operations were impacted. General Atomics and Northrop Grumman were two beneficiaries of the Trump administration's recent decision to ease restrictions on overseas sales of unmanned aircraft. In addition, lawmakers are expected to boost Reaper buys in the near term, with House appropriators proposing to give General Atomics $344 million for 16 more MQ-9s in fiscal 2021. But the company was also dealt a blow earlier this year when the Air Force announced it would stop buying the MQ-9 Reaper in fiscal year 2021, at least four years earlier than expected. And now the future of the program remains uncertain, with the Air Force looking at options to replace the MQ-9 Reaper. Over the past two decades, the Reaper has served as one of the Air Force's workhorse drones for surveillance and for striking targets in the Middle East. But service leaders believe it is ill-suited for a war with Russia and China. In addition, they believe it costs too much time and money to keep the aircraft ready for operations in low-threat environments. “The Reaper has been a great platform for us. Four million flight hours, just undeniable overmatch in a low-end uncontested fight, and it is certainly saving lives,” Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper told lawmakers at a House Armed Services Committee hearing this March. “But as we look to the high-end fight, we just can't take them into the battlefield. They are easily shot down.” In June, the Air Force issued a request for information for an MQ-9 successor, underscoring the service's plan to transition from the Reaper to a new surveillance and strike drone. https://www.defensenews.com/2020/08/27/drone-maker-general-atomics-lays-offs-hundreds/

  • Maritime Administration inks a deal for two more multi-mission support ships

    28 janvier 2021 | International, Naval

    Maritime Administration inks a deal for two more multi-mission support ships

    By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON – The Maritime Administration has inked a deal for two more training ships for its prospective Merchant Marine officers in a move that could provide the Navy with a suitable hull for special mission auxiliary ships in the future. MARAD contracted for two additional National Security Multi-Mission Vessels, adding on to the two it purchased last year. The ships are destined for use at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, Maine, and Texas A&M Maritime Academy in Galveston, Texas. The contract, announced Jan. 19, with Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is worth approximately $600 million. If the last ship is contracted, it would bring the total buy to $1.5 billion, according to the marine trade publication gCaptain. The NMSVs are also national assets that can be used in humanitarian assistance missions, can accommodate up to 1,000 people and includes a modern medical facility. The vessels could also prove useful in the Navy's quest to identify a flexible hull that can meet a series of missions as it seeks to replace its aging logistics fleet, Sal Mercogliano, a former merchant mariner and maritime historian at Campbell University, told Defense News last year. “Those vessels serve as a potential hull form for maybe a hospital ship, maybe a command ship, an aviation logistics ship, a sub tender: There's potential there,” Mercogliano said. Questions remain around how the Navy will replace some of its special mission ships, such as the aging hospital ships, and the NMSV is worthy of consideration. For moving lots of tanks and howitzers across long distances, the NSMV isn't well-suited. But for many of the other missions the Navy needs to recapitalize, including its hospital ships, it could prove useful. “I don't think they'd be good for a roll-on/roll-off — it's not designed for a large mission bay,” Mercogliano said. “But I think for the hospital ship, a command ship, there's a lot of utility there.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2021/01/27/maritime-administration-inks-a-deal-for-two-more-multi-mission-support-ships

  • Congress skeptical of Navy’s unmanned vessels plans

    16 juillet 2020 | International, Naval

    Congress skeptical of Navy’s unmanned vessels plans

    Nathan Strout The U.S. Navy wants $464 million for unmanned surface vessels, but Congress is not on the same page. Legislators have so far declined to fully fund the massive investment into research and development for large and medium unmanned surface vessels as they work through the annual defense bill, citing the request as “excessive procurement ahead of satisfactory testing.” Among other things, that budget request would give the Navy $239 million to purchase two Overlord large unmanned surface vehicle (LUSV) prototypes for testing. While the Senate Armed Services Committee has declined to authorize any of the $464 million request, the House Armed Services Committee agreed to authorize just $270 million of that request — specifically cutting funding for the two LUSVs. Instead, the House version would provide the Navy $45 million to convert a Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship into a LUSV for further testing. In a report on the bill issued by the Senate Armed Services Committee, lawmakers argued that the Navy already has the LUSVs that can fill the Strategic Capabilities Office's needs in this area. But perhaps more importantly, the committee members do not seem convinced that LUSVs are ready for prime time. “The committee remains concerned that the budget request's concurrent approach to LUSV design, technology development, and integration as well as a limited understanding of the LUSV concept of employment, requirements, and reliability for envisioned missions pose excessive acquisition risk for additional LUSV procurement in fiscal year 2021,” the report reads. “The committee is also concerned by the unclear policy implications of LUSVs, including ill-defined international unmanned surface vessel standards and the legal status of armed or potentially armed LUSVs.” Furthermore, legislators remain unconvinced that the current unmanned vessels can hold up to the physical environment of extended operations at sea. While the Navy requires its unmanned platforms to be able to operate continuously at sea for 30 days without maintenance or repairs, the committee report notes the Strategic Capabilities Office's prototypes have only demonstrated two to three days of continuous operation. The Senate version of the bill would require the Navy to formally qualify two main engines and electrical generators — including successfully demonstrating 30 days of continuous operations at sea — before Milestone B approval is granted. An industry group hit back July 9. In a letter to leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International called on legislators to fully fund the Navy's fiscal 2021 request. “It is imperative that Congress continues to fund the research and development (R&D) efforts included in the Navy's FY21 budget request,” wrote President and CEO Brian Wynne. “Failing to do so will disrupt the significant investment industry has made in unmanned systems over the last several years. The severe reduction in funding being considered in the FY21 NDAA would eliminate jobs, drive many small companies out of business, and cause larger companies to shift their R&D investments to more stable opportunities” The committee report argues that its requirements do not delay these programs, but in fact will enable the delivery of unmanned surface vehicles faster by ensuring they are “capable, reliable and sustainable.” In the meantime, the Navy has moved forward with its unmanned surface vehicle efforts. On July 13, the Navy awarded L3Harris $35 million to develop a medium unmanned surface vehicle prototype, with an option to buy eight more later on. If all options are exercised, the contract could be worth up to $294 million. “The award of Medium USV is the culmination of a great dialogue with industry to right-size the requirements for a capable, reliable, and affordable unmanned surface vehicle that will employ a variety of modular payloads,” said Capt. Pete Small, program manager of Unmanned Maritime Systems within the Unmanned and Small Combatants Program Executive Office. “Leveraging new rapid prototyping authorities and mature commercial technology will allow us to quickly deliver a capable prototype to the Surface Development Squadron to conduct experimentation and learning in support of the Navy's plans for a future fleet incorporating unmanned vessels.” The prototype is expected to be delivered in fiscal 2023. However, the Navy press release announcing the award notes that funding for future MUSV prototypes is uncertain. While the Navy has asked for additional fiscal 2021 funding for a second MUSV prototype in fiscal 2023, that acquisition strategy is yet to be determined. https://www.c4isrnet.com/unmanned/2020/07/15/congress-skeptical-of-navys-unmanned-vessels-plans/

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