Czech Republic orders new batch of air-to-air missiles from Rafael

Sur le même sujet

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  19 juillet 2018 | International, Naval

  US Navy asks Congress to shift millions of dollars to fix high-tech supercarrier

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy needs to get the permission of lawmakers to move $62.7 million to fix a number of hiccups in its high-tech new carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, during its post-shakedown availability that kicked off July 15. The money, part of a larger DoD reprogramming request from June, will go toward fixing a number of issues that arose during its recently concluded post-delivery trials, according to a copy of the request obtained by Defense News. According to the document, the Navy needs to move: $12.7 million to fix “continuing technical deficiencies” with the Advanced Weapon Elevators. $30 million for “tooling and repair” of the main thrust bearings, issues that the Navy has blamed on the manufacturer. $20 million for additional repairs, a prolonged post-shakedown availabilty, and parts and labor. By: David Larter The Navy told Congress in May that it was going to exceed the Ford's $12.9 billion cost cap because of needed repairs and alterations. The $62.7 million was part of that total repair bill. The repairs and technology setbacks extended the Ford's PSA at Huntington Ingalls' Newport News Shipbuilding from eight months to 12 months, according to a statement from Naval Sea Systems Command, and significantly added to the cost. The ship will then proceed to full-ship shock trials ahead of its first deployment, a priority pushed by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., according to the document. Since its delivery, the Ford has spent 81 days at sea during the eight times it was underway, a July 15 NAVSEA release said. “The ship has completed 747 shipboard aircraft launches and recoveries against a plan of approximately 400,” the release said. “CVN 78 successfully completed fixed-wing aircraft/helicopter integration and compatibility testing, air traffic control center certification, JP-5 fuel system certification, daytime underway replenishment capability demonstration, ship's defensive system demonstration, Dual Band Radar testing, and propulsion plant operations.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/07/18/us-navy-asks-congress-to-shift-millions-to-fix-its-new-high-tech-supercarrier/

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  13 février 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Hard Brexit would doom future merger of UK, Franco-German fighter projects - Airbus defence

  BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain's departure from the European Union without a deal would doom the prospects for a Franco-German next-generation fighter jet with a rival project in Britain, the head of Airbus Defence and Space told the Handelsblatt German newspaper. Dirk Hoke told the newspaper he considered it “absolutely imperative” that the EU reach an agreement with Britain on security, defence and space given the closely interwoven ties between Europe and Britain. “I consider it extremely dangerous to develop a system like FCAS (the Franco-German fighter programme) without the British,” he said, noting that potential order quantities would rise if Britain participated, making future aircraft more competitive. France and Germany this month awarded a 65 million euro (57 million pounds), two-year contract financed equally by both countries to Dassault Aviation and Airbus to start designing a next-generation combat air system for use from 2040. Hoke said there were discussions about Spain joining the Franco-German programme, but the Brexit negotiations would be decisive in determining any cooperation with Britain. “In Britain's case, we have to wait to see if there will be a hard Brexit,” he told the newspaper. “That would be fatal for the cooperation.” Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Tait https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-airbus-brexit/hard-brexit-would-doom-future-merger-of-uk-franco-german-fighter-projects-airbus-defence-idUSKCN1Q20ID

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  10 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

  ‘We are not dupes’: France takes step away from US with fighter program

  By: Pierre Tran PARIS — France has linked its search for independence from U.S. export rules with the Franco-German project for a future fighter jet, in a bid to boost foreign sales of the aircraft, the French armed forces minister said. France's effort to become less dependent on U.S. components and promote exports were written into the same letter of intent signed in June with Germany for the FCAS project, Florence Parly told AJPAE, the aeronautics and space journalists association, on Sept. 6. “The exportability of the (Future Combat Air System) is a key element to ensure the economic viability of the program,” she said. “We have to think as upstream as possible to secure this exportability.” The minister previously told parliamentarians the French government aims to cut its reliance on U.S. components in the wake of an American refusal to authorize the sale of parts for a French Scalp cruise missile requested by Egypt. French attempts to persuade Washington to lift restrictions under U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations have failed. Parly declined to give examples, but she said the problems Paris has encountered in the pursuit of foreign arms sales “stemmed in appearance from strategic factors and in reality from commercial competition." “We are not dupes,” she said. France needs to gradually cut its reliance on certain American components, although it is impossible to be completely independent, she admitted, adding that there is a plan to reduce that dependence. “Experience has led us to undertake this action,” she said. Companies should take the responsibility for greater independence, as they faced the consequences of failed export efforts, she said. “They are in the front line,” she said, noting that the government is in dialog with industry and that some companies already understand the situation and are fully committed. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/09/07/we-are-not-dupes-france-takes-step-away-from-us-with-fighter-program