14 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is proceeding with plans to deliver the first F-35 to Turkey, with the country set to accept its first jet on June 21 despite opposition from some in Congress.
A Lockheed Martin spokesman confirmed to Defense News that it's still gearing up for a rollout ceremony at its production facilities in Fort Worth next week.
“The F-35 program traditionally hosts a ceremony to recognize every U.S. and international customer's first aircraft. The rollout ceremony for Turkey's first F-35 aircraft is scheduled for June 21,” the spokesman said in a written statement to Defense News.
“The aircraft will then ferry to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, where Turkish pilots will join the F-35A training pool.”
The Senate is set to vote this week on the annual defense policy bill, which includes language that would prohibit the U.S. government from “transfer of title” to Turkey until the time that the Defense Department submits a report to Congress on removal of Turkey from the F-35 program.
But even if that language succeeds in the Senate, the defense policy bill will proceed to conference, where a group of armed services committee members will hammer out differences between the House and Senate versions to emerge with a single, final piece of legislation. That process could take months.
Congress's opposition to allowing Turkey to purchase the F-35 hovers around two points: the country's detainment of American pastor Andrew Brunson and a deal to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system.
But for now, it appears that the Defense Department has no plans to keep Turkey from getting its first F-35 or to put restrictions on its use at Luke AFB.
Thomas Goffus, the Defense Department's deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, acknowledged during an Atlantic Council event Wednesday that Turkey's acquistion of the S-400 could present the U.S. military and NATO alliance with added technical risks.
But he would not go as far to spell out what actions the Defense Department is considering or could consider later down the road — perhaps a sign that the Pentagon is waiting to see how this legislation shakes out.
“We have a process to evaluate the risks to Western technology that that [procurement] would present. Our preference is that they do not acquire the S-400,” Goffus said.
“Given that, they are a sovereign nation, and they are trying to take care of their defense needs,” he added. “What restrictions are placed on them and what Congress will eventually pass, I can't even speculate on it on this point.”
By the time Congress passes legislation that could curb Anakara's F-35 ownership, the country will likely have already started building up its first squadron at Luke AFB. There, Turkish pilots and maintainers will train alongside U.S. ones, moving from academic courseware to live flights.
NATO and U.S. Defense Department officials have warned Turkey that if it continues down the path of purchasing the S-400, it will not be able to plug it in with NATO technologies like the F-35. SASC, in its policy bill, echoed those concerns, saying that Turkey's purchase of Russian hardware would “degrade the general security of the NATO alliance [...] and degrade interoperability of the alliance.”
After a meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu expressed confidence that the United States would not only deliver the first F-35 to Turkey as planned, but that it would ultimately decide to continue F-35 sales to Turkey.
“Turkey rejects threatening language from the U.S. on the issue, it is not constructive,” Çavuşoğlu said on June 4, according to a report from the Turkish newsgroup Anadolu Agency.
Turkey plans to buy 100 F-35As. As a partner of the program, its domestic defense industry helps build the Joint Strike Fighter. Most notably, Turkish Aerospace Industries' serves as a manufacturer of the aircraft's center fuselage. It has also been chosen as a sustainment hub for the international F-35 community.
6 avril 2022 | International, Aérospatial
The non-proprietary Mission Augmentation Port standard could help enable a future vision for on-orbit satellite mission extension and augmentation.
2 décembre 2019 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Earlier this year, the Defense Digital Service — the Pentagon's cadre of coders and hackers performing a short stint in government — finished the second phase of a pilot program to streamline cyber training for the Army. The Army wanted to streamline two phases of cyber training: the Joint Cyber Analytics Course, or JCAC, which takes 27 weeks in Pensacola, Florida, and provides basic cyber training for joint forces that have no prior experience in cyber; and the more tactical training that happens at Fort Gordon in Georgia. Combined, the two phases take a minimum of 36 weeks. To accomplish this, the Defense Digital Service, working with the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and a private vendor, built a course to conduct training in three months — everything a cyberwarrior needed to know from JCAC, said Clair Koroma, a bureaucracy hacker at DDS. Phase two — which combines tactics involving hardware, offensive and defensive cyber, and networking — takes seven months. It excluded the classified course, Koroma added. At this point, she said, DDS has transitioned all of its materials to the Cyber School, which will pick up the third phase of the pilot training, though DDS will still be available for assistance. “The plan is that eventually the 17Cs, [who execute offensive and defensive cyberspace operations], will come to Fort Gordon on inception and do their entry and mid-level training at Gordon. They will run this as the course for those soldiers,” she said. Koroma said success of the pilot will be measured from the operational world — evaluating the skill sets of the soldiers that graduate from the pilot program and comparing them to prior classes. Thus far, she added, no graduates from the pilot program have been overwhelmed in operations. Students during the second pilot were also evaluated by senior leaders within the Army cyber community and commands where they might be assigned during their final project and presentation. Students needed to identify issues on the network and conduct an outbrief to these leaders. “Senior leaders then got an opportunity to ask them questions,” Koroma said. “Every single person who was in that presentation said that they were impressed by the delivery of the students and the quality of the presentation that the students gave.” In fact, Koroma said, there are two students she's aware of whose orders were changed at the conclusion of training because leaders who attended the presentation wanted them on their team. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/army/2019/11/29/how-defense-digital-service-revamped-army-cyber-training/
2 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Fareham Safran Helicopter Engines a signé avec le Defence Equipment and Support du Ministère de la Défense du Royaume-Uni, une prolongation de trois ans du contrat assurant la disponibilité des moteurs RTM322 équipant les hélicoptères Merlin de la Royal Navy et Apache AH Mk1 de la British Army. Portant sur une flotte de plus de 400 moteurs, ce contrat avait démarré en 2013, année du rachat par Safran des parts de Rolls-Royce dans le programme RTM322. Depuis, le Groupe a significativement amélioré la fiabilité de ce moteur et a affiché durant quatre années consécutives une disponibilité des moteurs, accessoires et pièces détachées, supérieure aux objectifs fixés. Safran Helicopter Engines conduira ce contrat depuis ses installations de Fareham (Hampshire) au Royaume-Uni, où plus de 40 personnes sont directement impliquées. Ce contrat intègre l'approvisionnement en moteurs, modules, accessoires et pièces détachées, la maintenance et la réparation, le support technique et logistique, et la fourniture de la documentation technique. Ce contrat est ainsi prolongé jusqu'au 31 mars 2022, avec une option pour deux années supplémentaires. « Safran Helicopter Engines fournit à notre flotte de moteurs RTM322 un support performant, fiable et réactif, garantissant un haut niveau de disponibilité. Nous sommes heureux de signer la prolongation de ce contrat qui maintient une continuité pour les utilisateurs finaux », a déclaré le Vice-Maréchal de l'air Graham Russell, Directeur de la branche Hélicoptères au sein du Defence Equipment and Support Organisation du Ministère de la Défense du Royaume-Uni. « Nous nous réjouissons de la prolongation de ce contrat qui témoigne du haut niveau de confiance qu'accorde le Ministère de la Défense du Royaume-Uni à nos solutions de motorisation et à nos équipes. Nous ferons en sorte de mériter cette confiance en leur fournissant le meilleur service possible, à l'heure où se déploient ces hélicoptères sur les nouveaux porte-avions britanniques », a déclaré Franck Saudo, Président de Safran Helicopter Engines. https://www.safran-helicopter-engines.com/fr/media/safran-prolonge-sur-la-maintenance-des-moteurs-des-helicopteres-merlin-et-apache-britanniques-20190624