13 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department on Oct. 9 approved the sale of the F/A-18EF Super Hornet and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Finland, paving the way for the nation to purchase American jets should either Boeing or Lockheed Martin win its ongoing fighter competition.
The two U.S. offerings are facing off in a multinational contest that also includes France's Dassault Rafale, the British-made Eurofighter Typhoon and the Swedish Saab Gripen E/F.
The F-35 package, worth $12.5 billion, includes 64 F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing jets, 66 Pratt & Whitney F135 engines, and the aircraft's associated communications and electronic warfare systems. Notably, it contains not only the aircraft's current logistics system — the troubled Autonomic Logistics Information System — but also its replacement — the Operational Data Integrated Network — which is under development.
Meanwhile, the Super Hornet package — worth an estimated $14.7 billion — includes 50 single-seat F/A-18E jets, eight double-seated F/A-18Fs and 14 EA-18G Growlers, which is the electronic attack variant. The package also includes 166 F414-GE-400 engines for the dual-engine fighter, Sniper targeting pods, AN/APG-79 radars, AN/ALR-67(V)3 electric warfare countermeasures receiving sets, and Next Generation Jammer Midband and advanced electronic attack kits for the EA-18G.
Both offers include a suite of munitions for the aircraft, including 500 Small Diameter Bomb II weapons, 150 AIM-9X missiles, 200 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range weapons, Joint Standoff Weapons, Joint Direct Attack Munition kits that turn dumb bombs into precision-guided weapons, and assorted test and support gear for training and maintenance.
After the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency posted the notification of the potential sale, Finland's Ministry of Defence released a statement clarifying that the announcement represents an important procedural step forward for the HX Fighter Program, but that negotiations with all competitors are ongoing.
“The announcement of the notification procedure does not constitute a procurement decision by Finland, as the decision to procure multi-role fighters will be made by the Government in 2021,” the statement said. “Furthermore, the types and quantities of multi-role fighters and weapons specified in the notification do not represent the final content of the Finnish procurement package; instead, the list published by the DSCA indicates those items and quantities that the US administration is prepared to sell at this stage of the procurement process.”
Finland also addressed the price of the packages, which exceed the $12 billion budget set by the country for the total cost of the program.
“In the FMS procedure, the quantities and prices proposed for approval are generally set higher than what the purchasing country has indicated in its own request. The purpose of this formality is to avoid the need to submit a new and time-consuming Congressional Notification in the event that the purchasing country makes changes to the procurement package,” it said.
The winner of the HX competition will produce up to 64 fighters to replace Finland's Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornets, which are expected to be retired by 2030. Instead of issuing a requirement for a particular number of aircraft with set capabilities, Finland is allowing the vendors to create packages of aircraft and weapons that best meet the Air Force's operational needs — and the nation's budget.
Despite financial setbacks to the country caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Finland's Defence Ministry in August proposed a massive 54 percent spending boost to the defense budget to $5.8 billion in 2021 (4.87 billion Euros), with much of the increase caused by the HX competition.
Corrected on 10/9/20 at 3:23 p.m. EST to reflect the correct budget numbers.
7 mai 2024 | International, Terrestre
"The United States does not go into conflict alone," Lt. Gen. David Miller said at the GEOINT conference. "Check your history. It does not happen."
9 juillet 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Avec AFP Airbus Defense and Space et le CNES, l'agence spatiale française, ont annoncé lundi avoir signé un contrat pour développer une constellation de quatre satellites d'observation de la Terre en 3D, à vocation civile et militaire. La constellation CO3D (Constellation optique en 3D) sera composée de quatre satellites électriques de 300 kilos chacun environ qui seront lancés en 2022. Elle "permettra de fournir des images stéréoscopiques (image prise par deux capteurs légèrement distants, NDLR) de résolution submétrique (50 cm), à vocation mondiale", précient le CNES et Airbus Defense and Space dans un communiqué commun. Avec les quatre satellites Pléiades Neo qui seront lancés à partir de 2020, voire avec les deux Pléiades lancés en 2011 et 2012 s'ils fonctionnent encore, "la constellation CO3D offrira une capacité de revisite inégalée pour l'imagerie à haute résolution", affirment-ils. En orbite héliosynchrone, à environ 800 km d'altitude, cette flotte de satellites permettra en effet de repasser plus fréquemment au-dessus d'un point donné pour voir l'évolution de la situation. Le budget est d'environ 200 millions d'euros, réparti pour moitié entre le CNES et Airbus, selon une source proche du dossier. Airbus Defense and Space, qui sera chargé de la construction et de la gestion des satellites, l'a emporté sur Thales Alenia Space. L'entreprise fournira notamment un "Modèle numérique de surfaces (MNS) global de haute précision" qui permet la modélisation 3D de carte ainsi que les images à "l'utilisateur final qui est le gouvernement français", à travers le CNES, selon Airbus Defense and Space. L'agence spatiale, pour qui c'est un projet dual, civil et militaire, s'en servira pour la gestion des risques naturels, la recherche scientifique ou encore pour les besoins des armées. "C'est une gouvernance très originale, un partenariat entre le public et le privé, un coinvestissement équilibré qui permet d'associer des besoins publics et des besoins commerciaux. Le CNES n'est pas propriétaire de l'infrastructure, ce qui est une première", a-t-on souligné à l'agence spatiale. "Ce contrat conforte Airbus en tant que partenaire de confiance pour le CNES et les autorités françaises et renforce notre position de leader du marché en Europe et dans le monde", se félicite le président d'Airbus Defense and Space France, cité dans le communiqué. Pour le président du CNES Jean-Yves Le Gall, également cité dans le communiqué, la constellation CO3D ouvre "une nouvelle ère dans l'observation de la Terre", permettant "notamment un plus haut débit de réactualisation, une plus grande résilience ainsi que des performances élevées". https://www.journal-aviation.com/actualites/42786-contrat-entre-airbus-et-le-cnes-pour-une-constellation-de-satellites-d-observation-en-3d
15 juillet 2019 | International, Autre défense
DARPA's Squad X Experimentation program aims to demonstrate a warfighting force with artificial intelligence as a true partner. In a recent field test, the program worked with U.S. Marines at the Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, to track progress on two complementary systems that allow infantry squads to collaborate with AI and autonomous systems to make better decisions in complex, time-critical combat situations. “We are in a race with potential adversaries to operationalize autonomy, and we have the opportunity to demonstrate autonomy in a way that we don't believe any nation in the world has demonstrated to date,” said Lt. Col. Phil Root (USA), the Squad X program manager in DARPA's Tactical Technology Office. “Developing hardware and tactics that allow us to operate seamlessly within a close combat ground environment is extremely challenging, but provides incredible value.” The exercises in early 2019 in Twentynine Palms followed experiments in 2018 with CACI's BITS Electronic Attack Module (BEAM) Squad System (BSS) and Lockheed Martin's Augmented Spectral Situational Awareness and Unaided Localization for Transformative Squads (ASSAULTS) system. The two systems, though discrete, focus on manned-unmanned teaming to enhance capabilities for ground units, giving small squads battalion-level insights and intelligence. In the most recent experiment, squads testing the Lockheed Martin system wore vests fitted with sensors and a distributed common world model moved through scenarios transiting between natural desert and mock city blocks. Autonomous ground and aerial systems equipped with combinations of live and simulated electronic surveillance tools, ground radar, and camera-based sensing provided reconnaissance of areas ahead of the unit as well as flank security, surveying the perimeter and reporting to squad members' handheld Android Tactical Assault Kits (ATAKs). Within a few screen taps, squad members accessed options to act on the systems' findings or adjust the search areas. Between Lockheed Martin's two experiments to date, Root says the program-performer team identified a “steady evolution of tactics” made possible with the addition of an autonomous squad member. They also are focused on ensuring the ground, air, and cyber assets are always exploring and making the most of the current situation, exhibiting the same bias toward action required of the people they are supporting in the field. CACI's BEAM-based BSS comprises a network of warfighter and unmanned nodes. In the team's third experiment, the Super Node, a sensor-laden optionally-manned, lightweight tactical all-terrain vehicle known as the powerhouse of the BEAM system, communicated with backpack nodes distributed around the experiment battlespace – mimicking the placement of dismounted squad members – along with an airborne BEAM on a Puma unmanned aerial system (UAS). The BSS provides situational awareness, detects of electronic emissions, and collaborates to geolocate signals of interest. AI synthesizes the information, eliminating the noise before providing the optimized information to the squad members via the handheld ATAK. “A human would be involved in any lethal action,” Root said. “But we're establishing superior situational awareness through sufficient input and AI, and then the ability to do something about it at fast time scales.” The Squad X program has moved quickly through development and is already well along the transition path, due in large part to the program's focus on partnering with the services to ensure real-world efficacy. For the CACI system, that included an opportunity to test the technology downrange to get real-world information, not simulation. At the most recent experiment with the BSS, service representatives used the system to locate and identify objectives in real time. For both systems, feedback has included a desire for a user interface so intuitive that training takes an hour or less and any available action is accessible in two screen taps. Staff Sergeant Andrew Hall with the Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group (MCTOG), an advisory teammate to DARPA's Squad X Experimentation program, says the ability to provide early input will guard against developing a product that either isn't used or is used improperly. “The feedback process, in conjunction with the actual experimentation, gives the Marines the ability to use the technology and start seeing what it can do and, more specifically, what it can't do,” Hall said. With the conclusion of third experiment, the CACI system is moving into Phase 2, which includes an updated system that can remain continuously operational for five or more hours. Lockheed Martin will conduct its next experiment in the fall of 2019. CACI's BEAM system is already operational, and the Army has committed to continue its development at the completion of Squad X Phase 2. The Army is set to begin concurrent development of the Lockheed Martin ASSAULTS system in fiscal years 2019 and 2020, and then, independent of DARPA, in fiscal year 2021. https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2019-07-12