Finland warns fighter contenders to keep their budget-busting offers real

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  14 mai 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

  Budget de l'UE : Bruxelles propose une enveloppe conséquente pour la défense

  La Commission européenne propose un budget de 20 milliards d'euros pour la défense entre 2021 et 2027, dont 7 milliards pour le Fonds européen de défense. SOURCE AFP Publié le 29/04/2018 à 10:07 | Le Point.fr L'Union européenne de la défense se concrétise financièrement avec une dotation conséquente de près de 20 milliards d'euros dans le projet de budget préparé par la Commission européenne pour la période 2021-2027, selon des documents de travail vus par l'Agence France-Presse. Sans surprise, le Fonds européen de défense se taille la part du lion avec une dotation pour l'ensemble de la période de 7 milliards pour l'industrie de la défense et une autre de 3,5 milliards pour la recherche et le développement conjoints de technologies et d'équipements. Une seconde enveloppe de 6,5 milliards d'euros est consacrée à la mobilité militaire en Europe. L'espace n'est pas en reste avec un financement programmé de 13 milliards d'euros pour les systèmes de navigation par satellites Galileo et EGNOS. « Cela correspond exactement à ce qui est annoncé depuis le lancement du Fonds de défense avec une dotation de 1,5 milliard d'euros par an », a déclaré à l'Agence France-Presse l'eurodéputé français Arnaud Danjean, spécialiste des questions militaires. Le Fonds doit permettre de financer des projets montés en coopération, a souligné Arnaud Danjean. Lire aussi - Pourquoi l'Europe de la défense ne parvient pas à décoller La dotation pour la mobilité vise pour sa part à renforcer les capacités logistiques avec des infrastructures routières et ferroviaires utilisables pour déplacer des unités et des équipements militaires de l'Italie à la Pologne, de la France à l'Estonie. « Tout cela relève du symbole plus que d'une capacité crédible », a toutefois jugé sous couvert de l'anonymat un eurodéputé membre de la commission des Budgets. L'objectif de l'Union européenne est de se renforcer en tant qu'acteur mondial, mais également de se préparer à un éventuel désengagement des États-Unis. Des économies potentielles L'effort financier demandé est aussi justifié par les économies potentielles. « En procédant à des acquisitions communes, nous pouvons économiser près d'un tiers des dépenses actuellement consacrées à la Défense », soutient le président de la Commission européenne Jean-Claude Juncker. « L'UE compte actuellement 178 systèmes d'armes différents contre 30 seulement aux États-Unis », se plaît-il à rappeler. « Lorsque les chefs d'État et de gouvernement déclarent que l'Europe doit à l'avenir se mobiliser encore plus fortement pour protéger la population et assurer sa sécurité, ils doivent traduire leurs paroles en actes, répondre aux questions par des moyens financiers concrets », a estimé M. Juncker en février. Compétence des États membres, la Défense est un poste budgétaire nouveau dans le budget européen. Aucun euro n'avait été budgétisé pour la mobilité militaire sur l'exercice 2014-2020 et la dotation du Fonds européen de Défense était de 590 millions d'euros. http://www.lepoint.fr/europe/budget-de-l-ue-bruxelles-propose-une-enveloppe-consequente-pour-la-defense-29-04-2018-2214420_2626.php

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  15 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  The US Army is building a ‘cloud in the sky’ for its aviation fleet

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army is building what is essentially a “cloud in the sky” for its current aviation fleet as it prepares the aircraft to fight alongside a future fleet under development, according to Brig. Gen. Thomas Todd, the program executive officer for Army aviation. The general spoke to Defense News in an interview ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference. The current fleet won't dissolve into thin air when future helicopters are fielded, and they will be expected to fly together in operational environments across multiple domains. The Army is aiming to field a future attack reconnaissance aircraft and a future long-range assault aircraft by 2030. “We have to figure out a way to host a common server so that we can store data, process data and transport data quicker,” Todd said. “So while they work on the future vertical lift architecture, we still have to make the enduring fleet, that will fly alongside it, work and be capable.” So the Army is building an Aviation Mission Common Server, or AMCS, that is a stack of storage, data processing and transport capability “that's very much a flying cloud, if you will,” Todd said. The AMCS “will reside inside every aircraft. It has to reside in every aircraft because there has to be onboard processing and storage power,” Todd said, adding that it will be the engine that drives the associated user interface and apps as well as provide connectivity to the network overall. The user interface will be built upon the technology developed by Northrop Grumman for the Victor-model Black Hawk. The "V" model is an L-model UH-60 with a digital, modern cockpit like the "M" model, the latest Black Hawk variant, but not with an M-model price tag. Additionally, the interface in a V model can take on new capability through apps like a smartphone. The V model wrapped up its initial operational test and evaluation in September at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, Brig. Gen. MacMcCurry, who is the Army G-3/5/7 aviation director inside the Pentagon, told Defense News in a separate interview. He reported the tests went well and the service looks forward to building out the fleet. The Army is currently assessing integrating the same user interface into Mike-model Black Hawks, according to Todd. The effort to build the server is part of a larger effort to ensure the current fleet is ready to fight in multidomain operations. The Army wants to obtain multidomain dominance by 2035. “We took a look at Army Futures Command's guidance on exactly what those combat aviation brigades would have in them and what would be enduring. For example, the Apache would be there indefinitely,” Todd said. “We also found that the requirements for data, the transport of and use of was exponential. So ultimately it's a problem that exists for the entire fleet, so we need to get after, at a minimum, making the enduring fleet compatible with future vertical lift, if not more capable.” There are several cross-cutting initiatives for the current fleet to make the aircraft more agile, interoperable, survivable and integrated in multidomain operations, Todd said, and the network will play an integral role. For example, the Army is working with the network community to replace its AN/ARC-201 radios with radios with the TSM waveform, which will improve and comply with future air-to-ground radio communications, according to Todd. There is also work being done within the position, navigation and timing community and with the Air Force to develop antennas, processors and software that hep the current fleet to survive battle, Todd added. And the service is working to improve power sources onboard aircraft. “There is a huge demand requirement coming, a demand signal for onboard systems and the power requirements of those is exponential. So given that it's not linear and it's going to grow exponentially, we have to get after alternative means,” Todd said. The same team that is in charge of the Improved Turbine Engine Program — which will replace engines in Apaches and Black Hawks and be the engine for the future attack reconnaissance aircraft — is looking at supplemental power units, upgrades to generators and upgrades to batteries to better power onboard systems that may not require the main power system anymore, Todd said. https://www.c4isrnet.com/2019/10/15/the-us-army-is-building-a-cloud-in-the-sky-for-its-aviation-fleet

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  10 août 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  US Air Force tests electronic warfare capabilities with fighter, recon and bomber aircraft

  Mark Pomerleau WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force has concluded a two-day, $1.4 million exercise that evaluated the F-35 fighter jet's ability to provide its electronic warfare capabilities to other stealthy reconnaissance and bombing platforms. The event, which took place Aug. 4-6 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, tested the ability for the F-35 to provide Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, or SEAD, support for other stealthy platforms such as the B-2 and the RQ-170 reconnaissance drone, according to an Aug. 6 news release from the Air Force. Maj. Theodore Ellis, chief of 53rd Wing Weapons, said the exercise focused on demonstrating stealth platform effectiveness against advanced threats using emerging technology and capitalizing on joint capabilities. Other platforms that participated included the F-22, the F-15 and the Navy's E/A-18G aircraft. Some aspects of the scenario tested these fourth- and fifth-generation platforms' joint and coalition SEAD integration. Other scenarios focused on how the latest fourth-gen electronic capabilities could increase fifth-gen freedom of maneuver, and vice versa, in contested environments, the Air Force said. U.S. adversaries over the past several years have developed advanced radars to detect incoming aircraft, pairing them with long-range missiles that in many cases outgun U.S. military weapons. The event allowed the Air Force to explore the integration of tactics, techniques and procedures that have never been tested together. “Through events like these, we continue to improve our joint 4th and 5th generation tactics, which enhances our abilities in an advanced threat environment,” Ellis said. Events like this are the prime movers to test and evaluate emerging capabilities and technologies — as opposed to training and readiness — with an operationally realistic scenario. “The investment and trust in our team allowed the 53 Wing to evaluate the interoperability of leading-edge capabilities and develop [tactics, techniques and procedures] that will ultimately strengthen our nation's air dominance,” said Col. Bill Creeden, commander of the 53rd Test and Evaluation Group. “We fight as an integrated force which means we need to test and evaluate our latest capabilities as an integrated force. Put simply, our job is to inform, develop, and deliver, from idea to premeditated violence, an integrated tactical advantage to the Combat Air Force for both tonight, and tomorrow's potential fight. [Large Force Test Events] are a primary enabling effort to make this happen.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/electronic-warfare/2020/08/07/us-air-force-tests-electronic-warfare-capabilities-with-fighter-recon-and-bomber-aircraft/