6 avril 2022 | International, Terrestre
8 mortars in 90 seconds and loitering munitions: Army showcases tech experiments
The annual event tackles small unit, soldier combat problems.
9 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial
France moves to replace the 12 Rafales sold to Greece
PARIS – The French government is to order by year-end another 12 Rafale fighter aircraft for its Air and Space Force to replace the 12 in its current inventory of 102 that are being sold to Greece.
“We have the intention, between now and the end of the year, to place an order, in parallel with the orders for Greece, of 12 aircraft for the Air & Space Force," Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly told parliamentarians at the National Assembly's Defence Commission during a hearing on the defense budget.
When Greece announced that it would be buying 18 Rafales from France, of which 12 would be second-hand, the French government had said that each Rafale removed from the inventory would be replaced in order not to impact operations. “I'd like to reassure you. Together we've agreed that by 2025, in conformity with the military program law, we would have 129 Rafale aircraft and I have every intention of abiding by that,” Parly said.
The purchase of these new Rafales cannot be paid for with the funds that Greece will pay for their 18 aircraft. The Hellenic order is valued at “between €1 billion and €2 billion,” according to Parly's Cabinet.
She explained that these monies technically would go straight into the state budget and not into her ministry's. That means a new battle is afoot with the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Recovery about the transfer of funds into defense coffers to pay for the replacements, she admitted.
In addition to this order for 12, Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of the Rafale, still has 28 aircraft to deliver to France between 2022 and 2024. The 12 new ones would be delivered “immediately after this,” according to Parly. And by 2023 the Armed Forces Ministry plans to order a further 30 which would be delivered from 2027.
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Cash in hand for armored vehicles, Italy weighs its clout in Europe
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3 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval
Intel Agency Studies MQ-25 For Surveillance Role
Steve Trimble The U.S. Navy's MQ-25 is being developed as a carrier-based aerial refueler, but an intelligence agency is showing interest in the unmanned aircraft system for a maritime surveillance role. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has commissioned Boeing to study the integration requirements for installing the company's Multi-Mission Pod (MMP) on the MQ-25. Boeing developed the MMP using internal funding for the P-8A, a submarine hunter derived from the 737NG. It is designed to carry multiple payloads, including communication and electronic intelligence receivers. The NGA-sponsored study will evaluate how to use the MMP to introduce the agency's “maritime program” on the P-8A and MQ-25 fleets. The agency on Sept. 30 published a “justification and approval” notice for the study contract awarded to Boeing in May. Such notices are required to justify any contract awarded to a single contractor without a competition. In this case, the sole source award was justified because the MQ-25 is still early in the development phase, the NGA says, so Boeing is the only company that has access to the design data. The Navy awarded Boeing an $805 million in August 2018 to deliver four MQ-25 aircraft during the engineering and manufacturing development phase. The overall value of the deal has since risen to $944 million, of which $436 million, or 46.1%, has been obligated, according to the USASpending.gov procurement tracking site. Last month, Boeing completed the first flight of a company-funded test asset for the MQ-25 program at an airport in Illinois. The study also suggests the P-8A and MQ-25 fleet could be used to help replace the electronic intelligence capability once performed by the Lockheed EP-3E fleet. The Navy has said that the EP-3E will be replaced by a family of manned and unmanned aircraft, including the P-8A and the MQ-4C unmanned aircraft system. https://aviationweek.com/defense/intel-agency-studies-mq-25-surveillance-role