31 août 2023 | International, Aérospatial
Turkey seeks partners for TF-X fighter program amid fiscal uncertainty
The Turkish economy is experiencing high inflation, and the country’s external debt reached nearly $476 billion in March.
8 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
France Plans Billions of Euros to Rescue Aerospace Industry
By Francois De Beaupuy and Tara Patel
The French government will present a plan worth billions of euros to rescue its beleaguered aerospace industry, protect key suppliers from Chinese interests and may bring forward some defense orders, the transport minister said.
The aid package to be presented Tuesday is aimed at European jet manufacturer Airbus SE, engine maker Safran SA, defense group Thales SA, and hundreds of French suppliers that have seen their businesses dry up during the coronavirus pandemic. The plan will be worth as much as 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion), Les Echos reported Monday, although it's not clear what will be included in the total.
“We will invest several billions over a rather long period,” French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said on LCI television Sunday. “The state will be here, the European Union will be present.”
The package will aim to kickstart air transport, relaunch manufacturing, and develop less-polluting “hybrid planes” toward 2027 and “carbon neutral” aircraft by 2035, the minister said. In exchange, the industry will have to create or relocate as many jobs as it can in Europe, he said.
However, the minister said the industry will probably have to cut jobs. With airlines grounding their fleets worldwide because of the health crisis, Airbus faces a 40% drop in its activity over at least two years, he said.
Airlines around the world are struggling to survive, with European giants Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France-KLM getting state bailouts and carriers desperate to salvage business from what is normally the busy summer. The French government has extended loans and guarantees worth 7 billion euros to Air France-KLM, tying the funds to a reduction in carbon emissions and services on its domestic routes.
The rescue will include the creation of several funds to consolidate the industry and to prevent key suppliers from being acquired by foreign investors, Djebbari said. Chinese companies are making “offers” to small and medium-sized companies with “critical skills” that are currently weakened by the crisis, he said.
Many of the companies that have been hardest hit are small and medium-sized. While they have limited access to commercial bank funding, some are considered strategic because they are also defense suppliers.
Read More: Macron Is Set to Unveil Rescue Package for French Aerospace
Many European nations will probably agree to reopen air travel in the so-called Schengen area from June 15 assuming that the coronavirus crisis continue to recede, Djebbari added. The number of Air France's flights may rise from 5% of its usual level to 15% from June 15, and to 40% in mid-August, he said.
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21 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial
NATO group in Europe to receive first jointly owned aerial tankers
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany – A group of six European NATO nations next month will take delivery of the first two of eight Airbus A330 aircraft suitable for aerial refueling and transport missions, the alliance announced. The MFF program, short for Multinational Multi-Role Tanker and Transport Fleet, is one of only a few examples of select NATO nations jointly owning and operating equipment. The first aircraft are slated to arrive in the Netherlands at the main operating base in Eindhoven in June following “a limited delay” over the original schedule, according to a statement. The NATO Support and Procurement Agency manages the program on behalf of member nations Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway and the Netherlands. The six nations share the cost of buying the planes as well as flying hours used for missions. The Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft are destined mainly to bolster the aerial-refueling capabilities of participating air forces, which is key to extending the operating radius of their fighter fleets. The tanker can refuel F-16, F-35, Eurofighter, Tornado and Gripen jets, as well as “most of the other” aircraft used by the alliance, including C-17 cargo planes, the NATO statement reads. Nations can also operate the tankers in a cargo, passenger or medical-evacuation configuration. According to a memorandum of understanding governing the aircraft's use, Germany has booked up to 5,500 flying hours per year, followed by the Netherlands (2,000), Belgium (1,000) Luxembourg (200), and Norway and the Czech Republic with 100 each. Besides Eindhoven as the main base hosting five of the envisioned eight total aircraft, the German city of Cologne is slated to host three. NATO officials have touted the capability to ferry cargo among nations here as key to fighting the coronavirus epidemic. Member nations have repeatedly organized flights to deliver medical equipment, for example, to help each other out. In alliance parlance, the increased transportation muscle provided by the MFF program goes to the heart of what officials have called NATO's “resilience” in the face of crises. To that end, officials have begun an examination of how the pact's military assets can help civil authorities absorb the kinds of shocks brought by the coronavirus. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/19/nato-group-in-europe-to-receive-first-jointly-owned-aerial-tankers/
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30 novembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial
US Air Force must âautomate moreâ to maintain advantage, CIO says
More than 600 AI projects, including several related to major weapons systems, were underway at the Department of Defense as of April 2021.