10 septembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

France, UK strengthen military relations — but future fighter jet cooperation ‘not yet there’

By:

PARIS — British and French defense ministers will meet twice a year rather than just once, reflecting a deepening of bilateral relations despite Britain's impending exit from the European Union, said French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly.

“We have with the United Kingdom very close and deep relations in defense,” she told Defense News at a Sept. 6 event with AJPAE, an aeronautics and space journalists association. “That was formalized with the Lancaster House Treaty and will not be be called into question by the decision that the United Kingdom has taken to leave the European Union.

“In defense, there is a shared determination to pursue and deepen this relationship.”

The more frequent ministerial meetings reflected that intent. “This cooperation is precious and necessary for the security of the European continent,” she added.

Britain has put at French disposal the much-needed Chinook heavy transport helicopter in the Sahel theater, reflecting a close operational cooperation and shared experience in overseas deployment, she noted.

Britain has asked for what started as a technology demonstrator for a combat UAV to refocus toward a study of “technology areas,” she said. That left the door open for the technology to be applied for large programs, such as the Franco-German Future Combat Air System, she added.

“The story is not yet written,” she said. “Perhaps in the next few years the British could be by our side on the FCAS project. But maybe I am just dreaming. We're not there yet.”

The January meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May, and their governments, also reflected close ties, particularly for the defense ministries, she said. That cross-channel summit closed without a pledge to build the demonstrator for a combat drone, disappointing French industry.

France is the lead nation on the FCAS project, which aims to field a future fighter jet flying in a system of systems, linking up drones, tankers, future cruise missiles and swarms of drones.

The departure of Britain from the EU, known as Brexit, is due to take place in March.

https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/09/07/france-uk-strengthen-military-relations-but-future-fighter-jet-cooperation-not-yet-there

Sur le même sujet

  • French, German leaders provide fresh top cover for new warplane, tank projects

    22 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

    French, German leaders provide fresh top cover for new warplane, tank projects

    By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — German and French officials emerged from a meeting in Toulouse, France, this week with fresh promises that a next-generation aircraft program and new European battle tank spearheaded by the two countries would advance soon. The summit declaration follows repeated reports that both projects are at risk of failure due to political and industry-related differences. In the case of the Future Combat Air System — a next-generation fighter jet with sidekick drones — Berlin and Paris have long been at odds about the exportability of the future weapon, with Germany favoring a more restrictive stance than France. Airbus and Dassault are the two main industry players in FCAS. The Main Ground Combat System — the two countries' idea for a European tank ready for action in the late 2030s — had been caught up in a maneuver by German manufacturer Rheinmetall to take over the Franco-German industry team of Nexter and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, called KNDS. According to a report in Germany's newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, officials recently came to an agreement in which Rheinmetall would become a subcontractor in the project, receiving 25 percent of the work share, with Nexter getting 50 percent and KMW getting 25 percent. The aircraft and tank projects made it into the Toulouse declaration only in passing, expressed in the typical diplomatic rhetoric of bilateral enthusiasm meant to mask whatever problems brew underneath. The envisioned cooperation “requires mutual trust and common rules,” the document read. Specifically, both sides negotiated a binding agreement on arms exports in Toulouse that would be implemented once unspecified “final steps” are taken, it added. French newspaper La Tribune reported that the Oct. 16 meeting reiterated the objective of awarding study contracts for an FCAS demonstrator early next year. That means the financial commitments will now begin to grow larger, eventually reaching a level of billions of Euros in just a few years' time. German lawmakers, meanwhile, are still awaiting details on exactly how the government plans to proceed. A formal spending request to the appropriations and defense committees was still outstanding as of this week, and a Defence Ministry spokeswoman declined to be specific on the envisioned timing in a statement to Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/10/18/french-german-leaders-provide-fresh-top-cover-for-new-warplane-tank-projects/

  • US Army looks for nontraditional business to tackle robotic vehicle sustainment

    7 mai 2021 | International, Terrestre

    US Army looks for nontraditional business to tackle robotic vehicle sustainment

    The Army has a history of not planning for or thinking much about sustainment during the development phase of programs, instead attempting to solve how to manage systems after they are fielded.

  • US Army requests $429 million for new cyber training platform

    22 février 2018 | International, C4ISR

    US Army requests $429 million for new cyber training platform

    In 2016, the Pentagon tapped the Army to lead development of a persistent cyber training environment, or PCTE, to help train experts from Cyber Command in a live-virtual-constructed environment. Since then, cyber officials have repeatedly said such an environment is among their top priorities. “The service cyber components have established their own training environments but do not have standardized capabilities or content,” Army budget documents say. In the Army's research and development budget documents, the service requested $65.8 million in fiscal 2019 for the training environment and $429.4 million through fiscal 2023. Under the various line items in the Army's research and development budget, the Army is looking to develop event scheduling for the environment. It also wants to develop realistic vignettes or scenarios as part of individual and collective training to include real-world mission rehearsal, on-demand reliable and secure physical and virtual global access from dispersed geographic locations. In addition, the Army is asking for $3 million in fiscal 2019 base budget money to find and close gaps in hardware and software infrastructure related to virtual environments needed for cyber operational training. Additional funds will go toward virtual environments such as blue, grey, red or installation control system that the cyber mission force use for maneuver terrain. Moreover, the documents indicate that the Army will use Other Transaction Authorities vehicles for contract awards. The program will be delivered through incremental capability drops. The document states a “full and open competitive contract will be awarded in FY20 for further integration of new or refinement of existing capabilities, hardware refreshes, accreditation, and software licensing.” https://www.c4isrnet.com/dod/2018/02/21/army-requests-429-million-for-new-cyber-training-platform/

Toutes les nouvelles