26 avril 2023 | International, Aérospatial
Army evaluating future of heavy-lift helicopters
The US Army is taking a look at possible avenues to pursue a future heavy-lift aircraft.
18 décembre 2018 | International, Naval
France’s Naval Group eyes Brazil as hub for its regional submarine business
RIO DE JANEIRO – The Brazilian navy launched its first domestically produced attack submarine on Friday, a move that French boat designer Naval Group hopes will lead to additional sales in the region.
The new vessel, named the Riachuelo, is a copy of Naval Group's Scorpene-class submarine, though slightly bigger, at 1,870 tons, to enable more crew and longer range. The submarine program's objective is protecting the vast resource-rich waters all along the country's coastline, dubbed the Blue Amazon, outgoing Brazilian President Michel Temer told an audience at the launch ceremony at Itaguai naval base outside Rio de Janeiro. Defense News attended the launch and accepted airfare and accommodations from Naval Group.
The Riachuelo, considered roughly 80 percent complete at this point, is the first product of the Brazilian navy's $8.9 billion Prosub program. She is scheduled to begin sea trials next summer. Three identical, diesel-propelled boats are slated to follow by 2023, based on a technology-transfer contract with the French shipbuilder. A joint venture between Naval Group and local construction conglomerate Odebrecht, named ICN, assembles the boats at the new Itaguai submarine shipyard built for the program.
The real prize for the Brazilian navy, however, will only come afterwards. Beginning in the mid-2020s, the country's military wants to start building what Naval Group chief HervéGuillou calls the “ultimate ambition” – a program of nuclear-powered submarines.
Design work for the first nuclear submarine is already underway, with the French shipbuilder providing “assistance,” as a company brochure puts it, and the Brazilian navy in a more prominent role. The sea service here will manage all aspects of the power plant development, for example.
“Brazil is absolutely critical for Naval Group and other European players to be present here,” Guillou told reporters at Naval Group's Rio de Janeiro office. That's because European countries, even those spending two percent of GDP on defense, a NATO-wide objective, are unable to match the growth rate of South America's expected military spending, he said.
The foray into Brazil and other emerging markets offers the opportunity for “critical mass” to help bridge dips in demand at home, according to Guillou.
The French shipbuilder already has its eyes on another target, Poland, which the CEO said he wants to similarly develop into a submarine hub for regional navies. European rival shipyards Saab and Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems are also in the running for that country's program, however, each with local work-share ambitions of their own.
Friday's launch ceremony ended with Temer and his successor, far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, jointly pressing a large red button initiating the machinery for lowering the Riachuelo into the water.
“Brazil has a vocation for peace and is building its submarine not to threaten anyone or unsettle the calm of international waters,” Temer was quoted as saying in a local Reuters report. “Brazil is building submarines because a nation with more than 7,000 kilometers of coastline cannot do without tools to defend its sovereignty and it marine riches,” he said.
Bolsonaro had no speaking part in the ceremony.
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29 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Export constraints emerge as sticking point for future German-French combat aircraft: report
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — French-German plans for a joint fighter aircraft project may be off to a rocky start, as reports emerged last week about fundamental disagreements between the two partners over export restrictions for such a weapon. According to a report on the website of the German magazine Der Spiegel, French negotiators made unlimited exportability of the so-called “Future Combat Air System” a prerequisite for getting started on the project. The position is at odds with a more restrictive policy by Berlin, where arms deals to sensitive countries traditionally are more heavily scrutinized for the potential of human-rights abuses by the recipient government. The Spiegel based its report on a four-page confidential cable from Germany's ambassador in Paris, Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, describing the outcome of a Sept. 21 “crisis meeting” in the French capital. So deep ran the diverging views at the gathering that Claire Landais, the French secretary-general for defense and national security, threatened to cancel further planning unless Germany would agree to French demands for unconstrained exports of the future combat aircraft, according to the Spiegel. Airbus CEO Tom Enders, whose company is involved in the planning alongside Dassault Aviation, criticized the reported German insistence on export caveats. “Berlin can't urge greater European cooperation in its Sunday speeches and then refuse it when concrete projects are taking shape,” he told the magazine. The idea behind the Future Combat Air System program is to create a sixth-generation aircraft that would eventually help wean European air forces from U.S.-made hardware. A development contract is eyed for the mid-2020s following years of concept studies. The future weapon is envisioned as a collection of aerial capabilities built around a new fighter aircraft. Supporting systems are eyed to include unmanned aircraft of various types plus a datalink architecture connecting all elements. German arms exports outside NATO and EU countries have come under renewed fire here since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered by regime agents in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2. The Saudi government initially denied knowing about the crime but was forced to acknowledge Khashoggi's death following weeks of international pressure. The reported French-German disagreement on the exportability of FCAS comes on the heels of an interview by Airbus Defence and Space chief Dirk Hoke in the French business journal La Tribune on Oct. 18. Hoke said Airbus would take leadership of the overall system package of FCAS while Dassault would spearhead the fighter aircraft — a position that has the potential to create additional friction in the project. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/28/export-constraints-emerge-as-sticking-point-for-future-german-french-combat-aircraft-report
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3 juillet 2024 | International, Aérospatial
Kratos’ Erinyes test vehicle logs hypersonic speeds on first flight
The company developed Erinyes in three years for under $15 million with a mix of internal investment and congressional funding.