5 octobre 2022 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
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4 janvier 2019 | International, Terrestre
Germany picks up two thorny defense and diplomacy assignments in 2019
COLOGNE, Germany — Germany begins the new year with two prominent defense and diplomacy assignments: leadership of NATO's highest-alert combat formation, and a two-year seat on the United Nations Security Council.
The two new responsibilities follow recent pledges by Berlin to play a more active role in global affairs, offering German Chancellor Angela Merkel an instant test to make good on those proclamations during the final years of her tenure.
As of Jan. 1, Germany is on the hook to provide 5,000 soldiers for NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, or VJTF. The formation must be ready to fight wherever it is needed within 48 to 72 hours. Partner nations for this year's rotation include the Netherlands, Norway, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania, bringing the total package to about 8,000.
A key rationale for the quick-reaction force is to display to Russia the ability to rapidly ferry combat power across Europe at a time when speed is believed to be a Russian advantage. European governments are still wary from the 2014 Russian annexation of Ukraine's Crimea, and more recently from a naval standoff between the two countries in the Sea of Asov. Both incidents fit into a pattern of Russia steering clear of outright war while trying to shake up the post-Soviet order around its borders, according to issue experts.
The German Defence Ministry's logistics planning for the VJTF role takes into account the need to quickly move combat gear if needed. Its acquisition office last month announced a $110 million support contract to ensure rapid access to military rail transport from civilian providers during Germany's one-year tenure.
The Bundeswehr, plagued by equipment shortfalls, management problems or both — depending on who is asked — has had to dig deep to assemble the needed equipment for the task force lead. In the end, funneling supplies from across the force to the tip of the spear appears to have worked, but it has depleted the readiness of many units, said Christian Mölling, an analyst with the Berlin-based German Council on Foreign Relations.
“It means the rest of the Bundeswehr is no longer the kind of deterrent it is meant to be,” he said in an interview.
With the task force now on high alert, Mölling said, the thing to watch will be Germany's national decision-making process in the event that it will be called up. Parliament and the government, he argues, lack a well-rehearsed process for assessing whether a given conflict warrants deploying the task force, potentially kicking off a comprehensive national debate that would negate any hope of a rapid reaction.
That is especially the case because of Moscow's penchant to keep its activities just below the conflict threshold that would trigger Article 5, NATO's clause for collective defense when one member is attacked.
Amid deepening global crises and a deteriorating relationship between Europe and the U.S., a German government debating the definition of a worthy VJTF deployment would probably lead to Russian President Vladimir Putin “grabbing a bag of popcorn,” Mölling quipped.
“We just don't have the necessary routine for a case like that,” he said.
As a nonpermanent member of the U.N. Security Council, it's easy to foresee the animosity between Germany and the Trump administration in Washington coming to a head in New York, said Ulrike Franke, a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
Many Germans are deeply wary of the U.S. president and his knocking of NATO and other multilateral institutions that have brought Berlin back from the devastation of World War II. That is even more the case since Jim Mattis, a vocal believer in America's global alliances, called it quits as defense secretary last month.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Jan. 1 tweeted a list of objectives for Germany during its Security Council tenure. They include countering climate change and related global security effects, and a commitment to arms control and disarmament — issues that the Trump administration has dismissed.
When it comes to the voting pattern of Berlin and Washington, often aligned on the Security Council stage, things could get a little awkward, Franke predicts.
In practical terms, however, “I'm pessimistic that a lot will change,” she said. But Germany's term holds the promise that government leaders here will get into the habit of developing truly global foreign policy positions and selling them to audiences foreign and domestic, she said.
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4 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial
State Department approves $3.5B sale of helicopters to Australia
The State Department has approved a possible $3.5 billion sale of AH-64E Apache helicopters to the Australian government, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced Thursday.
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26 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial
New Details About the F-15X That Boeing is Pitching the US Air Force
BY MARCUS WEISGERBER The single-seat jet is being built to shoot down enemy aircraft, pound targets on the air, and even hit ships at sea. The new F-15 combat aircraft that Boeing is pitching to the U.S.Air Force would have a single-seat cockpit and a host of new weapons, including anti-ship missiles, Defense One has learned. If the Air Force bites, the so-called F-15X would be the Pentagon's first new Eagles since a 2002 purchase of the air-to-ground variant known as the F-15E Strike Eagle. But various allies have purchased newer variants of the Cold War air-superiority fighter, as recently as last year. The X version would largely resemble the ones Qatar ordered in 2017, tuned up with the latest technology for the new era of great-power competition envisioned in the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy, according to people with knowledge of the plane's development. Boeing officials declined to comment. The Air Force and Boeing have been talking about how new F-15Xs would be cheaper to operate than the current fleet of F-15s, which date as far back as the early 1980s. The talks have been going on for over a year, according to sources with knowledge of the discussions. The X variant would benefit from upgrades funded by allies who have bought F-15s: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore and South Korea, which have collectively spent about $5 billion to develop new technology for their jets, the sources said. Compared to the Air Force's existing F-15s, the new ones would have better flight controls, displays, and radars, and more powerful engines that allow the planes to carry a larger payload. Like the air-to-air F-15C, and unlike the Strike Eagles, the new F-15X would have just one seat. Large digital display screens would replace the analog dials inside older F-15s. The planes could carry all of the existing equipment, like targeting pods, used across the existing Eagle fleet. The F-15X will also be able to carry anti-ship weapons that allies have paid to test and install. In all, the plane could carry 29,000 pounds of weapons. The F-15's range, speed and payload separates it from other fighter jets in the U.S. military. “There's really nothing like it,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at the Teal Group, a Virginia-based consulting firm. The additional weapons would allow the plans to fly new missions. It is expected to cost about $27,000 per hour to fly the F-15X. That's about $5,000 less than an F-15E. Currently, F-15Cs used by the Air National Guard to defend the continental United States. Other C squadrons based in England and Japan. F-15Es are primarily based in North Carolina, Idaho and England. The Air Force is amid a sweeping review that is examining the mix of planes in its fleet, which senior officials are quick to point out is the smallest and oldest in the service's history. The F-15X is being pitched to complement existing F-22 Raptors and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, to handle various missions where there is little risk of being shot down by surface-to-air missiles. The view of only flying stealthy, fifth-generation fighters solo into battle without a complement of other other jets “appears to be going away,”Aboulafia said. Still, he said, “unlikely but not inconceivable.” Congress has been supportive of the F-15 program. The just-out-of-conference 2019 National Defense Authorization Act includes about $1 billion for a host of upgrades to existing F-15s, including electronic warfare. People with knowledge of the program say the new equipment being purchased for the oldest F-15Cs could be installed on the new X variant. Looking to the future, the sources said, the F-15X is ideally suited to carry hypersonic weapons. https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/07/heres-look-new-f-15x-boeing-pitching-us-air-force/150039/