4 janvier 2019 | International, Terrestre
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.
25 décembre 2024 | International, Terrestre
The contract is worth EUR 950 million and, in addition to the LEOPARD 2 A8 main battle tanks, includes a comprehensive spare parts and logistics package.
28 février 2020 | International, C4ISR
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany – The German defense ministry has designated radio specialist Rohde und Schwarz as the national lead toward the development of a tactical radio for European land forces. The designation follows German lawmakers' approval late last year to join the European Secure Software Defined Radio, or ESSOR. The project aims to unify radio equipment operated by land forces on the continent, eventually replacing national variants with a common system. Having hardware that allows multinational troops to communicate seamlessly on the battlefield is a key premise of the European Union's push for greater military prowess. The ESSOR program, founded in 2008, is managed by OCCAR, a pan-European defense-acquisition agency. Besides Germany, the other members of the radio program are Finland, France, Italy, Poland and Spain. Their national industry leads are, respectively, Bittium, Thales, Leonardo, Radmor and Indra. All companies are represented in the a4ESSOR joint venture. Rohde und Schwarz joins the effort as the “Operational Capability 1” phase, centered on a high data rate waveform, has been underway since 2017. That stage “defines the joint development and updating of an interoperable, trustworthy, robust and wideband radio waveform for connected armed forces,” the company said in a statement. The Munich-based company plans to bring its SOVERON D radio to the program, which is slated for delivery to the German armed forces sometime this year. The European radio program also has its feet in the pool of PESCO initiatives, designed to foster multinational defense projects within the bloc by ways of subsidies from the envisioned European Defence Fund. Under the EU umbrella, officials hope to develop additional waveforms, “for example for specific use cases for air-based operations,” reads the Rohde und Schwarz statement. The U.S. Joint Tactical Radio System's software communication architecture serves as the blueprint for ESSOR, according to the program management agency. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/2020/02/27/germany-picks-its-lead-vendor-for-european-tactical-radio-program
19 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, C4ISR
HASSAN MEDDAH DÉFENSE , HAUTS-DE-FRANCE , HAUTS-DE-SEINE , BOUCHES-DU-RHÔNE , GIRONDE PUBLIÉ LE 19/11/2020 À 06H00, MIS À JOUR LE 19/11/2020 À 11H27 La Marine nationale va recevoir 12 appareils Albatros pour lutter contre le trafic et la pêche illégale et détecter les pollutions. La commande passée auprès des acteurs de l'aéronautique s'élève à 1,3 milliard d'euros. Une commande de 12 avions pour un montant de 1,3 milliard d'euros... Par les temps qui courent, c'est toujours bon à prendre pour les acteurs de l'aéronautique qui subissent une crise sans précédent. A l'occasion de son déplacement à l'usine de Dassault Aviation à Seclin (Nord), la ministre des armées, Florence Parly, doit annoncer ce 19 novembre une commande de 12 appareils, des Falcon 2000, au profit de la Marine nationale pour ses missions de surveillance maritime. L'usine de Seclin, spécialisée dans la production des pièces primaires des Rafale et des jets d'affaires de Dassault Aviation, fabriquera les premières pièces de structure des Falcon 2000, aussi rebaptisés Albatros dans le cadre du programme AVSIMAR (avion de surveillance et d'intervention maritime). Des capteurs électroniques de dernière génération Depuis leurs bases navales en Outre-mer et à Lann-Bihoué près de Lorient (Morbihan), les Albatros auront pour mission de lutter contre les trafics de stupéfiants, la piraterie, la pêche illégale et de détecter les pollutions. Les avions de surveillance maritime de la Marine nationale ont détecté 54 pollutions en 2018 et 110 en 2019. Selon les chiffres avancés par le ministère des Armées, entre 10 et 25% de la pêche mondiale est réalisée de manière illégale. La commande pour les 12 appareils s'élève à environ 1,3 milliard d'euros. Elle comprend leurs équipements électroniques ainsi qu'un contrat de 10 ans de maintenance. La commande bénéficiera au maître d'œuvre industriel Dassault Aviation ainsi qu'à l'ensemble de ses partenaires. Naval Group fournit le système d'information de la mission, Thales le radar de surveillance maritime, Safran la boule optronique. Une partie des appareils fabriqués en Inde "Le Falcon 2000 Albatros est un avion à hautes performances doté d'un système de mission et de capteurs de dernière génération. (...) Plusieurs pays s'intéressent à ces avions qui constituent une réponse performante aux enjeux considérables de la protection et de la sécurité maritime du territoire et de l'action de l'Etat en mer", a précisé Eric Trappier, PDG de Dassault Aviation dans un communiqué de presse. Les coast-guards américains et les garde-côtes japonais s'appuient déjà sur des appareils de l'avionneur français pour assurer leurs missions de surveillance maritime. Le contrat signé avec le ministère des Armées devait générer une centaine d'emplois pendant la phase de développement qui concernera essentiellement les sites de l'avionneur à Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine), Mérignac (Gironde) et Istres (Bouches-du-Rhône). Une cinquantaine d'emplois supplémentaires seront mobilisés pendant la phase de fabrication et de soutien. Les trois premiers exemplaires sont produits et assemblés en France et les appareils suivants en Inde par l'avionneur et son partenaire local Reliance. Cela répond aux contreparties industrielles négociées à l'occasion de la vente de 36 Rafale en 2016 entre Paris et New-Delhi. Les premiers appareils livrés en 2025 Les nouveaux Albatros remplaceront la flotte vieillissante actuelle composés de Falcon 50 et Falcon 200 militarisés qui arrivent en bout de course avec déjà une quarantaine d'années de vol au compteur. Sur les 12 appareils, 7 seront en permanence en mission et les 5 autres serviront à la formation et l'entraînement des équipages ou seront indisponibles car en maintenance. Ils auront des performances accrues de l'ordre de 10% avec notamment 8 heures d'autonomie et une élongation de 2700 nautiques (soit environ 5000 km). Ils seront également équipés de meilleurs équipements électroniques (anti-brouilleurs GPS, communications militaires sécurisées, communications satellitaires, récepteur d'identification automatique AIS ...). Les livraisons des 12 appareils s'étendront jusqu'à 2030 avec les trois premiers exemplaires livrés en 2025. https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/les-industriels-de-l-aero-qui-vont-beneficier-de-la-commande-d-appareils-de-surveillance-maritime-sont.N1030214