16 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre
TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Donald Trump today for 12 Boeing V-22s, another squadron of F-35s to bring the total to 75, and the very early delivery of two Boeing KC-46As at the White House today.
The request was made during a day of extraordinary meetings as President Trump, the Prime Minister of Israel and the Foreign Ministers of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates were to sign what are being called the Abraham Accords, meant to normalize relations between the Arab states and Israel.
The new weapons are meant to keep Israel's qualitative edge after the U.S agreed to sell the F-35 to the UAE and Teheran rattles its homemade swords, furious about the new era between Israel and some Gulf states.
Hours before hosting the signing of historic peace agreements between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, President Trump doubled down on the idea of selling F-35s to the UAE.
“I personally would have no problem with it,” the president told Fox and Friends this morning, “I would have no problem in selling them the F-35.”
The Israelis, who understand the US political system well, are likely to press Trump to put the new sales in motion before the November elections to minimize the chances they might fall victim to a change in power in Washington.
“The Israeli request will be based on an accelerated process aimed at getting all the approvals before the November presidential elections” one Israeli source told BD.
The request is also likely to include a replacement for Israeli Apache AH-64A combat helicopters that are planned to go out of service in 2025. Israel, one source says, will also ask for “increased numbers” of bunker buster bombs, usually thought to be designed to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
On top of all that, the Israelis may seek an advanced communication satellite, a source told Breaking D.
The request for a new weapons package would be in addition to the existing Foreign Military Financing agreement with the US. The current agreement, signed in 2016, increased US assistance from $ 34 billion in the decade to $38 billion between 2019 and 2028.
Why is Israeli seeking so much new gear? It's not, Israeli sources explain, because of the prospective sale of F-35s to the UAE, but because they believe this deal will open a new arms race in the region and they want to stay head of it. Israel is also concerned about the possibility of leadership changes in some Gulf countries
The assessments for what's needed were drawn up when the IDF formed a special team headed by Maj. General Tomer Bar, the IDF's head of its planning and force building department. This team is reviewing the operational demands of some of the IDF ground forces units.
https://breakingdefense.com/2020/09/israel-seeks-8b-arms-deal-at-white-house-f-35s-v-22s-kc-46s/
23 janvier 2024 | International, Aérospatial
Opinion: Budgets are tight, which means every defense dollar counts, but the program should not be thought of as “unaffordable,” given the stakes.
10 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Updated: January 10, 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that Canada has intelligence indicating a Ukrainian passenger jet that crashed outside Tehran was shot down by an Iranian-surface-to-air missile. Trudeau declined to get into details about where that information came from but U.S. missile defence satellites likely played a key role in providing some of that intelligence data. Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752 was destroyed Wednesday shortly after it took off from Tehran. All 176 people on board died, including 63 Canadians. “We have intelligence from multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence,” Trudeau said at a news conference Thursday. “The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.” U.S. officials were already stating the same conclusion earlier in the day. The U.S. has a constellation of missile warning satellites that are equipped with various sensors that use, among other capabilities, infrared technologies to detect the launch of a rocket. Many of the details about how the system works and transfers information are secret. But the Space Based Infrared System or SBIRS consists of four main satellites, each costing more than $2 billion. The first was launched in 2011 and the latest put in orbit in 2018. The U.S. military also has the capability to intercept communications between Iranian commanders and anti-aircraft missile batteries which would have provided the Pentagon insight into what might have transpired around the time the Ukrainian passenger jet crashed. Canada also has its own communications intelligence gathering capabilities which are considered top notch. The Canadian government didn't release any information on what type of surface-to-air missile could have been involved. But photos that are said to have been taken near the crash site have been circulating on social media. IHS Markit, which includes the Jane's military publications, reported that the photographs appeared to show the guidance portion of a Russian-built Tor SA-15 short-range, surface-to-air missile. Russia sold 29 Tor systems to Iran in 2007. The system is designed for destroying aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles. It can hit targets up to 12 kilometres away. U.S. government officials also told CBS News that American surveillance systems detected that shortly before the Ukrainian airline crash, Iranian anti-aircraft radars were activated. U.S. surveillance satellites then detected two heat signatures, believed to be the launch of two SA-15 missiles, according to CBS. Another heat signature detected shortly after was believed to be the Ukrainian passenger jet exploding. But why would the Iranians allegedly shoot down an aircraft full of its own citizens? Human error or bad intelligence could be to blame. The crash took place just hours after Iran launched ballistic missiles against American bases in Iraq in retaliation for the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian general in Bagdad. Iran's anti-aircraft missile crews would have been on high alert for any U.S. military response. “This may well have been unintentional,” Trudeau said of the alleged missile launch. U.S. President Donald Trump, like Trudeau, has also suggested the crash could have been the result of a mistake. “It was flying in a pretty rough neighborhood,” the president said of the Ukraine Airlines passenger jet. “Someone could have made a mistake on the other side.” Iran, however, denies that the aircraft was shot down by one of its missiles. Iranian Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi dismissed such allegations as “psychological warfare” being spread by foreign-based Iranian opposition groups. Ali Abedzadeh of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization also dismissed such claims. “Scientifically, it is impossible that a missile hit the Ukrainian plane and such rumors are illogical,” he stated. He noted that several domestic and foreign flights were flying at the same altitude of 8,000 feet as the Ukrainian passenger jet at the time of the incident. But shortly before the crash, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced an emergency flight restriction for U.S. airlines flying over areas of Iraq and Iran. The FAA warned of the “potential for miscalculation or misidentification” of civilian planes because of increased military tensions in those areas. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/u-s-satellites-intercepts-of-iranian-communications-could-support-claims-missile-destroyed-passenger-jet
19 juin 2019 | International, Aérospatial
France, Germany and Spain on Monday unveiled a next-generation combat jet for European air forces, an ambitious project aimed at bringing together the continent's disparate military forces while offering an alternative to American planes. The stealth jet is part of the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which will also include drones, missiles and so-called "remote carriers" that can be used to deliver munitions, scramble communication networks or divert the attention of enemy defences. French President Emmanuel Macron attended the unwrapping of a full-scale model of the sleek delta-wing aircraft at the opening of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, just north of the French capital. The official cooperation accord launching the project was then signed by the French, German and Spanish defence ministers: Florence Parly, Ursula Von der Leyen and Margarita Robles. "This project now has a resolutely European dimension: Spain has officially joined the programme this morning," Parly said. Spain announced its participation earlier this year, but so far no other EU nations have signed on, though officials in Macron's office say talks are underway to bring other nations on board. Airbus and France's Dassault Aviation are leading the plane's development, aiming to have it operational by 2040, when it will replace the current generation of Rafale and Eurofighter jets. France's Safran is also developing a new motor for the plane that may include hybrid electric technologies, making the plane quieter while also lowering its heat signature, making it harder to detect. But Paris and Berlin have still to award an expected 150-million euro ($169-million) contract to begin work on a test plane that could start flying in 2026. Parly told journalists the contract is expected to be finalised by the end of this year. The new plane is a crucial test for Europe's ability to forge a joint operational command that could ensure its military sovereignty at a time of growing tensions with the US under President Donald Trump, who has put the solidity of the NATO alliance into question. Officials will have to win over several EU countries which are longstanding clients of American jets, and which may be tempted by Lockheed Martin's new F-35 stealth fighter. And the new European jet already has a rival on home turf—Britain's Tempest stealth fighter project, which has already garnered the support of Italy and the Netherlands. https://phys.org/news/2019-06-europe-future-combat-jet.html