9 mars 2021 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
Intel joins DARPA in search of encryption 'holy grail' | ZDNet
Chip giant will participate in DARPA's DPRIVE program that aims to develop an accelerator for fully homomorphic encryption.
28 novembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Japan to order 100 more F-35 fighters from US
Nikkei staff writers
TOKYO -- Japan is preparing to order another 100 F-35 stealth fighter jets from the U.S. to replace some of its aging F-15s, according to sources.
The plan can be considered a response to China's military buildup, as well as a nod to U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Tokyo to buy more American defense equipment. Japan already intended to procure 42 of the new fighters.
A single F-35 costs more than 10 billion yen ($88.1 million), meaning the additional order would exceed 1 trillion yen.
Japan's government plans to approve the purchase when it adopts new National Defense Program Guidelines at a cabinet meeting in mid-December. It will also include the F-35 order in its medium-term defense program, which covers fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2023. The government wants to obtain 42 F-35s as successors to its F-4s by fiscal 2024.
The 42 fighters Japan originally planned to buy are all F-35As, a conventional takeoff and landing variant. The additional 100 planes would include both the F-35A and F-35B, which is capable of short takeoffs and vertical landings.
At present, Japan deploys about 200 F-15s, roughly half of which cannot be upgraded. The Defense Ministry wants to replace the planes that cannot be upgraded with the 100 F-35s, while enhancing and retaining the remaining F-15s.
To accommodate the F-35Bs, the government intends to revamp the Maritime Self-Defense Force's JS Izumo helicopter carrier to host the fighters.
Japan's neighbors are busy introducing their own advanced military aircraft. China deployed its homegrown J-20 stealth fighter in February, and by 2030 some experts expect the country to build a fleet of more than 250 fifth-generation jets -- as the latest generation of fighters like the F-35 is known.
Russia, too, is expected to introduce its fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 in 2019, at the earliest.
To keep up, Tokyo believes it is imperative to significantly increase its procurement of the most sophisticated stealth jets.
At the same time, Trump has repeatedly urged Japan to purchase more American hardware and reduce the trade imbalance between the countries. Buying more of the high-priced fighters is a quick way to do that.
In September, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Trump, "Introducing high-performance equipment, including American [materiel], is important for our country to strengthen its defense capabilities."
Sur le même sujet
-
-
19 décembre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
UK: Modernising Defence Programme public consultation
Detail of outcome The Defence Secretary launched the Modernising Defence Programme in January 2018 with the aim of further strengthening and modernising defence in response to a more complex and challenging international security situation. This report ‘Mobilising, modernising and transforming defence' describes a set of policy approaches and capability investments that will help to keep us on track to deliver the right UK defence for the coming decade. Supported by the additional £1.8 billion funding announced in the Autumn Budget, defence will: mobilise, making more of what we already have to ensure our armed forces are best placed to protect our security modernise, embracing new technologies and assuring our competitive edge over our adversaries transform, radically changing the way we do business and staying ahead of emerging threats As we move towards the 2019 Spending Review, we must sustain this momentum. The Defence Secretary will continue to work with the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the National Security Council to explore how these aims should be fulfilled alongside our other national security priorities. https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/modernising-defence-programme-public-consultation
-
18 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Japan to cease in-country assembly of F-35 jets
By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has confirmed it will not use in-country final assembly facilities for its next lot of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets. A spokesperson from the U.S. ally's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, told Defense News it will instead acquire aircraft imported from overseas for its upcoming fiscal 2019 contract. The ATLA spokesperson referred Defense News to Japan's Defense Ministry when asked why Japan will stop local assembly and checkout for its F-35s. The ministry has yet to respond to inquiries. However, the recent defense guidelines and five-year defense plan released by the Japan government in late December said the country wants to “acquire high-performance equipment at the most affordable prices possible” and “review or discontinue projects of low cost-effectiveness.” The Japanese government earlier that month approved the country's defense budget, which includes $612.35 million for the acquisition of six F-35As for the upcoming Japanese fiscal year that runs from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. The budget additionally allocates $366.12 million for “other related expenses,” which include maintenance equipment tied to Japan's F-35 program. Japan has taken the local final assembly and checkout, or FACO, route since 2013 for the final assembly of F-35As it previously ordered. According to the ATLA spokesperson, the FACO facility, which is operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will continue to carry out production work until FY22 to fulfill the F-35As contracted by Japan between FY15 and FY18. Japan has struggled to sustain its local industrial base, with recently released defense guidelines acknowledging it needs to overcome “challenges such as high costs due to low volume, high-mix production and lack of international competitiveness.” According to Japanese budget documents, the country agreed to purchase 24 of the F-35As, with each aircraft costing an average $144.2 million, although the cost per aircraft has been on a downward trend, with the FY18 batch costing $119.7 million each. (Both figures are based on current exchange rates and do not take into account currency conversion fluctuations.) In addition to the 42 F-35As, Japan has also indicated it intends to procure a further 105 F-35s, which will include 42 of the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant. The defense plan has called for the acquisition of 45 F-35s over the next five years, of which 18 will be F-35Bs. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/01/17/japan-to-cease-in-country-assembly-of-f-35-jets