2 mai 2022 | International, Aérospatial

Kiev tire la sonnette d’alarme sur les drones chinois et ouvre son ciel aux startups américaines

Les autorités de Kiev ont appelé à limiter l'utilisation des drones DJI, affirmant que les problèmes techniques de ces appareils pourraient avoir été intentionnellement provoqués par le fabricant chinois pour saboter les défenses du pays. Si la société chinoise, DJI Technology, le plus grand fabricant de drone au monde, nie les accusations selon lesquelles elle a joué un rôle dans l'invasion russe, le gouvernement ukrainien appelle à ne plus utiliser ces drones à la suite de nombreux dysfonctionnements, alors que les forces russes se serviraient de ces technologies sur le front. La controverse autour de DJI a renforcé les préoccupations de longue date de certains décideurs et régulateurs américains en matière de sécurité nationale, à savoir que la Chine contrôle une technologie commerciale qui a aussi clairement des applications militaires. Les adversaires de DJI à Washington font pression pour l'adoption d'un projet de loi proposé par des parlementaires républicains qui ouvrirait la voie à l'interdiction, pour les appareils du fabricant chinois, d'utiliser l'infrastructure de communication américaine. A l'opposé, plus d'une demi-douzaine de startups américaines ont vu en Ukraine une opportunité à ne pas rater et ont déclaré avoir donné ou vendu leurs drones et leurs systèmes de défense anti-drones à l'Ukraine. Depuis le mois dernier, BRINC Drones, établi à Seattle, a fait don de 10 drones à l'Ukraine et en a vendu environ 50 autres pour aider le pays à se défendre, et Skydio, de la Silicon Valley, a offert plusieurs dizaines de drones au ministère ukrainien de la Défense, et des centaines d'autres ont été vendus à des organisations non gouvernementales et à des gouvernements soutenant l'Ukraine. Ces startups, dont la clientèle se compose essentiellement de l'armée et des agences de sécurité publique, affirment que leurs produits offrent une sécurité supérieure, en comparaison avec les drones DJI.

L'Opinion et le Wall Street Journal du 26 avril

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  • Where do special forces fit in the National Defense Strategy?

    22 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Autre défense

    Where do special forces fit in the National Defense Strategy?

    By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The most valuable role for U.S. special operations forces within the National Defense Strategy is to build relationships with countries in hot spots around the globe to keep Russia and China at bay. But that effort can't be at the expense of its counterterrorism mission, which remains the No. 1 priority of special forces, according to leadership within U.S. Special Operations Command. SOCOM plans to issue a report to Congress on a comprehensive review of its roles and missions this month, according to Mark Mitchell, the principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, who was speaking during a recent hearing with the House Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. One of the main priorities for SOCOM is to carry out counterterror missions, but the National Defense Strategy focuses on great power competition against near-peer adversaries Russia and China, so House lawmakers wanted to know how special forces fit in a strategy that focuses less on counterterrorism and more on powerful adversaries. “We've been the tip of the spear on the [counterterror] fight,” SOCOM Commander Gen. Richard Clarke said during the hearing. “However, moving forward, particularly in great power competition, our special operations forces are not necessarily going to be in that fight because the whole idea of the strategy is to avoid a kinetic” confrontation, he added. Clarke said he's examining SOCOM relationships with U.S. Cyber Command, U.S. Strategic Command and U.S. Transportation Command as well as the global combatant commanders to see “how we can best integrate our forces and provide support to those in other domains.” “I think the special operations community is uniquely suited to build networks of partners and allies around the globe to put us in a position, first of all, to compete for that influence and legitimacy in peacetime,” Clarke added. Special forces also have an important role to play within the military information support operations center in Tampa, Florida, which is aligned with the State Department's Global Engagement Center, which “allows us to compete in the space ahead of time and make sure that we're countering some of the vitriol that's coming out of Russia at this time and the falsehoods,” Clarke said. According to Clarke and Mitchell, it's unlikely the reach of special forces around the globe will wane. “A [counterterror] deployment to Africa is also a part of that great power competition against the Russians and Chinese,” Clarke noted as an example. “We are trying to look at our employment of the SOF force from a holistic view to ensure that we're maximizing the return on that investment to our counterterrorism mission and our great power competition.” The relationships that U.S. special forces develop with other countries is also unique, Clarke noted. “A small team, a small element of Special Operations forces, can bring a significant impact working with foreign forces.” “Remember,” Mitchell added, “Chinese and Russian threats are global, and that's part of the reason why we're in 80 countries.” For example, Mitchell added, SOCOM received recent congressional approval to move forward with an important counterterror effort in the Philippines, but that is also a critical component of building influence within the country and “keeping Chinese at arm's length.” While the NDS is focused on great power competition, the strategy still recognizes the need to combat violent extremist organizations, which “is not going away, and we've got to balance that,” Mitchell said. So some new concepts for employment of special forces will likely emerge, according to Mitchell. “We're working with the services to ensure that we are integrated with their development efforts,” he added. But there are a few tasks where, if given the chance, SOCOM would take off its plate, particularly to improve its deployment ratio with double the time spent at home compared to overseas. Clarke said special forces in Africa could be better optimized. “That's not necessarily ‘take away the mission,' but I see reduction internal to some of these missions,” he said. Additionally, the mission to counter weapons of mass destruction is also an increasing burden on the force, Clarke said: “I think it's a right-sizing in the mission internal to make sure we have the right force allocation against it.” And SOCOM is looking at how the Army's security force assistance brigades might be better suited for certain security force assistance-type missions. “SOF should be in places where it's a light footprint, it's politically sensitive, with a small team, that is training other special operations forces primarily,” Clarke said. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2019/05/17/where-do-special-forces-fit-in-the-national-defense-strategy/

  • General Dynamics pitches updated ‘Foxhound’ for British Army needs

    14 septembre 2023 | International, Terrestre

    General Dynamics pitches updated ‘Foxhound’ for British Army needs

    The service fielded hundreds of the vehicles to protect soldiers from mines and improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan.

  • U.S. General Says Future UK Fighter Jet Must Be Compatible With F-35

    26 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial

    U.S. General Says Future UK Fighter Jet Must Be Compatible With F-35

    BERLIN (REUTERS) - THE top U.S. Air Force general in Europe on Wednesday said it was critical to ensure any future British fighter jet was compatible with the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter built by Lockheed Martin for a number of U.S. allies, including Britain. General Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. and NATO air forces in Europe, told reporters on a teleconference that he had watched Britain's unveiling of a new fighter jet development effort electronically from afar, but had not spoken with UK officials specifically about the new combat aircraft program. UK officials launched the new Tempest fighter jet program last week at the Farnborough Airshow outside London. Wolters said officials from both countries had discussed future combat air capabilities in the past, and agreed on the need to ensure any new systems could work with existing weapons. "One of the key ingredients that has to go into any future systems is to make sure that it's interoperable with existing systems and certainly the systems that that UK is embracing," he said, referring to Britain's growing fleet of F-35 fighter jets. "As the UK decides to go forward with a system that could be called Tempest, we would hope that it would be as interoperable as possible with the great system that they've just acquired ... the F-35B," he said. CERTAIN He said he was certain that Britain was looking very closely at the issue, which he called "critical". Britain has said it is looking for international partners for the new development program, and is already in discussions with Sweden, Japan and other countries. Wolters sidestepped a question on whether the United States could also play a role. He did announce plans to bring U.S. radar-evading, or fifth-generation, aircraft to Europe in the coming months to continue efforts to integrate those capabilities with fifth-generation aircraft operated by allies, and with older fourth-generation weapons in Europe. He declined to provide details on whether the F-35 or F-22, both radar-evading aircraft, would be brought to Europe, or when. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-07-25/us-general-says-future-uk-fighter-jet-must-be-compatible-with-f-35

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