8 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

L'Allemagne renonce à son projet d'hélicoptère lourd

BOQUET Justine

L'Allemagne a finalement décidé de repousser l'acquisition d'hélicoptères de transport lourds.

Remplacement des CH-53G.

Suite à l'impact économique de la crise du Coronavirus, Berlin a finalement fait le choix d'annuler son appel d'offres visant au remplacement de sa flotte de CH-53G, pour lequel concouraient d'une part Rheinmetall et Sikorsky avec le CH-53K et de l'autre Boeing avec son Chinook. « L'annulation a eu lieu peu de temps avant la date prévue pour l'attribution du contrat, indiquant que de nouveaux facteurs tels que la COVID-19 ont dû être pris en considération », met en avant Harry Boneham, analyste associé pour GlobalData. Cependant l'Allemagne n'a pas pour autant renoncé à l'idée de remplacer sa flotte de CH-53G, mais souhaite cependant revoir sa copie et ses priorités dans le cadre de ce projet. Un contrat pourrait ainsi malgré tout être attribué, mais comportant beaucoup moins d'options, afin de faire baisser le coût global.

Coup dur pour Boeing et Lockheed Martin.

Alors que l'on savait le secteur de l'aviation civile durement touché par la crise, cette décision montre que les budgets de défense pourraient également être touchés dans certains pays, venant dès lors impacter les entreprises duales à l'instar de Boeing. « Les entreprises telles que Boeing présentes sur les deux marchés s'appuient fortement sur la branche défense pour compenser l'impact sur l'activité commerciale. Ce contrat aurait fourni une précieuse source de revenus fiable sur le moyen et long terme » complète l'analyse.

Cas isolé ?

Si pour le moment les conclusions sont difficiles à tirer, la tendance générale reste malgré tout à la hausse des budgets de défense. Que cela soit en France, en Finlande, en Colombie, en Estonie, au Pakistan, en Suède ou encore en Argentine, le secteur de la défense est vu comme une des clés de la relance. Il permet ainsi d'offrir des débouchés via de la commande publique aux entreprises du secteur. Ces contrats, s'ils ne sont attribués à l'industrie nationale, comportent bien souvent une part non négligeable de compensations industrielles permettant la création d'emplois ou l'installation de chaîne de production.

https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/lallemagne-renonce-son-projet-dhlicoptre-lourd-23696

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