21 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

Le choix du remplaçant des F-16 belges va tomber

Le gouvernement fédéral est désormais en mesure de formaliser sa décision sur le choix du prochain avion de combat de l'aviation belge.

Un appareil qui devrait voler à partir de 2023 et durant au moins quatre décennies sous les cocardes tricolores rouges, jaunes et noires, qu'il soit américain ou européen.

Les principaux ministres de l'équipe Michel ont été «briefés» mercredi par des experts sur le «retour sociétal» (les retombées économiques et les autres formes de coopération offertes à la Belgique) proposé par les promoteurs des deux candidats officiellement en lice pour le remplacement des F-16 vieillissants: le F-35 Lightning II du groupe américain Lockheed Martin et l'Eurofighter – alias Typhoon – du consortium européen éponyme promu par le Royaume-Uni, dans le cadre d'un marché d'État à État.

Le 4 octobre, le conseil ministériel restreint (»kern») avait déjà entendu le rapport des militaires qui ont conduit l'évaluation exhaustive des deux candidats, sous l'égide d'une cellule de l'état-major de la Défense, l' «Air Combat Capability Program» (ACCaP), dirigée par le colonel Harold Van Pee.

Un troisième candidat potentiel est le Rafale de l'avionneur français Dassault Aviation, pour lequel peu de données chiffrées sont disponibles. Car Paris n'a pas répondu à l'appel d'offres officiel, préférant proposer à la Belgique un «partenariat approfondi et structurant» fondé sur le Rafale et une implication belge dans le développement d'un avion de combat de nouvelle génération, envisagé par la France et l'Allemagne à l'horizon 2040 dans le contexte d'une relance de la défense européenne.

Avant le départ de Vandeput?

Le gouvernement dispose de toutes les informations pour faire son choix, dans un climat de lobbying intense et alors que les États-Unis ont accepté de prolonger pour une courte période – apparemment jusqu'à la fin du mois – leur offre pour le F-35 qui expirait formellement le 14 octobre, date des élections communales et provinciales.

Le ministre de la Défense, Steven Vandeput (N-VA), qui quittera cette fonction d'ici le 1er janvier pour devenir bourgmestre de Hasselt, a dit lundi espérer encore pouvoir boucler cet épineux dossier avant son départ. «Ce serait beau si je pouvais conclure les gros investissements. Nous avons mis beaucoup de choses sur les rails qui sont aujourd'hui mûres pour être tranchées», a-t-il déclaré.

Le Premier ministre Charles Michel (MR) a lui aussi cité, dans sa déclaration de politique générale à la Chambre le 8 octobre, les chantiers à boucler par le gouvernement – dont les décisions à prendre pour plusieurs programmes militaires, comme le remplacement des F-16 – mais en se montrant plus prudent sur l'échéance.

«Nous prendrons très vite, et en tout cas avant la fin de la législature (en mai prochain, NDLR), les décisions qui s'imposent pour chacun de ces programmes», a assuré M. Michel.

Car, comme souvent en Belgique, le dossier ACCaP s'est retrouvé mêlé à au moins deux autres programmes militaires: l'achat de nouveaux drones, potentiellement armés, et de nouveaux blindés pour la composante Terre, un programme baptisé «CaMo» portant sur 477 engins et à mener en coopération avec la France.

L'approche de la dernière ligne droite avant une décision sur le nouveau chasseur-bombardier a accentué les efforts de lobbying dans ce marché d'un montant initial de 3,6 milliards d'euros – et une quinzaine de milliards sur la durée de vie attendue de l'appareil, soit une quarantaine d'années – même si les offres américaine et britanniques semblent «en dessous» de ce cadre financier, selon des sources concordantes.

Les Britanniques, qui promeuvent le Typhoon au nom du consortium Eurofighter (rassemblant également l'Allemagne, l'Espagne et l'Italie), craignent une décision (trop) h'tive en faveur du F-35 prise en dépit de nombreuses incertitudes sur le coût du chasseur furtif américain, tant à l'achat – la version proposée à la Belgique est le Block 4, dont le développement n'a pas encore été financé – qu'à l'utilisation.

Plusieurs ministres britanniques, dont ceux des Affaires étrangères et du Commerce international, Jeremy Hunt et Liam Fox, viennent ainsi d'écrire à leurs homologues belges pour, selon une source informée, leur rappeler l'intérêt pour la Belgique d'une solution européenne, l'Eurofighter étant produit à 75% sur le continent.

https://www.lavenir.net/cnt/dmf20181018_01244354/le-choix-du-remplacant-des-f-16-belges-va-tomber

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