Le GIFAS plaide pour un plan de relance européen pour soutenir la filière aéronautique

Sur le même sujet

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  26 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Latest emergency coronavirus funding package includes tens of billions for defense, VA

  Leo Shane III The Department of Defense is poised to get another $10.5 billion in emergency funding and the Department of Veterans Affairs another $19.6 billion as part of a $2 trillion package designed to blunt the economic impact of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak throughout America. The money includes $1.4 billion in direct funding for National Guard deployments to help state governments respond to emerging health needs, $1.5 billion for the expansion of military hospitals and mobile medical centers if needed, and $1 billion for the Defense Department to help with production of medical supplies running short because of the pandemic. The measure — which if passed would be the third major coronavirus response by Congress this month — also includes provisions to deliver billions of dollars to hospitals, new state and local government support, expanded unemployment compensation and massive business loans, all designed to help stabilize the economy amid unprecedented social shut-downs to curb the virus spread. Senate lawmakers are expected to vote on the measure sometime Wednesday afternoon. The House could take it up soon afterwards. Nationally, more than 54,000 individuals have tested positive for COVID-19, the strain of coronavirus causing worldwide disruptions and panic. More than 730 deaths have been connected to the illness in the United States alone, all in the last month. "Combating this disease has forced our country to put huge parts of our national life on pause and triggered layoffs at a breath-taking pace,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said after the deal was reached Wednesday morning. “This strange new reality has forced our nation on to something like war-time footing. A fight has arrived on our shores.” Lawmakers who worked on the agreement said the Defense Department funding is targeted “primarily for the protection of members of the Armed Forces, their families, and military retirees.” None of the funds can be transferred to accounts connected with the construction of a southern border wall, a sticking point between Democrats and President Donald Trump in past appropriations fights. Of the $10.5 billion total, $1 billion will be set aside for use with the Defense Production Act, allowing department officials to “invest in manufacturing capabilities that are key to increasing the production rate of personal protective equipment and medical equipment.” Those items have been in short supply in recent weeks. Trump invoked the act earlier this week but has yet to order any civilian production of the scare items. Veterans Affairs Within VA, the majority of the money — nearly $15.9 billion — will be used for direct care specifically in response to veterans health needs. “This covers treatment of veterans nationwide for coronavirus within VA hospitals as well as in community urgent care clinics and emergency rooms,” a bill summary stated. “These funds allow VA to cover overtime for their clinical staff, the purchase of personal protective equipment, test kits, and other necessary equipment to manage the impacts of this pandemic among the veteran population.” Another $3.1 billion will be set aside for new telemedicine efforts within VA, including staffing and equipping mobile treatment sites and “remodeling to VA facilities and state run veterans homes to address the needs of veterans being treated for coronavirus.” Nearly 300 veterans have already been diagnosed with the coronavirus strain, and four deaths of VA patients connected to the illness. The bill also includes a number of expanded authorities for VA officials to respond to the threat, including extended overtime pay rules for medical providers, new agreements with broadband internet suppliers to increase telemedicine options for veterans, and waiving some rules regarding income-level eligibility for department benefits. Lawmakers also included $360 million for the Department of Labor to invest in programs providing training and supportive services for dislocated workers, to specifically include homeless veterans. White House officials have indicated Trump will sign the measure into law if it passes Congress. Earlier this week, Trump called on lawmakers to quickly pass some deal, saying that the economic impact of the illness on the country could be more devastating than the health complications. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2020/03/25/latest-emergency-coronavirus-funding-package-includes-tens-of-billions-for-defense-va/

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  5 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  A Smart Approach To Retaining Most Of The A-10s

  The Air Force leaders who sought to retire the A-10 in 2014 did not want to cut the aircraft, but they had no other choice due to the Budget Control Act of 2011. While that era has passed, the same dynamics are still at play— a service that is under-resourced, overtasked, compelled to retire aircraft to free up resources to modernize the remaining inventory of mostly geriatric aircraft. By DAVID DEPTULA In American politics people like to talk about third-rail issues, those that kill you when you touch them. For the Air Force, retiring the much-loved and much-misunderstood A-10 Warthog has been a third-rail issue. Army folks, generally not known for their knowledge of aircraft capabilities, LOVE the A-10, largely because it is something Army troops can see results from and it's really loud and looks aggressive, a combination ground pounders appreciate. Key members of Congress have loved the A-10 because it's based in their districts (the late Sen. John McCain) or because their spouse flew the airplane (former Sen. Kelly Ayotte.) OK, and a few really do believe the A-10 should be kept because it is the best close-air-support aircraft. In the 2021 budget, the Air Force is taking a new approach, trying to blend extending the life of most of the A-10 fleet while retiring some. The head of the Mitchell Institute, Dave Deptula, presents a detailed argument in favor of the new approach. Will the Air Force touch the rail or? Read on? The Editor. Some were surprised to see the Air Force again trying in the latest budget request to retire 44 A-10s from, bringing the total force of 281 Warthogs down to 237. Any discussion regarding the status of the A-10—or any other capability in the Air Force's inventory—needs to start with the fact that the Air Force is seriously underfunded. Between 1989 and 2001, the Air Force absorbed the largest cuts of all the services as a percentage of the overall defense budget. Between 2008 and 2011, the Air Force received its lowest share of the defense budget going all the way back to the Eisenhower Administration. On top of those slim budgets, the service does not even receive all that is allocated to it in its total budget. Roughly 20 percent is removed from its control as a budget pass-through to the Intelligence Community. In 2020, that equaled $39 billion—enough to buy 400 F-35As. The chronic deficiencies in Air Force funding were the motivating force behind service leaders releasing “The Air Force We Need,” a plan that calls for growing the number of operational squadrons from 312 today to the 386 required to execute the national defense strategy. While that assessment has yet to be met with funding from the administration or Congress it provides a realistic way to view risk; the difference between what the Air Force needs and what it currently possesses. Because of this disparity, the Air Force is continuously forced to trade existing force structure to pay for modern weapons. It does not matter that the Air Force fields the oldest and smallest aircraft force in its history, or that nearly every mission area is coded “high demand, low density.” The Air Force leaders who sought to retire the A-10 in 2014 did not actually want to cut the aircraft, but they had no other choice due to the Budget Control Act of 2011. While that era has passed, the same dynamics are still at play— a service that is under-resourced, overtasked, compelled to retire aircraft to free up resources to modernize the remaining inventory of mostly geriatric aircraft. With that background, it is important to understand the Air Force's plan to cover the panoply of mission requirements that it faces. Defense leaders today are anticipating a broad array of future threats ranging from non-state actors like the Islamic State and Boko Haram on the low end, North Korea and Iran in the middle, and China and Russia as peer adversaries on the top of the spectrum. The overlapping concurrency of these challenges makes for a difficult balancing act given the chronic underfunding of the Air Force and the fact that dealing with each threat demands a different set of tools. This is precisely why the Air Force wants to retain the bulk of the A-10 inventory. They are planning on doing it in a smart way to achieve two primary goals. First, to assure sufficient capacity to ensure that when combatant commanders need the aircraft the Air Force has enough aircraft so that one squadron can be continuously deployed for combat operations. Second, to assure sufficient capability, leaders are investing in re-winging all the remaining A-10 airframes, funding avionics improvements, and other critical upgrades. Taking these steps will ensure the A-10 can continue to fly and fight into the 2030s. The reason for this is simple: when it comes to effectively and efficiently dealing with certain missions in the low- to medium-threat environment, few aircraft can net better results than the A-10. These aircraft are incredibly precise, efficient to operate, can haul a tremendous load of munitions, and their ability to integrate with other aircraft as well as ground forces is legendary. However, when defense leaders consider operations at the higher end of the threat spectrum, the reality is that A-10 cannot survive. In such environments, commanders select appropriate capabilities rather than risking airmen or mission success. Close air support is a mission—not an aircraft—and it can be executed by many aircraft other than the A-10, particularly in higher threat scenarios. This is why A-10s were not employed over Syria. It would have put them at risk against sophisticated Russian air defenses and combat aircraft. Commanders prudently decided to harness F-22s, F-15Es, F/A-18s, F-16s, and others to secure desired objectives because these aircraft could better defend themselves against those threats. Such sophisticated defenses require continued investment in aircraft like the F-35 and B-21. These are the sorts of aircraft—empowered with fifth generation attributes like stealth, advanced sensors, and computing power—that will be far better equipped to handle mission demands against potential adversaries equipped with the most advanced weapons coming out of China or Russia. Preparing for the future demands adjusting the Air Force's existing aircraft inventory in response to budget realities. Dialing up investment in fifth-generation aircraft is an essential requirement, especially given that too few B-2s and F-22s were procured in the past. The types of combat scenarios that defined the post-9/11 world occurred in permissive airspace at the low end of the threat spectrum. America's interests demand a much more far reaching set of options able to operate and survive in high threat environments. That is why investments in A-10 modernization and newer designs like the F-35, B-21, and next generation air dominance aircraft are so important. However, capacity still matters. The Air Force needs to be properly resourced so it does not have to gut the very numbers that will prove essential in future engagements. No matter the theater in which a fight may erupt, the type of combat action, or the scale of the operation, the need for numbers of airframes is a constant—the same cannot be said for surface forces. It is well past time for leaders in the Department of Defense, the White House and on Capitol Hill to start properly scaling Air Force resources to align for the actual mission demand required by our National Defense Strategy. David Deptula, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, is a retired Air Force lieutenant general with over 3,000 flying hours. He planned the Desert Storm air campaign, orchestrated air operations over Iraq and Afghanistan and is now dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/a-smart-approach-to-retaining-most-of-the-a-10s

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  27 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Lockheed adds Dunford, former top US military officer, to board

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin has added Joe Dunford, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to its board of directors, the company announced Friday. Dunford, the Marine general who retired out of service at the end of September 2019, will become the 12th member of Lockheed's board come Feb. 10 of this year. He will serve on the board's Classified Business and Security Committee as well as its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. "General Dunford's service to the nation at the highest levels of military leadership will bring valuable insight to our board," Marillyn Hewson, chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, said in a statement. "His experience in complex, global operations and risk management, including cybersecurity threats, is a tremendous asset and will enhance board oversight in key business areas." Lockheed Martin is the world's largest defense contractor, with $50.5 billion in defense revenue in fiscal 2018. The announcement may spur renewed calls by good government groups to close the so-called “revolving door” between the Pentagon and the defense industry, an issue that has taken on new life given the number of industry executives who have joined the defense department under President Donald Trump. That list is most prominently headlined by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, a former Raytheon executive, and Pat Shanahan, a Boeing executive who was confirmed as deputy secretary of defense and then served six months as the acting secretary to start 2019 before departing the building. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a top nominee for the Democratic nomination for president, has called for a ban on defense primes hiring senior Pentagon officials and officers for four years after they leave retire. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/01/25/lockheed-adds-dunford-former-top-us-military-officer-to-board