4 février 2019 | International, C4ISR

LEONARDO SIGNS DEAL WORTH AROUND €180M TO UPGRADE NATO'S ELECTRONIC WARFARE TRAINING EQUIPMENT

Leonardo will deliver a range of new equipment to NATO JEWCS, the Alliance agency which supports armed forces training to face hostile electro-magnetic conditions

Equipment will cover air, land and maritime domains and also includes a capability for training crews to defend against anti-ship missiles

Leonardo's range of contracts in support of NATO signal a leadership position in a number of areas. This leadership position is driving sustainable growth, as laid out in the Company's 2018-2022 Industrial Plan

Leonardo has signed a contract worth approximately €180M to provide new electronic warfare training equipment for the NATO Joint Electronic Warfare Core Staff (JEWCS). Leonardo was selected in an international competition and will incorporate technology from partners Cobham and Elettronica. The contract was placed by the UK Ministry of Defence as the host nation for NATO JEWCS, which is based at the Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) in Yeovilton. Equipment will be delivered in tranches over the next 4 years from Leonardo's Electronic Warfare (EW) centre of excellence in Luton, UK.

NATO JEWCS is the Alliance agency responsible for the high-tech world of electronic warfare. When NATO forces go on operations, they can expect the enemy to try and disrupt their radars, GPS and communications. Therefore, to train realistically, it is important that NATO Forces experience these effects and practice how to counter them. Part of NATO JEWCS's remit is to improve armed forces training by simulating the effects of an enemy's latest electronic warfare equipment during exercises, creating a ‘hostile environment' in which to train. To deliver the service, NATO JEWCS deploys high-tech EW equipment at training sites around Europe, allowing armed forces to practice their skills in areas such as electronic surveillance and electronic countermeasures while facing true-to-life attempts to disrupt their activity.

In delivering this support, it is important that the EW effects being simulated are state of the art, keeping pace with opposing forces' latest tech developments. Leonardo is Europe's leading provider of electronic warfare technology and training and will be providing representative equipment across three domains: air, land and maritime. In the air, highly capable and flexible pod-based EW systems will be supplied for deployment on aircraft, alongside a NATO Anti-Ship Missile Defence Evaluation Facility (NASMDEF). NASMDEF comprises a set of pods that can be installed on aircraft to simulate anti-ship missiles.

They allow forces to train in the use of ‘soft-kill countermeasures' which are used to protect ships from incoming threats. Cobham will be Leonardo's principle sub-contractor for these elements. For land and maritime applications, fully ruggedised shelters and vehicles will be provided, equipped with modular and flexible EW simulators, stimulators and jamming equipment. Elettronica will act as Leonardo's principal sub-contractor for these elements.

Leonardo's electronic warfare expertise includes designing and manufacturing protective and ISR (Intelligence Surveillance and Recconaisance) equipment for UK and allied aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and AW159 helicopters, delivering specialist EW training at its Academy in Lincoln and investing in the development of the latest generation of countermeasures such as the anti-IED ‘Guardian' system for troops on the ground and the ‘BriteCloud' decoy for fighter jet pilots.

This contract to upgrade electronic warfare equipment is just the latest example of Leonardo's on-going provision of security technology and expertise to NATO. Leonardo is the Alliance's cyber security mission partner, working with the NATO Communications and Information Agency to protect more than 70,000 Alliance users around the world from cyber-attacks.

The Company has also provided a significant amount of equipment and support for the NATO Air Command and Control System (ACCS). In October 2018, Leonardo received the NATO Science and Technology Organization's (STO) Scientific Achievement Award for its contributions to the development of a promising new approach to modelling, simulation and training. Leonardo has also provided over 50 air defence radars to multiple Alliance member countries under the NATO Security Investment Programme (NSIP) and has delivered its ‘Guardian' counter-IED (improvised explosive device) systems to protect NATO vehicles operating in Afghanistan.

https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/-/nato-protezione-elettronic-warfare-training-academy

Sur le même sujet

24 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

Le gouvernement allemand valide l’acquisition de 31 hélicoptères NH-90 MRFH
Le Bundestag a ratifié en fin de semaine dernière la décision de la Marine allemande en faveur de l'acquisition de 31 hélicoptères multi-rôle NH-90 MRFH (Muti-Role Frigate Helicopter). L'appareil avait été préféré par l'Allemagne, à l'été 2019, face à l'AW 159 Wildcat d'Agusta et au MH-60R Seahawk de Sikorsky, dans le cadre du programme Sea Tiger. Moins de 15 mois se sont écoulés entre le choix définitif de la Marine allemande et la signature du contrat, précise Air & Cosmos. Air & Cosmos du 24 novembre
19 mai 2021 | International, Terrestre

BAE Systems Tests Battle Management System in ACVs, As Company Mulls Future Upgrades and Variants - USNI News
The amphibious combat vehicle’s open architecture design is already allowing builder BAE Systems to experiment with adding in new combat capabilities, even as the company continues to ponder potential variants it could offer down the road. For the time being, the Marine Corps has asked BAE Systems to build about 700 ACVs to replace the …
13 novembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

Can a new Franco-German export agreement clear the air for Europe’s future fighter?
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — French and German officials celebrated the signing of a new defense export agreement last month as a watershed moment, but political and industrial mistrust remains a wild card for the Future Combat Air System program — an envisioned sixth-generation fighter jet. The export pact, which entered into force in late October with the formal exchange of government notes, is meant to streamline a contentious process that has clouded bilateral defense cooperation for some time. Namely, the agreement dictates that joint government programs, like FCAS fighter jet, be free from interference by partner nations when it comes to eventual exports. The clause is mainly aimed at Germany, where politicians and lawmakers tend to scrutinize weapons deliveries to countries with known or suspected human rights abuses more heavily than their French colleagues. The situation has grown more tense since the October 2018 death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who Western officials believe was murdered by order of Saudi Arabia. Germany has since frozen all exports to the kingdom, prompting an outcry from France, where companies had to stall deliveries of equipment to Saudi Arabia in all cases where even a small number of components originated from Germany. The new agreement ensures “nobody can throw a wrench” into the other's export planning, says Matthias Wachter, chief defense analyst at the Federation of German Industries lobbying group. Having such a guarantee in writing is good news for FCAS and its ground-focused sister project, the Franco-German future main battle tank known as the Main Ground Combat System, he added. The language of the export pact is reminiscent of the 1971 Schmidt-Debré agreement, named for the German and French defense ministers at the time and panned in the left-leaning Spiegel magazine as an “embarrassing pact” when reporters found out about the then-secret understanding a year later. Fast-forward almost 50 years, and defense cooperation remains a thorny subject between the two countries destined to spearhead Europe's envisioned military autonomy in the coming decades. And there are also long-standing cultural differences that linger. There is a perception among some German lawmakers, for example, that cooperation with Paris inevitably means ceding power to French influence to the point that Germany plays only second fiddle, according to Wachter. That sentiment has led appropriators to craft a package deal for FCAS that would release funding for the next phase — building subcomponent demonstrators — only when there are assurances that Germany's tank makers, namely Rheinmetall, play a prominent role in the Main Ground Combat System effort. With armored vehicles traditionally being a strong suit for German industry, some here have privately complained about the 50-50 division of responsibility. “It's an emotional issue here in Germany,” Wachter said. Once the money begins to flow for an additional set of contracts early next year, there is a litany of questions yet to be sorted out. The fate of intellectual property rights, for example, remains unsorted, according to the analyst. In addition, as of late October, there was no agreement on Spain's industrial work share. Spain is something of a junior partner in the FCAS project, though officials in Madrid have said they expect equal treatment as a full member of the trinational project team. The Spanish government in the summer designated defense electronics company Indra as the national lead for the fighter program. The move angered Airbus, where officials were hoping to give their Spanish subsidiary a role that would satisfy Madrid's demands for industrial participation. Another potential point of contention has to do with military requirements for the future fighter. Perhaps the most prominent issue is that French officials want a carrier-capable jet, which Germany does not need. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/11/11/can-a-new-franco-german-export-agreement-clear-the-air-for-europes-future-fighter/

Toutes les nouvelles