4 décembre 2019 | International, Autre défense
By: Sebastian Sprenger
LONDON — U.S. President Donald Trump landed Tuesday in London with a splash, decrying French President Emmanuel Macron's recent description of NATO as brain dead, calling it a “nasty” assessment and unfair to the alliance.
Trump's remarks on the eve of a meeting of government leaders here on Wednesday come as NATO members are already on edge about myriad internal differences. Clashing views have become so pronounced in the last few weeks that some observers fear the worst for what has been billed as NATO's 70th birthday bash.
“You just can't go around making statements like that about NATO,” Trump said of Macron in a joint news conference with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “It's very disrespectful.”
The U.S. president's words are remarkable not for their tone — he also delivered an en passant bashing of French politics and economy — but for the substance of the argument. Trump, who has shown a deep disdain for the mere principle of multilaterlism, appears to be shielding NATO from Macron's critique, which in turn was partly aimed at himself.
Talk about the three-dimensional chess of geopolitics. Or something like that.
Stoltenberg, for his part, sought to downplay any cracks within the alliance, arguing in typical fashion that healthy squabbling should be expected in any group of countries working together.
“If you look at the substance, you can see that the alliance is delivering,” he said at the NATO Engages think tank event in central London. He named ongoing operations to secure the eastern flank against Russia, the training of security forces in Iraq and an uptick in defense spending by all allies in recent years as examples of an alliance that continues to be operationally relevant.
Stoltenberg was noncommittal, however, on the latest curveball thrown by member country Turkey. The Turks want their perception of a terrorist threat posed by YPG Kurdish units to their border with Syria recognized by all of NATO as a quid pro quo for backing the alliance's bolstering of the Baltics. Such a deal could cause a significant rift.
Trump is an admirer of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and will likely get more deeply involved in the issue during meetings here.
“Turkey does not question the alliance, but rather Turkey expects an understanding of the threat of terrorism to one of its allies,” Gülnur Aybet, Erdogan's senior adviser on foreign policy, told the NATO Engages audience.
“We don't question the credibility of Article 5. On the contrary, we expect it to be fulfilled,” she added, referring to the alliance's creed that an attack on one member will prompt a response by all.
7 avril 2023 | International, Terrestre
Ukraine's state arms producer said on Thursday it would launch joint production of 125-mm rounds for Soviet-era tanks with Polish arms producer Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (PGZ).
9 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish Aerospace Industries says it has developed Turkey's first artificial intelligence-based simulator, which will be used in the design and development phases of Hurjet, a locally designed light assault aircraft. TAI said the engineering simulator, Hurjet 270, is designed to collect feedback from test pilots to make the design of Hurjet “better, more solid and more efficient.” The simulator is also meant to detect design faults at the development stage. Company officials said the simulator will feature “human eye-level resolution.” Atilla Dogan, TAI's deputy general manager for aircraft design, told the state news agency Anadolu that Hurjet 270 will help engineers improve designing flight control algorithms and avionics software based on feedback from test pilots. The armed trainer Hurjet is a jet engine version of the turboprop Hurkus, Turkey's first indigenous basic trainer aircraft. TAI launched the Hurjet program in 2018, with a target of having the aircraft's maiden flight in 2022. The Hurjet will have a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 and can fly at a maximum altitude of 45,000 feet. The aircraft will have a maximum payload of 3,000 kilograms, including ammunition, radar and camera. Hurkus-C, the armed version of the base variant of Hurkus, features locally developed ammunition including CIRIT, TEBER, HGK and LGK. It can also use INS/GPS-guided bombs, conventional bombs, non-guided rockets and machine guns. Hurkus-C also features armored body parts, a self-protection system, a data link, laser tacking, an electro-optical and infrared pod, an external fuel tank, and advanced avionics. With a 1,500-kilogram payload that can be used through seven external hardpoints, the Hurkus-C can perform light-attack and armed reconnaissance missions. https://www.c4isrnet.com/artificial-intelligence/2020/09/08/turkey-develops-ai-based-simulator-for-light-fighter-jet/
13 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is keeping an eye on the Army's next-generation rotorcraft program, which could fill a gap for agile airlift that might be needed in a fight against Russia and China, an Air Force general said Thursday. With its large air bases vulnerable to attacks from a near-peer adversary, there's no guarantee that the Air Force will be able to rely on its current processes or equipment to transfer supplies in and out of air bases. In a war with China or Russia, the U.S. Air Force would distribute its assets to bases owned by allies and partners, cutting down the threat to aircraft usually located at the service's large installations. But that poses a problem for rapidly transporting materiel like spare parts and maintenance equipment to more austere locations in a time of war, said Lt. Gen. Warren Berry, the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection. “We know we're going to have to get after some other things that might be a different way of doing distribution and lift,” he said during a July 9 event hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “It might be a different way of doing airfield recovery. It might be different equipment that's lighter and leaner that allows us to set up in a more expeditious manner with less fuel.” “Agility Prime is certainly one [option],” he said, referring to an ongoing Air Force effort to tap into the emerging commercial market for “flying cars” — basically, experimental transport aircraft that the service could use for logistics, search and rescue, or shuttling troops to remote locations. Another option is the Army's future vertical lift effort, or FVL, Berry said. “That's something that we'll certainly look at, but we know that we need to do lift in a different way.” The Army intends to break FVL into multiple programs, which could give the Air Force multiple aircraft to pick from if it decides to buy in. The future long-range assault aircraft will replace the UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter and is planned to be fielded in 2030. As part of the Army's risk-reduction effort, Bell Helicopter is developing its V-280 Valor, while a Sikorsky-Boeing team is working on its own SB-1 Defiant aircraft. The future attack reconnaissance aircraft would fill an existing capability gap, accomplishing the reconnaissance missions that have been performed by AH-64E Apaches teamed with Shadow drones following the retirement of the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior in 2017. It's currently on track to be fielded in 2028, with Sikorsky and Bell chosen to build prototypes. Aside from closely watching the Army's FVL effort, the Air Force is also engaging with the Army-led Joint Counter-Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office on ways to defend U.S. bases against small drones, Berry said. “That's going to be a demand signal on this force moving forward that we're going to have to really think through and make sure that we have them [airmen] resourced appropriately to execute that part of the air base air defense mission as well,” he said. In June, the office rolled out a plan for the Defense Department to consolidate its counter-UAS technologies from about 40 systems to a total of eight. The approved systems were chosen after an Army-led assessment and included fixed, mounted and dismounted solutions. An Air Force system known as Negation of Improvised Non-State Joint Aerial-Threats, or NINJA — which jams radio signals between the UAS and its operator — was among those selected. “Our goal is to align existing and future counter-UAS technology solutions to best address operational needs while applying resources more efficiently,” said Maj. Gen. Sean Gainey, the office's director. Berry said that the Air Force has embedded some of its personnel within the counter-UAS office to stay synchronized with the Army's efforts. “So far we're happy with where it is and where it's going,” he said. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/07/09/the-air-force-is-watching-the-armys-future-vertical-lift-program/