20 mars 2024 | International, Naval
The Navy says it needs 381 ships and can get there by 2042 — assuming shipyards deliver on time and the Navy gets all the money it requests.
5 septembre 2024 | International, Naval
In this Defense News Conference panel, Navy experts discuss the expansion of unmanned vehicles and how they are shaping the future of maritime warfare.
21 septembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR, Autre défense
Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The defense ministers of Germany and France have pushed for speedy progress in the Eurodrone program, urging member nations to initiate the aircraft's development phase before the end of the year. The high-level endorsement means a shot in the arm for a weapons program that has slipped under the radar since Airbus, Dassault and Leonardo unveiled a mock-up drone at the April 2018 Berlin Air Show. While French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said she hopes to see the next phase begin by year's end, her German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, expressed hope any outstanding issues, which mostly involve cost, could be resolved “in the next few weeks.” The two leaders spoke at Manching, Germany, Airbus' hub for the Eurodrone project and a company site for another key European program, the Future Combat Air System. The unmanned aircraft's official name is “European MALE RPAS,” using acronyms for medium-altitude, long-endurance, remotely piloted aircraft system. The pan-European Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation manages it on behalf of Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The drone program sets out to field the first new unmanned aircraft certified to fully integrate into civilian airspace, though European authorities have not yet finalized the requisite regulatory framework. Company officials hope that key design features of the drone, such as a propulsion system of two engines — one as a fallback, if necessary — will be conducive to passing future safety checks. That means the technology could cut into the business strategy of American competitor General Atomics. The company aims to be the first to sell its drones, complete with automatic collision-avoidance kit, to Europeans. Officials at the German Defence Ministry did not immediately return a request for comment on how soon the government plans to present a financing and contract strategy to lawmakers — a prerequisite for letting the effort proceed. It remains to be seen if the weapons-capable Eurodrone, whose primary mission is intelligence gathering, will get wrapped up in Germany's debate on the ethical aspects of arming aerial and ground robots. Another program, the Israeli-made Heron TP drone, is still awaiting decision by Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, on whether the government can proceed with installing weapons on the aircraft. The German military is using the drones to watch over deployed forces under a leasing agreement with Israel Aerospace Industries. They are operationally managed by Airbus. It's possible that the Heron TP armament decision will be presented to the Bundestag first, thus capping what a Defence Ministry official told Defense News will likely be a lengthy public meditation on drones and war. But that sequence of approvals is not automatic, Airbus hopes. Either way, time is of the essence for the Defence Ministry, with election years looming in Germany and France starting in 2021. “It would be surprising if we had the Eurodrone first,” said Ulrike Franke, a London-based analyst with the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Because it would amount to a signal that the Heron TP decision had been needlessly stalled.” Questions surrounding the program include whether it can provide enough utility beyond offerings already on the market, including American-made hardware, Franke said. Its success also depends on countries purchasing the future drone in sufficient quantities to get the envisioned benefits of greater European interoperability, she added. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/09/18/german-french-defense-ministers-push-for-eurodrone-progress/
14 janvier 2022 | International, Aérospatial
La Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) vient de signer un contrat pour le compte du ministère de l'Intérieur à hauteur de 200 M€. Il s'agit d'une commande faite à Airbus de dix hélicoptères H160 qui vont remplacer progressivement les 26 « Écureuils », en service depuis près de quarante ans. La livraison de la commande est prévue pour 2024, le ministère souhaitant que les effectifs soient formés pour les Jeux olympiques. L'H160 peut embarquer jusqu'à douze personnes alors que l'Écureuil a une capacité moitié moins importante. En outre, les nouveaux hélicoptères seront dotés de nouvelles technologies à l'image du phare infrarouge Safran Euroflir 410, et de capacités de treuillage et de cordage rapides. Ils sont aussi plus économes en carburant, et la vitesse de pointe du modèle d'Airbus gagne 55 km/h pour une pointe à 280 km/h pour une autonomie allongée (880 km contre 660 km). Une nouvelle commande pour Airbus qui avait déjà reçu celle du ministère des Armées le 22 décembre : un contrat portant sur 169 hélicoptères H160M "Guépard" destinés aux forces armées, qui seront répartis entre l'armée de Terre (80), la Marine nationale (49) et l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (40) « pour des livraisons débutant en 2027 », précisait le ministère. En tout, la France a commandé à Airbus 180 hélicoptères H160. Capital du 12 janvier et BFMTV du 10 janvier