9 décembre 2019 | International, Naval
ByChristen McCurdy
Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems received a $23.4 million deal to procure hardware for Virginia-class submarines, the Department of Defense announced Friday.
The contract funds the purchase of long-lead-time material for two Virginia Block 5 hulls, one Virginia installation and checkout kit, one pre-production unit and associated hardware assets for testing, according to a press release.
On Tuesday, General Dynamics Electric Boat received a $22.2 billion contract to build nine Block 5 subs for the Navy.
Virginia-class submarines are built to conduct anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface-ship warfare, strike warfare and special operations support as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Block 5 submarines have an additional payload module and more payload tubes for launching cruise missiles.
Work will be performed in Syracuse and is expected to be completed by December 2020.
25 septembre 2024 | International, Terrestre
This contract is available to all Department of Defense units and includes spares and repair services.
21 octobre 2020 | International, Terrestre, C4ISR
Andrew Chuter LONDON — British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has announced a new science and technology strategy aimed at competing with potential adversaries. “We are in a very real race with our adversaries for technological advantage. What we do today will lay the groundwork for decades to come. Proliferation of new technologies demands our science and technology is threat-driven and better aligned to our needs in the future,” Wallace said Oct. 19 during a visit to the British Army's Salisbury Plain training ground in the west of England ahead of a war-fighting experiment there. The latest strategy launch comes weeks after the MoD rolled out a new integrated operational concept to shape how Britain adapts its future military effort to the changing security threat posed by the likes of China and Russia. With the rollout of a defense and security review fast approaching, the MoD has been revealing busy some of the key supporting strategies that will likely underpin what is being touted as Britain's most fundamental military shakeup in generations. Both the science and technology strategy and the integrated operational concept are key elements of an integrated defense and security review planned to link defense, security, foreign policy and international development aid. The review, expected by the end of November, is meant to signal big cuts to conventional capabilities as the Conservative government invests in high-tech areas like space, cyberspace, artificial intelligence and undersea capabilities. The initial response from industry appears positive. “I welcome this MoD innovation initiative and hope that it translates into more conversations and activity with industry,” said Steve Beeching, the managing director of the U.K. arm of American communications company Viasat, which has a growing defense presence in Britain. "We want to work collaboratively in supporting the rapid implementation of future mission capabilities to empower our defense and security forces in the constantly evolving adversarial environment.” Future military development would focus on five emerging technology areas that have posed the most significant enduring capability challenge, according to the new S&T strategy document. Technology areas listed are: Pervasive, full-spectrum, multidomain intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Multidomain command and control, communications, and computers. Improvement of the U.K.'s ability to compete against adversaries below the threshold of conventional conflict while addressing vulnerabilities, especially in the information environment. Develop systems to target adversaries in new ways across all domains. Generate affordable, survivable capabilities that can rapidly address evolving threats and can operate within a denied electromagnetic environment. “They have been recognized as the key drivers for science and technology and research and development within the MoD," the document read. "The Department will continue to have an enduring requirement to maintain investment in science and technology capabilities and programs beyond these.” The country noted it isn't dismissing other equipment areas; it has also pledged to invest in the areas of cyberspace; chemical, biological and radiological technology; novel weapons; and system of systems integration. The document does not mention how Britain will afford the strategy, but it does talk about new approaches to funding. The MoD said it plans to invest in new, riskier activities in hopes of developing technologies by using demonstrators, experimentation and better exploitation processes. It also hopes to make rapid progress on the strategy by the end of the first year. The progress includes creating a strategy implementation plan, giving clear policy positions on the critical capabilities that the government must sustain, providing direction to academia and industry on priority areas, and revitalizing the government's technology incubation program. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/10/19/britain-unveils-strategy-to-gain-a-technological-advantage-over-adversaries/
17 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Par Caroline Bruneau Les parlementaires allemands ont voté l'achat de 38 Typhoon d'Eurofighter pour remplacer la première génération de l'avion de combat européen. Le remplacement de leurs Tornado vieillissants, par un panachage de Super Hornet américains et d'Eurofighter européens reste en suspens. La commande est passée le 11 novembre. Après plusieurs années d'atermoiements, la commission du budget du Bundestag avait finalement approuvé le 5 novembre l'achat de 38 Eurofighter Typhoon de dernière génération, dont huit en version biplace. La tranche 4 « Quadriga » du programme pourra monter à 93 avions in fine, si une autre commande est passée lors de la prochaine législature, donc après les élections qui auront lieu normalement à l'automne prochain. Ces 55 appareils supplémentaires doivent permettre le remplacement des chasseurs-bombardiers Tornado, hérités de la Guerre froide. Ils seront complétés par un total de 45 F/A-18 Super Hornet et EA-18 Growler de Boeing pour les missions stratégiques nucléaires et de guerre électronique dans le cadre de l'Otan, inaccessibles au Typhoon. Une pré-commande a été notifiée en avril dernier à l'avionneur américain par le ministre de la Défense allemand Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, coupant court à toute velléité de choisir le F-35 comme successeur au Tornado. À moins d'un an des élections, la coalition gouvernementale allemande est dans la position difficile d'avoir à la fois à ménager son industrie et ses partenaires européens, tout en donnant des gages de fidélité au grand allié américain (cf. encadré). Dans ces conditions, il est tentant de laisser la « patate chaude » du remplacement du Tornado – avec la question connexe des armes nucléaires américaines en Allemagne – à la législature suivante. https://www.aerospatium.info/luftwaffe-renouvelle-ses-eurofighter/