7 janvier 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval

New in 2022: Final testing for Corps' new King Stallion helicopter

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  • White House Orders New Icebreaker Strategy For Coast Guard

    10 juin 2020 | International, Naval, Sécurité

    White House Orders New Icebreaker Strategy For Coast Guard

    “I certainly hope the Pentagon is not going to come back after studying this again, saying there's no need," for more Arctic infrastructure, said Sen. Dan Sullivan. "The infrastructure is not fine. It doesn't exist. And we need it to exist.” By PAUL MCLEARYon June 09, 2020 at 5:37 PM WASHINGTON: The White House today ordered a major rethink of current plans for a new Coast Guard heavy icebreaker fleet, calling for the ability to launch drones, install intelligence-collection systems, and consider “defensive armament” to “defend against threats by near-peer competitors” and consider the “potential for nuclear-powered propulsion.” The call to consider new designs for at least three ships already slated to be built over the next half-decade is a sure sign of growing concern in Washington over Russian and Chinese advances in putting more heavy, nuclear-powered ships in the water while the US remains stuck with just two 40 year-old operational breakers. The Coast Guard already has plans for three new, non-nuclear icebreakers to be built by 2026, with several medium icebreakers to follow in later years. It's not clear if the White House is asking for a complete redesign of those ships, but the memo clearly indicates a desire to expand their capabilities significantly. The memo gives acting Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf, in conjunction with the State and Defense departments, just 60 days to come up with a plan to run a study of how to build a new icebreaking fleet that consists of “at least” three heavy polar-class security cutters that are “operationally tested and fully deployable by Fiscal Year 2029.” The ships should be able to perform “the full range of national and economic security missions (including the facilitation of resource exploration and exploitation and undersea cable laying and maintenance),” the memo states, a clear nod to worries that both China and Russia are rushing to secure natural resources long trapped under the polar ice caps. The Pentagon and Navy are slated to take part in the snap 60-day assessment, which includes a demand for recommendations for least two new bases in the US, and at least two new international bases. At least one of those bases would likely be in Alaska, meeting a years-long demand from Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, who is waiting for the Pentagon to finish a study on a potential strategic port in his state later this summer. Sullivan managed to get language in the 2020 defense authorization bill ordering the Pentagon to study new ports in Alaska, after years of the military saying there was no need. “At long last, the federal government has woken up to the fact that the Arctic is a region of great strategic competition,” the senator said in an emailed statement. “Unfortunately, our adversaries are well ahead of the United States when it comes to Arctic infrastructure.” Noting his efforts to bring the Pentagon's attention to these issues, he added, “this presidential memo will add weight to these efforts and will send a signal to our adversaries and those who are laying claim to the Arctic that the United States will not cede ground in this strategic location.” Pentagon officials have said privately that refurbishing existing ports in Alaska for military use would be expensive, and they're not fully convinced there is a need. Sullivan, aware of those arguments, added, “I certainly hope the Pentagon is not going to come back after studying this again, saying there's no need. The infrastructure is not fine. It doesn't exist. And we need it to exist.” One congressional staffer who is familiar with with the issue said part of the problem Arctic advocates have encountered is that “there is no clear official within the Department of Defense that handles Arctic issues,” and despite some efforts on Capitol Hill to create a new deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Arctic, military leaders see the region as “not as high a priority as some other things — the Department of Defense seems to be one of the last federal agencies in the country to understand the strategic importance and relevance of the Arctic.” While the Coast Guard already has an icebreaker plan in hand, this new White House push might scramble those if the executive branch demands significant changes to the class, the first of which is slated to begin construction in 2021. As Washington ponders the possibility of building nuclear-powered icebreakers, two Russian companies are already at work building the world's most powerful nuclear breaker, the first step in an ambitious new Arctic strategy Moscow hopes will open lucrative new shipping routes in the Arctic. The country currently operates 40 icebreakers along the Northern Sea Route in the high north. Moscow has also unveiled plans to build dozens of non-nuclear new icebreakers in the coming years, including at least 13 heavy icebreakers, nine of which would be nuclear-powered, if plans laid out by Russian President Vladimir Putin hold. For its part, China has already matched the US in the number of icebreakers it has in its fleet, though only one of the two was built domestically. Beijing has expressed a desire to float a nuclear-powered breaker at some point in the future, though plans remain unclear. The first ship, MV Xuelong, was built at a Ukrainian shipyard but has since been upgraded by Chinese shipyards. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/06/white-house-orders-new-icebreaker-strategy-for-coast-guard

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  • LA LUFTWAFFE RENOUVELLE SES EUROFIGHTER

    17 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    LA LUFTWAFFE RENOUVELLE SES EUROFIGHTER

    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/

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