3 mars 2021 | International, C4ISR
BAE wins Air Force electronic warfare contract
The company will begin initial production of a system to protect pilots from jamming threats in contested airspace.
15 septembre 2021 | International, C4ISR
A planned 100,000-square-foot facility in Quantico, Virginia, will transform military war gaming from a tabletop exercise to an immersive experience in a simulated environment.
 
					3 mars 2021 | International, C4ISR
The company will begin initial production of a system to protect pilots from jamming threats in contested airspace.
 
					15 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial
PAR LAURENT LAGNEAU · 13 FÉVRIER 2021 Sur les 247 chasseurs-bombardiers PANAVIA Tornado qu'elle a reçus à la fin des années 1970, la Luftwaffe [force aérienne allemande] n'en aligne plus que 85. Ces appareils lui permettent de participer aux plans nucléaires de l'Otan [avec la capacité d'emporter la bombe tactique B61] ainsi que de mener des missions de frappes, de reconnaissance et de guerre électronique. Étant donné leur 'ge, les Tornado allemands arriveront au bout de leur potentiel en 2025. D'où le projet de Berlin de se procurer 30 F/A-18 Super Hornet et 15 E/A-18 Growler auprès de Boeing, afin que la Luftwaffe puisse continuer à mener ses missions nucléaires et de guerre électronique visant à supprimer les défenses aériennes ennemies [SEAD] pour le compte de l'Otan. Seulement, annoncé en 2020, ce choix mettra du temps à se concrétiser. En effet, la chambre basse du Parlement allemand [Bundestag] aura son mot à dire... mais pas avant 2022. Ce qui fait cet achat de F/A-18 et de E/A-18G dépendra des résultats des prochaines élections fédérales de septembre prochain et du gouvernement qui en sera issu. En un mot, il n'est pas encore acquis. Et quand bien même il le sera, il faudra du temps pour négocier le contrat, livrer les appareils et former les pilotes ainsi que les techniciens de la Luftwaffe. D'où la décision de cette dernière de redonner du potentiel à ses Tornado pour les maintenir en service jusqu'en 2030 au moins. Ce qui est loin d'être simple étant donné que les pièces détachées sont désormais rares, voire introuvables pour certaines étant donné qu'elles ne sont plus fabriquées. Quoi qu'il en soit, en partenariat avec Airbus Defence & Space [ADS], un premier Tornado du Luftwaffengeschwader 33 a vu son potentiel prolongé de 2.000 heures de vol supplémentaires après une lourde opération de maintenance effectué dans les installations d'Airbus à Manching. Pour cela, il a donc fallu démonter entièrement l'appareil et vérifier chacun de ses composants. Une t'che dont s'est acquittée la société d'ingénierie et d'analyse Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft [IABG] à Ottorbrunn. Au total, il a donc fallu de nouveau fabriquer 400 pièces structurelles qui n'étaient plus disponible sur le marché. « Afin de pouvoir assembler à nouveau les parties centrale et avant [du Tornado], tous les trous des anciennes pièces ont dû être reproduits sur les nouvelles avec une précision de 0,001 millimètre », explique la Bundeswehr. « Nous travaillons ici comme des horlogers », a commenté un sous-officier mécanicien de la Luftwaffe. http://www.opex360.com/2021/02/13/la-force-aerienne-allemande-redonne-du-potentiel-a-ses-avions-tornado-pour-les-garder-au-moins-jusquen-2030/
 
					9 avril 2020 | International, Naval, Terrestre
Shawn Snow A series of wargames conducted between 2018 and 2019 helped inform the Corps' decision to divest of tanks and outmoded units and equipment that will have trouble surviving in fight with peer adversaries like China, according to a Marine Corps force redesign report. From those wargames the Corps learned that the unit that shoots first has a “decisive advantage” on the battlefield and forces that can operate inside the range of enemy long-range precision fires “are more operationally relevant than forces which must rapidly maneuver to positions outside the ”weapons engagement zone, the report reads. The Corps' decision to divest of tanks, cut ground cannon artillery and light attack air platforms has stoked some criticism. Tanks historically have had success in high-end and urban warfare for decades boasting devastating firepower highly lethal to ground forces. But tanks and armored vehicles have had trouble surviving against the threat of precision strike and the plethora of drone and reconnaissance systems flooding conflict zones across the Middle East. For recent evidence, a Turkish launched operation targeting Syrian regime army troops in late February decimated more than a hundred tanks and armored vehicles, dozens of artillery pieces and hundreds of Syrian forces, according to the Turkish National Ministry of Defense. Turkey posted videos highlighting a mixed role of drones, Paladin artillery systems and aircraft pounding Syrian armor from the skies over the course of several days. The Syrian army appeared helpless to defend from the onslaught of long range systems. Even tanks camouflaged by buildings and bushes were no match for sensors and thermal imaging watching from the skies. The problem is exacerbated by the number of sophisticated anti-tank systems flooding counterinsurgency conflicts across the globe and access to long range drones once only in control by state actors are now being operated by militia groups. In Libya, the Libyan National Army has the upper hand in its drone war with the UN-backed Tripoli government. It's equipped with an alleged UAE-supplied Chinese drone known as the Wing Long II that boasts a 2,000 km range through a satellite link and is reportedly armed with Chinese manufactured Blue Arrow 7 precision strike air-to-surface missiles. “Mobility inside the WEZ [ weapons engagement zone] is a competitive advantage and an operational imperative,” the Marine Corps report reads. The Corps instead is looking for mobile systems and units that can survive within the reach of precision fires to “attrit adversary forces," create dilemmas for the enemy and “consume adversary ISR resources,” according to the report. “The hider-versus finder competition is real. Losing this competition has enormous and potentially catastrophic consequences,” the report reads. Reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance capabilities will be key on the modern battlefield. “We have sufficient evidence to conclude that this capability [tanks], despite its long and honorable history in the wars of the past, is operationally unsuitable for our highest-priority challenges in the future,” the report said about the divestment of Marine tanks. But tanks aren't disappearing from the fight. The Corps says heavy ground armor will still be provided by the Army. The Corps says it plans to develop heavily into unmanned ground and air systems and rocket artillery and long range fires. According to the report, the Corps is increasing its rocket artillery batteries by 14 to 21 over a 10-year period. Wargaming that inferred the Corps' force redesign efforts were carried out by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, among others. https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/flashpoints/2020/03/26/the-marines-want-to-get-rid-of-their-tanks-heres-why