26 avril 2018 | International, Aérospatial
BERLIN ― Eurofighter officials are downplaying the F-35 fighter′s stealth capability at the Berlin Air Show, positing that the consortium's non-stealthy Typhoon still beats out the American competition in the race to replace Germany's Tornado fleet.
“Stealth is only 10 percent of the capability mix,” Eurofighter marketing chief Raffael Klaschke told Defense News on Wednesday. “We're still better at the other 90 percent,” he argued, referring to the aircraft's combat capabilities.
While the company could rest easy with the German Defence Ministry's recent proclamation that the Eurofighter is the preferred path for the upcoming multibillion-dollar Tornado-replacement program, Lockheed Martin's massive showing at the air show may have some officials nervous.
Eurofighter CEO Volker Paltzo doubled down on the argument that the Typhoon would guarantee continued vibrancy in the European military aircraft market. “I want to underscore that every euro spent on Eurofighter within Europe stays in Europe,” he told reporters.
Executives also stressed that the European aircraft would come free of any “black boxes,” a reference to the expectation that all technological and operational details would be owned by Europeans, which may not be the case with the F-35.
F-35 advocates have touted the fifth-generation aircraft's stealth and other advanced capabilities for deep-strike and standoff combat, and there are some in Germany, especially in the Air Force, who believe that European technology simply cannot compare.
At the same time, whatever follow-on aircraft Berlin chooses for its 90-strong Tornado fleet is only expected to be a bridge toward a brand-new development, raising the question of whether a costly acquisition of the U.S. planes would be a worthwhile investment.
Klaschke described stealth as a “niche capability,” adding with a nod to the F-35′s competition: “We're not scared.”
Officials were less willing to discuss the expected nuclear-weapons capability of the Eurofighter, which it would pick up from the Tornado. Paltzo pointed to “confidentiality” in discussing the topic, referring to the Defence Ministry for information.
What is clear, however, is that the Eurofighter will be able to carry forward Germany's pledge to deploy U.S. atomic arms at the behest of NATO, according to Paltzo.
And while the U.S. Defense Department must certify the aircraft-weapon pairing, the CEO said he does not expect America to influence the fighter decision toward its own industry's product.
“This is a subject where we would not expect leverage by the U.S. over the Eurofighter,” Paltzo said.
2 novembre 2024 | International, Terrestre
November 1, 2024 - BAE Systems has signed a contract with the Dutch Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT) for eight Bofors 40Mk4 naval gun systems for the Royal Netherlands and...
23 mars 2022 | International, Naval
Green Heat Update: a 477K contract has been awarded! The IDEaS program, in collaboration with Defence Construction Canada (DCC), is thrilled to announce that a contract for the Green Heat Test Drive has been awarded to Black & McDonald. Their creative energy solution will be paired up with existing heating systems to help lower our carbon footprint through a large-scale, low carbon energy generation/transfer system. A test building has been selected in Kingston, Ontario, where the team will begin the design phase. Visit the challenge page to find out more about IDEaS' contribution to the greening of Defence. The Corrosion Detection Sandbox has selected its participants! The Corrosion Detection in Ships Sandbox (CDIS), previously postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, resumed its call in December 2021. The following nine participants have been selected to travel to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, to demonstrate their innovative solutions at the Center for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship (COVE) facility from April 25 to May 20, 2022. Allied Scientific Pro Canadian Nuclear Labs CMQ Centre de Métallurgie Crawford Technologies Eddyfi Technologies #3, Floormap X InspecTerra MLVX Technologies Inc Qii.AI Visiooimage Inc. They will each have up to five days to test their solutions in real time alongside Department of National Defence/Canadian Armed Forces experts and potential users. The goal of this Sandbox is to demonstrate how we can better detect and assess corrosion behind surface coatings onboard Royal Canadian Navy platforms in order to reduce operational impact and improve the effectiveness of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. Join us in wishing our participants good luck! For more information, visit the CDIS challenge page. The IDEaS Team Mise à jour Énergie Verte : un contrat de 477K a été remporté ! Le programme IDEeS, en collaboration avec Construction de défense Canada (CDC), est ravi d'annoncer que le contrat pour le Banc d'essai Énergie Verte a été remporté par Black & McDonald. Leur solution créative en matière d'énergie sera combinée à un système de chauffage existant afin de réduire notre empreinte carbone gr'ce à un système de production/transfert d'énergie à grande échelle et à faible teneur en carbone. Un b'timent pilote a été sélectionné à Kingston, en Ontario, où l'équipe débutera la phase design. Visitez la page du défi pour en savoir plus sur la contribution d'IDEeS à l'écologisation de la Défense. Les participants pour l'Environnement protégé Détection de la corrosion à bord des navires ont été sélectionnés! L'Environnement protégé Détection de la corrosion à bord des navires, précédemment reporté en raison des restrictions reliées à la COVID-19, a relancé son appel de propositions en décembre 2021. Les neuf participants suivants ont été sélectionnés pour se rendre à Dartmouth, en Nouvelle-Écosse, pour présenter leurs solutions innovantes au Center for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship Facility (COVE) du 25 avril au 20 mai 2022. Allied Scientific Pro Canadian Nuclear Labs CMQ Centre de Métallurgie Crawford Technologies Eddyfi Technologies #3, Floormap X InspecTerra MLVX Technologies Inc Qii.AI Visiooimage Inc. Ils auront chacun jusqu'à cinq jours pour tester leurs solutions en temps réel aux côtés d'experts du ministère de la Défense nationale/des Forces armées canadiennes et d'utilisateurs potentiels. L'objectif de cet Environnement protégé est de démontrer comment nous pouvons mieux détecter et évaluer la corrosion derrière les revêtements de surface à bord des plates-formes de la Marine royale canadienne afin de réduire l'impact opérationnel et d'améliorer l'efficacité de la maintenance planifiée et non planifiée. Joignez-vous à nous pour souhaiter bonne chance à nos participants! Pour plus d'informations, rendez-vous sur la page du défi Détection de la corrosion à bord des navires. L'équipe IDEeS
22 mars 2023 | International, Autre défense
The city of Camden is hoping to expand as defense contractors there ramp up production to supply arms to Ukraine and replenish American stockpiles.