Opinion: How the Aerospace Industry Can Weather 2022’s Turbulence

Sur le même sujet

• 

  21 août 2023 | International, Naval

  US Navy shipbuilders’ union approves labor pact at Bath Iron Works

  Workers are receiving an increase in contributions to their national pension plan while health insurance costs will grow.

• 

  12 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  RFP Reveals Main Thrust Of U.S. Counter-Hypersonic Plan

  Steve Trimble The main thrust of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's counter-hypersonic strategy has just been revealed. The Regional Glide Phase Weapon System (RGPWS) prototype project demonstrates an interception capability against a medium- or intermediate-range threat. The MDA revealed the existence of the program in a request for prototype proposals released to industry on Dec. 5. An industry day for the RGPWS prototype project is scheduled on Dec. 18 at an MDA facility on Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The RGPWS shows the MDA is moving faster to field at least a prototype counter-hypersonic capability than previous efforts suggested. The MDA had previously defined a concept for a Hypersonic Defense Weapon System (HDWS). The agency selected 21 proposals from industry in September 2018 for concept definition studies. MDA then down selected to five concepts in late August and early September 2019 for a nine-month-long concept refinement phase. The selected proposals included four kinetic concepts based on existing boosters and one Raytheon-directed energy system. The RGPWS is a parallel effort by MDA to the HDWS. The companies selected for the HDWS concept refinement phase could submit separate proposals for RGPWS. But other companies that were rejected after the concept definition phase or did not participate in HDWS can participate in the RGPWS, says Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who was briefed on the program on Dec. 9. For example, Northrop Grumman's proposal was not down selected for the HDWS concept refinement phase, but it intends to compete for the RGPWS prototype project. “Northrop Grumman is engaged with MDA on Hypersonic Defense Regional Glide Phase Weapon System and will attend the upcoming industry day,” a spokesman says. Northrop has been developing kinetic and non-kinetic options for missile defense, including one concept in the latter category called the Terminal and Regional Electronic Attack Defense System. The acknowledgment of the RGPWS offers a limited glimpse into MDA's development strategy for the burgeoning counter-hypersonic capability. In July 2017, the agency first disclosed plans for funding a hypersonic defense demonstration. An item in the Selected Acquisition Reports for the Ballistic Missile Defense System added $508 million to the program's overall budget to pay for such a demonstration. In March 2019, the agency disclosed it would spend more than $600 million on hypersonic defense capabilities by the end of fiscal 2024. By emphasizing a “glide phase” weapon with a “regional” targeting area, the MDA also provided clues about the intent of the demonstration. It does not appear to be targeting an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear hypersonic glide vehicle as the warhead, such as Russia's Avangard. It is more likely designed to target a hypersonic glide vehicle with regional range, Karako says. Options may include hypersonic glide vehicles on China's DF-17 and DF-21 missiles. “That's a good thing,” Karako says. “It's a smart move for MDA to start there.” Separately, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency continues to pursue the Glide Breaker program. It was revealed in July 2018 as a program with a particular interest in “component technologies that radically reduce risk for development and integration of an operational hard-kill system,” according to a DARPA solicitation document. But no further details about Glide Breaker have been released. https://aviationweek.com/defense/rfp-reveals-main-thrust-us-counter-hypersonic-plan

• 

  23 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre, C4ISR

  Paris Air Forum : comment l’État assure la sauvegarde de la BITD

  La sauvegarde de la BITD française a été abordée lors du Paris Air Forum. Récemment, les ventes des sociétés Photonis et Fichou ont fait l'objet d'un veto de la part de l'État français de projets de rachat respectivement par un groupe américain et par un groupe indien, rappelle La Tribune. La direction générale de l'armement (DGA) et la direction générale des entreprises (DGE) ont ensuite orienté leur vente vers des acheteurs « connus favorablement » par les services de l'Etat, soit respectivement le fonds d'investissement HLD, pour Photonis, et le groupe HEF, pour Fichou. La DGA joue un rôle clé parmi les outils dont la France s'est dotée pour contrôler les investissements étrangers et protéger les 4 000 entreprises de sa base industrielle et technologique de défense (BITD) : « Nous avons traité 138 dossiers d'investissements financiers étrangers » en 2020, souligne François Mestre, chef du service des affaires industrielles et de l'intelligence économique à la DGA. Par ailleurs, « nous avons formé cent cadres de la DGA à conduire des audits dans les sociétés. Ils ont ausculté 1 200 entreprises de la BITD pour avoir une vision de leur état ». Une démarche qui a été suivie de 130 procédures de remédiation, détaille-t-il. Le Service de l'information stratégique et de la sécurité économique au ministère de l'Économie (SISSE) est par ailleurs doté d'un dispositif de protection économique. La Tribune du 23 juin