29 janvier 2024 | International, Terrestre

£150m military bridge contract to transform UK Army bridges and safeguard jobs

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  • Airbus US pivots business strategy away from selling big platforms to the Pentagon

    16 juillet 2020 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité

    Airbus US pivots business strategy away from selling big platforms to the Pentagon

    By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — After decades of trying to break into the U.S. military aircraft market, Airbus is shifting course with a new strategy that prioritizes selling off-the-shelf sensors, data, space and intelligence capabilities that have been customized for U.S. government buyers. During a Wednesday discussion with reporters about the new direction for the business, Chris Emerson, the new chief executive of the Airbus U.S. Space and Defense division and formerly the president of Airbus Helicopters, said he wanted to move the company's focus in the United States away from the major fixed-wing platforms that are the company's bread and butter in Europe. Instead, he hopes to expand the company's presence in the growing space and intelligence markets, particularly with low-cost satellites like those made by its joint venture One Web, geospatial intelligence and imaging, and space-based sensors. “We know the Air Force needs an A400M, but I can spend 10 years trying to convince the Air Force and all the politicians that they should buy an A400M. And ultimately they will buy C-130s,” Emerson said. “So let me focus this energy, this great leadership team, on achieving something that is tangible today that the customer really needs. Yes, it's not traditional for Airbus, but it will bring the value and we'll have a better foundation if one day my successor says, ‘You know, I want to be a big platform competitor.' At least we'd have built up trust and proven that we could really meet the requirements that are demanded of it.” Although Airbus is a juggernaut in the international military and commercial aerospace market, it has always struggled to find its place among the U.S. defense prime contractors as major aircraft manufacturers. It famously lost the KC-X contract to Boeing in 2011 after a bloody and prolonged battle. Since then, the company's biggest procurement victory has been continued sales of its UH-72A Lakota helicopter to the Army. “I remember I spent eight years thinking we could bring real value on air-to-air refueling for the Air Force. But I spent eight years, and I'm frustrated because I look at it and we didn't succeed,” Emerson said. “I've asked the team, ‘Let's find a roadmap where we can actually make a mark with the customers.' And that means, I'm not going to go look at competing with Boeing and the Lockheeds and Northrop, but I'm going to look at other areas.” The U.S. customer is increasingly making investments into technologies that can augment or accelerate decision-making, he said. “That's where we start to look everything beyond an air breathing platform. We started to look at the data, the intelligence, that they need,” he said. “It could be intelligence that is geospatial-related, either Earth observation, or electro-optical, or synthetic aperture radar, or a blend that we're pulling in multi-source information.” Airbus already develops those types of capabilities in its commercial air and space businesses, and could quickly adapt them to U.S. demands, he said. When there are opportunities to offer Airbus aircraft to the U.S. military, the strategy will be to partner with American primes, Emerson said. For instance, last year Airbus and Lockheed signed a memorandum of understanding to market aerial refueling services to the U.S. Air Force using the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport. Asked on Wednesday whether the two companies planned to compete for tanker leasing opportunities currently being considered by the Air Force, Emerson said Lockheed takes the lead on interactions with the U.S. military on aerial refueling. He added that UH-72s will continue to be manufactured alongside Airbus's commercial H125 helicopter in Columbus, Miss., but modifications, support and contracting will be performed by the Airbus U.S. Space and Defense. In addition to naming Emerson as head of the company's U.S. defense and space business, Airbus also appointed a five-person board of directors — which includes former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency director Letitia Long and William Shelton, a retired Air Force four-star and former head of Air Force Space Command — aimed at deepening ties with the U.S. military, space and intelligence agencies. It also named a seven-person team of advisers made up of former national security officials. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/07/15/airbus-us-pivots-business-strategy-away-from-selling-big-platforms-to-the-pentagon/

  • Czech Air Force orders missile warning systems for its Mi-17 helos

    25 mars 2021 | International, Aérospatial

    Czech Air Force orders missile warning systems for its Mi-17 helos

    Israel’s Bird Aerosystems will provide the Czech Air Force with missile warning technology for its Mi-17 helicopters, the company announced March 22.

  • Les nouveaux jets coûteraient 18 milliards

    1 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial

    Les nouveaux jets coûteraient 18 milliards

    Les coûts d'achat et d'entretien des nouveaux avions de combat ont été révélés dans la presse dominicale. Les nouveaux avions de combat coûteraient 18 milliards de francs au total, selon une estimation du Département fédéral de la défense (DDPS). En plus des coûts d'acquisition de 6 milliards de francs, près de 12 milliards viennent s'ajouter pour la maintenance des jets pendant toute la durée de leur utilisation. Ces chiffres publiés par la «SonntagsZeitung» ont été confirmés par l'Office fédéral des armements (ArmaSuisse). Pour les articuler, Berne s'est appuyée sur vingt ans d'exploitation de la flotte d'avions de chasse F/A-18 actuellement en service. «En règle générale, les coûts d'exploitation calculés sur trente ans devraient être environ deux fois plus élevés que le coût d'achat», a déclaré le porte-parole d'ArmaSuisse. Comme ni le type d'avions ni leur nombre ne sont encore déterminés, des calculs plus précis ne sont pas encore possibles. Le Conseil fédéral devrait faire son choix début 2021. Cette estimation de Berne a été précédée de discussions politiques sur les coûts des jets pendant tout leur cycle de vie. Dans certains cas, des montants beaucoup plus élevés que les 18 milliards de francs ont été articulés. Les opposants à l'achat de nouveaux avions de combat ont parfois estimé les dépenses à environ 24 milliards de francs. Ils se sont appuyés en partie sur des calculs effectués par les autorités allemandes et canadiennes. Votation fin septembre Le Conseil fédéral et le parlement prévoient d'acheter de nouveaux avions de chasse pour 6 milliards de francs à partir de 2025. Il s'agit de remplacer la flotte actuelle d'avions F/A-18 et Tiger. Les Suisses voteront le 27 septembre prochain après que le Groupe pour une Suisse sans armée (GSsA), le PS et les Verts ont lancé un référendum. Les Helvètes ne se prononceront pas sur le type d'avion, ni sur le nombre de jets, entre 36 et 40, qui seront achetés. Actuellement, une deuxième série d'offres est en cours. Au printemps dernier, quatre fabricants ont fait voler leurs engins dans le ciel suisse lors d'une démonstration. Quatre jets restent dans la course: le Rafale français (Dassault), l'Eurofighter allemand (Airbus) et, côté américain, le successeur du F/A-18, le Super Hornet de Boeing, et le F-35A de Lockheed-Martin. https://www.tdg.ch/les-nouveaux-jets-couteraient-18-milliards-574000585177

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