Rajnath to IAF : Include new technology in readiness plan

Sur le même sujet

• 

  10 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Terrestre

  General Dynamics, AeroVironment join forces to give combat vehicles their own drones

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — General Dynamics and AeroVironment are teaming up to integrate ground combat vehicles with drone technology in preparation for two high-stakes Army and Marine Corps vehicle programs, the companies announced Oct. 8. General Dynamics Land Systems and AeroVironment plan to network GD's entrant for the Marine Corps' armored reconnaissance vehicle, or ARV, program with the drone makers' Switchblade missile and the Shrike 2 unmanned aerial system still in development by the company, said Dave Sharpin, AeroVironment's head of tactical UAS. The first tests will begin this fall. The recently unveiled Shrike 2 is a hybrid vertical-takeoff-and-landing drone, with rotors that allow it to take off and land like a helicopter. It also has fixed wings to provide more endurance and the ability to fly like an airplane. It “will be the eyes in the sky, going out and doing the reconnaissance mission, finding things, reporting them back, and then once we have that situational awareness, then a Switchblade will be launched if we want to go do something kinetic with the target,” he said. The hope, Sharpin said, is to fill a need expressed by the Marine Corps but also relevant to the Army — a vehicle that can interface with a UAS that is organic to it, as well as a new way to strike targets that would be found by the drone. Ultimately, the companies believe they can parlay that concept into offerings for both the Marine Corps' ARV program as well as the Army's Next Generation Combat Vehicle. “The purpose of this partnership is to deliver a decisive advantage to ground combatants, to see first and strike first, across the tactical landscape,” Don Kotchman, U.S. vice president and general manager of General Dynamics Land Systems, said in a statement. “We're confident this integrated capability, expanding the warfighter's situational awareness, survivability and over-the-next-obstacle lethality, will define the market for years to come." Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2018/10/09/general-dynamics-aerovironment-join-forces-to-give-combat-vehicles-their-own-drones

• 

  22 octobre 2020 | International, Naval

  US and UK navies prepare to sign agreement to merge future tech work

  David B. Larter and Andrew Chuter WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy and British Royal Navy are preparing to more closely align their futures in a whole host of warfare areas, the U.S. chief of naval operations announced Tuesday. The U.S. Navy's chief of naval operations and First Sea Lord Adm. Tony Radakin intend to “sign a future integrated warfighting statement of intent that sets a cooperative vision for interchangeablty,” CNO Adm. Mike Gilday announced at the virtual Atlantic Future Forum, being held on board the RN's new aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth. “We will synchronize pioneering capabilities, strengthen operating concepts and focus our collective efforts to deliver combined sea power together. By organizing our cooperation on carrier strike, underwater superiority, navy and marine integration and doubling down on future war fighting like unmanned and artificial intelligence, we will remain on the leading edge of great power competition.” It is unclear what the specifics of the statement of intent will be, but the U.S. and Royal navies have been focusing heavily in recent years on aligning its capabilities to be useful to each other in combined maritime operations. The message from both navies is that this will continue into the future. Throughout the Royal Navy's effort to get the Queen Elizabeth ready for deployment, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have been working closely with the service, training British pilots on the F-35B and getting the ship certified to operate them. The Marine Corps' Fighter Attack Squadron 211 embarked on Queen Elizabeth earlier this month during the ship's group exercise ahead of a deployment next year. The Marines will also mix in with Royal Air Force F-35Bs during the QE's 2021 deployment. In remarks at the forum, Radkin echoed Gilday's remarks, saying the two forces needed to continue to work to align efforts. “Throughout our careers we have had a drive for interoperability with allies,” Radkin said. "But increasingly it feels to us that bar has to be raised. ... The obvious example is the U.S. Marine jets on board the QE carrier. That is an obvious example of interchangeability. “So, we are trying to drive a new standard. Partly to drive all of us to strengthen our interoperability but to go even higher and recognize that interchangeability is going to be an even stronger feature in the future.” Radkin said the services would focus on four areas to grow this “interchangeability”: undersea warfare; carrier operations; aligning the efforts of the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy to become a cohesive fighting unit; and on advanced warfighting programs such as artificial intelligence and cyber. The United Kingdom is in the middle of an integrated defense review, initiated after Boris Johnson was elected prime minster. It was interrupted during the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak but appears to be running again. The review could have sweeping impacts on the British defense budget, but it is unclear where the budget ax will fall. When the review was announced, however, the government promised a “radical reassessment” of Britain's place in the world. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/10/20/the-us-and-uk-navies-prepare-to-sign-agreement-to-merge-their-tech-futures/

• 

  11 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Congress wants five-year budget plan for European defense fund

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Congress wants the Pentagon to produce a five-year plan for the European Deterrence Initiative fund, much like what is required each year when the Defense Department rolls out its base budget request. In the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill's conference report released Dec. 9, Congress gives the Pentagon a tight deadline to produce a future years plan for the EDI account for FY20 — no later than the end of the year — that covers “not fewer than the four succeeding fiscal years.” Congress wants the defense secretary and the head of U.S. European Command to submit to congressional defense committees subsequent future five-year plans beginning in FY21 at the same time as budget requests are submitted. The EDI account — initially called the European Reassurance Initiative — was created to help Eastern European allies deter Russia from further incursion into Europe following its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and continued military activity in the region. The U.S. Army's presence at the time of the annexation had dwindled from roughly 200,000 troops in Europe in the 1980s to around 33,000 in 2015. The Army had only two permanently stationed brigade combat teams, had closed more than 100 sites since 2006, and was concentrated in Italy and Germany rather than along NATO's eastern flank. The plans should contain a description of the “intended force structure and posture” of the assigned forces in Europe for the last fiscal year as well as “the manner in which such force structure and posture support the implementation of the National Defense Strategy,” according to the bill's report. The plan should also detail infrastructure and military construction investments and the assessment of resources including cost estimates for each project needed to achieve requirements such as increased presence, exercises, training, enhanced pre-positioning of stocks and building partnership capacity, the bill noted. The Pentagon should also include a timeline to achieve force posture and capabilities to include permanent posture requirements as well as a detailed account of what has changed from the previous year, according to the bill. Additionally, the Defense Department is required to submit a report no later than the end of November 2020 and each year after summarizing in detail funds obligated for EDI for the past fiscal year, as well as a comparison of funds requested for the following fiscal year. Under the bill, the Pentagon must also provide an interim briefing no later than the end of March 2021 and each year after covering the status of all matters to be included in the future years plans and reports on EDI. Funding for EDI has continued to grow since its inception almost five years ago. In FY19, the Pentagon requested $6.5 billion, up from $4.8 billion in FY18 and $3.4 billion in FY17. Only in FY20 did the funding come down, when the Pentagon cut the account by 10 percent. The Pentagon said the cut accounted for some one-time expenses such as military construction and a look toward increased burden-sharing from allies. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/12/10/congress-wants-five-year-budget-plan-for-european-defense-fund/