Sweden halts plan for Gripen jets to Ukraine, news agency TT reports

Sur le même sujet

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  3 juillet 2024 | International, Terrestre

  German budget committee clears over 6 bln euros of defence purchases, say sources

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  16 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  House defense spending bill would give the MQ-9 Reaper drone a second life

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON —The House Appropriations Committee is aiming to resuscitate the MQ-9 Reaper program, which the Air Force wants to curtail in fiscal 2021. The committee's version of the FY21 spending bill, which its defense subcommittee will deliberate Wednesday in a closed hearing, would allocate $344 million for 16 MQ-9 Reaper drones. The language is a good sign for the aircraft's manufacturer, General Atomics, which stood to lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales if the Air Force stopped buying the aircraft. The service in FY20 had planned to buy nine MQ-9s in FY21, 17 in FY22, two in FY23 and three in FY24, but zeroed out all plans to buy additional Reaper drones as part of its FY21 budget request. However, the Reaper isn't home free just yet. The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to unveil its own version of the legislation, leaving it unclear whether the Senate will concur with the House committee's spending bill. The MQ-9 wasn't the only aircraft program to get a boost from House appropriators. The committee added 12 more F-35s to the budget, for a total of 91 jets and $9.3 billion. The lawmakers are also planning to authorize $965 million for 11 C-130J aircraft — an increase of two planes — and they boosted the number of V-22 Ospreys tilt-rotor aircraft from nine to 11. The bill also beefs up the investment for the UH-60 Black Hawk with an additional $141 million, funding a total of 42 helicopters. The legislation funds three P-8A Poseidon submarine-hunting planes for the Navy Reserve force. Those aircraft were not originally included in the budget. The Navy would get an additional E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, for a total of five planes costing $791 million. The committee also approved $1 billion for nine CH-53K helicopters, two more than the request. Additionally, the legislation would allow U.S. Special Operations Command to begin its Armed Overwatch Program, but the bill summary did not state how much funding would be allotted in FY21. The House committee fully funded most other major military aircraft programs, including money for 50 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, five CH-47 Chinook Block II cargo helicopters and long-lead funding for additional Chinooks for the Army. The Air Force would get 12 F-15EX fighters, 15 KC-46 tankers and 19 HH-60W combat rescue helicopters. Meanwhile, the Navy's request of 24 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets was also fully funded by the committee. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/07/08/house-defense-spending-bill-would-give-the-mq-9-reaper-drone-a-second-life

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  16 juillet 2018 | International, C4ISR

  NATO summit boosts cybersecurity amid uncertainty

  By: Justin Lynch Amid uncertainty over NATO member's defense spending, energy deals with Russia and the very future of the alliance itself, combating Moscow's campaign of digital war quietly emerged as an item of agreement for the 29-state body during a summit in Brussels. Consider: Few previous NATO meetings of world leaders have included so much discussion over cybersecurity. In a joint declaration, the word “cyber” appeared 26 times. In what appears to be a first for the alliance, leaders twice mentioned the threat of “disinformation campaigns,” that have spread chaos through western countries. The declaration devoted two sections to digital security. Leaders agreed to create two new bodies: A cyberspace operations center in Belgium and a “Joint Force Command” headquarters based in Norfolk, Virginia, that is focused on protecting transatlantic lines of communication. The alliance also agreed to integrate cybersecurity into NATO operations, although it is not mandatory for countries to do so. The joint decleration followed a recent announcement by the organization that it would boslter its joint cyber operations. If nessecary, alliance members can coordinate a response to a malicious cyberattack, strengthening the pact's agreement of collective self-defense. “We don't accept cyber, propaganda, interference in domestic political processes,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg during a press conference on June 11. He added later in the day that NATO will continue to assist Ukraine in “cyber defense,” amid its upcoming elections. The focus on cybersecurity and online warfare may be caused by the digital battering that alliance members have experienced in recent years. As NATO members posed for a “family” photograph on Wednesday, it was difficult to pick out members of the transatlantic partnership where Russian disinformation or cyberattacks have been absent. There was Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Jüri Ratas of Estonia, Theresa May of Britainand Angela Merkel of Germany; just a sample of NATO countries who have confronted Russian hackers and propaganda. However experts say that the alliance's cyber provisions depend on the strength of the organization itself, which came into doubt during a “turbulent” morning, according to sister-site Defense News. After Trump apparently indirectly threatened to leave NATO if countries did not boost their defense spending, the alliance held an emergency meeting. But in a press conference afterword, Trump praised the alliance and said that “the United States' commitment to NATO is very strong.” While he claimed that countries agreed to boost their military spending, The Associated Press reported that Macron disputed the claim. Trump also criticized Germany on Twitter for paying “billions of dollars” for Russian oil on Thursday morning. “Not acceptable!,” Trump tweeted. But the test for NATO's cyber commitments may come during a meeting next week between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Trump, himself a beneficiary of Moscow's digital support, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment. Last week, Klara Jordan, director of the cyber statecraft initiative at the Atlantic Council, told Fifth Domain that the meeting has risks. “Trump may do something similar to what he did after the summit with Kim of North Korea, where he calls for physical exercises not to happen on the border of Russia, and this may include cyber-exercises.” https://www.fifthdomain.com/international/2018/07/12/nato-summit-boosts-cybersecurity-amid-uncertainty/