29 janvier 2024 | International, Terrestre
23 avril 2019 | International, Terrestre
US Army needs another year to pick protection system for Stryker
By: Jen Judson
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army plans to take another year to pick an Active Protection System for its Stryker combat vehicle, according to the military deputy to the Army acquisition chief.
The service is already fielding the Rafael-made Trophy APS on its Abrams tank and has picked IMI's Iron Fist for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle — both as interim systems until the Army can develop an advanced future system — but it had to go back to square one when its attempt to outfit Stryker with Herndon, Virginia-based Artis LLC's Iron Curtain system failed.
The Army put out a request for possible systems to be qualified as an interim solution on the Stryker. Officials ultimately chose a Rafael and DRS team and a Rheinmetall and UBT team to participate in a live-fire rodeo last November to see if either system might work.
But while it was believed a decision would come soon after, Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski testified at an April 2 Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee hearing that it would take another year to make a decision.
“We have two companies that are in the process of competing for [APS on Stryker]. One is a venture between ... Rafael and DRS and the other is Rheinmetall and UBT, so we are in the process of going through that,” Ostrowski said. “It's going to take about a year, quite frankly, in order to put those systems on the vehicles, characterize them and make a determination as to whether or not to move forward with either one of the two vendors.”
Ostrowski added the service had asked each team to provide blueprints and to build their non-developmental APS systems to fit on Stryker. “They are in the process of doing that build,” he said.
“And once the build is put on the vehicle, it's then a matter of testing in order to ensure that it works,” Ostrowski said, which is not unlike the process the Army went through to characterize and qualify APS systems on both Abrams and Bradley.
Israeli company Rafael and DRS submitted its Trophy VPS — a lighter version of Trophy — for the rodeo. Germany-based Rheinmetall partnered with Unified Business Technologies, based in Michigan, and submitted its Active Defense System — now renamed StrikeShield.
During the rodeo, participants did not perform a full installation of their systems on the vehicle. Instead, they set up test rigs in front of Strykers or hung their system off a Stryker in the evaluation.
Following the rodeo, the idea was to select one, possibly two systems, to begin some sort of installation characterization on a platform deemed most appropriate for the APS system, Col. Glenn Dean, the Army's Stryker program manager who is also in charge of the interim APS effort, told Defense News in October 2018.
Meanwhile, Ostrowski said the Army bought 88 Iron Fist systems for Bradley in 2019 and planned to buy another 36 in the FY20 budget. The service is on a path to field four brigades of Abrams with Trophy by FY21.
The Army is also developing its own Modular Active Protection System, which is seen more like a digital integrated backbone that will be designed with an open-system architecture so that vendors can bring radars, optical sensors and hard- or soft-kill effectors and plug them in, according to Ostrowski.
The important thing is “to get a capability out there first. . . . Now it's just a matter of moving beyond that,” he said.
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3 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial
Mattis says US-France in talks about loosening export limits on cruise missile
By: Pierre Tran PARIS – U.S. defense officials are in detailed talks with French counterparts on a request for the sale of American components built into French cruise missiles, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. Asked by a French journalist about Washington blocking the sale of the Scalp long-range weapon to Egypt and Qatar, Mattis said American and French staff were meeting on that very issue even as a press conference was being held. “We discussed this,” he said. “We also have our staffs meeting. We have an invitation out to France to answer two final questions. The meetings are going on as we speak.” Mattis, on his first visit to Paris as defense secretary, was speaking at a joint press conference with his French counterpart, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, held at Brienne House. The two issues to be resolved target “certain technologies” that the United States only shares with its closest allies, including France, and whether that technology can be further transferred, and how France can protect that technology, he said. “Right now we don't have a final answer but it is all going in the right direction,” he said. “And it was a very fruitful discussion today. Our staffs are working this forward right now.” The conundrum stems from the French sale to Egypt and Qatar of Scalp cruise missiles to arm Dassault Rafale fighter jets. The weapons include U.S. parts, leading Washington to evoke the International Traffic in Arms Regulations regime. Parly, meanwhile, thanked Mattis, for help in gaining U.S. authorization for arming French Reaper drones, cleared for fitting by the end of the year. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to come to Paris to mark the Nov. 11 Armistice Day, she said. That date is highly significant for France, marking the end of World War I, in which millions of troops died in the trenches. Mattis said he was not concerned about a drive by France and Germany to build a stronger European defense, as there were some issues which were “of interest only to Europeans.” As long as the European drive would not duplicate NATO or compete for alliance forces, “we see this in a positive direction,” he said. Mattis earlier met French President Emmanuel Macron and would go on to Brussels for a NATO ministerial meeting. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/02/mattis-offers-easing-of-us-export-limits-on-french-cruise-missile
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8 mars 2022 | International, Aérospatial
« Le Tigre Mark 3 n'aura pas d'équivalent au niveau mondial » : entretien avec Bruno Even, CEO d’Airbus Helicopters
Dans une interview accordée à La Tribune, le CEO d'Airbus Helicopters, Bruno Even, revient sur les enjeux du contrat du Tigre Mark 3, récemment notifié à Airbus Helicopters et ses partenaires. « C'est une très bonne nouvelle au niveau politique, industriel et opérationnel. Le lancement de ce programme est important pour l'Europe de la défense, notamment sous son angle politique. On voit bien l'importance du Tigre, qui a été et est l'un des programmes emblématiques de la coopération européenne, pour une Europe de la défense forte et pour son industrie. Ce programme appuie par ailleurs l'évolution actuelle importante, qui est le renforcement de la souveraineté de l'Europe et de ses pays membres ». Il rappelle que « Airbus Helicopters a près de deux tiers de la charge de travail sur le développement de cette nouvelle version du Tigre. Au niveau de notre supply chain, Thales (avionique), Safran (viseurs et chaîne optronique) et MBDA (armements) seront nos principaux fournisseurs sur le Tigre Mark 3 ». Au niveau opérationnel, le Tigre Mark 3 « n'aura pas d'équivalent au niveau européen », se félicite-t-il. « Au niveau mondial, il y a encore l'Apache mais le Tigre Mark 3, avec ses futures capacités, sera un hélicoptère d'attaque, qui dans la haute intensité n'aura pas d'équivalent au niveau mondial que ce soit en termes de connectivité (Man Machine Teaming) mais aussi en termes de connectivité tactique et d'échanges de données sur le champ de bataille et, enfin, en termes de capacités de feu et d'armement. Nous développons avec Thales une nouvelle avionique, qui va alléger la charge de travail du pilote pour lui permettre de se concentrer sur ses missions, et avec Safran des nouveaux systèmes de mission et de détection (optronique). C'est pour cela que sur le plan opérationnel et dans un monde incertain, ce nouvel hélicoptère continuera d'être sur le champ de bataille l'ange gardien de nos soldats ». La Tribune du 8 mars