26 juillet 2018 | International, Aérospatial
BERLIN (REUTERS) - THE top U.S. Air Force general in Europe on Wednesday said it was critical to ensure any future British fighter jet was compatible with the U.S. F-35 stealth fighter built by Lockheed Martin for a number of U.S. allies, including Britain.
General Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. and NATO air forces in Europe, told reporters on a teleconference that he had watched Britain's unveiling of a new fighter jet development effort electronically from afar, but had not spoken with UK officials specifically about the new combat aircraft program.
UK officials launched the new Tempest fighter jet program last week at the Farnborough Airshow outside London.
Wolters said officials from both countries had discussed future combat air capabilities in the past, and agreed on the need to ensure any new systems could work with existing weapons.
"One of the key ingredients that has to go into any future systems is to make sure that it's interoperable with existing systems and certainly the systems that that UK is embracing," he said, referring to Britain's growing fleet of F-35 fighter jets.
"As the UK decides to go forward with a system that could be called Tempest, we would hope that it would be as interoperable as possible with the great system that they've just acquired ... the F-35B," he said.
CERTAIN
He said he was certain that Britain was looking very closely at the issue, which he called "critical".
Britain has said it is looking for international partners for the new development program, and is already in discussions with Sweden, Japan and other countries. Wolters sidestepped a question on whether the United States could also play a role.
He did announce plans to bring U.S. radar-evading, or fifth-generation, aircraft to Europe in the coming months to continue efforts to integrate those capabilities with fifth-generation aircraft operated by allies, and with older fourth-generation weapons in Europe.
He declined to provide details on whether the F-35 or F-22, both radar-evading aircraft, would be brought to Europe, or when.
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By: Jeff Martin WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force is looking to replace three aircraft — the E-4B command post, the C-32A executive airlifter and the Navy's E-6B command post — under the purview of a single program known as NEAT. Air Force Materiel Command posted the request for information Tuesday for NEAT — otherwise known as National Airborne Operations Center (NAOC), Executive Airlift, Airborne Command Post (ABNCP), Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO). The RFI comes after an April Senate hearing where Gen. Robin Rand, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said it was time to get “very serious” about replacing the E-4B and E-6B. While the RFI provides little information into what is specifically sought, it does ask for companies' experience in commercial derivative military aircraft and joint work with other businesses. It also asks companies to propose a “recommended technical solution” for the NEAT program. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/newsletters/daily-news-roundup/2018/08/01/us-air-force-may-replace-3-types-of-aircraft-with-a-single-platform/