US Marine Corps begins developing smaller pre-positioning ship

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  30 octobre 2023 | International, Aérospatial

  What are the takeaways from Ukraine’s fight in the Black Sea?

  Opinion: Today’s struggles in the Black Sea may herald a changing face of naval warfare, in which large warships are increasingly vulnerable.

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  22 juin 2018 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR

  Here’s the Philippine military’s wish list for its newly approved modernization phase

  By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia ― The Philippine government has confirmed that the second phase of its military modernization plan has been approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, clearing the way for the southeast Asian nation to replace some of its elderly and obsolete equipment. The confirmation by Philippine Department of National Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong on Wednesday will now allow the country to implement sorely needed recapitalization of some of its equipment, the oldest of which dates back to World War II. Andolong also confirmed that the budget for the five-year Horizon 2 modernization program, which will run from 2018-2022, has been set at some 300 billion Philippine pesos (U.S. $5.6 billion). According to sources in the Philippines, this amount will be split into $890 million for the Army, $1.44 billion for the Navy and $2.61 billion for the Air Force, with the rest of the budget going to the military's General Headquarters and the government's arsenal. The list of equipment the Philippines is seeking to acquire under the Horizon 2 program includes multirole fighters, airlifters, maritime patrol aircraft and heavy lift helicopters for the Air Force, while the Army is seeking more artillery, light tanks and multiple rocket launchers. The budget for the Air Force includes an amount set aside for combat utility helicopters. A contract signed in February with the Canadian government for Bell 412 helicopters was canceled after Canadian politicians raised concerns about the Duterte administration's human rights record in its ongoing war on drugs. The Philippines is reportedly now seeking to acquire the helicopters through a commercial sale, while an alternative option of buying the South Korean Korea Aerospace Industires Surion helicopter has also been floated. The Navy's priority will be the acquisition of two corvettes and a similar number of multirole offshore patrol vessels. Other items on its wish list include more anti-submarine helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles, the latter for the country's Marine Corps. Andolong also confirmed that the Navy wants to acquire an unspecified number of submarines under Horizon 2. However, this could prove difficult under a limited budget and because the country's has no experience operating and sustaining a submarine capability. The Philippines, which is an archipelagic nation made up of more than 7,600 islands, faces a myriad security challenges ranging from disputes with China and other southeast Asian countries over the ownership of islands and features in the South China Sea, to ongoing insurgencies with communist guerrillas and Muslim separatists that includes Islamic State-linked militants. In May 2017, the latter seized control of the city of Marawi in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, leading to a five-month siege by government forces, which resulted in large parts of the city being badly damaged during operations to recapture it. During the operation, the United States, which has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, provided intelligence and surveillance assistance to government forces with its manned and unmanned aircraft. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2018/06/21/heres-the-philippine-militarys-wish-list-for-its-newly-approved-modernization-phase/

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  29 octobre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité, Autre défense

  Italy defense budget rebounds despite coronavirus crisis

  Tom Kington ROME — Italy has announced a major boost to its defense budget even as the country spends millions of euros battling the devastating effect of COVID-19 on its economy. Overall defense ministry spending is up 9.6 percent this year to €15.3 billion (U.S. $18.1 billion), with the procurement budget emerging as the big winner as it rises by 26 percent from last year if coupled with top-up spending from the industry ministry. “This is a very positive budget for the armed forces, especially for procurement during this challenging economic climate,” said Paolo Crippa, a defense analyst at the CESI think tank in Rome. The figures are included in Italy's 2020 budget, which should have been released in the spring, but was held up by the COVID-19 crisis which hit Italy hard in March and is now threatening the country again. This year's €15.3 billion defense ministry spending compares to just under €14 billion last year, signaling a halt in a series of year-on-year falls. Procurement takes up €2.8 billion of the budget, up 50 percent on last year, but for a true picture of Italian procurement spending the annual top-up for domestic procurement provided by the Italian industry ministry must be added, which amounts to €2.64 billion, also up from last year. The total to spend on procurement therefore comes to €5.45 billion, up 26 percent on last year's €4.32 billion. Of the other two other spending categories in the ministry budget, Maintenance and Operations rises 23 percent to €2.15 billion, while personnel spending remains stable at €10.4 billion. “The rise in M&O spending follows claims by generals that cuts were damaging military readiness,” said Crippa. The budget was drawn up by defense minister Lorenzo Guerini, a member of the center-left Democratic Party which governs in a coalition government with the anti-establishment Five Star party. Since first entering government in 2018, Five Star has softened its anti-military stance, which saw it initially push to scrap the F-35 program. This year, the F-35 program receives €800 million to help conclude the purchase of the first 28 of Italy's planned 90 aircraft buy. A further €126 million is also budgeted to get the purchase of the next 27 aircraft underway. Other ongoing programs that get more funding in 2020 include the purchase of 650 new VTLM 2 vehicles – an upgrade of the army Lince vehicle, as well as a mid-life refurbishment for Italy's Storm Shadow missiles and the purchase of T-345 and T-346 jet trainers. Further programs also getting a dose of regular funding are Italy's new, €1.17 billion LHD vessel the Trieste, a €2 billion acquisition of 150 new Centauro II wheeled tanks and a €974 million purchase of 16 new CH-47F helicopters. Comparing the total envisaged price tag of some programs in the budget to the price listed in last year's budget reveals costs are rising. A plan to buy four new U-212 NFS submarines has risen from €2.35 billion to €2.68 billion this year, a hike of over €300 million. The ongoing purchase of ten PPA naval vessels has risen over €400 million to €4.27 billion. Some programs appear for the first time in the budget, including two new “DDX” destroyers for the Navy. No money is earmarked in 2020 but €4.5 million is due to be used for a de-risking study beginning in 2021. A second new entry is a listing for a “multi-mission, multi-sensor” Gulfstream G-550 jet. Without stating how many aircraft Italy plans to order, the budget gives the total price tag of the program as €1.23 billion and states that funding will start in 2021. The capabilities of the platform listed include command-and-control, “electronic superiority” and “electronic protection of forces.” An Italian analyst who declined to be named said the program was a reprisal of a long nurtured Italian plan for a sensor platform dubbed JAMMS, which would offer signals intelligence, communications relay and radar capabilities. The Italian Air Force declined to comment on the program. An illustration of the aircraft in the budget document resembles Israel's “Shavit” Signals Intelligence Gulfstream. Italy already flies two Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft it purchased from Israel's IAI in 2012 as part of a swap deal under which Israel purchased 30 M-346 trainers from Italian firm Leonardo. The budget document states that after getting underway, the new program will take onboard future technology advancements and the benefits of “international cooperation accords.” The analyst said, “There is a plan to buy the platform now since the Gulfstream G550 is going out of production, then add Israeli systems in return for purchases by Israel from Italian industry.” Programs on the military's wish list which do not have any funding earmarked yet also get a mention in the budget document, starting with investment in the U.K.-led Tempest program for a future sixth-generation fighter. But the absence of cash for the program, which the U.K. and Sweden have already invested in, risked making Italy the weakest partner in the trio, wrote Italian defense publication RID. “In this way, there is the risk that Italy's ability to influence the development decreases and it will be weaker when it comes to future talks on the dividing of manufacturing,” the publication stated. The document also confirms Italy's interest in joining the U.S. Future Vertical Lift helicopter initiative to build next generation helicopters, which is currently being pursued by the United States only. Government officials have already mulled investing in the program using funds paid out by the EU to help the Italian economy rebound from COVID-19. Analysts have suggested that buying into FVL may overlap with work by Italy's Leonardo to build the AW249, a replacement for Italy's AW129 Mangusta attack helicopter. This year, the plan to complete a €2.7 billion purchase of 48 of the AW249 helicopters receives funding in the budget. “There is cash for the successor to the AW129 but seeing the mention of the FVL confirms Italy is also interested in that initiative,” said Crippa. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/10/28/italy-defense-budget-rebounds-despite-covid-crisis/