What Might DARPA’s Longshot Fighter Drone Be Armed With?

Sur le même sujet

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  21 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Germany’s Defence Ministry is under the gun to name a Tornado replacement

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — You can count on Germany to stir the pot of nuclear weapons sharing amid a global pandemic. Such was the case in the past few days in a country that, armed with a superb health care system and a relatively low COVID-19 mortality rate, is seen as a model for managing the coronavirus crisis. But as of Sunday afternoon, the national security community was abuzz about a news report saying Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer effectively promised her U.S. counterpart that the ministry will buy 45 F-18 jets from Boeing. The Der Spiegel report comes after news broke a few weeks ago that Berlin planned to acquire a mix of Airbus Eurofighter jets and Boeing F-18s for a smattering of air warfare jobs too demanding for the country's aging Tornado fleet. Those jobs include flying conventional fighter-bomber missions, jamming enemy air defenses and carrying U.S. nuclear-tipped gravity bombs to hypothetical World War III targets somewhere eastward, per NATO's so-called nuclear sharing deal. According to Der Spiegel, Kramp-Karrenbauer sent U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper an email last week detailing her ministry's wish to buy F-18s not only for the atomic mission — which comes as little surprise — but also for the electronic warfare role. That reported promise stung Eurofighter advocates — even those who might begrudgingly accept an American product for the nuclear mission — because Airbus has plans for a souped-up jamming plane that it wants to see in Germany's inventory. In short, the Eurofighter crowd wants nothing more than Berlin to pick a pure Eurofighter fleet, arguing that the F-18′s shelf life is expiring in U.S. budget planning anyway, and that the Boeing jet is no closer to nuclear weapons certification than any other aircraft. The German Defence Ministry has always signaled it will take into account industrial policy considerations in the Tornado-replacement question. So strongly did senior leaders believe in the idea of a keeping the European industrial base humming toward an eventual Franco-German aerial über-weapon that they nixed Lockheed Martin's F-35 from the competition. But keeping American aircraft entirely out of the loop has always seemed a nonstarter. A ministry spokesman on Monday said Kramp-Karrenbauer's missive to Esper was only meant to test the waters regarding America's ability to start delivering those planes when the actual acquisition program gets underway in a few years. A formal decision on replacing the Tornados had initially been expected by the end of March. But as the coronavirus crisis unfolded, that decision was pushed to after Easter. Kramp-Karrenbauer is expected to announce her plans before the parliamentary Defence Committee on Wednesday, where she is likely to face opposition from lawmakers of the SPD coalition partner. Until then, Germans have yet another puzzle to discuss, as an increasingly divisive debate unfolds here over reopening the country. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/04/20/germanys-defence-ministry-is-under-the-gun-to-name-a-tornado-replacement/

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  24 avril 2018 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

  High-cost satellites remain vulnerable to low-cost threats

  By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON ― Despite advances in satellite technology, many of the U.S. military's most expensive and necessary assets remain vulnerable to jamming from inexpensive tools, according to a new report from the CSIS Aerospace Security Project. “The technology needed to jam many types of satellite signals is commercially available and relatively inexpensive,” the report reads. Other electronic threats such as spoofing, which attempts to trick receivers into believing manipulated data from an attacker is real, also offer low cost options to adversaries who hope to interfere with satellite connectivity. These kinds of attacks can disrupt communications or position, navigation and timing techniques. The report, released April 12 and titled “Space Threat Assessment 2018,” notes that while United States near-peer adversaries have made strides in more advanced kinetic weapons, such as direct ascent anti-satellite weapons, jamming technology also is seen as critical. For example, “China has made the development and deployment of satellite jamming systems a high priority,” according to the authors, Todd Harrison, Kaitlyn Johnson and Thomas Roberts. Another near-peer, Russia, has displayed jamming and spoofing capabilities in the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Syria in the last several years. The report said the use of Russian technology in these conflicts “demonstrate[s] that Russia retains advanced electronic attack capabilities, despite some analysts' claims that Russia's ability to jam and spoof satellites has declined since 1991.” But the threat from jamming and spoofing attacks goes beyond near-peers. Iran and North Korea, so-called rogue states, also have demonstrated the capability and willingness to interfere with satellite communications and GPS signals, according to the report. And the ability to jam and spoof signals is likely to spread. The report notes once a jammer or spoofer is developed, “it is relatively inexpensive to produce and deploy in large numbers and can be proliferated to other state and non-state actors.” But the United States is not sitting by idly. The Air Force's Advanced Energy High Frequency satellites, reserved for secure communication, “incorporate a high degree of protection against jamming, spoofing, and other forms of electronic attack,” according to the report. The U.S. is also preparing troops to operate in GPS-denied environments. In January, the Defense Department jammed GPS-signals in western states so pilots could train in environments that will likely come to characterize combat in the age of electronic warfare. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/space-symposium/2018/04/16/high-cost-satellites-remain-vulnerable-to-low-cost-threats/

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  28 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES - Call for First Responder Tech by DHS - DUE JULY 2

  RESPONSES DUE BY JULY 2ND AT 4 PM EASTERN PLEASE NOTE THE SHORT DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS TO THE BELOW The TCS and the Defence Trade Commissioner at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, would like to make you, your clients, and your contacts aware of a broad call by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for prototype and mature technology related to 10 different topic areas, all aimed at improving the efficacy of first responders (police, fire, emergency medical technicians, etc.) All information can be found in the attachments here: https://sam.gov/opp/ccbc46b2d28241bab3eedea6dc7932d3/view Before making a submission, the TCS encourages firms to speak with DHS to have their questions answered and ensure their submission covers the appropriate information. Once a submission is made, DHS can no longer speak with potential applicants. Companies can contact Trade Commissioner Bobby Tate for an introduction to DHS if needed – Robert.tate@international.gc.ca Applicants will also need to register on the DHS's portal - https://baa2.st.dhs.gov/ DHS is targeting technologies at either TRL 3-4 or TRL 5-6, with the goal of raising them to TRL 7+ through this program. Initial submissions are in the form of a white paper, maximum of 10 single-sided pages. These will be rated within 30 days, and those of interest to DHS will be asked to make a more detailed full proposal. The 10 topic areas are listed here for easy reference, but companies should check the above SAM.gov site for full information: 1. Updated Law Enforcement Duty Uniform 2. Low Profile Riot Protection Gear 3. Riot Protection Helmet 4. Less-Lethal Chemical Irritant (CI) For Crowd Control 5. Less-Lethal Options for Crowd Environments 6. Tracking Criminal Actors in Large Crowds 7. Multi-spectrum Laser Detection 8. Multi-spectrum Laser Eyewear Protection 9. Rapidly Deployed Physical Barriers for Area Denial 10. Threat Characterization and Research and Development Solutions General questions on working with DHS should be referred to Trade Commissioner Bobby Tate at the above email address. TCS colleagues, please link referrals to opportunity # 1-1NL3E1 for tracking. Bobby Tate Trade Commissioner, Defence and Aerospace | Délégué commercial, défense et aérospatiale Robert.Tate@international.gc.ca Telephone | Téléphone (202) 682-7744 Facsimile | Télécopieur (202) 682-7618 Embassy of Canada 501 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 20001 Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada