Nouvelles

By: Gen. Francois Lecointre The singularity of the military lies in its raison d'être: to wage war in order to guarantee France survives an existential threat. To this end, the armed forces are alone in having limitless power to use deliberate force and to kill, if that is what the mission requires. This is what distinguishes them from law enforcement agencies who use force strictly in proportion to the risks incurred and who are constrained by the notion of self-defense. This military singularity is based on several fundamental principles. Discipline: The armed forces are the strength of the nation, and it is out of the question that one should be able — for even a second — to suspect them of wishing to become emancipated from legitimate political power. They are therefore strictly and totally subordinated to this political power, the delegatee of national sovereignty. As a counterpart to this subordination, the armed forces must be involved in making the decisions that they will implement under strong ethical requirements and with the knowledge that they may pay with their blood. Moreover, this very strict subordination to political power means they must also be perfectly neutral, both philosophically and politically. Responsiveness and availability: Together these must ensure that any form of surprise — the very essence of war — is averted. Nuclear deterrence is therefore the most successful expression of military singularity, notably because it is based on an operational organization and culture that guarantees its absolute responsiveness. The capacity for independent action: On the battlefield, an army must have every skill at its disposal so that it can conduct its mission, including in a totally disorganized environment. It cannot count on the services of the state and must therefore have on hand the whole range of professions it needs to carry out its mission, including those that might seem quite far removed from the implementation of force. If we relate this autonomy to reactivity, then the question arises of conferring the former in peacetime in order to guarantee the latter when the army needs to engage. Ethics: At the moment they commit the most extreme act possible — taking life — soldiers must be able to find support in high ethical standards and a corpus of values. More broadly, this is what constitutes a military culture, shared by all civilian and military personnel in the armed forces. Based on these principles, military singularity is expressed in many ways. Beyond the rules of status or pay, which first come to mind, it is notably the modes of operation, structuring and organization that singularize our armed forces. This notably involves subsidiarity; the creation of intermediary echelons whose task is to synthesize and summarize data for subordinates; and the capacity of commanders, who hold all the levers for action, to respond as fast as possible to a crisis. Military singularity today has been weakened by a certain number of changes: an organization and operational mode that gives preference to management over command; outsourcing; the adoption of civilian flow logic, including for vital functions; and the lack of reserves in military human resources. These phenomena are obstacles to our full effectiveness. We must consolidate military singularity by modernizing our defense tool into one that is capable of fighting in all fields, with sufficient mass, organization and depth of capabilities to allow it to assume all of its functions both in war and in crisis. This is the aim of the actions we are currently undertaking with the minister of the armed forces. To meet the objective set by the president of the republic — that France should have “a comprehensive, modern, powerful, balanced defense tool, implemented by reactive armed forces looking to the future” — the Military Program Law 2019-2025 must allow us to repair our defense tool before the next military program law modernizes it. We are working to restore the foundations of an organization and a culture compatible with the purpose of armed forces: to guarantee the survival of the nation in the face of an existential threat, in a world marked by uncertainty and a return of tragedy. Gen. Francois Lecointre is the chief of the French Defence Staff. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2021/01/11/french-defence-staff-chief-france-is-making-moves-to-guarantee-its-survival-in-the-face-of-existential-threats/

By: Dirk Hoke This year will show how much the commitments of European governments to a stronger and more autonomous defense capability are worth. The expected discussions on budgets in connection with the heavily burdening COVID-19 pandemic will also test the assertiveness of those who play a role in defense policy. The year 2021 is one of decisive course-setting for the most important future programs of military aviation. We expect Germany, France, Italy and Spain to sign the contract for the European drone in the first half of the year. By creating a European alternative, and even founding a new generation of drones, these four nations are establishing a first, stable cornerstone for the Future Combat Air System. In FCAS, however, not only the medium-altitude, long-endurance segment will play a role, but also several variants of remote carriers, whose technology we intend to test in live demonstrations this year. For this, as well as the other four pillars of the FCAS project, a commissioning of the demonstrator phase 1B by the middle of the year is of utmost importance. FCAS is the most ambitious European defense project in history, and we are all proud to be part of it. But FCAS also has a very ambitious timetable that must be met. If we want to achieve it by 2040, this requires disciplined work from European industry and a realistic assessment of everyone's capabilities. At the same time, political leaders should push the project forward in a pragmatic way. Pragmatism also includes the acceptance of different speeds in joint armament projects. Furthermore, it will be important to open up the concept of defense widely. In a project dedicated to the middle of the century, it must not happen that we leave out the elements of space, networking, data processing and cybersecurity. As comprehensive and multidimensional as the threats are, so must be the options for our countermeasures. This year will also see a winner in two large European fighter aircraft tenders, namely Switzerland and Finland. It will reveal if the time has come for nations to choose industrial and political partnerships within their close neighborhood, or if they still strive for partnerships elsewhere like they did 30 years ago. The Eurofighter jet is the truly European solution and would fit perfectly into both air forces. In particular, its long-term evolution will make it the aircraft of choice for air defense beyond 2060, and also a fully integrated part of FCAS. Another important decision will be made on how Germany and France want to proceed with the future maritime airborne warfare system. The MAWS program, initiated in 2018 by the two ministries of defense, is an important international cooperative project that will add new capabilities and preserve existing ones for Europe's mission readiness. Furthermore, it will be important to open up the concept of defense widely. In a project dedicated to the middle of the century, it must not happen that we leave out the elements of space, networking, data processing and cybersecurity. As comprehensive and multidimensional as the threats are, so must be the options for our countermeasures. This year will also see a winner in two large European fighter aircraft tenders, namely Switzerland and Finland. It will reveal if the time has come for nations to choose industrial and political partnerships within their close neighborhood, or if they still strive for partnerships elsewhere like they did 30 years ago. The Eurofighter jet is the truly European solution and would fit perfectly into both air forces. In particular, its long-term evolution will make it the aircraft of choice for air defense beyond 2060, and also a fully integrated part of FCAS. Another important decision will be made on how Germany and France want to proceed with the future maritime airborne warfare system. The MAWS program, initiated in 2018 by the two ministries of defense, is an important international cooperative project that will add new capabilities and preserve existing ones for Europe's mission readiness. Last year taught us all what matters in the end. This year is when we'll draw the right conclusions. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2021/01/11/airbus-executive-what-will-be-most-important-this-year

By: Charles Woodburn The beginning of 2020 was an exciting time for our company; we had just announced we would acquire two high-performing new businesses out of the Raytheon and United Technologies Corporation merger. None of us could have predicted that just weeks later, the majority of our 88,000 employees around the world would be working from home as, like so many companies, we grappled with the unprecedented impact of a global pandemic. Like all businesses, we've experienced challenges this year, especially in the areas that support civil aviation. We've had to adapt and make difficult decisions, but thanks to the actions we've taken to enhance the resilience of our business and the remarkable fortitude of our people, we've continued to deliver on our customers' priorities while keeping our people safe. While COVID-19 clearly caused disruption in the second quarter, since then most of our defense businesses have been operating with well over 90 percent of employees working. The willingness of our customers to maintain cash flow into our businesses also enabled us to support our suppliers — including small and medium-sized companies — through the pandemic. Collaborative partnership with our customers has been essential to the defense industry's ability to press ahead over the past year. It remains essential as we move forward through 2021 and face an uncertain global environment with complex threats. It's only by industry and government working closely, understanding each other, and maintaining trust that we'll be able to innovate quickly to outpace the threats. As governments commit to increased spending on defense in countries such as Australia, the U.K. and several European nations, the defense industry must rise to the challenge. Our sector not only provides critical capability for a nation's security — we deliver real benefits to the economy by sustaining and creating highly skilled jobs through investment in research and technology and through exports. I strongly believe we can have a key role to play in restoring the economies of the countries in which we operate. For our part in 2021, we'll continue to invest in skills and in new technologies that are vital to maintaining our strong positions on next-generation capabilities across the air, maritime, land and cyber domains. In the U.S. market, we continue to stay well-aligned to the U.S. National Defense Strategy and are investing heavily in modernizing facilities and using new technologies. For example, we're deploying new virtual manufacturing and robotic welding in our combat vehicle production. While the new administration's priorities are not yet clear, we expect to stay well-aligned, given our work focused on combat vehicles, precision-guided munitions, naval ship repair and modernization, electronic warfare, hypersonics, space resilience, and security. In the U.K., the announcement of increased funding for the Ministry of Defence provides welcome stability. The submission of the outline business case for Tempest at the end of 2020 was another significant step in this hugely exciting project to deliver a next-generation future combat air system. Working with our partners and supply chain, we're using cutting-edge technologies to transform how we design, develop and manufacture, helping to reduce time and cost. We'll ramp up the number of people we have working on the program through 2021, including apprentices and graduates, as part of our commitment to recruit 1,250 trainees across the U.K., despite the pandemic. In Australia, we're excited to have begun work on the prototype for the Hunter-class frigate — an Australian version of the U.K.'s Type 26. We recently recruited the 1,000th Hunter employee and expect to recruit up to 1,000 more people, including apprentices and graduates, in 2021 as the program continues to ramp up. Working with our partners and customer, we're supporting Australia to develop its sovereign defense capability to deliver on the country's recently published 10-year defense strategy. It's been a challenging year of trying to stay connected while maintaining physical distance; the inability to travel to our businesses around the world and meet our people and our customers is something I've found frustrating at times. But if we continue working closely with our partners to use the lessons we've learned in 2020, particularly regarding our agility, resilience and efficiency, this industry can play an increasingly important role in restoring our battered economies, while keeping citizens safe and economies prosperous. Charles Woodburn is the CEO of BAE Systems. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2021/01/11/ceo-of-bae-systems-overcoming-hardships-for-a-better-year/

CAE announced that the United States Air Force (USAF) awarded CAE USA a contract to continue providing comprehensive KC-135 training services. The eight-year contract, awarded as a one-year base contract with seven additional one-year option periods, is valued at a total of more than US$275 million. CAE USA became the prime contractor on the USAF KC-135 Training System program in 2010 and has now won the competitive recompete to continue delivering classroom and simulator training for KC-135 pilots and boom operators. CAE USA will also continue to provide updates and upgrades to KC-135 training devices, including KC-135 operational flight trainers and boom operator trainers. In addition, the KC-135 Training System contract now includes training support for the Air National Guard's Boom Operator Simulator System (BOSS). In total, CAE USA will support the training of more than 4,500 KC-135 crewmembers annually. “CAE USA did an outstanding job supporting the U.S. Air Force on the KC-135 training program over the past decade, and we are extremely pleased to win the recompete competition and remain the KC-135 training partner,” said Ray Duquette, President and General Manager, CAE USA. CAE USA will be supported on the KC-135 Training System program by a team of industry partners, including Delaware Resource Group (DRG), Cardinal Point, FAAC, and CymSTAR. “The KC-135 Stratotanker plays a vital role in the U.S. Air Force's ability to deliver global reach, and we are honored to contribute to the training and readiness of the KC-135 aircrews who fly these essential tanker missions,” said Dan Gelston, Group President, Defense & Security, CAE. KC-135 Training System Site Background CAE USA will deliver KC-135 aircrew training to USAF active-duty, Air National Guard and reserve crewmembers at 12 sites in the United States and internationally: Altus Air Force Base (AFB) in Oklahoma, which is the site of the formal training unit; Fairchild AFB, Washington; March Air Reserve Base (ARB), California; Scott AFB, Illinois; Grissom ARB, Indiana; MacDill AFB, Florida; General Mitchell Air National Guard Base (ANGB), Wisconsin; Rickenbacker ANGB, Ohio; Pittsburgh ANGB, Pennsylvania; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Kadena Air Base, Japan; Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall, United Kingdom. In addition, the new KC-135 Training System contract includes training support for the Air National Guard KC-135 BOSS, which will be delivered at an additional 12 sites in the United States: Sioux City ANGB, Iowa; Lincoln ANGB, Nebraska; Forbes Field, Kansas; Phoenix ANGB, Arizona; Ronald Wright ANGB, Utah; Eielson AFB, Alaska; Bangor ANGB, Maine; McGuire AFB, New Jersey; Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base, Alabama; Selfridge ANGB, Michigan; McGee Tyson ANGB, Tennessee; Key Field, Mississippi. KC-135 BOSS training support will also be provided at Joint Base Pearl Harbor; Pittsburgh ANGB; General Mitchell ANGB; and Rickenbacker ANGB. https://skiesmag.com/press-releases/cae-usa-wins-competitive-recompete-of-u-s-air-force-kc-135-training-system-contract/

By: Tom Waldwyn and Haena Jo Over the next decade, companies from emerging defense industrial nations will provide greater competition for the Western and Russian firms that have previously assisted in their development. Successive Turkish, South Korean, Brazilian and Polish governments have invested heavily in their defense industries over the past decade, leading to much-improved capabilities and the introduction of complex platforms. While many of these are license-builds of Western equipment, a growing share is of original designs. However, their reliance on key subsystems from Western and Russian companies will likely continue for much of this period, presenting a potential vulnerability. License-building platforms with technology transfer has been used as a means of developing a local industrial capability with a more realistic chance of success than starting from scratch. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, Turkey and South Korea assembled hundreds of F-16 fighter jets, and both have also license-built German submarines, as has Brazil. Significant investment in these programs has meant that these countries now have the industrial capability to produce an increasing number of platforms with original designs. South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle (a trainer and light-attack aircraft with multiple variants) was developed based on both the country's experience and technology transfer from assembling F-16s. Poland's initial license-build of Finnish armored personnel carriers has now led to several local variants based on that design, and Turkey has begun to design a new attack helicopter based on its experience building the Italian-designed T129. This has gone hand in hand with procurement and industry reform. South Korea created the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in 2006 to manage procurement and develop industrial capability. Poland consolidated most of its state-owned industry under the PGZ holding company in 2015. South Korea's threefold increase in defense exports over the past decade — $1.52 billion in 2019 with a record high of $2.36 billion in 2016 — has been boosted by its companies winning contracts against European and Russian competitors. The aforementioned T-50 family has won competitions in countries such as Iraq, Indonesia and Thailand at the expense of Western and Russian aircraft. Similarly, South Korean shipyards have now signed deals to export frigates and tankers to a variety of countries including Thailand and the U.K. Significantly, in 2011, a South Korean shipyard secured a contract to supply Indonesia with submarines, beating the German original equipment manufacturer that transferred technology to South Korea in the 1980s for license-production. Although Turkey's high-profile export successes have largely come due to its political relationships rather than success in open competition, it too has seen its defense and aerospace (including civil) exports more than treble during this time, reaching $2.78 billion in 2019. Brazil's export successes ($1.3 billion in 2019) have largely come in the aerospace sector with the A-29 Super Tucano trainer/light-attack aircraft being widely exported. Recently the country has begun to secure the first sales of its KC-390 transport aircraft. Despite strong growth in defense manufacturing capability (both South Korea and Turkey report overall localization rates of around 70 percent, for example), these nations continue to rely on Western and Russian suppliers for key subsystems, with high-end electronics and engines being particular weaknesses. Attempts to fit a locally designed power pack into the K2 Black Panther main battle tank have been wracked with difficulty, forcing South Korea to order additional engines and transmissions from German suppliers. Similarly, Poland's production of its Krab howitzer ran into problems early on due to technical issues with the chassis and engine, forcing a switch to South Korean and German replacements, respectively. Turkey provides a case study of what can happen when a reliance on foreign subsystems clashes with those countries taking a dim view of your actions. Since the mid-2000s, development of the Altay main battle tank proceeded relatively smoothly, in part because the prototypes were fitted with proven German power packs. However, arms embargoes since 2016 have derailed series production. A 2015 contract to develop a local propulsion system was canceled in 2017 when the Austrian company selected to assist pulled out. Similar issues have hampered the sale of attack helicopters to Pakistan (an Italian design fitted with American engines) as well as the production of armed UAVs (Canadian sensors and engines). Beyond these emerging challengers for defense exports, other nations also warrant consideration. Japan, a country with a high localization rate since the 1990s, produces a variety of advanced platforms across different sectors. However, changing government and business practices to support export campaigns will take time. India has also invested heavily in its industry, yet bureaucratic conflicts and technical challenges have made fulfilling local requirements a challenge. The United Arab Emirates has begun to export equipment, albeit low-tech materiel. All this being said, the impact of COVID-19 on government spending will likely be felt for several years, with some importer nations already postponing programs. Whether local demand in exporter nations can make up for this remains to be seen. Tom Waldwyn is a research associate for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where Haena Jo is a research analyst for defense and military analysis. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2021/01/11/iiss-analysts-russian-and-western-defense-firms-face-greater-competition/

Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — Following a protest by Raytheon Technologies, the Space Development Agency has reevaluated awards it made for eight satellites capable of tracking hypersonic weapons, opting to stick with its original vendors: SpaceX and L3Harris. “The reevaluation confirmed the original selection decision announced in October and concluded that [SpaceX] and L3Harris Technologies' proposals offered the best value to the government,” said SDA spokesperson Jennifer Elzea in a Jan. 7 statement. The agency initially announced contracts Oct. 5 for the eight satellites. L3Harris and SpaceX were awarded $193 million and $149 million respectively to each design and develop four satellites equipped with wide field of view (WFOV) overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) sensors. Those satellites would make up the agency's inaugural tracking layer, a low Earth orbit constellation capable of detecting and tracking ballistic and hypersonic weapons. Shortly thereafter, competitors Raytheon Technologies and Airbus U.S. Space and Defense individually filed protests against the award with the Government Accountability Office. A stop work order was put in place, preventing L3Harris and SpaceX from moving forward with the contracts. In response to the protests, SDA elected to reevaluate proposals. Raytheon filed another protest Dec. 17 claiming the agency's corrective was inadequate, but the GAO dismissed that action as premature. SDA completed its reevaluation in late December, confirming its original awards, and on Dec. 28 the stop work order was lifted. “SDA is confident that reevaluation resulted in a fair outcome for all involved parties,” said Elzea. “The agency continues to make all efforts to keep the tracking layer of the National Defense Space Architecture on schedule.” In dismissing Raytheon's protest as being premature, GAO did note that the company could still protest the agency's actions following the corrective action. Neither Raytheon nor Airbus immediately responded to inquiries as to whether they would file more protests. Back in October, SDA Director Derek Tournear told C4ISRNET the contracts were the result of a full and open competition based purely on technical merit. “SpaceX had a very credible story along that line — a very compelling proposal. It was outstanding,” he said. “They are one of the ones that have been at the forefront of this commercialization and commodification route.” In addition, “L3Harris had an extremely capable solution. They have a lot of experience flying affordable, rapid, small satellite buses for the department,” he said. “They had the plant and the line in place in order to produce these to hit our schedule.” The tracking layer is just one facet of the agency's National Defense Space Architecture, a planned mega-constellation that will eventually be made up of hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit. SDA is using a spiral development approach to build out that constellation, by adding more satellites every two years. These eight satellites in question will be part of the first tranche, which is set to launch starting in 2022. More tracking layer satellites will be launched in later tranches. Tournear has previously stated that one of the agency's priorities is avoiding vendor lock, hosting an open competition for tracking layer satellites for future tranches. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2021/01/07/space-development-agency-confirms-spacex-l3harris-awards-following-protest

Le Département d'État américain a approuvé la vente potentielle d'avions de combat et du système Patriot à la Suisse. Cette décision fait suite au référendum qui a eu lieu dimanche dernier en Suisse. Lors d'un vote national, les Helvètes ont accepté d'acheter de nouveaux avions de combat pour remplacer les machines Northrop F-5E / F Tiger II et Boeing F / A-18C / D Hornet en service. Deux fournisseurs d'outre-mer et trois européens se sont disputés le contrat. Les États-Unis proposent à la Suisse des avions Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II et Boeing F / A-18 Super Hornet. En prévision d'une éventuelle décision, les Américains ont déjà accepté d'exporter lesdites armes. Dans le cas des avions F-35A, on parle de la vente potentielle de 40 machines, ainsi que de pièces détachées et d'armes, pour un montant d'environ 6,58 milliards de dollars. 40 chasseurs F / A-18E / F Super Hornet avec un package similaire ont été évalués à 7,45 milliards de dollars. Parallèlement, le département d'État américain a également approuvé la vente de systèmes de missiles de défense aérienne et antimissile Patriot à la Suisse. Cinq batteries sont évaluées à 2,2 milliards de dollars. Aucune partie ou la totalité des œuvres contenues dans la revue ne peut être reproduite et diffusée ou diffusée ultérieurement sous quelque forme et par quelque moyen que ce soit (y compris électronique ou mécanique ou autre ou dans tout domaine d'utilisation), y compris la copie, la numérisation au sens large, la photocopie ou copie, y compris publication sur Internet – sans le consentement écrit de Gremi Media SA. Toute utilisation ou utilisation des œuvres en tout ou en partie sans le consentement de Gremi Media SA ou des auteurs en violation de la loi est interdite sous peine de sanction et passible de poursuites. https://www.mercatoshow.com/la-suisse-a-recu-lapprobation-du-departement-detat-pour-acheter-des-combattants/

While commercial aviation stalled in 2020, many military programs did not so. As a result, 2021 is going to be an eventful year for aviation enthusiasts. Let's see, what new fighter jets are going to see the skies or finish their development cycle in the new year. Shenyang FC-31 A decade ago, China surprised the world with Chengdu J-20, becoming the second nation in the world with domestically-produced fifth-generation fighter jets in operational capability. But J-20s are large and expensive, and just as the United States several years before, China became interested in smaller, cheaper alternatives. One alternative was offered by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. While not much is known about the secretive aircraft, it is likely it was export-oriented at first, and repurposed as a light, possibly carrier-based companion to the J-20 later. The prototype of FC-31 first flew in 2012, but disappeared from the public eye shortly after. The aircraft returned in 2020, much improved, and with the rumors that the mass-production is about to start. We will probably see the resolution of its story in 2021: the aircraft may be officially adopted, deployed, or at least showcased in its primary role on one of China's aircraft carriers. KAI KF-X The first Korean fifth-generation fighter jet entered the development back in 2001. The project evolved, partnering with Indonesian Aerospace and United States' Lockheed-Martin, and gaining more and more government's interest as the geopolitical situation in the region heated up. KAI began building several prototypes in 2019, at least part of them scheduled for completion in mid-2021. According to the developers, the work is going as planned, so, the rollout of the first prototype will likely happen in the coming summer, followed by a round of ground tests. The maiden flight is scheduled for 2022 though, so, we will have to wait another year to see the new jet taking to the skies. Boeing F-15EX https://www.aerotime.aero/26839-New-fighter-jets-to-look-for-in-2021

By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan's defense budget for the next fiscal year will set a record high for the seventh year running, although the approved figure is still lower than that requested by the Defense Ministry. The country's Finance Ministry approved a budget of $51.5 billion for the Defense Ministry, which is $3.5 billion lower that the Defense Ministry requested in September. Funds expected to upgrade Japan's fleet of fighter jets were removed as part of the reduction. Specifically, the request for $205 million to upgrade the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's F-15J Eagle interceptors was cut in full. The upgrade would have seen the interceptors get new radars and mission computers, and equipped with standoff land-attack missiles. But local media reports said the escalating costs of nonrecurring engineering work prompted a rethink of the program. Japan requested and received the U.S State Department's approval for the upgrade of up to 98 F-15Js for an estimated cost of up to $4.5 billion. The work would have been carried out by F-15 manufacturer Boeing in conjunction with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which built the Japanese jets under license in the 1980s. Plans to buy two more Kawasaki C-2 airlifters and 25 wheeled Type 16 combat vehicles were also impacted, with the adjusted budget now allocating funds for only one C-2 and 22 Type 16. However, plans for Japan to acquire four more Lockheed Martin F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing jets and two F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing jets over the next fiscal year will go ahead. Japan has an eventual requirement for 105 F-35As and 42 F-35Bs, which makes it potentially the biggest operator of the Joint Strike Fighter outside of the United States. The country announced earlier this week that it selected Lockheed Martin to partner with local industry in the development of a next-generation fighter jet. The approved budget also allocates $323 million to increase the range of the indigenous truck-launched Type 12 anti-ship missile, with Japan seeking to eventually use the missile from aircraft and ships to strike naval targets from standoff distances. Budget documents also confirmed Japan is conducting a feasibility study on building two more destroyers fitted with the Aegis combat system and radars to beef up ballistic missile defense. The move follows the decision to cancel plans to build two Aegis Ashore systems on Japanese soil due to the danger of boosters from the missile interceptors falling onto populated areas. Previous local media reports said the proposed destroyers would use the Lockheed Martin AN/SPY-7(V)1 radar, which was also selected by Japan for the canceled Aegis Ashore systems. The budget is for the forthcoming Japanese fiscal year, which starts April 1, 2021. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2020/12/21/japan-releases-record-high-budget-but-not-all-programs-made-the-cut/