Nouvelles

Rolls-Royce has started expansion work on its Centre of Excellence for Naval Handling equipment in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. The ground-breaking ceremony was witnessed by Peterborough-Kawartha Minister Maryam Monsef, Provincial Parliament Member Dave Smith, and Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien. The newly expanded facility will accommodate the design and manufacture of Rolls-Royce Mission Bay Handling System (MBHS). MBHS is a manufacturing system that will support the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), as well as the UK's Type 26 and Australian Hunter-class programmes. The MBHS offers a flexible and compatible low-risk solution, holding the capability to launch and recover naval vehicles. It can also move containerised packages without the aid of a dockside crane. Rolls-Royce Business Development & Government Affairs vice-president Bruce Lennie said: “We are pleased to welcome Minister Monsef, MPP Smith and Mayor Therrien to mark this significant milestone in developing our infrastructure, which will support the Canadian Surface Combatant programme. “This centre will harness and build upon the wealth of Canadian engineering and technological expertise we have at Rolls-Royce. We look forward to growing our business in-country, further developing our supply chain and enhancing our contributions to the Canadian economy.” The upcoming infrastructure expansion is aimed to benefit the Canadian economy and Canada's Armed Forces. The Global Combat Ship design for ships CSC ships have been approved by the Canadian Federal Government. Under the deal, 15 new CSC ships are to be manufactured. According to the company, the Canadian supply chain network has also been expanded to support the domestic and international export openings created by the Global Combat Ship programme. Rolls-Royce currently has over 1,000 Canadian workforces across five facilities, including in Montreal, Ottawa and Peterborough. https://www.naval-technology.com/news/rolls-royce-invests-in-facility-expansion-for-canadas-csc-project/

Le consortium HFTS qui réunit, à parts égales, Airbus Helicopters, CAE, Rheinmetall et Thales, va procéder à la remise à niveau des simulateurs NH90 au tout dernier standard hélicoptère MR-1. Le consortium HFTS qui réunit, à parts égales, Airbus Helicopters, CAE, Rheinmetall et Thales, va procéder à la remise à niveau des quatre simulateurs de mission NH90 des forces allemandes au tout dernier standard hélicoptère MR-1. Signé récemment, le contrat vient compléter le contrat de financement privé initial signé en 2004. "Cette modernisation s'accompagne d'une rénovation des configurations informatiques, du remplacement du poste instructeurs et du logiciel d'animation de la situation tactique (CGF) et prévoit une certification de niveau C auprès de l'autorité européenne EASA", indique Thales qui poursuit : "gr'ce à ce programme, les forces armées allemandes pourront fournir des services de formations de pointe pour leurs équipages NH90 dans un environnement virtuel. De plus, l'interconnexion des simulateurs répartis sur les sites de Bückeburg, Fassberg et Holzdorf et l'ouverture vers les autres moyens d'entrainement de l'Armée allemande permettra aux équipages de faire de l'entraînement collectif sur des missions complexes". "Tous les pilotes de NH90 des forces armées allemandes ont utilisé exclusivement les simulateurs de HFTS GmbH au cours de la dernière décennie, totalisant 200 000 heures de vol. Des clients internationaux tels que la Suède, la Belgique, la Finlande et la Nouvelle-Zélande se sont également entraînés avec succès sur les simulateurs NH90 ces dernières années", souligne Peter Halbig, directeur du consortium. https://www.air-cosmos.com/article/nh90-modernisation-de-quatre-simulateurs-de-mission-22576

A multi-target air-to-air weapon and gun-armed close-support missile are among new projects DARPA plans to launch in fiscal 2021. New approaches to communicating in contested environments, attacking signals and countering laser weapons are also on the list. The Defense Department is seeking $3.57 billion in funding for its advanced research projects agency in 2021, an increase of just over 3% from 2020. Among the projects planned for initiation in 2021 is LongShot, for which DARPA is seeking $22 million. LongShot will demonstrate an air-launched weapon system that will use a slower-speed, longer-range air vehicle for transit to the engagement zone where it will launch multiple air-to-air missiles. The weapon will be carried externally on existing fighters or internally on bombers. Multi-mode propulsion will significantly increase engagement range while allowing air-to-air missiles to be launched closer to their targets, reducing reaction time and increasing terminal energy and kill probability. LongShot appears to be a follow-on to the Flying Missile Rail concept revealed by DARPA in 2017. This was a device carrying a pair of AIM-120 air-to-air missiles that could remain under the wing of and F-16 or F/A-18 or fly away from the host aircraft, acting as a booster to extend the range of the missiles. “LongShot will explore new engagement concepts for multi-modal, multi-kill systems that can engage more than one target,” according to DARPA budget documents. Fiscal 2021 funding would take the program through to a preliminary design review for the demonstration system. DARPA is seeking $13.3 million for begin the Gunslinger program to demonstrate a tactical-range weapon that will combine the maneuverability of a missile with ability of a gun to engage different types of target. Envisioned missions are close air support, counter insurgency and air-to-air engagements. Metrics for the system are total range, including transit, loiter and engagement, as well as effectiveness, according to the documents. Development of such a missile system will require vehicle concepts that have the aerodynamic, propulsion and payload to enable a wide operational envelope, says DARPA. Gunslinger will also require “algorithms that support maneuvering and target recognition to enable expedited command decision making for selecting and engaging targets, and approaches to incorporating modularity of design to reduce cost,” the documents say. DARPA is seeking $15.1 million in 2021 for another new project, Counter High Energy Lasers (C-HEL), which aims to develop a system to detect, locate and disrupt energy laser weapons before they can inflict irreversible damage. The project will study novel sensors, protective materials and obscurants as well as optical and kinetic defeat systems. Fiscal 2021 funding would take the project through the conceptual design review for an initial operational C-HEL system and field testing of protective coatings. Developing small photonic terminals that can establish high-bandwidth communications links between microsatellites and mobile platforms is the goal of Portable Optical Integrated Network Transceivers (POINT), a new project for which $9.2 million is sought in 2021. Existing optical terminals with gimballed telescopes are too large for microsatellites, and POINT will leverage the recent developments in optical phased-array transmitters to develop transceivers with no moving parts, dramatically reducing their size, weight and power requirements. Providing tactical beyond-line-of-sight communications in an anti-access/area-denial environment by deploying low-cost expendable repeaters ground vehicles, unmanned aircraft, high-altitude platforms and low-orbiting satellites is the goal of the new Resilient Networked Distributed Multi-Transceiver Communications (RNDMC) project, for which $7.4 million is sought in 2021. Proportional Weapons, for which $6 million is sought in 2021, is a new project to develop a real-time capability to tune the effects of families of munitions to be able to breach a structure, or clear an area, while minimizing collateral damage. “Novel approaches are needed that are absolutely effective from the air or ground against several scales of primarily urban, concealed threats while not being catastrophically destructive,” say DARPA budget documents. Other new projects for fiscal 2021 include: Dynamic Airspace Control ($13.7 million), to develop ways to surveil and manage local airspace without using high-power radar; Non-Kinetic Effects ($7.5 million), to develop new electronic-warfare systems to sense, attack and also protect signals; and Port Defense ($7.4 million), to use expendable unmanned undersea vehicles for mine countermeasures. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/darpa-eyes-new-weapon-concepts-2021-program-plans

ByEd Adamczyk Feb. 17 (UPI) -- A solar-powered unmanned aircraft with a wingspan of 114 feet completed its maiden high-altitude flight in the stratosphere, maker BAE Systems said on Monday. The plane, called PHASA-35, which stands for Persistent High altitude Solar Aircraft and its wingspan measured in meters, is meant to fly about 32 miles above the earth in the space, in the upper atmosphere between conventional aircraft and satellites. The aircraft's solar-powered batteries could allow it to stay aloft for over a year at a time, providing a stable platform for monitoring, surveillance, communications and security applications. It can also offer military and commercial customers with capabilities not available from existing air and space platforms, and could be used in communications networks disaster relief and border protection at a fraction of the cost of satellites, BAE said in a statement. The plane, which went from proof of capability to testing in only 20 months, is underwritten by Britain's Science and Technology Laboratory and Australia's Defense Science and Technology Group, and built by BAE Systems and its subsidiary, Prismatic Ltd. Its flight trials were successfully completed at the Royal Australian Air Force Woomera Test Range in South Australia. "To go from design to flight in less than two years shows that we can rise to the challenge the U.K. government has set industry to deliver a Future Combat Air System within the next decade," said Ian Muldowney, engineering director at BAE Systems. Additional test are scheduled for later this year, with plans to enter initial operations with customers within 12 months. Airbus is among companies competing in the high-altitude, long-endurance category of planes, and in 2019 completed a 26-day test flight of its solar-powered Zephyr S "High Attitude Pseudo-Satellite." https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2020/02/17/BAE-successfully-tests-solar-powered-high-altitude-plane

The Quebec government is defending its decision to invest $30 million in a project to build blimps or airships to transport heavy equipment and supplies to remote areas of the province that lack roads. In June, the government announced it was buying a minority stake in French blimp manufacturer Flying Whales that plans to build a production facility in the Montreal area within five years. The French company is developing a 150-metre-long airship capable of carrying up to 60 tonnes of cargo. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Quebec will join France and China as shareholders in the company founded in 2012. Flying Whales is working with Pratt & Whitney Canada (PWC) on a propulsion system that would be adapted from existing helicopter turbines. A spokesperson for PWC confirmed the company is a partner in the project, but said it is still too early in the process to add further comment. “I'm not even sure we've signed a contract with Flying Whales, but it's something very different than what's out there and we're always looking to be involved in advanced projects,” said Catherine Cunningham, assistant director, Public Relations and Communications at PWC. However, Quebec opposition parties are demanding access to a study that supports the project, claiming it's not economically feasible. In 2017, the previous Liberal government declined to partner with Flying Whales for a similar project. But the current Quebec government claims the new project is better laid out and is supported by many sources that were not identified. This isn't the first time a company has tried to build airships in the province. In 2015, LTA Aerostructures, a Montreal-based company with American and Canadian backers, announced plans to build a $60 million production facility in Mirabel to build airships capable of transporting up to 70 million tonnes of cargo. However, the plant was never built and the company's website is no longer active. https://www.skiesmag.com/news/quebec-defends-30-million-flying-whales-investment

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Pendant longtemps l'Occident a constitué un "bloc" partageant les mêmes valeurs et parlant dans le monde d'une même voix pour la paix. Aujourd'hui les pays occidentaux doutent de leurs valeurs, n'y croient plus, et sont en même temps divisés entre eux. Le Président Emmanuel Macron a participé ce 15 février 2020 à la Conférence de sécurité de Munich qui appelle à un sursaut pour préserver une capacité d'action en matière de défense et de sécurité, pour promouvoir la paix. La Conférence de sécurité de Munich, historiquement, est une enceinte qui a été créée en 1962 par Ewald VON KLEIST, un ancien officier allemand qui était l'un des comploteurs contre Hitler en 1944, et l'un des rares survivants du complot. Il avait fondé cette conférence avec l'idée de promouvoir la paix par le dialogue. Souveraineté européenne, place de l'Europe comme puissance politique, en particulier comme puissance d'équilibre, complémentarité entre OTAN et Europe de la défense, relation avec la Russie, doctrine pour la dissuasion nucléaire, le Président de la République a exposé sa vision. « Nous avons besoin d'une stratégie européenne qui est celle de nous revivre comme une puissance politique stratégique. Je vois une Europe beaucoup plus souveraine, unie, démocratique. À horizon dix ans, je vois une Europe qui aura construit les leviers pour b'tir sa souveraineté technologique, de sécurité et de défense, sur les sujets migratoires, en termes alimentaire, climatique et environnemental, et dans sa relation avec son grand voisinage. » Emmanuel Macron, le 15 février 2020 à Munich. Discous disponibles ici : https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2020/02/15/conference-sur-la-securite-de-munich-faire-revivre-leurope-comme-une-puissance-politique-strategique

(Munich) Les dépenses militaires mondiales ont connu l'an dernier leur hausse la plus élevée depuis dix ans, sur fond de rivalités croissantes et de ce que le chef de l'État allemand a qualifié de « dynamique destructrice » au plan mondial. La progression a atteint au total 4 %, selon le rapport annuel de l'institut IISS publié vendredi peu avant le début de la Conférence sur la sécurité de Munich. En ouverture de cette grand-messe annuelle internationale sur les questions de défense, le président allemand Frank-Walter Steinmeier a planté le décor. « Année après année, nous nous éloignons de l'objectif d'une coopération internationale visant à créer un monde pacifique », a-t-il regretté. La « compétition des grandes puissances » gagne « toute la planète », a dit le président allemand, en critiquant l'égoïsme national répandu à ses yeux par les États-Unis de Donald Trump qui refusent « l'idée même d'une communauté internationale » . «Course aux armements» « Le monde ne peut pas se permettre une course aux armements », lui a fait écho la présidente démocrate de la Chambre des représentants, Nancy Pelosi, parlant d'« érosion préoccupante des cadres pour le contrôle qui ont rendu le monde sûr pendant des décennies ». Les dépenses militaires « ont augmenté avec la sortie des économies de la crise financière (de 2008) et sous l'effet d'une perception accrue des menaces », a relevé le directeur général de l'Institut international d'études stratégiques (IISS, International Institute for Strategic Studies). La mort du traité FNI sur les forces nucléaires intermédiaires (portée de 500 à 5500 km) en 2019 et l'extinction potentielle du traité New Start sur les armes nucléaires intercontinentales en 2021 bouscule l'ordre international post-Guerre froide, tout comme la montée en puissance de la Chine ainsi qu'une série de crises régionales, de l'Ukraine à la Libye. Dans un tel contexte, les deux plus gros budgets militaires mondiaux, ceux des États-Unis (685 milliards de dollars) et de la Chine (181 milliards), poursuivent leur croissance exponentielle, avec une hausse de 6,6 % dans les deux pays en 2019 par rapport à 2018. Les dépenses américaines ont augmenté à elles seules de 53,4 milliards de dollars l'an dernier, soit l'équivalent du septième budget mondial de la défense, après ceux de l'Arabie saoudite (3e), de la Russie (4e), mais avant ceux de la France (8e). « En Europe, les inquiétudes liées à la Russie continuent d'alimenter la croissance des dépenses avec une hausse de 4,2 % par rapport à 2018 », pointe également John Chipman. L'accroissement massif des capacités militaires chinoises est une source majeure d'inquiétude aux États-Unis comme auprès de leurs partenaires en Asie-Pacifique. La Chine s'est aussi lancée, comme la Russie, dans le développement d'armes hypersoniques susceptibles de déjouer les défenses antimissiles adverses, met en garde l'institut londonien. L'armée russe a annoncé en décembre la mise en service de ses premiers missiles hypersoniques Avangard, l'une des nouvelles armes vantées par le président Vladimir Poutine comme « invincibles » et « indétectables ». Europe bousculée En Europe, les interrogations grandissent devant le risque de désengagement des États-Unis, de plus en plus centrés sur l'Asie-Pacifique, même si ces derniers ont renforcé pour l'heure leur présence militaire dans l'est du continent face à la Russie, tout comme dans le Golfe face aux menaces iraniennes. Les pays membres de l'OTAN, Allemagne en tête, sont aussi budgétairement sous la pression du président américain Donald Trump qui leur réclame un effort plus massif pour arriver à l'objectif de dépenses égales à 2 % du PIB. Après Donald Trump en 2018, le président français Emmanuel Macron a en outre « semblé jeter le doute » à son tour sur l'engagement de solidarité collective au sein de l'Alliance en cas d'agression de l'un de ses membres, rappelle l'ISS. Il a aussi ébranlé ses partenaires en estimant l'OTAN en état de « mort cérébrale ». « Deux des trois puissances nucléaires de l'Alliance (la troisième étant le Royaume-Uni) ont ainsi semé l'incertitude sur cette question clé de la sécurité collective », souligne John Chipman. https://www.lapresse.ca/international/202002/14/01-5261007-plus-forte-hausse-depuis-dix-ans-pour-les-depenses-militaires-mondiales.php

BY AMANDA CONNOLLY AND KERRI BREEN The top U.S. official in Ottawa says in his country's view, Canada is not likely to hit the defence spending targets it has promised. Richard Mills, the U.S. Embassy's chargé d'affaires, said while there have been positive spending steps by the Canadian government, the view south of the border is that Canada will fall short in hitting its promised investment of two per cent of GDP on defence. “We were very pleased with some of the defence spending that's occurred under this government, including some effort to buy new frigates, some new airplanes,” he said in an interview with The West Block's Mercedes Stephenson. “But to be quite honest with you, Mercedes, the Canadian government is not on course to meet two per cent by 2024. In fact, they probably will reach a peak — in our estimate, around 1.4 per cent — in 2024 and then decline rapidly.” Canada, along with other NATO members, agreed in 2014 to increase spending on defence to the tune of two per cent of GDP by 2024. But according to NATO estimates from November, just nine of out of 29 member nations have met the goal. U.S. President Donald Trump has aggressively pushed allies to meet those promises since his election in 2016. And in November, Global News learned that the U.S. took the unusual step of sending a diplomatic letter criticizing Canadian military spending. Canada's prime minister and defence minister, however, have pointed out that a plan has been established to dramatically increase defence investment. In 2017, Ottawa announced it would boost the annual defence budget to almost $33 billion within a decade, an increase of 70 per cent. “The relationship with Canada and the U.S., the defence relationship, I think, is even stronger now, because they see a tangible plan that we have created,” Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said on an episode of The West Block that aired on Nov. 24. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also insisted that there are other ways to measure the value of a country's military contributions and frequently cites the steep costs Canadian soldiers and peacekeepers have paid on allied missions around the world. Canada currently sits at 1.31 per cent in terms of how much of its GDP goes towards defence spending. That's up from about 1 per cent in 2014. Mills said the U.S. views hitting the two per cent target — or at least getting close — as crucial in order for Canada to be taken seriously. “This is important because our common security requires common burden sharing and we want to see our Canadian friends and Canada have a voice in international relations, have a strong voice because we share the same outlook,” he said. “But to be listened to, there has to be something behind you and that requires investment in the military.” Mills is currently the highest-ranking official at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa. Kelly Craft, the previous ambassador to Canada, was tapped to represent the U.S. at the United Nations last year. On Tuesday, the White House said Trump would nominate Dr. Aldona Wos to serve as the new ambassador. https://globalnews.ca/news/6556192/canada-2-defence-spending-pledge/