La Pologne souhaite acquérir des missiles de croisière américains

30 nov. 2016 | Par Guillaume Belan

La Pologne a demandé à Washington l’achat de 70 missiles de croisière Lockheed Martin AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER).

Equipé d’un moteur turbopropulseur plus efficace et d’un volume de carburant plus élevé , la version ER du JASSM atteindrait une portée de plus de 930 km. A l’instar du missile français Scalp, le JASSM est un armement destiné à être utilisée contre des cibles protégées de haute valeur. Avec ce missile, la Pologne deviendrait capable de frapper le territoire russe.

Le contrat éventuel est estimé à 200 millions de dollars et inclut une mise à niveau des F-16C/D polonais.

Source: Air&Cosmos

US moves to arm Indonesia’s growing F-16 fighter fleet

Written by Reuters

Monday, 27 August 2012

President Barack Obama’s administration has proposed to sell air-to-surface guided missiles and related gear to equip Indonesia’s growing fleet of U.S.-built F-16 fighter aircraft.

The sale, valued at $25 million, would be the latest U.S. move to boost security ties with friends and allies in a region stirred by China’s growing military clout and territorial assertiveness.

Indonesia has requested 18 AGM-65K2 « Maverick All-Up-Round » missiles, 36 « captive air training missiles » and three maintenance training missiles, plus spares, test equipment and personnel training, the administration told the U.S. Congress in a notice dated Wednesday, Reuters reports.

The AGM-65 Maverick, built by Raytheon Co, is designed to attack a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, air defenses, ships, ground transportation and fuel storage facilities.

« The Indonesian Air Force needs these missiles to train its F-16 pilots in basic air-to-ground weapons employment, » the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in the notice to lawmakers.

The arms sale would contribute to making Indonesia « a more valuable regional partner in an important area of the world, » the security agency added.

Such notices of a proposed sale are required by law and do not mean the sale has been concluded.

GIVING F-16s

The United States is giving, not selling, Jakarta two dozen second-hand F-16C/D fighter planes to strengthen bilateral ties and foster what the Pentagon has called a « much-needed » capability to protect Indonesian air space.

Obama and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia announced the F-16 transfer near the end of a nine-day Asia-Pacific tour that Obama used in November to re-emphasize U.S. interests in the region.

The F-16s are decommissioned and no longer part of the U.S. Air Force inventory. Once retooled and upgraded, they will boost Indonesia’s « interoperability » with the United States, the Defense Department said at the time.

Interoperability is the extent to which military forces can work with each other to achieve a common goal. The refurbished aircraft add to Indonesia’s existing fleet of 10 earlier-model F-16s.

The quantities of missiles being sought by Indonesia would support both the existing fleet and the 24 being provided as U.S. surplus, the notice to Congress said.

Jakarta is paying up to $750 million to upgrade the second-hand Lockheed Martin Corp fighters and overhaul their United Technologies Corp’s Pratt & Whitney-built engines.

Indonesia, the largest country in Southeast Asia and the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, is only one part of the growing U.S. emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region for national-security planning.

The United States also is building Guam as a strategic hub, deploying up to four shore-hugging littoral combat ships on a rotational basis to Singapore and preparing what is to be a 2,500-strong Marine Corps task force rotation as part of a tightening military partnership with Australia.

Source: defenceweb.co.za

Indonesia Says ‘No, Thanks’ to More Sukhoi Fighters

MOSCOW, August 9 (RIA Novosti)

Indonesia will buy no more Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia, opting instead for U.S. F-16s, Air Marshal Eris Herryanto told Flightglobal aviation news portal on Thursday.

The Indonesian Air Force has 10 Su-30 and Su-27s with six additional fighters on the way.

Money is being made available to accelerate the refurbishment of its existing fleet of 15 Lockheed Martin C-130s, as well as buy four C-130Hs from Australia and upgrade them, and purchase more Indonesia Aerospace CN-295 transports, said Herryanto, who is secretary general of the Indonesian Defense Ministry.

« We are waiting for 24 F-16s from the USA. With those, we will have enough aircraft in our fighter inventory for the next 20 years. And that means we have enough Sukhoi fighters for now, » he said.

« Indonesia has also invested in South Korea’s K-FX program, which will produce fighters to replace aircraft like the [Northrop] F-5s and F-16s. We aim to buy enough K-FX fighters for three squadrons of 16-22 aircraft each. That will cover our long-term requirements. »

Sukhoi’s press service said they were not aware of Indonesia’s plans.

A source at United Aircraft Corp. (UAC) who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was not surprised by Indonesia’s decision, as there has been no discussion with Jakarta for any more Sukhoi sales.

Indonesia recently bought six Su-30 fighters to be delivered within the next three years (two a year).

The country’s Air Force will thus have a total of 16 Sukhois, which require spare parts, servicing, maintenance, etc, he said.

Any joint aircraft project with South Korea is unlikely to materialize soon, the source said.

Source: RIA Novosti

BAE Confirms S. Korea F-16 Upgrade Deal

Aug. 6, 2012 – 10:41AM   |

By WENDELL MINNICK

TAIPEI — BAE Systems confirmed Aug. 6 that South Korea has selected the company to perform an upgrade to the avionics and electronics systems for its fleet of 130 KF-16 Block 52 fighters.

South Korea has not yet delivered the Letter of Request for BAE to be the sole source systems integration contractor, but the letter is expected shortly. The work will be contracted through the U.S. Department of Defense’s Foreign Military Sales program.

BAE Systems will perform a range of services, including systems engineering and integration, software and electronics engineering, obsolescence management, and logistics support. The work will be performed primarily at BAE Systems’ facilities in Florida, Georgia and Texas.

“This is a strategic international win for us, significantly expanding our aircraft upgrade and modification business,” said Dave Herr, president of BAE Systems Support Solutions. “We have extensive capabilities that span across BAE Systems, and I am confident that our team offers the best value to the customer.”

“This selection further demonstrates that we are a leading provider of integration, avionics and mission computers for F-16s, and we will continue to offer our capability to customers across the globe,” said Gordon Eldridge, vice president and general manager of Support Solutions’ Aerospace Solutions business area.

The total estimated addressable market for F-16 avionics upgrades is valued at greater than $3 billion internationally, covering more than 3,000 aircraft. BAE Systems supports 270 of the U.S. Air National Guard’s upgraded F-16s and 50 of the Turkish Air Force’s upgraded F-16s.

The company is now focusing on securing the upgrade contract for Taiwan’s 146 F-16A/B Block 20 fighters. BAE will be engaging Lockheed Martin for the contract valued at $3.7 billion.

Lockheed appears to have a strong lead in winning the competition. The company has a long relationship with Taiwan’s state-run Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) and Taiwan’s Air Force. AIDC and Lockheed signed a memorandum of understanding July 11 to form a strategic partnership to facilitate the F-16 upgrade program.

Source: DefenseNews

Canada – Check out other jets

By Peter E. Greene, The Windsor Star

May 28, 2012

As someone who has worked in production and overhaul of military aircraft, I have been avidly reading the various letters and opinion/guest columns that have appeared in your paper, for and against the Canadian government’s decision to buy the F-35 aircraft for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

The latest salvo condemning the F-35 program comes from retired colonel Paul Maillet, an aerospace engineer and former fleet manager for Canada’s CF18 fleet.

Paul Maillet called the F-35 a « serious strategic mismatch » to Canada’s military needs.

The drawbacks mentioned were the F-35’s single engine, low range, low payload and low manoeuvrability .

The F-35 has been shrouded in controversy, cost overruns and delays, yet the Canadian government and Department of National Defence are adamant to go ahead with this aircraft deal.

Auditor General Michael Ferguson gave a highly critical report of the Defence Department’s handling of the F-35 project. Why doesn’t the Canadian government follow a tendering and evaluation process for new aircraft that it wants to purchase?

No doubt the military industrial complex in North America has a powerful lobby which will bring pressure on our government and DND to buy this aircraft. Canada should be looking at other aircraft that several countries have to offer.

It is interesting to note that rising superpower India, which was looking to buy a medium multi-role combat aircraft for the Indian air force, started a tendering process and evaluated six aircraft from different countries over a period of five years.

They evaluated the U.S.-made F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-16 Super Viper jets, the Rafale made by Dassault Aviation of France, The Eurofighter Typhoon made by a European consortium, the Russian MiG-35 aircraft and the Saab Gripen made by Sweden.

U.S. President Barack Obama made a special visit to India to lobby its government to buy the F/A-18 Super Hornet. It was a hotly contested race of strict technical and commercial evaluation and the two finalists were the Rafale of Dassault Aviation and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The final clincher was the cost evaluation and the Rafale aircraft was selected. President Obama was disappointed and offered the F-35 aircraft to India.

The Indians rejected the F-35 and went ahead with their deal to buy 126 MMRCA Rafale fighters from France for $20 billion. Dassault will supply the first 18 aircraft by 2015 and the rest will be manufactured under licence by India.

This will be the longest opentender military aviation deal in the world.

Rafale is a twin-jet, semi stealth combat aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of short-and long-range missions, including ground and sea attacks, reconnaissance, high-accuracy strikes and nuclear strike deterrence. Rafale can carry payloads of more than 9t on 14 hardpoints for the air force version, with 13 for the naval version.

The range of weapons includes: Mica, Magic, Sidewinder, ASRAAM and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles; Apache, AS30L, ALARM, HARM, Maverick and PGM100 air-toground missiles and Exocet/ AM39, Penguin 3 and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The Rafale is a NATO-compatible aircraft and has flown in NATO operations over Tajikstan, Afghanistan and Libya.

Canada should evaluate more aircraft under a tendering process rather than making a hasty and costly mistake by going for the overpriced and untested F-35 aircraft. The Rafale aircraft offers high value for money.

It is high time that our defence department jettisoned the canopy, ejected and bailed out of the F-35 project.

Peter E. Greene lives in Windsor.

Source: Windsorstar

Après le Canada, les surcoûts du F-35 posent problème aux Pays-Bas

15/04/2012

Les Pays-Bas achèteront moins d’avions de chasse américains que prévu. Au Canada, le programme d’acquisition de cet appareil est gelé

La question des surcoûts du F-35, l’avion de chasse américain construit par Lockheed Martin bat son plein. Ce dimanche, le ministre de la Défense des Pays Bas, Hans Hillen a indiqué que les Pays-Bas achèteront moins d’avions de chasse que prévu en raison de la hausse de leurs coûts et du fait que l’armée de l’air néerlandaise aura besoin de remplacer moins de F-16 qu’elle ne le pensait. Les Pays-Bas prévoyaient initialement d’acheter 85 F-35, construits par l’américain Lockheed Martin entre 2019 et 2027. Le ministre n’a pas précisé combien d’avions de chasse seront finalement achetés.

Un gonflement de 9 milliards de dollars de la facture canadienne

Au Canada, qui a commandé en juillet 2010 (sans appel d’offres) 65 exemplaires pour 9 milliards de dollars canadiens (autant de dollars américains), et 16 milliards en tenant compte des contrats d’entretien, la question des coûts fait rage depuis que le Vérificateur général du Canada (la Cour des Comptes locale) a reproché il y a un mois au ministère de la Défense Peter MacKay d’avoir fortement sous-estimé les coûts. Ceci en n’ayant pas « établi les coûts complets sur l’ensemble du cycle de vie » de l’appareil dont les coûts pourraient atteindre 25 milliards de dollars. L’opposition a aussitôt déclenché un tir de barrage contre le gouvernement conservateur.

Surtout, le rapport du Vérificateur a forcé le gouvernement à geler le budget pour l’acquisition des F-35, la plus grosse commande militaire du Canada. Aussi, ce gel pourrait se traduire par une révision à la baisse du nombre d’avions achetés. « Nous ferons l’acquisition du F-35 uniquement si nous pouvons le faire dans les limites de ce budget de 9 milliards de dollars », a déclaré le ministre associé à la Défense nationale, Julian Fantino.

Source: la Tribune

USAF To Extend F-16s To Cover F-35 Delays

Nov 8, 2011

By Graham Warwick

The U.S. Air Force plans to upgrade more than 300 Lockheed Martin F-16s and potentially additional Boeing F-15s to fill the gap caused by delays to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.

The service shortly will announce plans to extend the service life and upgrade the avionics on 300-350 late-model Block 40 and 50 F-16s, Lt. Gen. Herbert Carlisle, deputy chief of staff for operations, plans and requirements, told Congress last week.

The structural and avionics upgrades are projected to cost $9.4 million per aircraft, he said. Extending airframe life to 10,000 hr. from 8,000 will add about eight years of service life and extend the capability of the F-16 fleet to 2030.

The service life extension is required because of delays in developing and fielding the F-35. Initial operational capability (IOC) of the Air Force’s F-35A variant was planned for 2018 but has slipped by about two years, Carlisle said.

The new IOC date will be determined once an updated F-35 integrated master schedule is completed. This is expected “fairly shortly,” Carlisle said. Built on a technical baseline review that extended JSF development by two years, the new schedule will detail how the F-35 will be fielded to replace F-16s and other aircraft in the active Air Force, Air National Guard and Reserve.

Although the Air Force has enough Block 40 and 50 F-16s to upgrade as many as 600 aircraft to cover any fighter shortfall should there be further F-35 delays, “we do not believe we will have to go there,” Carlisle said.

The Air Force is already upgrading 176 F-15C/Ds to operate through at least 2025 and fill the gap left by termination of Lockheed Martin F-22 production after 187 aircraft. “We may extend ‘long-term’ status to the entire 250-aircraft inventory based on requirements of the future force structure,” Carlisle testified.

The F-15s are receiving active, electronically scanned array radars, and both Northrop Grumman and Raytheon have responded to a prior Air Force requests for information to install similar high-performance radars in the F-16.

Source: AviationWeek

F-16: Washington refuse de fournir des chasseurs à Taïwan

MOSCOU, 15 août – RIA Novosti

Les Etats-Unis ont refusé de livrer à Taïwan 66 chasseurs ultramodernes de type F-16 C/D, a annoncé le porte-parole du ministère taïwanais de la Défense, cité par Defense News.

« Nous sommes très déçus par les Etats-Unis », a indiqué la source.

Face à l’augmentation de la puissance militaire de la Chine continentale, Taïwan avait à plusieurs reprises demandé aux Etats-Unis de lui vendre un lot de chasseurs ultramodernes.

Selon Defense News, la semaine dernière une délégation du ministère américain de la Défense a communiqué sa décision à Taïwan et a proposé à ce dernier de mettre à niveau les avions F16A/B qui équipent déjà l’armée de l’air taïwanaise en achetant des équipements perfectionnés et des pièces détachés destinés à moderniser ces appareils.

En octobre 2008, l’administration de George W.Bush a convenu de livrer à Taïwan une quantité importante d’armements et ce, malgré de multiples protestations de la Chine. En réaction, Pékin a interrompu son dialogue avec Washington sur les questions militaires qui n’a repris qu’en février 2009.

Début janvier dernier, en réponse à l’intention de Washington de fournir à Taipei un important lot d’armement, Pékin a fait porter aux Etats-Unis la responsabilité du torpillage des discussions entre les parties en conflit.

Les relations dans le domaine de la défense entre la Chine continentale et Taïwan restent tendues depuis 1949, lorsque les forces armées du Guomindang battues pendant la guerre civile ont trouvé refuge sur l’île.

Taiwan est de facto un territoire autonome, possédant ses propres forces armées équipées principalement d’armements américains.

First four F-16s depart for Morocco

Wednesday, 03 August 2011 13:54

The first four of 24 new Lockheed Martin Block 52 F-16s for the Royal Moroccan Air Force have left the factory in Fort Worth, Texas, for Morocco, where they will arrive later this week.

Lockheed Martin on Monday said the four jets had departed for Ben Guerir Air Base, which is a former US air base located about 36 miles (57 km) north of Marrakech and once used as a transatlantic abort landing site for the Space Shuttle. It is currently undergoing upgrades that, according to Moroccan officials, are modelled after US Air Force bases.

The first batch of Moroccan F-16 pilots finished their 15 month training course in the United States in June. The US Air National Guard said that four Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) officers, who are former Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter pilots, concluded their instruction at the 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport in Arizona. The unit is the international Lockheed Martin F-16 training unit and has provided training to some of the 25 countries around the world that have bought the F-16.

« We are modernizing our fleet and we’ve chosen the F-16, not only because it is a high-quality airplane, but also because of the close relationship we have with the United States, » said Deputy Inspector of the Royal Moroccan Air Force, Brigadier General Abdelali Houari.

As students, the pilots averaged three sorties per week and accumulated more than 150 F-16 hours each. Once home, they will not only be responsible for training others, but will also be instrumental in standing up F-16 operations at Ben Guerir Air Base.

Six other Moroccan pilots are currently in the basic F-16 course in Tucson with graduation planned for September.

Morocco is in the process of upgrading its armed forces and is buying large amounts of military equipment, including fighters, trainer aircraft and frigates. As almost all significant combat equipment was acquired between 1978 and 1981, Morocco is moving ahead with an upgrade programme for its Mirage F1s and is also engaged in the acquisition of new equipment that will ensure the air arm remains credible and effective. The most important type is the F-16, which was designed to keep up with Algeria’s purchase in 2007-2008 of 28 Su-30MKAs. The RMAF signed the US$842 million contract in December 2009 for the Block 52 F-16s.

The RMAF has around 60 warplanes and a substantial number of helicopters that are able to undertake combat operations as well as performing general support tasks. The air force’s inventory is being upgraded and swelled by new purchases, such as four Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan transport aircraft.

Meanwhile, in May Hawker Beechcraft announced it had delivered 12 of 24 T-6C turboprop trainers to the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF). The T-6C is an improved version of the T-6B Texan II featuring key upgrades such as an integrated glass cockpit, advanced avionics suite and wing hard-points that can accommodate auxiliary fuel tanks or bombs. The RMAF ordered the airplanes under a US$185.3 million contract announced in September 2009. The T-6C is replacing the turboprop Beechcraft T-34 Mentor and Cessna T-37 Tweet jet trainers in RMAF service.

Source: defenceWeb.co.za

F-16 Sales to Taiwan Generates Rare Show of Senate Unity

May 31, 2011

It seems as if the only thing a majority in the U.S. Senate can agree on is that they do not like any of the proposed budget plans. That is, until the subject of the sale of F-16s to Taiwan came up.

In a rare demonstration of bipartisanship, and good sense, the co-chairs of the Senate Taiwan Caucus Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and James Inhofe (R-Okla) published a letter signed by forty-three of their colleagues calling on the Obama Administration to approve Taiwan’s request to buy 66 F-16 C/D fighter jets. Among the senators who signed the letter, in addition to Menendez, were Democrats Joe Lieberman, Tim Johnson, Jay Rockefeller, Ron Wyden and Sherrod Brown. Republicans Jon Kyl, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Scott Brown joined Inhofe in signing the letter.

The “Gang of 45” is not looking to provoke a confrontation with the People’s Republic of China. Rather, they are focused on the need to maintain stability and military parity in East Asia. China is continuing a massive military buildup involving the addition of dozens of ballistic missiles and hundreds of modern jet fighters to its arsenal across the straits from Taiwan. The Senators realize that if the sale of F-16 is not concluded soon, the U.S. might have no viable options for preventing the situation across the straits from becoming unstable. Thus, the 45 Senators warned the administration that,

« We are deeply concerned that further delay of the decision to sell F-16s to Taiwan could result in closure of the F-16 production line, and urge you to expedite this export process before the line closes. Without new fighter aircraft and upgrades to its existing fleet of F-16s, Taiwan will be dangerously exposed to Chinese military threats, aggression and provocation, which pose significant national security implications for the U.S. »

The Obama Administration has refused to act on Taiwan’s request out of a fear of angering China, even though it is Beijing that is destabilizing the balance of power in the region. Failure to respond to the legitimate security needs of a long-time friend and fellow democracy in the pursuit of narrow national interest is a mistake. As the President made clear in his recent speech to the Muslim world, the defense and nurturance of democratic governments around the world is in our interest and must be a core value that guides this nation’s policy decisions. What is right for the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa is also right for Taiwan.

Providing additional F-16s for Taiwan and upgrading that country’s existing fleet will only restore the military balance that has been present in the region for more than sixty years. It will also send a signal to the leaders in Beijing that the security policy of the United States will not be guided only by narrow market interests.

Source: Lexington Institute