ELBOURNE, Fla., March 28, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE)

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) submitted its final proposal last week for the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) core capability – a trans-Atlantic cooperation that will meet the security challenges of the 21st century. "The updated proposal offers an affordable, executable program that will provide an operationally relevant system to the Alliance," said Pat McMahon, sector vice president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems' Battle Management & Engagement Systems Division. "NATO AGS will be a critical component of the Alliance's response to threats to peace now and in the future."

Based on the Block 40 configuration of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft, the NATO AGS system will provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to ground, maritime and air commanders, anytime and anywhere in the world. A contract award is anticipated in July 2011. The NATO AGS includes an air segment consisting of six Block 40 Global Hawks that will be missionized to meet NATO requirements. They will be equipped with Northrop Grumman's Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) ground surveillance radar sensor, which will be capable of detecting and tracking moving objects throughout the observed areas as well as providing radar imagery of target locations and stationary objects. "The ground element, which provides real-time data, intelligence and target identification to commanders within and beyond line of sight, will be wholly produced by our European industry partners, offering the potential for national re-use in other programs as well as direct work in the program for the participating nations," said Matt Copija, director of Northrop Grumman's NATO AGS program. "As NATO's highest acquisition priority and Europe's highest visibility program, NATO AGS also represents the first international sale of the Block 40 Global Hawk."

Approved by heads of state and government as a priority capability initiative at the 2010 Lisbon Summit in support of the new strategic concept, the NATO AGS system will empower a network-enabled approach to support interoperability with national systems and to perform the entire range of NATO missions, including force protection, border and maritime security, counter- and anti-terrorism, crisis management, peacekeeping and enforcement, and natural disaster relief. It also includes mobile and transportable ground stations and a world-class mission operation support center at its main operating base in Sigonella, Italy. Flying up to 60,000 feet for more than 32 hours, the combat-proven Global Hawk has flown more than 53,000 hours thus far. The U.S. Air Force Block 30 Global Hawks continue to fly relief support missions over Japan in response to the tragic 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami, and are also supporting the NATO-led coalition effort in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn over Libya.  The Global Hawk was also used for disaster relief and recovery efforts following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010, Hurricane Ike on the Gulf Coast in 2009, and the California wildfires in 2007 and 2008.

As prime contractor, Northrop Grumman worked closely with the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Management Agency (NAGSMA) and its industry team, which includes companies from each of the 14 nations participating in the acquisition, to refine the proposal to meet NATO requirements. NAGSMA, which was chartered to acquire the NATO-owned and operated core capability, is responsible for the procurement of the NATO AGS capability until it has reached full operational capability. NAGSMA was established in September 2009 after all participating nations signed the AGS Program Memorandum of Understanding.

March 25, 2011 by Tamir Eshel DEFENSE UPDATE

The Indian Army is planning to equip its ground forces with thousands of anti-tank missiles to be built in India. The Indian military considers two options, both of them exclusive – the FGM-148 Javelin, proposed under a Government-to-Government (G2G) program via U.S. Foreign Military Sale (FMS), and the Spike MR, proposed by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, being the only bidder in an international tender, which specified characteristics and specifications only the Israeli company could meet. The Indian Army plans to install the missiles on infantry combat vehicles currently carrying locally produced AT-5 or Milan missiles. The Indian Ministry of Defense plans to order 321 launchers, and 8,356 missiles, plus 15 training simulators in a multi-phase arms package worth over one billion US$. Two options are currently on the table – the U.S. Javelin and the Israeli Spike MR.

23 mars 2011 La Presse Canadienne

Le fabricant de simulateurs de vols CAE (T.CAE) a récolté pour 100 millions de dollars de contrats militaires dans une dizaine de pays, dont le Canada, Taïwan et les États-Unis. La société fournira ainsi ses services-conseils au ministère de la Défense nationale du Canada et réalisera des contrats de sous-traitance pour le compte du géant Lockheed Martin, dans le cadre du programme d'avion de transport militaire Hercule C-130J. L'entreprise construira par ailleurs des dispositifs d'entraînement pour les avions de patrouille maritime Lockheed P-3C Orion de la marine taïwanaise. CAE offrira en outre des mises à niveau à celle des États-Unis pour l'entraînement sur les hélicoptères de patrouille MH-60S. Ces appareils servent notamment à des missions antimines, à la recherche et au sauvetage de combat ainsi qu'au ravitaillement. L'entreprise dont le siège social est situé à Montréal emploie aujourd'hui 7500 personnes dans plus de 20 pays.

14/03/11 par Véronique Guillermard, LeFigaro.fr

Une fois obtenu le feu vert de Paris et de Londres, les deux constructeurs vont développer un drone d’observation (MALE) dans le cadre d’une coopération exclusive.

Quatre mois après la signature à Londres d’accords de défense et de sécurité entre Nicolas Sarkozy et le premier ministre David Cameron, les industriels entrent dans le vif du sujet. Dassault Aviation*, le constructeur de l’avion de combat Rafale, et BAE Systems qui est un des pays participant au programme rival Eurofighter, ont signé un mémorandum (MOU) qui trace les lignes d’une coopération exclusive dans le domaine d’appareils sans pilotes humains - drones - d’observation de moyenne altitude et longue endurance (MALE) de nouvelle génération.

A côté des porte-avions et de la défense antimissiles, les drones étaient au cœur des accords de défense signés le 3 novembre 2010 entre Paris et Londres. Les deux gouvernements étaient tombés d’accord pour identifier des grands domaines de coopération permettant, contraintes budgétaires obligent, de partager des ressources afin de développer des matériels pour les deux armées.

Dassault Aviation et BAE ont déjà bien avancé. Ils ont remis une étude de faisabilité de drone MALE à leur gouvernement. «Ce dont nous avons besoin à présent, c’est d’une décision rapide de lancement de programme par les deux gouvernements», souligne Éric Trappier, directeur général international du groupe français. Ce feu vert doit être donné dans le cadre des relations bilatérales au niveau politique le plus haut ainsi qu’aux niveaux des deux instances principales : le «Senior level group» et le «high level working group». Ce dernier étant composé des représentants des deux directions générales de l’armement des deux pays.

Dans le détail, la coopération s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un partenariat à 50-50 entre les deux industriels. BAE Systems est le maître d’œuvre du projet qui s’appuie sur la plateforme MANTIS, un démonstrateur de drone MALE bimoteurs équipé de turbopropulseurs PT6 du canadien Pratt & Whitney, construit par le groupe britannique. «Mantis offre une base de travail pour développer une plateforme nouvelle qui soit financièrement abordable et réponde aux besoins opérationnels des deux pays», précise un porte-parole du constructeur français. L’appareil sera construit en Grande-Bretagne. De son côté, Dassault Aviation développera le système de mission (l’électronique, l’avionique, les capteurs) ainsi que les stations de programmation terrestres. Ce drone sera proposé aux armées françaises et britanniques. Le budget du projet n’est pas encore calé mais il faudra investir plusieurs centaines de millions d’euros pour le développement.

Mise en service à la fin de la décennie

Les deux industriels visent une mise en service à la fin de cette décennie. Les deux partenaires espèrent également le vendre à l’export notamment dans les pays qui utilisent l’actuel système américain Predator de General Atomics.

Les deux industriels sont optimistes sur leur capacité à travailler ensemble. Les rôles de chacun sont bien définis et il n’y a pas d’ambiguïté en matière de leadership. De plus ils ont déjà joint leurs efforts dans le passé. En 1967, Bréguet Aviation (repris et fusionné ensuite avec Dassault) et British Aircraft Corporation (devenu BAE) avaient signé un protocole d’accord pour développer ensemble un avion de combat : le Jaguar. Fabriqué à plus de 600 exemplaires pour six pays, ce programme a été un succès. Les derniers exemplaires du Jaguar, mis en service en 1973, sont encore fabriqués sous licence en Inde à Bengalore mais l’appareil a été retiré du service actif en 2005 par la France et en 2007 par la Grande-Bretagne qui en avait utilisé une dizaine pendant la guerre du Golfe.

* Dassault Aviation est une filiale de dassault, propriétaire du Figaro

March 5, 2011: STRATEGY PAGE

The UAE (United Arab Emirates) has ordered a thousand NIMR vehicles for its armed forces. The NIMR is produced by a UAE company with an assembly plant in Jordan. The NIMR is a hummer like vehicle designed to cope with the high heat, and abundant sand and dust found in the Middle East. The basic 4x4 NIMR weighs 4.4 tons, can carry 1.5 tons (or up to eight people), and be equipped with a remote control 12.7mm machine-gun turret. Top speed is 140 kilometers an hour on roads. There is also a larger 6x6 version for carrying cargo. There is also an anti-aircraft version armed with four Mistral missiles ready-to-fire, and four more as reloads. An anti-tank version comes equipped with four Milan ATGM (anti-tank guided missiles) ready to fire, and four more as reloads.

 2011-03-01 INDIA DEFENCE

The Indian Air Force Tuesday inducted a second squadron of its frontline Sukhoi-Su 30 MKI combat jets as part of a strategic deployment of advanced assets in the North East. A single Su-30 has presently been stationed at the Chabua air base, about 450 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati, with the strength of the squadron gradually being raised to 18 aircraft. 'The idea is to ensure that the skies and the borders in the east are well protected and secured. The Su-30 MKIs can be used for both offensive as well as defensive purposes,' Air Marshal K.K. Nohwar, air officer commanding-in-chief of the Eastern Air Command, told reporters after the formal induction ceremony. As part of the formal induction, the fighter jet staged an impressive flypast.

01/03/11 By Siva Govindasamy Flight International

UAE firm Adcom Systems has launched its latest unmanned aerial target, the Yabhon-GRN. Built after a five-year development programme, the design features a forward swept wing design and has a maximum take-off weight of 220kg (485lb). The Yabhon-GRN's turbine engine is inside the rear fuselage and fed through a dorsal intake. First test flight results have exceeded its designed performance expectation, says the company, reaching 486kt (900km/h) with "high stability and excellent performance".

photo PoADU

At IDEX 2011 event held between February 20 and 24 in Abu Dhabi, French Nexter Systems has showed a VBCI (Véhicule Blindé de Combat d’Infanterie) 8×8 armoured personnel carrier variant. The company is looking to sell the vehicle to the EAU (Emirates Arab Emirates) as well as to Spain and Canada. The vehicle on display was equipped with FN Herstal SA DeFNder Medium remotely controlled weapon station, Optsys ViPer  observation system, GALIX smoke grenade launchers and 01dB-Metravib PILAR MK-IIw gunshot detection and localisation system. FN Herstal SA DeFNder Medium weapon station was equipped with the FN Herstal SA M3P 12.7mm heavy machine gun and a CCD/IR sight from FLIR Systems AB. The Belgium based company propose as well the Light which can be armed with a MAG 7.62mm light machine gun, a MINIMI 7.62mm light machine gun or a MINIMI 5.56mm light machine gun and couplet to CCD or LLCCD sight modules.

18.01.2014 army-guide.com

Renault Trucks Defense has signed with Thales a contract for supplying 21 units of vehicles type Premium, Midlum and Sherpa Light carrier dedicated to the tactical stations of the Syracuse III military satellite communications program. In 2009 Renault Trucks Defense has already sold 33 units of Sherpa light carriers. These new vehicles will be delivered in 2011.