3 mars 2015 Defensie.NL

20-02-2015 Defensie.NL

Dutch infantrymen are currently in Estonia to demonstrate the possibilities offered by the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle. Estonia recently bought a total of 44 CV90s from the Netherlands. These vehicles are to be delivered in 2016, by which time the Estonians want to be able to handle the vehicles.

Estonia bought the surplus CV90s in order to increase their firepower. In addition, the Estonian army wishes to step up its military exercises with NATO partners in view of the current developments on the eastern border of the Baltic country.

24/02/2015 Hubert Rubbens - MIL.be

Une équipe permanente belgo-néerlandaise s’est installée à Zeebruges pour gérer les entretiens des chasseurs de mines. Grâce à la mise en place de cette équipe, la qualité de l’entretien sera encore améliorée et la collaboration entre les deux marines en sera, dès lors, facilitée.

Depuis 1948, les marines belge et néerlandaise travaillent de concert, et de manière intensive, dans de nombreux domaines. Cette collaboration se concrétise, non seulement par l’entretien des navires des deux marines, des formations du personnel ou encore la construction de nouveaux navires, mais aussi par la planification et le suivi des exercices et opérations en mer du Nord et partout ailleurs dans le monde. Dans le cadre des entretiens de navires, il est vite apparu que les rotations fréquentes des équipes d’entretien et de support allaient à l’encontre de la qualité et de la continuité des travaux.  Il a donc été décidé de mettre une équipe d’entretien belgo-néerlandaise permanente  en place à Zeebruges afin de superviser l’entretien de tous les chasseurs de mines, tant belges que néerlandais.

L’équipe, qui sera composée de 11 Néerlandais et 7 Belges, se chargera  de la reprise du navire après sa période opérationnelle, du suivi de l’entretien, de l’état de préparation du matériel  et, in fine, de la remise du navire au nouvel équipage.

Composante Marine

21 January 2015 by Norbert Thomas - EATC

After its great success last year, the EATC together with the EDA and Eindhoven Airbase are about to run the 2nd European Air-to-Air Refuelling training, EART 2015.

Participating agencies and - nations had sent their subject matter experts to Eindhoven in order to discuss planning issues, setting the pace for this year’s EART exercise, which will be conducted from 13 to 24 April 2015 and will see tanker aircraft from France (Boeing (K)C-135 FR), Italy (Boeing KC-767A), Germany (Airbus A310 MRTT) and the Netherlands (McDonnel Douglas KDC-10). So far in discussion is also a fifth tanker from a further non-European country in a kind of observer status.

EART is an excellent training opportunity within Europe to operate missions with dedicated AAR scenarios embedded in Frisian Flag, a highly recognized fighter exercise that runs parallel from Dutch Airbase Leeuwarden in the North of the Netherlands. The EART training concept is made by EATC and performed by Eindhoven Airbase.

Find more about the European Air-to-Air Refuelling Training at our EART website.

04-02-2015 Defensie.nl

After exactly 2 years, the Dutch Patriot mission in Turkey has come to an end. This afternoon, the Dutch mission's tasks were officially transferred to fellow NATO member Spain during a ceremony at Incirlik air base. The ceremony was attended by the Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army, Lieutenant General Mart de Kruif.

The systems deployed by the Defence organisation to help protect the Turkish city of Adana from possible air attacks from Syria had to be brought back to the Netherlands for a number of reasons. The continuous deployment of the systems means that major maintenance is now required, which cannot be carried out in the field. At the same time, the personnel of Defence Ground-based Air Defence Command need to be rested after their prolonged and demanding period of deployment in Turkey.

January 4, 2015: Strategy Page

Estonia has become the latest East European nation to buy second hand, but quite modern, armored vehicles from West European nations that feel they don’t need them anymore. In this case the Netherlands is selling 44 used, but well cared for, V90 IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicles) to Estonia. These CV90s entered Dutch service between 2008 and 2011 and the ones Estonia is receiving have at least two decades of useful life left in them.

Estonia is one of the Baltic States that were often part of the Russian Empire but would rather cultivate cultural and economic ties with countries to the west. Estonia is also ethnically linked to Finland as both nations speak a similar Central Asian language (which is also similar to what is spoken in Hungary). In addition to sharing a language, all three of these countries also fear Russian aggression.

Development of the CV90 began in 1988, with production starting in late 1993. The 28 ton tracked vehicle has a crew of three and carries seven passengers (usually infantrymen). With a top road speed of 70 kilometers an hour, the CV90 can go 300 kilometers on internal fuel. The vehicle turret carries a 30mm autocannon and a coaxial 7.62mm machine-gun. Also in the turret is a thermal imager for night operations. The vehicle armor protects against projectiles of up to 30mm caliber.

There are several variants of the CV90, carrying different weapons (120mm mortar, anti-tank missiles, 120mm gun, 25mm gun, 30mm gun, 105mm gun, anti-aircraft radar, and missiles). The CV90 is 6.55 meters (20.3) feet long and 3.1 meters (9.6 feet) wide. Average cost of a new CV90 was about $5 million each. Estonia is paying about $3.2 million each for theirs. The Swedish army has about 555 CV90s, Switzerland 185, Finland 102, Denmark 45, and Netherlands 193. Several of the original owners of the CV90 upgraded them with things like more armor, better electronics and air conditioning. West European users have been quite satisfied with the Swedish made CV90.

21 January 2015 by defenceWeb (Reuters)

Dutch AH-64 Apache attack helicopters with the United Nations carried out air strikes on Tuareg rebel forces in northern Mali on Tuesday, the first such engagement by Dutch forces serving in the UN mission in Mali.

The U.N. mission, known as MINUSMA, said it was responding to heavy weapons fire directed at its peacekeepers in the town of Tabankort. It said the helicopters only destroyed a rebel vehicle after firing warning shots that were ignored.

A spokesman for the MNLA Tuareg separatist rebels, who are involved in peace talks with the Malian government in Algeria, denied warning shots had been fired and said five fighters had been killed and several others wounded.

U.N. peacekeepers have deployed across northern Mali to help the weak Bamako government secure desert zones that were occupied by a mix of rebels and al Qaeda-linked Islamists in 2012 until a French military intervention two years ago.

The incident highlights how Mali's north is still awash with various armed groups and is likely to complicate the last round of U.N.-backed peace talks due to take place next month between the government and the rebel factions that are involved.

The U.N. mission had been for days seeking to end a standoff over Tabankort, a desert town that the MNLA had surrounded and where there are rival pro-government militia fighters, as well as a contingent of U.N. peacekeepers protecting civilians.

"These actions were taken in line with our mandate which authorizes MINUSMA to use force to protect civilians, its personnel and its positions from attack or imminent danger," the mission said in a statement.

The U.N. mission did not give a toll and it said clashes were still taking place on Tuesday evening.

Some 450 Special Forces troops, intelligence operatives and four Apache helicopter gunships from the Netherlands have been deployed in northern Mali as part of a force of up to 12,000 men.

U.N. troops mostly help Mali's army occupy key towns while French soldiers hunt down resurgent Islamist militants. However, the Dutch contingent is tasked with intelligence gathering and has the force's only attack helicopters.

MNLA spokesman Moussa Ag Acharatoumane said cooperation with U.N. peacekeepers would be suspended as a result of the clash.

"There was no negotiation. There was no warning," he told Reuters. "That was an error, and bombing our positions was also a very serious political error."

A resident in the town of Kidal, an MNLA stronghold, said the bodies of five rebels had arrived and were being buried on Tuesday evening.

The Dutch contingent in Mali is mainly involved in conducting reconnaissance and gathering intelligence, serving, as it were, as the 'eyes and ears' of the mission. The Dutch contribution chiefly consists of, Special Operations Forces; intelligence personnel; Apache attack helicopters; Chinook transport helicopters (from October 2014); and police trainers. The first two Apaches arrived in Mali in May last year.

Troops from the Dutch Commando Corps and the Marine Corps, working in three teams, make up the operational core in the field. They have various types of vehicles at their disposal, including lightly armoured Bushmasters; Mercedes Benz tactical wheeled vehicles; Fennek tactical wheeled reconnaissance vehicles; and quad bikes.

The main task of the three Chinook helicopters is medical evacuation. The Dutch Chinooks have been fully deployed since October 2014. Until the arrival of the Chinooks, Dutch units only operated at distance from their base in Gao on condition that the French Operation Serval was able to guarantee medical evacuation.

12 Jan 2015 By: Beth Stevenson - FG

The Netherlands and aerospace services company Strat Aero have signed a letter of intent for the establishment of an unmanned air vehicle training facility focused on the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper.

The non-binding LoI was agreed between the company and Innovation Quarter – the economic development agency for the Dutch region of West Holland – Strat Aero announced on 12 January.

The parties involved hope to establish what they tout as northern Europe’s first UAV pilot training base; a location for which would be provided by the government.

Read more

8 janvier 2015 par Nicolas Laffont – 45eNord.ca

Le Pentagone a annoncé jeudi des plans pour consolider l’infrastructure militaire américaine en Europe et ainsi sauver plus de 500 millions $ par an «tout en maintenant la capacité et les engagements».

Toute activité devrait notamment cesser sur la base aérienne de Mildenhall au Royaume-Uni, tandis que le pays accueillera en revanche le premier déploiement du chasseur F-35 en Europe, sur la base voisine de Lakenheath.

«La réorganisation du réseau d’infrastructures militaires se traduira par une diminution légère du niveau de nos forces en Europe», a indiqué le département de la Défense dans un communiqué.

Selon John Conger, secrétaire adjoint intérimaire à la défense pour l’énergie, les installations et l’environnement, «approximativement 1.200 positions de soutien civiles et militaires américaines seront éliminées, et 6.000 personnels américains de plus seront relocalisés en Europe.»

Les responsables américains ont souligné qu’en aucun cas ces mouvements n’affaiblissaient le dispositif américain face à la Russie.

Les orientations budgétaires votées par le Congrès américain prévoient un renforcement de la présence des Américains et de leurs alliés en Europe de l’Est, et d’aider l’Ukraine, la Géorgie et la Moldavie à renforcer leurs capacités, rappelle le communiqué du département de la Défense.

Au total, 15 sites militaires américains vont être rendus aux pays hôtes.

Selon des responsables militaires, la plupart des forces retirées du Royaume-Uni, du Portugal et d’autres sites en Europe seront redéployées en Allemagne et en Italie.

La présence militaire américaine au Royaume-Uni diminuera d’environ 2.000 personnes à l’issue de ces mouvements.

Les mesures annoncées jeudi prévoient également le départ de 500 militaires américains de la base de Lajes, sur l’archipel portugais des Açores.

Des sites seront aussi fermés en Belgique, aux Pays-Bas et en Allemagne.

Sur les 67.000 soldats américains stationnés en Europe, 40.800 sont actuellement en Allemagne, 10.700 en Italie et 8.700 au Royaume-Uni.

Note RP Defense: lire Statement from EUCOM Commander on European Infrastructure Consolidation Announcement

23/12/2014 Michel Cabirol – LaTribune.fr

Les Pays-Bas, la Pologne et la Norvège vont négocier avec Airbus en vue d'acquérir dans le cadre d'une commande groupée quatre avions ravitailleurs A330 MRTT. Enfin, un pas vers la mutualisation des équipements de défense.

Un véhicule blindé de combat et d'infanterie (VBCI), fabriqué par Nexter, sur le terrain en Afghanistan. Crédit Nexter

16.12.2014 par Philippe Chapleau - Lignes de Défense
 

Dans un post de ce mardi, je faisais part du projet australien de remplacement des M113 de l'armée de terre. Les forces armées danoises ont lancé un programme similaire pour la fourniture de blindés de combat pour l'infanterie. Les besoins sont estimés à près de 400 unités dans des versions chenillées et à roues (8x8).

Sont actuellement dans la course le CV90 Armadilllo de BAE Systems, l'ASCOD de General Dynamics European Land Systems et le G5 de FFG Flensburger pour les chenillés. Du côté des véhicules à roues, deux ont été retenus: le Piranha V de General Dynamics et le VBCI de Nexter. Tous ces engins ont été soumis à une batterie de 375 test en 2013.

L'entreprise française vient d'annoncer un accord de partenariat avec Hydrema.

Dans un communiqué de ce mardi, Nexter explique qu'il "assistera Hydrema dans la mise en place et l'exploitation d'une ligne de production ultramoderne dans son usine de Støvring, qui assurera l'assemblage final et l'intégration du VBCI (Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie) danois, si ce dernier venait à être sélectionné par l'organisation d'acquisition et de logistique de la Défense du Danemark (DALO)".

Par ailleurs, "Hydrema assurera également le support logistique au niveau national du canon automoteur CAESAR® de Nexter dans l'éventualité où il serait sélectionné par l'organisation DALO dans le cadre de son processus de mise en concurrence des fabricants de systèmes d'artillerie."

12/10/2014  Defence IQ Press

Estonia has put pen to paper on its largest defence procurement contract to date with the $171 million deal to buy 44 infantry combat vehicles from the Netherlands.

The Estonian Defence Forces will acquire the CV90 infantry vehicles from the Dutch government and are expected to enter service in 2016.

“The infantry vehicles will take the Estonian defence ability to a new level,” Defence Minister Sven Mikser said.

The deal comes at a time of increased regional tension as Russia continues its sabre rattling following the Ukrainian crisis. Other countries in the region such as Lithuania have begun bolstering their protected mobility capabilities in recent months.

Estonia has been working closely with the Netherlands for a range of defence supplies since 2004. Estonia has acquired over 1,100 trucks and SUVs, 500 trailers and staff containers and 81 SISU XA-188 armoured personnel carriers in the last decade.

Estonia’s largest defence deal before this was a $84.5 million contract with MBDA for its Mistral missiles.