20.09.2015 par Philippe Chapleau - Lignes de Défense

Lus dans la dernière livraison des avis de marchés du Pentagone, ces deux avis concernant des FMS (Foreign Military Sales) au Kenya et au Cameroun, dans le cadre de la lutte anti-terrorisme:

Kenya:
Insitu Inc., Bingen, Washington, is being awarded $9,858,274 for firm-fixed-price delivery order 0010 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-11-G-0009) for the procurement of one ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system consisting of analog medium wave infra-red ScanEagle unmanned air vehicles, launch and recovery equipment, ground control stations, Insitu video exploitation systems and ground support equipment for the government of Kenya under the Foreign Military Sales program. It will also procure one Mark 4 Launcher, two full mission training devices and spares kits. Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington (50 percent); and Nanyuki, Kenya (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2016. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $9,858,274 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.

Cameroun:
Insitu Inc., Bingen, Washington, is being awarded $9,396,512 for firm-fixed-price delivery order 0009 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N68335-11-G-0009) for the procurement of one ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system for the government of Cameroon under the Foreign Military Sales program. The system consists of analog medium wave infra-red ScanEagle unmanned air vehicles, launch and recovery equipment, ground control stations, Insitu video exploitation systems and ground support equipment. Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington (50 percent); and Doula, Cameroon (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2016. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $9,396,512 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Lakehurst, New Jersey, is the contracting activity.

January 27, 2015: Strategy Page

In December 2014 Iran held military exercises in which it claimed it had converted one of its UAVs into a “suicide drone” and successfully tested it. The story behind this story is far more interesting. This suicide drone is actually a cruise missile and is based on what Iran claims is a copy of the American ScanEagle UAV. This is a low-tech, commercially available UAV that contains no classified components. In early 2013 Iran released photos of their new production facility producing copies of ScanEagle. But Iran did not present any of the completed “Yasir” (as they called their version of ScanEagle) UAVs. Iran could have built a ScanEagle clone without copying from one they had obtained (either from a crash or the black market). The ScanEagle assembly line picture could have simply been Photoshopped, a technique Iran has been caught using numerous times. The Iranian version was said to have a range of 200 kilometers max altitude of 2,900 meters and max endurance of eight hours. By replacing the surveillance equipment and much of the fuel with explosives Iran would have a short range (a hundred kilometers or so) cruise missile with over a 10 kg (over 22 pounds) of explosives that could, in theory, hit anything within range. That is if it can get past the air defenses. Most Western air defense systems have been upgraded to detect UAVs and low flying cruise missiles.

Actually, defenses against cruise missiles go back over 70 years. Cruise Missiles have been around for that long. The first one appeared during World War II as the German V-1 "Buzz Bomb". The British developed a number of countermeasures. It was the Israelis that began using TV-equipped UAVs in combat during the 1980s. At the same time it was the United States that reinvented the buzz bomb as the modern cruise missile in the 1980s. A decade later the Americans borrowed from the Israelis to create their own UAVs for surveillance.

Yasir first appeared in December 2012 when Iran insisted it had captured a U.S. Navy ScanEagle UAV and copied it. The U.S. said none of its ScanEagles were missing. Iran then released a photo of the captured ScanEagle. But the photo showed a ScanEagle without military markings that appeared to have been reassembled after a crash. The U.S. did reveal that several ScanEagles had been lost over the last few years (due to communications or mechanical failures) in Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf and the wreckage was not recovered. This is where Iran might have obtained their ScanEagle (perhaps via fishermen who haulded it in and took it to the black market). In any event, stunts like this are mainly for raising morale among Iranian civilians depressed over economic problems. It doesn’t really matter what the U.S. says or does.

A ScanEagle weighs 19 kg (40 pounds), has a 3.2 meter (ten foot) wingspan, and uses day and night video cameras. This makes it easier for the UAV, flying over land or water, to spot small speed boats or individual vehicles. The commercial version of ScanEagle has been in service since the 1990s to help high seas fishing ships find schools of fish to go after. Cruising speed is 110 kilometers an hour. The ScanEagle can stay in the air for up to 15 hours per flight and fly as high as 5 kilometers (16,000 feet). The aircraft carries an optical system that is stabilized to keep the cameras focused on an object while the UAV moves. The UAV can operate at least a hundred kilometers from the ground controller. The ScanEagle is launched from a catapult and landed via a wing hook that catches a rope hanging from a 16 meter (fifty foot) pole. This makes it possible to operate the UAV from the helicopter pad on the stern (rear) of a warship or any open space on a seagoing fishing ship. Each ScanEagle costs about $100,000 and is still widely used by commercial fishing, ocean survey, and research ships, as well as military organizations in several countries. ScanEagle has been in military service since 2005.

December 18, 2013 By: John Ingham - express.co.uk

The Royal Navy [Dec. 17, 2013] launched its first drone in an operational theatre as it stepped up its campaign against Somali pirates.

Sept. 11, 2013 by Craig Hoyle – FG

London - The UK Royal Navy expects to conduct its first contractor-supported operations with the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle unmanned air system from late this year, although its timetable for the type's introduction has been affected by a lack of manpower.

Operations with the ScanEagle will occur under a contractor-owned and operated deal awarded to Boeing Defence UK earlier in June 2013 worth £30 million ($47 million). This will see the equipment launched from and recovered aboard some RN and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.

Urgent operational requirement acquisitions such as the ScanEagle deal are routinely expected to see equipment enter use within six months of a contract award, but the RN process is likely to require at least nine months, says Wg Cdr Dave Postlethwaite, commander of the UK Air Warfare Centre's UAS test and evaluation squadron.

Speaking at a pre-DSEi UAS conference in London on 9 September, RN Lt Cdr Pete Whitehead attributed the additional time requirement to the challenge of sourcing sufficient naval personnel to support the ScanEagle's introduction. This includes the service's need to have at least one person trained to fly the type, to serve as a safety officer.

Around three RN staff will be required per ScanEagle detachment, with this having been reduced from an earlier objective of up to eight. "We simply can't find the people at the moment" to achieve the latter figure, Whitehead says.

While the contractor will be responsible for flying the UAS in support of RN operations, Postlethwaite notes: "Whoever is looking at the [camera] picture will be trained, and will be military."

While the UAS will be flown by a contractor-hired operator, the Ministry of Defence must issue a release to service clearance before ScanEagle operations can commence, as activities will be conducted from a military vessel.

"We expect the capability to start becoming available from the end of 2013 onwards," minister for defence equipment, support and technology Philip Dunne said on 5 September.

24.06.2013 Helen Chachaty - journal-aviation.com

Certains bâtiments de la Royal Navy seront bientôt équipés de drones ScanEagle, spécialement conçus pour les opérations en milieu maritime. Cette acquisition résulte d’un contrat signé récemment entre le MOD et Boeing Defence UK.

Les UAV fabriqués par l’industriel Insitu sont destinés aux missions de surveillance, de reconnaissance et de renseignement. Capables de rester dans les airs entre 15 et 18 heures, ces drones de trois mètres d’envergure et de 22 kilogrammes sont lancés à partir d’une catapulte pneumatique. Dotés d’une caméra infrarouge, les drones transmettent les images recueillies par le biais d’une liaison satellite.