11 mars 2015 par Henri Weill - Ainsi va le monde !

L'amiral Bernard Rogel prolongé d'un an jusqu'au 31 août 2016 à la tête de la Marine où il a été nommé en 2011. Entré à l'Ecole navale en 1976 ce sous-marinier, qui totalise plus de 27000 heures de plongée, ancien sous-chef d’état-major « Opérations » à l’état-major des armées succéda en 2011 à l'amiral Pierre-François Forissier, qui occupa ces fonctions durant trois ans et demi.

Mar 10, 2015  defense-aerospace.com
(Source: Daily Telegraph; published Mar 09, 2015)
 

British Army Could Be Cut to Just 50,000 Over Next Four Years, Report Warns

The British Army could be reduced to its smallest size in nearly 250 years, taking its overall troop level to just 50,000 soldiers, a former Government defence adviser has warned.

A report by the respected Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) suggests that defence budgets may be slashed by 10 per cent during the next parliament, shrinking personnel for the three Armed Forces by as many as 42,000.

Britain’s military appears once again in line for massive culls after the next general election because of the continuing austerity drive and a lack of commitment by any of the major parties to protect defence spending, RUSI said.

Downing Street has been forced to deny that David Cameron and George Osborne, the Chancellor, are at “loggerheads” over whether to maintain the NATO target of committing two per cent of the nation's finances to defence.

But ministers’ reluctance to commit to the target was made clear, as Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, refused seven times during a television interview to rule out further cuts.

Regular Army soldiers are already being reduced from 102,000 to 82,000 and a new defence review under the next government could see numbers cut again by around 40 per cent, RUSI warned. It would mean the smallest Army since the 1770s, when Britain lost the American colonies.

The report comes ahead a crucial debate in the House of Commons on Thursday when Tory MPs are expected to push for a vote to force the Prime Minister Cameron into a commitment on defence spending.

Tensions over the £36 billion defence budget are high at a time relations with Vladimir Putin’s Russia are strained and the threat from ISIL in Iraq and Syria is growing. (end of excerpt)


Click here for the full story, on the Telegraph website.

March 10, 2015 By Julian Hale – Defense News

BRUSSELS — The UK has strongly rejected any possibility of a European army being created following a proposal along those lines made by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

"Our position is crystal clear that defence is a national, not an EU, responsibility and that there is no prospect of that position changing and no prospect of a European army," said a UK government spokesperson.

However, in a recent press statement, the European Federalist Party (EFP) welcomed the proposal to create a European army to face the threat represented by an increasingly assertive Russia as well as other security threats.

"Of course any army must be under democratic oversight, which requires the European Union to make a step further in the process of European integration towards a federal Europe with a stronger role for the European Parliament," said Pietro De Matteis, the president of the European Federalist Party.

Daniel Keohane, research director at the European think tank FRIDE, said he does not see it as a feasible proposal.

"There's no point in talking about an army unless you're talking about a federal state," Keohane told Defense News. "You need to be clear who is the political authority controlling it and who pays for it."

Keohane argued that the idea of military integration across the EU is a good one as "we have a demilitarization problem in the EU and falling defense budgets.This is what pooling and sharing in the EU is all about. But the drivers behind that integration have to be the national governments and not the EU institutions. That's the difficulty with the proposal."

While he said he can see why a committed federalist like Juncker wants to put the idea on the table, it is not "politically or militarily very realistic," Keohane said.

"I don't think it'll have much impact on the nuts and bolts of the EU defense debate as the Commission only plays a small role in that," he said. "Defense policy is really an intergovernmental area. More important is what EU governments will discuss at their June summit, where they are expected to discuss defense policy, and if anything new comes out of that, especially in terms of pooling and sharing. Without EU countries pooling more money, it is difficult to see how capabilities can improve much."

10.03.2015 par Jean Cautame - vn-lrds

Lors d’une conférence de presse organisée le 06 mars 2015 à Hanoi, l’ambassade des Etats-Unis a dévoilé les grands axes de son partenariat avec l’armée vietnamienne pour 2015, année qui scellera les vingt ans du rétablissement des relations diplomatiques entre ennemis d’hier (12 juillet 1995).

Le chef de bataillon Lý Văn Thắng, chef de la cellule de coopération de défense de l’ambassade, a annoncé que l’aide américaine se focalisera sur la poursuite du renforcement de la coopération de défense et de sécurité dans cinq grands domaines : sécurité maritime, dialogue entre autorités de haut niveau, recherche et secours en mer ainsi que soutien humanitaire et assistance aux victimes de catastrophes naturelles, enfin soutien dans l’acquisition des compétences recherchées par l’armée vietnamienne pour participer aux opérations de maintien de la paix (OMP) des Nations unies.

Suite de l'article

March 9, 2015 Defense News (AFP)

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan test-fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile on Monday, the military said, less than a week after the first high-level talks with arch-rivals India for nearly a year.

The military said the Shaheen III surface-to-surface missile had a range of 2,750 kilometers (1,700 miles) and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads.

"The test launch, with its impact point in the Arabian Sea, was aimed at validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system at maximum range," the military said in a statement.

India and Pakistan — which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 — have routinely carried out missile tests since both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998.

Pakistan's most recent missile test came last month with the launch of a low-flying, terrain-hugging cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Islamabad last week for talks with his Pakistani counterpart.

It was the first senior-level dialogue between the nuclear-armed rivals since their prime ministers met in New Delhi last May.

Relations between the two countries, always fraught, soured further last August amid a rise in clashes along their borders and a row over a Pakistani diplomat meeting Kashmiri separatists.

March 10th, 2015 By German Radio - defencetalk.com

German Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel is facing an awkward trip. From Saturday, he will be on a four-day journey through Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – all countries where Germany has significant business interests. Representatives from 140 German companies will be accompanying him.

Less exhilarating, however, is the fact that each of these countries is guilty of significant human rights atrocities in the name of Islamic law – including beheadings and brutal corporal punishment.

The most notorious of these is Saudi Arabia, the first stop on Gabriel’s tour. Opposition parties have been making the usual appeals to Gabriel’s conscience in advance. Katrin Göring-Eckardt, parliamentary leader of the Green party, called on the vice chancellor to use his meetings to bring up the case of Raif Badawi, the DW prize-winning blogger sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for allegedly “insulting Islam.” She also wants Badawi to be offered asylum in Germany. The socialist Left party MP Jan van Aken echoed the call and demanded that future weapons exports be made contingent on improvements in the human rights situation.

Two days before his journey, the pressure on Gabriel was cranked up further by the release of an answer to an official Bundestag question made by the Left party. In response to the question, Gabriel’s ministry was forced to reveal exactly how many weapons exports Germany had approved over the last 12 years, and to which German arms manufacturers.

Olaf Boehnke, German foreign policy analyst at the European Council of Foreign Relations, points out that the government justifies the sales in a number of ways beyond the economic. “The political argument is that Saudi Arabia is an important cooperation partner in a region marked by a lot of insecurity and defragmentation,” he told DW. “Our interest has to be to support those who support European interests in the fight against IS.”

More precise numbers

The answer to Left party’s question shows that, since 2002, Germany has approved an average of 14 weapons exports a year – Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s 2002 – 2005 tenure saw the approval of 68 exports, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 2005 – 2009 tenure 48, and her second – up to 2013 – saw 52 approvals.

The figures also showed that Saudi Arabia has been one of Germany’s best weapons customers. In the period 2009 – 2013 alone, under Merkel’s coalition government with the Free Democrats, fully 43 of 52 approvals went to Saudi Arabia – including machine guns, ammunition, and parts for tanks and armored vehicles – all ideal equipment for suppressing internal dissent.

As well as the three countries on Gabriel’s tour, Germany’s other customers in the past 12 years have included Pakistan (fighter plane parts), Indonesia (tank parts), both pre- and post-revolutionary Egypt (ammunition manufacturing equipment), Turkey (assault rifles, ammunition), pre- and post-revolutionary Libya (radar systems), Algeria (parts for surveillance systems), Israel (ammunition, weapons parts), Oman (sniper rifles, machine guns), Lebanon (machine guns, handguns), Bhutan (machine guns, grenades), and Turkmenistan (patrol boats).

While a member of the opposition, Gabriel criticized Germany’s weapons exports, but in office, he has been confronted with grubby realities dealing with business interest groups, Now, he says that the country is still caught in old contracts that it can’t get out of. “But there are various interest camps in a permanent conflict here,” said Boehnke. “In a recent speech, Gabriel said he would much prefer to pass the decision-making to the foreign ministry, because it was much better equipped to judging the human rights situation – which I expect led to a lot of laughter in the foreign ministry, because, of course ,they don’t want to either.”

The government’s weapons exports decisions are made periodically by a secret “security council,” chaired by the chancellor and attended by key ministers, like Gabriel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Flooding the Middle East with weapons

The new figures also show that fully one-third of the approved contracts went to the controversial gun-maker Heckler and Koch, named by anti-weapons campaigners as the “deadliest company in the world,” and currently under investigation by Stuttgart prosecutors for illegally exporting assault rifles to Mexico. Heckler and Koch’s machine guns are used by police forces and armies all over the world, as well as virtually every Islamist militia – from Hezbollah to “Islamic State.”

Despite this, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly been sold “manufacturing equipment” for Heckler and Koch guns over the past decade. “Whether it’s Schröder, Merkel, [former Foreign Minister Joschka] Fischer, or Steinmeier, they all personally decided to put the instruments of oppression into the hands of the unjust regime in Saudi Arabia,” van Aken told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Thanks to Germany, Saudi Arabia now has the capacity to make its own Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifles – the state-of-the-art weapon used by the Bundeswehr and other NATO forces. Given that these guns can be functional for a period of 30 to 50 years, it seems likely they will be in circulation around the Middle East conflicts for decades to come, and that Western coalition soldiers will eventually be facing “terrorist” militias armed with German weaponry.

10/03/15 Le Vif (Belga)

Les exigences précises auxquelles devront répondre les avions qui succéderont aux chasseurs-bombardiers F-16 seront déterminée dans le plan stratégique de la Défense, a indiqué mardi le ministre Steven Vandeput en commission de la Chambre. Ce plan est attendu pour l'été.

Parmi les critères auxquels devra satisfaire le nouveau chasseur pourrait figurer la capacité de transporter et de larguer des bombes nucléaires, comme peut le faire actuellement le F-16 avec les B-61 américaines supposées entreposées sur la base aérienne de Kleine-Brogel (Limbourg).

La Belgique a demandé à cinq agences étatiques de répondre à un questionnaire avant d'entamer des négociations pour acquérir un nouvel avion. L'exigence nucléaire pourrait s'avérer déterminante dans le choix belge, à croire le député Georges Dallemagne (cdH).

"Si les nouveaux avions devaient avoir les mêmes missions nucléaires qu'aujourd'hui, cet appel n'a aucun sens. Jamais, l'armée américaine ne partagera ses codes de mise à feu et de largage", a affirmé le député humaniste, qui a mis en garde le ministre contre un appel d'offres "pour la galerie".

Actuellement, cinq avions - dont deux américains - sont en lice, représentés par cinq agences: le Joint Program Office (JPO), qui pilote le programme de chasseur F-35 Lightning II du groupe Lockheed Martin, le US Navy PMA 265 pour le F/A-18E/F Super Hornet de Boeing, la Direction générale de l'Armement (DGA) du ministère français de la Défense pour le Rafale de l'avionneur Dassault, la Swedish Defence and Security Export Agency (FXM) pour le JAS-39 Gripen de Saab et le UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) du ministère britannique de la Défense pour l'Eurofighter d'Airbus.

"Les spécifications techniques dépendront du 'level of engagement' (niveau d'engagement) et on en décidera dans le plan stratégique qui définira ce qu'on attend exactement d'un avion de chasse", a répondu M. Vandeput (N-VA), sans donner d'autre précision sur ce point.

La présence d'ogives nucléaires américaine en Belgique, supposée mais jamais confirmée officiellement, fait l'objet d'un débat politique récurrent et de nombreuses voix se sont déjà exprimées pour mettre en cause l'utilité d'un tel arsenal dans le pays depuis la fin de la guerre froide.

Selon M. Dallemagne, il est temps que le gouvernement se pose la question. "Si l'on veut avoir un appel d'offres ouvert aux pays européens, il est important de mener le débat", a-t-il dit. Autre élément invoqué mercredi: la surveillance conjointe de l'espace aérien du Benelux par les forces aériennes belge et néerlandaise, en principe à partir de la mi-2017.

Le PS et le cdH craignent que cette coopération renforcée, annoncée la semaine passée lors d'une réunion conjointe des gouvernements belge et néerlandais, soit aussi le prélude à l'acquisition du F-35, les Pays Bas ayant collaboré au programme qui a mené à sa conception.

Dans un entretien accordé au journal 'La Libre Belgique', le député Sebastian Pirlot (PS) a dit même redouter l'avènement d'une armée "des Plats pays" qui ferait la part belle à la Flandre. "La surveillance n'aura pas de conséquence sur les achats militaires", a indiqué le ministre. Selon lui, des "effets d'échelle" seront toutefois recherchés. Mais cela ne signifie pas que la Belgique fera le même choix que les Pays Bas, a-t-il assuré. Les effets d'échelle seront déterminés en fonction du choix de l'avion et pourraient donc être recherchés dans d'autres pays.

10/03/2015 Armée de l'air

Mercredi 4 mars, le Super Puma de l’escadron d’hélicoptères (EH) 1/44 « Solenzara » a décollé de la base aérienne 126 de Ventiri-Solenzara pour porter secours à un équipage d’ULM en difficulté.

Dans l’après-midi, suite à un feu moteur, le pilote d’un ULM (ultra-léger motorisé), en transit maritime vers le continent, passe un message de détresse. Au large de Saint-Florent, il tente de rejoindre l’aéroport de Bastia mais disparaît des écrans radar et n’émet plus de message radio.

Après des heures de recherche infructueuses menées conjointement par la gendarmerie, l’armée de terre et le centre opérationnel départemental d’incendie et de secours (CODIS), la nuit commence à tomber. C’est alors que le Super Puma de l’EH « Solenzara », apte à remplir des missions de sauvetage maritime (SAMAR) de nuit, est sollicité. Finalement, l’hélicoptère est envoyé vers une plage que le pilote d’ULM naufragé a rejoint à la nage. Le rescapé est évacué par le Super Puma vers Saint-Florent afin d’être pris en charge par le SAMU.

Ce sauvetage réussi est un bel exemple de coordination interministérielle dans une opération de secours !

Mar 10, 2015 ASDNews Source : Saab AB

Defence and security company Saab have signed a contract on further deliveries of components for the Carl-Gustaf man-portable weapon system.

The order has a total value of SEK 127 million and comprises components for ammunition to the Carl-Gustaf system, a modern and effective ground support weapon system. The contract also includes an option for additional orders with a total value of SEK 60 million.

Read more

March 3, 2015 By Gerard O'Dwyer - Defense News

HELSINKI — As Russia strengthens its naval, air and ground forces in its northern territories, Norway has responded by scaling-up manpower, equipment and Arctic combat units as part of a broader reinforcement of its High North defenses.

Norway's program, part of the Norwegian Defense Forces' (NDF) Smart Defense strategy, comprises a strong Arctic-focused dimension in funding and resource allocation.

The Smart Defense approach to High North military reinforcement has, since 2010, placed higher priority on Arctic-class specialized equipment procurement coupled with more intensive training for High North-deployed units. The goal is to produce combat-ready modular units that can fight independently or alongside NATO forces.

The NDF's August 2009 decision to relocate the Army's headquarters functions to the Arctic town of Bodø — 1,700 kilometers north of Oslo — bolstered Norway's commitment to establishing an integrated High North defense system. That decision led to the establishment of the Joint Operational Command Headquarters (JOCH).

This new approach is centered around more compact units equipped with the best available Arctic fighting equipment and capable of delivering greater firepower.

The JOCH is overseeing the evolution of Norway's High North defenses into a centralized command and coordinated fighting structure that will be able to call upon an Air Force equipped with F-35s, forward Army battalions deploying CV90 tracked armored fighting vehicles and high mobility Archer artillery units, and a stronger Navy operating anti-aircraft and submarine-hunting Arctic-class Fridtjof Nansen frigates and Skjold corvettes.

The scaling-up of Norway's defense capabilities in the High North is happening while the military intelligence services are urging the government to adopt a more cautious posture toward Russia's increasing militarization in the region.

Although the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS) believes Norway is under no "short- to medium-term threat" from Russia, its latest open threat evaluation assessment, FOKUS-2015, advocates vigilance.

"Threat is a combination of two factors; capacity and intention," NIS chief Lt. Gen. Kjell Grandhagen said. "Although capacity is increasing, it is difficult for the time being to see a rational reason for Russian military activity against Norway in a short- to medium-term perspective. But intentions can change over time, and it is therefore now increasingly important for Norway to follow Russia's long-term political, economic and military development."

The NIS' intel-gathering capacity will be enhanced once its new advanced signals intelligence ship, the Marjata 11, enters service in the High North and Barents Sea in 2016.

Under the Smart Defense program, Ørland, located on the mid-Norway coast, and Evenes, above Norway's Arctic Circle, will become the main operating bases for F-35 aircraft and, during more regular joint exercises, NATO aircraft and forces. Evenes also will house a Quick Reaction Alert squadron.

Ørland, Evenes and the NDF's core High North battalions will also be equipped with an updated Norwegian advanced surface-to-air missile system, which is being deployed primarily to protect key military installations, warfare units and infrastructure against air-to-surface attacks.

The system uses active missiles and different types of sensors, boosting firepower for the NDF's Smart Defense and High North strengthening program.

Archer, the next-generation self-propelled artillery system developed as a joint project with Sweden, also increases firepower. Norway plans to deploy 24 Archer systems complete with fully automated 155 mm/L52 howitzer guns and M151 Protector remote-controlled weapon stations. These are mounted on modified Volvo A30 six-wheel-drive chassis all-terrain articulated haulers.

The Arctic-class Archer's operational strike-and-run capacity makes it ideal in the hilly and forested terrains of the High North. Moreover, Archer can fire Nexter Bonus and Raytheon/Bofors XM982 Excalibur guided rounds over respective distances of 34 kilometers and 60 kilometers.

The NDF also is establishing a specialized Arctic-trained "professional" rapid reaction force north (RRFN), set to become fully operational in 2017. The RRFN unit's core will comprise an existing armored battalion and a motorized infantry battalion equipped with CV90 infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard 2 tanks

Norway's ability to defend its High North territories also received a boost from the Defense Ministry's US $1.6 billion program to re-equip its core forward armored brigade units with CV90 tracked infantry fighting vehicles, part of the NDF's biggest fighting vehicle modernization project investment.

The vehicle fleet upgrade, with delivery scheduled from BAE Systems in 2015-17, will include 74 modernized and armor-strengthened infantry fighting vehicles, 21 reconnaissance, 16 multirole (mortar carrier or cargo), 15 command and control, 16 engineering, in addition to two driver training vehicle types.

The new and updated vehicles are expected to make the NDF's forward armored battalions in the High North more mobile with improved firepower. The infantry vehicles also will have better protection against armor-piercing weapons and rounds, including improvised explosive devices.

The infantry and reconnaissance vehicles will also be equipped with better sensor systems, surveillance and communication capabilities, and fitted with integrated technologies that will extend to dismounted infantry troops. Norwegian company Kongsberg's Protector remote weapon stations are to be fitted to all IFV variants.

The need to prioritize military readiness and defense capability in the High North helped drive Norway's decision to raise spending on defense above that of any of its Nordic neighbors, said defense analyst Thorvald Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian defense minister.

"Russia is rebuilding its naval and Air Force strength, as well as its Arctic fighting capability, in the High North," Stoltenberg said. "While this is understandable from a Russian perspective, its growing level of activity regionally is causing problems and concerns among all Nordic governments and militaries. This is unfortunate, as the emphasis should be on building more, not less, bilateral cooperation with Russia on defense and security in the Arctic."

Norway's defense budget will run to $8 billion in 2015.

10 Mars 2015 Sources : Marine nationale

Depuis le 8 février et jusqu’au 29 mars, le bâtiment hydrographique et océanographique (BHO) Beautemps Beaupré conduit un déploiement dans la zone de protection renforcée temporaire de Mauritanie (ZPRT). Ayant pour mission la mise à jour des cartes et des informations nautiques des approches et des ports de Nouakchott et Nouadhibou, leBeautemps Beaupré opère dans les eaux mauritaniennes.

Ces ports constituent les poumons économiques et stratégiques de la Mauritanie mais également l’accès à la mer de nombreux pays du Sahel. L’essentiel des exportations de minerais de la région passe par le cap Blanc et Nouadhibou alors que la plus grande partie des marchandises débarquées à Nouakchott partent pour le Mali. Cette mission entre dans le cadre des missions d’hydrographie nationale du SHOM à travers les engagements internationaux de la France. Les travaux qui seront réalisés par le Beautemps Beaupré et le service hydrographique de la marine faciliteront les accès aux principaux ports participant ainsi au développement économique de la région et donc à sa stabilité politique.

Par ailleurs, ces deux ports constituent des points d’appui logistiques potentiels pour les opérations militaires dans la région du Sahel.

Chaque jour, l’activité du bâtiment et de son équipage obéit à un tempo bien rôdé :

7h, les travaux commencent au lever du jour par la mise à l’eau des 2 vedettes hydrographiques. Le personnel débarqué pour les travaux à terre est sous la protection des fusiliers mauritaniens.

La journée se poursuit par différentes opérations telles que la mise à l’eau d’appareils de mesures soit directement soit par les plongeurs, le ravitaillement et les réparations en liaison avec la terre et la marine mauritanienne ou encore le soutien médical au profit d’expatriés français.

Au coucher du soleil, les vedettes sont embarquées et le Beautemps Beaupré fait route vers le large.

La nuit est parfois l’occasion d’une rencontre avec un autre bâtiment français. Bien souvent, ce créneau permet au bâtiment de mettre à l’eau d’autres appareils de mesures capables de réaliser des prélèvements nécessaires à la poursuite des levés de fonds des chenaux d’approche portuaire.

Les cartes de la région du banc d’Arguin, lieu du drame de la Méduse il y aura 200 ans en 2016, n’ont pas été mises à jour depuis 1964 alors que le port de Nouadhibou et son activité commerciale se sont profondément développés.

Moyen efficace et singulier agissant pour l’anticipation et la connaissance, le Beautemps-Beaupré allie prises de données à caractère scientifique pour la Défense et recueil de renseignements d’ambiance à vocation militaire. Il est présent à la fois dans des zones peu fréquentées par les bâtiments de la flotte mais également au cœur de zones sensibles où il reste en mesure d’accomplir toutes les missions qui pourraient entrer dans les capacités d’un bâtiment de la Marine nationale.

Le MRAP HIGUARD de Renault Trucks Defense pourrait-il être vendu à Singapour?

10 mars, 2015 Pierre Brassart (FOB)

La France est, depuis plus de vingt ans, un important fournisseur d’armes pour la république de Singapour. Que ce soit pour les hélicoptères (Cougar, Fennec,…), les blindés (AMX-10P), les missiles (Milan, Mistral, Aster), les frégates (classe Formidable, dérivée des La Fayette), la France est toujours présente. Et, qui sait, peut-être qu’une nouvelle vente se profile à l’horizon…

Le ministère de la défense singapourien a publié début mars un document concernant le futur de son armée, tant en ce qui concerne la marine que l’aviation ou l’armée de terre.  On y parle notamment, pour le volet terrestre, du remplacement de véhicules blindés V200 dans le cadre du programme PRV (Protected Response Vehicle). Or, sur plusieurs sites internet spécialisés, ainsi que sur le site du journal singapourien Today, une photo montrant un véhicule de Renault Trucks Defense, le MRAP Higuard, est apparue.

La République de Singapour pourrait-elle être le deuxième client export pour le Higuard après le Qatar ?