WASHINGTON, 17 septembre - RIA Novosti

Le rapport des enquêteurs de l'Onu confirme que l'attaque à l'arme chimique perpétrée le 21 août dans la banlieue de Damas a été menée par les forces gouvernementales syriennes, a estimé lundi soir Susan Rice, conseillère à la sécurité nationale du président américain Barack Obama dans un communiqué.

"Bien que la mission consistant à établir les responsables ne fût pas du ressort des enquêteurs, les preuves techniques fournies, dont la haute qualité du sarin et un certain type de missiles, confirment nos estimations selon lesquelles l'attaque a été perpétrée par le régime syrien, car seules les autorités syriennes disposent de tels moyens", a affirmé Mme Rice.

Selon elle, les négociations entre la Russie et les Etats-Unis de la semaine dernière ont permis de créer une base afin de détruire les armes chimiques syriennes.

"Nous allons continuer  à travailler avec la Russie, la Grande-Bretagne, la France, l'Onu, l'Organisation pour l'interdiction des armes chimiques et d'autres. Et si les démarches diplomatiques n'aboutissent pas, les Etats-Unis restent prêts à agir", a ajouté la conseillère.

Le secrétaire général de l'Onu Ban Ki-moon a déclaré quand à l'issue d'une réunion du Conseil de sécurité sur la Syrie que le rapport des enquêteurs ne permettait pas de déterminer les responsables de l'attaque à l'arme chimique et qu'une nouvelle enquête était nécessaire pour établir les coupables.

Selon les inspecteurs chargés d'enquêter sur le recours à l'arme chimique, les ogives retrouvées près de Damas pourraient avoir été fabriquées tant de façon industrielle qu'artisanale.

Company officials unveiled the design for the Scorpion, in works since January 2012, during the annual Air Force Association Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. (Textron AirLand)

Sep. 16, 2013 - By AARON MEHTA – Defense News

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — Textron and AirLand today unveiled the Scorpion, a clean-sheet light attack platform that the companies are confident can make inroads in both the international and domestic markets.

The plane is in the “final stages” of integration tests, with a flight expected before the end of the year, Scott Donnelly, chairman and CEO of Textron, told reporters today. He said the aircraft has already run successful tests of the ejector seat and engines.

Company officials unveiled the design, in works since January 2012 at a Wichita, Kan., facility, during the annual Air Force Association Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md.

The Scorpion comes with twin turbofan engines and a tandem cockpit, although the jet is designed to be flown by a single pilot. There are six hard points on the plane that could hold a variety of equipment, from extra fuel to Hellfire missiles.

Potential competitors to the Scorpion, such as the Embraer Super Tucano and Beechcraft AT-6, are turboprop designs notable for their low-cost design. Donnelly, however, expressed confidence that his design would be priced similarly to a turboprop, while providing greater capabilities.

Donnelly expects a per-hour operating cost of around $3,000, significantly less than highly capable aircraft such as the F-16 or F-35.

The backing officials see the ISR capabilities as what really sets the plane apart. The Scorpion can carry 3,000 pounds of ISR equipment, with a modular design to allow customers to select what equipment should be on the plane. It boasts five hours of long-loiter time as well.

While the company has had conversations with potential customers, it was not willing to identify any specific areas of growth. However, both the Middle East and the Pacific have proven fertile grounds for light attack craft in the past.

Given budget cuts around the world, it seems potentially dangerous for a company to create a new plane without a requirement. But Donnelly insists that gives his group an entrance into the worldwide market.

“Our view has always been that we know the US and partner nations are all going to have budgetary challenges, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a mission requirement,” he said. “We’re offering a solution to people who have budgetary challenge and still have mission requirements. This is not a competitor to an F-35. The vast majority of missions don’t need that.”

Domestically, the Scorpion team is also keeping an eye on the Air Force’s T-X trainer replacement program. Donnelly indicated that by swapping the two engines with a single engine and changing the wings on the plane, the fighter would match up ideally with the expected requirements for the T-X program, potentially worth billions of dollars.

That kind of design flexibility will be key for making market headway, said former Air Force Secretary Whit Peters, who consulted for AirLand on the design of the plane.

“For the international market, its’ critical,” Peters said of the flexibility of the plane. Because its can be hard to know what technologies will and will not be exportable, it is important to be able to make a baseline airplane that can be exportable and then modified for customers, Peters said.

He indicated that worldwide fleets of A-37s, as well as the US Air Force’s fleets of A-10s and F-15Cs, could be platforms replaced by the Scorpion. Both those Air Force platforms are potentially on the cutting block due to sequestration.

Sources say the US Air Force is considering eliminating its entire fleet of KC-10 tankers in order to save money. (US Air Force)

Sep. 15, 2013 - By MARCUS WEISGERBER and AARON MEHTA  - Defense News

WASHINGTON — Faced with steep budget cuts and the desire to keep existing procurement initiatives on track, the US Air Force is considering scrapping its entire fleet of KC-10 tankers and A-10 attack jets, according to multiple military and defense sources.

Also on the chopping block are F-15C fighter jets and a planned $6.8 billion purchase of new combat search-and-rescue helicopters, these sources say.

While these proposals are far from final, the options show the magnitude of the decisions facing Air Force leadership as the service wrestles with the prospect of cutting billions of dollars in planned spending over the next decade.

“You only gain major savings if you cut an entire fleet,” Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force chief of staff, told sister publication Air Force Times last week. “You can cut aircraft from a fleet, but you save a lot more money if you cut all the infrastructure that supports the fleet.”

When directly asked about phasing out the A-10 fleet, Welsh declined to comment on specific aircraft.

“We are looking at every platform we have, every one of those five core missions and trying to decide where must we recapitalize versus where can we modernize,” Welsh said.

The Air Force’s 2015 spending plan is due to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) by Sept. 23.

Each US military service is developing two budgets for 2015 — one that includes sequestration spending cuts and another that builds on the Pentagon’s 2014 budget proposal, which is $52 billion above the sequestration cap.

OSD must approve the services’ budget proposals during a series of back-and-forth deliberations in the coming months before a final spending plan is sent to lawmakers in February.

In an emailed statement, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said no decisions have been finalized.

“As the Air Force plans for a future with sequestration, we are looking at all options to accomplish our mission within available resources,” Stefanek said. “At this time, all options being considered are pre-decisional.”

Deep Cuts

The four-month-long Strategic Choices and Management Review — a DoD effort that looked at ways the Pentagon might have to modify its military strategy due to budget cuts — found the Air Force could cut up to five tactical aircraft squadrons, DoD announced in July.

The proposed aircraft cuts, particularly the 340-aircraft A-10 fleet, are sure to face scrutiny in Congress. About half of the A-10 fleet resides in the Air National Guard. An Air Force proposal to cut five A-10 squadrons last year faced stiff opposition in Congress and from state governors.

The Air Force Reserve also operates A-10s, which were heavily used to provide support to ground troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. A-10s also are based in South Korea.

Sources say the Army is interested in obtaining A-10s should the Air Force decide to retire the twin-engine jets, which have been flying since the 1970s.

The Air Force operates 59 KC-10s, according to a service fact sheet. The tri-jet, which is based on the commercial McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliner, is the workhorse of the Air Force aerial refueling fleet.

The tankers — equipped with both boom and hose-and-drogue refueling systems — can refuel Air Force, Navy and international military aircraft on a single sortie.

Also on the table is an unspecified number of cuts to the Boeing F-15C Eagle fleet. The Air Force has about 250 of the fighter jets, which, along with the F-22 Raptor, make up the service’s air-to-air fighter arsenal.

Pentagon leaders for several years have said they would like to get rid of single-mission platforms.

An Air Force plan to cut the A-10 doesn’t come as a surprise, said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Virginia-based Teal Group. He said the active service has been trying to kill off the platform for years. But while congressional pressure has saved the planes in the past, budget realities may make cuts realistic for the first time.

“These are strange and dangerous times budgetarily, which means the Air Force might finally get their way,” Aboulafia said. He pointed out that the A-10 is not particularly useful for either counterinsurgency actions or for the so-called pivot to Asia, leaving the platform strategically on the outside looking in.

“If there were any plans to fight a land war, this would not be good news. But everything about the budget implies they have stepped away from land wars,” he said. “It’s a good way for the Air Force to save cash and declare victory in a turf war.”

Conversely, Aboulafia calls the potential KC-10 cuts “a baffler,” citing the relatively young age of the aircraft and its importance for movement across the Pacific. He speculated that including the KC-10 may be the Air Force attempting to drive home the impact of sequestration and budget cuts, as the program still provides a number of jobs that members of Congress would want to protect.

Retiring the F-15C would save maintenance and upgrade costs, Rebecca Grant, president of IRIS Research and a former USAF official, said. The service could then use those funds to speed procurement of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

“It’s a gutsy move assuming a lot of risk, but there’s risk to all these scenarios,” Grant said. “It may be there is less risk retiring the F-15C right now than there is in getting the fleet we need some years down the road.”

Air Force leaders are still locked in a passionate debate over whether to move aircraft and personnel into the Guard and reserve. Advocates for this move say the savings achieved could allow the Air Force to keep aircraft in the inventory.

New Rescue Helos Still in Limbo

While the Air Force sequestration budget proposal cancels the Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program, a separate 2015 budget proposal — the one that builds on the Pentagon’s 2014 budget plan — funds the effort, sources said.

Sikorsky is the only company to publicly announce a bid in the CRH program. A contract award was expected this month, but has been pushed to the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which begins Oct. 1.

If CRH is canceled, the service could coast with its inventory of HH-60 Pave Hawks, perhaps with limited procurement to replace losses. Grant, however, cautions that could be a mistake.

“The Air Force needs [CRH], but it wouldn’t surprise me to see it flip,” Grant said. “We’ve taken risk in the helicopter fleet for close to a decade now, and it’s time to take the risk somewhere else. They need to get that one done.”

While many factors can change over the next five months of budget deliberations, the decision to abandon the service’s one-time No. 2 acquisition program shows the desire of Air Force leaders to protect procurement programs already in production or of higher priority, sources said.

The Air Force brass wants to continue funding Boeing KC-46A refueling tankers, Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighters and development of a new long-range bomber.

Pentagon officials do not want to break the fixed-price tanker contract that requires Boeing to pay for development or production hiccups. The bomber is a key component in the Pentagon’s long-term, Pacific-focused strategy, and the F-35 is the only fifth-generation US combat fighter aircraft in production.

In the end, Congress will have the final say. Lawmakers were less than thrilled with the Air Force’s 2014 budget proposal, reversing several big-ticket items.

Jeff Schogol contributed to this report.

13/09/2013 Par François Julian – Air & Cosmos

Lockheed Martin a récemment publié, sur le site internet de son magazine Code One  une vue d'artiste du Speed Agile.

Ce démonstrateur technologique, qui pour le moment fait l'objet d'essais en soufflerie, doit permettre de défricher un concept de futur avion de transport militaire, qui pourrait succéder au C-130 Hercules.

Le Speed Agile est le fruit de recherches réunissant Boeing, Lockheed Martin, la NASA et l'US Air Force. Il s'agit d'étudier un futur avion cargo, pouvant évoluer depuis des pistes sommaires, ce qui impose une bonne tenue aux basses vitesse, tout en étant capable de voler en croisière à Mach 0,8.

L'accent serait d'ailleurs mis sur l'utilisation de dispositifs hypersustentateurs performants et de conception simple, qui permettraient à l'appareil de décoller et d'atterrir sur une distance de moins de 700 m.

Pour le moment, Speed Agile n'est encore qu'un avion de papier. Mais qui sait, il pourrait peut être intéresser un jour les décideurs du Pentagone, soucieux d'offrir au C-130 Hercules une retraite bien méritée.

17/09/2013 Michel Cabirol  - LaTribune.fr

Le ministre de la Défense Jean-Yves Le Drian est favorable à la reconnaissance de sociétés militaires privées dans le domaine du transport maritime. Un projet de loi sera bientôt déposé.

17/09/2013 Capital.fr

Les Pays-Bas vont acheter 37 chasseurs F-35 de Lockheed Martin pour équiper leur armée de l'air, ont indiqué mardi à Reuters deux sources proches du dossier.

La ministre néerlandaise de la Défense, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, doit annoncer cette décision dans la journée de mardi dans un document définissant sa vision à long terme pour l'armée néerlandaise, ont-elles ajouté.

Le F-35 Joint Strike Fighter a été conçu pour devenir le chasseur de nouvelle génération de l'US Air Force et des alliés des Etats-Unis, mais son développement a pris plusieurs années de retard en raison de problèmes techniques et d'une hausse des coûts, 70% plus élevés que prévu.

Anthony Deutsch; Tangi Salaün pour le service français

09/16/2013  Defence IQ Press

There’s a new 6 x 6 wheeled Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) on the market after Nexter, the French vehicle manufacturer, took the covers off its Tactical Infantry Transport and Utility System (TITUS) at DSEI last week.

In terms of armaments TITUS can be equipped with any kind of Remote Control Weapon Station from 7.62mm to 20mm, and 40mm Grenade Launchers as well, depending on the level of threats and type of missions.

13/09/2013 Sources : SGA/DMPA

Dirigé par le commandant Aurore Tillac et le capitaine Emilie Fleury, chef-adjoint, le Chœur de l'Armée Française compte 48 choristes.

• Programmation du mois de septembre du Chœur de l'Armée Française

________

Garde républicaine : www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr

13 septembre 2013 lalibre.be

Actualité Montant total: 489,5 millions d'euros. Quatre nouveaux programmes vont être lancé.

Le Conseil des ministres a autorisé vendredi le ministre de la Défense, Pieter De Crem, à attribuer deux marchés publics et à lancer quatre procédures de marchés publics dans le cadre de son plan d'investissements pour la Défense et la Sécurité (PIDS) sur trois ans d'un montant total de 489,5 millions d'euros approuvé l'an dernier par le gouvernement.

Il s'agit de l'attribution d'un marché public relatif au remplacement des installations radios sol-air (en jargon "Local Air C²") au profit de la composante Air, y compris un contrat d'entretien de durée indéterminée et l'achat "ponctuel" de carabines multifonctionnelles de diverses versions avec leurs accessoires, couplé à un contrat pluriannuel à durée indéterminée à bordereaux de prix relatif à l'acquisition de pièces de rechange, à l'entretien et à diverses prestations de service, a précisé la Défense dans un communiqué.

Aucun montant n'a été cité, mais un montant de 21,6 millions d'euros a été prévu au PIDS pour l'acquisition de 4.500 "carabines modulaires" pour remplacer l'arme de base du soldat, le FNC vieillissant de la Fabrique Nationale (FN).

M. De Crem (CD&V) a d'autre part été autorisé à lancer quatre autres marchés publics pour:

- la poursuite de la modernisation des chasseurs F-16 - qui, âgés de plus de trente ans devront rester en service jusqu'à leur remplacement, prévu entre 2023 et 2028 - en vertu du programme "Communality & Interoperability Program" (CICP) pour lequel l'état-major de la Défense propose de consacrer 25 millions d'euros;

- le remplacement de l'équipement informatique (PC, laptops et écrans) de la Défense via un leasing opérationnel d'une durée de cinq ans;

- l'acquisition et l'installation de deux "suites" de liaison de données tactiques (dite "Link 16");

- l'achat de trente grands bus "Low Entry de catégorie M3" pour le transport de minimum 75 passagers en une tranche fixe et deux tranches conditionnelles et un contrat omnium d'entretien et de réparation.  

September 17, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Royal Air Force News; published Sept. 16, 2013)

Aircraft, crews and supporting personnel from the Royal Saudi Air Force, (RSAF) have been operating alongside their allies from the Royal Air Force as Exercise Saudi-British Green Flag took place at RAF Coningsby.

RSAF Typhoons from the 10th Sqn, based at King Fahad Air Base, Taif were flown into the Lincolnshire base alongside Tornados from the 75th Sqn, King Abdul Aziz Air Base, Dhahran. No 3 (Fighter) Squadron supplied the RAF Typhoon element, alongside a composite Tornado GR4 force from RAF Marham. The ten day exercise saw the Saudi and RAF crews fly in a series of training flights of gradually increasing complexity, during which the crews gained a wider knowledge of how the other force works and also how to use the relative strengths of their aircraft to generate greater overall effects.

Group Captain Johnny Stringer, RAF Coningsby Station Commander said, “For Coningsby and for the RAF this is a hugely significant exercise, an opportunity to fly the same aircraft types with our RSAF friends, to share our tactical thinking on how we employ our platforms, and for us as a station to support a detachment at significant range from a fellow air force.

He continued, “At the end of the exercise we will get to the point where success for us, and I think I can speak for the RSAF as well, is that our pilots, navigators, engineers, fighter controllers - all of the people who the RSAF has brought across that we are hosting both at Coningsby and more broadly in the UK - not only understand and know each other a little bit better, but if we ever have to go and fly and fight alongside each other for real then we will have the confidence in each other that we are able to do that.

Brigadier-General Mohammed Al-Shahrani, the RSAF Detachment Commander said, “One very important objective we have is to make sure that our people, from aircrew, to engineers, to staff, to fighter control and all the other roles, work side by side with the RAF; to be ready if we ever need to operate together.

Gp Capt Stringer,” In terms of what the exercise looks like, you are obviously drawn to Coningsby because it’s where the Tornados and Typhoons are operating, but we also have embedded RSAF personnel with our GCI personnel up at RAF Boulmer, and elsewhere, and we have them supporting the exercise directing staff. You can see from that breadth that this is more than just flying some aircraft together — this is a significant engagement.

Cooperation and greater understanding of how each air force works was a very clear objective for the exercise. This was not just limited to the pilots; engineers and other support staff on both sides also benefited. One example of the variety of roles that air force personnel provided during the exercise is that of No 3 Mobile Catering Squadron. Personnel from the squadron deployed to Coningsby to provide catering facilities to exercise personnel. Sgt Maxine Booth, “We are a mobile catering squadron, so our job is to pitch up in a tent somewhere and supply food. The big difference this time is that where we are usually in another country taking a piece of the UK to our forces, this time we are in the UK hoping to bring part of Saudi Arabia here. It has been a massively rewarding experience, both personally and professionally. We have some Saudi chefs with us and it has been fascinating to observe and learn different cooking techniques, for example with something as basic as rice. On a personal level, we are spending time with the Saudi’s, we are working with them and eating with them, it is great to learn about their culture and their language.

From the Saudi perspective, two aspects of the deployment stand out as significant. The exercise is the first significant deployment of the Typhoon outside of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is also the first time that the MRTT aircraft, (called Voyager by the RAF) has been used to "trail" aircraft operationally by any air force, a source of great pride for the RSAF. (A trail is when air-to-air refuelling aircraft are used to allow swift deployment; in this case the Typhoons flew directly from Saudi Arabia to the UK, refuelling en-route)

Brig-Gen Shahrani, “It is the first time we have deployed Typhoons for a long period of time outside our Kingdom so that means we are reaching out our logistic support to about 3,000 miles; it is very important for us to test that. Also it is the first time that we have used the Airbus MRTT for trailing from Saudi Arabia to here, which has proven successful.

Several of the Saudi pilots and engineers have been to Coningsby before as they undertook their Typhoon training at the Lincolnshire base, Brig-Gen Shahrani being the first pilot to do so in 2008.

Gp Capt Stringer, "The Saudis have been our friends and allies for a long time, and on an individual level it is wonderful to see friends such as Brigadier-General Shahrani back here", Brigadier-General Shahrani echoed Group Captain Stringer’s comments, "When you operate as allies, knowing the other person, being able to pick up the telephone and talk to someone you already know, is very valuable."

Sep. 16, 2013 - By JAROSLAW ADAMOWSKI – Defense News

WARSAW — Poland’s major armament and military equipment manufacturers will be consolidated into a single entity in a bid to restructure and overhaul the country’s defense industry, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced today.

“The Polish Armaments Group, which will comprise all key companies active in the Polish defense industry, is currently being established,” Tusk said during a visit to local armored vehicle producer Wojskowe Zaklady Mechaniczne Siemianowice, reported Polish news agency PAP.

Under the plan, the new group will integrate major state-owned defense manufacturers such as Huta Stalowa Wola, Wojskowe Zaklady Remontowo-Produkcyjne, which comprises 11 state-owned defense companies, and the Polish Defense Holding (PHO) into one group.

PHO, which is Poland’s largest defense industry player, consists of some 40 entities and has a workforce of close to 10,000. Until May, PHO operated under the brand of Bumar Group, and it rebranded itself to lead the consolidation efforts of Poland’s fragmented defense industry, according to statements by senior company representatives. That expected consolidation did not occur, Tusk said, and PHO will be integrated into the new defense group.

The Polish Ministry of Treasury had originally planned to launch the holding’s initial public offering on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2015, but it is unclear how the latest developments will affect these plans.

16 September 2013 BBC Africa

Uganda has suspended 20 army officers accused of corruption in Somalia while battling Islamist militants as part of an African Union (AU) force, a Ugandan army spokesman has told the BBC.

The officers are accused of selling food and fuel, meant for troops, on the black market, reports say.

The Ugandan contingent head, Brigadier Michael Ondoga, is among those being investigated.

Uganda is the biggest contributor to the AU force of about 18,000.

The force, funded mainly by the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) is fighting the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group in Somalia.

Brigadier Ondoga has not commented on the allegations.

'Only one meal'

He was among the officers who had been recalled for allegedly "getting involved in conduct injurious" to the AU force, a Ugandan defence ministry spokesman said, AFP news agency reports.

Army spokesman Colonel Paddy Ankunda told the BBC Swahili Service that the 20 would remain suspended, pending the outcome of an investigation into the allegations against them.

The investigation followed complaints by junior officers of "unscrupulous conduct" by their superiors, he said.

This included allegations that junior officers were not being paid and food meant for them was being sold, Col Ankunda told the BBC.

The suspended officers would be court-martialled and dismissed from the army if found guilty, he added.

Uganda's privately owned Daily Monitor newspaper said in a report that Ugandan soldiers in Somalia often get only one meal a day because of the alleged theft and sale of food to private companies.

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni had cancelled Brig Ondoga's appointment as military attache to Kenya, it reports.

He was due to have taken the post when his term as head of the Ugandan contingent in Somalia ended at the end of the month, the Daily Monitor adds.

Uganda has more than 6,000 troops in the AU force in Somalia.

Other countries that have deployed troops to Somalia as part of the AU force include Burundi, Kenya and Djibouti.

The force has helped the UN-backed Somali government regain control of key cities and towns from al-Shabab.

However, most of southern Somalia still remains under al-Shabab's control.

2013-09-13 french.cri.cn

Selon Wang Guanzhong, le sous-chef d' état-major de l'Armée populaire de Libération, la Chine souhaite que les Etats-Unis défendent la paix et oeuvrent pour la stabilité de la région Asie-Pacifique, lors de leurs réajustements stratégiques. Et sur la question de l'île de Taiwan, sujet capital pour les intérêts chinois, la Chine ne transigera absolument pas, a-t-il déclaré, le 13 septembre.

Le 9 septembre, Wang Guanzhong et James Miller, le vice-ministre de la Défense, ont présidé ensemble la 14e conférence des ministères de la Défense sino-américaine.

D'après M.Wang, le président chinois, Xi Jingping, et son homologue américain, Barack Obama, ont consenti à ce que la Chine et les Etats-Unis conçoivent et construisent ensemble de nouvelles relations, à condition de se respecter et de coopérer. Dans ces circonstances, les deux pays doivent faire avancer les relations entre les deux armées pour obtenir plus de résultats.