By Pierre Tran Paris - A 10-strong European consortium is launching a four-year, €18 million ($19.8 million) project to select a common chip foundry to build next generation infrared sensors for military applications, said David Billon-Lanfrey, chief strategy officer of Lynred, which leads the group. The European Defence Fund is…
By Pierre Tran Paris - A European project to build a future combat air system (FCAS) was as significant as the launch of Airbus, builder of commercial airliners some 30 years ago, a senior aerospace executive said Jan. 5. “We are building in the domain of the protection of air…
By Robbin Laird In my assessment of USMC transformation over the past twenty years, I highlighted the coming of the CH-53K as part of the next phase. “As the Marines work enhanced naval integration and expanded force mobility in dealing with the evolving strategic environment, the capabilities which the CH-53K…
By Pierre Tran Paris - The French arms procurement office has signed a contract worth €3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) for work on the technology demonstrator phase 1B of the European future combat air system with Airbus, Dassault Aviation, the Eumet engine joint venture, and Indra, the companies said Dec. 16…
By Robbin Laird With the impact of the Ukraine war ongoing, one observation seems clear with regard to the preparation of the liberal democracies for war rather than military operations: we don’t really have an arsenal of democracy like we once did. When confronting industrial age war, supplies become critical…
By Pierre Tran Paris - The arms industry and the armed forces ministry are holding talks on how to share the financial risk of building up stocks of weapons, as France moves toward what it calls a war economy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Who takes on the commercial…
When I was last in Australia in March 2020, I was working on a report on the new Australian OPV program which was the initial effort to shape a continuous shipbuilding approach. That report can be found in Chapter Eight (“Building a New Offshore Patrol Vessel: A Case Study in…
By Pierre Tran Paris - Dassault Aviation hopes Airbus will agree to a clear program leadership in building a next generation fighter, perhaps with a deal formally approved by the end of the year, executive chairman Eric Trappier said July 20. There was hope for a “decision in the (coming)…
