[Canadian] Government outlines future fighter procurement process

“Our missions and roles and commitments have not changed,” one slide deck noted, emphasizing the importance of continuing to fulfil current NORAD and NATO requirements.

Among the critical criteria for the next jet will be seamless interoperability with key allies; the ability to upgrade to maintain an operational advantage over current and future threats; the range, endurance and speeds required in NORAD and NATO mission configurations; the ability to gather intelligence, detect, track, identify, assess in permissive and contested environments; and the survivability and lethality to be effective in those environments.

In particular, the RCAF emphasized interoperability and information processing, exploitation and dissemination with 5 Eyes and 2 Eyes allies. Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand comprise the first group, while Canada and the U.S. make up the second.

While that might seem to exclude non-U.S. aircraft from the competition, the requirement is common to many military procurements. Maj Gen Alain Pelletier, chief of fighter capability for the RCAF, said the government had been working with European and North American original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the past nine months to answer questions and refine the “path” for potential suppliers.

“They are going to be able to meet the requirements from a 5 Eyes/2 Eyes [interoperability] perspective,” he said.

The briefing also highlighted the need for a “growth path” to 2060 and beyond. That might have favoured the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II when the previous Conservative government committed to the Joint Strike Fighter, but other manufacturers have invested significantly in major modernization proposals in recent years that will see their jets operating well beyond the 2040s.

“They are familiar with the requirements, and other customers expect it as well, so I don’t believe this is something new. But it is something that is required by the Air Force to maintain its relevance with NATO and NORAD,”

Source:
Skies mag.com

More detail on Ocean Infinity in the press:

It’s a high-risk gambit. The payout is not considerably large […]

Given the long odds, it’s striking that anyone would want to roll the dice.

Some have speculated that the effort is essentially an act of charity by deep-pocketed philanthropists. But it would seem strange for do-gooders to keep their operation shrouded in as much secrecy as the group behind the Seabed Constructor has — basically we know nothing about it.

[…]

A third explanation is that the backers don’t think their odds of finding the plane are long — either because they are clueless or because they possess some information that the rest of us don’t.

[…]
The company’s Texas filing lists its directors as Oliver Plunkett, 45*, and Ross Hyett, 64. Both men are based in London and work in the wealth-management field, finding investments for high-net-worth clients. Each serves on the board of a private company owned by Paul Roderick Clucas Marshall, a British hedge-fund manager worth an estimated $683 million. Marshall has long been active in the Liberal Democrats party (and is the father of Mumford & Sons member Winston Marshall). Marshall’s publicist denies that he is behind Ocean Infinity, however.

As the story unfolds new strange angles continue to emerge. With Seabed Constructor approaching the search zone last weekend, users of a ship-tracking site noticed that another vessel, the 312-foot Maersk Mariner, had left the Australian port of Fremantle in Western Australia and was heading for a rendezvous. The Mariner is a so-called anchor-handling vessel designed to support offshore oil drilling. The purpose of its current mission is so far unclear.

Source:
(among other) New York mag.com

*By the way: “Oliver Plunkett (also spelt Oliver Plunket) (Irish: Oilibhéar Pluincéid), (1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland who was the last victim of the Popish Plot. He was beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1975, thus becoming the first new Irish saint for almost seven hundred years. His portrait is by Garrett Murphy the celebrated Irish painter.”
(Wiki)

+1

The rotation is there to keep track of the compression shock waves. Imagine them as simple blades.

“The F-35 is a killing bot that will terminate the EU Industry”: Dassault CEO – Mr Trappier

“ce qui est sûr, c’est que l’alternative à ne pas faire, c’est de choisir un appareil américain. Je souhaite bien du plaisir à ceux qui ont acheté ou vont acheter du F-35 d’être capables de ne pas être intégrés à l’armée américaine. Car le F-35 est une machine à tuer l’industrie européenne, mais aussi une machine à vous intégrer dans les armées américaines”.

———-

What is certain is that the only alternative to not commit [to the Franco/German Next gen fighter] is to choose an aircraft made in the US. I wish all the best to those that will buy the F-35 trying to remain capable to resist forced integration in the US armed forces [sic]. Because the F-35 is not only a killing bot for the European Industry but also a Machine that will force your integration into the US armed forces [re-sic]

?!…*

Alternatively, The Belgian MoD confirmed the day before his intention to move frwd with the Belgian RFP.

Source:
Le Vif.be (sourced from Air&Cosmos)

*Given the extend of the promised compensations for the Rafale in Belgium, is that a a sign of Trappier commitment to participate to the national effort of French industry and taxpayer by switching to some (strong) Belgian beer ?

F-35B for Taiwan: How Taiwan could really push back against China

[…] to truly address the current imbalance in the air over the Strait and skies of Taiwan requires a quantum leap in Washington’s thinking about what to make available to Taiwan. And there is no asset in that regard as potentially advantageous as the F-35B. Its stealth makes it far more survivable when facing large numbers of enemy aircraft and modern air defenses. And its advanced electronic warfare system has the capacity to locate and jam enemy radars and sensor systems, giving other aircraft, such as Taiwan’s F-16s, a better chance of fighting and surviving. In addition, the F-35B with its short takeoff and vertical landing capability reduces the need for large basing requirements—a capability essential when facing an enemy with an arsenal of accurate cruise and ballistic missiles. Dispersing aircraft will be an increasingly important stratagem for ensuring they survive—a stratagem more difficult to carry out with conventional fighters.

Source:
The national interest.org

Leonardo to head EU research program on unmanned naval systems

The EU fund, launched in 2016 to build the union’s military capabilities, foresees a pooled €5 billion (U.S. $6 billion) procurement budget.

Prior to procurement, the fund also covers a €90 million research phase called the Preparatory Action on Defence Research and a €500 million annual budget for prototypes and demonstrators.

The work awarded to an industrial team led by Leonardo — which is worth around €35 million, an Italian industrial source said — is part of the first phase, and will be contracted in coming weeks, the firm said.
[…]
The team will be supported by the defense ministries of Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal and Lithuania, the firm said, with additional support from the defense ministries of Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, Estonia and the Netherlands.

European partner firms include Indra, Safran, Saab, MBDA, PGZ/CTM, Hensoldt, Intracom Defense Electronics, Fincantieri and QinetiQ, as well as research centers including Fraunhofer, TNO, CMRE (of NATO) and IAI.

Airbus, which led the losing team in the tender to run the program, announced Thursday it was teaming with Naval Group to launch a technology study for a helicopter drone for the French Navy’s heavily armed ships.

An Unmanned version of the Typhoon/Rafale story?

Source:
DefenseNews.com