DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Boeing Subcontractor Air France Industries Begins Major Upgrade of French AWACS Fleet

DTN News - BOEING NEWS: Boeing Subcontractor Air France Industries Begins Major Upgrade of French AWACS Fleet
*$354M upgrade will increase Airborne Warning and Control System’s mission capability, reduce life-cycle costs

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 19, 2013: Boeing [NYSE: BA] subcontractor, Air France Industries (AFI), has begun upgrading the electrical, mechanical and structural systems and mission hardware of the first of four French E-3F Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft. The $354M Mid Life Upgrade (MLU) – the largest ever for French AWACS – will provide the fleet a fuller picture of the battle space and more actionable information while reducing aircrew workload.

Boeing is providing on-site engineering and quality assurance support, software and hardware.

Work on the first E-3F AWACS aircraft at AFI’s facility near Paris is scheduled to be completed in 2014 with the rest of the fleet completed by 2016.

 "Air France Industries is uniquely positioned to help us provide this capability because of its substantial technical and manufacturing capabilities and over 20 years of experience with the E-3F fleet," said Steve Swanz, French AWACS program manager for Boeing. "We are also benefitting from the strong cooperation of our U.S. and French government customers."

The MLU upgrade, based on the U.S. AWACS Block 40/45 system, dramatically increases mission execution capability, reliability and effectiveness; and reduces life-cycle costs.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 59,000 employees worldwide. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense.

Contact:        

Dave Sloan                                                 
Boeing Defense, Space & Security        
+1 253-657-8008    
david.a.sloan@boeing.com

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Boeing
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DTN News - FRENCH DEFENSE NEWS: First Rafale With Active Antenna Radar Join French Air Force

DTN News - FRENCH DEFENSE NEWS: First Rafale With Active Antenna Radar Join French Air Force 

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) 

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 3, 2012: The Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in service benefit from technology AESA ( Active Electronically Scanned Array ) has been the subject of studies and demonstrations earlier and reflects the culmination of over 10 years R & D efforts on active antennas. It significantly improves its detection range. Registered C137, and for the Air Force, he will join in the coming days airbase Mont-de-Marsan.

The development of AESA radar RBE2 was decided in the context of a program to improve sensor Rafale, which also includes a missile launch detector and an improved front sector optronics new generation, two systems also equipping the Rafale C137.

The Rafale is the first device omnirole hunting, that is to say, it may, during the same flight and substantially simultaneously, providing different types of missions, such as ground attack and air defense . Totally versatile, the Rafale provides the full range of tasks assigned to a fighter: superiority and air defense, land attack and maritime, close fire support of ground troops, reconnaissance, nuclear strike. It is also the first aircraft designed from the outset to operate both from a land base since an aircraft carrier. It is implemented by the Air Force and Navy.

 To date, 180 series aircraft have been ordered by the DGA and delivered 111 aircraft in its three versions: 36 cars embedded "M" for the Navy, 38 seater "B" and 37 cars "C" for the army of air. The Rafale has been deployed in Afghanistan and Libya.

The main industrial ensuring the delivery of Rafale are Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran and MBDA.

Press Contacts

DGA / COM

Guy Bertrand

Tel. : 06 84 96 73 54

Email: bertrand.guy @ dga.defense.gouv.fr

* Related Images ~  Dassault Rafale Multirole Fighter Aircraft

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA)
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DTN News - NATO SUMMIT IN CHICAGO: Summit Will Deal With Range Of Issues, NATO General Says

DTN News - NATO SUMMIT IN CHICAGO: Summit Will Deal With Range Of Issues, NATO General Says
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 9, 2012: Afghanistan will dominate the NATO summit in Chicago later this month, but alliance leaders will deal with other issues as well, a senior NATO commander said here yesterday.

Gen. Stephane Abrial of the French air force told the Defense Writers Group the nations’ leaders also will deal with partnership capability, “smart defense” and other matters. Abrial is commander of NATO’s transformation command.

“On partnership, there will be a reaffirmation that NATO does not operate in isolation,” the general said. The alliance is keen to work more closely with all kinds of partners from other nations to international institutions to no-governmental organizations, he added.


The NATO-led actions in Libya are an example of the alliance working with non-NATO partners, such as the United Arab Emirates and the Arab League. NATO also works with the European Union to ensure that the two institutions work together smoothly, when needed.

How to work together with these disparate groups is part and parcel of the Allied Command Transformation mission, Abrial said.

On capabilities, the leaders will discuss the progress on decisions made at NATO’s 2010 summit in Lisbon, Portugal, including the smart defense initiative. Smart defense is about how the alliance will continue to develop and maintain the capabilities needed to fulfill its missions despite the new era of austerity.

Another initiative, “connected forces,” ensures that all forces can work well together. “The key word there is interoperability, and the three strands of that are training, exercises and technology,” Abrial said. “When I say capabilities, I don’t mean just a piece of equipment, but all aspects associated with it.”

This includes doctrine, leadership, facilities and much more, he explained, and these will be discussed in Chicago.

With a few exceptions, budgets across NATO are either steady or going down, the general said. “We expect this situation to be with us for quite a while … and therefore, it is very important we make the best possible use of every euro, dollar or pound that we get.”

The United States is reducing its defense budget, but there is no danger as yet that the U.S. military will not be able to operate across the full spectrum of operations, Abrial said. “This is not possible in Europe,” he added. “That is why when we look at smart defense, we look at ways to reduce the consequences of this austerity.”

Part of this is aligning national priorities with NATO needs. In other words, a nation may decide to specialize in detecting biohazards, for example. Since “Nation A” has this capability, “Nation B” does not have to develop it to the same extent. Both nations, therefore, save.

“Specialization does not mean we are going to say to anybody, ‘We must oblige you to do this and stop doing that,’” Abrial said. “We don’t have the mandate, authority or will to do that.


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Jim Garamone - American Forces Press Service
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DTN News - LIBYA NO-FLY ZONE: French Fighter Plane Destroys First Libyan Aircraft

DTN News - LIBYA NO-FLY ZONE : French Fighter Plane Destroys First Libyan Aircraft

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent and Richard Spencer in Tripoli - Telegraph UK

(NSI News Source Info) TRIPOLI, Libya / TORONTO, Canada - March 25, 2011: The first Libya aircraft to be destroyed after it breached the no-fly zone was shot down by a French fighter as coalition attacks on Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces intensified on Thursday.

The Libyan combat plane was destroyed as it came in to land. French surveillance aircraft had spotted it flying near the city of Misurata in violation of the UN Security Council resolution. A French Rafale fighter fired a guided air-to-ground missile, possibly the highly accurate AASM, on the jet as it landed at a nearby airbase.

The incident is the first shoot-down of a Libyan fighter since Western powers launched missiles and air strikes on Saturday under a UN resolution approving a "no-fly" zone aimed at shielding civilians from attacks by Gaddafi loyalists.

The Libyan government appealed to the United Nations to stop allied forces bombing civilian broadcasting and telecommunications facilities in the country. Dr Mussa Ibrahim, the official government spokesman, said the authorities had received intelligence that such attacks would take place imminently, as early as Thursday night.

"We have of course our Plan B to continue broadcasting," he said. "But we would like to say this would be very immoral and illegal. These are civilian targets." He said as well as the loss of civilian life, such attacks would cause harm to civilians trying to go about their normal lives across Libya. The allies have not made clear how far they intend their bombing campaign to go in undermining everyday life in Libya.

The loss of oil production, sanctions such as the freezing of assets, and the chaos caused by the departure of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers have already hit towns across the country hard. Long queues of hundreds of cars have been lined up outside petrol stations in the capital Tripoli, while there have also been queues for bread though in general food supplies are holding up. Since the bombing started, shops, which had tentatively started to reopen again after weeks of protests, have largely closed again.

Allied forces also attacked communications and broadcast facilities as well as other civilian state infrastructure during the bombing of Belgrade in 1999 and Baghdad in 2003.

On the sixth day of the campaign coalition aircraft and warships stepped up strikes against Col Gaddafi's forces including artillery, tanks, an ammunition bunker and a small number of helicopters parked on an airfield along the coast.

The French are seeing the majority of the action because their operational area – referred to as "ops-box" – covers the key strategic town of Misurata. The RAF are understood to be patrolling the skies in the east of the country around Benghazi which has not been the focus of attacks on Gaddafi forces.

French jets, including Rafales and Mirage 2000s, also made a raid deep inland attacking an airbase 150 miles from the Libyan coast.

An intense air raid was also made on Col Gaddafi's southern stronghold of Sebha, a local resident reported.

RAF Tornados and Typhoons continued enforcing the United Nations no fly zone and have completed 59 missions to date. Air Force jets, armed with 500lb Paveway IV bombs and highly accurate Brimstone anti-tank missiles, are expected to undertake further missions over Libya overnight.

Dr Ibrahim denied claims by western powers, repeated by William Hague, the foreign secretary, in the House of Commons on Thursday, that the Libyan government's claim to have implemented a ceasefire was a "sham". He said Libyan forces were only engaged in self-defence, and said snipers reported to be operating on rooftops in the besieged city of Misurata were rebels, not government forces. He called on the rebels and the allies also to announce ceasefires, and to send a fact-finding mission to discover the "truth on the ground".

More than 175 £800,000 Tomahawk missiles have now been fired to suppress Col Gaddafi's air defences and limit his ability to respond to jets patrolling the skies.

A fleet of coalition warships was also stepping up efforts to prevent arms smuggling. Vice Admiral Rinald Veri, said he expected to have enough vessels in place in a few days for an effective maritime blockade, "closing the main front door".

The fleet includes the Royal Navy frigates Westminster and Cumberland, which it was announced yesterday would have a stay of execution from being scrapped on April 1 and continue in service at least for another fortnight.

French fighter jets also attacked a Libyan airbase 150 miles inland from the Mediterranean coast overnight.

For the first time Norway took part in operations sending two F-16 fighters over Libya, as part of a six plane squadron.

Related News;

• Libya: Nato to take control after William Hague's appeal

  24 Mar 2011

• Libya: net closes on Yvonne Fletcher's killers

  24 Mar 2011

• Misurata hospital damaged in fighting

  24 Mar 2011

• Libya: Gaddafi loyalists in Ajdabiya 'seeking to surrender'

  24 Mar 2011

• Libya: Gruesome slaughter in Ajdabiya as rebels and government forces dig in

  24 Mar 2011

• Libya: Gaddafi regime claims 100 civilians have been killed by coalition air strikes

  24 Mar 2011

1. Hunt for missing Sian O'Callaghan turns into double murder investigation
2. Barack Obama locked out of the White House
3. Libya: Gaddafi loyalists in Ajdabiya 'seeking to surrender'
4. Syria: Bashar al-Assad offers concessions to protesters for first time

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources

By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent and Richard Spencer in Tripoli - Telegraph UK

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DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Missiles And Planes Strike Libya

DTN News - LIBYA UPRISING: Missiles And Planes Strike Libya

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources BBC News

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 20, 2011: The UK, US and France have attacked Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces in the first action to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone.

Pentagon officials say the US and the UK have fired more than 110 missiles, while French planes struck pro-Gaddafi forces attacking rebel-held Benghazi.

Col Gaddafi has vowed retaliation and said he would open arms depots to the people to defend Libya.

Cruise missiles hit air-defence sites in the capital, Tripoli, and Misrata.

Libyan state TV broadcast footage it says showed some of the 150 people wounded in the attacks. It said 48 people had been killed. There was no independent confirmation of the deaths.

Military officials are said to be assessing the damage from the overnight raids before deciding on their next move.

At least 14 bodies were lying in and around the remains of military vehicles which littered the road leading to Benghazi after the French strikes, Reuters reports.

Rebel forces are now heading from Benghazi to the town of Ajdabiya, which has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent days, the agency says.

Hundreds of Col Gaddafi's supporters have gathered at his Bab al-Aziziyah palace and the international airport to serve as human shields, state TV said.

The AFP news agency reports that bombs were dropped near the palace, which the US also attacked in 1986.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, heavy bursts of anti-aircraft fire arced into the sky above Tripoli and several explosions were heard.

Sources in Tripoli told BBC Arabic that the attacks on the city had so far targeted the eastern areas of Sawani, Airport Road, and Ghasheer. These are all areas believed to host military bases.

The Western forces began their action on Saturday, after Libyan government forces attacked the main rebel-held city of Benghazi - Col Gaddafi's allies accused the rebels of breaking the ceasefire:

• A French plane fired the first shots against Libyan government targets at 1645 GMT on Saturday, destroying military vehicles near Benghazi, according to a military spokesman
• At least 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from US destroyers and submarine, said a Pentagon official
• A British submarine and Tornado jets fired missiles at Libyan military targets, the UK Ministry of Defence said
• There were also strikes near the western city of Misrata
• France has denied Libyan claims to have shot down a French plane
• A naval blockade against Libya is being put in place.

"It's a first phase of a multi-phase operation" to enforce the UN resolution, said US Navy Vice-Adm William E Gortney.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly, in the rebel-held eastern city of Tobruk, says that once the air-defence systems are taken out, combat aircraft can patrol Libyan airspace more widely and it will then become clear to what extent they will attack Col Gaddafi's ground forces.

This will determine the outcome of the campaign, he adds.

Russia and China, which abstained from the UN Security Council resolution approving the use of force in Libya, have urged all parties to stop fighting, as has the African Union.

After the missile bombardment and the air strikes, Col Gaddafi made a brief speech calling on people to resist.

"Civilian and military targets in the air and sea will be liable to serious danger in the Mediterranean," he said.

The Libyan leader called the attacks "a colonialist crusade of aggression. This can lead to open a new crusade war."

Our correspondent says it is now clear that Col Gaddafi's strategy is to portray the attacks as an act of colonialist aggression and rally enough of the Libyan people behind him to maintain his grip on power.

'Legal and right'

US President Barack Obama, speaking during a visit to Brazil, said the US was taking "limited military action" as part of a "broad coalition".

"We cannot stand idly by when a tyrant tells his people there will be no mercy," he said.

He repeated that no US ground troops would take part.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron said that launching military action against Libya was "necessary, legal and right".

The international community was intervening to stop the "murderous madness" of Col Gaddafi, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

"In Libya, the civilian population, which is demanding nothing more than the right to choose their own destiny, is in mortal danger," he warned. "It is our duty to respond to their anguished appeal."

Canada is also sending warplanes to the region, while Italy has offered the use of its military bases.

Rebels in Benghazi said thousands of people had fled the attack by Col Gaddafi's forces, heading east, and the UN refugee agency said it was preparing to receive 200,000 refugees from Libya.

Col Gaddafi has ruled Libya for more than 40 years. An uprising against him began last month after the long-time leaders of neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt were toppled.

Are you in Libya? Are you affected? What is your reaction to the intervention? Send us your comments using the form below:

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Coalition forces

• US: Firing guided missiles from USS Barry and USS Stout; providing amphibious warships, and command-and-control ship USS Mount Whitney
• France: Carried out mission with at least 12 warplanes including Mirage fighters and Rafale jets; deploying aircraft carrier, warships
• UK: Providing Typhoon and Tornado jet fighters; surveillance planes; HMS Westminster and HMS Cumberland; submarines
• Italy: Nato base at Naples understood to be central hub; other Mediterranean bases made available
• Canada: Providing six F-18 fighter jets and 140 personnel

UN's calculated gamble

Libya no-fly zone: Aircraft

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources BBC News

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DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: MBDA's Aster, The First European Missile To Successfully Carry Out A Ballistic Intercept

DTN News - DEFENSE NEWS: MBDA's Aster, The First European Missile To Successfully Carry Out A Ballistic Intercept

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources MBDA

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - November 27, 2010: MBDA is celebrating the total success of an Aster missile firing carried out on 18th October 2010 by the DGA EM (Direction Générale de l’Armement - Essais de Missiles) in the Landes region of France. This firing deployed the Aster 30 Block 1 missile variant developed for the French Air Force’s Mamba medium range air defence system (also known as SAMP/T or Surface Air Moyenne Portée Terrestre) and optimised for the interception of aerial as well as ballistic threats.

The Aster missile family (which also includes the naval variants Aster 15 and Aster 30) constitutes the most important missile programme ever launched in Europe and the second largest defence programme managed by OCCAR after the A400M tactical transport aircraft. Having been taken up by three European countries and two export countries, today, the Aster family offers the largest installed base of European missile systems. The MBDA/Thales order book for this system includes a total of 55 naval and ground-based systems and more than 1,700 missiles scheduled for delivery. Aster-based systems are operational today in ground or naval configurations for missions associated with the self-defence of aircraft carriers, self, local and fleet area defence when deployed from frigates and destroyers, ground-based area defence as well as the anti-air protection of deployed and projected forces. The Aster missile is differentiated from all other current and future global products by its unequalled flexibility which enables it to counter saturating attack scenarios against low radar signature targets with the same probability of success whether at low or high altitude. Thanks to this flexibility, the system is equally relevant in defeating the traditional aerial threat as it is in countering more recent scenarios associated with asymmetric warfare or force projection. In the Aster 30 Block 1 version, which today equips SAMP/T, the missile is capable of intercepting ballistic missiles of the 600km class, the class which constitute the main current threat. Incremental evolutions of the missile have already been proposed to counter the proliferating and growing global ballistic threat. These evolutions will be transferable to all systems currently deploying Aster 30. “This is a historic event because Europe has just demonstrated that it knows how to achieve totally independently a defence capability against the theatre ballistic missile threat”, stated Antoine Bouvier, Chief Executive Officer of MBDA. “This success further confirms the option offered by MBDA and its partners, Thales and Safran, to incrementally evolve SAMP/T and Aster in order to face the evolving ballistic threat and to respond to the issue of European sovereignty”. Notes to editors With industrial facilities in four European countries and within the USA, MBDA has an annual turnover of €2.6 billion and an order book of €12 billion. With more than 90 armed forces customers in the world, MBDA is a world leader in missiles and missile systems. MBDA is the only group capable of designing and producing missiles and missile systems that correspond to the full range of current and future operational needs of the three armed forces (land, sea and air). In total, the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products already in operational service and more than 15 others currently in development. MBDA is jointly held by BAE SYSTEMS (37,5%), EADS (37,5%) and FINMECCANICA (25%).

*MBDA - Related Stories;

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	MBDA's Aster, the first European missile to successfully carry out a ballistic intercept
		MBDA is celebrating the total success of an Aster missile firing carried out on 18th October 2010 by the DGA EM (Direction Générale de l’Armement - Essais de Missiles) in the Landes region of France. This firing deployed the Aster 30 Block 1 missile variant developed for the French Air Force’s Mamba medium range air defence system (also known as SAMP/T or Surface Air Moyenne Portée Terrestre) and optimised for the interception of aerial as well as ballistic threats.
	more informations

	11/25/2010
	Eurosam achieves Europe’s first ever intercept of a tactical ballistic missile
		Within the framework of the FSAF development programme whose goal is to provide the SAMP/T system with an anti-tactical ballistic missile defence capability, EUROSAM carried out a system firing at the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA EM) test range located in Biscarrosse (south west France) on 18th October 2010.
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	11/19/2010
	La DGA réceptionne le 1000e missile air-air MICA
		La Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) a prononcé le 25 octobre 2010 l'acceptation du millième MICA (missile d'interception, de combat et d'autodéfense), le missile air-air qui équipe l'avion Rafale. Produit par MBDA, le MICA a été commandé par la DGA à 1 110 exemplaires. Les forces françaises disposeront de l'intégralité de ce parc de MICA dès 2012.
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	11/04/2010
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		MBDA Italy and CIRA (the Italian Centre for Aerospace Research) have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at advancing in the most effective way the operational skills of each of the two organisations in their respective sectors.
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