DTN News: UAE May Fund Next-Gen Rafale
*Wants More Powerful Engine, AESA Radar
Source: DTN News / Defense News By ANDREW CHUTER and PIERRE TRAN
(NSI News Source Info) LONDON and PARIS - May 3, 2010: The United Arab Emirates and France are
discussing a proposed joint effort to develop a more capable, new-generation Dassault Rafale strike fighter, sources in the Arabian Gulf and Europe said.
"The conversation has moved forward from buying the Rafale to how to co-develop the next-generation Rafale," a defense source in the Arabian Gulf said. The prospective new model would meet UAE requirements and "take the plane to the next level," the source said.
A co-development with a foreign customer and partner would be a big boost for the twin-engine fighter jet, which is seen in France as a jewel of aeronautical excellence and the crown of the country's arms-export efforts. Dassault Aviation has entered the Rafale in bidding for contracts in Brazil and India, and has offered it to Kuwait and Libya.
The UAE negotiations center on the systems and engine the upgraded aircraft would carry, the Gulf source said.
The main upgrades are said to be an active electronically scanned array radar, frontal sector optronics and an electronic warfare suite, systems supplied by Thales, and a 9-ton-thrust M88 engine, up-rated from the 7.5-ton engine that powers the French Air Force and Navy Rafales.
Last June, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the United Arab Emirates was in discussions to buy the Rafale, which Dassault bills as an omnirole fighter. The jets would replace the Mirage 2000-9s bought from France in 1998.
Some 50 French executives were in Abu Dhabi in the week of April 12 as part of the talks, an executive at a rival fighter maker said.
"I can confirm the first," said a French executive close to the discussions. "We are working flat out on negotiating the contract and ancillary contracts."
The executive confirmed that the negotiations go beyond just a purchase, and are aimed at agreeing on co-development of an advanced version of the Rafale.
"There are, effectively, discussions between the two governments on how to finance the additional functionality," the executive said.
The co-development work is expected to take years, he said, adding that whether the work will make the new variant a "next-generation" Rafale is a question of semantics.
The executive said industry is working on the technical definition of the aircraft, while the financial aspects are being negotiated at the government level.
A June date for concluding a deal "is possible, not guaranteed," he said.
A second French defense executive said of the negotiations, "All the lights are green."
A Dassault spokesman would not confirm that a joint development effort might be part of the UAE-French discussion about the possible purchase of Rafales.
"Talks are continuing," he said.
Fighter Swap?
One European executive with knowledge of the deal said Paris has agreed to buy back the Mirage 2000-9s and put them into service with the French Air Force, then put its Mirage 2000-5s on the secondhand market and retire the Mirage 2000N nuclear strike version.
Asked about the buyback of Mirage 2000-9s, the Gulf source said, "It is all linked."
Such a deal would be expensive, said Etienne de Durand, director of security studies at the Institut Français de Relations Internationales, a Paris think tank.
De Durand said Rafale export sales help fund the development of new capabilities, maintain design skills and keep French industry at the cutting edge of world fighter technology. That is why France is ready to agree to extensive technology transfer to sell the Rafale to Brazil, and why "smart arrangements" are being offered to the United Arab Emirates, he said.
But de Durand said that it often takes years to see whether the arrangements really do make sense. Maintenance of technological capabilities needs to be balanced against funding the operational needs of the armed forces, notably among middle-rank powers such as Britain and France, he said.
If the deal brings Mirage 2000-9s into the French Air Force, it could reduce the money available for buying and upgrading the Rafale, de Durand said.
Privately, French Air Force officials worry about taking in the 2000-9, which will mean operating and supporting a mixed fleet when the Rafale was intended to replace seven different types of aircraft in the Air Force and Navy.
Engine Upgrade
Snecma, which declined to comment on the talks, announced several months ago that it was considering developing a more powerful variant of its M88 engine for UAE Rafales.
In a press pack distributed at the Singapore Air Show in February, the French aircraft engine and equipment maker said, "For the UAE Air Force & Air Defense, which require more power for enhanced combat agility and improved performance in very hot weather, Snecma is considering the development of a more powerful variant of the M88 jet engine.
"Snecma has already demonstrated the feasibility of the 9-ton version of the M88, allowing for the design-related risks to be under control."
Snecma would adapt the M88, not design a new engine, the company said.
Ordering Advanced Arms
The United Arab Emirates is known for funding state-of-the-art fighter development. In a forerunner to the potential Rafale deal, the Emirates funded the development of the Block 60 variant of the U.S.-designed F-16, adding an active electronically scanned array radar, new engine, electronic warfare and infrared gear, better cockpit avionics and conformal fuel tanks.
The Gulf state also has a history of working with France to develop advanced military equipment.
The Damocles laser targeting pod was co-developed for the UAE Air Force's Mirage 2000-9 under the name Shehab. The French arms procurement office bought nine Damocles pods in 2008 for its Mirage 2000D and Rafale F3 aircraft.
If the Emirates does buy the Rafale, no immediate orders are expected for missile maker MBDA, as the Gulf nation has a stock of Mica air-to-air missiles and Black Shaheen cruise missiles for its Mirage 2000-9 fleet, which would be compatible with the Rafale.
The Dassault static display at the Paris Air Show last year included a Rafale with three mock-up cruise missiles, demonstrating its long-range strike capabilities.
Later market prospects for MBDA would come with the AASM guided propelled bomb and the Meteor beyond-visual-range missile. The long-range weapon is due to enter service with the French Air Force around the middle of the decade.
The United Arab Emirates has ordered three Airbus A330 multirole tanker and transport aircraft, and is potentially interested in buying more. The Abu Dhabi government bought France's Leclerc tank in the early 1990s, becoming the only export customer.
France last year opened a naval base in Abu Dhabi as part of a shift of its military strength to the Gulf and away from Africa. The Gulf region is seen as strategically important because of the transit of petroleum tanker ships through its waters, the perceived threat from Iran and the sovereign wealth funds that are based in the Gulf states.
Source: DTN News / Elbit Systems Ltd.
(NSI News Source Info) HAIFA, Israel - May 3, 2010: Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq:ESLT - News) announced today that it was awarded an Unmanned Air
craft System (UAS) contract from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, valued at approximately $50 million. Under the contract, Elbit Systems will supply the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) with its brand new Hermes® 900 unmanned systems along with additional Hermes® 450 unmanned systems to expand the IDF's current Hermes® 450 fleet. In addition, the Company will supply the IDF with an enhancement of its existing UAS intelligence capabilities. The contract will be carried out over a three-year period.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080408/300441 )
With enhanced endurance, the Hermes® 900 allows flight altitude of more than 30,000 ft, large payload capacity and flight capabilities in adverse weather conditions. The Hermes® 900 is based on the highly reliable and combat proven Hermes® 450 UAS, which has accumulated over 170,000 flight hours.
The new Hermes® 900 allows seamless integration with the IDF's existing Hermes® 450 UAS thanks to its universal command & control ground station (UGCS), which enables advanced mission management, automatic taxiing, autonomous flight and automatic takeoff and landing systems common to all the UAS in the Hermes® family. These advantages allow all Hermes® 450 operators to immediately integrate the Hermes® 900 into the existing UAS fleet, using the current infrastructure.
Joseph Ackerman, President and CEO of Elbit Systems, commented: "We are proud to have been selected by the Israeli Ministry of Defense in this UAS project, attesting to the IDF's high level of satisfaction with the performance of our UAS. By introducing the Hermes® 900 into our growing UAS portfolio, we continue to provide the IDF with effective solutions for its varying operational needs, ranging from the mini-UAS Skylark® I-LE operated by the Israeli Ground Forces, through the Hermes® 450 which plays a central role in the IDF's anti-terror efforts, to our brand new Hermes® 900." Ackerman added, "The IMOD's recent order furthers our position as a world leader in the UAS field, and we trust that many customers will follow the IDF's selection of the Hermes® 900, the newest addition to the Elbit Systems UAS portfolio."
About Elbit Systems
Elbit Systems Ltd. is an international defense electronics company engaged in a wide range of programs throughout the world. The Company, which includes Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, operates in the areas of aerospace, land and naval systems, command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance ("C4ISR"), unmanned aircraft systems ("UAS"), advanced electro-optics, electro-optic space systems, EW suites, airborne warning systems, ELINT systems, data links and military communications systems and radios. The Company also focuses on the upgrading of existing military platforms, developing new technologies for defense, homeland security and commercial aviation applications and providing a range of support services.
For additional information, visit: http://www.elbitsystems.com/.
"I just hope the folks are able to get this cleaned up before it does too much damage."
Ten days after an oil rig under lease to British Petroleum exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, the prospects of averting a major environmental calamity dimmed Friday as high winds pushed a vast oil slick to the edge of Louisiana's sensitive coastal marshlands.
The bad weather forced BP to halt efforts to skim oil from the water's surface, adding to the frustration of federal and state government officials who blamed company officials for a sluggish response to a spill that is pumping 210,000 gallons of light crude into the Gulf each day.
"We need to work more speedily to protect wetlands, to protect marshes, to protect our ecosystem here," said U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. She said the Obama administration "will continue to push BP to engage in the strongest possible response."
Official with BP said they welcomed any ideas and assistance — both from Washington and competing oil firms. But the company also said there was little they could do to stop the spill's spread until the weather improves. The National Weather Service currently predicts the high winds could last until Monday.
"When winds come up and the seas come up, unfortunately we can't do much on the surface of the sea," said Doug Suttles, a BP spokesman. "Because of wave heights we are not able to skim."
BP said it is spending between $6 million and $7 million a day to try and contain the spill.
"Clearly as the oil reaches the shoreline, those costs will increase as we mount cleanup activities," Suttles said.
"Like everyone we understand and completely agree that we need to bring this event to closure as quickly as possible."
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, speaking at a news conference in Robert, La., said booms deployed to control the spread of the oil slick are being overwhelmed by rough water. He said the next several days would be "critical" and called up 6,000 National Guard troops to aid in potential cleanup efforts.
"I do have concerns that BP's current resources are not adequate to meet the three challenges we face," Jindal said.
In Washington, President Barack Obama announced he was ordering a halt to new offshore drilling leases as the federal government investigates the cause of the explosion that destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig. The blast ruptured an oil well located about 80 kilometres offshore and 1,500 metres underwater. Eleven rig workers were killed.
"I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security," Obama said at the White House. "But I've always said it must be done responsibly, for the safety of our workers and our environment."
The president has dispatched inspectors to the Gulf to examine all deepwater rigs and platforms for ensure they meet safety requirements.
The Obama administration pledged to provide every available resource to help BP fix the oil leak and contain the spill.
More than 66,000 metres of protective boom have been laid in the Gulf to help block the oil from shorelines. More than 300 Coast Guard and Naval vessels have been deployed alongside 1,900 federal personnel.
While winds wreaked havoc with the response on the water, the U.S. air force continued to dump dispersant chemicals over the oil slick using two C-130 planes. To date, more than 530,000 litres of dispersant have been sprayed into the Gulf.
Some residents of Plaquemines Parish, which includes most of the Mississippi River wetlands, reported seeing the first fingers of oil wash up onshore at Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Reserve — although the U.S. Coast Guard had not confirmed a widespread landfall.
Still, the anxiety is growing among Louisiana residents who fear one of the richest fisheries in North America will be badly damaged — or destroyed — if BP is unable to quickly find a way to close down the offshore well.
The fishing community of Venice, one of the last slips of land reachable by car, has become a hub of activity as the response to the oil spill intensifies.
The Cypress Cove Marina, where shrimp and oyster boats line the dock, was crowded with TV satellite vehicles and oil spill recovery trucks. Coast Guard boats shared the narrow channels with the few remaining fishing charters still plying the delta's waters.
Environmentalists say it's only a matter of time before the crude begins to slip into the hundreds of estuaries and coves that are home to some of the continent's biggest bird, fish and wildlife populations.
"This is the nursery of North America — and we have spilled oil right across its surface," said Mark Floegel, a senior investigator with Greenpeace USA. "Anything that swims, flies or crawls in the Gulf, this is where they feed. They feed on the surface."
While the oil spill is — so far — much smaller than the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska's Prince William Sound, the potential for environmental ruin may be higher, environmentalists say.
That's because the oil spilling from the BP well is a light crude that stays on the surface. While Alaska's rocky coastline aided removal of the oil, the Mississippi Delta is full of marshes and reeds that could make cleanup far more difficult.
"Here we've got barrier islands. We've got swamps and bayous . . . It's not like scrubbing rock. It's devilishly hard to get this oil out of there," Floegel said. "And the coastline is exponentially much larger because of all the little inlets."
Worries about the oil spill extend well beyond the Louisiana coast to Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, where Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency in six counties on Friday.
