European Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

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Brigadier
One of Russia's Neighbors Is Arming Up with American Missiles....

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"Finland’s tiny navy will face a crisis in the mid-2020s as half its surface combat fleet — four of eight missile boats in total — retires. To prevent this crisis, the navy is upgrading is planning to build four corvettes which are larger than anything currently in the fleet, and arm them with American anti-air and anti-ship missiles.

In February 2018, the U.S. State Department approved a $112 million sale for 68 RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow missiles, or ESSMs, for the future corvette, part of the Squadron 2020 project. The Finnish military has U.S.-made fighter jets, shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles and rocket launchers, but has tended to buy European weapons."

An officially neutral country, it’s noteworthy Finland is seeking American missiles for its navy during a period of heightened tension with Russia, as that carries with it political implications.

The Finnish navy is small — some 3,500 sailors, 1,900 of whom are conscripts — but has little area to cover. Its focus is on coastal defense and the protection of merchant shipping, which is vitally important to the Finnish economy and society.

Finland’s historic and most likely future threat, Russia, looms so large that Finnish strategy is two-pronged — i.e. avoid giving Russia the perception that Finnish territory will be used against it, while secondly, having enough military power to raise the cost of an invasion from Russia or anywhere else. Hence, Finland practices conscription, and is not part of NATO.

Likewise, the Finnish navy has few ships, but it has enough to at least complicate an invader’s plans. The core of the surface fleet is built around eight missile boats — four 250-ton Rauma class and four newer 240-ton Hamina-class boats — and five minelayers.

Another 10 minesweepers, and a few dozen landing craft and logistical support ships round out the force.

These minelayers and their munitions would be a threat to vessels operating in the narrow Gulf of Finland, and the many fjords — or vuonot in Finnish — along the Finnish coast provide many places for small surface craft to hide. Shallow waters help keep out submarines, of which the Finnish navy possess none.

The Raumas, though, getting old, and are effectively out of commission already due to hull fatigue. In the early 2020s, they will retire. In their place will come the four Squadron 2020 multi-role corvettes. These will be much larger — at more than 100 meters long and with a 3,000-ton displacement — and more capable, serving for more than three decades once their planned introduction in the mid-late 2020s.

The RIM-162 ESSM will also give the corvettes a modern anti-air and anti-missile weapon with greater range, speed and capabilities than the Hamina‘s current South African Umkhonto-IR anti-air missile, which uses an infrared rather than a semi-active radar homing seeker. Radar-guided missiles such as the ESSM are more powerful, and offer superior range, accuracy and reliability when facing enemy countermeasures.

With 17 MK25 canisters on order and 68 missiles, it makes one wonder whether Finland aims to fit four canisters on each corvette, for a total of 16 ESSM missiles per vessel — an impressive amount for a warship in that class. The Finnish navy also wants its future corvettes to have mine-laying capabilities, torpedoes and surface-to-surface missiles.

The minelaying capability aboard the future corvette is important, as two Hameenamaa-class minelayers will retire early next decade.

The surface-to-surface missiles will likely be U.S.-made Harpoon missiles. In February 2018, the U.S. State Department approved a
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of 100 RGM-84Q-4 Harpoon Block IIs for the Finnish corvettes, coastal batteries and the Haninas, likely replacing the latter’s Swedish RBS-15 anti-ship missiles.

All together, it’s nowhere near enough to stop the full weight of the Russian military, but it’s enough to make an invasion hurt — which is precisely the point of deterrence. A missile boat hiding in a vuono and armed with Harpoon missiles can present a nasty surprise to a Russian destroyer.

And it’s important to remember that Finland doesn’t imagine going to conflict alone, but being thrust into a conflict against its will due to a larger geopolitical eruption. This means that war with Finland would likely involve a Russian Baltic Fleet — already not in great shape — facing many enemies at once.

Finnish corvettes with modern missiles, even if there are only four of them, makes the Russian fleet’s job a bit harder.

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first some background:
Nov 11, 2017
Daumen hoch! Pouce en l'air!
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Intrigue Of Shakespearean Proportions Unfolds In Airbus’ Top Echelon
Nov 9, 2017
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the European Operation Charlie Foxtrot in progress:
Airbus hopes to mitigate fiscal harm in A400M program row
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Airbus expects to limit future
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, helped by an agreement due later this year on a revised schedule for delivery and capabilities for the military airlifter, the company said in a Feb. 7 statement.

“Airbus, European defense agency OCCAR and the customer nations have agreed to work on a number of contractual elements including a revamped delivery plan as well as a road map for the development and completion of military capabilities for the A400M,” the company said.

Those negotiations and the expected agreement could mitigate the financial hit on Airbus.

“With a clear road map in place, the remaining exposure going forward would be more limited,” Airbus said.

The company signed Wednesday a declaration of intent with the launch customers, setting out a “framework” for talks aimed at agreeing on a contract amendment later this year, Airbus said. The clients are Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey.

The declaration of intent sets a new baseline to evaluate the A400M contract, the company said. A further financial provision in 2017 for the program “may be material” and will be disclosed Feb. 15 when the company posts annual results.

“This agreement with our customers is an important step to further mitigate risks remaining on the A400M program,” Aribus CEO Tom Enders said. “We have a good chance to stop or at least reduce the bleeding now and deliver the capabilities our customers need.”

Enders blamed a “flawed contractual setup and insufficient budget” ahead of operational problems. These factors led to heavy losses for prime contractor Airbus, the CEO alleges.

Airbus has so far booked €7.2 billion (U.S. $8.9 billion) of charges on the A400M program, with the manufacturer struggling to deliver the aircraft on time and fitted with the military tactical capabilities required by contract.

Working groups set up by Airbus and OCCAR discussed changes to the
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and capabilities, reaching an agreement that allowed the declaration of intent to be signed. Those talks arose from ministers of the client nations agreeing March 30, 2017, to open discussions on changing the contract, as requested by Airbus in the previous month.

There would be no comment from either side on the talks aimed at reaching binding terms, the company said.

An Airbus spokesman declined comment.

A high requirement for service has led to availability of 35-40 percent on the A400M flown by the French Air Force, said a French officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Part of the low availability stems from checks needed on the propeller gearbox on the TP400-6 turboprop engine and retrofit of equipment needed to upgrade the A400M to a “tactical” military aircraft.
 
Thursday at 8:30 PM
first some background:
Nov 11, 2017
the European Operation Charlie Foxtrot in progress:
Airbus hopes to mitigate fiscal harm in A400M program row
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now OPINION: Can contract revision rescue A400M?
09 February, 2018
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One year ago, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders put the future of the company’s flagship military project on the line, by demanding crisis talks with its European customers for the long-troubled A400M.

After a 2016 in which the company was hit with charges and penalty payments topping €2.2 billion ($2.7 billion) linked to the late-running airlifter, it was time, he said, to play fair and help it out after agreeing contract terms described as an “incredible blunder” on its part. With the financial pain hurting the company’s stellar performance in the commercial sector, no mere sticking plaster solution would do.

With a declaration of intent now signed with the seven launch customers to re-examine the A400M’s delivery schedule and capabilities, a new agreement should be signed later this year. But realism remains, with Enders referring to the expected new deal only as “a good chance to at least reduce the bleeding” and ensure a future for the Atlas programme.

As with all contract revisions, the devil will be in the detail: neither Airbus nor Europe’s OCCAR procurement agency has hinted at the likely terms of an agreement.

With little over one year left until Enders completes his tenure leading Airbus, perhaps bringing the A400M programme under control could be a worthy legacy? He famously made a skydive from the type in 2010, but a smoother exit would be welcome next April.
 
Saturday at 2:35 PM
Thursday at 8:30 PM
now OPINION: Can contract revision rescue A400M?
09 February, 2018
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and of course
Airbus chief hails A400M contract review as 'breakthrough'
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  • 16 February, 2018
Airbus foresees a charge worth €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) associated with the A400M programme for 2018, after the manufacturer reached a tentative agreement with its launch customers to revise their contracts for the tactical transport.

Speaking at a results briefing in Toulouse on 15 February, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders hailed the declaration of intent with Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Turkey and the UK via Europe's OCCAR defence procurement agency – which was disclosed earlier this month – as a “breakthrough agreement”.

He says discussions over the past few years covered “seven to eight points” which Airbus wanted to renegotiate, and that the preliminary agreement represents a “win-win” result for participants. “We have much better predictability on our expenditure going forward and on deliveries for customers,” he says, adding: “We are ring-fencing that programme.”

The deal represents a “global re-baselining” of the contract and includes revised aircraft delivery and retrofit schedules and an “updated technical capability roadmap”, Airbus says. The manufacturer notes that the agreement is an “important step towards… mitigating the commercial exposure while satisfying customer needs with regard to capabilities and availability of the aircraft”.

There will be “a lot of retrofit work in coming years to bring the aircraft to standard”, Enders says.

For 2018, chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm expects the programme will have a €1 billion impact on the group’s cash-flow, but he foresees that the A400M will start generating profit for Airbus from 2020 or 2021.

Last year, the manufacturer delivered 19 A400Ms – two more than in 2016. But Airbus says the production rate was “adjusted to recalibrate inventory levels while the military capability roadmap was re-baselined”.
 

timepass

Brigadier
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...


By Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Industry

Saab secured SEK3.35 billion (USD420 million) in sales for its airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) systems in 2017, the company disclosed during its annual results briefing on 16 February.

The figure was secured across two separate sales announced in January and May of last year, valued at SEK2 billion and SEK1.35 billion respectively.

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The nature of the AEW&C contracts was such that Saab declined to divulge further details on either deal, except to say that the first award would see deliveries from 2019 to 2021, with those for the second running from 2017 to 2020.

Saab did not disclose its customers in either of these instances, but it was reported at the time that the second SEK1.35 billion deal would probably cover three new Erieye aircraft for Pakistan. These would replace one Saab 2000-based Erieye aircraft that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) lost in an insurgent attack on its operating base in 2013, and augment the remaining three that were ordered in 2006 for a full-strength force of six.

If this order is for Pakistan, it is not clear if it will comprise the same Saab 2000 turboprop-based system as the country’s original order, or if it will be based on the company’s latest Global 6000 business jet-based GlobalEye that features the S-band (2 to 4 GHz) Erieye Extended Range (ER) radar.

While these latest two contracts have been shrouded in secrecy, Saab has previously publicised a deal for the GlobalEye with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the platform’s previously held moniker of Swing Role Surveillance System (SRSS). However, the company has consistently declined to discuss this contract since the initial announcement in 2015.

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the article kinda related to what's posted in
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter News, Videos and pics Thread Friday at 8:15 AM
:

Jan 22, 2018
related:
UK submits bid for Belgium fighter competition, pitting Typhoon against F-35
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Belgium wants to buy Rafale fighters for naval capability, says French lawmaker
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Belgium has shown interest in the Rafale fighter jet for maritime use, said Jean-Jacques Bridey, chairman of the French Defence Committee of the lower house National Assembly.

“The Belgians are interested in the Rafale,” he told The Defense Journalists Association. “Why? If they buy the Rafale, it will be the naval Rafale.”

Belgium is interested in the aircraft’s ability to land on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which would boost Belgium’s deployment capacity, Bridey said. “This is a seaborne airbase, after all,” he added.

France has pitched the Rafale in an offer of broad bilateral military cooperation with Belgium, opting out of a competition that has attracted British and American offers of the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, respectively.

Laurence Mortier, the spokeswoman for Belgium’s defense minister, said she could not confirm the interest in a carrier-based aircraft.

The French government letter offering the Rafale is undergoing a legal review in Belgium, she said.

That review seeks to determine whether the French proposal can be considered despite being made outside a tender.

The Belgian Defence Ministry has posted a request for government proposal for public consultation, setting out the tender for 34 multirole combat aircraft and support equipment. An aircraft carrier capability is not among the requirements listed in the air combat capability program.

A fighter jet with carrier capacity reflects European and international cooperation in which France, one of the largest European forces, could “federate” its “discriminating capabilities,” Bridey said.

There are nations that lack equipment, and cooperation would allow their forces to take part in operations.

French cooperation could include a naval task force, cybersecurity, intelligence gathering in the exo-atmosphere, military intelligence, special forces, and command and control of large operations, he said. Frigates from Britain, Germany and Spain have sailed in a French naval task force, he noted.

Dassault Aviation, prime contractor on the Rafale, was not immediately available for comment.

Dassault last week signed 13 cooperative agreements with Belgian companies as part of the French offer of the Rafale.
 

timepass

Brigadier
Sweden Wants Lockheed Martin’s Patriot PAC-3 Missile Defense System...

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"As tensions with Russia continue to rise, Sweden has requested that the United States supply it with Lockheed Martin’s Patriot PAC-3 missile defense system. Stockholm would use the weapons to deter any potential aggression by Moscow.

The potential sale—which would be worth $3.2 billion—would include four Patriot Configuration-3+ Modernized Fire Units. The total sale would include four AN/MPQ-65 radar sets, four AN/MSQ-132 engagement control stations, nine antenna mast groups, twelve M903 launching stations, 100 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-TBM (GEM-T) missiles, 200 Patriot Advanced Capabilty-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missiles and four Electrical Power Plants (EPP) IIIs."

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timepass

Brigadier
SAAB HIGHLIGHTS ITS MARKET-STRATEGY AS NICHE PROVIDER AND INTEGRATOR

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On 23 February Saab rolled-out the first GlobalEye airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft at its Linköping facility. Integrated to the Bombardier Global 6000, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the launch customer of Saab’s next-generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform. It also builds upon Saab’s expertise in radar development (for both airborne and surface-based solutions) and success in exporting those solutions to many countries, among them the UAE, Pakistan, Greece, Brazil, Thailand and Mexico. By offering a comprehensive suite of robust airborne, land and maritime/sea radars and integrated solutions, the Swedish defence giant is poised to be a leading global supplier.

The GlobalEye AEW&C builds upon the Erieye AEW&C platform, the latter succeeding through the 2000s as an accessible AEW&C platform, resulting in Greece, Brazil, the UAE, Thailand, Mexico and Pakistan as its customers. Its marquee element is the Erieye Extended Range (Erieye ER) active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, which uses new gallium nitride (GaN)-based transceiver modules (TRM). The Erieye ER’s GaN TRMs not only double its power-efficiency (
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), but also reportedly providing a 70% range increase (
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). The preceding Erieye has an instrumented range of 450 km with a surface coverage area of 500,000 km2 and altitude coverage of over 60,000 ft (
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). Saab has also applied its GaN TRM technology to the next-generation of Giraffe radars, i.e. the Giraffe 1X, Giraffe 4A and Giraffe 8A. Saab hopes to leverage its technology to present a strong case for enhancing its end users’ capacity to detect stealthy targets, such as sea-skimming cruise missiles and next-generation combat aircraft.

The UAE is the launch customer of the GlobalEye. It ordered two systems in 2015 and added a third system to its order in 2017 (the third order cost $236 million U.S.). It currently operates two Erieye AEW&C on the Saab 340, these are slotted to be upgraded by Saab, but it is unclear if the upgrade will result in shifting the Saab 340 AEW&C into GlobalEye units or select subsystem additions from the GlobalEye.

Saab is interested in using the GlobalEye as a means to secure orders from NATO, especially as NATO intends to retire its E-3A fleet by 2035. According to Saab, the company is ‘having dialogues’ with the appropriate parties in this regard, though it is early to earmark any potential orders or other substantive traction. However, Saab’s proven record in successfully managing a diverse set of clients along with a strong product portfolio position it to access many big-ticket markets, including long-term recapitalization with existing customers, such as Greece and Pakistan.

While a substantial AEW&C upgrade, the GlobalEye – originally designated the ‘Swing Role Surveillance System’ (SRSS) – is meant for fulfilling multiple ISR roles. In this respect, Saab chose not to rely on its own intellectual property, but instead, acquire commercially-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions. This includes the
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AESA radar for surface and maritime surveillance and FLIR Systems Star SAFIRE 380HD electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) turret. It appears that the Seaspray 7500E is the GlobalEye’s primary sensor for surface surveillance – including synthetic aperture radar with ground-moving target indication (SAR/GMTI) – for supporting land and naval combat operations. This could manifest in the GlobalEye using its Seaspray 7500E radar’s SAR/GMTI mode to produce a situational awareness picture of the ground and feed that information (e.g. terrain and target location) to friendlies on land and in the air. Granted, optimal utilization of this capability is contingent on information-exchange networks, but it is likely that countries interested in the GlobalEye would have such systems in the procurement roadmap.

For Saab, serving as integrator of subsystems from different original equipment manufacturers (OEM) is a key aspect to its strategy. With the GlobalEye/SRSS, Saab integrated its own Erieye ER with the Seaspray 7500E and Star SAFIRE 380HD to the Bombardier Global 6000. One aspect of this strategy is that it frees Saab from having to develop and sustain different streams of niche products. Rather, it can solely focus on and perfect its large radar portfolio (Erieye and Giraffe), while deferring the rest – such as systems for ground and maritime surveillance – to a company already succeeding on that front, i.e. Leonardo. Further to this fact, Saab’s selection of the Seaspray means that the third-party buyer (e.g. UAE) benefits from an ubiquitous and mature system with scale and guaranteed cost-effective support.

Interestingly, Saab’s role as integrator is even more apparent with its accompanying
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. In this case, the primary systems resulting in the Swordfish MPA are the Leonardo Seaspray 7500E, Star SAFIRE EO/IR pod and the Bombardier Global 6000. Instead of the Erieye ER, Saab is offering to tailor the Global 6000 for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and anti-ship warfare (AShW), which will involve external hardpoints for ASW torpedoes and anti-ship cruising missiles (ASCM). In theory, Saab could offer its RBS-15Mk3 ASCM and Lightweight Torpedo, but that does not preclude it from making the Swordfish MPA compatible with the MBDA Exocet and MU-90 or Boeing Harpoon and Mk.56.

Saab’s defence market strategy has steered towards highlighting the company’s strength as an integrator of proprietary IP with the IP of others. Granted, the availability of the Gripen fighter, A26 submarine and next-generation corvette designs show that Saab will not exit its role as a platform OEM, but it is also clear that the company views itself as an OEM partner and integrator. In the AEW&C and MPA space, Saab partnered with Bombardier and Leonardo; in the naval space, with
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; for offering short-range air defence solutions, with
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. In effect, Saab is not restricting the availability of its strengths to its own platforms (e.g. Gripen), but it is opening the door to prospective buyers to incorporate Saab’s IP into systems in numerous ways to enable for customized, but thoroughly-supported solutions.

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