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Sven Mary et Frank Berton, les avocats de Salah Abdeslam, ont annoncé mercredi qu'ils renonçaient à le défendre en raison du mutisme dans lequel le suspect-clé des attentats du 13 novembre à Paris est plongé depuis plusieurs semaines.

L'économie du Tchad perd près de 1,2 milliard de dollars ou 9,5% du PIB chaque année des suites de la malnutrition infantile, selon une étude de l'ONU et de ses partenaires rendue publique mercredi à N'Djamena.

La Mission des Nations Unies au Soudan du Sud (MINUSS) s'est déclaré mercredi extrêmement préoccupée par l'augmentation d'incidents violents et d'affrontements armés signalés dans diverses régions du pays au cours des dernières semaines.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said today that it is &#8220extremely concerned&#8221 over increased reports of violence and armed conflict in various parts of the country in the last few weeks, including heavy artillery and gunfire exchanges between Government and opposition forces in Leer town.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said today that it is &#8220extremely concerned&#8221 over increased reports of violence and armed conflict in various parts of the country in the last few weeks, including heavy artillery and gunfire exchanges between Government and opposition forces in Leer town.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has condemned two separate attacks on mosques in the country that together killed about 30 worshippers congregated to mark Ashura, the Muslim day of remembrance.

Dans un entretien à « L’Obs », le président de la République, qui considère avoir mené une politique de gauche, « se dit prêt à l’inventaire ».

Manuel Valls a réitéré ce mardi la promesse gouvernementale de veiller au choix du repreneur des emblématiques chantiers navals de Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique), mis en vente par le constructeur sud-coréen en difficulté STX.

• Lire la suite de STX : L'Etat veillera au choix du repreneur, assure Valls

Voulu par François Hollande, ce dispositif, qui regroupe les réserves opérationnelles et dont la création doit être annoncée mercredi, est amené à monter en puissance pour faire face au terrorisme.

Americas

• The USAF has tasked Boeing with selecting a supplier for a $198 million upgrade of the F-15C/D which will allow the fighter to detect at long range the heat generated by an aircraft engine. After selecting the infrared search and track (IRST) sensor supplier, Boeing will be tasked with integrating the pod with the F-15’s other systems, including the Raytheon-supplied active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. By delegating such work, the USAF avoids giving losing bidders a chance to protest Boeing’s decision to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO).

• General Dynamics Information Technology reports they are to provide a range of mission support services to the US Special Operations Command. The multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity USSOCOM contract has a maximum ceiling value of $900 million over a five-year period. Under the deal, USSOCOM forces and their staffs will be provided with technical and management functions across the globe, including engineering and technical services for major weapon systems, program technical assistance, support systems requirements, production decision-making, and program controls assistance.

Middle East & North Africa

• Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has increased the endurance of their BirdEye 650D UAV to over 15 hours. Regarded as the most sophisticated of IAI’s family of small tactical UAVs, the newest version has been designed for use by tactical-level infantry units, but with a “stretched envelope” for increased performance. This increased endurance coupled with the variety of plug-and-play payloads, makes it suitable for civil, as well as military applications.

Africa

• Two AugustaWestland AW101 VIP helicopters have been handed over by the Nigerian government to their air force. The move comes during a round of cost cutting measures in an effort to reduce expenditures which has also seen two VIP jets put up for sale. Nigeria’s AW101s were originally two of 12 destined for the Indian Air Force, but diverted to Nigeria after the contract with India was cancelled over bribery and corruption allegations.

Europe

• Airbus struck back at the Polish government yesterday following the dropping of a multi-billion Caracel helicopter deal. In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Aerospace giant accused the government of shifting the goalposts as Airbus competed with US and Italian rivals, and attempting to contravene European Union regulations. Speaking in a separate email, Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders said “never have we been treated by any government customer the way this government has treated us.” Industry sources estimate Airbus’ cost of running the helicopter sales campaign at several tens of millions of euros.

• An initial batch of twelve CV9035 infantry fighting vehicles have been delivered to Estonia from the Netherlands. In late 2014, Estonia signed a $125 million deal for the provision of of 44 used Dutch CV9035NL IFVs and six Leopard 1 tank-based support vehicles. All the vehicles, which will be delivered by 2018, are to undergo maintenance and repairs before arriving in Estonia, the Estonian Ministry of Defense said. Norway will also supply 37 IFV CV90, which will be rebuilt as armored support vehicles, to Estonia next year.

Asia Pacific

• Dassault Mirage F1 fighters operated by the Iranian Air Force have successfully had their on-board oxygen generation system (OBOGS) refurbished for the first time. The work was carried out by the Overhaul Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF). In 2014, Tehran announced that its defense ministry had domestically produced a cruise missile system for its Mirage fleet.

• Japan’s military and aerospace industry will use this week’s Japan International Aerospace Exhibition to push the case to develop a highly advanced, and costly, stealth fighter jet. Dubbed the F-3, the program could cost Tokyo as much $40 billion to develop depending on specifications. Options open to the government include developing the costly fighter or opting for a more cost effective conventional fighter. In March, Japan’s Ministry of Defence issued a request for information (RFI) to gauge interest among foreign aerospace companies for jointly developing the F-3, which would operate alongside Lockheed Martin’s new F-35s and older F-15s.

Today’s Video

IAI’s Bird-Eye 650D:

Russian AGS-30 Automatic Grenade Launcher

Polish Mi-24
(click to view full)

Recent Russian aggression in the Ukraine has sharpened Poland’s awareness of its status as NATO’s new linchpin state, and an ambitious 10-year military Technical Modernization Program (TMP) is underway. The country’s open, rolling terrain from East to West is very friendly to cavalry warfare, which makes good attack helicopters a necessity. Poland’s current fleet of 29 late Soviet-era Mi-24D/Vs has served them well, but they need more and better machines. Unsurprisingly, the planned Kruk (“Raven”) attack helicopter replacement competition was one of the TMP projects targeted for acceleration in the wake of recent events.

Contracts and Key Events FY 2015 – 2016

T-129 ATAK
(click to view full)

October 12/16: Airbus struck back at the Polish government yesterday following the dropping of a multi-billion Caracel helicopter deal. In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Aerospace giant accused the government of shifting the goalposts as Airbus competed with US and Italian rivals, and attempting to contravene European Union regulations. Speaking in a separate email, Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders said “never have we been treated by any government customer the way this government has treated us.” Industry sources estimate Airbus’ cost of running the helicopter sales campaign at several tens of millions of euros.

October 11/16: France has reacted angrily to Poland dropping a multi-billion helicopter deal with Airbus, warning that it would review defense cooperation with its NATO ally and cancelling a presidential visit to Warsaw. Winning support as a populist, right-wing, eurosceptics, the ruling Law & Justice party (PiS) said they would rather see the deal awarded to a company that could build the helicopters locally. Polish media reports that Warsaw has already begun negotiations with Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky, manufacturer of locally-produced Black Hawk helicopters that could be purchased by the Polish army as soon as this year.

October 8/15: Poland has progressed its competition to replace the country’s fleet of Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters, with talks scheduled to soon begin with the four bidders. The ‘Kruk’ (‘Raven’) competition has attracted bids from Airbus with the EC665 Tiger; Bell Helicopters with the AH-1Z Cobra; Boeing with the AH-64 Apache and Turkish Aerospace Industries with the T129 ATAK. Despite the Polish Defence Ministry announcing in April that a winner is due for selection by the end of the year, these talks are scheduled to last one week per company, concluding by the end of November and a contract is now expected in the latter half of 2017.

April 22/15: In addition to the Patriot announcement, Poland has selected the Airbus H225M to fulfill its tri-service helicopter requirement. 50 of the Airbus helicopters will replace the current 40-strong fleet of Mil Mi-17s; a figure revised down from the original requirement for 70 units. The H225M beat out AgustaWestland’s AW149 and Sikorsky’s S-70i Black Hawk and S-70B Seahawk, with the winning helicopter set to undergo checks this May and June to verify its capabilities against Poland’s requirement set. The Eastern European state is also looking to upgrade its attack helicopter fleet. Combined with the Patriot program, the helicopter procurement will account for approximately a quarter of Poland’s eight-year defense modernization budget.

Aug 5/14: The Polish defence ministry has said that it is considering bids from 10 manufacturers under the Kruk competition. They wouldn’t name names, saying only that it involved “foreign and domestic companies offering both ready-made helicopters and components for assembly.”

The difference between ready-made and assembly kits is a bidder’s choice, and the kits option is often used to comply with local industrial offset rules. The harder question is how to get to 10 manufacturers, given the limited number of attack helicopter options out there.

Obvious leaders include Airbus (EC665 Tiger HAD), AW/TAI (T129 ATAK), Bell Helicopter (AH-1Z) and Boeing (AH-64E). South Africa’s Denel offers the Rooivalk, which hasn’t been exported but has competed elsewhere. Sikorsky is working very hard to win Poland’s utility helicopter competition with the S-70i, which is the focus of that company’s 2nd largest helicopter plant. Their Battlehawk add-on kit could offer Poland a single-type force that’s able to perform both utility and attack roles. That’s 6 possible competitors; beyond this list, one must either stretch the boundaries of the term “attack helicopter” to incorporate armed scouts, or entertain far less likely options. Russian Helicopters’ Ka-52 and Mi-28 are absolute non-starters, but there are rumors that Poland’s MRO and upgrade shop WZL-2 S.A. has bid, and that Israel’s IAI and RAFAEL also responded. Sources: Polskie Radio, “10 bidders to modernize Poland’s combat helicopter fleet”.

July 8/14: Kruk program launched, deadline to respond to the RFI is Aug 1/14. The program was originally supposed to launch a tender in 2018, with deliveries beginning in 2020, but the tender has now been moved up to 2015. Quantities may also be changing: the program’s original goal was 32 helicopters, but current reports indicate that Poland may increase that to 40.

In the mean time, Phase 1 involves setting technical and operational requirements, following market research. Hence the RFI. Next comes a more detailed feasibility study and staffing requirements based on the responses, followed by the formal RFP in 2015. Sources: Polish MON, “Rusza program smiglowcow uderzeniowych” | Emirates 24/7 News, “Poland launches tender for assault helicopters” | Flightglobal, “Poland launches attack helicopter acquisition” | IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, “Poland starts ‘Kruk’ attack helicopter acquisition programme”.

Additional Readings

Thanks for tips to: Lukasz Pacholski.

Potential Competitors

• DID – AH-64E Apache Block III: The Once and Future Attack Helicopter.

• DID – Snakes and Rotors: The USMC’s H-1 Helicopter Program. Includes the AH-1Z.

• DID – Armed & Versatile: Sikorsky’s ‘Battlehawk’ Helicopters. Based on the UH-60M/ S-70i. UAE was the launch customer, and Israel has tested a more extensive conversion.

• Airbus Helicopters – EC665 Tiger.

• Army Technology – Rooivalk Attack Helicopter, South Africa.

• DID – Turkey Finally Lands Its Attack Helicopters. The T-129 ATAK.

News & Views

• The Economist (July 26/14) – A front-line state.

• Reuters (July 15/14) – Airbus offers Poland core status in helicopter bid. Refers to utility helicopters (AW149 vs. EC725 vs. S-70i), but industrial considerations transfer over.

The US Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz (CVN 68), has successfully completed sea trials, marking the completion of a 20-month extended planned incremental availability.

The Bell V-247 Vigilant is a new multi-role tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) being developed by Textron subsidiary Bell Helicopter to meet the future requirements of the US Marine Corps (USMC).

BAE Systems will continue to provide combat systems integration services to the UK Royal Navy, under a ten-and-a-half-year contract extension.

VSTEP has been contracted to supply simulators for the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy's (NVNA) newly opened simulation centre in Bulgaria.

Welcoming the start of an inclusive dialogue among political leaders, civil society and religious communities of Guinea-Bissau today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged all the parties to engage in constructive discussions and “seize this opportunity for a favourable outcome” in the interest of the country’s people.”

Welcoming the start of an inclusive dialogue among political leaders, civil society and religious communities of Guinea-Bissau today, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged all the parties to engage in constructive discussions and “seize this opportunity for a favourable outcome” in the interest of the country’s people.”