Le ministère britannique de la Défense lance une initiative pour stimuler l’innovation
Posté dans Technologie par Laurent Lagneau Le 15-08-2016
Identifier les technologies émergentes susceptibles d’avoir des applications militaires, encourager des projets innovants et bousculer les habitudes : tels sont les objectifs de l’ »Innovation Initiative » lancée le 12 août par le ministère britannique de la Défense (MoD).
Pour cela, une unité (Innovation and Research Insights Unit – IRIS) sera mise en place afin de détecter les technologies émergentes et d’analyser leurs implications pour les forces armées britanniques. Un fonds de 800 millions de livres servira à encourager l’élaboration d’idées et de concepts tant par les particuliers que par les entreprises.
Enfin, précise le MoD, un centre dédié « agira comme un ‘accélérateur de défense et de sécurité’, en veillant à ce que des solutions innovantes à nos défis les plus urgents de sécurité nationale soient développés rapidement pour devancer nos adversaires »
Cette initiative devra avoir des conséquences sur la culture du MoD, notamment en améliorant la coopération avec les industriels et le milieu universitaire. En outre, il s’agit aussi de « cibler » de nouveaux fournisseurs potentiels pour « renforcer l’avantage concurrentiel de la défense » britannique et de « trouver des réponses à nos questions les plus pressantes. »
« Cette nouvelle approche permettra de garder la Grande-Bretagne en sécurité tout en soutenant notre économie, avec nos plus brillants cerveaux qui nous permettront d’être en avance sur nos adversaires », a commenté Michael Fallon, le ministre britannique de la Défense.
Parmi les projets innovants cités par le MoD, l’on trouve un micro-drone « libellule » développé actuellement par Animal Dynamics, des capteurs qui utilisent la gravité pour étudier les structures souterraines en quelques minutes, des casques de réalité virtuelle pour la simulation ou encore des armes laser.
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to begin flight operations of its newly acquired Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters in the coming weeks, ahead of aircrew transition before the end of the year.
The first two of 50 remanufactured AH-64E Apache helicopters for the British Army were delivered into the UK on 26 November. (Crown Copyright)
An MoD spokesperson told Janes on 6 July that, with 10 remanufactured helicopters now delivered back to the British Army's Wattisham Flying Station from Boeing's production facility in the US, flight operations that were originally scheduled to begin in July will now do so “later in the summer”. These will pave the way for crews on the Leonardo Boeing WAH-64D Apache Longbow AH1 to convert to the new type.
“Flights are planned for test and evaluation purposes later this summer. The first AH-64E flights will enable the transition of existing Apache aircrew from Q4 2021,” the spokesperson said.
The British Army received the first of 50 Apache Longbow AH1 attack helicopters to be remanufactured into the latest Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian standard in November 2020. Interestingly, while the WAH-64D is designated AH1 in UK service, the MoD told Janes that the AH-64E will be known by that designation only and not as the AH2.
Initial flights of the AH-64E will be focused on trials activity and then on developing instructional techniques to safely manage aircrew transition from the WAH-64D to AH-64E. The focus will then change to the full-rate conversion training of 3 Regiment Army Air Corps (3AAC). From 2022 the AH1 will be incrementally replaced by the AH-64E in British Army service.
In a first for the UK's armed forces, Royal Marines have used drone swarms to assist in battle drills.
Autonomous machines were present in the air, on the sea and underwater to help the soldiers as they carried out simulated raids on missile and radar installations across the UK.
La suite :https://news.sky.com/story/royal-marines-seek-battlefield-advantage-as-they-train-with-drone-swarms-in-uk-first-12357549
British army plans to replace its L85A3 5.56mm assault rifles from 2025
Defense News August 2021 Global Security army industry
POSTED ON SATURDAY, 07 AUGUST 2021 10:43
According to a Tweet published by Nicholas Drummond on August 6, 2021, the British Army plans to replace its L85A3 5.56mm assault rifle from 2025. The US Army’s NGSW (Next Generation Squad Weapons) is likely to influence British army choice in terms of weapon type and caliber.
British soldiers armed with L85A3 5.56mm caliber bullpup assault rifle. (Picture source British MoD)
The U.S. Army Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) Program is an iterative, prototyping effort, using Middle Tier Acquisition Authority, to develop operationally relevant, squad-level lethality to combat proliferating threats, informed by U.S. soldier’s feedback.
The NGSW prototyping effort consists of the Rifle (NGSW-R) and Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR) with a common 6.8mm cartridge and Fire Control (NGSW-FC) between the two systems. The effort aims to field to the Close Combat Force (CCF) with the NGSW-R as the planned replacement for the M4A1 assault rifle and the NGSW-AR as the planned replacement for the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, gas-operated light machine gun.
The L85 is a variant of the SA80, a British-made 5.56mm NATO caliber bullpup assault rifle which is in service with the British armed forces since 1987. The SA80 family was designed and produced by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock.
The L85A3 is a variant of the original L85 assault rifle including several new improvements. It entered into service with the British armed forces in 2018.
The L85A3 is a bullpup design assault rifle chambered in 5.56 x 45 mm NATO caliber. New features of the L85A3 include a modified upper receiver with Picatinny rail and a full-length rail system for optional add-ons such as a vertical foregrip, laser pointer and torch. It also includes a weight saving of 100 g and a new Flat Dark Earth coating offering improved durability and better camouflage across various environments.
The L85A3 with the new Picatinny rail systems can be fitted with a 4x magnification scope as well as various red dot or night vision sights. With the scope, the L85A3 has a maximum firing range of 500 m and used 30-round capacity magazines. The lower part at the front of the weapon is also fitted with a Picatinny rail that can mount vertical foregrip, tactical flashlight or laser pointer.
The L85A3 can be also fitted with the German HK AG36 40 mm underbarrel grenade launcher.
D'ex-soldats afghans en corps constitué au sein de l'armée de Terre britannique?
L'information rappelle davantage l'histoire de la formation du 32e bataillon de l'armée sud-africaine que celle des Gurkhas. Mais pour le public britannique, la référence aux Gurkhas est plus parlante.
Selon le Daily Telegraph (repris par le MailOnline), le MoD, le ministère britannique de la Défense étudie le projet de création d'un régiment (bataillon?) composé de réfugiés afghans et encadré en partie par des élèves officiers de nationalité afghane déjà en formation au Royaume-Uni.
Ces ex-soldats de l'armée afghane pourrait constituer, comme les Gurkhas de la brigade du même nom, une unité à recrutement ethnique.
L'idée n'est pas stupide. Autant pour ces soldats réfugiés que pour l'Army qui a toujours du mal à recruter.
Elle n'est pas sans rappeler la création par les Sud-Africains du 32e bataillon. Cette unité encadrée par des cadres sud-africains et un temps par des mercenaires occidentaux avait été créée en 1975 lors de la chute de l'Angola aux mains des résistants marxistes du MPLA.
D'autres "freedom fighters" qui avaient aussi lutté contre les Portugais, mais eux dans les rangs du FNLA, s'étaient replié en Namibie alors sous contrôle sud-africain. La SADF avait regroupés ces réfugiés au sein d'une unité dont la lingua franca allait être le Portugais. Ce "Bravo Group" renommé 32e bataillon ou de bataillon Buffalo, a été dissous en mars 1993.
Je me rappelle avoir rencontré l'aumônier du bataillon à Pomfret, après le transfert de l'unité en territoire sud-africain. Ce francophone distingué avait deux de ses fils qui servaient au sein du 32e alors commandé par le colonel Mucho Delport, un lointain descendant d'un huguenot arrivé au Cap en 1699.
UK to retire Tranche 1 Typhoons with more than half of airframe hours remaining
by Gareth Jennings
The UK's recently revealed plan to prematurely retire its Tranche 1 Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft will see the fleet axed with more than half of its airframe fatigue life remaining, the government said on 7 September.
Having earlier intended to retain 24 of its Tranche 1 Typhoons out to 2040, the UK will now retire them in 2025 with more than half of their airframe hours remaining. (Janes/Patrick Allen)
Answering questions in the House of Commons, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence, James Heappey, said that the Tranche 1 Typhoons that were earmarked for early retirement in the Defence Command Paper published on 22 March would be retired with an average of nearly 60% of their airframe fatigue lives remaining.
“There are 30 Typhoon Tranche 1 aircraft in the sustainment fleet and the projected average flying hours for each of the aircraft, when they reach their respective out-of-service date, is 2,544.8 flying hours,” Heappey said.
With the Typhoon notionally rated to an airframe life of 6,000 hours, 2,544.8 hours represent just 42.4% of airframe use. With this figure being averaged out across the fleet, a number of the more recently delivered aircraft will have flown significantly fewer hours than this. Of the 53 Tranche 1 aircraft received by the Royal Air Force (RAF), 30 remain in the inventory. Of these, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told Janes that 20 are in active service while the remaining 10 are in storage.
The Royal Navy worked with engineers from industry and academia to design an autonomous fleet of the future. First up, a carrier vessel that uses biofuel and wind power to run and houses both uncrewed boats and crewed submarines.
Another concept of the future fleet included an autonomous combatant boat that can work both on the surface and below the waves. It has interchangeable modules so it can be adapted for any mission.
It’s not just boats the future concepts looked at. One of the designs sees drones launch from a base station in the stratosphere. With the ability to freefall, glide and then submerge underwater, they could be used in operations all over the world.
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Some capabilities are to be retired, including two Type 23 frigates, the current Mine Counter Measure fleets, the warrior infantry fighting vehicles (whose upgrade programme will no longer go ahead), Typhoon tranche 1, Hawk T1, C130 Hercules and E-3D Sentry aircraft, plus the oldest Chinook helicopters. In addition, whilst 148 Challenger tanks will be upgraded to Challenger III, the rest will be retired.
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Royal Navy to lose two Type 23s setting stage for future fleet
Under the plans, HMS Monmouth will be removed from service by the end of this year, with HMS Montrose to be retired after it returns from forward deployment in the Middle East in 2022.
Monmouth and Montrose are some of the UK’s oldest in-service Type 23 Frigates and Monmouth has been tied up, held at extended readiness since its crew became one of those double-crewing Montrose. Decisions have not yet been made as to whether the ships will be sold off or scrapped.
Money saved by the two ships’ retirement will be invested into the development of the follow-on capabilities of the Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigate and Type 31 general purpose frigate.
Under the plans laid down by the Defence Command Paper, the Royal Navy expects to have an escort fleet of more than 20 frigates and destroyers by the start of the 2030s, with an ambition to have a fleet of 24 escorts as it introduces new Type 32 frigates.
The Royal Navy’s mine countermeasure vessels (MCMV) will also be replaced by an autonomous mine-hunting capability being developed in partnership with France.
There are no plans to retire the MCMV capability early and instead previously announced out of service dates will be maintained, meaning there will be a gradual drawdown of the Hunt and Sandown-class ships as the autonomous systems come online.
Plans to retire the minehunting ships could be accelerated if the pace of deployment and capability exceeds expectations. Naval Technology also understands that maintenance of the Hunt-class ships could be prioritised over the Sandown vessels as autonomous mine countermeasures have already proved their utility in UK waters.
Both the Sandown and Hunt-class ships will be replaced by the end of the decade. The Royal Navy will also develop a new multi-role ocean surveillance capability designed to protect critical national infrastructure (CNI) such as undersea cables. In the document, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) said the ship would also improve the Royal Navy’s ability to detect threats in the North Atlantic.
The vessel will likely end up carrying several autonomous systems that can fill the various surveillance missions the ship is tasked with.
The document also expanded on the plans for a new class of Type 32 frigates that will be used to ‘protect territorial waters, provide persistent presence overseas and support our
Littoral Response Groups.’ Naval Technology understands that the resultant Type 32 vessel may not be a frigate in the traditional sense.
Investment is also set to be made in the conversion of a Bay-class ship to better support the new Littoral Response Groups and Royal Marines Future Commando Force. £50m will be spent on converting either RFA Mounts Bay or RFA Cardigan Bay.
Upgrades to the ship will likely see improved command and control facilities put in place to support a more persistent Royal Marines deployment and facilities for better deployment of autonomous systems from the vessel.
The conversion of the Bay-class ship will come ahead of plans for new ships designed specifically for the Littoral Strike role however at current the Royal Navy does not have a concrete timeline for the conversion. The navy plans to acquire Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS) to fulfil the Littoral Strike mission in the early 2030s.
The document also echoed previous commitments to build three new Fleet Solid Support ships designed to support the UK’s Carrier Strike Group and other vessels when at sea. A competition to procure the ships is due to kick off after serval false starts this year.
Elsewhere in the document, the MOD also announced that the ‘concept and assessment phase’ for a new Type 83 Destroyer designed to replace the in-service Type 45s in the late 2030s would begin.
The MOD estimated that over the course of the current Parliament, investing in shipbuilding would rise to more than £1.7bn a year.
The Harpoon missile will also be replaced with a new land-attack and surface strike weapon. Stocks of Sea Viper air defence missiles are also set to be increased and upgraded.
Commenting on the conclusions of the paper, First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin said: “The review is the most wide-ranging for a generation and it sets out the government’s priorities for Defence, The Secretary of State wants us to respond better to the threats we face. We will. The Prime Minister wants us to be the foremost Navy in Europe. We will be.
“The White Ensign will fly in all the places where we are now, but also further afield and more persistently. All of us now have a new responsibility to deliver a global Navy for a global Britain.”
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