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[BravoZulu]

France:
Lockheed Martin delivered the first of two KC-130J Super Hercules aerial refuelers to representatives from France’s Armée de l'Air's 62st Transport Wing at Orléans-Bricy Air Base today.
France will receive a total of four Super Hercules aircraft — two C-130J-30 combat delivery airlifters and two KC-130J aerial refuelers — through a Foreign Military Sale with the U.S. government. The two C-130J-30 airlifters were delivered in 2017 and 2018, and a second KC-130J will deliver in 2020. All of these Super Hercules are operated in conjunction with France’s existing C-130H fleet.
“The KC-130J provides Armée de l'Air crews with a proven solution that delivers much-needed fuel in any environment, at any time,” said Rod McLean, vice president and general manager, Air Mobility & Maritime Missions at Lockheed Martin. “In choosing to operate both the C-130J-30 and the KC-130J, France has built a diverse airlift fleet that expands both the capabilities and global reach of the French Armed Forces.”

The first KC-130J for France’s Armée de l'Air's 62st Transport Wing takes off from the Lockheed Martin facility in Marietta, Georgia.
https://news.lockheedmartin.com/201...-first-kc-130j-super-hercules-aerial-refueler

 

[muck]

German Air Force receives first Bombardier Global 6000 ()

The three aircraft, boasting a range of 6000 nmi and a sophisticated defensive aids and communications suite, will complement the air force's existing fleet of three Global 5000 (a fourth one crashed earlier this year) in the executive transport role. They will fulfil a secondary role in a medical evacuation, urgent repatriation and crisis management capacity.

 

[PEMM]

Finland:
New body armour for infantry soldiers
Infantry soldiers will receive new body armour for advanced mobility. Of Finnish design and manufacture, the M17 plate carrier vest will be fielded in all Services during the autumn of 2019 to function as the personal protective equipment of infantry soldiers.

Jalkaväen taistelijoille uudet suojaliivit

maavoimat.fi

 

[muck]

German Court of Auditors pans Ministry of Defence for not listening to army in purchase of PARS 3 anti-tank guided missile, recommends immediate scrapping of all 680 missiles bought for 420 Mio. € ()

The auditors rebuked the ministry in particular for ignoring reports by its own army, which testified the missile was of "poor quality" and featured a hit ratio of merely 16%. The report even lists incidents that could have resulted in friendly fire and collateral damage if the missile were ever fired in anger, including occasions of the guidance section losing its dedicated target and chosing another without apparent ryhme or reason.

It's utterly fascinating to me how two companies (MBDA and Diehl) renowned for making excellent weapons could get it so wrong.

It's downright hilarious: It's been just three years since we've finally got our Tiger helicopters sorted out, achieving 95% availability in operations – and now we lose our future main weapon system for the aircraft. In the meantime, the French have fired many Hellfires in anger with their Tigers, achieving great success.

Which only goes to show that playing a lone hand within the framework of multiliteral effort is a f***ing terrible idea. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

 

[BravoZulu]

Germany:
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday said she aimed to decide as soon as possible next year how to replace Germany’s ageing fleet of Tornado fighter jets to prevent a lapse in Germany’s ability to carry out missions for NATO.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, said she discussed the issue with U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper during her first official visit to Washington since taking on her new role as defence minister.

Germany in January decided to pick either the Eurofighter - built by Airbus, Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo SpA - or Boeing Co’s F/A-18 fighter, dropping Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter out of a tender worth billions of euros.

However neither the F/A-18 nor the Eurofighter is currently certified to carry U.S. nuclear weapons, as required under Germany’s obligations to NATO. Germany is asking Washington to spell out what it will take to get those aircraft certified.

“My goal is that we make clear decisions as quickly as possible next year, so there is no time period in which there is no reasonable solution for replacing the Tornado fleet,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/ger...decision-on-tornado-replacement-idUSL2N26E1ED

 

[PEMM]

Finland:
New body armour for infantry soldiers

Some pictures where you can actually see the vest:

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[Hiryu2.0]

German Court of Auditors pans Ministry of Defence for not listening to army in purchase of PARS 3 anti-tank guided missile, recommends immediate scrapping of all 680 missiles bought for 420 Mio. € ()

The auditors rebuked the ministry in particular for ignoring reports by its own army, which testified the missile was of "poor quality" and featured a hit ratio of merely 16%. The report even lists incidents that could have resulted in friendly fire and collateral damage if the missile were ever fired in anger, including occasions of the guidance section losing its dedicated target and chosing another without apparent ryhme or reason.

It's utterly fascinating to me how two companies (MBDA and Diehl) renowned for making excellent weapons could get it so wrong.

It's downright hilarious: It's been just three years since we've finally got our Tiger helicopters sorted out, achieving 95% availability in operations – and now we lose our future main weapon system for the aircraft. In the meantime, the French have fired many Hellfires in anger with their Tigers, achieving great success.

Which only goes to show that playing a lone hand within the framework of multiliteral effort is a f***ing terrible idea. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Link please!

 

[muck]

Link please!

Click on the flag.

Germany:
German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday said she aimed to decide as soon as possible next year how to replace Germany’s ageing fleet of Tornado fighter jets to prevent a lapse in Germany’s ability to carry out missions for NATO.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, said she discussed the issue with U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper during her first official visit to Washington since taking on her new role as defence minister.

Germany in January decided to pick either the Eurofighter - built by Airbus, Britain’s BAE Systems and Italy’s Leonardo SpA - or Boeing Co’s F/A-18 fighter, dropping Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter out of a tender worth billions of euros.

However neither the F/A-18 nor the Eurofighter is currently certified to carry U.S. nuclear weapons, as required under Germany’s obligations to NATO. Germany is asking Washington to spell out what it will take to get those aircraft certified.

“My goal is that we make clear decisions as quickly as possible next year, so there is no time period in which there is no reasonable solution for replacing the Tornado fleet,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/ger...decision-on-tornado-replacement-idUSL2N26E1ED

That tender is going to rival 'House of Cards' in terms of political skullduggery.

//edit (spelling)

• Signs continue to build the US isn't going to certify the Eurofighter Typhoon for the B61 nuclear bomb. Mr. Trump is frustrated with Germany's defence budget and its implications for the American defence industry, which would be even worse off if no American war plane was purchased at all.
• His position is not as good as he might think it is, though. The nuclear sharing initiative is tremendously unpopular in Germany – almost as unpopular as giving in to Trump's demands would be. Additionally, there's a growing bi-partisan sentiment in Germany that because of the INF Treaty's collapse we ought to make a good-will gesture towards Russia and end our participation in the NSI. A law to do so could pass parliament tomorrow.
• Germany's obviously interested in aiding its own industry and buy Eurofighters, which would yield considerable synergetic effects in addition to everything else. It's not the worst idea ever hatched either since this bird has matured into a capable strike-fighter. Or rather, it will have matured into one once we finally get our act together and acquire the Brimstone missile.
• There's just one thing the plane cannot do as of now: SEAD, a capacity which Germany is contractually obliged to provide to NATO. That aspect raises the chances of the F/A-18 (thanks to its E/A-18 cousin).

My best bet (and, indeed, my hope) is that we'll buy Eurofighters for ground attacks and buy or lease a small number of F/A-18s and E/A-18s for nuclear attacks and SEAD.

 

[Fish&Chips]

German Air Force receives first Bombardier Global 6000 ()

Quite a good-looking bird.

Flugbereitschaft BMVg - Erste Global 6000 für die Bundeswehr

Bombardier hat den ersten von drei im Juni 2019 bestellten Business Jets Global 6000 mit der militärischen Kennung 14+05 (zivil: C-GRDL) an die Bundeswehr ausgeliefert.

esut.de

 

[muck]

Brand-new and yet delivered in under 4 months.

 

[PEMM]

Finland:
Reindeers cause road crash which leaves 12 Finnish soldiers injured in Lapland
A dozen military conscripts ended up in the hospital after an armored personnel carrier swerved to avoid a reindeer and hit another vehicle.

Finnish Defense Forces said the incident happened on Road 82 between Ketola and Lake Kemijärvi in Lapland at 6pm on Tuesday.

In total there were 28 people involved in the crash and five of the Kainuu Brigade recruits remained under observation on Wednesday.

Reindeer cause crash leaving 12 Finnish soldiers injured in Lapland

A dozen Finish military conscripts were taken to hospital on Tuesday after they swerved to avoid hitting a reindeer between Ketola and Lake Kemijärvi in Lapland and crashed into another vehicle.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[muck]

A speedy recovery. Kind of irresponsible behaviour by the driver, though. I know, it's easy to say in hindsight, but if I've got like a dozen people in the trunk I'd rather injure an animal than them.

 

[PEMM]

A speedy recovery. Kind of irresponsible behaviour by the driver, though. I know, it's easy to say in hindsight, but if I've got like a dozen people in the trunk I'd rather injure an animal than them.

Yes, it was definitely the fault of the driver in this case. I'm sure he had been trained the same way as lorry drivers to not evade those reindeer as the fast movement itself is dangerous with such a heavy vehicle, even if there wasn't anyone on the other lane.

But you can't always control your reflexes. (btw. it's already two weeks old news)

 

[muck]

Fair enough.

 

[muck]

Germany discovered its new air defence radar is actually able to track the F-35, says manufacturer Hensoldt ()

German defence technology company Hensoldt says its new TwInvis passive radar system was able to track the F-35 for 150 kilometers following the Berlin Air Show in 2018. Passive radar works by deducing an aircraft's position in the sky from its reflection of civilian communication signals. Actual radar signals are neither transmitted nor received, which is why it'd be immaterial whether or not the F-35's in Berlin were equipped with Luneburg Lenses (devices that increase the F-35's radar cross section for added safety in civilian airspace).

The system's biggest advantage is its ability to function without the emitting of any signals, rendering its detection highly unlikely; it's biggest disdavantage is its reliance on a rich background of communication signals, with a dramatic dop in accuracy where fewer signal sources are available.

This story has all the elements of a tech thriller. ?

The German Air Force earmarked TwInvis for purchase earlier this year, a move that coincided with its surprising u-turn recommendation to parliament not to buy the F-35 despite having lobbied for the stealth fighter previously.

Also, the Franco-German 6th generation stealth fighter FCAS programme underwent last-minute changes in 2019, with Dassault and Airbus explaining that stealth as we know it "has lost its schine".

Last but not least, it's curious that Lockheed-Martin did not conduct show flights on its sales tour in Berlin – where Hensoldt had previously announced they would test their new technology, although the aerospace giant cites airspace restrictions as a reason.

Hensoldt has a reputation to lose. It's highly improbable they'd just make things up; they probably did see something on their monitors. The question is, what did they see, and whether or not their results can be reproduced in air spaces not as crowded with communication signals as Greater Berlin. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if this turns out to be completely true. If the eternal arms race has taught us anything, it's that no new technology rules supreme for long.

 

[muck]

I'm surprised by the lack of resonance. Was I the stupid one here, did the story appear earlier elsewhere?

 

[Fluff]

Germany discovered its new air defence radar is actually able to track the F-35, says manufacturer Hensoldt ()

German defence technology company Hensoldt says its new TwInvis passive radar system was able to track the F-35 for 150 kilometers following the Berlin Air Show in 2018. Passive radar works by deducing an aircraft's position in the sky from its reflection of civilian communication signals. Actual radar signals are neither transmitted nor received, which is why it'd be immaterial whether or not the F-35's in Berlin were equipped with Luneburg Lenses (devices that increase the F-35's radar cross section for added safety in civilian airspace).

The system's biggest advantage is its ability to function without the emitting of any signals, rendering its detection highly unlikely; it's biggest disdavantage is its reliance on a rich background of communication signals, with a dramatic dop in accuracy where fewer signal sources are available.

This story has all the elements of a tech thriller. ?

The German Air Force earmarked TwInvis for purchase earlier this year, a move that coincided with its surprising u-turn recommendation to parliament not to buy the F-35 despite having lobbied for the stealth fighter previously.

Also, the Franco-German 6th generation stealth fighter FCAS programme underwent last-minute changes in 2019, with Dassault and Airbus explaining that stealth as we know it "has lost its schine".

Last but not least, it's curious that Lockheed-Martin did not conduct show flights on its sales tour in Berlin – where Hensoldt had previously announced they would test their new technology, although the aerospace giant cites airspace restrictions as a reason.

Hensoldt has a reputation to lose. It's highly improbable they'd just make things up; they probably did see something on their monitors. The question is, what did they see, and whether or not their results can be reproduced in air spaces not as crowded with communication signals as Greater Berlin. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if this turns out to be completely true. If the eternal arms race has taught us anything, it's that no new technology rules supreme for long.

From their website:

Real time fusion of 16 FM transmitters, 5 DAB and 5 DVB-T networks

So i need 26 cruise missiles. Doable for most F35 operators. Probably developing a softkill system, dump a load of 'window' and some longer lengths, in the morning you can clear it all up and then broadcast the pictures of the babymilk factory that got hit.....

I actually salute their marketing department, they have got a product every tinpot dictator will need, it doesnt transmit, so that makes it pretty cheap, and it comes with a 100% guarantee that on day 1 of a shooting war it will be a scorched patch of earth. And of course it works perfectly....No General, no stealth aircraft above us tonight.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADE_651

 

[Hiryu2.0]

And

Germany discovered its new air defence radar is actually able to track the F-35, says manufacturer Hensoldt ()

German defence technology company Hensoldt says its new TwInvis passive radar system was able to track the F-35 for 150 kilometers following the Berlin Air Show in 2018. Passive radar works by deducing an aircraft's position in the sky from its reflection of civilian communication signals. Actual radar signals are neither transmitted nor received, which is why it'd be immaterial whether or not the F-35's in Berlin were equipped with Luneburg Lenses (devices that increase the F-35's radar cross section for added safety in civilian airspace).

The system's biggest advantage is its ability to function without the emitting of any signals, rendering its detection highly unlikely; it's biggest disdavantage is its reliance on a rich background of communication signals, with a dramatic dop in accuracy where fewer signal sources are available.

This story has all the elements of a tech thriller. ?

The German Air Force earmarked TwInvis for purchase earlier this year, a move that coincided with its surprising u-turn recommendation to parliament not to buy the F-35 despite having lobbied for the stealth fighter previously.

Also, the Franco-German 6th generation stealth fighter FCAS programme underwent last-minute changes in 2019, with Dassault and Airbus explaining that stealth as we know it "has lost its schine".

Last but not least, it's curious that Lockheed-Martin did not conduct show flights on its sales tour in Berlin – where Hensoldt had previously announced they would test their new technology, although the aerospace giant cites airspace restrictions as a reason.

Hensoldt has a reputation to lose. It's highly improbable they'd just make things up; they probably did see something on their monitors. The question is, what did they see, and whether or not their results can be reproduced in air spaces not as crowded with communication signals as Greater Berlin. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if this turns out to be completely true. If the eternal arms race has taught us anything, it's that no new technology rules supreme for long.

na ja...
And the winter is coming.... and civilian communication signals kaputt... Good lucks!

Fun fact: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-.../counter-stealth-technology-flourishes-europe

 

[PEMM]

Finland:
The Finnish Air Force will conduct the Ruska 19 air operations exercise from 1 to 10 October.


In total, Ruska 19 will involve 4,500 personnel, including approximately 2,000 reservists. All Air Force units participate in the exercise. Furthermore, the Finnish Army will take part in the exercise with troops from the Armoured Brigade and the Utti Jaeger Regiment. Ruska 19 will feature more than 50 aircraft, including 26‒28 F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters, 14 Hawk jet trainers, transport and liaison aircraft as well as a NH90 helicopter of the Finnish Army.

Ruska 19 is a part of the Finnish-Swedish defence cooperation. The Swedish Air Force will participate in Ruska 19 with eight JAS 39 Gripen C/D multi-role fighters and an Argus airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. The Swedish aircraft will fly in both the defending and the adversary units of the exercise.

More than 50 aircraft and 4,500 airmen to participate in Ruska 19

ilmavoimat.fi

 

[Fish&Chips]

Germany discovered its new air defence radar is actually able to track the F-35, says manufacturer Hensoldt

"A German radar vendor tracked the F-35 jets in 2018 from a pony farm. But it turns out the aircraft were flying with radar reflectors and ADS-B transponder (that could have made the task easier)."

Let's Talk About The Story Of A German Radar Vendor That Claims To Have Tracked Two F-35s With Passive Radar

A German radar vendor tracked the F-35 jets in 2018 from a pony farm. But it turns out the aircraft were flying with radar reflectors and ADS-B

theaviationist.com