Vergennes
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Faced with uncertainties about the launch of Airbus's Eurodrone, Dassault,Leonardo and , the American General Atomics is offering a rental offer for its Reaper and SkyGuardian drones. Something that would make the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to consider.
Le drone de surveillance SkyGuardian, de l'américain General Atomics
In ambush. Faced with the possible explosion in flight of the European drone program Eurodrone, deemed too expensive by the client states (Germany, France, Spain, Italy), the American group General Atomics is active behind the scenes.
The manufacturer of the Reaper drone, seven of which are already in service with the Air Force, had already proposed to France, at the end of 2019, an offer based on its SkyGuardian, an improved version of the Reaper with new wings. in composites and an autonomy of up to 48 hours.
The idea was to offer an alternative to the Eurodrone, deemed too expensive by the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, and not efficient enough by the Air Force. General Atomics offered two options: an off-the-shelf purchase of the SkyGuardian in its basic version; or a Europeanized version, called EuroGuardian, which would allow the installation of European radars, mission systems and armaments on a platform delivered "naked".
Surprise, the San Diego group now adds a third option to its proposal to the Ministry of the Armed Forces: the rental of Reaper or SkyGuardian drones, based on the leasing of automobile fleets.
The idea is simple: rather than engaging in a long and costly acquisition procedure, France could thus have access to a fleet of drones whose maintenance, pilot training, or even part of the missions, would be taken into account and taken in charge by the American industrialist.
"The rental makes it possible to fill the capacity gaps for surveillance needs at a lower cost, we say within the group. The US Air Force is already doing it a lot: the provider takes care of the" dull "part (boring ) missions. The client remains in charge of the truly operational part. " Outsourcing would only concern surveillance missions. The air force would remain solely in charge of the strikes carried out by its drones, effective in the Sahel since last December.
$ 25 million a year
Leasing has several advantages. Flexibility, first: the rental allows access to ready-to-use drones and available crews. A strong argument when you know that the training of pilots in sufficient numbers is a real headache for the forces, in France as in the United States, because of the lack of instructors, simulators, even candidates.
The price, then. When purchased, a Reaper system (three drones and two cockpits) costs around $ 80 million, and a SkyGuardian system $ 100 million, excluding training and maintenance costs. According to the first offer presented by Airbus, the Eurodrone reached 180 to 200 million euros. By way of comparison, a year of rental costs around 25 million dollars, including maintenance. The customer can choose to acquire the drone system after 5 to 7 years.
The solution would have other advantages, assures General Atomics. It would allow the French Navy, which also calls for long-endurance surveillance drones, to be able to have a MALE drone quickly and at a moderate cost.
The SkyGuardian, unlike the Eurodrone project, indeed incorporates a marine version, which was the subject of a recent demonstration in Greece. The rental solution could even be compatible with a launch of the Eurodrone. It could make it possible to fill the capacity gap by the entry into service of the European drone, best planned for 2028, that is to say three years behind the initial schedule of the program.
The concept of leasing is less new than it seems. The rental of drones has already been practiced for a long time by Israeli players in the sector, IAI and Elbit Sytems in mind. Germany is thus renting five MALE Heron TP drones to IAI, after having long rented Herons 1. Greece announced at the beginning of May the rental of Herons for the surveillance of its borders. The English coast guard has chosen to rent Hermes 900 from Elbit to test the contribution of drones for their missions. The Italian Leonardo also offers leasing services with its Falco Xplorer drone, a small MALE drone (medium altitude, long endurance) of 1.3 tonnes.
Will the Ministry of the Armed Forces take the lead in renting drones? The arguments of General Atomics are sobering, a fortiori in a context of Covid-19 which could constrain the margins of financial maneuver.
The proposal also allows an alternative to the Eurodrone program, which is still tight. The Airbus prime contractor’s first offer, filed in early 2019, was around 10 billion euros, more than 30% more than the envelope provided by the French procurement agency . All with excessive weight and very limited, even zero export prospects, was alarmed at the end of 2019 Christian Cambon, the chairman of the Senate defense committee.
Negotiations between manufacturers and client states are therefore dragging on. "We are continuing negotiations with the industrial trio made up of Airbus Defense and Space, Dassault Aviation and Leonardo, said general delegate for armaments Joël Barre on April 29 before the defense committee of the National Assembly.
I hope that it will succeed in the coming weeks, so that we can converge on the conditions for carrying out the program before the summer. "A deadline which looks very much like a last ultimatum.
https://www.challenges.fr/entrepris...ouer-des-drones-de-surveillance-reaper_710983
Le drone de surveillance SkyGuardian, de l'américain General Atomics
In ambush. Faced with the possible explosion in flight of the European drone program Eurodrone, deemed too expensive by the client states (Germany, France, Spain, Italy), the American group General Atomics is active behind the scenes.
The manufacturer of the Reaper drone, seven of which are already in service with the Air Force, had already proposed to France, at the end of 2019, an offer based on its SkyGuardian, an improved version of the Reaper with new wings. in composites and an autonomy of up to 48 hours.
The idea was to offer an alternative to the Eurodrone, deemed too expensive by the Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, and not efficient enough by the Air Force. General Atomics offered two options: an off-the-shelf purchase of the SkyGuardian in its basic version; or a Europeanized version, called EuroGuardian, which would allow the installation of European radars, mission systems and armaments on a platform delivered "naked".
Surprise, the San Diego group now adds a third option to its proposal to the Ministry of the Armed Forces: the rental of Reaper or SkyGuardian drones, based on the leasing of automobile fleets.
The idea is simple: rather than engaging in a long and costly acquisition procedure, France could thus have access to a fleet of drones whose maintenance, pilot training, or even part of the missions, would be taken into account and taken in charge by the American industrialist.
"The rental makes it possible to fill the capacity gaps for surveillance needs at a lower cost, we say within the group. The US Air Force is already doing it a lot: the provider takes care of the" dull "part (boring ) missions. The client remains in charge of the truly operational part. " Outsourcing would only concern surveillance missions. The air force would remain solely in charge of the strikes carried out by its drones, effective in the Sahel since last December.
$ 25 million a year
Leasing has several advantages. Flexibility, first: the rental allows access to ready-to-use drones and available crews. A strong argument when you know that the training of pilots in sufficient numbers is a real headache for the forces, in France as in the United States, because of the lack of instructors, simulators, even candidates.
The price, then. When purchased, a Reaper system (three drones and two cockpits) costs around $ 80 million, and a SkyGuardian system $ 100 million, excluding training and maintenance costs. According to the first offer presented by Airbus, the Eurodrone reached 180 to 200 million euros. By way of comparison, a year of rental costs around 25 million dollars, including maintenance. The customer can choose to acquire the drone system after 5 to 7 years.
The solution would have other advantages, assures General Atomics. It would allow the French Navy, which also calls for long-endurance surveillance drones, to be able to have a MALE drone quickly and at a moderate cost.
The SkyGuardian, unlike the Eurodrone project, indeed incorporates a marine version, which was the subject of a recent demonstration in Greece. The rental solution could even be compatible with a launch of the Eurodrone. It could make it possible to fill the capacity gap by the entry into service of the European drone, best planned for 2028, that is to say three years behind the initial schedule of the program.
The concept of leasing is less new than it seems. The rental of drones has already been practiced for a long time by Israeli players in the sector, IAI and Elbit Sytems in mind. Germany is thus renting five MALE Heron TP drones to IAI, after having long rented Herons 1. Greece announced at the beginning of May the rental of Herons for the surveillance of its borders. The English coast guard has chosen to rent Hermes 900 from Elbit to test the contribution of drones for their missions. The Italian Leonardo also offers leasing services with its Falco Xplorer drone, a small MALE drone (medium altitude, long endurance) of 1.3 tonnes.
Will the Ministry of the Armed Forces take the lead in renting drones? The arguments of General Atomics are sobering, a fortiori in a context of Covid-19 which could constrain the margins of financial maneuver.
The proposal also allows an alternative to the Eurodrone program, which is still tight. The Airbus prime contractor’s first offer, filed in early 2019, was around 10 billion euros, more than 30% more than the envelope provided by the French procurement agency . All with excessive weight and very limited, even zero export prospects, was alarmed at the end of 2019 Christian Cambon, the chairman of the Senate defense committee.
Negotiations between manufacturers and client states are therefore dragging on. "We are continuing negotiations with the industrial trio made up of Airbus Defense and Space, Dassault Aviation and Leonardo, said general delegate for armaments Joël Barre on April 29 before the defense committee of the National Assembly.
I hope that it will succeed in the coming weeks, so that we can converge on the conditions for carrying out the program before the summer. "A deadline which looks very much like a last ultimatum.
https://www.challenges.fr/entrepris...ouer-des-drones-de-surveillance-reaper_710983
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You don't have to buy anything Turkish; since you are doomed to lose in Africa anyway when the Chinese decide you are out. So why bother with drones and such, seems like a total waste of money to me
