France’s Harfang/ SIDM IUAV Program

EAGLE/ Harfang/ SIDM

EADS’ “Harfang”/ EAGLE/ SIDM (Systeme Interimaire de Drone MALE) UAV system was developed in conjunction with Israel Aerospace Industries, based on the Heron. It’s serving as an interim solution for France’s Medium Altitude, Long Endurance (MALE) UAV needs, and has been active in Afghanistan, Libya, and Mali. Where basing allows, it complements shorter range options like the Sperwer. In situations like Libya, where bases are more distant, it becomes France’s only deployable UAV.

France has a number of advanced UAV programs in development at the medium, heavy, and UCAV levels. A 2009 test of the jet-powered Barracuda UAV demonstrator in Canada, and development of the nEUROn UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle) underscores the seriousness of those efforts, but they aren’t realistic fielding options in the near term. Until a replacement is developed and fielded, the small Harfang fleet plays a very important role for the French military…

IL-476: Russia’s New Medium-Heavy Transport Jet

Civil IL-76TD-90VD

Russia is reported to have just over 115 IL-76 medium-heavy strategic transport planes, but they’re leftovers from the Soviet era. On Oct 1/12 they unveiled the modernized “IL-476″ variant, and within days Russia’s Defense Ministry had signed a RUB 140 billion contract to begin recapitalizing the VVS fleet, alongside the 60 AN-70 medium tactical transports ordered in August 2012.

The order also launches the IL-476 as a competitor in the global medium-heavy transport market. Production of Ilyushin’s design will be undertaken by state-owned UAC’s Aviastar subsidiary in Ulyanovsk.

Rapid Fire Feb. 18, 2013: Pressure Tactics

• Gordon Adams, a budget staffer during the Clinton administration, is convinced the Pentagon has plenty of room for backoffice cuts, but thinks the recent announcements are driven by pressure politics:

“[DoD and the services] decided to go forward with the most horrendous things they could think of due to consequences of the sequester. The timing that they chose was as one secretary was leaving and the other secretary was wounded in battle, congressional battle; in other words, perfect time for the chiefs to assert themselves. So, they did.”

• The Pentagon’s pressure might be aimed at Congress, but small businesses in the ship repair industry are sure feeling it too.

• The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) tracker of sales by the top 100 weapons manufacturers (excluding Chinese ones) shows a 5% drop of their combined revenue to $410B. 44 US firms amount to 60% of the total, followed by 30 companies from Western Europe with 29% of sales.