Dutch F-35s Replace F-16s in NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert: Nuclear-Capable Interceptors on Standby

 On March 29, Dutch F-35s assumed the Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) duties previously held by F-16s, signaling a shift towards retiring the latter. Tasked with guarding the airspace over Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, these F-35s from the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) will rotate until May 9, with Belgian Air Force taking over thereafter.

NATO's QRA involves fighter aircraft scrambling to investigate potential airspace violations, requiring coordinated responses between reporting centers and pilots. The F-35's advanced capabilities, including powerful radar, stealth, and sensor fusion, make it a formidable interceptor, capable of identifying and engaging enemy aircraft before detection.

Operating from Leeuwarden and Volkel Air Base, the RNLAF's F-35As replace the aging F-16s, part of the phased transition towards a fleet of 52 F-35As. These aircraft, equipped with modern technology, ensure continuous readiness for rapid interception, particularly crucial amidst heightened tensions with Russia.

Despite past issues, including crashes and cost overruns, the F-35's cutting-edge features are acknowledged even by Russia-leaning experts. Furthermore, recent certification allows the F-35A to carry the B61-12 nuclear bomb, making it a dual-capable aircraft. However, this capability is currently limited to a new variant of the bomb, gradually replacing older versions.

Notably, the Dutch and Belgian air bases hosting these aircraft are also among the six NATO bases storing US-owned nuclear weapons, highlighting the strategic significance of these deployments. While details remain undisclosed, it's expected that all F-35As in the Dutch inventory will eventually be nuclear-capable, reflecting the need for operational redundancy.

Early French Departure is a Mistake---------Defense News

KABUL, Afghanistan — France’s decision to pull its forces out of Afghanistan early has been condemned by an Afghan lawmaker and analysts who called it a “mistake” that would benefit only the Taliban.

Tahira Mojaddidi, a member of parliament from the eastern province of Kapisa where most of the 3,600-strong French contingent is based, said Afghan forces were insufficiently prepared to take on the Taliban on their own.

“We absolutely disagree with the remarks of the French president that he would pull his forces out of Afghanistan by the end of 2013,” she said Jan. 28. “I think this is a mistake because the Afghan forces are not well equipped and well trained in the province of Kapisa.”

Mojaddidi said Afghan forces needed training and equipment.

“Presently the Taliban hold sway in the Tagab district of Kapisa and there are no Afghan forces there. If France leaves in 2013, Kapisa province will fall to the insurgents,” she said.

After meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Paris on Jan. 27, Sarkozy said France had decided to transfer security in Kapisa to Afghan forces from March.

The decision came a week after the killing of four French servicemen by a renegade Afghan soldier there.

“The pursuit of the transition and this gradual transfer of combat responsibilities will allow us to plan for a return of all our combat forces by the end of 2013,” Sarkozy said, adding that 1,000 troops would return in 2012.

“A few hundred” French troops will stay on after 2013 to train Afghan troops, Sarkozy said.

He will also encourage NATO to consider transferring all its combat operations to Afghan forces in 2013, instead of the scheduled deadline of the end of 2014.

Political analyst Wahid Taqat said the decision would be a boost for the Taliban.

“The withdrawal ... will demoralize the other international forces in Afghanistan as well as Afghan forces. Instead of a rushed withdrawal, France should have strengthened their position and forces in Afghanistan,” Taqat said. “It gives a lot of morale to Taliban but demoralizes the Afghan security forces.”

Taqat condemned the move as a capitulation.

“[It makes them look] like a country that is afraid of terrorists. It is a bit shameful for the French,” he said.

“The Taliban will definitely use this as winning propaganda for their future operations in Afghanistan.”

Karzai is on a five-day European trip to sign long-term strategic partnership agreements aimed at bolstering support for Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development.

Political analyst Ahmad Saeedi accused the French of taking a hasty decision following last week’s shooting.

“He was angry and the announcement was made in a rush,” he said. “The only winner in this announcement is Mr. Sarkozy, who has his elections on the way [in April and May], and the Taliban who could use this announcement for their propaganda.”

Sarkozy warned after the attacks that he might accelerate France’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, prompting NATO’s chief to call on contributing nations to remain committed to the security transition.

The United States, Britain, Germany and Italy are the main contributors to the NATO-led force of some 130,000 troops fighting a 10-year insurgency by hard-line Islamist Taliban forces ousted from power after the 9/11 attacks.

A total of 82 French troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of their deployment in 2001.

Oman seeks Bid for Euro-fighter

The government of Oman has requested that BAE Systems submit a formal bid for the supply of Typhoon fighter aircraft. The move clarifies the Middle East nation’s continuing commitment to the program following delays in completing negotiations.

A spokeswoman for the U.K.-based defense company said it expected to complete negotiations by the end of the year, with deliveries of the first aircraft taking place 36 months later.

The request for proposals involves a squadron’s worth of Tranche 3 standard aircraft — about 12 airframes — a support package and training for the Omani air force.

Last month, Oman ordered a second batch of 12 F-16 Block 50’s from Lockheed Martin in a $600 million deal

The Omanis formally stated their intention to purchase the Eurofighter Typhoon in early 2010, and company executives said at the time that the deal could be ready for signing within months.

In a statement, BAE said it welcomed the release of the request for proposals, adding that the news underpins its long-standing defense and security relationship with the sultanate as a major equipment supplier.

The most recent major equipment sale was signed in 2007 to deliver three corvettes to the Omani navy in a deal valued at 400 million pounds.

The warships remain undelivered for technical reasons.

The first of the Khareef-class vessels should have been handed over in 2010 but have been delayed following the discovery of technical problems during sea trials.

The spokeswoman denied that the signing of the fighter deal between the two sides is dependent on the agreement of a get-well package for three corvettes.

The spokeswoman said the first of the corvettes is now scheduled to be handed over at the end of the second quarter.

The Omanis’ commitment to Typhoon follows recent competition losses for the fighter in Japan and Switzerland.

A decision by India on whether to select the Eurofighter aircraft or its French rival, Dassault Rafale, is imminent.

Earlier this month, BAE announced that talks with the Middle East’s first Typhoon customer, Saudi Arabia, over amendments to a deal to supply 72 fighters, were dragging on and would likely affect its 2011 earnings.

The original deal called for the first 24 aircraft to be delivered from the BAE production line in the U.K., with subsequent assembly in Saudi Arabia.

BAE and the Saudis announced a change of plan last February over where the final 42 aircraft would be built but are still haggling over the details.

Typhoon is a four-nation program involving the Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. So far, it has exported the aircraft to Austria and Saudi Arabia

EADS Chief: French Support of UAV ‘Encouraging’

HAMBURG, Germany — The French Defense Minister’s preference for a broad European scope to a planned Anglo-French medium-altitude long-altitude UAV was a positive sign for EADS, Chief Executive Louis Gallois of the European company said Jan. 17.

“You have seen Mr. Longuet was pushing for a program with other European countries, including Germany and Italy,” Gallois told journalists on the sidelines of a joint New Year’s press conference by EADS and Airbus, here.

“I think it’s encouraging for us to push the way we’re pushing,” Gallois said.

Defense Minister Gérard Longuet told the French aerospace press club Jan. 9 the Anglo-French project “should accept the construction of Europe.

“We can’t ignore countries with industrial capabilities. We’ll probably have an Anglo-French project which cannot avoid opening to other European partners,” Longuet said.

France would not develop the EADS Talarion Advanced UAV, Longuet said.

Gallois has urged the British and French governments to open up a proposed new MALE UAV to include EADS and other European partners, to avoid a repetition of the Eurofighter Typhoon versus Rafale dogfight which has divided European industry into an internecine battle for foreign sales.

“Talarion is a prototype, it’s not a final project,” Gallois said.

A top priority for EADS in its talks with the governments of its “home countries” was to preserve research and development capabilities through the launch of new program, made possible by cuts in some defense orders, Gallois said.

The Talarion UAV was a potential for such new program support, he said.

EADS is waiting for a decision from the German government for a go ahead with Talarion, a company spokesman said. EADS has some 160 engineers working on UAVs and is funding the work on company money. In the face of defense budget cuts in Europe, one of EADS’ priorities for 2012 was to increase export efforts and grow its “global footprint,” Gallois said.

The company was also in talks with home country governments, particularly Germany, on “existing and valid” military contracts, he said.

Germany has said it wants to cut the orders for Tiger attack and NH90 transport utility helicopters.

“We have to discuss with them,” Gallois said. “We have our interest to defend regarding workload in our facilities, profitability, future of the product, the balance between Germany and other countries “We include in that the possibility to be part of new programs which could be financed with part of the savings on quantities. It means we are open to discussion,” Gallois said.

“As always, we want to have that decision as quickly as possible as we don’t like uncertainty,” he said.

EADS and Finmeccanica signed a deal in December to team on UAV development, reflecting wider discontent in Italy and Germany over the Anglo-French defense accord reached on Nov. 2, 2010.

The planned Anglo-French MALE drone was one of the projects included in the bilateral treaty. BAE Systems and Dassault have formed a joint venture to bid for the joint UAV program.

France Offers Heron for NATO Role

PARIS - France is offering the Heron TP as its contribution in kind to the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance program, but technical and financial problems related to adapting the medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) UAV to French standards are holding up a deal with Dassault and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), industrial and political sources said.

DASSAULT IS NEGOTIATING with Israel Aerospace Industries on the contract for the Heron TP, which the French company would then deliver to French authorities. (Israel Aerospace Industries)

French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet told the French aerospace journalists' press club that the deal would be sealed by "the end of 2012."

Dassault is negotiating with IAI on the contract for the Heron TP, which the French company would then deliver to French authorities.That's later than expected by industry and parliamentary sources, who had thought the controversial contract would be signed before the presidential elections starting in April.

"There are many difficulties" on adapting the Heron TP, driving the cost above the 320 million euro ($408 million) budget, a parliamentary source said. An extra 150 million euros each for Dassault and Thales has been estimated for the modifications, the source said.

That would push the cost to 620 million euros, approaching the 700 million euro price tag of a previous Dassault offer of the Système de Drone MALE.

The Defense Ministry has asked Dassault to submit a technical-financial proposal on the Heron TP at the end of the month.

Among the key modifications are a satellite communications link and de-icing equipment, vital to plugging the UAV into the French - and NATO - network and fly in the northern European climate, the industry executive said.

Procurement officials are working hard to make progress on the UAV case, and one option might be to acquire the Heron TP with little or no modification, the executive said.

That might create problems of interoperability within NATO as Paris has offered the Heron TP as its asset contribution, instead of paying cash, toward maintaining the AGS system, the executive said.

Although 13 nations are acquiring AGS, based on the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk UAV, all 28 alliance members help maintain the system in return for access to AGS information.

"The AGS package is still being discussed at NATO," an alliance press officer said. "It is a topic to be discussed in the February meeting of defense ministers."

NATO has long sought to launch the AGS program, intended to provide commanders with a common operational picture.

France has had a troubled relationship with AGS, as Paris looked to gain a big technological role. The planned AGS system relies on five Global Hawks to provide radar and optical pictures of conditions the ground, and a network of transportable ground stations. The UAVs will be based at Sigonella airbase, Italy.

The choice of the Heron TP sparked resistance in the French Senate, which argued for acquisition of General Atomics' Reaper on grounds of cost, performance and interoperability with allied forces.

Longuet defended the choice of the Israeli UAV as "a compromise between capability and a long-term interest for industrial policy," he told the press club.

"We could have found a cheaper, more efficient, quicker solution, but at the [unacceptable] price of long-term dependence," he said.

Longuet denied that most of the contract value would go to IAI, saying that air vehicle is the smallest part of the system, with communication and observation more important.

The government argues that adapting the Heron TP to French needs will help develop competences among about 10 domestic companies in high-value areas, particularly in communications. Critics of the choice say there would be more work for French companies on the Reaper, pitched by EADS and General Atomics.

"No proposition was made by Reaper, which did not want to share, nor to adapt to French standards," Longuet said.

General Atomics did not make a formal offer because France did not send a letter of request, an industry executive said.

In 2010, the U.S. company signed a technical-assistance agreement with EADS detailing its offer, the executive said. The agreement listed modifications, including a communications link developed by French equipment firm Zodiac for the Harfang UAV flying in Afghanistan.

General Atomics also wrote in June 2011 to French Sens. Jacques Gautier and Daniel Reiner, setting out a $209 million offer for seven air vehicles, ground gear and service support.

The government, however, sees Dassault as holding a key position on a strategic roadmap intended to ensure interoperability in observation, surveillance, targeting and air power. That position stems from its work on the Rafale and Anglo-French cooperation, in the government's view.

Longuet said risk-reduction work on the Heron TP would start in 2013.

Dassault and DGA were unavailable for comment.

On a proposed new MALE UAV to be developed with Britain, Longuet urged a pan-European rather than a strictly bilateral approach.

The project "should accept the construction of Europe," he said. "We can't ignore countries with industrial capabilities. We'll probably have an Anglo-French project, which cannot avoid opening to other European partners."

On the Anglo-French cooperation treaty, Longuet said, a new date for a summit meeting would be set for before his birthday on Feb. 24.

"There are no doubts on defense," he said on relations between London and Paris.

EADS and Finmeccanica signed a deal in December to team on UAV development, reflecting wider discontent in Italy and Germany over the Anglo-French defense accord.

France would not develop the EADS Talarion Advanced UAV, Longuet said.

One way of bringing a European dimension into the planned Anglo-French MALE UAV would be to integrate it into the European combat aircraft environment, dominated by the Eurofighter Typhoon and Rafale aircraft, Longuet said.

"If we're intelligent, we should say, 'You British work on Eurofighter with Germany, Italy and Spain, and we'll work on Rafale,'" he said. "It would be good if the MALE UAV were to be compatible with one and the other."

OTHER PROGRAMS

France will buy the A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) from Airbus "in 2013 for delivery four years later," Longuet said, leaving Boeing out in the cold.

Longuet dismissed previous official denials that Airbus had been chosen as "semantic elegance."

The U.S. Air Force's $35 billion pick of Boeing over Airbus for its KC-X tender effectively shut the door on a French tender.

France is expected to order five to seven A330 MRTT units in a first-batch order that could total 14.

Paris had been considering leasing part of Britain's A330 tanker fleet, but the Libyan air campaign led French authorities to decide they wanted their own aircraft.

On domestic consolidation, Thales would likely take a 10 percent to 20 percent stake in Nexter in exchange for handing over its TDA Armements mortar and munitions business to the land systems specialist, Longuet said.

Thales' holding would be significant but would not leave Nexter "dependent," he said.

Answering a question on anxiety at DCNS, where Thales is raising its stake in the naval company to 35 percent from 25 percent, Longuet said, "Thales is not the obligatory supplier of systems. DCNS can choose its systems."

DCNS makes naval combat management systems, and executives fear Thales will impose its own products, relegating the company to being a platform maker.

Nexter and DCNS had to forge European alliances to compete with companies from emerging economies such as Brazil, but first they had to consolidate their domestic base, Longuet said. Nexter had to look to German partners, as that was where the land sector was strong, he said.

Asked about the health of French defense companies, Longuet said, "Thales is a company necessarily in more peril because it is innovative on creative subjects on a world scale. It is more difficult. It has to take risks and goes through periods of uncertainty."

Regarding arms exports, the 2011 total for France would be around 6.5 billion euros, helped by an Indian contract for modernization of its Mirage 2000 fighters, Longuet said. That compared with 5.12 billion in 2010.

In October, procurement chief Laurent Collet-Billon had told lawmakers in October he expected 2011 export sales to reach 7.5 billion euros.

On export prospects for the Rafale, Longuet said a UAE decision to pick the Rafale would help sell the fighter to Kuwait and Qatar, which want to be interoperable with their neighbor's Air Force.

"They are interested" but would not be the first to commit, he said. "If they think no decision is being made [by UAE], they will look elsewhere."

Kuwait is looking at acquiring 18 to 22 jet fighters, with Qatar potentially 24, industry executives said, according to La Tribune.

The Defense Ministry appeared to harbor worries about Qatar raising its stake in Lagardère, the family-controlled company which owns 7.5 percent of EADS.

"There are fewer problems in football than in military aeronautics," Longuet said. "It's a subject."

But the decision on Qatar's shareholding in Lagardère was up to the Finance Ministry, not the Defense Ministry, he said.

A Qatari sovereign fund holds 10.07 percent of Lagardère stock, making it the largest single stockholder in the French company, and has asked for a seat on the board. Qatar bought 70 percent of the Paris Saint Germain football club for 30 million euros in May.

Julian Hale in Brussels and Tom Kington in Rome contributed to this report.

Pratt & Whitney Wins Contract for F-35 Engines

Pratt & Whitney has won a $194 million fixed-price contract for long lead parts for 37 F-35 engines, the Pentagon announced Jan. 6. The engines are for the sixth production lot of the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

The U.S. Air Force, which flies the conventional F-35A version of the tri-service jet, will receive 18 of the engines. The U.S. Navy will receive seven engines for its carrier-based variant - the F-35C model - while the U.S. Marine Corps is buying six engines for its short take-off vertical landing F-35B model planes.

There are also six foreign engine orders, four for the Italians and two for Australia.

The Navy is paying $37 million for the engines; the Air Force is paying $54 million; and the Marines are paying $84.6 million. The engines for the Marine Corps are more expensive because they include the lift-fan propulsion system needed for its variant.

As for the foreign engine orders, the Italians are on the hook $11.5 million while the Australians will pay $5.6 million.

The work should be completed by this September. The contract is being administered by the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Md.

Turkey, France Row May Jeopardize Missile Sale

PARIS - Turkey's suspension of military cooperation with France may make it harder to sell the Franco-Italian Aster 30 air defense missile to the Turkish authorities, a defense executive said Dec. 23.

Ankara froze bilateral defense cooperation and recalled its ambassador to France in retaliation to a new French law making it illegal to deny that genocides took place, including the deaths of Armenians in 1915.

"It doesn't make things easier, that's for sure," the executive said. "That makes relations tense with France."

Eurosam, a joint venture between French electronics company Thales and European missile maker MBDA, is prime contractor for the Sol-Air Moyenne Portée/Terrestre (SAMP/T) ground-based air defense system.

The SAMP/T system is competing in Turkey's tender for a long-range air and missile defense system. It is ranged against the Patriot missile from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the S300 from Russia's Rosoboronexport, and the HQ-9 from China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corp. (CPMIEC).

MBDA's team in Turkey is led by its Italian side, as there are strong industrial ties between Italy and Turkey, including cooperation between AgustaWestland and Turkish Aerospace Industries on the T-129 light attack helicopter.

"The SAMP/T offer in Turkey is officially made by Eurosam … but MBDA's Italian arm has effectively been the front office for the offer for a while now due to the ongoing friction between Turkey and France due in part to the genocide issue," said an Italian industrial source.

The SAMP/T is based on the MBDA Aster 30 missile and Thales Arabel multifunction radar. France and Italy were launch customers of the SAMP/T.

Between 2006 and 2010, France delivered a total 203.6 million euros of arms to Turkey, the latest annual report to parliament on French foreign military sales showed.

That made an annual average 40 million euros, or around 1 pct of average annual sales of 4 billion-5 billion euros.

As part of Ankara's response to the new law, French military aircraft cannot overfly or land on Turkish territory, French warships may not dock at its ports, and joint military exercises are canceled.

"From now on, we are revising our relations with France," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, AFP reported.

French lawmakers adopted the new law Dec. 22.

Final Upgraded Lynx Helo Returned to British

LONDON - AgustaWestland has handed over the last of 22 Lynx helicopters to the British Army in a deal aimed at improving the machine's ability to operate in Afghanistan.

The Ministry of Defence has spent 92 million pounds ($142.4 million) upgrading the light helicopter with a new engine, surveillance sensors, secure communications, a .50-caliber heavy machine gun and other equipment changes under an urgent operational requirement procurement which started in late 2008.

The first new Lynx Mk9As were delivered to theater in May last year and about a quarter of the fleet now operates in support of British troops and others in Helmand province.

AgustaWestland said the upgrade program, undertaken at its Yeovil plant in southwest England, had been completed on budget and three months ahead of schedule.

Prior to the upgrade, earlier versions of the helicopter using the Rolls-Royce Gem engine had been unable to effectively operate in the hot and high conditions of an Afghan summer. The M3M machine and new sensor suite allows the Mk9A to perform a variety of roles, including convoy overwatch, helicopter support, and surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

The Italian helicopter company pulled through technologies such as the powerful CTS800-4N engine, which is destined for the Lynx Wildcat program being developed for the Royal Navy and British Army, to deliver the first Mk9A within 18 months of the project starting.

The Wildcat is now undergoing flight trials ahead of being delivered for duty with the Navy in 2014 and the Army a year later.

Italy Gives Bombing Stats for Libya Campaign

ROME - In their first official breakdown of facts and figures about Italy's air campaign over Libya this year, officials said military aircraft deployed 710 guided bombs and missiles during sorties. Italian Air Force Tornados and AMX fighter bombers deployed 550 bombs and missiles, while Navy AV8s deployed 160 guided bombs, the officials said during an event at Trapani Air Base in Sicily to honor military personnel involved in the conflict.

The Air Force total included Storm Shadow missiles, which sources put at between 20 and 30, which were fired from Tornado IDS aircraft - the first time the Air Force has deployed the missile during operations. The success rate of the Storm Shadow was 97 percent, one official said.

Otherwise, the Air Force deployed Paveway and JDAM guided munitions. AMX bombers for the first time used Litening III targeting pods, while Tornado IDS aircraft used JDAM munitions operationally for the first time.

Although the Air Force used guided bombs in its Kosovo campaign, Libya marked its first "extensive" use of guided munitions, said Air Force chief Gen. Giuseppe Bernardis.

With up to 12 different aircraft flying missions on given days during the seven-month operation, the Air Force racked up 1,900 sorties and 7,300 flying hours using Tornado IDS and AMX aircraft for strike missions, Tornado ECR for air defense suppression, F-16s and Eurofighters for no-fly zone patrol, C-130J and 767 tanker aircraft for refueling, and the unarmed Reaper UAV for reconnaissance.

Patrol and air defense flights accounted for 38 percent of flying hours, surveillance and reconnaissance flights took up 23 percent, ground-attack missions made up 14 percent, air defense suppression flights took up 8 percent, refueling flights took up 8 percent, flights detecting electromagnetic emissions and undertaking electronic warfare were 4 percent, while "armed reconnaissance and attacks on targets of opportunity" took up 5 percent.

More than 340,000 high-resolution pictures were taken by Reccelite pods on Tornado and AMX aircraft while 250 hours of video was transmitted in real time by Reaper UAVs.

Eight Italian Navy AV8 Harrier jets, which enforced the no-fly zone over Libya and operated bombing missions, flew 1,221 hours from the carrier Garibaldi, while 30 ship-based helicopters, including the EH-101, SH-3D and AB-212 types, flew 1,921 hours as part of the operation.

The Air Force also rushed into service its new Boeing 767 tanker aircraft. A third aircraft was delivered in November and the final aircraft is expected in the first quarter of 2012.

Italian Navy statistics released about the campaign revealed that two submarines, the Todaro and the Gazzana, were involved in the NATO Unified Protector operation.

Alenia, Cassidian To Explore UAV Cooperation

PARIS - In a bid become major industrial players, Italy's Alenia and EADS defense and security unit Cassidian have signed a preliminary agreement to explore cooperation in medium-altitude, long-endurance and combat UAVs, the companies said in a Dec. 14 statement.

"A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Cassidian on behalf of EADS Deutschland GmbH and Alenia Aeronautica SpA to jointly investigate the potential cooperation in the field of medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV)," a joint statement said.

"Alenia and Cassidian are aiming to strengthen their technological know-how in order to establish a leading role in the UAS market," the companies said. "Thanks to this agreement, the two companies will analyze the requirements expressed by each of their respective governments in the UAS sector with the objective to create a strategic partnership and to expand their global UAS market share.

Cassidian sought the agreement with Alenia to extend its work on the Talarion advanced UAV.

"We look forward to investigating further collaboration with Alenia Aeronautica around a next-generation MALE UAS, like for instance the Talarion, which is of outmost importance for Europe's military aviation industry," Cassisian chief operating officer Bernhard Gerwert said in the statement.

France, Germany and Spain have shown no willingness to sign a development contract for the Talarion after EADS delivered its 60-million euro risk reduction study.

Alenia sees cooperation with EADS as a way of staying current in the UAV market.

"The UAS sector has a strategic importance for the future of Alenia Aeronautica's programs, and we are convinced that this agreement will allow us to become even more competitive in this quickly expanding market," Giuseppe Giordo, chief executive of Alenia Aeronautica and Alenia Aermacchi, said.

An Anglo-French cooperation military treaty, which includes collaboration in UAVs and UCAVs, has sparked concern in Germany, Italy and Spain that the agreement is exclusively bilateral and locks out other European partners.

Qatar Discusses MEADS Partnership with Germany, Italy

Qatar is in talks to become a risk partner on the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) missile defense program with Germany and Italy, a source knowledgeable of the talks has told Defense News.

Qatar is in talks to become a partner on the MEADS missile defense program with Germany and Italy. (Lockheed Martin)

The gulf state started talks with Italy and Germany after the U.S. announced in February that it would leave the program at the conclusion of the development phase, without procuring the system.

Qatar is interested in the program as it looks to security requirements ahead of 2022 when it is hosting the soccer World Cup, the source said. The growing perception of a missile threat from Iran has also persuaded the gulf state to consider joining MEADS.
It is not clear how Qatar's entry into the program would save it, since 58 percent of the program has been funded by the U.S., with Germany and Italy funding 25 percent and 17 percent respectively. After the U.S. pulls out, Germany said it would not proceed with procurement.
The U.S. has spent $1.5 billion thus far on the $4.2 billion program. Pentagon officials plan to spend another $800 million to complete the design and development phase in 2014.
Lockheed Martin, which is developing the missile defense system, announced it completed its first successful flight test Nov. 17 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The test proved the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement could destroy a simulated target attacking from behind.
"Today's successful flight test is an important validation for the continuing MEADS development," said MEADS International President Dave Berganini in a statement.
"MEADS' advanced capabilities detect, track and intercept tomorrow's threats from farther away and without blind spots. The MEADS digital design ensures high reliability and significantly reduced operational and support costs."
The test comes as the U.S. Congress continues to rip the program and question why a nation struggling to shrink its defense budget would spend nearly another $1 billion on a missile defense system the Army has said it doesn't want. Congress left appropriations out of the defense authorization bill to pay the rest of the contract.
"The committee concluded that the course proposed by the Department is untenable and that the Department should explore all options with our allies before continuing to fund a program which we no longer need," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wrote in a statement.
President Barack Obama disagreed with the decision to cancel the program, saying he recommended the Pentagon complete the contract. He said it made sense to complete the design and development phase rather than cancel the program and potentially pay more in cancellation fees. Canceling now would also let down our international partners.
"This lack of authorization could also call into question DoD's ability to honor its financial commitments in other binding cooperative MOUs and have adverse consequences for other international cooperative programs," the statement from the Office of Management and Budget reads.