Scorpion

Belgium’s John Cockerill to acquire French land vehicles maker Arquus

John Cockerill says it is targeting an annual turnover of €1 billion ($1.1 billion) with this acquisition.

Arquus, French land vehicle firm, sees annual earnings fall, long-term production concerns

Arquus CEO Emmanuel Levacher said that in order to meet the objectives of the “war-time economy” called for by President Emmanuel Macon, mainly to produce more equipment, faster and cheaper, “we need visibility to enable us to anticipate and would rather have a firm contract to produce one vehicle a month for 30 months than lots of small contracts.”

Across Europe, Billions Being Funneled Into New Armored Vehicle Programs

The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain could ultimately involve buying in excess of 3,200 new heavy armored platforms, with a price tag of over $11.5 billion over the next 15 years.

Eurosatory 2018:  Innovating Today to Conquer Tomorrow

EUROSATORY: Like all military shows, Eurosatory – the French equivalent to the big AUSA annual meeting in the United States – takes the pulse of the land warfare market both from a technological and geopolitical point of view. Far from being exhaustive given the size of the show and the scope of such an endeavor, […]

Air Force Cautions On Light Attack Combat Test: AF1 Refueling Update

PENTAGON: It’s always difficult to tell when the military is covering its tuckus and when it’s just being careful. So when the outgoing head of the Air Force press desk, Col. Patrick Ryder, told reporters this afternoon that the service had not made any decision about whether to go ahead with a combat test of […]

Light Attack Competition: Air Force, McCain Tout Acquisition Experiment

CORRECTED: TACO GILBERT’S AFFILIATION HOLLOMAN AFB: It may be hard to believe but the future of the Air Force may depend on three turboprop planes and a $20 million spec-built attack jet. They are the entries in what the service calls the Light Attack Experiment, a back-to-the-future attempt to rekindle the sort of innovation and […]

McCain’s 300 Low-End Fighters A ‘Great Idea:’ CSAF Gen. Goldfein

WASHINGTON: A key part of Sen. John McCain’s alternative defense budget proposal is the rapid purchase of 300 “low-cost, light-attack fighters that would require minimal work to develop.” I asked Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein today what he thought of McCain’s proposal, contained in Restoring American Power. “Great idea,” he said, pointing […]

A-10, Then A-11 And A-12? Air Force Ponders CAS Future

UPDATED: Adds Ayotte Comment WASHINGTON: The Air Force is considering not one, but two replacements for the aging A-10 Warthog close air support plane. But analysts wonder why, given that the service is already building a new bomber (the B-21), a new tanker (the KC-46), a new fighter (the F-35A), they would want to build two Close […]

Textron’s Scorpion Heads To UK For RAF, Royal Navy Trials

UPDATED: Adds Details On UK Demos; QinetiQ’s PIlots Will Fly PARIS AIR SHOW: When Textron unveiled the Scorpion I will admit I was a serious sceptic. Where was the market? Who were the likely customers? Why did they spend their own money on such a venture? The first crack in my skepticism occurred when Gen. Hawk […]

No US Military Planes Will Fly At Paris Air Show; Pakistan’s JF-17 Will

WASHINGTON: At least the US military is attending the Paris Air Show in some force this year, but right now none of the American aircraft pictured below are scheduled to fly at the show. Some 90 US military personnel will be on hand to maintain the aircraft and safeguard them. Here’s the list of military aircraft that […]

Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion

PENTAGON: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford. National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Frank Grass. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Force Air Combat Command. That’s a lot of stars and command authority gathered in one place and they all came together at […]