France Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Bernard

Junior Member
Big news? UK, US, and Germany should come together and make a super tank? /Dream
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Germany and France are considering cooperation on developing a successor to the tank “Leopard 2.” The current model has been in service since 1979, and aging Bundeswehr equipment is currently in stark focus.

The German Defense Ministry announced its plans for the “Leo 3″ (as it’s likely to be nicknamed in Germany) in a report on Friday to the Bundestag, which was obtained by multiple media outlets.

“Technologies and concepts will be investigated between 2015 and 2018 in joint studies also involving German industry,” Markus Grübel, a deputy minister in the German Defense Ministry told his parliamentary colleagues. He cited the Leopard 2’s long years of service as the reason that a new battle tank was required.

The Leopard 2’s 50-year service life is set to expire in 2030. The tank, which came into service in 1979, was conceived as part of a plan for Cold War-era land defense. Germany commissioned more than 2,000 of them at the peak of the arms race of the early 1980s. Currently, however, only about 240 are in active service; but last month, citing the security situation in Ukraine, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen annnounced plans to reactivate 100 mothballed Leopard 2 tanks. In November of last year, von der Leyen also announced a move to add more than 100 additional “Boxer” armored personnel carriers to the Bundeswehr’s ranks.

The Defense Ministry is in the process of drawing up a new “white paper” listing Germany’s security policies and goals for the present day.

The manufacturer of the current Leopard 2, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, is scheduled to fuse with French firm Nexter Systems in the course of this year. This has prompted media reports in Germany saying that the new Franco-German firm, with more than 6,000 staff and a combined turnover of around 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion), could be a strong candidate to win the contract to develop a new battle tank for the German Bundeswehr.

Equipment shortfalls in sharp focus

The plans come at a difficult time for the German military, especially where hardware is concerned. New parliamentary ombudsman to the Bundeswehr, Hans-Peter Bartels, called on parliament in his inauguration on Thursday not to scrimp on military spending, saying German troops needed “100 percent” of the required gear, not “70 percent.”

His predecessor, Hellmut Königshaus, told DW this week that his job had often been difficult, and that Bundeswehr reform is very much a work-in-progress. In January, Könighsaus also pointed out that some barracks were “dilapidated,” but it is its weaponry that has dominated the headlines in 2015.

Even the Bundeswehr’s standard-issue assault rifle, the G36, has come under fire for losing accuracy as the weapon heats up. Meanwhile, Airbus’ new military transport plane, the A400M, suffered a crash this month and is being thoroughly scrutinized. Its Transall predecessor is therefore expected to stay in the skies longer than planned.

Other problems have hit Bundeswehr helicopters operating in anti-piracy missions off the Horn of Africa, and more generally, Germany is under pressure from NATO to meet the bloc’s defense spending targets. However, very few alliance members spend the recommended 2 percent of total economic output on their armed forces.

The government in Berlin is also seeking to reinvent Germany’s international approach to military affairs, gradually moving away from the overwhelmingly pacifist stance adopted in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. Critics at home argue however, the government should concentrate on solving the Bundeswehr’s equipment problems, before adopting a more active international military footing.

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Miragedriver

Brigadier
Dd1Bmud.jpg

The Mistral deal has gotten more complicated. France has created the conditions, for Russia to invoke what's called a "réscision pour vice radical". I.E. in French Law, it is a contract concluded by two parties, where one party, ties retroactively the contract, despite prior clauses (ToT, Part-building, licensing etc) to a new and irrelevant cause and effect, which can be taken to face value as a conspiration/ dolus to never deliver on its part of the contract. IE France built two ships with Russian money, that it intended to sell to another party...

This is supported by the fact that France hasn't any barrier or case of 'force majeure' that blocks it from delivering the ships. As both Ships are unarmed, they can't be any contest about weapons transfer; As the goods are pre-paid, there can't be any contest about arrears. It also derives from the French attempts to resell ships it hasn't full rights, while it had said it will deliver them. The evershifting French Position makes it clear that the Vendor has never had ANY intention to deliver the ships. It was made worse by the lax security on the vessels which resultes in diverse thefts (including two laptops with sensitive material from the ships). Off course this is the angle Russian attorneys need to attack. Because France is litterally defenceless on that point.

France hasn't a chance in hell to get out of this without shelling out serious money.

Maybe Bernad and Forbin and verify this?


Back to bottling my Grenache
 

navyreco

Senior Member
French Defense Minister: 8 FREMM For The Navy Followed by 5 New Generation FTI Frigates
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French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian detailed the naval part of the update to the French Military Planning Law today on a naval base in Brittany. The French Navy will receive 8 FREMM Frigates in total (while 11 of them were originally planned) and a new generation of frigates: the FTI (Frégate de Taille Intermédiaire or Midsize Frigate) which will start being delivered in 2023 for a total of 5 hulls.
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we've had this discussion (which I started :) here comparing the La Fayette-class and its derivatives and
...
ASM: 8 x Exocet (Lafayette) 8 x Haproon (Formidable)
...

I noticed something about the Formidable-class: the number of Harpoons may vary (there is up to six slots on the missile-deck -- up to 24 missiles can be mounted), and probably just some two years ago they obtained quad-canisters (it's indeed possible to find older pictures with double launchers:
3ry0A.jpg

comes from some forum); many more details are in the blog of somebody who toured the ships:
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asif iqbal

Lieutenant General
I'm interested in what is going to be the final fate of the two mistral class

Although I know they will eventfully go to Russia I'm just thinking who else could possibly snap them up

Russia with such a powerful weapon is going to be a real head cache for many European country's not to mention the uk

Thanks France for selling two freggin flat decks to Russia !!
 

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Although I know they will eventfully go to Russia I'm just thinking who else could possibly snap them up
I do not think Russia is going to get them at this point.

IMHO, the only issue now is how much is France going to have to pay back? Thye are taking legal steps to avoid as much pay back as they can.

As to who will get them? That is entirely up in the air. there are possibilities...but one of those was potentially Turkey and they have made it clear IMHOP that they are going with a Juan Carlos design, like the Canberra for Australia.
 

navyreco

Senior Member
This is quite rare.. EDA-R Landing Catamaran getting inside a JSMDF LST

Japan, France and the United States Conducted A Joint Amphibious Exercise For the 1st Time
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The French Navy (Marine Nationale) announced it has conducted joint amphibious maneuvers with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the US Navy last month in the East China Sea. Named Kitsune 2015, the exercise (which was a first for the three navies) involved the Mistral class LHD Dixmude and Lafayette class Frigate Aconit of the French Navy, the Osumi (head of the class) tank landing ship of the JMSDF and Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Preble of the US Navy.
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