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TerraN_EmpirE

TerraN_EmpirE

Tyrant King
Re: European armed forces

France concludes deal for 16 Reapers
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By: DAVE MAJUMDAR WASHINGTON DC 05:09 26 Aug 2013 Source: Flight Global

France has concluded a deal with the Pentagon to purchase 16 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft and eight ground control stations, the US Department of Defense (DOD) confirms.

"The Letters of Offer and Acceptance have been signed for the Reapers as well as for the associated training case," says the Pentagon. "French operators are currently in training."

The sale is being handled via the DOD's foreign military sales vehicle, which covers the aircraft, control stations, support equipment and training, among other items. General Atomics, which builds the hardware, directed all enquires to the US Air Force but would not deny that two Reapers would be delivered to the French air force ahead of the remaining aircraft to support operations in Africa.

The Pentagon had issued a notification to Congress of the $1.5 billion sale on 27 June.
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french reapers....
 
D

delft

Brigadier
Re: European armed forces

From
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04 September

NETHERLANDS
Rumours on more „deep cuts” to defence budget … MoD reportedly plans publication of new defence planning around 17 Sep … local papers allege possible forgoing of joint support ship KAREL DOORMAN (currently under construction for delivery in 2015), citing cost overruns of more than 170 mio. Euro (above originally estimated 400 mio. Euro) … ship reportedly planned to be sold before completion; instead, a smaller and less expensive ship to be jointly procured with Belgium and Luxembourg.
(rmks: wait for confirmation)
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Of course we need to be able to buy those 36 F-35's.
I understand the size of the Karel Doorman was increased after the original contract was agreed to by parliament to enable her to carry the tanks of the Dutch army. By now however all these tanks are up for sale, so if you need few score second hand Leopards, one careful owner, you might contact Dienst Domeinen. The Dutch parliament rejected an offer from Indonesia because of its human rights record, a bizarre move as this month the Dutch ambassador to Indonesia will be making his apologies for the many massacres committed by Dutch invasion forces during the war against Indonesia in the late '40's. Indonesia is now buying second hand Leopards from Germany.
As for that smaller ship I hope the requirements by Luxembourg will not be too expensive. :)
 
D

delft

Brigadier
Re: European armed forces

Dutch media are writing today that the Dutch government agreed in 2010 that the US nuclear weapons on the airbase Volkel ( don't mention it, it's secret, the Dutch parliament was never told there were nukes in the country, but a former prime minister told us a month ago he knew it from the time he was a conscript on that airbase fifty years ago ) are to be replaced by similar weapons of a new model.
Why are there still US nukes in The Netherlands?
 
A

adeptitus

Captain
VIP Professional
Spain seeks US help to slim down overweight sub

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"HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A new, Spanish-designed submarine has a weighty problem: The vessel is more than 70 tons too heavy, and officials fear if it goes out to sea, it will not be able to surface.

And a former Spanish official says the problem can be traced to a miscalculation — someone apparently put a decimal point in the wrong place."


X_X;;;;;;;;;

This is about as bad as the Mars Climate Orbiter (metric vs. imperial).
 
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cn_habs

cn_habs

Junior Member
Re: Spain seeks US help to slim down overweight sub

Someone probably had too much sangria for the sub to end up being 3.19% (70/2200) heavier. ;)

Meanwhile, Spain's debt/GDP ratio has reached a record 92%.
 
D

delft

Brigadier
Re: European armed forces

From
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17 September

NETHERLANDS
Defence Minister officially confirms “rumoured” plans to sell Joint Support Ship KAREL DOORMAN (currently under construction) before commissioning and disband the Aruba(Caribbean)-based 32nd Naval Infantry Company.
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We don't need a ship able to carry tanks we don't have.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Re: European armed forces

delft said:
From
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We don't need a ship able to carry tanks we don't have.
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Well at some point relatively recently the Dutch leadership believed they would need it, planned for it, funded it, and are building it. These things do not happen and get built overnight or on a whim.

Usually the selling off of a brand new vessel as soon as built, even before commissioning is representative of a new political party coming onto power who were against it before they won an election...that, or very bad planning.

It will be very interesting to see who is interested and makes offers to buy it.
 
D

delft

Brigadier
Re: European armed forces

Jeff Head said:
Well at some point relatively recently the Dutch leadership believed they would need it, planned for it, funded it, and are building it. These things do not happen and get built overnight or on a whim.

Usually the selling off of a brand new vessel as soon as built, even before commissioning is representative of a new political party coming onto power who were against it before they won an election...that, or very bad planning.

It will be very interesting to see who is interested and makes offers to buy it.
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The parliament agreed to the building of the ship after which is design to carry tanks was changed a short while before the army decided it could live without tanks. Seemingly it was then to late to change the design back. The extra cost was more than EUR 100 million.

There was no significant change in government as far as I can see. I never heard about an effort to find out what happened and why.

And I'm too interested in who will buy the ship and at what price.
 
Jeff Head

Jeff Head

General
Registered Member
Re: European armed forces

delft said:
The parliament agreed to the building of the ship after which is design to carry tanks was changed a short while before the army decided it could live without tanks.

There was no significant change in government as far as I can see. And I'm too interested in who will buy the ship and at what price.
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Well, the Dutch have the Rotterdam and the Johan de Witt LPDs and the one replenishment vessel, the Amsterdam, but this vessel was supposed to be a joint service vessel for replenishment and amphibious ops. Actually it's a very nice design and would ave allowed a future of less vessels.

It will be interesting to see who picks it up. It is brand new and someone may get a real good del on it.
 
navyreco

navyreco

Senior Member
Re: European armed forces

Pictures: Three Italian Navy FREMM Frigates together at sea

3Ub5XlN.jpg


ASW FREMM Carlo Margottini (Foreground) sails in formation with first of class General Purpose FREMM Carlo Bergamini (middle) and ASW FREMM Virginio Fasan (background)
(Picture: Italian Navy)
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15L4r9o.jpg


JHgnTgL.jpg


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