AGS, NATO's super drone
(BRUSSELS2 at NATO headquarters) The Brussels meeting of NATO Defense Ministers was an opportunity for the Allies to decide on the implementation of the system called AGS for Alliance Ground Surveillance, making it possible to improve the aerial surveillance and reconnaissance capability. An instrument " essential for future operations as an Alliance official points out.
One of the largest infrastructure projects of the Alliance
The AGS will consist of 5 HALE drones (High altitude, long distance) RQ-4B Global Hawk, ordered from Sigonello Air Base. There will be concentrated means of reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence (JISR) as well as the training center for data exploitation (Nb: A kind of compensation for the Italians who will lose one of the headquarters).
This device will be financed by 13 of the 28 members of the Alliance who will contribute to the pot (United States, Germany and Italy, for the main countries (*) French and British will not participate directly in the financing of the device. " We will offer material contribution clarified Gérard Longuet. These are thus acquisition and surveillance devices, produced by French drones. The British will use the same mode of contribution. " It's a bit like the Awacs system - specified to B2 an expert of the file - French and British have their own Awacs capacity which they make available to the Alliance. As for Spain, it will fund only up to its general quota in the Alliance.
The total cost of the operation should amount to 4 billion $, who are " one of the most expensive programs ever undertaken by the Alliance and one of the most technologically complicated rejoiced a NATO official... a few years ago.
An old project
One might think that this project stems from one of the lessons learned from the operation by Libya (Unified Protector); the Allies participating in the operation did not have reconnaissance and surveillance system and had to rely on the Americans. In fact, if this project fills one of the gaps observed, it dates back to the early 2000s following a need already noted by the conference of armament directors. After two years of meetings, a first contract was signed in April 2005 with the consortium of manufacturers - the American Northop Grumman, European (EADS, Thales, Galileo Avionica and Indra) and Canadian (General Dynamics Canada ), brought together within the TIPS (Transatlantic Industrial Proposed Solution) group. The program memorandum (PMoU for Program Memorandum of Understanding) was signed in September 2009. Several studies followed, notably in 2009.
(*) as well as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia.
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