November 13, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land
By: Jill Aitoro
The last few years have seen a subtle transition in how the U.S., as the world's dominant arms exporter, markets to the world.
Consider what we already know.
In Europe, there's an expectation to filter more to local firms, whether through co-development or direct buys. There's also demand for greater access into U.S. programs, and for that access to be on a level playing field.
And then there's South Korea, now calling for foreign contractors to engage with domestic small and medium-sized enterprises. Financial support for its companies is important, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, but so is guidance that helps identify technologies that will make those domestic companies more marketable. Call it a mentorship of sorts.
Look to Middle Eastern countries and we've historically seen more financial offsets: expectations to create jobs at home to improve the economy, grow skilled labor and expand infrastructure. That's the same in northern Africa.
But with oil no longer a reliable source of revenue for the region, the expectations are shifting. The Middle East wants to build a new industry, and with billions of dollars in arms sales at stake for the U.S. and Western allies, the region also knows full well that it holds some powerful cards to play.
It's that question that drove the shift in Europe: “We're buying from you, so why can't you buy more from us? And by the way, politically speaking, we're pretty important.”
All this to say that the emerging visions in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have some teeth. And it can, therefore, shape how the Pentagon, American defense giants and global allies for that matter handle arms sales.
Consider a couple of the more recent developments. The UAE launched a government-owned company with a combined annual revenue of $5 billion known as Edge, established with a core mandate “to disrupt an antiquated military industry generally stifled by red tape,” according to its CEO. Falling under Edge are now 25 companies that before were quite small in revenue and global market share, but together hold significant buying power: NIMR, AMMROC and Abu Dhabi Ship Building to name a few.
Not only do these companies become more formidable players on the global stage, but Edge suddenly carries with it significant negotiation power. Sales to the UAE could bring newfound expectations for partnerships, for stakes in programs.
Then consider Saudi Arabia, which established the Saudi Arabian Military Industries, or SAMI, for essentially the same reason. It also modeled the structure off of other countries with established defense industries — Turkey, South Korea, South Africa and some Western countries, among others. SAMI's stated goal is to become one of the largest 25 defense companies in the world by 2030 and to have export account for 30 percent of its business.
So what might this mean for how the U.S. works with the Middle East? Major primes have cheered the formation of these holding companies. But make no mistake: Those primes recognize that the holding companies also pose a threat to the status quo. A simple model of just selling systems into the region likely won't fly, nor will teaming on a particular competition necessarily be enough. Boeing formed a joint venture with SAMI, for example, recognizing the need to commit long term.
Also consider what SAMI CEO Andreas Schwer stated to be his asks of the U.S. and allies when I interviewed him last year: “If there was a wish, we would love to get more access to top-class technologies from all the U.S. partners. There are obviously limitations, which we are suffering from. That's the one element. So be a little bit more open. And second, export in arms and weapons was driven by FMS [Foreign Military Sales] programs. In our new setup in Saudi Arabia, we will do more and more in direct commercial sales.”
Let's be realistic — that could change things.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2019/11/11/a-new-future-in-global-arms-sales/
February 13, 2024 | International, Land
This new four-year contract award will provide the combat systems teams in DE&S Ship Acquisition NSDG with essential engineering outputs. QinetiQ will lead this work, which includes expertise from BMT and...
July 7, 2020 | International, Aerospace
The U.S. Air Force is looking to fund research into “deep tech” for eVTOL aircraft through its next round of Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract awards. By Elan Head An award-winning journalist, Elan is also a commercial helicopter pilot and an FAA Gold Seal flight instructor with helicopter and instrument ratings. Follow her on Twitter @elanhead View more posts NEWS U.S. Air Force will fund research into tech that enables eVTOL aircraft Monday July 6, 2020 The U.S. Air Force is looking to fund research into “deep tech” for eVTOL aircraft through its next round of Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract awards. The focus on technology research is one more aspect of Agility Prime, the Air Force's effort to accelerate development of the commercial eVTOL industry with the goal of establishing U.S. dominance in this emerging field. Speaking during an Agility Prime webinar on July 1, Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, suggested that the Air Force could help fill a funding gap left by Silicon Valley investors who have increasingly prioritized software enterprises that promise faster returns. “We want to take risk by investing in deep tech,” he said. “For programs like Agility Prime that are going to be tackling a lot of really tough challenges — from power to flight safety to logistics — there's a lot of really cutting-edge tech that has to be created, has to be matured and developed, if we're ultimately going to bring this market to bear in the U.S. first. Well, STTR is a great place to start tackling the hard challenges now.” STTR is a federal government program created to help commercialize compelling technology from across the U.S. research community. Like the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, it focuses on three phases — concept development, prototype development and commercialization — with various funding amounts available for different phases. Unlike SBIR, however, STTR requires that participating small businesses partner with an eligible nonprofit research institution. According to Roper, the Air Force devotes around $700 million per year to SBIR and another $200 million to STTR projects — not all of which will yield results. “We don't expect every company in STTR to succeed, just like we don't in SBIR,” he said. “This is an investment portfolio, so we're looking for return across the whole portfolio, not [on] a company-by-company basis. But we should start planting the long-lead seeds now, because if we don't, they're not going to bloom in time for us to harvest in a way that will benefit programs like Agility Prime.” The Air Force's next STTR Open Topic solicitation will include an Agility Prime focus area, intended to survey a large scope of technologies including autonomy, advanced aircraft materials and manufacturing, novel acoustics techniques, and sense-and-avoid systems, to name a few. The Air Force expects to award an estimated $10 million worth of phase one contracts for values up to $150,000 within 90 days. According to Jared Evans, a partner in AFVentures who also spoke during the webinar, phase two contracts are expected to have an initial value of $750,000, with the most promising projects then eligible for a “strategic fund increase” up to $30 million. “Ultimately, our end goal here is . . . transitioning to a full program of record,” he explained. “There's no STTR funding for that, but there's also no limit on government input or private investment.” In advance of the solicitation, the Air Force innovation division AFWERX will be hosting a virtual TeamUp event with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on July 15 and 16. The first day of the event will be open to the public and will include an overview of STTR funding opportunities, plus a virtual trade show. The second day will be restricted to Agility Prime ecosystem members who have chosen to register for a virtual booth, with the aim of facilitating connections that could lead to collaborative STTR proposals. Registration for the event is available here. “TeamUp events like this one will provide opportunities for multiple stakeholders to come together and compete with speed,” stated AFWERX director and Agility Prime team lead Col. Nathan Diller in a press release announcing the event. “Just like AFWERX and AFRL are teaming up to bring cutting-edge commercial technology together with world-class research, we are encouraging entrepreneurs and researchers from around the country to ‘TeamUp' in a way that strengthens our national security and prosperity.” https://evtol.com/news/air-force-agility-prime-sttr/
May 6, 2024 | International, Naval
Interested companies have until May 24 to submit responses, after which some will be selected for review by the Defense Innovation Unit.