December 18, 2019 | International, Aerospace

BAE Systems to get new CEO in April

WASHINGTON — BAE Systems Chief Executive Jerry DeMuro will hand over leadership to Tom Arseneault next year, the company announced Tuesday.

Arseneault will transition from chief operating officer to CEO of the U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based BAE Systems plc in April, with DeMuro taking on a newly created role of executive vice president of strategic initiatives. DeMuro will also continue to serve on the board of directors.

“I think it is one of the primary responsibilities you have, as a CEO, to develop the talent,” DeMuro told Defense News when asked about succession planning in an exclusive interview Dec. 7, during the Reagan National Defense Forum. “And leadership succession, in particular CEO succession, isn't always smooth. I think this is a natural progression, making it smooth for our customers, our shareholders, all stakeholders and our employees.

“It's just about progressing to that point where we on the board feel it's time to hand that baton off.”

DeMuro has served as CEO since 2014, when he succeeded Linda Hudson. Among his key priorities during the last five years has been unifying a business primarily born out of acquisition. With Tom's April appointment, Jerry will transition to an advisory role, providing advice and counsel to leadership with both BAE Systems Inc. in the U.S. and BAE System plc in Europe on a number of priority programs. Within the scope of his responsibilities will be chairing the internal program reviews for several key international pursuits. He will also continue to advance the defense industry's positioning regarding evolving cybersecurity requirements.

Arseneault, who in May also added “president” to his title and was elected to the company's board, is currently responsible for delivering business and functional performance across the company's three sectors. He's been with BAE for 22 years, having previously served as president of the company's electronic systems sector and executive vice president of the product sectors.

“If you've been watching, we had him as the COO [chief operating officer] for several years. I also had him doing strategy and corporate development, and rounding out his portfolio" across the various business units, DeMuro said. “[I]t's just about getting him prepared, and making sure our stakeholders are comfortable.”

BAE is currently in low-rate production for the U.S. Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle to replace the M113 armored personnel carrier and family of vehicles. It's also scheduled to deliver its prototype for the Mobile Protected Firepower vehicle program by 2021 — required ultimately to be a 105-120mm cannon and a tracked vehicle that can withstand a classified level of enemy fire.

DeMuro has pointed to electronic warfare as another key priority area for the company, delivering capabilities to the F-35 and all other fifth-generation fighter jets, as well as precision-guided munitions and technologies that support space resiliency.

Parent company BAE Systems in the U.K. ranked seventh on the Defense News Top 100 list of the largest defense companies in the world. Defense revenue has dropped from $25.45 billion in 2015 to $22.48 billion in 2018. The U.S. subsidiary oversees one of the companies largest operations from Arlington, Virginia.

https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/12/17/bae-systems-to-get-new-ceo-in-april

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August 3, 2018 | International, C4ISR

General Dynamics wins Army IT contract worth billions
By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON — The Army awarded General Dynamics Mission Systems a contract worth as much as $3.9 billion for commercial off-the-shelf IT hardware that could be purchased quickly during the next three years. In an Aug. 1 announcement, the Department of Defense said the contract would be used for the Army's common hardware systems 5th generation (CHS-5) program. The three-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract has a possible $3.9 billion ceiling, that includes two one-year options. The CHS-5 funding will serve as a kind of piggy bank for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and more than 100 DoD program offices to draw from for the rapid acquisition and delivery of tactical commercial-off-the-shelf IT hardware. The contract also covers technical assistance support services and logistics support, including repair and replacement of equipment. It accounts for between 75,000 to 100,00 pieces of hardware. “The buying power and rapid execution of COTS IT hardware procurements and services are what makes CHS valuable to the Army,” Breck Tarr, the program's product lead, said in an Sept. 2017 press release. “We want to see proposals with innovative techniques to reduce timelines without compromising quality. The ability to deliver the exact configuration when the Government needs hardware is critical to supporting fielding schedules and sustainment.” CHS-5 builds on the previous contract, the unsurprisingly named CHS-4. The new contract was expected to include a pre-negotiation pricing schedule for the life of the contract; additional warranty options; incentives to provide the lowest price hardware; and the ability to procure technical data packages based on competitive pricing, according to an Army press release. Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/it-networks/2018/08/02/general-dynamics-wins-army-it-contract-worth-billions/
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December 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

US and China Dominated Arms Market in 2019: SIPRI Report
China's heavy investments in the defense industry appears to be paying off with Beijing dominating the global arms market in 2019 while Russia is losing ground. Total sales by the top 25 rose by 8.5% to $361 billion, or 50 times the annual budget of the U.N.'s peacekeeping operations. The United States is still number 1, accounting for 61% of sales by the world's top 25 manufacturers last year, way ahead of China's 16%, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report published Monday reveals. In 2019, the top five arms companies were all based in the U.S. - Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics. These five together registered $166 billion in annual arms sales. In total, 12 U.S. companies appear in the top 25 for 2019, accounting for 61% of the combined arms sales of the top 25. The largest absolute increase in arms revenue was registered by Lockheed Martin: $5.1 billion, equivalent to 11% in real terms. Chinese companies that made its way to the global top 25 are Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC; ranked 6th), China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC; ranked 8th), China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO; ranked 9th), and China South Industries Group Corporation (CSGC; ranked 24th). Their combined revenue grew by 4.8% between 2018 and 2019. “Chinese arms companies are benefiting from military modernization programmes for the People's Liberation Army,” SIPRI Senior Researcher Nan Tian said. The only two Russian companies in the list - S-400 missile system manufacturer Almaz-Antey in 15th spot and United Shipbuilding in 25th - accounted for 3.9% of 2019 arms sales. The revenues of the two firms both decreased between 2018 and 2019, by a combined total of $634 million. A third Russian company, United Aircraft, lost $1.3 billion in sales and dropped out of the top 25 in 2019. Alexandra Kuimova, Researcher at SIPRI, said: “Domestic competition and reduced government spending on fleet modernization were two of the main challenges for United Shipbuilding in 2019.” For the first time, a Middle Eastern firm appears in the top 25 ranking. EDGE, based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was created in 2019 from the merger of more than 25 smaller companies. It ranks at number 22 and accounted for 1.3% of total arms sales of the top 25. https://www.defenseworld.net/news/28477#.X8_0tdhKiUk

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BAE Systems to get new CEO in April

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