May 15, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Britain to train Ukrainian pilots, supply more missiles and drones
Debates within NATO nations over providing Ukraine with combat jets continues unabated.
January 13, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Boeing nabs $1.7B for 12 KC-46A tankers
By
Christen McCurdy
Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Boeing received a $1.7 billion contract this week to build 12 KC-46A tanker aircraft for the Air Force.
According to Boeing, this is the sixth production lot of the tankers and is designed to bring new capabilities and operational flexibility to the Air Force and other customers.
"The investments Boeing is making in the KC-46 today will benefit generations of service members," said Jamie Burgess, Boeing KC-46 tanker vice president and program manager. "I believe the partnership between Boeing and the Air Force will also produce additional KC-46 innovations that will carry the warfighter well into the future."
The KC-46 is a multirole tanker, designed to refuel allied and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures -- and is also equipped to carry passengers, cargo and patients.
Boeing has delivered 42 of the aircraft to four different bases since its first order in August 2016, but the KC-46 program has been beset by cost overruns and drags in productivity, prompting U.S. senators to call on the Government Accountability Office to investigate delays in productivity last spring.
In October the company announced it would pay another $67 million out of pocket for the program, a cost attributed to COVID-19-related cost overruns and productivity drags.
https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2021/01/12/Boeing-nabs-17B-for-12-KC-46A-tankers/9931610497766/
On the same subject
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December 19, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Start of Air Force’s light attack plane competition pushed back until next year
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — If the Air Force moves forward on a proposed initiative to buy light attack planes, it won't happen by the end of 2018. The service intended to put out a final request for proposals this month for a potential light attack aircraft program, but the date has now slipped into 2019, an Air Force official confirmed Tuesday. “The Air Force does not anticipate release of the final Light Attack Request for Proposal by the end of the calendar year as we complete additional analysis,” said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Hope Cronin in an emailed response to Defense News. The service released a draft solicitation on Aug. 3, following two experimentation campaigns that brought the Sierra Nevada Corp.-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, Textron's Scorpion jet and AT-6 attack plane, and L3's AT-802L Longsword to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico for several rounds of test flights. The second set of flight experiments between the A-29 and AT-6 were curtailed this summer after an A-29 crashed, killing its pilot. However, the Air Force maintained that it could garner the data it needed on aircraft maintenance and network operations while testing the planes on the ground. Air Force acquisition officials have shied away from declaring whether a program of record will begin in the fiscal year 2020 budget, but the August presolicitation seems to limit the contenders to the A-29 and AT-6, stating that SNC and Textron “are the only firms that appear to possess the capability necessary to meet the requirement within the Air Force's time frame without causing an unacceptable delay in meeting the needs of the warfighter.” The goal of the light attack experiments is to prove whether the Air Force can quickly bring industry to the table to experiment with off the shelf equipment and rapidly make a decision about whether to buy it. In that light, the delay in releasing the final request for proposals is at least a slight setback, as it's unclear whether the wait for a final RFP could also push back the Air Force's proposed due date for awarding a contract — before the start of the 2020 fiscal year on Oct. 1. But it remains unclear whether the Air Force will have the money to buy it. Officials have maintained that a light attack capability is “additive," meaning that they would not be willing to sacrifice procurement dollars designated for aircraft in existing or planned programs of record so that it could buy the AT-6 or A-29. However, the Pentagon's topline budget is still uncertain. Defense Department budget officials had geared up for a $733 billion budget in FY20, only to have President Donald Trump call for a cut to $700 billion. Now, it appears that number is growing after intervention from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and congressional hawks, and could be as high as $750 billion. Whether the light attack aircraft program fits into any of those topline budgets is currently unknown. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2018/12/18/start-of-air-forces-light-attack-plane-competition-pushed-back-until-next-year
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May 16, 2023 | International, Other Defence
Denmark aims for closer Nordic security ties in Arctic and Baltic Sea region
NATO member Denmark said on Tuesday that it aims to strengthen defence ties with other Nordic countries to protect critical infrastructure and counter the Russian threat both in the Arctic and the Baltic Sea region.