Britain's military procurement agency gets new management

On the same subject

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  September 18, 2019 | International, Land

  Two companies to square off for Australia’s $10 billion infantry fighting vehicle program

  By: Nigel Pittaway MELBOURNE, Australia – The Australian government has selected Hanwha and Rheinmetall to participate in the next phase of its A$15 billion (U.S. $10.3 billion) infantry fighting vehicle program, being delivered under Project Land 400 Phase 3. Hanwha's AS21 Redback IFV, a variant of the South Korean Army's K21 vehicle, and Rheinmetall's Lynx KF41 will now progress to a 12-month risk mitigation activity program later this year, which will test the vehicles under operational conditions. Land 400 Phase 3 (Mounted Close Combat Capability) will acquire up to 450 tracked IFVs to replace the Australian Army's ageing M113AS4 armoured personnel carriers. A decision on which tenderer will progress to the acquisition phase of the program will be presented to government for consideration in 2022. “The two companies have been assessed as offering vehicles that are best able to meet the requirements of the Army while offering value for money for defense,” Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said at the Sept. 16 announcement. The announcement reduces the field from four to two, with BAE Systems (CV90) and General Dynamics Land Systems (Ajax) now eliminated from the competition. Phase 3 of the overarching Land 400 program follows on from the A$5.2 billion (U.S. $3.6 billion) Phase 2, under which Rheinmetall is delivering 211 Boxer wheeled 8x8 combat reconnaissance vehicles to replace the Australian Army's light armored vehicles. Rheinmetall is assembling all but the first 25 Boxers at its recently established Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence at Ipswich, west of Brisbane. Local industry participation will be a key requirement for Land 400 Phase 3. “Australian industry involvement and Australian workers are vital to this project,” Price said. “Phase 3 is another important opportunity for Australian industry to deliver leading edge technology for the ADF.” Rheinmetall has indicated it will assemble the Lynx in its Ipswich facility and Hanwha announced on May 23 that it had teamed with EOS Group and Elbit Systems to develop the AS21 and build it in Geelong, south of Melbourne. Hanwha and Rheinmetall are also the prime contenders for the Australian Army's recently revitalized Land 8116 program, which will acquire 30 self-propelled howitzers, together with support vehicles and systems. Hanwha is proposing a local version of its K9 Thunder 155mm SPH, dubbed Aussie Thunder, which the company said in May would be assembled in Geelong irrespective of the Land 400 Phase 3 outcome. Rheinmetall is expected to offer a solution based on its PzH 2000 vehicle. https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2019/09/17/two-companies-to-square-off-for-australias-10-billion-fighting-vehicle-program/

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  June 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Will US foreign military sales catch the coronavirus?

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Economic shock waves from the coronavirus pandemic are threatening U.S. arms sales to its allies and partners, who may suddenly have less to spend. U.S. defense exports, through either the Foreign Military Sales process (which is government-facilitated) or the Direct Commercial Sales process (from a firm to a nation), are a means for the U.S. to strengthen ties with friendly countries and, as President Donald Trump likes to make explicit, pump revenue into the U.S. economy. Though the U.S. made $55 billion in foreign military sales in fiscal 2019, observers see headwinds in declining oil prices and the potential for allies to prioritize their domestic response to COVID-19 over defense spending. The Middle East is a leading market, and Saudi Arabia the world's leading purchaser. But the falling price of crude oil has fueled projections that Gulf Cooperation Council budgets will shrink, and with them demand for U.S. weapons. To boot, a Saudi-initiated oil price war has only added to Capitol Hill's ire toward the kingdom. Arms sales to Saudi Arabia reentered Congress' crosshairs as lawmakers probed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for firing of a State Department inspector general who'd been investigating Pompeo for bypassing a congressional freeze on arms sales to the kingdom. Previous objections to the sale centered around Riyadh's role in Yemen's civil war and — U.S. intelligence agencies believe ― the death of columnist Jamal Khashoggi. “I think the trends are a bit worrisome,” Roman Schweizer, the managing editor of Cowen Washington Research Group, said during a Defense One event. “The Saudis have been in the penalty box with the U.S. Congress since the Khashoggi killing, and most recently with the overproduction of crude oil. ... So getting a deal though the U.S. Senate for the Saudis are probably a bridge too far.” Within NATO and the European Union, allied purchases of U.S. equipment have been lagging, as Trump has jousted with leaders in Western Europe, Schweitzer said. At the same time, allies nearer to the border with Russia have been buying U.S. arms more heavily. In the long term, tensions with Russia and China are still likely to drive demand, observers say. China ― the Pentagon's pacing threat ― is raising defense spending by 6.6 percent in 2021 even as it cuts education and public services. “The growth rate may have slowed, but the fact the budget increased is still a significant indication of the focus and prioritization that the [Chinese Communist] Party puts on modernization plans and national security interests,” Meia Nouwens, an expert on Chinese military affairs with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said at the same event. For now, it's unclear whether COVID-19 will turn Europe's focus away from burden-sharing, said Edward Ferguson, a former British ambassador now serving as minister counselor for defense at the U.K. embassy. What is clear: European governments will have to have difficult conversations. “Right now within NATO, what we see are allies proliferating rather than reducing,” Ferguson said at the event. “Notwithstanding the additional demands on treasuries and exchequers is the fundamental shifts in technologies we're seeing and [the] need to invest in that, and the increasingly complex strategic environment, whether it's Russia or China. " Along similar lines, the industry itself has been largely optimistic about the prospects of overseas sales. On recent investor calls, Lockheed Martin executives said there's been no reduction in demand from the Middle East. They touted F-16 fighter jet deals with Bahrain, Bulgaria, Slovakia and ― pending government approval ― Taiwan, as well as demand for Hellfire missiles and the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile. Lockheed Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Possenriede, on an investor call earlier this month, pointed to demand for the F-35 jet from Poland, Belgium and Japan, and Lockheed's plans to participate in aircraft competitions in Switzerland, Spain and Finland. “We're in the final stages of the Canada competition, which we feel pretty good about,” he said. In Raytheon's May 7 earnings call, CEO Greg Hayes acknowledged Saudi Arabia is challenged by the lower oil prices, but added: “I don't think peace is breaking out anytime soon in the Middle East.” The company anticipated Riyadh will buy its AN/TPY-2 Surveillance Transportable Radar, which is linked to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system. “So far, we have continued to see good cash come in from the Middle Eastern customers during the first quarter, surprisingly even with oil out there,” Hayes said. “They need the equipment, they want the equipment and we need to help them defend themselves.” https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/06/15/will-us-foreign-military-sales-catch-the-coronavirus

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  May 27, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Israel, Pressed By US, Blocks First Big Chinese Deal

  By ARIE EGOZIon May 26, 2020 at 5:26 PM TEL AVIV: The strict U.S warning to Israel to limit ties with China has its first result as the Chinese failed to win a tender for the construction of the giant desalination plant in central Israel. The Palmahim site is in close proximity to Israel's missile test and satellite launch facility. The Soreq 2 facility, with the capability to process 200 million cubic meters of water per year, is expected to be the largest of its kind in the world, increasing the state's desalination capacity by about 35%. The new desalination plant joins five facilities already operating in Israel. Two weeks after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and warned against further Chinese involvement in projects in Israel the Chinese company lost and an Israeli company, IDE. That may lead to a confrontation with the Chinese. Two weeks ago, Netanyahu told Pompeo that the issue was under discussion by the Foreign Investment Committee at the Treasury. The US fears Chinese investments could create dependencies on China's companies and countries, and is working to prevent them. The next challenge: the Chinese and the power companies. In coming days, a decision will be made whether to award the Chinese government company China Harbor's bid for the power plant of Ramat Hovav, part of the huge reform of Israel's once government-owned electricity sector. “The fact that the (Pompeo) visit takes place in these problematic times proves its urgency ” an Israeli source told BD. Pompeo came to Israel with a very strict message – stop all Chinese investment in Israel, either in high tech companies or infrastructure. Israeli officials said the message relayed during Pompeo's visit included a very specific political warning – Israel must stop any action that strengthens the Chinese Communist Party, even if that means canceling planned projects. For context, think of the numerous times President Trump has called the coronavirus the Chinese virus and blamed China for supposedly hiding the truth about the virus' origins. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/05/israel-pressed-by-us-blocks-first-big-chinese-deal/