Canada Looks To ‘Break Shackles’ From Monopolistic US Defense Firms As It Explores Submarines For Its Navy

On the same subject

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  December 9, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security

  Northrop sells IT business to Veritas Capital for $3.4B

  WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman has struck a $3.4 billion deal to sell its federal IT and mission support business to Veritas Capital. The agreement, announced Dec. 7, is expected to close by June 2021. At that point, Veritas plans to incorporate the Northrop business units with Peraton, a Veritas subsidiary that supports government customers and specializes in technology products for the space, defense and intelligence markets. Northrop is expected to generate $2.3 billion in revenue, which will be funneled into share repurchases and debt retirement, the company said in a news release. “This divesture allows us to drive value and reflects our strategy of focus on growing core businesses where technology and innovation are the key differentiators,” said Kathy Warden, Northrop's CEO and president. “We expect to create compelling value to our shareholders through this transaction and execution of our capital allocation strategy.” Reports of the sale first surfaced in October. Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, said that the sale shows there is still isn't consensus within the defense industry on how to organize IT and services businesses alongside more traditional hardware business units for products like aircraft, vehicles or other weapons. Callan pointed to Lockheed Martin's sale of its information and global services business to Leidos in 2016; L-3′s sale of its IT solutions division to CACI in 2015; and Harris' sale of its IT business to Veritas in 2017, which later became Peraton. However, other major companies have acquired government IT companies, such as General Dynamics's purchase of CSRA in 2018. “We have believed that as DoD spending flattens in the 2020s, primes could seek to jettison ‘non-core' businesses that will still be profitable, but face declining sales or more intense competition,” Callan wrote in an email to investors. https://www.c4isrnet.com/industry/2020/12/08/northrop-sells-it-business-to-veritas-capital-for-34b/

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  July 25, 2019 | International, Naval

  Navy Announces Commissioning Date for the Future USS Cincinnati

  From Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs CINCINNATI, Ohio (NNS) -- The U.S. Navy has approved the commissioning date for the future littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS 20). The Navy will commission Cincinnati, Oct. 5, 2019 in Gulfport, Mississippi. The commissioning ceremony signifies the acceptance for service and the entrance of a ship into the active fleet of the U. S. Navy. Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker is the ship's sponsor. As the sponsor, Pritzker leads the time-honored Navy tradition of giving the order during the ceremony to “man our ship and bring her to life!” At that moment, the commissioning pennant is hoisted and Cincinnati becomes a proud ship of the fleet. Indianapolis, Indiana native Cmdr. Kurt Braeckel is the commanding officer of the littoral combat ship. Former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced LCS 20 would be named for Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Reds baseball game, July 19, 2015. LCS 20 will be the fifth ship in naval history to be named Cincinnati. The first played an integral part in the Civil War; the second enforced neutrality laws during the Cuban Revolution and saw service during the Spanish-American War; the third acted as a patrol and flagship during World War II; and the fourth, a Los Angeles class submarine, was commissioned in 1978 and served during the Cold War. LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. The LCS class consists of two variants: the Freedom variant and the Independence variant. Indianapolis is a Freedom variant. The future Cincinnati will be homeported in Naval Base San Diego upon her commissioning. A fast, agile surface combatant, the LCS provides the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute a variety of missions; areas such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare. https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=110349&utm_source=phplist3030&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=Headlines

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  May 25, 2021 | International, Aerospace

  Aevum announces all-in-one drone for satellite launches, cargo delivery and surveillance

  Initially announced as a small launch provider, the company's Ravn X drone will be multimission with a new patented modular payload system.