‘Cautionary tale’: How Boeing won a US Air Force program and lost $7B

On the same subject

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  April 30, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR

  US makes it cheaper for foreign nations to buy American weapons

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON ― The Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced this week that it is reducing a surcharge on American defense goods sold abroad from 3.5 percent to 3.2 percent, effectively dropping the price foreign nations have to pay when buying weapons through the Foreign Military Sales system. The change will go into effect June 1. The funding from the surcharge is used to support the FMS process, by which the U.S. government acts as the go-between for industry and a foreign customer, using the American acquisition system. The announcement comes days after the Trump administration rolled out a new set of guidelinesfor conventional arms transfers and unmanned systems as part of a broader push to increase American weapon sales abroad. The U.S. sold $41.9 billion in arms through the FMS process in fiscal 2017, per a DSCA statement. Based on that figure, the U.S. took in roughly $1.46 billion through the 3.5 percent surcharge. Reducing it to 3.2 percent would drop that number to around $1.34 billion. DSCA head Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper tied the surcharge cut directly to that broader goal, saying in the announcement that the change “will immediately reduce the cost of doing business for our international partners.” “It demonstrates the Department of Defense's commitment to charge only what is needed in order to support the administration of the FMS program which includes the sale of defense articles, defense services, and military training,” Hooper added. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2018/04/27/us-makes-it-cheaper-for-foreign-nations-to-buy-american-weapons/

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  February 27, 2023 | International, Aerospace

  French defence group Thales to recruit 12,000 staff as orders boom

  French defence and technology group Thales plans to hire 12,000 new staff this year as there is strong demand across its product range, CEO Patrice Caine said in an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.

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  April 28, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  COVID-19 Forces USN To Expedite USAF Workshare Agreement

  Lee Hudson The U.S. Navy has expedited its component workshare agreement with an Air Force aviation depot because of coronavirus-related workforce shortages. Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) located in North Carolina was initially scheduled to begin working on a Boeing F-18 cabin safety valve later this year while the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex's test chamber was closed for scheduled maintenance. But the time line was accelerated when Tinker AFB in Oklahoma had a significant number of workers unavailable due to COVID-19 risk mitigation efforts. The cabin safety valve is an integral part of the aircraft's environmental control system, Mary Linton, an aerospace engineer on the Gas Turbine Compressor-Pneumatics Fleet Support Team at FRCE, said in an April 27 statement. The valve is a component on both legacy F/A-18 Hornets and newer Super Hornets that acts as a backup to maintain cabin pressure above 23,000 ft. The part also serves as a supplement to the cabin air pressure regulator when the aircraft is in a rapid dive. “The original intent of bringing this workload to FRCE was to support Tinker Air Force Base through a major support equipment rework effort,” Linton said. “All of the great effort that went into establishing this capability proved even more critical to maintaining the readiness of the F-18 fleet as we navigate through the COVID-19 crisis.” The FRCE team was prepared to begin repairing, checking and testing the cabin safety valves in May, beginning with 20 per month before getting to a monthly rate of 40 by July, said John Miller, a planner and estimator with the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Logistics department at FRCE. To date, FRCE has completed 18 of the 40 units inducted so far, with plans to funnel 10 more into the pipeline. Once those first units are completed, the team must wait for additional valves to maintain the workflow. “The availability of components is still in flux due to COVID-19 and other factors, but the transition should move smoothly,” Miller said. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/covid-19-forces-usn-expedite-usaf-workshare-agreement