May 8, 2023 | International, Aerospace
The organization replaces the Commercial Services Office, which was established just a year ago.
May 31, 2023 | International, Aerospace, Security
The EU said on Tuesday it is doubling its aerial firefighting fleet for the summer of 2023, citing challenges such as increasing forest fires due to the climate crisis.
January 19, 2021 | International, Aerospace
By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — Aerovironment, a leading supplier of unmanned aircraft systems to the U.S. military, has purchased Arcturus UAV for $405 million. Arcturus is currently competing for a $1 billion Army contract to replace the Shadow tactical unmanned aircraft system. Arcturus, which was founded in 2004 in California, specializes in Group 2 and 3 UAS, which run the gamut between drones over 20 pounds and under roughly 1,300 pounds. Army units are evaluating Arcturus' Jump 20 UAS. The drone is competing against Martin UAV and Northrop Grumman's V-Bat, Textron's Aerosonde HQ, and L3Harris Technologies′ FVR-90. The Jump is a multimission, medium-endurance, vertical-takeoff-and-landing system that can become airborne independent of a runway. Arcturus also makes the T-20, a multimission, medium-endurance, catapult-launched system. The Army is moving toward a final request for proposals with its Future Tactical UAS program that will replace the Shadow UAS, so the sale of Arcturus to a much larger UAV company is timely. Aerovironment did not have a path to Group 3 UAS, and bringing Arcturus into the fold fills that gap. According to those following the industry, Aerovironment has products that, when integrated into Arcturus' capabilities, could make for attractive future systems. Being acquired by a larger company like Aerovironment would also help the company become a more serious contender in the Army competition by building up its manufacturing capability to radidly produce UAS in large quantities, which the Army would require if the Jump is selected. The total purchase price of the sale is a combined $355 million in cash and $50 million in Aerovironment stock, according to a Jan. 13 news release. Arcturus previously supplied UAS to U.S. Special Operations Command's $1.4 billion MEUAS III and IV programs, the release noted. “We are excited about the opportunities for value creation through our acquisition of Arcturus UAV, which will enable us to accelerate our growth strategy and expand our reach into the more valuable Group 2 and 3 UAS segments,” Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and CEO, said in the statement. “Group 2 and 3 UAS and services, collectively, potentially represent more than one billion dollars in annual contract value, according to an independent forecast,” he added. “Combining our highly complementary products and technologies will enhance our portfolio, deliver top and bottom-line growth, and enable us to provide customers with a complete set of Group 1 through 3 UAS, tactical missile systems, high-altitude pseudo-satellites and unmanned ground vehicle solutions.” With Aerovironment, “we will have greater scale, expanded resources, cutting-edge technology and superior capabilities to meet the growing global demand for our products and solutions,” D'Milo Hallerberg, Arcturus UAV president and CEO, said in the statement. “We are confident that with AeroVironment, we can accelerate our growth as part of a larger, more diverse company and look forward to working closely with the team to complete this exciting transaction.” The transaction is expected to be complete by the final quarter of fiscal 2021, and Arcturus will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Aerovironment. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2021/01/15/aerovironment-buys-arcturus-uav-405m-deal/
June 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
The Pentagon is likely to seek double-digit billions of dollars to reimburse defense contractors that were authorized to seek the money by the CARES Act to preserve their workforce during the COVID-19 crisis, the Pentagon's top procurement officer told lawmakers June 10. The problem is that while the section of the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill allows contractors to seek that reimbursement, the bill did not provide any related funding. For just one prime contractor, the estimated costs to keep its workforce in a steady state throughout the crisis exceeds $1 billion, Ellen Lord, the under secretary of acquisition, logistics and technology, said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Without additional funding, Lord warns that the Pentagon will “eat into readiness and modernization and slow down readiness and modernization on an ongoing basis.” Aviation and aviation propulsion are two of the hardest-hit areas of the defense industrial base, because of the implosion of the civil aviation industry, she said. Satellite launches also have been hit, given their dependence on the commercial industry, Lord said. Lawmakers were looking for details about how much would be needed for defense contractors, as they anticipate a new COVID-19 spending bill will move through Congress at the end of July. According to Lord, there have been 960 closures and 859 reopenings due to COVID-19. The average closure is about 57 days. But contractors will be specifically requesting reimbursement for issues that affected their employees. So far, contractors are holding back from seeking claims because they are aware that no appropriation exists yet. The Pentagon's internal acquisition group has been tracking data from prime contractors; subcontractors, though, may not be sharing all of their issues to avoid revealing proprietary data, she said, while pledging to provide specific guidance on allowable costs within 30 days. “The defense industrial base is the nexus of economic and national security and it's vitally important to make sure it stays as healthy as possible,” she said. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/lord-defense-contractors-need-billions-covid-19-relief