Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 17, 2020

On the same subject

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  October 10, 2023 | International, Land

  Biden vows US resolve to back Israel as USS Ford enters region

  The White House confirmed it has already begun delivering critically needed munitions and military equipment to Israel.

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  November 29, 2019 | International, Naval

  Naval Group shares its industrial vision with the submarine community and broadens strategic partnership at NEDS

  28 November 2019 On November 28th 2019, Naval Group participates to the Defence & Security exhibition held at Rotterdam AHOY. During this event, Naval Group shares its vision on the development of the submarine community in the Netherlands. The project will generate a workload of 15 million man/hours and is expected to create over 2000 jobs in the Netherlands. In view of the Walrus capability replacement programme, Naval Group demonstrates their will to commit to a full submarine IP and knowledge-sharing with the Dutch knowledge centers and industry. This will empower the Netherlands submarine community to take part in the future design and build phase, thus reinforcing the existing knowledge and leading to an autonomous maintenance and upgrade of the submarine. Naval Group has successfully adopted this methodology in Australia, which is leading to the development of a game-changing capacity with a Barracuda-family submarine which offers outstanding acoustic superiority as well as expeditionary capabilities. Naval Group's vision of the future submarine project. “What is at stake in this project is not industrial workload for Naval Group in France-as our submarines factories will be quite busy along the next decades-but the European cooperation within the maritime industry of our two countries. Beyond the industrial workload which will be transferred to the Netherlands, Naval Group is totally committed to support the Netherlands in remaining fully autonomous on operational, strategical and technological aspects on the long- term basis.” declared Hervé Guillou during NEDS. With all the complexities and long lead-time involved in a submarine project, it is crucial to determine how strategic knowledge and expertise is shared, used and maintained over a period which exceeds thirty years. Defining all the required technical and operational trade-offs based on a value-mapping process through an in-depth dialogue with the client is key to reach the best possible submarine platform. For this purpose, Naval Group has released its plan for the future submarine design and production ecosystem at NEDS. One of the key features of Naval Group's vision to organize transfer IP rights and design authority to the Netherlands, which effectively will deliver to local industry and knowledge centers an in-depth understanding and mastering of the selected design. The submarine project will see the reinforcement of a submarine community whose contribution and expertise will grow over the years when key upgrades or changes are implemented on the chosen design. In this process, Naval Group has already qualified 30 new companies to be Tier 1 and 2 suppliers for this programme and other international programmes. In February 2019, Naval Group announced the partnership with Royal IHC. The two companies brought their complementary experience and expertise in designing and manufacturing complex maritime and defense systems together in order to offer the best submarine to the Netherlands and fully comply with the Defense Industrial Strategy (DIS). In continuity to this important first step, Naval Group now unveils one of its strategic partnerships: the teaming agreement with Contour, whose team possesses a comprehensive experience in providing simulation and digital training tools for the Netherlands MOD and notably the Royal Netherlands Army. Their expertise will allow modern simulation tools to be deployed to ease the crew's training period before the actual submarine is sent on trials. Using the Dutch world-class maritime ecosystem, Naval Group has identified more than 30 partners in the country partners of excellence which can provide critical systems and components for submarine and surface ships programmes alike. The submarine community will remain a center of excellence where the best Dutch expertise will be sustained.This ambitious industrial cooperation program is expected to generate over 2000 jobs, which represent 15 million man-hours, for the Netherlands economic growth during the design and build phase. Most of this capabilities will then be used for decades for through-life support. “Naval Group deliberately involves local partners in its international activities. The purpose of these agreements is to pool a Dutch submarine community for the Netherlands would Naval Group be selected for the Walrus replacement program. Key to a successful cooperation is a know-why methodology and a true IP and know-how repository to build-up and contribute that unique expertise, which will support in the long-term both the Netherlands' but also international submarine programmes” declared Mark van Rooij, Naval Group Netherlands CEO. A long-term commitment towards the Dutch industry The Dutch ecosystem has long been a partner with Naval Group on several major programmes; since 2013, a volume of 200 million euros contracts has been awarded to Dutch industrial and knowledge partners covering both French and international programmes. At NEDS, Naval Group deepens existing bonds with the Dutch maritime and defense industry, building and expanding existing relationships with more than 70 companies and knowledge institutes. The latest Naval Group surface ship (FDI) benefits from key Dutch technologies. Rubber Design has developed and supplied silencing elastic mounts to help reduce the ship's acoustic signature, whilst MAFO's door systems have been conceived as Radar Cross Signature reduction devices. Naval Group Netherlands, the Dutch subsidiary established in 2018 has played a significant role in the reinforcement of these long-term relationships. Sliedrecht-based company DBR has just been selected to supply key propulsion equipment on Naval Group's latest international ship programme. The company, well-known in the maritime industry, will for the first time enter the naval military market with this contract. For the Belgium-Dutch Mine Counter Measure Vessels program, several Dutch actors are about to be consulted. For instance, Dutch knowledge center Marin has already been selected by Naval Group in 2019 to test and improve its latest hull design, delivering improved hydrodynamic capabilities along with better energy-efficiency. For this program, other domains will be opened to Dutch competitors such as IPMS (Integrated platform management system), IBNS (Integrated Bridge Navigation System), radar, ventilation, firecontrol, speedboats and handling systems. Press contact Klara Nadaradjane Tel. +33 6 45 03 11 92 priya-klara.nadaradjane@naval-group.com View source version on Naval Group : https://www.naval-group.com/en/news/naval-group-shares-its-industrial-vision-with-the-submarine-community-and-broadens-strategic-partnerships-at-neds/

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  January 11, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  IISS analysts: Russian and Western defense firms face greater competition

  By: Tom Waldwyn and Haena Jo Over the next decade, companies from emerging defense industrial nations will provide greater competition for the Western and Russian firms that have previously assisted in their development. Successive Turkish, South Korean, Brazilian and Polish governments have invested heavily in their defense industries over the past decade, leading to much-improved capabilities and the introduction of complex platforms. While many of these are license-builds of Western equipment, a growing share is of original designs. However, their reliance on key subsystems from Western and Russian companies will likely continue for much of this period, presenting a potential vulnerability. License-building platforms with technology transfer has been used as a means of developing a local industrial capability with a more realistic chance of success than starting from scratch. For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, Turkey and South Korea assembled hundreds of F-16 fighter jets, and both have also license-built German submarines, as has Brazil. Significant investment in these programs has meant that these countries now have the industrial capability to produce an increasing number of platforms with original designs. South Korea's T-50 Golden Eagle (a trainer and light-attack aircraft with multiple variants) was developed based on both the country's experience and technology transfer from assembling F-16s. Poland's initial license-build of Finnish armored personnel carriers has now led to several local variants based on that design, and Turkey has begun to design a new attack helicopter based on its experience building the Italian-designed T129. This has gone hand in hand with procurement and industry reform. South Korea created the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in 2006 to manage procurement and develop industrial capability. Poland consolidated most of its state-owned industry under the PGZ holding company in 2015. South Korea's threefold increase in defense exports over the past decade — $1.52 billion in 2019 with a record high of $2.36 billion in 2016 — has been boosted by its companies winning contracts against European and Russian competitors. The aforementioned T-50 family has won competitions in countries such as Iraq, Indonesia and Thailand at the expense of Western and Russian aircraft. Similarly, South Korean shipyards have now signed deals to export frigates and tankers to a variety of countries including Thailand and the U.K. Significantly, in 2011, a South Korean shipyard secured a contract to supply Indonesia with submarines, beating the German original equipment manufacturer that transferred technology to South Korea in the 1980s for license-production. Although Turkey's high-profile export successes have largely come due to its political relationships rather than success in open competition, it too has seen its defense and aerospace (including civil) exports more than treble during this time, reaching $2.78 billion in 2019. Brazil's export successes ($1.3 billion in 2019) have largely come in the aerospace sector with the A-29 Super Tucano trainer/light-attack aircraft being widely exported. Recently the country has begun to secure the first sales of its KC-390 transport aircraft. Despite strong growth in defense manufacturing capability (both South Korea and Turkey report overall localization rates of around 70 percent, for example), these nations continue to rely on Western and Russian suppliers for key subsystems, with high-end electronics and engines being particular weaknesses. Attempts to fit a locally designed power pack into the K2 Black Panther main battle tank have been wracked with difficulty, forcing South Korea to order additional engines and transmissions from German suppliers. Similarly, Poland's production of its Krab howitzer ran into problems early on due to technical issues with the chassis and engine, forcing a switch to South Korean and German replacements, respectively. Turkey provides a case study of what can happen when a reliance on foreign subsystems clashes with those countries taking a dim view of your actions. Since the mid-2000s, development of the Altay main battle tank proceeded relatively smoothly, in part because the prototypes were fitted with proven German power packs. However, arms embargoes since 2016 have derailed series production. A 2015 contract to develop a local propulsion system was canceled in 2017 when the Austrian company selected to assist pulled out. Similar issues have hampered the sale of attack helicopters to Pakistan (an Italian design fitted with American engines) as well as the production of armed UAVs (Canadian sensors and engines). Beyond these emerging challengers for defense exports, other nations also warrant consideration. Japan, a country with a high localization rate since the 1990s, produces a variety of advanced platforms across different sectors. However, changing government and business practices to support export campaigns will take time. India has also invested heavily in its industry, yet bureaucratic conflicts and technical challenges have made fulfilling local requirements a challenge. The United Arab Emirates has begun to export equipment, albeit low-tech materiel. All this being said, the impact of COVID-19 on government spending will likely be felt for several years, with some importer nations already postponing programs. Whether local demand in exporter nations can make up for this remains to be seen. Tom Waldwyn is a research associate for defense and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where Haena Jo is a research analyst for defense and military analysis. https://www.defensenews.com/outlook/2021/01/11/iiss-analysts-russian-and-western-defense-firms-face-greater-competition/