Contracts for September 27, 2021

On the same subject

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  June 11, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  French aviation rescue plan bets on defence helicopters, drones and tankers

  The French government has pledged to buy new military heavy-lift helicopters and accelerate plans for naval drone, ISTAR and tanker aircraft programmes as part of a wider economic stimulus package, worth €15 billion ($17 billion), aimed at protecting the country's aviation industry from faltering under the strain of COVID-19. Based on the PlanAero initative, a decision to specifically issue the defence industry with funding of €600 million means that eight H225M rotary platforms will be ordered, while orders for three A330 MRTT and one Beechcraft King Air 350 ALSR will be expedited. VSR700 rotary-wing UAS and Aliaca mini drone plans have also been brought forward. The H225M order confirms that Paris will opt for it as a replacement for legacy French Air Force Puma helicopters while the new A330 MRTT arrangements will lead to retirement of the A340 being reset from 2028 to this year. A310s will similarly be taken out of service in 2021 – two years earlier than scheduled. The ALSR is under contract with Thales and Sabena Technics with a host of additional French suppliers contributing to the programme, including Ecrin, Aquitaine Electronics, Arelis, Avantix, Elvia and Protoplane, although a 9 June announcement from the French Ministry of Armed Forces does not mention a delivery date for the aircraft. PlanAero unmanned details include the addition of a second VSR700 demonstrator as part of the French Navy's SDAM programme but new commitments for the effort and the navy's SMDM mini drone programme stop short of exact order quantities. SDAM has been contracted to Airbus and Naval Group who have designed the in-development VSR700 from the Cabri G2 light helicopter, while SurveyCopter supplies the Aliaca for SMDM. 'This additional SDAM demonstrator will enable the programme to further secure the next steps, and in particular the development of technologies and the refinement of specifications to meet the French Navy's operational requirements,' an Airbus spokesperson told Shephard. The VSR700 is due to enter service in 2028 and boasts a 500-1,000kg MTOW capability. In November 2019, Airbus announced the platform had undergone tethered flight testing with future free flight trials anticipated. A VSR700 demonstrator phase. to include ship-based flights off French Navy frigates, has been laid out as part of risk reduction activities that were originally due to be completed by 2021. Shipborne deployments from the future FTI medium frigate are a longer-term target. Following on from France's aviation support plan, the European Commission warned on 10 June that budgetary pressures stemming from COVID-19 could impact member states, calling on them to 'spend better together'. In a joint statement Josep Borrell, VP of the European Commission and Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market, said that common capabilities, critical technologies and infrastructure must be strengthened but they questioned if Europe had given itself 'the means to do so'. https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/defence-helicopter/french-aviation-rescue-plan-bets-defence-helicopte/

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  November 6, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Finland warns fighter contenders to keep their budget-busting offers real

  By: Gerard O'Dwyer HELSINKI — Finland has issued a formal notification to industry candidates in its multibillion-dollar fighter program, urging them to keep their proposals within the prescribed budget constraints. “We do not envisage that we will see withdrawals because of the revised request for quotations. We expect no change there,” said Lauri Puranen, who directs the Finnish Air Forces' HX-fighter program. He said the move was meant simply to stress the need for all of the five international contenders to respect the program's €10 billion, or $11.1 billion, limit. Defense officials here have conceded that all five bidders, including Saab (Gripen), Dassault Rafale, the pan-European Eurofighter Typhoon, Boeing (F/A-18 Super Hornet), Lockheed Martin (F-35) have struggled with the project's rigid budgetary ceiling. "The budget set for the HX project has been an issue for all bidders and candidate aircraft,“ said Maj. Gen. Kari Renko, the deputy chief of the Finnish Defense Force's Logistics Command. Finland's recently-elected, conservative-left coalition government has shown no willingness or flexibility to deviate from the billion budget cap. The defense ministry has been instructed to look for a fighter replacement solution within the budgetary range of €7 billion to €10 billion, or $7.7 billion to $11.1 billion. Whatever flexibility exists in the HX project will impact the number of fighter aircraft purchased and weapons selected as part of the total acquisition program to replace the air force's Boeing F/A-18C/D Hornets. The last of the service's Hornets are expected to be retired by 2030. The defense ministry is seeking responses to the reviews request for quotations to be submitted by the end of January 2020. This will be followed by a request for final offers during the second half of 2020, a process that will commence after stage-two negotiations. The Finnish government plans to reach a decision on the HX fighter platform in 2021. The decision will cover the acquisition of a new aircraft, weapons, sensors, training, and spare parts. Bidders are expected to use their responses to the revised solicitation to clarify the industrial-cooperation elements of their respective offers. Finland is looking for a solution that will benefit the country's defense industry, and where parts and systems connected to the eventual contract will be produced under collaborative partnership contracts and joint venture agreements in Finland. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/11/05/finland-warns-fighter-contenders-to-keep-their-budget-busting-offers-real/

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  August 19, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Finland’s $12 billion fighter plan dodges the post-pandemic budget ax

  By: Gerard O'Dwyer HELSINKI — The Finnish government's budget proposal for 2021 has allayed concerns of delays or reduced funding for the Armed Forces' (FAF) HX Fighter Program. The plan will effectively increase the military's budgetary framework in 2021 by $2 billion to $5.8 billion to meet phase one of the project's procurement costs. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced Finland to significantly increase international borrowings and further load national debt, was feared to have a negative bearing of the fighter replacement project, particularly against the backdrop of a potential economic recession and grim forecasts of an 8 to 10 percent drop in GDP in 2020. Instead, the 2021 budget both protects and moves forward the $12 billion national security capital investment. The HX Fighter Program will have a “substantial effect” on the FAF's budgetary position and finances from 2021, said the HX Program's Director, Lauri Puranen. The $5.8 billion allocation represents a massive 54 percent increase on the FAF's defense budget for 2021 compared to 2020. Moreover, the higher financial provision will elevate military non-aligned Finland's defense spend, as a ratio of GDP, from 1.4 percent in 2020 to over 2 percent in next year. Finland plans to procure up to 64 fighters to replace its ageing fleet of F/A-18C/D Hornets. The government is slated to finalize its decision on the choice of fighter aircraft in 2021. The project timetable, with oversight from the FDF's Logistics Command, envisages the Finnish Air Force taking delivery of new fighters over the period 2025 to 2030. International fighter aircraft in contention for the $12 billion contract include the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-35 and the Saab Gripen. Phase two of the HX project is currently underway. This is focused on the content of the procurement in respect to each individual bidder. A request for best and final offers will be sought at the end of the second phase of negotiations in the fourth quarter of 2020, and ahead of a government decision on selection in the first half of 2021. Although the 2021 budget has secured project-specific funding for the HX Fighter Program, the overall fragile state of Finland's national finances threatens to curtail capital increases to other areas of defense, including training and multi-branch field exercises, in that year. Gen. Timo Kivinen, the FAF's defense chief, said that while the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the postponement of exercises, it has not affected Finland's military readiness. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/08/18/finlands-12-billion-fighter-plan-dodges-the-post-pandemic-budget-axe/