January 22, 2024 | International, Naval
April 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
COVID-19 Alters DOD View Of Supply Chain
Lee Hudson
The spread of the novel coronavirus has changed the way the Defense Department views its supply chain and the military is beginning to understand where the industrial base is “hyper efficient but very brittle,” according to the U.S. Navy acquisition executive.
The Pentagon is discovering there are components made by either a single supplier or an overseas supplier that is impacted by COVID-19, Hondo Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters April 28.
Geurts said the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing the Pentagon to dig deeper into understanding various supply chain elements. This allows the military to begin making deliberate choices in where it needs additional “resilience” or “flexibility, he said.
“We meet now weekly at the department level to have a look through industrial base concerns, issues, hot spots or strategic challenges,” Geurts said. “That's one of the areas that I view, when we come out of this, that needs to be a normal course of business.”
The Pentagon identified Mexico and India as countries where the defense industrial base is being hit hard by supplier closures, Ellen Lord, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, told reporters April 20.
Geurts said it is not that other nations do not deem defense work as essential, but they are facing different circumstances with the novel coronavirus. His team is looking at various programs where there are overseas supply chains and understanding how they are operating or not during this time.
The Navy not only has many contracts with suppliers in Mexico, but also in Italy and Spain.
“We're just keeping an eye on it,” Geurts said. “We have flexibility and may have programs that rephase elements of construction or use stock we have on hand.”
Separately, since commercial aviation is being hard hit by COVID-19, the Pentagon is specifically focusing on propulsion contractors to put in orders during this time by rephasing work.
For example, the military did not intend to purchase an engine until three months from now, but because of the global pandemic will submit an order early.
“There'll be a natural limitation of funding, so we can't do that infinitely, but we're looking to leverage all the different tool sets we have,” Geurts said.
https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/supply-chain/covid-19-alters-dod-view-supply-chain
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August 1, 2018 | International, C4ISR
Cyber Command wants to partner with private sector to stop hacks
By: Justin Lynch The head of the National Security Agency and Cyber Command is advocating for a more expansive partnership between the government and the private sector amid an array of cyberthreats. Gen. Paul Nakasone, speaking July 31 during the Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity Summit in New York City, said that partnerships are America's “advantage in cyberspace,” "We have tremendous, exquisite, foreign intelligence reporting,” Nakasone said, but added he wanted to understand what the private sector and firms who make up America's digital infrastructure were looking for “so we can really tailor the information.” Information from Cyber Command and the NSA will be used in a new National Risk Management Center that hopes to share cyberthreats between the government and the private sector, according to a department spokeswoman. ”Resiliency begins with a dialogue,” Nakasone said. The new center's announcement comes after DHS said that Russia was continuing to attackAmerica's electric grid. Last week, Sen. Claire McCaskill D-Mo., said that Russian hackers tried unsuccessfully to infiltrate her office. On the same day that Nakasone spoke, Facebook said that it removed 32 accounts in an apparent influence campaign. Ninety percent of America's critical infrastructure is in private hands, Nakasone said. Therefore, the Department of Defense is kicking off the new risk center with a “90 day sprint” to identify companies that are most essential to the U.S. way of life in an effort to protect them from foreign cyberattacks. “Not all risks are created equal,” Nakasone said of the initial effort. https://www.fifthdomain.com/dod/cybercom/2018/07/31/cyber-command-wants-to-partner-with-private-sector-to-stop-hacks/
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October 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence
Italy defense budget rebounds despite coronavirus crisis
Tom Kington ROME — Italy has announced a major boost to its defense budget even as the country spends millions of euros battling the devastating effect of COVID-19 on its economy. Overall defense ministry spending is up 9.6 percent this year to €15.3 billion (U.S. $18.1 billion), with the procurement budget emerging as the big winner as it rises by 26 percent from last year if coupled with top-up spending from the industry ministry. “This is a very positive budget for the armed forces, especially for procurement during this challenging economic climate,” said Paolo Crippa, a defense analyst at the CESI think tank in Rome. The figures are included in Italy's 2020 budget, which should have been released in the spring, but was held up by the COVID-19 crisis which hit Italy hard in March and is now threatening the country again. This year's €15.3 billion defense ministry spending compares to just under €14 billion last year, signaling a halt in a series of year-on-year falls. Procurement takes up €2.8 billion of the budget, up 50 percent on last year, but for a true picture of Italian procurement spending the annual top-up for domestic procurement provided by the Italian industry ministry must be added, which amounts to €2.64 billion, also up from last year. The total to spend on procurement therefore comes to €5.45 billion, up 26 percent on last year's €4.32 billion. Of the other two other spending categories in the ministry budget, Maintenance and Operations rises 23 percent to €2.15 billion, while personnel spending remains stable at €10.4 billion. “The rise in M&O spending follows claims by generals that cuts were damaging military readiness,” said Crippa. The budget was drawn up by defense minister Lorenzo Guerini, a member of the center-left Democratic Party which governs in a coalition government with the anti-establishment Five Star party. Since first entering government in 2018, Five Star has softened its anti-military stance, which saw it initially push to scrap the F-35 program. This year, the F-35 program receives €800 million to help conclude the purchase of the first 28 of Italy's planned 90 aircraft buy. A further €126 million is also budgeted to get the purchase of the next 27 aircraft underway. Other ongoing programs that get more funding in 2020 include the purchase of 650 new VTLM 2 vehicles – an upgrade of the army Lince vehicle, as well as a mid-life refurbishment for Italy's Storm Shadow missiles and the purchase of T-345 and T-346 jet trainers. Further programs also getting a dose of regular funding are Italy's new, €1.17 billion LHD vessel the Trieste, a €2 billion acquisition of 150 new Centauro II wheeled tanks and a €974 million purchase of 16 new CH-47F helicopters. Comparing the total envisaged price tag of some programs in the budget to the price listed in last year's budget reveals costs are rising. A plan to buy four new U-212 NFS submarines has risen from €2.35 billion to €2.68 billion this year, a hike of over €300 million. The ongoing purchase of ten PPA naval vessels has risen over €400 million to €4.27 billion. Some programs appear for the first time in the budget, including two new “DDX” destroyers for the Navy. No money is earmarked in 2020 but €4.5 million is due to be used for a de-risking study beginning in 2021. A second new entry is a listing for a “multi-mission, multi-sensor” Gulfstream G-550 jet. Without stating how many aircraft Italy plans to order, the budget gives the total price tag of the program as €1.23 billion and states that funding will start in 2021. The capabilities of the platform listed include command-and-control, “electronic superiority” and “electronic protection of forces.” An Italian analyst who declined to be named said the program was a reprisal of a long nurtured Italian plan for a sensor platform dubbed JAMMS, which would offer signals intelligence, communications relay and radar capabilities. The Italian Air Force declined to comment on the program. An illustration of the aircraft in the budget document resembles Israel's “Shavit” Signals Intelligence Gulfstream. Italy already flies two Gulfstream 550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning aircraft it purchased from Israel's IAI in 2012 as part of a swap deal under which Israel purchased 30 M-346 trainers from Italian firm Leonardo. The budget document states that after getting underway, the new program will take onboard future technology advancements and the benefits of “international cooperation accords.” The analyst said, “There is a plan to buy the platform now since the Gulfstream G550 is going out of production, then add Israeli systems in return for purchases by Israel from Italian industry.” Programs on the military's wish list which do not have any funding earmarked yet also get a mention in the budget document, starting with investment in the U.K.-led Tempest program for a future sixth-generation fighter. But the absence of cash for the program, which the U.K. and Sweden have already invested in, risked making Italy the weakest partner in the trio, wrote Italian defense publication RID. “In this way, there is the risk that Italy's ability to influence the development decreases and it will be weaker when it comes to future talks on the dividing of manufacturing,” the publication stated. The document also confirms Italy's interest in joining the U.S. Future Vertical Lift helicopter initiative to build next generation helicopters, which is currently being pursued by the United States only. Government officials have already mulled investing in the program using funds paid out by the EU to help the Italian economy rebound from COVID-19. Analysts have suggested that buying into FVL may overlap with work by Italy's Leonardo to build the AW249, a replacement for Italy's AW129 Mangusta attack helicopter. This year, the plan to complete a €2.7 billion purchase of 48 of the AW249 helicopters receives funding in the budget. “There is cash for the successor to the AW129 but seeing the mention of the FVL confirms Italy is also interested in that initiative,” said Crippa. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/10/28/italy-defense-budget-rebounds-despite-covid-crisis/