December 9, 2023 | International, Land
A provision in Congress' not-yet-final annual defense authorization bill calls for "an independent review, assessment, and analysis" of Force Design 2030.
December 8, 2022 | International, C4ISR
Germany's parliament will on Dec. 14 approve a 1.35-billion-euro purchase of 20,000 encrypted radios for its military, a person familiar with the matter said, with an option to buy another 14,000 radios for 1.5 billion euros.
December 20, 2019 | International, Land
Sterling Heights, Mich. December 18, 2019 - The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $249 million contract modification to complete an additional 60 M109A7 self-propelled howitzers that will bring improved artillery capabilities to the Army's Armored Brigade Combat Teams (ABCTs). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191218005087/en/“ We are excited about the opportunity to continue bringing new howitzers and increased survivability to our soldiers,” said Jeremy Tondreault, vice president and general manager of BAE Systems Combat Vehicles. “The M109A7 positions the Army to execute its current mission with confidence and support its future needs and requirements as long range precision fires evolve.” The award exercises options on an existing low-rate production contract and includes the completion of an additional 60 M992A3 Carrier, Ammunition, Tracked (CAT) vehicles to accompany the M109A7. The M109A7 and the CAT vehicle sets provide increased commonality across the ABCTs, and have significant built-in growth potential in terms of electrical power and weight carrying capacity. The vehicle design includes a new chassis, engine, transmission, suspension, steering system, a new high voltage architecture and improved survivability, while the vehicle's cannon remains the same as that of an M109A6 Paladin. The M109A7 is supported by the Army as a vital technology enhancement program to maintain the combat capability of its ABCTs. It will solve long-term readiness and modernization needs of the M109 family of vehicles through a critical redesign and production plan that leverages the most advanced technology available today. This state-of-the-art “digital backbone” and power generation capability provides a more robust, survivable, and responsive indirect fire support capability for ABCT Soldiers. The M109A7 is a significant upgrade over the M109A6 as it restores space, weight, and power cooling, while providing significant growth potential for emerging technologies. The initial contract was awarded in 2017. This most recent order brings the total number of vehicle sets — M109A7 howitzers and M992A3 ammunition carriers — to 156, and the total contract value to $1.16 billion. Work on the M109A7 will take place at several facilities within the Company's combat vehicles manufacturing network including: Aiken, South Carolina; Elgin, Oklahoma; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and, York, Pennsylvania. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191218005087/en/
June 4, 2019 | International, Aerospace
Lee Ann Shay Following its announcement in October to collaborate with Robotic Skies, Boeing is to announce on June 4 an investment in the company. Boeing is investing an undisclosed amount in Robotic Skies, a company that provides aftermarket services for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This follows an October 2018 announcement that the companies were starting to work together to develop MRO, supply chain, logistics and digital analytics capabilities for the UAS market—with the intention of expanding their relationship to provide “unified operations services.” The next steps, after this undisclosed minority investment, are to continue “going to market together” and to explore new business opportunities that they could develop for customers, says Stan Deal, president and CEO of Boeing Global Services. The partnership then equity approach is similar to what Boeing, through its HorizonX Ventures investment arm, has done with other small, emerging-technology companies, such as ForeFlight, which it ended up buying in March after following a similar relationship development path. Deal sees the potential to do something similar with Robotic Skies. So far, some of the biggest collaborations between the two companies have dealt with parts distribution through Boeing company Aviall and “exploiting digital solutions we've been able to use in the commercial aviation market,” including those available from Boeing's Jeppesen subsidiary, says Deal. Robotic Skies, founded in 2014, has customers in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East and services them through a brokered network of about 170 certified repair stations in 40 countries. The investment in Robotic Skies expands Boeing's global services footprint and “is another proof point of Boeing's seriousness” to invest in a breadth of services to support its customers, says Deal. Boeing HorizonX led the funding but the investment round also had participation from Thayer Ventures, Sun Mountain Capital and KickStart Seed Fund. https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/boeing-invests-unmanned-aerial-systems-aftermarket