October 15, 2020 | International, Naval
Defense spending across San Diego County bolstered the local economy during the pandemic this year and now accounts for a quarter of the county's gross regional product, according to a new report released Tuesday.
According to the annual Military Economic Impact Report, more than $33 billion in direct payments — via payroll, defense contracts, and retirement and veterans benefits — went to people and companies in the county during the 2020 fiscal year.
That spending, along with spillover that researchers call a multiplier effect, equates to a total economic impact of more than $52 billion — 25 percent of San Diego's gross regional product.
The numbers show an increase of 5.7 percent in direct spending and a 7.7 percent increase in jobs that pencils out to 342,486 jobs.
Almost 60,000 active duty sailors and 50,000 active duty Marines make up the largest factions of employment, the report says, with more than 30,000 local civilians also employed by the Defense Department. Indirect employment linked to defense contracts adds roughly 190,000 jobs — about 15,000 more than fiscal year 2019.
The presence of the military and defense industries has softened the economic blow of the pandemic, Balmert said.
“The Rady School team did a great job of independently confirming what many of us already know, that the Defense budget provides an incredible stabilizing force during economic downturns such as we are experiencing during COVID19,” Balmert, a retired rear admiral, wrote in an email.
The report singled-out the impacts of three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers that call San Diego home — the USS Carl Vinson, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the USS Abraham Lincoln.
Each ship, the report notes, brings more than 3,000 sailors, making the three together a top-10 employer in San Diego. Each carrier contributes about $767 million to the region, the report says.
March 10, 2023 | International, C4ISR
The Pentagon’s efforts to improve U.S. force posture in the Pacific have yielded a flurry of major agreements, with allies motivated by China's behavior.
June 1, 2021 | International, Aerospace
Croatia’s government has made a decision to buy 12 second-hand Rafale F3-R fighter jets from France for the country’s Air Force, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said.
May 7, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — The German government has given Lockheed Martin and MBDA the go-ahead to bid anew on the TLVS air defense program. The latest request for a proposal, transmitted Wednesday, is the third iteration after previous attempts to draft a contract failed. If the vendor team decides to pursue the business, a new offer is expected by the summer. A Lockheed spokesman confirmed receipt of the solicitation but said the company could not comment further. The program, short for Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem, is meant to wean Germany off the venerable Patriot air defense weapon. Formerly developed in concert with the United States and Italy, TLVS boasts a 360-degree sensing and shooting capability meant to lower its footprint in the field and allow for intercepts against threats from all directions. The Germans want a system that grants its military operators maximum national autonomy, meaning the government wants to own the rights to relevant software and hardware without having to consult with Washington to employ or modify the weapon. That requirement previously turned out to be a major headache in the negotiations with industry, especially relating to the Lockheed-made interceptor known as the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement. It also remains to be seen how firmly Berlin sticks to its guns on the issue in the upcoming round of talks. News of movement in the prospective multibillion-dollar program comes as the German Defence Ministry announced another major acquisition decision last month that continues to make headlines. The government has proposed a split buy of Eurofighter and F-18 fighter jets to replace its Tornado fleet by 2030, prompting spirited debates among German lawmakers, industry advocates and analysts. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/06/german-government-asks-lockheed-mbda-to-re-bid-on-missile-defense-system/