Des parlementaires européens appellent à un budget de la défense renforcé

On the same subject

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  July 3, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Boeing Awarded $1.5B Contract for 28 Kuwait Super Hornets

  By: Ben Werner Boeing was awarded a $1.5 billion contract to build 28 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets for the Kuwait Air Force, according to a Wednesday Pentagon contract announcement. Kuwait is buying 22 of the single-seat “E” variant and six of the two-seat “F” variant Super Hornet. The deal has been in the works since late 2016 when U.S. State Department notified Congress about Kuwait's intent to purchase Super Hornets. On March 30, Boeing was awarded a $1.16 billion contract to research, development and testing for the Kuwait deal. The deal Kuwait finalized Wednesday is a scaled-down version of the initial purchase announced in 2016 which involved 40 aircraft. At the time, the deal was considered significant by industry analysts and U.S. government officials because it would keep Boeing's Super Hornet production line operational. Since the 2016 announcement, Boeing has courted several potential international Super Hornet customers, including Finland, India, Switzerland and Germany. The U.S. Navy has announced it plans to purchase 116 additional Super Hornets — bringing its fleet up to 480 aircraft. When the Navy orders are added to possible international sales, the St. Louis-based production line could remain running for more than a decade. The following is the complete June 27, 2018 contract award. The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $1,504,995,240 fixed-price-incentive-firm contract that provides for the production and delivery of 22 F/A-18E and six F/A-18F Super Hornets in support of the government of Kuwait. Work will be performed in El Segundo, California (41.4 percent); Hazelwood, Missouri (28.2 percent); Fort Worth, Texas (4.7 percent); Santa Clarita, California (4 percent); Bloomington, Minnesota (3.3 percent); Greenlawn, New York (2.8 percent); Endicott, New York (2.3 percent); Santa Ana, California (1.9 percent); Clearwater, Florida (1.5 percent); Clifton, New Jersey (1.3 percent); Mesa, Arizona (1.3 percent); Torrance, California (1.2 percent); Ontario, Canada (1 percent); Vandalia, Ohio (0.9 percent); Kalamazoo, Michigan (0.8 percent); Fort Walton Beach, Florida (0.8 percent); East Aurora, New York (0.7 percent); and various locations outside the continental U.S. (2.1 percent), and is expected to be completed in January 2021. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $1,504,995,240 will be obligated at time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00019-18-C-1060). https://news.usni.org/2018/06/28/kuwait-finalizes-contract-for-28-super-hornets

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  March 26, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed construit sa relation avec l’industrie belge

  Par Benoit Gilson Alors que l'industrie belge manifestait une inquiétude croissante quant aux retours industriels du contrat passé entre la Belgique et Lockheed pour l'acquisition de 34 F-35, le constructeur américain a surtout voulu rassurer, ce jeudi 21, en organisant une séance de signatures à l'impact surtout symbolique. Lockheed, qui a également profité de l'occasion pour rappeler les atouts de son appareil, a ainsi signé des engagements de potentiels partenariats avec 22 industriels belges. S'ouvre ainsi une période d'environ 1 an, durant laquelle les industriels belges concernés vont pouvoir répondre à divers appels d'offres de Lockheed autour du F-35. Des appels d'offres qui ne concerneront pas seulement les 34 appareils de la Composante Air de la Défense belge, mais aussi le reste de la production de F-35, notamment à travers l'introduction de fournisseurs en deuxième ou en troisième source pour un certain nombre de composants. Nous reviendrons sur ces signatures et les perspectives offertes aux industriels belges dans notre prochaine édition. Les industriels belges concernés à ce stade sont : 3D Systems AMI Metals ASCO BEC BMT Additive BMT Aerospace Esterline Belgium Feronyl Hexcel Composites Ignition ! ILIAS Solutions imec inno.com Luciad Prodata Systems Proximus SABCA Sabena Aerospace Safran Solvay Sonaca Thales Belgium http://www.air-cosmos.com/lockheed-construit-sa-relation-avec-l-industrie-belge-121749

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  June 4, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Here’s the newest price tag for DoD’s arsenal of equipment

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Defense Department's portfolio of 121 key defense acquisition programs now has a price tag of $1.86 trillion, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. The number comes from the GAO's annual assessment of Pentagon acquisition, delivered to the public on Wednesday. The figure involves a 4 percent increase over the previous year but also factors in, for the first time, 15 major IT investments ($15.1 billion) and 13 middle-tier acquisition programs ($19.5 billion). The vast majority comes from 93 major defense acquisition programs, or MDAP, worth $1.82 trillion. Of those, 85 MDAPs worth a total of $1.8 trillion are already underway, with the rest expected to enter production in the near future. The $1.8 trillion figure marks the largest level of investment in MDAPs since 2011, and an increase of $44 billion over the department's 2018 MDAP portfolio. The current MDAP portfolio has accumulated more than $628 billion in cost growth over the life of its programs — or 54 percent more than the projected cost when programs began — with schedule growth overshooting targets by 29 percent at an average capability delivery delay of more than two years. Over the last year, 42 MDAPs reported a combined total acquisition cost increase of more than $80 billion. Nine programs that saw cost estimates increase by over 25 percent made up more than half of that total. While some of that is driven by increased procurement numbers, such as with the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile for the Air Force, those changed procurement plans are not the major driver of the cost increase. However, it's not all bad fiscal news: The remaining 43 MDAPs saw a cost decrease of more than $16 billion. And 19 programs that increased procurement managed to drive costs down through those updated plans. One worrisome trend the GAO highlighted is the lack of factoring in cybersecurity to early development of key performance parameters on MDAPs. The watchdog dug into a sample of 42 MDAPs as a test case, it and found that 25 of those programs had zero cybersecurity factored into the key performance parameters. Another 10 programs had one KPP related to cybersecurity, which is unlikely to be enough in the modern, wired world. For the middle-tier programs, which are designed for rapid prototyping and fielding, the GAO warned there is “inconsistent cost reporting and wide variation in schedule metrics” across the programs, adding that this poses “oversight challenges for Office of the Secretary of Defense and military department leaders trying to assess performance.” However, the watchdog agency also said the Department of Defense is in the process of addressing those issues. One notable program challenge identified in the report: The Navy's presidential helicopter replacement program, known as the VH-92A, has yet to “demonstrate that it can meet the requirement to land on the White House South Lawn without causing damage.” Parts of the helicopter are too hot, which will damage the lawn under “certain conditions.” As a result, the program is studying everything from lawn surface treatments to changes in aircraft design. “Due to concurrency in the program, which entered production while simultaneously addressing problems identified during the operational assessment, a design change to address this or other deficiencies discovered in the future may require modifications to units already in production,” the GAO found. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/06/03/heres-the-newest-price-tag-for-dods-arsenal-of-equipment/