May 5, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Lee Hudson
The Pentagon intends to request additional stimulus funding from Congress to support the defense industrial base in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Defense Secretary Mark Esper says.
The funding would go to small suppliers that have been hit hard by the spread of the novel coronavirus, Esper said May 4 during a Brookings Institution event.
In recent weeks, Congress has passed about $3 trillion in emergency funding bills related to COVID-19. The Senate is in session this week, but the House has postponed votes. It is unknown when the next stimulus package will wrap up.
“We anticipate the likely need for additional monies ... because we see again greater demand with regard to medical supplies and equipment,” Esper said.
But House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said the Pentagon should not receive stimulus funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act because the public health sector needs it more.
Last week, Pentagon acquisition executive Ellen Lord said the Pentagon may have wiggle room to use some of its own operations and maintenance funding to pay for COVID-19-related efforts.
Lord cautioned that the Pentagon may not have the fiscal flexibility to pay for new demands on the agency to battle COVID-19.
“I will say that we continue to look at gaps in funding we have for specific issues. We continue to work with [the Office of Management and Budget] on that, and we will continue to talk to Congress about what we assess as our needs to really carry out our missions,” Lord said.
The Defense Department (DOD) wants to continue supporting the defense industry by issuing progress payments to help with cash flow, Esper said.
“DOD is not an island. We really rely heavily on the private sector, and so many of our private sector workforce has been affected by COVID-19,” Esper said.
Some defense contractor personnel are infected with the virus, while others are working in states with shutdown orders and management does not want them coming into work because of tight quarters, he said.
Separately, Esper is concerned the nation's additional debt incurred due to COVID-19 may result in smaller defense budgets during a critical time when China and Russia are strategic competitors of the U.S.
The U.S. must recapitalize the nuclear triad and invest in hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, space capabilities and directed energy, Esper said.
November 30, 2024 | International, Land
The M10 Booker, named to honor two U.S. soldiers, represents the pinnacle of modern military engineering, offering superior lethality, survivability, and mobility in the face of modern ground threats
October 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace
A l'occasion du bilan d'étape dressé par Madame Florence Parly, ministre des Armées, au sujet de la réforme du maintien en condition opérationnelle (MCO), Dassault Aviation tient à rappeler sa fierté de servir les armées françaises en apportant un soutien quotidien aux flottes de Rafale, de Mirage 2000, d'ATL2 et de Falcon de surveillance maritime. Saint-Cloud, le 15 octobre 2020 – A l'occasion du bilan d'étape dressé par Madame Florence Parly, ministre des Armées, au sujet de la réforme du maintien en condition opérationnelle (MCO), Dassault Aviation tient à rappeler sa fierté de servir les armées françaises en apportant un soutien quotidien aux flottes de Rafale, de Mirage 2000, d'ATL2 et de Falcon de surveillance maritime. La décision du ministère des Armées de verticaliser le MCO du Rafale et de l'ATL2, avec les contrats RAVEL et OCEAN, permet d'assurer aux forces aériennes françaises une disponibilité optimale de leurs flottes. Gr'ce à la mise en service de RAVEL depuis 18 mois, Dassault Aviation et ses partenaires industriels, dont Thales, assurent ainsi une disponibilité de 76% des Rafale, soit une valeur supérieure aux 73% prévus contractuellement. La qualité de ce service va encore s'améliorer au fil du temps, comme prévu, avec notamment la mise en place d'un système d'information b'ti en coopération avec les opérationnels par Dassault Aviation ; un outil qui s'appuie sur l'expertise de Dassault Systèmes en matière de gestion/analyse des données et qui sera basé sur sa technologie Cloud et son logiciel EXALEAD. © Dassault Aviation – A. Pecchi « Je m'assure en permanence de la satisfaction de l'armée de l'Air et de l'Espace et de la Marine nationale dans le soutien que leur apportent les équipes de Dassault Aviation. En confiance avec elles et avec la Direction de la maintenance aéronautique, nous recherchons sans cesse toutes les possibilités d'amélioration du soutien qui leur est apporté », a déclaré Éric Trappier, P-DG de Dassault Aviation. Gr'ce à l'étroite coopération avec les personnels des bases aériennes, les équipes de Dassault Aviation sont aussi très fières d'avoir poursuivi efficacement, durant ces derniers mois, le soutien des forces armées, malgré le confinement lié à la crise COVID-19. À PROPOS DE DASSAULT AVIATION Avec plus de 10 000 avions militaires et civils livrés dans plus de 90 pays depuis un siècle (dont 2 500 Falcon), Dassault Aviation dispose d'un savoir-faire et d'une expérience reconnus dans la conception, le développement, la vente et le support de tous les types d'avion, depuis l'appareil de combat Rafale jusqu'à la famille de business jets haut de gamme Falcon en passant par les drones militaires et les systèmes spatiaux. En 2019, le chiffre d'affaires de Dassault Aviation s'est élevé à 7,3 milliards d'euros. Le Groupe compte 12 750 collaborateurs. https://www.dassault-aviation.com/fr/groupe/presse/press-kits/dassault-aviation-au-service-des-armees/
February 9, 2021 | International, Aerospace
by Gareth Jennings The US Air Force (USAF) plans to strengthen its Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) fleet, with a further six aircraft to be procured over the coming five years. With the fleet currently comprising three Bombardier Global 6000 regional jet-based E-11A (one of the original four was lost on operations in Afghanistan in 2020) and four Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, the service disclosed on 5 February that it plans to acquire a further six E-11As through to 2026. “In an effort to boost the fleet, the BACN Program Office is working to procure six E-11A aircraft over the next five years. The team has secured additional funding for the first aircraft, and contract negotiations on a purchase agreement are currently in progress,” the USAF said, adding that it expects to have a contract in place by the end of March. While the announcement said that all six aircraft would be delivered by the end of June, it appears from the previously stated timeline that ‘2026' was inadvertently omitted. News of the proposed boost to numbers came days after the USAF awarded Northrop Grumman USD3.6 billion for continued BACN operations, sustainment, and support. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/usaf-to-buy-more-bacn