European airborne electronic-attack program kicks into high gear

On the same subject

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  September 5, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed to make wings for F-16 jet in India with partner Tata

  Neha Dasgupta NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) will build wings for its F-16 combat plane in India with its local partner, Tata Advanced Systems Limited, an executive at the U.S. company said on Tuesday. Lockheed is bidding for a contract - estimated at more than $15 billion - to supply the Indian air force with 114 combat planes, which must be all manufactured locally under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship Make in India program. However, Vivek Lall, vice president of strategy and business development at Lockheed, said the proposed Indian production of the F-16 wings would not be contingent upon the company winning the order for the planes. “Producing F-16 wings in India will strengthen Lockheed Martin' strategic partnership with Tata and support Make in India,” the company said in a statement. Modi has been pushing for local manufacturing that will provide jobs and also end the military's dependence on imports. Lockheed's announcement came just days ahead of top level talks between the United States and India aimed at expanding defense ties. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will meet with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Boeing (BA.N) has pitched its F/A-18 Super Hornet for the Indian contract as well as Sweden's Saab with its Gripen fighter. France's Dassault (AVMD.PA) Systemes SE's Rafale, the Eurofighter Typhoon and Russian aircraft are also in the fray. Lall said Lockheed had offered to make India its sole F-16 production facility that would supply the Indian military but also other countries. “If India buys the F-16 then it becomes the center of manufacturing for the global market,” he said. Lall said the company planned to begin production of the F-16 wings in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad from 2020. He said these were being produced at a facility in Israel and would not impact any jobs in the United States. The Israeli center will continue to be involved in other production, he said. “All F-16 wings globally are to be built in the Hyderabad facility,” he said. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-usa-lockheedmartin/lockheed-to-make-wings-for-f-16-jet-in-india-with-partner-tata-idUSKCN1LK17T

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  June 11, 2021 | International, Naval

  Raytheon Expands Logistics Support Marine Corps Ground Equipment - Seapower

  ARLINGTON, Va. — Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, will provide logistics and repair services for all U.S. Marine Corps ground equipment under a five-year, $495 million contract, the company announced in a June 8 release.  The company...

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  April 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Back hard-hit businesses? Experts press EU to instead boost defense spending

  By: Tom Kington ROME — Defense experts are concerned that Europe's newfound commitment to joint defense spending may be cast aside as the European Union diverts cash into economies hammered by the coronavirus lockdown. The scenario was discussed in a webinar hosted by Italy's IAI think tank on April 8. And last week, Polish and German experts wrote of the risk that the fledgling European Defence Fund will be savagely cut. Then on April 27, eight experts issued an appeal to EU policymakers, arguing that rather than cutting defense funds to free up money to support hard-hit businesses, they should do the opposite and beef up defense spending. With so many high-tech jobs in the defense industry, “specific support for this sector will be needed to mitigate the economic crisis' effects and preserve the long-term future of Europe,” wrote the experts, who hail from Spain, Italy, the U.K., France and Lithuania. According to the letter, the EU plans to pack its 2021-2027 budget with measures to limit a recession some economists believe will follow the pandemic. Economists have also warned such a recession would dwarf the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. “Undoubtedly it will focus on critical sectors such as health or energy. We believe that the defence sector should be included in such critical sectors and that a revised version of the [budget] should be the opportunity to reassert a truly ambitious budget for the European Defence Fund,” the experts wrote. Apart from shoring up defense jobs, feeding the European Defence Fund would help defend the EU as threats grow, they wrote. “Indeed, COVID-19 will not stop or mitigate the ongoing worsening of the international security environment threatening European security and interests. On the contrary, it is likely to make the world more unstable and more insecure,” they added. Defense spending had been slashed after 2008, the experts said, and faces a similar fate now, just as “Europe is trying to develop next-generation fighter aircraft, main battle tanks, frigates and other capabilities such as unmanned systems crucial for its military and technological edge.” Cutting budgets would not only increase Europe's dependency on “third states” but would “significantly hinder the credibility of European nations as military partners, notably within NATO,” they added. Prior to the spread of coronavirus, pressure had grown inside the EU to halve the €13 billion (U.S. $14 billion) planned for the European Defence Fund during 2021-2027. Now, the EU should halt any plans to cut the fund and instead increase it, the experts wrote. “As Europe gradually emerges from the pandemic, there [cannot be a] secure ‘new normal' without a solid European defence,” they concluded. The letter's release coincided with a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute that found total global military spending rose 3.6 percent in 2019 to $1.917 trillion — marking the largest annual growth in spending since 2010. The think tank report also found that U.S. spending grew by 5.3 percent to a total of $732 billion in 2019, at 38 percent of the global total. The increase alone in U.S. spending was roughly equal to the entire budget of Germany. The European country's military spending rose by 10 percent last year to $49.3 billion, which the think tank said was the largest increase in spending among the top 15 military spenders in 2019. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/04/27/back-hard-hit-businesses-experts-press-eu-to-instead-boost-defense-spending/