September 17, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
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April 22, 2020 | International, Aerospace
F-35 deliveries could slow down, as COVID-19 jolts Lockheed’s supply chain
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — The coronavirus pandemic has rattled Lockheed Martin's aeronautics business, with the F-35 joint strike fighter program facing the prospect of a slowdown in deliveries, company executives said Tuesday.
“The disruptions introduced by the virus have caused us to reduce our 2020 sales expectations as production and supply chain activities have recently slowed in our aeronautics business area,” Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson said during an April 21 earnings call with investors.
The company now projects its total sales for 2020 will amount to anywhere from $62.25 billion to $64 billion dollars — down from the the $62.75 billion to $64.25 billion it had previously estimated in January.
Production of the F-35 has been the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic so far, said Ken Possenriede, the company's chief financial officer.
“There's more analysis that we're going to do over the next couple of weeks working with our supply chain, our Fort Worth production line to determine — if any impact — to what extent it will be, including deliveries,” he said.
Lockheed's acknowledgement of COVID-19 related challenges comes a day after the Pentagon disclosed schedule delays across its major weapons acquisition efforts, with aviation programs hit particularly hard by the effects of the pandemic.
“We believe there will be a three-month impact that we can see right now. So we're looking at schedule delays and inefficiencies and so forth. That isn't a particular program, that's [major defense acquisition programs] in general,” Ellen Lord, the Pentagon's top acquisition official, told reporters Monday.
While Lord did not name specific programs that could be delayed, Possenriede said Tuesday that disruptions to the F-35 program were likely due to pressures faced by domestic and international companies within the jet's global supply chain.
“There are local distancing requirements that are being more stringently applied across the globe. There is workforce disruption,” he said. “We've actually had some issues with shipping constraints.”
Most recently, Lockheed's supply chain team discovered an issue with suppliers' performance-based payment invoices, which get delivered to Lockheed after certain milestones are completed, Possenriede said.
“There are a couple suppliers that are going to be delinquent in April. Some of them are for administrative reasons — we'll work through that. That's just timing. Some of them is due to them not achieving their milestones,” he said. “Most of it is going to be COVID-related. We're looking at that.”
Despite the challenges in keeping F-35 production smooth, there has been little change to other aspects of the program, Possenriede said. Development and follow-on modernization activities have continued with “little to no impact.”
And while Lockheed contractors have faced some barriers reporting to work at certain bases where they help perform repairs or stand up maintenance operations, Possenriede said there has been minimal impact to F-35 sustainment.
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October 11, 2018 | International, Naval
Italian shipbuilders tout systems-engineering chops ahead of French merger talks
By: Tom Kington ROME – Italian firms Leonardo and Fincantieri have announced tighter cooperation on naval systems work to help them build better ships and get ready for an expected Italo-French team-up in warship construction. The two firms said they would relaunch Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, an existing joint venture between them, to develop naval combat systems. Leonardo, which holds 49 percent of the joint venture, has long supplied radars, guns and systems to ships built by shipyard Fincantieri, which holds a majority 51 percent stake. OSN was created in 2002 to integrate the work of the two firms on Italy's Horizon frigates, Cavour carrier and FREMM frigates, but was not used for the more recent construction of Italy's new PPA frigates. In its new form, OSN will “assume responsibility for the development of the combat systems and the definition of subsystem requirements and individual components' architecture, including the Combat Management System (CMS),” in new vessels, the firms said in a statement. “Fincantieri will act as prime contractor, the single interface to customers and hold responsibility for the warship as a whole (Whole Warship Design Authority), therefore in charge, on behalf of OSN, of the architecture of the ship system concerning both the platform and the combat system. Leonardo will be the preferred partner for the Combat Management System and the equipment and systems of the ship,” the statement reads. An Italian industrial source said the deal was designed to make systems integration more central to shipbuilding by the two firms. “Until now a lot of work on integration took place during the ship building process. Now, integration should happen earlier in the process,” the source said. Full article: https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/10/10/italian-shipbuilders-tout-systems-engineering-chops-ahead-of-french-merger-talks
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September 17, 2024 | International, Land
Norway’s Kongsberg to open new Virginia missile production plant
Amid global demand, Kongsberg will build a new facility to produce Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles in Virginia.