Following procurement cut, the Army is looking to add funding back in 2022 for aerial jamming pod

On the same subject

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  May 7, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Pour la présidente de la commission de la défense de l’Assemblée nationale, «le budget de la défense doit être, plus que jamais, préservé»

  Françoise Dumas, présidente de la commission de la défense de l'Assemblée nationale, souligne, dans une tribune au Figaro, que l'industrie française de la défense constitue un outil précieux pour relancer l'économie française. «Un plan de relance à la hauteur des enjeux doit (...) surtout donner un stimulus immédiat à notre économie. Voilà qui plaide pour un focus très puissant en faveur de la défense et, par extension, de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, qui lui sont intrinsèquement liés», déclare notamment Mme Dumas. «L'industrie de défense, l'aéronautique et l'espace sont les grands points forts de la France dans la concurrence internationale. Il faut défendre nos atouts existants, en reprenant le travail lorsque toutes les précautions sanitaires seront réunies et, d'autre part, en préservant nos industries stratégiques de la récession qui frappe le reste de notre économie», poursuit-elle, mettant en garde contre d'éventuelles «coupes budgétaires destructrices dans l'exécution ou dans l'actualisation de la loi de programmation militaire» votée pour les années 2019 à 2025. «Investir dans la défense, c'est ainsi créer des emplois, de la valeur ajoutée et de l'innovation technologique dès à présent ; c'est relancer tout de suite, et non pas plusieurs années plus tard. Ne nous privons pas d'un vecteur de relance plus réactif que les autres», conclut Mme Dumas. Le Figaro du 6 mai

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  March 16, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Opinion: How New ‘Predators’ Are Reshaping Aerospace Landscape

  By Antoine Gelain Behind the big aerospace and defense (A&D) primes like Boeing and Airbus and the “Super Tier-1s” such as United Technologies (UTC) and GE, a very different type of company is shaping the global A&D industrial landscape in a way that may be even more impactful than high-profile UTC-Raytheon-type mergers. Companies such as Teledyne, TransDigm and Heico are the spearheads of a breed of A&D players dedicated to “components and subsystems,” with explicit and perfectly executed “horizontal” external growth strategies. Their track records are impressive: These three companies—with combined revenues of more than $10 billion—have collectively made close to 200 acquisitions and delivered more than 20% average annual growth rate in either profitability or share value over the last 20 years. Thanks to such returns and skyrocketing market valuations, they are able to outbid most other contenders when going after an acquisition target by leveraging the so-called “accretive effect.” This effect boosts the acquiring company's earnings per share, as long as the price paid for the target as a ratio of the enterprise value (EV) over its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) is lower than that of the acquiring firm. As it happens, the current EV/EBITDA ratio of the three above-mentioned companies stands at more than 18 (see graph). By comparison, most other A&D companies have an EV/EBITDA ratio in the 9-13 range. Such “buying power” is enhanced by operational synergies (for instance, in corporate overheads, sales and marketing), which immediately boost the profitability of the acquired company and can therefore be factored in the offer price. This gives them an additional edge against pure financial investors like private equity (PE) funds, which have historically been strong buyers of such component and subsystem businesses. Two recent deals in Europe (one still ongoing) illustrate this new balance of power. The first concerns Souriau-Sunbank, a $360 million-revenue specialist in interconnection technology for harsh environments. After being owned successively by two PE funds and bought by Esterline (now TransDigm) in 2011, it was again put up for sale last year. While expectations were that a PE fund would grab it, another industrial buyer, Eaton Corp., won the contest, paying the hefty price of $920 million (an EV/EBITDA multiple of 12). The second deal relates to a French company called Photonis, a world leader in night-vision technology for defense and space applications, for which Teledyne is apparently bidding—and offering a price 30% higher than the highest PE bid! These deals highlight the limits of the traditional private equity model (too short-term and too short-sighted) and why the “new predators”—all publicly listed companies—are in a much better position to continue to thrive. In fact, by combining “private equity-like growth in value with liquidity of a public market,” as TransDigm puts it, they are not only beating PE players at their own game, but they are also capturing a significant share of the A&D capital market by offering investors an attractive alternative to the traditional vertically integrated groups such as UTC, Thales or Safran. These groups are typically too busy focusing on large systems and equipment to realize that they would actually benefit from articulating a proper “component and subsystem” strategy. They would benefit not only because their portfolios are still full of such businesses, but also because their long-term competitiveness largely depends on their ability to nurture a strong network of strategic suppliers, in terms of both criticality for their own systems and national sovereignty. As it happens, Photonis seems to be such a strategic supplier, since the current French government just announced it would veto the Teledyne deal, hoping to give other French or European companies or investors time to make a competitive offer for the business. But because PE funds, at least in Europe, are somewhat faint-hearted when it comes to ambitious sector-specific “horizontal” portfolio strategies, and because Europe has no industrial player able to compete with the likes of Teledyne, the outcome of the process is still highly uncertain. In any case, Teledyne, Heico, Transdigm and similar companies are surreptitiously reshaping the A&D industrial landscape by buying technological nuggets and component businesses left and right, on both sides of the Atlantic. In the process, they are boosting their shareholders' returns and changing the balance of power with both traditional private equity investors and large vertically integrated A&D groups. As the saying goes: One man's meat is another man's poison. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/manufacturing-supply-chain/opinion-how-new-predators-are-reshaping-aerospace-landscape

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  October 3, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - October 02, 2019

  AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Co., doing business as Lockheed Martin Space, Sunnyvale, California, has been awarded a $163,950,489 fixed-price, incentive-firm target modification (P00148) to previously awarded contract FA8810-13-C-0002 for space based infrared system contractor logistics support. This action is a bilateral supplemental agreement executed in accordance with justification and approval 18-14. Work will be performed at outside the continental U.S. locations; Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado; Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado; Greeley Air National Guard Station, Colorado; and Boulder, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds are used and no funds are being obligated at the time of the award. The total cumulative face value of the modification is $163,950,489. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity. ASES LLC, doing business as Field Aerospace, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $21,346,897 firm-fixed-price contract modification (P00023) to previously award contract FA8106-18-C-0002 to exercise Option One for full rate production to begin for the T-1A Avionics Modification Program. This contract provides for the replacement of the avionics suite in the Air Education and Training Command fleet of 178 T-1A trainer aircraft, 16 operational flight trainers and 14 part task trainers. Work will be performed at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas; Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma; Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi; and Pensacola Naval Air Station, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 14, 2025. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $9,993,753; and 2019 aircraft procurement funds in the amount of $11,353,143 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Tinker Air force Base, Oklahoma, is the contracting activity. The Texas Workforce Commission, Austin, Texas, has been awarded a $17,085,515 contract modification (P00003) to previously awarded contract FA3016-18-D-0009 to exercise the first option period for Joint Base San Antonio/Ft. Sam Houston full food services. The contract modification exercised the first option period. Work will be performed at Joint Base San Antonio Ft. Sam Houston and Camp Bullis, and work is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $32,640,593. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,459,745 are being obligated at the time of the award. The 502d Contracting Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, is the contracting activity. CACI Inc. - Federal, Chantilly, Virginia, has been awarded a $12,693,283 cost-plus-fixed-fee task order to previously awarded contract FA8723-19-D-0001 for support vehicle programmed depot maintenance. This action is an in-scope bilateral supplemental agreement executed in accordance with the terms of Mobile Command and Control Systems contract. Work will performed at Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Greeley Air National Guard Station, Colorado, and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2023. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $12,693,283. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $4,916,938 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, is the contracting activity (FA8823-19-F-0013). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Eaton Aeroquip LLC, Jackson, Michigan, has been awarded a maximum $69,387,451 fixed-price contract for hoses, assemblies and other related parts. This was a competitive acquisition with one offer received. This is an eight year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Michigan, with an Oct. 1, 2027, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2028 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7MX-20-D-0003). DEFENSE HEALTH AGENCY Four Points Technology LLC, Chantilly, Virginia (HT0015-19-F-0161), was awarded a firm-fixed-price order for $12,428,715 (12-months), using fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds, subject to availability. This is an enterprise level order on National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Solution for Enterprise Wide Procurement (SEWP) for InterSystems Software renewal. This procurement is for InterSystems Software maintenance renewal to support the existing InterSystems Software deployed across the Department of Defense. These products provide relational databases collating all patient health information into a query engine application for use by healthcare providers. The requirement was competed on NASA SEWP as a 100% service disabled veteran owned small business set aside for InterSystems renewal, and Four Points Technology LLC provided the lowest-price-technically-acceptable quote. The amount of $12,428,715 for the base year is obligated at the time of award. The Defense Health Agency Enterprise Medical Support – Contracting Division (EMS-CD), located in San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Sept. 30, 2019) NAVY General Electric Co., Lynn, Massachusetts, is awarded a $10,592,822 modification (P00002) to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract (N00019-18-C-1061). This modification exercises an option to procure two F414-GE-400 production install engines, five engine devices, and 29 engine device K-seals in support of Lot 23 engine production for the F/A-18E/F aircraft. Work will be performed in Lynn, Massachusetts (48%); Evendale, Ohio (20%); Hooksett, New Hampshire (14%); Rutland, Vermont (9%); and Madisonville, Kentucky (9%), and is expected to be completed in August 2021. Fiscal 2018 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $10,592,822 will be obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY The Boeing Co., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $7,892,950 modification (P00038) to contract W58RGZ-16-C-0023 for the Communication Interface System Obsolescence for the Apache AH-64E full rate production. Work will be performed in Mesa, Arizona, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2022. Fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement, Army funds in the amount of $7,892,950 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. CORRECTION: The Sept. 6, 2019, announcement of an award to BAE Systems Inc., York, Pennsylvania, for a modification (P00015) to contract W56HZC-18-C-0133 included an incorrect estimated work completion date. The estimated completion date is March 31, 2022. All other information in the original announcement remains the same. U.S. TRANSPORTATION COMMAND Louis Berger Aircraft Services, Greenville, South Carolina (HTC711-17-C-C002), has been awarded a $7,226,021 modification (P00008) for air terminal ground handling services contract in Kuwait. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $20,265,296 from $13,039,275. Work will be performed at Al Mubarak Air Base, Kuwait, with an expected completion date of Sept. 30, 2020. Fiscal 2020 transportation working capital funds were obligated at time of award. The U.S. Transportation Command, Directorate of Acquisition, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, is the contracting activity. (Awarded Oct. 1, 2019) *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/1978068/source/GovDelivery/