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February 6, 2019 | International, Aerospace

France and Germany to launch first contracts on future combat jets

PARIS (Reuters) - France and Germany will on Wednesday announce a 65 million euro ($74 million) contract financed equally by both countries over two years as the first act of the joint programme to design a next-generation combat jet, a French army source and two other sources familiar with the matter said.

Dassault Aviation and Airbus, which will build the jet that is expected to replace Dassault's Rafale and Germany's Eurofighters by 2024, will start work on the concept and architectures of the program, the source said.

The French and German governments are expected to award the companies involved additional contracts to advance technologies and work on demonstrators this summer.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel first announced plans in July 2017 for the new Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which will include a fighter jet and a range of associated weapons, including drones.

After nearly two years of preparatory work by the companies involved, Wednesday's agreements and contract signing will pave the way for the programme to begin in earnest.

The initial contracts being signed on Wednesday will run for two years, the sources said.

Airbus and Dassault have been waiting for initial contracts to be signed to start work on the new project.

France's Safran and Germany's MTU Aero Engines are expected to join forces to develop the engine for the new warplane, while French electronics firm Thales and European missile maker MBDA would also participate.

French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly and German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen will preside over the signing ceremony at a Safran site in northeastern Paris on Wednesday.

Germany removed a key obstacle to progress on the project last week when it bowed to French demands and excluded Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter from a multibillion-euro tender to replace ageing Tornado fighter jets that are fitted to carry U.S. nuclear weapons.

Paris, Germany's closest European partner, had warned that buying the F-35 in particular would derail plans to develop the new Franco-German fighter by 2040 since it would constitute a potential competitor to that project.

France and Germany will add Spain as a full partner in the programme this summer, sources told Reuters in December.

Britain, which is due to exit the European Union in March, unveiled its own rival aircraft development programme, dubbed Tempest, at the Farnborough Air Show in July.

European military and industry executives say they believe the two programmes could and should eventually be merged given the need to compete internationally and the many billions of euros needed to develop a new combat aircraft.

The French army source said France and Germany were open to more European partners joining the programme.

Germany's embargo on arms sales to Saudi Arabia has been a source of friction with France, which has been unable to deliver Meteor missiles built for Saudi Arabia by MBDA, sources said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-france-defence/france-and-germany-to-launch-first-contracts-on-future-combat-jets-idUSKCN1PU2K0

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    May 31, 2019 | International, Aerospace

    French Military Launches Development Of Future Joint Light Helicopter

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  • Defense contractor with billions in sales got millions in pandemic loans intended for small businesses

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

    Defense contractor with billions in sales got millions in pandemic loans intended for small businesses

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Schwellenbach's investigation also found that two other firms allegedly tied to ADS ― including one that was named in a settlement with the Department of Justice ― separately received smaller PPP loans. “It's important that taxpayer funding reserved for genuine small businesses isn't siphoned off by companies that are not eligible,” Schwellenbach said. “As a top government contractor with revenues well over a billion dollars a year, it strains credibility that Atlantic Diving Supply is a real small business, especially given several recent settlements and law enforcement outcomes related to their alleged small business contracting fraud." Although it received a favorable ruling from the SBA as recently as November 2019, ADS's small business credentials have long been called into question. ADS started as a small, family-owned shop focused on the military diving community in Virginia Beach, which includes the Navy SEALs. 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ADS has already cleared $1 billion in federal contract receipts in 2020 despite the economic crisis. As it has grown ADS's continued status as a small business status has been critical to its participation in the Defense Department's Tailored Logistics Support, or TLS program, a lucrative military supply line that is largely restricted to SBA-approved small and disadvantaged businesses. In recent years, ADS's official headcount has teetered close to the SBA's 500-employee limit for small-company designation, and the company has fought off repeated challenges to its size status. If ADS were declared “no longer small,” it would not only be ineligible for SBA coronavirus assistance, but would also be forbidden from competing on small business set-aside contracts that drive its business. In 2017, ADS settled federal allegations that it used a network of allegedly-affiliated companies to rig bids and fraudulently misrepresent its size. 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Villanueva admitted that he and a friend pretended both companies were run by people who qualified for particular grants and drafted a misleading letter to the SBA that mischaracterized the degree to which one firm relied on other suppliers. ADS briefly lost its small business designation as a result of those allegations when a Defense Department contracting officer, concerned by ADS's settlement, requested a formal SBA review of the company's size status and its degree of affiliation with other companies named in the whistleblower lawsuit, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. That SBA review determined that ADS was “other than small,” which temporarily blocked the company from bidding on set-aside contracts. But ADS successfully appealed that ruling, which was reversed because it relied on old financial records. Today the company continues to receive federal contracts designated for small firms. Because the settlements arrived at by ADS and Hillier did not include a determination of liability, the company has been allowed to keep benefiting from the SBA's various small business programs. Its most recent size determination, which found it to be a small business, was finalized in November 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/03/defense-contractor-with-billions-sales-got-millions-pandemic-loans-intended-small-businesses

  • Raytheon gets $2 bln U.S. Air Force contract for nuclear cruise missile

    July 5, 2021 | International, Aerospace

    Raytheon gets $2 bln U.S. Air Force contract for nuclear cruise missile

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