March 13, 2024 | International, Land
MBDA books record orders amid European air-defense rush
The pan-European missile maker has seen demand grow in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
July 10, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
House panel isn’t giving defense industry all the COVID aid it wants
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon would have $758 million to help mid-tier defense firms weather the financial effects of the coronavirus pandemic as part of the annual defense spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.
But the aid, which was part of the panel's proposed $694.6 billion bill, falls short of the “lower double-digit billions” Pentagon officials say defense firms will claim under the stimulus bill Congress passed in March.
As Congress debates the next stimulus, the defense industry has been urging lawmakers to appropriate enough to reimburse the Pentagon's suppliers for pandemic-related disruptions. Under Section 3610 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, contractors can seek to recover such costs, but Congress has yet to appropriate money for it.
“While helpful and our industry appreciates the recognition of the need in the HAC mark and all the support we have received from the Pentagon and Congress to date, this level is insufficient to provide the support indicated previously by [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] and also by company leaders who have been communicating with the Pentagon, the Congress and the White House, including [the Office of Management and Budget],” said National Defense Industrial Association Vice Chairman Arnold Punaro.
“We are urging that the next stimulus bill provide the needed funds particularly to support section 3610, the reasonable adjustments due to disruptions, and the added costs of protecting the workforces and doing business in a COVID-19 environment,” he added.
Not all of the details of the defense bill were available Wednesday, but a committee summary says it provides “$758 million to mitigate the impacts of COVID on second, third, and fourth tier suppliers in the Defense Industrial Base.”
Such support would supplement $688 million for the defense-industrial base that the Department of Defense previously set aside as part of the $10.5 billion it got from the coronavirus relief fund created under the CARES Act.
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord warned Congress last month that the DoD's pandemic-related costs, which include 3,610 claims, may nonetheless force it to dip into modernization and readiness accounts if Congress doesn't backfill the money.
“The department does not have the funding to cover these costs,” she said.
The House Appropriations Committee's bill is not the last word, and Republicans, who control the Senate and the White House, will negotiate over the final numbers. “FY21 appropriations bills must be changed before they have any chance of becoming law,” the panel's top Republican, Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, said Tuesday.
This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., began to outline a forthcoming GOP-drafted coronavirus relief package, but it was not immediately revealed what the Pentagon's share might be.
House Democrats are reportedly seeking $250 billion in emergency spending for an array of issues, to include rural broadband and transportation infrastructure to health care and global coronavirus relief.
As lawmakers reconcile these many priorities, at least one one influential lawmaker on defense ― House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash. ― has said repeatedly that the Defense Department should draw from its existing budget.
The Project on Government Oversight's Mandy Smithberger said the Pentagon has yet to make the case that payments to the defense industry will be the best means to stimulate the economy.
“Even though they often don't act like it, resources are still limited to a degree and Congress has to consider fairness as part of that distribution, including who needs the government's help most, and which sectors are going to do the most to help the country,” Smithberger said.
“These companies have much better access to capital than a number of other industries and individuals. Even from a reviving-the-economy perspective, this sector has always been one of the poorer performers per dollar for job creation.”
The health care and education sectors create more than twice as many jobs per $1 million than the military, and the energy and infrastructure sectors create 40 percent more, according a 2019 analysis by the Costs of War project at Brown University.
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September 25, 2020 | International, C4ISR, Security
Boeing assembles team to bid for next-gen missile defense interceptor
Jen Judson WASHINGTON ― Boeing has assembled a team with General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems and Aerojet Rocketdyne to bid to build the Missile Defense Agency's Next Generation Interceptor (NGI). The agency decided last year to scrap its plans to redesign the kill vehicle of its current Ground-Based Interceptors (GBI) that is part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system designed to defend the homeland against possible intercontinental ballistic missiles from North Korea and Iran. The MDA is holding a competition instead to design a brand new interceptor for the GMD system. The company has an extensive history with the GMD system in place at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, having held the development and sustainment contract for years. That contract is set to expire in 2023 and MDA is weighing options to break up that contract to foster competition that promotes increased capability. “The Boeing-led team will deliver critical technology to enhance our homeland missile defense,” Norm Tew, Boeing Missile and Weapon Systems vice president, said in a Sept. 24 statement. “Combined, we bring decades of expertise in proven missile and weapon systems.” An NGI “requires a new way of thinking supported by a proven ability to deliver pioneering solutions,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, said in a separate company statement issued Sept. 24. “We are excited to partner with Boeing to deliver the disruptive technologies needed to help MDA rapidly deploy an interceptor system that bolsters the nation's missile defense network and ensures that the U.S., our allies, and partner nations maintain military overmatch against ever evolving threats from adversaries.” Aerojet Rocketdyne will supply the propulsion system. “As the country's premier hit-to-kill propulsion provider, we're able to deliver low-cost, high-performance systems by leveraging our skilled workforce and strategic investments in innovative technology and materials,” Eileen Drake, Aerojet Rocketdyne CEO, said in the Boeing statement. Boeing reports the team submitted its NGI offering to MDA on Aug. 12. Also according to the statement, Northrop Grumman will serve as a “component supplier” on the Boeing team. Northrop is also teaming up separately with Raytheon to compete against the Boeing team and Lockheed Martin. Raytheon was the developer of the now-canceled RKV. MDA aims to downselect to two companies later this year, who will then compete for the right to build the interceptor. Proposals were due July 31, but MDA noted in its request for proposals that there may be some give in that schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The agency requested $664.1 million in fiscal year 2021 for the NGI program, as part of a $4.9 billion five-year budget plan. https://www.defensenews.com/2020/09/24/boeing-assembles-team-to-bid-for-next-gen-missile-defense-interceptor/