August 14, 2020 | International, Aerospace
COLOGNE, Germany – The Hungarian and U.S. governments have announced a $1 billion deal to equip the European country with new air-defense weaponry.
The sale includes the Raytheon-made Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile-Extended Range missile, of which Hungary requested some 60 copies in May through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, that portion of the deal is worth $230 million.
Another transaction type, called a Direct Commercial Sale, accounts for the rest of the money, according to a statement posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. Such sales are negotiated privately between customer countries and American defense contractors, meaning the U.S. government has little involvement besides approving an export license.
Exactly what the DCS portion of the deal entails is unclear, though the embassy statement and Hungarian media note that all the equipment would go toward replacing the country's Soviet-era gear with the NASAMS short- and medium-range air-defense system made by Norway's Kongsberg. Raytheon's AMRAAM-ER missiles are the interceptors in that configuration.
U.S. Ambassador David Cornstein, a New York businessman and admirer of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban's policies, and Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benkő lauded the weapons deal Wednesday.
“We commend the Hungarian government's strong commitment to continue modernizing Hungary's military through the acquisition of the world's most advanced mid-range air defense system, which will enhance Hungary's ability to provide collective and self-defense,” the statement reads.
EU member Hungary, with its far-right government, is under pressure from other members of the bloc for what they say is a steady slide toward anti-democratic rule.
The country has been on a military spending spree lately, with Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann in line to supply dozens of Leopard-2 tanks.
June 29, 2023 | International, Naval, C4ISR
The new rating and designator will predominantly be assigned to shore billets such as staff positions and leadership positions, and instructor billets.
December 16, 2019 | International, Land
By: Valerie Insinna SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. — With no end in sight to the demand on the tanker fleet, the U.S. Air Force is actively seeking agreements with defense contractors for aerial refueling services. On Dec. 17, Air Mobility Command will hold an industry day at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, in the hopes of better understanding how it can contract for commercial air refueling services to supplement tanking missions performed by the Air Force's KC-135s, KC-10s and KC-46s. “We do think that this is an opportunity that needs to be pursued,” Lt. Gen. Jon Thomas, the command's deputy chief, said during an exclusive interview with Defense News on Dec. 10. “If we can find a viable, clear path with industry, we should do it.” The Air Force believes there are a certain set of aerial-refueling missions conducted in a uncontested environment that could provide a predictable stream of business, Thomas said. Through the industry day, the service is hoping to better understand how companies might be able to fulfill those requirements. “There are several providers ... that would propose that they have their own tanker that's already flying and doing great work for other air forces,” he said. “That's fascinating to us. There's another vendor that has procured boom-equipped tankers from a foreign air force that is a proven capability. There are some others that may be doing the same thing with a different foreign air force. So I would say that they're out there and they're committing to the idea that if the Air Force is serious, we're serious about this, too.” There are a number of parameters that industry would have to address, such as meeting the Air Force's aircraft certification standards and the Federal Aviation Administration's demands for refueling in U.S. airspace. Companies must also be able to refuel aircraft using a boom — a requirement that may hinder certain tankers that use a probe and drogue for refueling. “Right now, all commercial aerial refueling services are drogue only. It has to be a boom aircraft for the U.S. Air Force to be able to really leverage it in any meaningful way,” Thomas said. Although Thomas declined to talk about specific vendors that could provide air refueling services, Lockheed Martin and Airbus — which joined forces in 2018 to pitch a fee-for-service model for Airbus's A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport — have been vocal about courting the U.S. Air Force as a customer. Michele Evans, head of Lockheed's aeronautics business, told reporters in June that the companies are in discussions with the U.S. military about A330 sales, leasing or a fee-for service construct, and that U.S. Transportation Command in particular showed interest. “We've really been able to show them what we think is capable, feasible,” she said. “You can never have enough tanking capability. As you look at the challenges of the battlespace and the threat and capabilities, having to be standoff farther and farther, it's a great opportunity for them to go revisit their capabilities versus capacity.” Still, Evans acknowledged there is much to be determined, including the exact nature of the business partnership between Airbus and Lockheed, should a contract emerge, and how the company would structure a fee-for-service contract with the Air Force or other potential customers. One possible construct would involve associating a cost for each gallon of fuel delivered. If the Air Force decides not to move forward with purchasing aerial refueling services, it still has a number of options for augmenting the tanker force. In the near term, Air Mobility Command can retain some KC-135s that were slated to be divested as the KC-46 comes online, Thomas said. In March, Transportation Command chief Gen. Stephen Lyons told Congress that the Air Force was considering keeping as many as 28 KC-135s. The Air Force is currently debating 14 KC-135s as part of the fiscal 2021 budget, Thomas said. “We'll see how the president's budget goes over. I really hope that it will allow us to retain some additional capacity. I don't know if it will,” he said. “But that's our first lever that we can pull." Another option is increasing the KC-46 program of record, which currently stands at 179 tankers. However, Boeing is still in the process of making extensive changes to the aircraft's remote vision system, which the aircraft uses for refueling, and Air Mobility Command won't be able to consider a production increase until those fixes are made, Thomas said. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2019/12/13/the-air-force-needs-more-tankers-could-the-defense-industry-have-the-answer/
February 1, 2023 | International, Aerospace
âThis is just the beginning. After all, this is not only about the needs of aerial reconnaissance,â Ukraine's defense minister said.