June 10, 2022 | International, Aerospace
December 21, 2018 | International, Land
Hungary signs deal to buy dozens of tanks, howitzers from Germany’s KMW
WARSAW, Poland — As part of efforts to modernize the country's land forces and replace Soviet-designed gear, the Hungarian Ministry of Defence has awarded a deal for 44 Leopard 2 A7+ tanks and 24 PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers to Germany's Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
In addition, Hungary will buy 12 used Leopard 2 A4 tanks for training, KMW said in a statement.
The deal was signed Dec. 19 in Budapest. Prior to the signing, Hungarian Defense Minister Tibor Benko met with Frank Haun, the chief executive of KMW, the defense ministry said in a statement.
Benko said he hoped that the contract would further strengthen the cooperation between the Hungarian and German armed forces.
The latest development comes shortly after the Hungarian ministry handed an order for 16 H225M multi-purpose helicopters to Airbus. The aircraft are to be fitted with the HForce weapon management system. On Dec. 17, Hungary and Airbus Helicopters also signed a memorandum of agreement to launch industrial cooperation on long-term aviation projects with a focus on manufacturing parts for helicopter dynamic systems.
The latest contracts are part of Hungary's ten-year Zrinyi 2026 military development program whose principal aim is to upgrade the weapons and equipment of the country's armed forces.
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January 18, 2019 | International, Naval
Navy And Industry Must Balance New Construction With Maintaining Existing Platforms
By: Ben Werner ARLINGTON, Va. – Balancing the desire to build the Navy the nation needs with the ability to fight with the fleet the nation has is at the core of the mission of U.S. Fleet Forces Command mission, its commander said on Thursday. The Navy's high-end warfare plan – dubbed Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO) – relies on fleet commanders considering future technologies, integrating new capabilities into existing systems and provided the right level of manning. In the meantime, commanders need to fight with the equipment and manning they currently have, a task complicated by uneven funding levels Fleet Forces commander Adm. Christopher Grady said at the Surface Navy Association Symposium. “Seventy five percent of the fighting force today will be what we fight with in 2030,” Grady said. “We must sustain what we have now to defend our interests in the future.” Grady said the demand for maintenance capability is outpacing the industrial base's growth rate. At risk, he said, is the industrial base's ability to build new ships while keeping current ships in operations. “Right now, the industrial base is optimized for cost efficiency,” Grady said. In an era of renewed great power competition the Navy and industrial base needs to rethink how to work some flexibility into how quickly shipbuilders and maintainers can adjust their operations, Grady said. “At issue is how do we grow our capacity for both maintenance and modernization,” Grady said. “This is challenging.” As an example, many of the critical parts the Navy relies on are from sole-source suppliers, Grady said. Then there are the firms that could bid on Navy projects but don't because of various barriers making it difficult or impossible to submit competitive bids. Since 2000 the entire defense industrial base lost more than 20,500 contractors, according to a Pentagon report released in September. The shipbuilding industry took a particularly hard hit and growing that sector is key to building the 355-ship fleet, the report said. “Expanding the number of companies involved in Navy shipbuilding is important to maintaining a healthy industrial base that can fulfill the 355-ship fleet and support the Navy's long-range shipbuilding plan,” the report said. Changing how the industrial base and Navy interact is a critical part of solving the building and maintenance capacity issues, Grady said. He wants the Navy's interaction with industry to seen as a partnership. One example he proposed was buying portable dry docks that could be moved and leased to shipyards. More shipyards could bid on work by removing what Grady said is a significant barrier to entry into the marketplace – the significant capital investment required to handle Navy maintenance work. “The ideal would be to come to the table and share notes,” Grady said. “What can we do for each other that's good for the nation.” https://news.usni.org/2019/01/17/navy-and-industry-must-balance-new-construction-with-maintaining-existing-platforms
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October 27, 2024 | International, C4ISR, Security
Apple Opens PCC Source Code for Researchers to Identify Bugs in Cloud AI Security
Explore Apple's Private Cloud Compute, inviting researchers to verify its privacy and security claims.