KONGSBERG secures NOK 1.2 billion order for deliveries to F-35 Joint Strike Fighters

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  December 6, 2019 | International, Naval

  Lockheed Martin Continues Partnership With Spain For Future Frigates

  Moorestown, N.J., Dec. 5, 2019 – Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) recently signed a contract with Navantia to equip five new F-110 multimission frigates and their land-based test site (Centro de Integración de Sistemas en Tierra or CIST) – with Lockheed Martin's first naval installation of its solid state S-band radar. The new F-110 frigates will be built by Spain's national shipbuilder, Navantia. Recently designated by the U.S. Government as AN/SPY-7(V)1, this technology is derived from current radar programs and significant Lockheed Martin investment. Variants of the SPY-7 radar will also be utilized on programs with Japan's Aegis Ashore, the Royal Canadian Navy for the Canadian Surface Combatant program and the U.S. Government. Why Does It Matter? Providing Spain's homeland with a defense for evolving threats, the F-110 program will further protect the country and its citizens. Equipped with the latest digital, solid-state radar technology, this crucial program: Ensures Spain's warfighters have the most capable combat system to perform new missions. Strengthens Spain's economy through industrial participation. Advances Spain's competitiveness in the global market by providing an opportunity for joint technology development. Paves the way for interoperability with navies across the world, thanks to Aegis' open architecture. What's the Technology? The F-110 will host the first-ever naval solid state S-band radar for the Spanish Navy. To foster the growth of Spain's defense and technology industries, Lockheed Martin and Spanish company, Indra, will jointly provide the radar. It will go to sea as part of the Aegis Weapon System, which will be integrated with the ship's combat management system SCOMBA, when the first frigate deploys in 2026. The Aegis Weapon System is the most deployed combat system in the world, and its flexible system enables it to fulfill a variety of missions. Due in part to its unique open architecture design, the Aegis family continues to grow internationally as more nations around the world partner with Lockheed Martin. What's the History? Lockheed Martin and its Spanish partners have over 20 years of experience in development, production and integration of tactical naval radar systems. Spain's defense industry growth and expansion of their maritime defense portfolio is a mission Lockheed Martin continues to support. In the exciting future that lies ahead, Lockheed Martin will continue to work with Spanish industry to explore new areas of industrial cooperation in radar and combat system technologies. This will help pave the way for future international sales of the F-110 frigate and new technologies, including the new S-band radar. For more information about Lockheed Martin radars, visit www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/radar-sensors.html About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. View source version on Lockheed Martin: https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019-12-05-Lockheed-Martin-Continues-Partnership-with-Spain-for-Future-Frigates

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  July 22, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  US Army commissions ‘world’s largest 3D printer’

  3D Systems and the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) have been awarded a US$15 million contract by the Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (ARL) to create what they say will be the ‘world's largest, fastest, and most precise metal 3D printer'. The machine will be used for long-range munitions, combat vehicles, helicopters, and air and missile defense applications, the company said. According to the US Army, it already uses additive manufacturing (AM) to refurbish worn parts and create custom tools. Plans are to develop large-scale systems for installation in its depots and labs. Subsequently, 3D Systems and its partners also aim to make the new 3D printer technology available to aerospace and defense suppliers. The printer's build envelope is planned to be 1000 mm x 1000 mm x 600 mm, with ability to build minimum wall thickness of 100 µm and layer thickness of 30 µm. This is a significant increase over current large-scale metal 3D printers with a build envelope of 500 mm x 500 mm x 500 mm, 3D Systems said. 'Up until now, powder bed laser 3D printers have been too small, too slow, and too imprecise to produce major ground combat subsystems at scale,' said Dr Joseph South, ARL program manager. 3D Systems also plans to integrate the new technologies and processes into its existing range of 3D printers. https://www.materialstoday.com/additive-manufacturing/news/us-army-commissions-worlds-largest-3d-printer/

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  April 28, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Collapse of Boeing-Embraer deal could have major impact on C-390 Millennium’s future

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Boeing's termination of a $4.2 billion deal for a majority stake in Embraer's commercial aviation business could have widespread implications on the Brazilian firm's flagship military aircraft. Boeing on Saturday announced that it would walk away from a joint venture that would give it an 80 percent stake in Embraer's commercial business, as well as a 49 percent stake in the company's C-390 Millennium cargo plane. Although Boeing said that the company would maintain previous teaming agreements to support Embraer with marketing the C-390 internationally, analysts told Defense News that the vitriol between the two companies could portend a wider collapse of their collaboration in the military sphere. “The future of the KC-390 without Boeing — or without a U.S. defense prime helping — isn't all that great,” said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst with the Teal Group. “It just seems like cooler heads should probably prevail.” At Dubai Air Show last November, the companies announced the formation of a new entity known as Boeing-Embraer Defense set up specifically to proactively market the C-390 around the world — a step up from previous agreements that had Boeing in more of a hands-off role. The agreement gave Boeing a new plane that could compete head-to-head against Lockheed Martin's C-130, and gave Embraer the resources to match. The big question now is whether Embraer seeks out partnerships elsewhere for either the KC-390 or its commercial business, said Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners. “I just wonder, is there something else or someone else that emerges in 2021 or 2022 that ties up with Embraer. Could that be Chinese? Indian? Another country, company or entity outside of the United States?” he said. “That would be a more interesting broader change for aerospace, that has military implications as well, too.” It's even possible that Airbus could try to usurp Boeing's role as Embraer's partner on the C-390, said Callan, who noted that Airbus — like Boeing — does not offer a medium cargo transport aircraft that directly competes against the C-130. A good relationship gone bad On Monday morning, Embraer announced that it had filed arbitration proceedings against Boeing, capping off an angry back-and-forth between both companies that spanned the weekend. When Boeing announced it was walking away from the deal on Saturday, the company claimed it had “worked diligently over more than two years” to finalize the transaction, but that Embraer left some conditions of the master transaction agreement, or MTA, unresolved. "It is deeply disappointing,” said Marc Allen, Boeing's president of Embraer Partnership & Group Operations. “But we have reached a point where continued negotiation within the framework of the MTA is not going to resolve the outstanding issues." Embraer, however, issued a scathing statement of its own, asserting that it had fulfilled all contractual obligations and blaming the failure of the deal on Boeing's continued financial problems and the fallout from two fatal 737 MAX crashes. “Embraer believes strongly that Boeing has wrongfully terminated the MTA, that it has manufactured false claims as a pretext to seek to avoid its commitments to close the transaction and pay Embraer the US$4.2 billion purchase price,” the company said. “We believe Boeing has engaged in a systematic pattern of delay and repeated violations of the MTA, because of its unwillingness to complete the transaction in light of its own financial condition and 737 MAX and other business and reputational problems.” Boeing's decision to break its agreement with Embraer makes sense from a financial standpoint, Cai Von Rumohr, a defense analyst with Cowen, wrote in an email to investors. Because of COVID-19's impact on the aerospace industry, $4.2 billion seems an inflated price for Boeing to pay to acquire a controlling stake in Embraer's commercial business, and terminating the deal may help to free up cash that Boeing needs in the near-term. But while Von Rumohr said he believes Boeing and Embraer will continue to collaborate on the C-390, it will depend on whether the relationship can be salvaged. “This issue is, how pissed off is Embraer now, and is this something they're likely to get over to continue with what was a teaming agreement that made a whole lot of sense for both parties?” Von Rumohr told Defense News. Another major question is how the COVID-19 crisis effects worldwide defense spending, with implications for nations' domestic industries as well the international defense industrial base. Callan noted that some countries who have ordered the aircraft such as Brazil or Portugal “are probably looking at different defense budget projections. Aboulafia added that the dissolution of the partnership increases the likelihood that Embraer will need stimulus funds from the government of the Brazil to help fortify its commercial sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. “That money could easily come out of defense spending, which would impact Embraer defense programs, particularly Gripen or C-390,” he said. https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/27/collapse-of-boeing-embraer-deal-could-have-major-impact-on-c-390-millenniums-future