January 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Tom Kington
ROME – Italy's Leonardo has dropped plans to develop a new, single-engine helicopter and opted instead to buy a small Swiss firm that has already built one.
The Italian defense giant announced on Tuesday it was purchasing Kopter Group AG, which has developed the SH09, a five- to eight-seater helicopter built with carbon composite materials which first flew in 2014.
A clean-sheet design developed by a small group of engineers, the SH09 maximizes pilot view as well as interior space with a maximum takeoff weight of 2,850 kg, while its Honeywell HTS 900 engine provides an 800km range and 140 knots top speed.
With the purchase, which is worth $185 million plus future pay-outs linked to the success of the program, Leonardo said it was saving itself the resources it had planned to use designing its own new helicopter in the category.
“This acquisition will replace the planned investment aimed at the development of a new single engine helicopter,” the firm said.
“Kopter's SH09, a new single engine helicopter, is a perfect fit for Leonardo's state of the art product range offering opportunities for future technological developments,” it added.
The Swiss company's skills would also be used to develop new technologies like hybrid and electrical propulsion, Leonardo said.
A company spokesman said the SH09 was viewed as a civil program in the short term. "The priority is the civil market but in the future, we will see – a military application is not excluded. However for now our AW119 is our military product in the light, three-ton, single-engine class," he said.
The purchase is an unusual step for the Italian firm, which has hitherto designed its own helicopters such as the AW139 and AW101, formerly under the AgustaWestland brand, which was retired before the company changed its name from Finmeccanica to Leonardo in 2016.
“Within the Helicopter Division of Leonardo, Kopter will act as an autonomous legal entity and competence centre working in coordination with us,” Leonardo said.
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/01/29/leonardo-buys-swiss-helicopter-firm/
December 13, 2023 | International, Land, Security
The U.S. Army hopes Congress approves a supplemental funding request with $750 million to enable a Patriot missile production capacity increase.
December 8, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
by Jon Grevatt The US Department of Defense (DoD) has identified four additional Chinese corporations that it claims have links to China's military. The companies' inclusion on the list of ‘Communist Chinese military companies' means that US investors will be prevented from buying stock in the firms from January 2021. The new list, which takes the number of blacklisted Chinese companies to 35, features corporations that are known primarily for operations in commercial domains. They include the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China Construction Technology Company (CCTC), China International Engineering Consulting Corporation (CIECC), and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). The DoD said these firms' inclusion on the list is aligned with US efforts to tackle China's military-civil fusion (MCF) strategy, which seeks to adopt advanced commercial technologies for military gains. It said, “The [DoD] is determined to highlight and counter the People's Republic of China's (PRC) military-civil fusion development strategy, which supports the modernisation goals of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise acquired and developed by even those PRC companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities.” The DoD added that the list of Chinese companies will continue to be updated “with additional entities as appropriate”. In response to the listing, China's foreign ministry spokesperson said on 4 December that the move constituted a “groundless suppression”. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/us-expands-list-of-communist-chinese-military-companies
August 16, 2018 | International, Aerospace
By: Robert Burns, The Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The U.S. and Argentinian militaries will pursue closer cooperation on numerous fronts, including military education and training, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Wednesday after meeting with his counterpart during the first visit to Argentina by an American defense chief in 13 years. "We focused on what we can do working together as they go through very difficult economic times," Mattis told reporters as he was departing Buenos Aires for a flight to Santiago, Chile. "Both sides are very open to a stronger military-to-military relationship in complete transparency, so there cannot be any doubt about what's going on." Before they met, Mattis and Argentinian Defense Minister Oscar Aguad publicly expressed their hope for better ties. Mattis alluded to the help the U.S. Navy provided Argentina last November when one of its submarines went missing with 44 sailors aboard. The last U.S. secretary of defense to visit Argentina was Donald H. Rumsfeld in 2005. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/08/16/mattis-says-us-will-work-more-closely-with-argentina/