RTX awarded $677 million US Navy contract for SPY-6 family of radars

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  March 30, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Raytheon-UTC merger wins approval, pending divestitures

  By: Jill Aitoro WASHINGTON — The merger between two defense giants got the green light from the U.S. Department of Justice, under the condition that divestitures already in the works move forward and another piece of business is shed. According to a March 26 announcement from the DOJ, United Technologies Corp. and Raytheon will need to divest Raytheon's military airborne radios business as well as UTC's military global positioning systems and large space-based optical systems businesses in order to proceed with the proposed merger. The divestitures would satisfy a proposed settlement from the department's Antitrust Division of a civil antitrust lawsuit to block the proposed Raytheon-UTC merger. BAE Systems agreed in January to buy Collins Aerospace's military global positioning system business — which is owned by parent firm UTC — for $1.93 billion and Raytheon's airborne tactical radios business for $275 million. “Today's settlement protects the American taxpayer by preserving competition that leads to lower costs and higher innovation in critical military and defense products,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Antitrust Division. “The merger, as originally proposed, would have eliminated competition in the supply of military airborne radios and military GPS systems, and would have positioned the merged firm to harm rivals capable of making key components for reconnaissance satellites. These horizontal and vertical concerns are resolved by the Division's structural remedy, which includes the divestiture of three separate business units.” Under the terms of the proposed settlement, the companies need to divest Raytheon's military airborne radios business, including facilities in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Largo, Florida; as well as UTC's military GPS business to BAE Systems or another approved acquirer. The proposed settlement would also require the divestiture of UTC's optical systems business, including a facility in Danbury, Connecticut, to an approved acquirer. Raytheon and UTC announced in June 2019 plans to officially merge into a new entity called Raytheon Technologies Corporation, with the deal at the time expected to close during the first half of 2020. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/03/27/raytheon-utc-look-to-shed-segments-to-win-merger-approval

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  April 29, 2019 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security, Other Defence

  Here’s how much global military spending rose in 2018

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — Overall military expenditures rose 2.6 percent between 2017 and 2018, to hit a total of $1.82 trillion dollars, according to new research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The total from 2018 is 5.4 percent higher than 2009, and represents a 76 percent increase over 1998, a 20-year period. Sixty percent of global military spending came from five countries: The United States ($649 billion), China ($250 billion), Saudi Arabia ($67.6 billion), India ($66.5 billion) and France ($63.8 billion). Russia ($61.4 billion) and the United Kingdom ($50 billion) were the other two countries to spend $50 billion or more on defense. However, there are ups and downs among the biggest spenders. While the U.S. (4.6 percent, the first overall growth since 2010), China (5 percent) and India (3.1 percent) increased their respective military spending year over year, Saudi Arabia cut its spending by 6.5 percent, France by 1.4 percent and Russia by 3.5 percent. And overall defense spending per gross domestic product fell to 2.1 percent in 2018, representing $239 per global citizen, a 0.1 percent decrease over one year and a 0.5 percent decrease over 10 years. Notably, Russia ranked outside the top five for the first time since 2006. China, meanwhile, increased its military spending for the 24th consecutive year, and its spending is almost 10 times higher than it was in 1994; however, researchers warn that Chinese growth may slow in the coming year. “The annual rate of growth of China's military spending has slowed steadily since it reached a post-2009 high of 9.3 percent in 2013. The growth of 5.0 percent in 2018 was the lowest annual increase since 1995,” the authors note. “China has followed a policy of linking growth in military spending with economic growth. With its economic growth slowing in 2018 to the lowest level in 28 years, slower rates of growth in the coming years can be expected if China continues to follow this policy.” SIPRI, which is widely considered to be the authority on military expenditures and exports, having gathered such data for decades. Other key developments, as noted by the researchers: Military spending in South America rose by 3.1 percent in 2018. This was mainly due to the increase in Brazilian spending (by 5.1 percent), the second increase in as many years. Military expenditure in Africa fell by 8.4 percent in 2018, the fourth consecutive annual decrease since the peak in spending in 2014. There were major decreases in spending by Algeria (–6.1 percent), Angola (–18 percent) and Sudan (–49 percent). Military spending by states in the Middle East, for which data is available, fell by 1.9 percent in 2018. Total military expenditure by all 29 NATO members was $963 billion in 2018, which accounted for 53 percent of world spending. Military spending in Turkey increased by 24 percent in 2018 to $19 billion, the highest annual percentage increase among the world's top 15 military spenders. Six of the 10 countries with the highest military burden (military spending as a proportion of GDP) in the world in 2018 are in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia (8.8 percent of GDP), Oman (8.2 percent), Kuwait (5.1 percent), Lebanon (5 percent), Jordan (4.7 percent) and Israel (4.3 percent). https://www.defensenews.com/global/2019/04/28/heres-how-much-global-military-spending-rose-in-2018

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  June 20, 2019 | International, Land

  US Marines to test drone-killing laser weapon

  By: Cal Pringle WASHINGTON — The U.S. Marine Corps is testing a prototype laser weapon that could be used by war fighters on the ground to counter enemy drones, according to a Wednesday news release. The prototype Compact Laser Weapons System — or CLaWS — is the first ground-based laser approved by the Defense Department for use by ground troops, the Marine Corps explained. The program is on a rapid prototyping, rapid delivery track, the service said. “This project, from start to finish — from when we awarded the DOTC [Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium] contract, to getting all the integration complete, all the testing complete, getting the Marines trained, and getting the systems ready to deploy — took about one year,” said Lt. Col. Ho Lee, product manager for ground-based air defense future weapons systems at Program Executive Office Land Systems. The Defense Department believes lasers are a more affordable alternative to traditional firepower and that they prevent drones from tracking and targeting Marines on the ground. The release notes the laser is not a standalone weapon, but is meant to serve as part of a larger counter-drone system. If the prototype is successful, it could be incorporated into fixed-site and mobile capabilities designed to counter unmanned aircraft, the Marine Corps said. The Army and Navy are also exploring the possibilities of laser technology. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2019/06/19/us-marines-to-test-drone-killing-laser-weapon/