Sikorsky Delivers Two More CH-53K® Helicopters To U.S. Marine Corps

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  June 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Lockheed paid suppliers $1.1 billion, added 8,300 jobs since pandemic

  By: Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― Lockheed Martin has sent $1.1 billion in accelerated payment to support its network of suppliers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced Friday. The defense contracting giant has also hired 8,300 employees since the crisis began in March, with plans to hire 3,200 more before the end of the year. The hires mark a contrast with the rest of the U.S. economy, which saw the unemployment rate hit 13 percent this month and began a recession in February. “In this volatile environment, it is more important than ever before to maintain the operations of the defense industrial base and support our men and women in uniform,” Lockheed's new president and CEO, Jim Taiclet, said in a statement. Ever since the Pentagon announced it would speed progress payments to its suppliers to keep cash flowing in the defense-industrial base, it says it has made $3 billion in contract obligations. The Pentagon is working to support smaller firms in particular. Lockheed Martin said Friday it has “flowed all of the accelerated payments it has received from the Department of Defense to its supply chain, giving priority to small and vulnerable suppliers, as we continue our efforts to mitigate COVID-19 risks and promote a healthy Defense Industrial Base.” This wasn't the only good news for the sector this week. Ellen Lord, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said at a Monday news conference that nearly all of the defense firms closed by the pandemic have reopened. “We see an enormous amount of recovery in the defense-industrial base. It depends on location and what type of work is being performed, but there is enormous progress coming back,” Lord said. “Obviously for manufacturing we need people on the line, so we're doing things differently in terms of following [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's] guidelines and so forth.” Still, the Pentagon expects to see “inefficiencies” across most programs as well as cost growth. “COVID-19 is shutting down defense manufacturing facilities and production lines, disrupting supply chains, and distressing the financial stability of the companies DoD relies on to protect the nation,” Lord said. Due to the effects of the pandemic, Lockheed said it would slow F-35 production, leaving it anywhere from 18 to 24 jets short of the 141 scheduled for delivery this year. https://www.defensenews.com/2020/06/26/lockheed-paid-suppliers-11b-added-8300-jobs-since-covid-19-hit/

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  August 9, 2018 | International, Land

  Former NFL star leading the charge for the Army’s new helmet system

  By: J.D. Simkins and Todd South A company founded by a former Washington Redskins all-pro has been tasked with designing next-level padding technology to protect troops from impacts and blasts that can cause brain trauma. The Army recently announced a $600,000 contract award for a new combat helmet padding system to Windpact, an impact technology company founded by former Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs. The contract falls under the Army's Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center program to improve soldier equipment. With the contract, Windpact aims to replace existing combat helmet impact systems with its patented Crash Cloud technology, an impact pad that uses a combination of foam and controlled air flow to provide enhanced protection at varying impact rates, according to a release. “I'm excited, because obviously when you're talking about the military, you're wanting to do something better for these soldiers who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries, concussions and any other forceful impacts ranging from bomb blasts to Humvee accidents,” Springs told Military Times. Full Article: https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/08/08/former-nfl-star-leading-the-charge-for-the-armys-new-helmet-system/

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  October 15, 2019 | International, Aerospace

  Army-developed multimission launcher ‘off the table’

  By: Jen Judson WASHINGTON — The Army spent years internally developing its own multimission launcher for the Indirect Fires Protection Capability program — designed to counter threats like rockets, artillery and mortars as well as cruise missiles and unmanned aircraft systems. But that grand plan is now officially off the table. The service has purchased two Rafael-made Iron Dome systems as an interim solution to get after the cruise missile defense capability gap, but it's taken a step back to rethink its enduring IFPC program strategy. While much is up in the air, it's certain that the launcher that will ultimately be part of the IFPC program won't be the MML. “It'll be something different that we will develop,” Brig. Gen. Brian Gibson, who is in charge of the Army's air-and-missile defense modernization, told Defense News at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference. As of 2016, the Army had spent $119 million to build MML prototypes, which included owning the technical data rights. The cost of developing the system outside of the Army would have been about three times as much according to the service at the time. Over the course of its development, the launcher was able to defeat a cruise missile target and an unmanned aircraft system using an AIM-9X missile at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and fired the Miniature Hit-to-Kill (MHTK) and Tamir missiles as well. The U.S. Army had awarded three $2.6 million contracts in the summer of 2018 for the first phase of a program to find a second interceptor — the Expanded Mission Area Missile (EMAM) — for the MML. Also already selected was the first interceptor for the launcher, the Sidewinder. Lockheed Martin's MHTK missile and two missiles from Raytheon were chosen to be qualified for the launcher: Sky Hunter, the U.S. version of the Iron Dome missile Tamir; and the Accelerated Improved Interceptor Initiative missile. The effort to qualify the MHTK has been paused, Scott Arnold, Lockheed Martin's vice president and deputy of integrated air-and-missile defense with the company's Missiles and Fire Control business, said at AUSA. The company did not have an intercept test, but was able to move the MHTK missile through some testing prior to the Army's decision to pause the program. The Army may take technologies developed as part of the MML effort and spiral them into a future launcher, “but there were a lot of things, with all the right reasons, that launcher turned out the way it did,” Gibson said. An assessment of the launcher determined it was not sufficient for an enduring capability, he added. “All the variables of when you define a new piece of hardware matter and, for air defense, it really comes down to angles you launch things at, whether it's vertical or whether it's horizontal, and the applicability of how many different interceptors potentially you can put in,” Gibson said. “Those are all lessons learned from MML and it matters on the threat set.” The one-star added that he is confident the Army is capable of developing something appropriate on the right timeline when it comes to a launcher for the enduring IFPC plan. And while the service doesn't want to buy beyond the two batteries of Iron Dome already purchased, the Army is considering the feasibility of taking its launcher and missiles for the future IFPC program. The Army has until the end of 2023 to field an initial enduring capability or, by law, will have to buy more interim Iron Dome systems. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/ausa/2019/10/15/army-developed-multimission-launcher-off-the-table