September 29, 2024 | International, Land
U.S. Charges Three Iranian Nationals for Election Interference and Cybercrimes
DOJ charges three Iranian nationals linked to IRGC for hacking U.S. campaigns, targeting officials, and election interference.
September 17, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Skilled worker, parts shortages still hurting Hornet and Growler maintenance, government watchdog finds
By: David B. Larter
A shortage of skilled workers and repair parts is causing backlogs in maintenance depots for Hornets and Growlers, creating headwinds in the Navy's efforts to put more aircraft in the air, the Government Accountability Office found.
The Navy, which is chipping away at a readiness crisis among its fighters and electronic attack aircraft, is being hampered by a lack of skilled workers and capacity, specifically at depots on the West Coast at Whidbey Island, Washington, and Lemoore, California. Furthermore some parts needed to repair the Hornets and Growlers were manufactured by suppliers who have gotten out of the business, significantly slowing the process and forcing the Navy to cannibalize parts on aircraft to offset the delays, the September report found.
One challenge pointed out by the GAO is the distance between where aircraft are based and maintained and where parts are repaired for the E/A-18G Growlers. The Growlers, largely based at Whidbey Island, many of the components that need fixing must be repaired at the depots in Lemoore.
“However, according to officials, Lemoore's depots have limited capacity to repair these aircraft, creating a maintenance backlog,” the report found.
The issue of manufacturers getting out of the business was at least in part caused by the Navy's shorting of repair parts accounts during Obama-era budget cuts. A recent study found that between 2011 and 2015, as many as 17,000 suppliers left the defense industry. The Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Bill Moran discussed the supplier issues with Defense News in April, saying stable funding should get suppliers to come back into the pool.
On the same subject
-
-
November 4, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Autonomie de la défense européenne : entretien avec Jean-Pierre Maulny (IRIS)
Jean-Pierre Maulny, Directeur adjoint de l'Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques (IRIS), accorde un entretien à Capital. Il insiste sur la nécessité pour la France de rester dans l'OTAN, suite à l'abandon des commandes australiennes de sous-marins et la formation du pacte de défense Aukus, et souligne les progrès de l'autonomie de la défense européenne. Au niveau industriel, « il y a déjà eu de nombreuses coopérations en Europe dans le domaine de l'armement avec les Italiens, les Allemands ou les Britanniques, par exemple les Fremm, l'Airbus A400M, l'hélicoptère Tigre ou encore les missiles Meteor. Le lancement du programme du drone de reconnaissance MALE, qui regroupe la France, l'Allemagne, l'Espagne et l'Italie, est acté. II est soutenu à hauteur de 100 M€ par l'UE », détaille-t-il. Le Fonds européen de défense, disposant de « dispose de 8 Md€ utilisables sur sept ans pour la R&D, soit plus de 1 Md€ par an, dont environ 300 M€ pour la recherche fondamentale », a de plus été adopté en avril 2021. « Le Rafale, notre plus belle vitrine, est très compétitif », souligne Jean-Pierre Maulny, qui cite également « les missiles conçus par MBDA, numéro 2 mondial dans sa spécialité, les hélicoptères NH90 d'Airbus ou le Caesar, un canon autoporté développé par Nexter, qui en a vendu plus de 300 à l'exportation, et les sous-marins Scorpène ». « La force de notre industrie de l'armement est d'être présente sur tous les créneaux », conclut-il. Capital, novembre 2021
-
August 20, 2024 | International, Land
ANALYSIS | Ukraine's Kursk gambit upends some old assumptions about Russia and the war | CBC News
The Russian military's plodding reaction to Ukraine's surprise attack — and Ukraine's plan to create a buffer zone in the Kursk region — should compel Western political and military leaders to question many of the assumptions they're been making about this long-running war.