August 21, 2024 | International, Land
How a 1950s-era law has become a flashpoint for the US arms industry
A Pentagon push into biomanufacturing, by way of the Defense Production Act, has opened a debate about where U.S. priorities should lie.
August 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Turkish industry prospers, but foreign relations are limiting its potential
By: Burak Ege Bekdil
ANKARA, Turkey — The official numbers are impressive. In President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's narrative, the number of Turkish defense industry programs rose from 62 in 2002 to 700 today. In the same period, the number of defense and aerospace companies rose from 56 to 1,500. The government was administering $5.5 billion worth of programs then; now this is at $75 billion. Local industry turnover rose from $1 billion to $10.8 billion; and exports jumped from a mere $248 million to more than $3 billion.
Two Turkish companies that weren't on the Defense News Top 100 list last year have made their way onto the list this year, making the total number of Turkish firms on the list to seven, from five the year prior. Those companies are military electronics specialist Aselsan (48th on the list), Turkish Aerospace Industries (53th), armored vehicles maker BMC (89th), missile maker Roketsan (91st), military technologies specialist STM (92nd), armored vehicle maker FNSS (new this year at 98th) and military software specialist Havelsan (new this year at 99th). Of the seven, five are government-controlled companies. BMC, a Turkish-Qatari partnership, and FNSS are privately owned.
A success story, by any criteria. Thanks to which, according to the Turkish government, the country's dependence on foreign defense systems plunged from 80 percent to 30 percent. Erdogan says he aims to end dependency on foreign systems by 2023, the centennial of the Turkish republic.
However, while the Turkish defense industrial base has made progress, there have been lingering roadblocks along the way.
It can be difficult to determine the percentage of foreign input in a system. And what the Turkish authorities portray as “indigenous systems” (or 100 percent national systems, in local jargon) are often not.
One of the major weaknesses of the Turkish industry is the lack of engine technology. For instance, one of Turkey's most prestigious “indigenous” programs, the Altay tank, is struggling to make progress, despite a serial production contract, due to the lack of a power pack — the engine and the transmission mechanism.
Similarly, Turkey's most ambitious indigenous program — the design, development and production of a national fighter jet, dubbed TF-X — appears stalled, as Turkish aerospace authorities are yet to find an engine for the planned aircraft. The TF-X program was officially launched in December 2010. In January 2015 then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that the planned fighter would have a twin engine. That was when the search for an engine began.
The amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu, the Turkish Navy's flagship vessel under construction with license from Spain's Navantia, is progressing as planned, but industry experts say it is no more than 60 percent Turkish-made and is a copy of the Spanish Navy warship Juan Carlos I.
Turkey's indigenous T129 attack helicopters are a Turkish variant of the A129 built by the Italian-British company AgustaWestland. The T129 is produced under license from AgustaWestland. A $1.5 billion export deal with Pakistan for a batch of 30 T129s has long been stalled as it awaits U.S. export licenses, which is required because the helo is powered by an American engine.
For the past decade, Turkey's local industry has been unable to produce a national solution for the need for long-range air and anti-missile defense systems. After years of uncertainty Turkey signed a $2.5 billion deal for the acquisition of the Russian-made S-400 system. In response, the United States ejected Turkey from the American-led multinational Joint Strike Fighter program that builds the F-35 fighter jet.
“That will cost the Turkish industry critical capabilities it could have earned during the production cycle,” a Western industry source in Ankara told Defense News. “It also means a loss of significant income for the Turkish industry.”
Otherwise, local and international analysts agree that drone, shipbuilding, military electronics and armored vehicles technologies have been progressing exponentially in Turkey. The country has found foreign customers for these systems due to high technological standards and competitive pricing. The combat-proven technologies easily find their place in export markets, especially in countries with which Turkey has friendly political relations. Lucrative markets for Turkish companies include those in Qatar — Turkey's most important regional ally — as well as some north African countries, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkic republics in Central Asia, and Muslim countries in southeast Asia like Indonesia and Malaysia.
Turkish exporters have been augmented by a steady decline of the country's national currency. The U.S. dollar was trading at 1.7 Turkish liras five years ago. Today, the exchange rate is $1 to 7 liras. That plunge gives an exchange rate boost to companies with higher local input rates and export potential. In other words, when the local currency experienced a decline, the commodities produced in Turkey generally became cheaper for foreign customers.
However, those companies dependent on now pricey foreign technology have seen their international competitiveness badly pruned.
The lira's slide downward also slows or altogether suspends government-run programs due to a cash shortage. Overseas investors have withdrawn $7 billion from Turkey's local currency bond market in the first six months of 2020. The economy is in recession, and inflation and unemployment rates are soaring. At the end of May 2020, Turkey's national budget produced a deficit of 90.1 billion liras (U.S. $12.9 billion), or 65 percent of the government's deficit target for the entire year of 2020.
That macroeconomic picture may further squeeze the government in financing its weapons programs, economist warn.
On the same subject
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October 11, 2018 | International, Aerospace
Serbia looks to acquire Chinese drones and the technological know-how
By: Jaroslaw Adamowski WARSAW, Poland — Serbia's acting assistant defense minister has announced the ministry is negotiating with a number of Chinese drone manufacturers to acquire UAVs for the Serbian military. Nenad Miloradovic said Serbia aims to buy Chinese drones for its armed forces as well as the technology that will allow the country's defense industry to produce UAVs in the long term. "This package deal, under which we plan to purchase, but also produce reconnaissance drones for the Serbian military, should be implemented shortly," Miloradovic said, as reported by local daily Blic. The official said that Serbia is positioning itself as a military-neutral country, and its government aims to procure weapons and military gear for the country's armed forces from various suppliers. "We don't have ideological prejudices in what concerns buying weapons," Miloradovic said. In a sign of strengthened military cooperation with Russia, Serbia's government earlier this year approved the purchase of six Mil Mi-17 helicopters, complementing acquisitions of other aircraft and weapons from Moscow. In contrast, Serbia signed a deal in 2016 to buy nine H145M helicopters from Dutch-French company Airbus. The value of the planned UAV deal was not disclosed by the Serbian official. https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2018/09/20/serbia-looks-to-acquire-chinese-drones-and-the-technological-know-how
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January 23, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - January 23, 2020
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., doing business as Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, San Diego, California, is being awarded a $217,160,682 modification (P00021) to previously-awarded base contract FA8726-18-C-0005 to extend the contract by an additional year. This contract provides for Battlefield Airborne Communications Node payload operation and support for payload equipment and services. Work will be performed at San Diego, California, and undisclosed overseas locations, and is expected to be complete by Jan. 23, 2021. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $20,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $570,165,699. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, is the contracting activity. Lockheed Martin Corp., Ft. Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $7,794,188 modification under modification 21 to previously-awarded contract FA8650-16-C-7656 for research and development. The contract modification is for the incorporation of additional within-scope work to further the technologies established under current System of Systems Integration Technology and Experimentation program. Work will be performed at Ft. Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2021. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $5,000,000 are being obligated at the time of award. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $52,337,677. The Air Force Research Lab, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. NAVY M.C. Dean Inc., Tysons, Virginia, is awarded a $98,000,492 single award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity performance-based contract (N65236-20-D-8001) with provisions for cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task/delivery orders. This contract is for the design, development and sustainment of electronic security systems and emergency management systems solutions for Department of Defense and federal agencies at shore installations worldwide. The contract will provide rapid and streamlined procurement of electronic security systems and emergency management systems solutions where there are emerging or special security requirements that require rapid response in order to mitigate and limit risk exposure to cyber and physical security threats. The contract includes a five-year ordering period. Contract funds in the amount of $25,000 will be obligated at the time of award. Work will be performed in Washington, District of Columbia (77%); and Charleston, South Carolina (23%), and is expected to be completed by January 2026. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The contract was competitively procured by full and open competition via the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command-Electronic Commerce Central website and the Federal Business Opportunities website, with one timely offer received. Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Florida Ordnance Corp.,* Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $48,586,695 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for M88 Recovery Vehicle diesel cylinder heads. This was a competitive acquisition with two responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Florida, with a March 26, 2026, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Warren, Michigan (SPRDL1-20-D-0038). UPDATE: Enterprise Cabling Inc., Ocean City, Maryland (SPRBL1-20-D-0017), has been added as an awardee to the multiple award contract issued against solicitation SPRBL1-19-R-0042 announced Dec. 18, 2019. ARMY Scientia Global Inc.,* Melbourne, Florida, was awarded a $12,149,039 firm-fixed-price Foreign Military Sales (Iraq) contract to procure combat effective Digital Mobile Radio Tier III equipment, development, deployment, training and support services. One bid was solicited via the internet with one bid received. Work will be performed in Erbil, Iraq; and Melbourne, Florida, with an estimated completion date of April 29, 2022. Fiscal 2017 Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $12,149,039 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W91CRB-20-C-5012). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2063144/source/GovDelivery/