September 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Tony Osborne September 08, 2020
LONDON—British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has hinted that the UK's future combat air system initiative, Tempest, could be one of the winners in the government's Integrated Review of defense and foreign policy.
Writing in the Times newspaper on Sept. 6, Wallace said the UK needed products that could be exported to help the country afford the equipment the UK requires for its armed forces. He also cited the UK's aerospace industry as being at the forefront of those efforts.
“Our aerospace industry isn't just a domestic concern,” Wallace wrote, noting that aerospace exports amount to £34 billion ($50.1 billion).
The UK's Tempest has already secured Italy and Sweden as partners, with Saab expected to make investments in an FCAS technology center worth £50 million.
“The defense and security sector is a breeding ground for science, invention and world-beating technology, as the bedrock of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK,” Wallace wrote.
While the review will re-examine the UK's foreign policy and defense operations, Wallace says it will also “recognize the importance of research, skills and the aerospace industry. Without them, our forces could risk losing the battle-winning advantage we will need in this evermore insecure and anxious world.”
Wallace said he recognized a need to reform and modernize the country's armed forces to meet new threats.
He said the UK had a “sentimental attachment” to a static armored-centric force that was anchored in Europe, possibly hinting at reports that the UK may do away with its fleet of Main Battle Tanks and instead focus on light armored and airborne capabilities.
Reports have also suggested that the UK may not buy its full complement of 138 Lockheed Martin F-35s, and potentially buy as few as 70 airframes over the program's life.
“If we are to truly play our role as ‘Global Britain,' we must be more capable in new domains, enabling us to be active in more theaters,” Wallace wrote.
Wallace also confirmed that the government would publish a Defense Industrial Strategy alongside the Integrated Review, which is expected in November.
February 1, 2022 | International, Aerospace
The Federal Trade Commission's complaint, released Wednesday, is heavily redacted but argues the proposed purchase of Aerojet Rocketdyne would hurt rival defense contractors in ways that would significantly reduce competition in multiple markets.
June 5, 2020 | International, Aerospace
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand said on Friday that it will purchase five C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft from Lockheed Martin to replace its existing fleet. “Along with the new fleet, the $1.521 billion project will deliver a full mission flight simulator and other supporting infrastructure,” Defence Minister Ron Mark said in a statement. The first of the new Hercules will be delivered in 2024, with the full fleet operating from 2025, he said. New Zealand will also start work in 2021 on upgrading its air mobility capability, when options will be considered for replacing the two Boeing 757 aircraft operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-lockheed-newzealand/new-zealand-says-to-buy-five-new-super-hercules-aircraft-idUSKBN23C00V
August 22, 2018 | International, Aerospace
By: Sam LaGrone The next phase of the Navy's effort to replace its decades-old ALQ-99 jamming systems on its fleet of electronic warfare aircraft is in a holding pattern amid a protest from a company cut from the competition, USNI News has learned. As part of rapid acquisition push for the new jamming technology, the Navy is splitting up the Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) ALQ-99 replacement work into three increments based on the frequencies the system must block – high-band, mid-band and low-band – to help shield U.S. aircraft from anti-air radar systems. In 2013, Raytheon won a $276 million award for the first portion of the NGJ project – the ALQ-249 mid-band jamming part of the new system – and was awarded an additional $1.2 billion for the work in 2016. In late 2017, Naval Air Systems Command announced a “demonstration of existing technology” contract to shape how it would pursue the low-band increment. The work would create “[a] demonstration that will lead to an assessment of the maturity level of the technologies that might be applied to a low band jammer pod,” a NAVAIR spokesperson told USNI News in a statement on Tuesday. “This will help inform the appropriate acquisition strategy of the program.” Last month, L3 and a team of Northrop Grumman and Harris were selected to move forward from a field of four competitors that also included Raytheon and a Lockheed Martin and Cobham team, USNI News has learned. Soon afterwards, Raytheon filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, arguing it should have been selected to move forward with the low-band jammer effort. Both L3 and the Northrop Grumman/Harris team confirmed that their low-band tech was selected for potential further study by NAVIAR but referred additional questions to the Navy due to the ongoing protest from Raytheon. “We have a mature and exceedingly capable offering for Next-Generation Jammer Low Band,” a Northrop spokesman told USNI News in a statement. “Northrop Grumman stands ready to demonstrate that technology.” USNI News understands a Lockheed Martin/Cobham team was not selected for further study. A Lockheed spokesperson referred questions to the Navy citing the protest. In a short statement, Raytheon implied the Navy did not fully take into account the benefits of the company's existing investment into the ALQ-249 mid-band jamming technology. “We believe there were errors in the government's evaluation,” Dana Carroll, a Raytheon spokeswoman, told USNI News in a statement. “Our low-risk, open architecture pod effectively and affordably counters modern threats while maximizing reuse of proven technology and taxpayer investment.” The GAO has until October to reach a decision on Raytheon protest. The Next Generation Jammer program has been a weak point the Navy's push to revitalize its aerial electronic warfare portfolio after the service shrugged off developing an improved capability for years in favor of other priorities. The program was placed on the backburner for years while the U.S. was mostly engaged in conflicts with largely uncontested airspace. Full article: https://news.usni.org/2018/08/21/l3-northrop-selected-next-generation-jammer-work-program-stalled-raytheon-protest