January 14, 2022 | International, Aerospace
October 30, 2018 | International, Naval, C4ISR
UK MoD gets budget boost of more than $1B with three programs in mind
By: Andrew Chuter
LONDON — Britain's Ministry of Defence has been given a £1 billion (U.S. $1.28 billion) spending boost in the Treasury budget announcement Oct. 29, with Chancellor Philip Hammond suggesting the money would be mainly spent on three strategic military programs.
Hammond said the additional money would be available in the coming months. Cyber, anti-submarine warfare and the Dreadnought nuclear submarine build program all got named as destinations for the extra cash.
“As a former defense secretary myself I understand the immediate pressure our armed forces are facing, so today I will provide £1 billion to cover the remainder of this year and next to boost our cyber, and anti-submarine warfare capacity and to maintain the pace of the Dreadnought program,” Hammond told Parliament.
The increase caught many by surprise. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has been battling with Hammond for months for extra cash, but a massive funding commitment to the National Health Service made new funds toward security seem unlikely.
Jon Louth, the director for defence, industry and society at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank in London said the additional funding was good news, but fell well short of what is required.
“It's welcome, but comes nowhere near addressing the potential funding gap if you add up all the programs in the equipment plan. It does appear to be a significant increase in percentage terms, although the devil will be in the detail,” he said.
The RUSI analyst said the outcome was “better than we expected a few months ago. Politically people will be chalking that up as a win for Williamson in the context of the wider government budget. One billion pounds is a win,” he said.
Louth cautioned against getting too hung up on the chancellor's announcement about where the extra cash will be spent.
“I suspect when we come to see how the money is used next year it will potentially be a little different from the chancellor's headlines today,” he said.
Defense consultant Alex Ashbourne Walmsley of Ashbourne Strategic Consulting said the new money was a “sticking plaster, but it will buy the MoD a bit more time to work out how to do more with less.”
Earlier this year the MoD received a total of £800 million in funds to keep the program to build four Trident missile equipped Dreadnought nuclear submarines on track.
Some £600 million of that cash came from a £10 billion contingency fund set aside by the government for the Dreadnought program.
Ashbourne-Walmsley described the Dreadnought program as a “money pit.”
The MoD is trying to bridge a funding gap in its £179 billion 10-year equipment plan.
The black hole is put at anywhere between £4 billion and £20 billion by the National Audit Office, the government's financial watchdog. The final figure is dependent, in part, on how effective an ongoing efficiency drive is at the MoD.
The MoD budget for this year is £36.6 billion with 15.6 percent of that spent on equipment procurement and 18.7 percent on support.
The Conservative government is committed to increasing equipment spending in real terms by 0.5 percent a year until 2020.
A long running review, known as the Defence Modernisation Program, has been looking at how British armed forces can adapt and transform to meet the changing and growing military threat, while at the same time balancing the books — an effort that could require capability cuts in several areas.
Publication of that report has already been kicked down the road a couple of times. Although Williamson may announce something before the end of the year, analysts and industry executives expect little of substance ahead of a comprehensive spending review due to take place across all government departments next year.
Hammond appeared to say as much today when he told Parliamentarians the modernisation review will “form the basis for a comprehensive consideration of defense spending next year.”
“The Modernizing Defence Program is increasingly tied into the comprehensive spending review and the 10-year equipment plan in 2019. We might get a whitepaper in late winter or early spring to set up some of the themes but the details won't be out until beyond April,” said Louth.
Some industry executives though are starting to wonder if the modernization program could be published even by April. One executive who asked not to be named, said he wondered whether the comprehensive spending plan might be the trigger for a full blown strategic defense review, particularly if Brexit goes badly and the economy takes a big hit.
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August 26, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
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April 3, 2020 | International, Naval
U.S. Navy Selects Huntington Ingalls Industries to Provide Logistics Support for Surface Ships and Submarines
Newport News, Va., April 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Technical Solutions division was selected by the U.S. Navy to provide integrated logistics support (ILS) for the hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) systems and equipment installed on surface ships and submarines. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ), cost-plus-fixed-fee multiple-award contract has a potential value of $41 million over five years, if all options are exercised. “We take great pride in providing our customers around the globe with multiple logistics products and services to help them achieve their missions,” said Brad Mason, president of Technical Solutions' Fleet Support business unit. “ILS development, maintenance and deployment to the warfighter is a critical part of how HII sustains our nation's fleet.” The IDIQ contract was awarded by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Philadelphia Division, which is responsible for all ILS work related to the HM&E systems and equipment installed on U.S. Navy surface ships and submarines. Under the direction of the Life Cycle Logistics & Readiness Division, HII will execute services related to technical, process and programmatic support for integrated logistics and technical documentation. Huntington Ingalls Industries is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. For more than a century, HII's Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. HII's Technical Solutions division supports national security missions around the globe with unmanned systems, defense and federal solutions, nuclear and environmental services, and fleet sustainment. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs more than 42,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries Statements in this release, as well as other statements we may make from time to time, other than statements of historical fact, constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in these statements. Factors that may cause such differences include: changes in government and customer priorities and requirements (including government budgetary constraints, shifts in defense spending, and changes in customer short-range and long-range plans); our ability to estimate our future contract costs and perform our contracts effectively; changes in procurement processes and government regulations and our ability to comply with such requirements; our ability to deliver our products and services at an affordable life cycle cost and compete within our markets; natural and environmental disasters and political instability; our ability to execute our strategic plan, including with respect to share repurchases, dividends, capital expenditures, and strategic acquisitions; adverse economic conditions in the United States and globally; changes in key estimates and assumptions regarding our pension and retiree health care costs; security threats, including cyber security threats, and related disruptions; and other risk factors discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be other risks and uncertainties that we are unable to predict at this time or that we currently do not expect to have a material adverse effect on our business, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements that we may make. Contact: Beci Brenton Beci.Brenton@hii-co.com (202) 264-7143 View source version on GlobeNewswire: http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/04/01/2010240/0/en/U-S-Navy-Selects-Huntington-Ingalls-Industries-to-Provide-Logistics-Support-for-Surface-Ships-and-Submarines.html