September 20, 2018 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
OTTAWA — The Canadian Press has learned the United States has backed down from its contentious Buy American demands for lucrative procurement projects in the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Mexico and Canada are each taking credit for standing firm against the controversial U.S. position that would have effectively limited their respective countries' ability to bid on valuable American government infrastructure projects.
Multiple sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, cited the competing claims as one example of the animosity between Canada and Mexico that has arisen since Mexico reached its own NAFTA deal with the Trump administration last month.
Canada and the United States are trying to renegotiate their portion of the three-country trade pact, but major sticking points such as dairy, dispute resolution and culture remain.
Canada has credited Mexico with making significant concessions in its deal with the U.S. on automobiles and for permitting large wage increases for Mexican auto workers.
But sources say Mexico has done much of the “heavy lifting” on getting the Americans to back down on its demand to limit the ability of Canadian and Mexican firms to bid on U.S. infrastructure projects, while seeking greater access for American firms to Mexican and Canadian government projects.
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/09/19/u-s-buy-american-demand-gone-from-nafta-sources/
November 17, 2024 | International, Land
Production of the vehicles will utilize local industry capabilities in Latvia, including Patria’s armoured vehicle production facility in Valmiera, opened in May 2024
June 9, 2020 | International, Aerospace
By: Mike Yeo MELBOURNE, Australia — The development of South Korea's indigenous KF-X fighter jet has taken another step forward with GE Aviation delivering the first engine for program, although development partner Indonesia continues to rack up overdue payments for its share. The engine manufacturer announced Friday that it delivered the first F414-GE-400K engine to Korea Aerospace Industries in May. KAI is developing the KF-X for the South Korean Air Force, which intends to replace its fleet of McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighters with the new jet. “GE is thrilled to reach this important milestone in the KF-X program,” said Al DiLibero, general manager of GE's Medium Combat and Trainer Engines department. “Our success so far on this program reflects the strong relationship between the [Republic of Korea Air Force] ROKAF, our South Korean industry partners and GE Aviation, and the long and successful history of our engines powering ROKAF aircraft." KAI selected GE Aviation in May 2016 to supply F414-GE-400K engines for the KF-X fighter, with an eventual total of 240 F414s plus spares to be supplied to KAI to power 120 KF-X jets for South Korea. A total of 15 engines and six prototypes are expected to be produced for the program by 2021, with first flight expected in 2022. Development is expected to be completed by 2026. The F414 also powers the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the Saab JAS 39E/F Gripen and India's HAL Tejas Mark 2 combat aircraft. South Korea plans to primarily equip the KF-X with indigenous avionics. These will come mostly from LIG Nex1 and Hanwha, although Israel's Elbit Systems will supply terrain following/avoidance systems for the active electronically scanned array radar under development by Hanwha. The Israeli company announced the $43 million contract in early February. The KF-X is also to be compatible with European air-to-air missiles. South Korea signed a contract with European missile-maker MBDA in November 2019 to integrate the Meteor, while Diehl-BGT is also reportedly set to sign a similar contract for its IRIS-T. It was also reported that the American Paveway laser-guided bomb, the satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition and Textron's CBU-105 Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser will be integrated on the KF-X, whose development is being co-funded by Indonesia. The Southeast Asian nation signed onto the program in 2010, agreeing to pay for 20 percent of the development costs in exchange for one prototype aircraft, design participation, technical data and production sharing. Since then, however, Indonesia has missed a number of payments amid a budget crunch, with newspaper The Korea Herald reporting in late May that as of April, Indonesia owes $415 million in overdue payments to the program. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2020/06/08/south-korea-receives-engines-for-future-fighter-jet/
August 10, 2023 | International, Aerospace
Textron Systems will deploy its Aerosonde UAS to provide mission overwatch and extended intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) services with enhanced mission payloads as seen aboard the ESB-5.