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Tous alignés pour mener la charge. Les présidents des organisations patronales de l'aéronautique, du naval militaire et de l'armement terrestre plaident d'une seule voix afin que l'industrie de défense fasse partie des plans de relance en France, mais aussi en Europe. « C'est absolument fondamental », ont-ils affirmé, lors d'une audition devant la commission de la défense de l'Assemblée nationale. L'objectif est de préserver la Base industrielle et technologique de défense (BITD) avec ses dizaines de milliers d'emplois hautement qualifiés, répartis sur tout le territoire et le long du littoral. À elles seules, les 400 entreprises aéronautiques membres du Groupement des industries françaises aéronautique et spatiale (Gifas) emploient 200 000 personnes. La filière navale fait travailler 40 000 personnes et les acteurs du terrestre, 20 000. Sans oublier les salariés des milliers de PME et TPE, dont beaucoup de pépites technologiques. Il s'agit aussi d'assurer aux armées, sursollicitées à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur des frontières nationales, le meilleur niveau d'équipements. Cela, en restant compétitifs face à la concurrence internationale et en pérennisant l'indépendance stratégique militaire du pays. Face à la crise du Covid-19 qui affecte les industriels de l'armement, « nous proposons un plan de relance pour soutenir la défense, sur le modèle de celui mis en place après la crise financière de 2008 », déclare Stéphane Meyer, président du Gicat (armement terrestre) et PDG du constructeur de blindés Nexter. Le volet défense du plan de relance de 2008 représentait 2,4 milliards d'euros sur un total de 34 milliards. Compte tenu de la profondeur inédite de la crise économique attendue, il faut aller plus loin. « Il est nécessaire d'augmenter les crédits afin d'amplifier la relance de l'industrie de défense, ce qui passe par la hausse de son budget dans la loi de finance 2021 et une révision de la loi de programmation militaire 2019-2025 avec prise en compte des montants absolus et pas du pourcentage du PIB, qui s'est contracté. Cela en affermissant des commandes qui sont encore optionnelles », précise-t-il. « La commande publique est le meilleur outil pour relancer l'économie », insiste Hervé Guillou, président du Groupement des industries navales (Gican). « Avant de parler de relocalisations, rappelons que l'industrie de défense est déjà localisée en France, et qu'un euro dans le budget français va directement dans l'emploi en France », relève Éric Trappier, président du Gifas et PDG de Dassault Aviation *, constructeur de l'avion de combat Rafale. À court terme, les entreprises qui tournent avec 20 % à 30 % en moyenne des effectifs ont pour « priorité absolue » la maintenance des matériels, la dissuasion et la défense aérienne. Les grands industriels ont aussi, en liaison avec le ministère des Armées, organisé la solidarité interfilière, afin de repérer les PME les plus en difficultés, dont la défaillance « peut affecter toute l'industrie ». L'autre combat se déroule sur le front européen. Les États-Unis ont placé l'aéronautique et la défense au premier rang des industries stratégiques dans leur plan de relance. « Est-ce que l'Europe a un plan pour ces industries stratégiques ? Nous discutons avec Thierry Breton (commissaire au Marché intérieur, notamment en charge de la défense, NDLR) afin que le budget de 13 milliards destiné au fonds européen de défense ne soit pas réduit dans le prochain budget de la Commission », souligne Éric Trappier. Le président du Gifas appelle aussi à la reprise et à la réussite des coopérations européennes et à l'instauration - enfin - d'une préférence européenne en matière d'achat de matériels militaires. « Ce n'est pas le moment de baisser la garde en Europe », martèle Hervé Guillou. « Il faut espérer que la situation fera réfléchir la Direction de la concurrence sur la consolidation européenne, qui est un moyen de créer des champions capables de se défendre contre leurs concurrents étrangers et de se protéger des OPA hostiles », conclut le président du Gican. Véronique GUILLERMARD Le Figaro https://www.asafrance.fr/item/defense-les-industriels-veulent-une-relance.html

By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department is slowly but surely whittling down the number of F-35 technical problems, with the fighter jet program's most serious issues decreasing from 13 to seven over the past year. In June 2019, Defense News published an investigation delving into the details of 13 previously unreported category 1 deficiencies — the designation given to major flaws that impact safety or mission effectiveness. Following the report, five of those 13 category 1 problems have been “closed,” meaning they were eliminated or sufficiently corrected. Five were downgraded to a lower level of deficiency after actions were taken to help mitigate negative effects, and three issues remain open and unsolved, according to the F-35 program executive office. Four additional CAT 1 problems have also since been added to the list, raising the total CAT 1 deficiencies to seven. The program office declined to provide additional details about those issues for classification reasons, but stated that software updates should allow all of them to be closed by the end of 2020. “The F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office is keenly aware of these existing F-35-related category 1 deficiencies and is focused on developing and implementing solutions for these issues as quickly as possible,” the program office said in response to questions from Defense News. “F-35 operator safety is the F-35 JPO's highest priority.” In a statement to Defense News, F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin confirmed the number of open category 1 deficiencies. However, the company declined to provide further information about the path to fix current issues or how earlier issues had been ameliorated. “We are actively addressing the deficiencies and expect all to be downgraded or closed this year,” the company said. While the overall reduction in deficiencies is a promising trend, it is also important to track how problems are solved and how quickly fixes are pushed to the rest of the fleet, said Dan Grazier, an analyst with the independent watchdog group Project on Government Oversight. “I'm not surprised that they are continuing to find issues. This is why we are supposed to be testing weapon systems before we buy a whole bunch of them. I am a little surprised that we are finding CAT 1 deficiencies at this point during operational testing,” Grazier said. “I think that speaks to the level of complexity with this program that it's taken us this long to get to this point, and even after all the testing that has been done and the time and money that has gone into this that we're still finding category 1 issues," he added. "It shows that the program wasn't born in the right place. It was way too ambitious from the very beginning.” Aside from four classified problems, there remain three open category 1 deficiencies in need of a fix. There are myriad reasons for that, the program office stated. “Reasons for delayed issue closure vary according to the complexity of the solution and the availability of test assets needed to verify the solution,” the JPO said. “The U.S. services fund the F-35 program to address a prioritized set of DRs [deficiency reports], while at the same time, develop new capabilities. It is likely that some low-priority DRs will never be resolved because of their minor impact on F-35 fleet operations does not justify the cost of resolution." The F-35 program office provided some details on the path forward for resolving these technical flaws, but noted that many details regarding those plans remain classified: Spikes in the F-35 cockpit's cabin pressure have been known to cause barotrauma, or extreme ear and sinus pain. This problem was documented when two Air Force pilots, flying older versions of the F-35A conventional-takeoff-and-landing model, experienced ear and sinus pain that they described as “excruciating, causing loss of in-flight situational awareness, with effects lasting for months,” according to documents obtained by Defense News. The physiological event is known by the medical term barotrauma. The F-35 Joint Program Office believes barotrauma in the jet is caused when sensors on the outer mold line of the aircraft detect “rapidly changing static pressures” that, in turn, drive very quick changes of the cockpit pressure regulator valve. Lockheed Martin has tested a fix that proved to be successful in a laboratory setting, Lockheed program head Greg Ulmer said last year. But flight testing of that improvement has not occurred, slowing the pace of a solution. The F-35 program office now says flight testing of a new cockpit pressure regulation system is planned for mid-2020. If all goes well, the deficiency should be completely eliminated in 2021. On nights with little starlight, the night vision camera sometimes displays green striations that make it difficult for all F-35 variants to see the horizon or to land on ships. On nights where there is little ambient light, horizontal green lines sometimes appear on the night vision camera feed, obscuring the horizon and making landing on a ship more dangerous. The problem is different than the notorious “green glow” issue, caused when the F-35 helmet-mounted display's LED lights produce a greenish luminescence that inhibits a pilot's ability to land on an aircraft carrier on nights with very little light. At one point, both Lockheed and the government's program office believed both problems could be solved by the F-35 Generation III helmet that the U.S. military began fielding last year. Although the program office no longer considers the “green glow” problem a deficiency, it appears that the new helmet did not completely solve the night vision camera issue. The program office told Defense News that it intends to develop software improvements and test them in flight later this year, but the deficiency will not be considered “closed” until at least 2021. The sea search mode of the F-35's radar only illuminates a small slice of the sea's surface. Unlike the other problems, which are the result of the contractor not meeting technical specifications or the jet not working as planned, this deficiency is on the books even though the jet's Northrop Grumman-made AN/APG-81 active electronically scanned array radar fulfills its requirements. Currently, the radar can only illuminate what is directly in front of it when in sea search mode. That performance is not good enough for the Navy, which wants to be able to search a wider area than is currently possible. Although this problem can be fixed with software modifications and an upgrade to the radar's processing power, it will continue to be on the books for some time. According to the program office, “[the] U.S. services agreed to plan for an improved radar mode, which will require the Technology Refresh-1 avionics update, for software release in [calendar year] 2024.” ‘A line in the sand' Although Defense Department and military leaders have criticized the F-35 program for high operations and sustainment costs, the operational community has rallied around the performance of the jet, praising its advanced computing capability that allows the aircraft to mesh together data from different sensors and provide a more complete picture of enemy threats. Brig. Gen. David Abba, who leads the Air Force's F-35 integration office, said in March that he was comfortable with the path forward to correct open deficiencies, downplaying the impact of those issues on daily operations. “Is it important to hold folks' feet to the fire and make sure that we're delivering on the capabilities that we need? Yes,” he said. But, he added, it's also difficult to balance the need to meet a stated technical requirement against the reality of a fielded technology that may already be performing well in daily operations. “That's the crux of the acquisition and the delivery problem that we have,” Abba said. “When we say ‘I need this to work exactly like this,' I'm drawing a line in the sand. If I'm a half degree on one side of that line versus the other, is it really that different? That's where the art comes in.” “We've got to kind of get over ourselves a little bit and acknowledge that we never field perfect weapon systems,” he continued. “I don't want to diminish the fact that it's critical that we get after open DRs, but every weapon system in the United States Air Force — and frankly around the planet — has open deficiencies. What matters is the severity of those deficiencies and ensuring that we have a robust process between government and industry to triage those and deal with them appropriately.” Aaron Mehta and David B. Larter contributed to this report. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/hidden-troubles-f35/2020/04/24/the-pentagon-has-cut-the-number-of-serious-f-35-technical-flaws-in-half/

Melbourne, Fla. April 23, 2020 - The U.S. Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has awarded L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) a five-year, $500 million ceiling, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract — with an initial delivery order of $30.6 million — for the Air Force and Army Anti-jam Modem (A3M). A3M provides the Department of the Air Force and Army with a secure, wideband, anti-jam satellite communications terminal modem for tactical satellite communication operations. The contract and order were received in the first quarter of 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200423005148/en/ “With the proliferation and growing sophistication of threats in the electromagnetic spectrum, it has become increasingly important to enhance protected communications capabilities for the warfighter,” said Dana Mehnert, President, Communication Systems, L3Harris. “The A3M technology solution enhances the warfighter's ability to communicate critical data by maintaining resilient and secure satellite communications in highly congested and contested environments that include the presence of adversarial jamming.” L3Harris will collaborate with SMC for the design, development, fabrication, integration, certification and testing of Block 1 modems for use in the Air Force Ground Multiband Terminal and the Army Satellite Transportable Terminal. The jam-resistant modems support SMC's Protected Tactical Waveform technology, an anti-jam capability operating on military satellite communication terminals through the Wideband Global Satcom constellation. The L3Harris modems are optimized for high-rate production and are designed to become an integral part of the service's growing Protected Anti-Jam Tactical Service enterprise. Several airborne and ground-based platforms and thousands of terminals across the Department of Defense have been identified as transition candidates to the Protected Tactical Waveform. About L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers' mission-critical needs. The company provides advanced defense and commercial technologies across air, land, sea, space and cyber domains. L3Harris has approximately $18 billion in annual revenue and 50,000 employees, with customers in 130 countries. L3Harris.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the value or expected value of orders, contracts or programs and about our system capabilities are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. L3Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200423005148/en/

AIR FORCE Dataminr Inc., New York, New York, has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract for $258,661,096 for a commercially available license subscription that can leverage a variety of publicly available information sources, evaluate content to detect emerging events as they are developing and push alerts to users based on user-defined areas and topics of interest. The solution must be capable of distributing alerts in near real-time via email, web-based application and mobile platforms. The solution must be available commercially in the marketplace and able to scale to a Department of Defense enterprise capability and keep pace with developments and standards within the commercial industry sector. Work will be performed in New York and is expected to be complete by April 23, 2025. This award resulted after three firms were solicited and submitted bids. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $48,720,000 are being obligated at the time of the award. The Air Force District Washington, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, is the contracting activity (FA7014-20-C-0016). Aviation Training Consulting LLC, Altus, Oklahoma, has been awarded a $7,281,483 firm-fixed-price modification (P00043) to previously-awarded contract FA8621-16-C-6339 for B-52 training system contractor logistics support and training system support center sustainment. The contract modification is for the third increment of the seven year basic contract. Work will be performed at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; and Minot AFB, North Dakota, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2020. Air Force fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds will fund this effort. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $7,281,483. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity. NAVY Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, Baltimore, Maryland, was awarded a $147,639,775 undefinitized contract action modification to previously-awarded contract N00024-20-C-5310 for the procurement of MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) vertical launcher module electronic components. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Maryland (44%); Fort Walton Beach, Florida (39%); Waverly, Iowa (3%); Hampstead, Maryland (2%); Dover, Pennsylvania (2%); Chaska, Minnesota (1%); St. Peters, Missouri (1%); Wooddale, Illinois (1%); Plainview, New York (1%); Irvine, California (1%); Roebling, New Jersey (1%); Forest Hill, Maryland (1%); Millersville, Maryland (1%); Sterling Heights, Michigan (1%); and Red Lion, Pennsylvania (1%). This modification provides the electronic components for MK 41 VLS, which is installed onboard Navy surface combatants (CG-47 and DDG-51 class ships) and multiple allied Navy platforms. MK 41 VLS stores, selects, prepares and launches standard missiles, Tomahawk, Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rocket and Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles. Work is expected to be completed by March 2025. This contract combines purchases for the Navy (65%); and the governments of South Korea, Finland and Germany (35%) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Fiscal 2018 and 2019 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy); and FMS funding in the amount of $29,527,952 was obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, District of Columbia, is the contracting activity. (Awarded April 17, 2020) Trijicon Inc.,* Wixom, Michigan, is awarded a $41,218,080 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the remanufacture of Rifle Combat Optics (RCOs). This contract provides for the materials, labor, equipment, facilities and missing/repair parts necessary to inspect, diagnose, test and restore the RCOs. Work will be performed in Wixom, Michigan, and is expected to be completed by April 2025. This contract has a five-year ordering period with a maximum value of $41,218,080. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Marine Corps) in the amount of $8,160,000 will be obligated at the time of award for the first task order and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) - only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The Marine Corps Logistics Command, Albany, Georgia, is the contracting activity (M67004-20-D-0003). Avian LLC,* Lexington Park, Maryland, is awarded a $13,342,932 modification (P00068) to exercise an option on a previously-awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00421-17-C-0049) to provide support for the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division's Integrated System Evaluation Experimentation and Test Department. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland, and services will include flight test engineering, programmatic, administrative, design, execution, analysis, evaluation and reporting of tests and experiments of aircraft, unmanned air systems, weapons and weapons systems. Work is expected to be completed in April 2021. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) in the amount of $3,783,077; fiscal 2019 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) in the amount of $90,000; fiscal 2020 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $1,549,886; fiscal 2019 aircraft procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $28,732; fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $19,816; fiscal 2020 other procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $144,756; and Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $310,238 will be obligated at time of award, $254,572 of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. ARMY ECS Federal LLC, Fairfax, Virginia, was awarded an $83,099,372 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for to create combined artificial intelligence (AI)-platform prototypes enhance. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Work will be performed in Fairfax, Virginia, with an estimated completion date of March 26, 2023. Fiscal 2020 research, development, test, and evaluation, Army funds in the amount of $83,099,372 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Aberdeen, Maryland, is the contracting activity (W911QX-20-C-0023). Sherwood Aviation,* Opa Locka, Florida, was awarded an $18,636,740 firm-fixed-price contract for overhaul/repair of CH-47 gas turbine engines. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of April 23, 2025. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-20-D-0051). General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, California, was awarded a $9,943,746 modification (P00044) to contract W58RGZ-19-C-0027 for continuation effort for the Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System. Bids were solicited via the internet with one received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance, Army funds in the amount of $9,943,746 were obligated at the time of the award. Work will be performed in Poway, California, with an estimated completion date of April 23, 2021. U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. Boyer Commercial Construction Inc.,* Columbia, South Carolina, was awarded an $8,686,240 firm-fixed-price contract for national cemetery expansion at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Bids were solicited via the internet with seven received. Work will be performed in Columbia, South Carolina, with an estimated completion date of May 14, 2021. Fiscal 2020 Department of Veteran Affairs funds in the amount of $8,686,240 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Charleston, South Carolina, is the contracting activity (W912HP-20-C-2001). DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Robertson Fuel Systems LLC, Tempe, Arizona, has been awarded a maximum $38,784,713 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery requirements contract for aircraft fuel tanks. This was a sole-source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Arizona, with an April 23, 2025, performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 Army working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (SPRRA1-20-D-0034). *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2162978/source/GovDelivery/

April 23, 2020 - Saab has signed a three-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defence for the provision of support and services to the Direct Fire Weapon Effects Simulator (DFWES) capability. The contract valued at 320 MSEK came into effect on April 1, 2020. DFWES is a laser based Tactical Engagement Simulation (TES) system, that allows dismounted and mounted soldiers to simulate the effects of direct and indirect fire. This order includes support and maintenance for the British Army's DFWES capability. In addition to the existing sites in the UK, Canada and Germany, this contract includes continuation of support to the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, the Infantry Battle School in Brecon and the Infantry Training Centre Catterick. “We are proud that Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) continues to choose Saab as a partner to provide the British military with the DFWES capability. This ensures that British soldiers and marines can continue to receive the best possible support for their training and is a testament to the close and long-term cooperation between Saab and the UK”, says Magnus Lewis Olson, Head of Saab in the United Kingdom. The high fidelity, interoperable and deployable DFWES capability supports individual, collective and mission specific training around the globe. For further information, please contact: Saab Press Centre, +46 (0)734 180 018 presscentre@saabgroup.com Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions within military defence and civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents around the world. Through innovative, collaborative and pragmatic thinking, Saab develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers' changing needs. View source version on Saab: https://saabgroup.com/media/news-press/news/2020-04/saab-signs-support-contract-with-british-army/

Michael Bruno Companies have good quarters and bad quarters, but rarely does a whole industry sound like it just got sucker-punched. That's what the next few weeks will be like in the aerospace and defense sector, and for sure there will be headlines describing industrial carnage as the industry gasps for air and works to recover after COVID-19. The truth is the aerospace and defense (A&D) supply chain suddenly is far too large for what is needed, maybe by a quarter or a third of excess capacity. As a result, quick or methodical cutbacks in manufacturing and services are expected throughout the syndicates that make airliners, business jets and other aircraft. As public companies report their latest quarterly financial results in late April and May, they will have to address the year ahead and offer insight into their response plans. Unfortunately, business as usual prior to COVID-19 is not expected until 2022 or later, according to numerous analysts and advisors. And that is just too long to carry extra financial costs, which means all levels will feel pain. “The COVID-19 decline is a serious risk for commercial OEM plays—Boeing, Spirit AeroSystems, Allegheny Technologies, Hexcel, Howmet Aerospace, Triumph Group and Carpenter Technology,” Cowen analysts say. “Aftermarket ‘relative safe havens' Honeywell International, Heico and TransDigm Group also face stiff near-term headwinds, with more serious risks at General Electric.” If OEMs and their Tier 1 and 2 suppliers are already cutting their workforces, slashing executive salaries and suspending shareholder returns—as dozens have announced since the novel coronavirus began sweeping through the U.S. in March—then it is easy to imagine that much lower tiers with their even thinner margins could face existential reckonings. “People who didn't plan for it were unreasonably naive,” asserts Avitas consultant Adam Pilarski, a longtime expert who espoused a bearish view on commercial aviation long before the Boeing 737 MAX crisis started gumming up business models. “There is no magic potion here. You will have less production.” While Pilarski's comment may come across as harsh, it accurately describes the depth of the coming paradigm shift for commercial aviation. Yes, perhaps it was too much to have asked OEMs and suppliers to model for a 95% collapse in passenger air traffic and two-thirds of large commercial aircraft fleets getting parked—including brand-new deliveries. But practically no one seemed to imagine simultaneous cuts to new orders, standing backlogs and aftermarket revenue streams. Indeed, Pilarski was one of the few who envisioned an environment with much less than the traditional 5% annual growth in air traffic. That is now changing: Airbus has revealed narrowbody and widebody production rate cuts of about a third, and Boeing is expected to follow suit any day. According to Credit Suisse analysts, such sudden rate changes will have a materially negative impact on the supply chain because the effect is exponential. “[The supply chain] will need to cut production by much more as Airbus consumes its inventories—for instance, potentially going to rate 20 on the A320 for some months and ramping up again to 40,” the Credit Suisse analysts say. Boeing's inventory—including roughly 800 MAXs that are backed up with its customers and supplier Spirit AeroSystems and are waiting to join its own fleets—is worse. Still, it is not that simple to look at customers such as Airbus and Boeing and draw a direct line to suppliers to guess their fate. While the vast majority of publicly traded A&D companies have shelved the 2020 forecasts they offered just weeks before, almost no one has outlined new plans. For one thing, few suppliers had even received change orders as of early April, Ken Herbert of Canaccord Genuity says. Here are three factors to watch for in earnings reports to discern how the supply chains will change. First, how much U.S. government aid will companies receive? This is a significant variable, and as of mid-April, we still did not know how much even sector leader Boeing will receive (presuming it does). “Most suppliers we have spoken with are still waiting for more clarity on the exact terms available under the CARES Act,” says Herbert, who has deep ties in the A&D supply chain. Meanwhile, many public companies have been able to tap short-term financing or debt markets to boost liquidity—a testament to their prior investment grades. Second, the supply chain has experienced robust vetting and stress-testing over the past decade. Did it work? Record growth, record mergers and acquisitions, and record private equity involvement have dramatically consolidated industry (for better or worse). Yes, it meant elimination of countless companies, and some smaller survivors remain stressed by technology investments and meager working capital accounts. But top-tier companies have been working to eliminate chokepoints and shore up weak links in their supply chains for the last few years, ironically as they sought to raise rates. Finally, many companies became less susceptible one way or another, especially through revenue diversification (see chart). Take the new Raytheon Technologies, the first supplier to rival its OEM customers in annual sales. Manufacturers elbowed into the aftermarket; commercial providers and defense suppliers tapped into each other's markets; and venture capitalists and billionaire competitors entered into and prodded new technology advances that legacy industry had resisted funding, among other trends. Will this lead to resilience? Some think so. “In many ways, the supply chain is now more mature, diversified and well-positioned to handle this economic downturn versus in 2001 and 2008,” says Alex Krutz, managing director at Patriot Industrial Partners, an advisory firm focused on operations and supply chain. “A large number of suppliers over this last decade have taken significant steps to ensure their long-term success.” There are sure to be industrial casualties as A&D faces its greatest business falloff in history. We should mourn the loss of skilled workers and devoted people who are forced to exit the sector, but there are still new aircraft to build. And there will be supply chains to do it. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/manufacturing-supply-chain/what-watch-ad-companies-plan-future-covid-19

Par AFP ,publié le 23/04/2020 à 19:52 , mis à jour à 19:52 Paris, 23 avr 2020 - Les industries de défense jugent "fondamental" un plan de relance de l'économie dont elles bénéficieraient face à l'épidémie de coronavirus, mettant en avant les emplois en jeu en France et la concurrence internationale, ont affirmé jeudi leurs représentants. "Nous proposons un plan de relance pour soutenir la base industrielle et technologique de défense à l'image de ce qui avait été réalisé après la crise de 2008 pourtant beaucoup moins forte", a plaidé Stéphane Mayer, président du Conseil des industries de défense française (Cidef) lors d'une audition par les députés de la commission des Forces armées. Il était entendu en tant que président du Groupement des industries françaises de défense et de sécurité terrestres (Gicat) au côté de ses homologues du Gifas (industries aéronautiques et spatiales), Eric Trappier, et du Gican (constructions navales), Hervé Guillou. Le volet défense du plan de relance lancé en 2008 représentait 2,4 milliards d'euros. Il avait notamment donné lieu à la commande d'un porte-hélicoptères supplémentaire, le Dixmude, qui croise aujourd'hui dans les Antilles pour y apporter soutien logistique et matériel sanitaire face à l'épidémie de Covid-19. Un tel plan de relance est aujourd'hui "absolument fondamental", selon eux. "La commande publique est le meilleur moyen de redémarrer l'économie", a jugé Hervé Guillou. "Il faut être capable de relancer notre économie au risque sinon de voir déferler une vague relativement forte de problématiques d'emplois, de problématiques d'activités qui serait désastreuses", a observé Eric Trappier pour le Gifas. Les salariés des industries de défense sont estimés à au moins 165.000 personnes, pour beaucoup très qualifiés et répartis sur l'ensemble du territoire. "Avant de parler de relocalisations, l'industrie de défense est déjà localisée en France, donc un euro dans le budget français va directement dans l'emploi en France et l'export c'est du budget étranger qui donne de l'emploi en France", selon M. Trappier. Le secteur est contributeur net à la balance commerciale, mais fait face à une forte concurrence internationale, notamment d'Allemagne, de Chine ou des États-Unis. "Or, nos principaux concurrents se sont mis dans une situation de redémarrage [de l'activité] qui pourrait très rapidement tuer nos parts de marché", a estimé Hervé Guillou. Entendue par les sénateurs le 10 avril, la ministre des Armées Florence Parly avait affirmé que son ministère, "premier investisseur de l'État", aurait "un rôle particulier à jouer lorsqu'il s'agirait de relancer l'économie française". https://lentreprise.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/actualites/coronavirus-les-industriels-de-defense-plaident-pour-un-plan-de-relance_2124513.html

While some prototype deliveries and field tests are being delayed, Army leaders said, there's enough slack in the schedule that combat units will still get the new tech on time. By SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.on April 23, 2020 at 2:40 PM WASHINGTON: The Army and its contractors are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic so well that the service expects no delay in the fielding of future weapons, the Army Secretary and his two top modernization officials told reporters today. The “rigorous” review of acquisition programs for the 2022 budget request is also still on schedule, Sec. Ryan McCarthy said. “It's just amazing how quickly they've adapted, kept their workforce engaged, and are protecting cost, schedule, and performance on these weapons systems,” said McCarthy, recently returned from a visit to BAE and General Dynamics facilities in Detroit. “Also I'm very proud of Dr. Jette's and Gen. Murray's performance during this crisis, working on things like progress payments for manufacturers, trying to help them get access to small business loans, the managing of second- and third-tier suppliers.” “Right now, all the companies that were closed for any period of time are reopened,” said Assistant Secretary Bruce Jette, the service's civilian acquisition chief. One BAE worker was infected, resulting in a week-long shutdown of a combat vehicle assembly line – you can't weld armor plate over your telephone, Jette noted – but the company has now restarted production with new precautions in place. The company and the union have agreed to give up their traditional week-long shutdown for summer vacation to catch up. The Boeing CH-47 helicopter plant in Philadelphia also shut down for 10 days, Jette reported, but they're back up and running as well. He's most worried about smaller subcontractors, where a single COVID-19 case can force the entire workforce to be quarantined for 14 days, so he's tracking that closely. “I keep track on a daily basis of 63 pages of supply chain [data],” Jette said. “Our industry partners have been really good about opening their books all the way down to their sub-suppliers and keeping us well-informed — they contractually don't have to do that but they have.” Some deliveries of prototypes have been delayed, said Gen. John “Mike” Murray, chief of Army Futures Command. But, so far, those delays are measured in weeks and there's sufficient slack in schedules to catch up later this year, he said, which means programs will proceed to production and fielding on time. What's particularly tricky for the Army is that, after decades of dumping “good ideas” on soldiers only to find they didn't actually work, it's now systematically letting soldiers try out prototypes hands-on. These soldier touchpoints require troops to work together in the field, often side-by-side with contractors who record their feedback and make some fixes on the spot. That's difficult given pandemic precautions – but not impossible. Other types of testing allow a little more social distance, and work from engineering design to budget reviews can take place entirely online. Gen. Murray gave a rundown of key programs: The next flight test of Lockheed Martin's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) will take place as scheduled on April 30th, Gen. Murray said. “I'm very confident,” he declared, to the point he's already planned his flight to go observe. On the other hand, the third big soldier touchpoint test for the IVAS targeting goggles, scheduled for this summer, has been delayed to the fall. That's not just because of social distancing, Murray said, but also because a Microsoft subcontractor ran into COVID-19 problems (they'll be back in operation this week). Because this would have been the first test of a fully militarized and ruggedized “form factor” of IVAS, which began life as a modified Microsoft HoloLens, it's too important to cut corners, he said. The program will be able to make up the lost time and deliver the final production version to troops on schedule, he said. There's been a six week delay in delivery of the three competiting prototypes for Next Generation Squad Weapon, meant to replace the M249 SAW. Once the weapons arrive, however, the Army will now get them into soldiers' hands in just two weeks, a month faster than originally planned, making up for most of that lost time. Field-testing of one contender for the new FTUAS drone is already underway at Fort Riley, as we've previously reported. Testing of another drone design at Fort Campbell is “a little bit delayed,” Murray said, but should start by the end of the month. The Limited User Test of the IBCS missile defense network has been postponed (again, as we've reported). But the equipment remains in place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, Murray said, software updates continue, and the soldiers who spent months training to operate it will be back to do the test “this summer or early fall.” (The Army also previously announced it would postpone field tests of promising new Robotic Combat Vehicles). “In general,” Jette said, “we don't see any FUEs changing”: That's military jargon for “First Unit Equipped,” the crucial moment when enough of a weapon has been built to equip a significant combat unit. “We are tracking each program,” Jette said, not just the service's top priorities “but all of our over 600 programs, [and] none of them are at risk” of a delay so severe they can't recover. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/04/covid-19-wont-slow-new-army-weapons-mccarthy-murray-jette/

By: Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem (ret.) and Douglas Birkey The nation faces a bomber crisis, and it is time to openly acknowledge the scale and scope of the problem. Tasked with deterrence and, if necessary, striking targets around the globe, Air Force crews operating these aircraft afford the nation's security leaders unique options best embodied in the phrase: anytime, anyplace. Despite the criticality of this mission, the Air Force currently operates the smallest, oldest fleet of bombers since its 1947 founding. No other service or ally has this capability, which places an imperative on this finite force. The service's recent announcement that it will be ending its continuous bomber presence in Guam further amplifies the precarious state of bombers. It is a stark warning to senior leaders in the Pentagon, in the executive branch and on Capitol Hill that the Air Force is “out of Schlitz” when it comes to the critical missions they perform. Bombers are unique instruments of power. They can strike targets with large volumes of kinetic firepower without requiring access to foreign bases and without projecting the vulnerability associated with regionally based land or sea forces. The striking power of a single bomber is immense. In fact, B-1Bs flying missions against ISIS in the opening days of Operation Inherent Resolve were able to carry more munitions than that delivered by an entire carrier air wing. Stealth bombers can penetrate enemy air defenses, depriving mobile targets of sanctuary. They can also carry large bunker-buster munitions required to eliminate deeply buried and hardened facilities. Bomber aircraft are also cheaper to operate on a per-mission basis when compared to alternate options, like ships, large packages of smaller strike aircraft or standoff missiles. The erosion of the bomber force is no secret. At the end of the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force possessed 400 bombers arrayed to fight the Soviet Union. Today, it has just 157, with a plan to cut a further 17 in the fiscal 2021 budget submission. Air Force efforts to modernize the bomber force a decade ago were thwarted within the Department of Defense by an excessive near-term focus on counterinsurgency operations. Bombers are requested by combatant commands on a continual basis given the concurrent threats posed by peer adversaries, mid-tier nations like Iran and North Korea, and hostile nonstate actors. The Air Force knows this mission area is stretched too thin, and that is precisely why in 2018 leaders called for an additional five bomber squadrons in “The Air Force We Need” force structure assessment. Well-understood risk exists with operating a high-demand, low-density inventory for too long. The B-1B force, which makes up over one-third of America's bomber capacity, offers a highly cautionary tale in this regard. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the service retired 26 of these aircraft to free up modernization funds, which subsequently were snatched away from the bomber mission area for other uses. For the next two decades, the Air Force flew the B-1B in a nearly continuous string of intense combat deployments. Sustainment funding was under-resourced, which further wore down the B-1B force. Last summer, B-1B readiness rates plummeted below 10 percent — effectively putting them out of commission. As Air Force Global Strike Command Commander Gen. Tim Ray explained: “We overextended the B-1Bs.” It was a toxic formula of too much mission demand and too few airplanes. Air Force leaders continually signaled concern, but their calls for help went unanswered. The normal solution to this sort of a challenge would be straight-forward: Go buy more airplanes. However, operational B-21s will not be in production until the latter 2020s. The Air Force is asking to retire 17 B-1s to free up resources to nurse the remaining aircraft along as a stopgap measure. COVID-19 emergency spending and corresponding downward pressure on future defense spending are only going to aggravate the complexity of this juggling act with mission demand, available force structure and readiness. Whether world events will align with these circumstances is yet to be seen. It was in this context that the Air Force decided to end its continuous bomber presence on Guam. Launched in 2004 to deter adversaries like China and North Korea and to reassure regional allies, the mission has been a tremendous success. It clearly communicated U.S. readiness to act decisively when U.S. and allied interests were challenged. Ending continuous bomber presence in the Pacific now sends the opposite message, just as the region grows more dangerous. This is a decision with significant risk, yet it is an outcome compelled by past choices resulting in a bomber force on the edge. The path forward begins with admitting the nation has a bomber shortfall. Retiring more aircraft exacerbates the problem. Nor is this just an Air Force problem. Bombers are national assets essential to our security strategy and must be prioritized accordingly. If other services have excess funds to invest in ideas like a 1,000-mile-range cannon when thousands of strike aircraft, various munitions and remotely piloted aircraft can fill the exact same mission requirements, it is time for a roles and missions review to direct funding toward the most effective, efficient options. Bombers would compete well in such an assessment. Ultimately, the solution demands doubling down on the B-21 program. There comes a point where you cannot do more with less. Given the importance of bombers to the nation, rebuilding the bomber force is not an option — it is an imperative. Retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem served as a fighter pilot and held various command positions. He concluded his service as the director of plans, policy and strategy at North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command. He is currently the director of studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, where Douglas Birkey is the executive director. Birkey researches issues relating to the future of aerospace and national security, and he previously served as the Air Force Association's director of government relations. https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/23/americas-bomber-force-is-facing-a-crisis/