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We are not going to “efficiency” our way out of the hard choices which the next administration will face fitting an already straining defense posture under a flatlined budget. Previously in the Up... More details on https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/budget-policy-operations/opinion-efficiencies-alone-cannot-solve-us-defense-budget

By EurAsian Times Global Desk Under the F-35 Joint Strike Program, Pratt and Whitney announced that it has been awarded a $1.5 million contract for the study of F135 modernisation study and operational assessment. Pratt & Whitney, a division of Raytheon Technologies Corporation, will assess F135 engine enhancements required to support future F-35 weapon system capability requirements across all F-35 variants beginning with Block 4.2 aircraft. “Designed with the knowledge that operational environments will evolve and threats will advance, the F135 is postured to meet future F-35 capability requirements,” said Pratt and Whitney in a statement. The study would concentrate on enhancements addressing improvements to up and away thrust, powered lift thrust, power and thermal management capacity, and fuel burn reduction. Reportedly, the study will be completed in March 2021. “This award is a significant milestone for the programme and the warfighter, as we look to ensure the F135 propulsion system continues to provide the foundation for all air vehicle capability requirements over the full lifecycle of the F-35,” Pratt & Whitney Military Engines President Matthew Bromberg said. Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft is single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft. The F135 engine is used in all three variants – the F-35A CTOL (Conventional Takeoff and Landing), F-35B STOVL (Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing) and F-35C CV (Carrier Variant). The F135 engine is capable of delivering more than 40,000 lbs. of thrust. The F135 has evolved from the proven F119 engine, which exclusively powers the U.S. Air Force's F-22 Raptor, and features best-in-class single-engine reliability, fifth-generation stealth capabilities as well as advanced prognostics and health management systems. “As we look to the future, growth in aircraft capability must be met with matched propulsion modernization. Fortunately, the F135 has ample design margin to support agile and affordable upgrades that will enable all F-35 operators to keep pace with evolving threat environments,” Bromberg said. https://eurasiantimes.com/f-35-fighter-jets-need-an-engine-upgrade-pentagon-awards-contract-to-pratt-whitney/

OTTAWA - Canada has taken a big leap closer to meeting its promise to the NATO military alliance to spend a larger share of its economy on defence thanks to an unexpected assist from COVID-19. New NATO figures released Wednesday show that largely thanks to the pandemic, Canada is poised to spend the equivalent of more of its gross domestic product on defence this year than at any point in the past decade. That is because the alliance expects the Liberal government to hold Canadian defence spending steady even as COVID-19 batters the country's economic output. Yet defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute says the results are unlikely to appease the United States, as Canada continues to fall far short of its promise to NATO to spend two per cent of GDP on defence. “I think they'll be pleased to see positive momentum,” Perry said of the U.S., “but it doesn't resolve their concern about where we are.“ All NATO members, including Canada, agreed in 2014 to work toward spending the equivalent of two per cent of their GDP — a standard measurement of a country's economic output — on defence within the next decade. The promise followed complaints from the U.S. about burden-sharing among allies and broader concerns about new threats from Russia and China as the two countries increased their own military spending. NATO and the U.S. have repeatedly criticized Canada for not meeting the target, with President Donald Trump in December calling Canada “slightly delinquent” during a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. His predecessor, Barack Obama, also called out Canada over its defence spending during an address to Parliament in 2016. The U.S. spends more than any other NATO member on defence, both in terms of raw cash and as a share of GDP. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday said the continued importance of increasing military spending would be discussed when defence ministers from across the alliance meet this week. The NATO figures show that Canada is poised to spend 1.45 per cent of its GDP on the military this year. That is not only a big jump from the 1.29 per cent last year, but the largest share of the economy in a decade. It also exceeds the government's original plan, laid out in the Liberals' defence policy in 2017, to spend 1.4 per cent of GDP on the military by 2024-25. That is when NATO members were supposed to hit the two-per-cent target. Yet the figures show the expected increase isn't the result of a new infusion of cash for the Canadian Armed Forces this year as spending is expected to hit $30 billion, up just over $1 billion from 2019. Rather, NATO predicts Canadian GDP will shrink by about eight per cent this year as COVID-19 continues to ravage the economy. The fact Canadian defence spending is expected to remain largely steady despite the pandemic is noteworthy, particularly as there have been fears in some corners about cuts to help keep the federal deficit under control. The NATO report instead appears to lend further credence to recent assertions from Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, Defence Department deputy minister Jody Thomas and others that the Liberals are not readying the axe. Canada also remained 21st out of 29 NATO members in terms of the share of GDP spent on the military as other allies also got a surprise boost from the economic damage wrought by COVID-19. At the same time, Perry said the government has yet to lay out a timetable for when it plans to meet the two per cent target. Military spending is instead expected to start falling after 2024-25, according to the Liberal defence plan. Despite having agreed to the target during the NATO leaders' summit in Wales in 2014, successive Canadian governments have repeatedly described the NATO target as “aspirational.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/10/21/canada-jumps-closer-to-military-spending-target-thanks-to-covid-19s-economic-damage.html

by Ashley Roque BAE Systems is remaining tight-lipped over whether it will compete in the US Army's revamped M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle replacement competition, but told Janes a newly forged partnership with Elbit Systems could help it outfit such proposals with added capabilities. On 21 October, the two companies announced that they were teaming up to develop and integrate “advanced operational capabilities” for ground combat vehicles. This partnership could lead to Elbit Systems' crew automation, vehicle protection, and other defensive and offensive systems being included on BAE Systems existing and future combat vehicles. “BAE Systems customers, both domestic and international, are looking to modernise their vehicles and enhance their capabilities,” company spokeswoman Amanda Niswonger wrote in a subsequent email. “Forming this partnership will provide more agility in developing solutions that will meet our customers' requirements and timelines.” Niswonger did not directly address which legacy and future programmes this partnership is geared towards, but said “we are discussing the OMFV [Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle] draft RFP [request for proposal] internally and have yet to determine if it is the right programme for BAE Systems to compete for”. BAE Systems dropped out of the army's previous OMFV prototyping competition in 2019 citing programme “requirements” and the “acquisition schedule”. Since then, the army has scrapped the effort and relaunched a new one with seemingly less stringent requirements, though the service has not yet released the final RFP. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/elbit-bae-systems-combining-forces-in-us-combat-vehicle-arena

Dans une réponse au député François Cornut-Gentille, le 22 octobre, le ministère des Armées estime que « les répercussions de la crise Covid-19 sur l'entrée en vigueur en 2020 de certains contrats ou la réalisation de certains prospects sont à craindre ». S'il était signé avant la fin de l'année, le contrat Rafale en Grèce pourrait toutefois limiter l'impact. La Grèce a également mis en vigueur plusieurs autres contrats avec les industriels français : un système de défense anti-aérienne et des contrats-cadre pour la maintenance et la mise à niveau de l'électronique de 24 Mirage 2000-5 (Dassault Aviation, Thales et Safran) pour plus de 260 millions d'euros. Enfin, le Qatar reste très intéressé par deux satellites d'observation de fabrication française et discute depuis de très longs mois avec la France et Airbus Defence and Space sur leur fourniture. La France est par ailleurs engagée dans des compétitions majeures. Dassault Aviation propose le Rafale en Finlande et en Suisse et Thales est en compétition pour le renouvellement de la défense sol-air dans ce dernier pays, dont le choix aura lieu simultanément avec celui de l'avion de combat. Pour l'article complet : https://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/crise-du-covid-19-vers-un-impact-sur-les-exportations-d-armements-francaises-en-2020-860366.html

Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's secret intelligence fund received $23.1 billion in appropriated funds for the recently concluded fiscal 2020 — the highest total for the account in nine years. The increased funding for the Military Intelligence Program, or MIP, comes after FY19 saw a rare decrease in year-over-year spending power for the classified account. The funding, which includes both base dollars and overseas contingency operations money, “is aligned to support the National Defense Strategy,” per a four-sentence statement from the Pentagon. The department annually waits until after the fiscal year ends to announce how much money it was given for the fund. The Pentagon requested less than $23 billion for the MIP in its FY20 budget request, meaning Congress gave the fund a slight increase over requested amounts. “The department has determined that releasing this top line figure does not jeopardize any classified activities within the MIP,” the statement read. “No other MIP budget figures or program details will be released, as they remain classified for national security reasons.” According to a 2019 Congressional Research Service report, the MIP funds “defense intelligence activities intended to support operational and tactical level intelligence priorities supporting defense operations.” Among other uses, these dollars can be spent to facilitate the dissemination of information that relates to a foreign country or political group, and covert or clandestine activities against political and military groups or individuals. MIP money also partly goes to U.S. Special Operations Command to pursue “several current acquisition efforts focused on outfitting aircraft — both manned and unmanned, fixed and rotary wing — with advanced ISR and data storage capabilities that will work in multiple environments,” according to CRS. MIP funding went as high as $27 billion in FY10 and sat at $24 billion in FY11. But by FY15, it hit a low point for the decade, at $16.5 billion, per CRS. The MIP then had three straight years of growth, going from $17.7 billion in FY16 to $18.4 billion in FY17, and to $22.1 billion in FY18. It dipped in FY19 to $21.5 billion. https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2020/10/21/secretive-military-intelligence-program-budget-hits-nine-year-spending-high/

David B. Larter and Andrew Chuter WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy and British Royal Navy are preparing to more closely align their futures in a whole host of warfare areas, the U.S. chief of naval operations announced Tuesday. The U.S. Navy's chief of naval operations and First Sea Lord Adm. Tony Radakin intend to “sign a future integrated warfighting statement of intent that sets a cooperative vision for interchangeablty,” CNO Adm. Mike Gilday announced at the virtual Atlantic Future Forum, being held on board the RN's new aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth. “We will synchronize pioneering capabilities, strengthen operating concepts and focus our collective efforts to deliver combined sea power together. By organizing our cooperation on carrier strike, underwater superiority, navy and marine integration and doubling down on future war fighting like unmanned and artificial intelligence, we will remain on the leading edge of great power competition.” It is unclear what the specifics of the statement of intent will be, but the U.S. and Royal navies have been focusing heavily in recent years on aligning its capabilities to be useful to each other in combined maritime operations. The message from both navies is that this will continue into the future. Throughout the Royal Navy's effort to get the Queen Elizabeth ready for deployment, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have been working closely with the service, training British pilots on the F-35B and getting the ship certified to operate them. The Marine Corps' Fighter Attack Squadron 211 embarked on Queen Elizabeth earlier this month during the ship's group exercise ahead of a deployment next year. The Marines will also mix in with Royal Air Force F-35Bs during the QE's 2021 deployment. In remarks at the forum, Radkin echoed Gilday's remarks, saying the two forces needed to continue to work to align efforts. “Throughout our careers we have had a drive for interoperability with allies,” Radkin said. "But increasingly it feels to us that bar has to be raised. ... The obvious example is the U.S. Marine jets on board the QE carrier. That is an obvious example of interchangeability. “So, we are trying to drive a new standard. Partly to drive all of us to strengthen our interoperability but to go even higher and recognize that interchangeability is going to be an even stronger feature in the future.” Radkin said the services would focus on four areas to grow this “interchangeability”: undersea warfare; carrier operations; aligning the efforts of the U.S. Marine Corps and Navy to become a cohesive fighting unit; and on advanced warfighting programs such as artificial intelligence and cyber. The United Kingdom is in the middle of an integrated defense review, initiated after Boris Johnson was elected prime minster. It was interrupted during the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak but appears to be running again. The review could have sweeping impacts on the British defense budget, but it is unclear where the budget ax will fall. When the review was announced, however, the government promised a “radical reassessment” of Britain's place in the world. https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/10/20/the-us-and-uk-navies-prepare-to-sign-agreement-to-merge-their-tech-futures/

WASHINGTON HEADQUARTERS SERVICES Deloitte & Touche LLP, Arlington, Virginia, has been awarded a $52,928,501 firm-fixed-price, labor-hours and time and material contract. The contract provides audit remediation, risk management, financial management and reporting, data analytics and related services for the Deputy Chief Financial Officer Program within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller). When funds become available, fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $9,216,636 will be obligated for this requirement. The expected completion date is Oct. 25, 2025. Washington Headquarters Services, Arlington, Virginia, is the contracting activity (HQ0034-21-F-0002). NAVY Whitney, Bradley & Brown Inc., Reston, Virginia (N00189-21-D-Z001); Systems Planning & Analysis Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (N00189-21-D-Z002); and Metron Inc., Reston, Virginia (N00189-21-D-Z003), are awarded an estimated $35,478,966 multiple award for cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts to provide analytical, engineering, scientific and programming services in support of the program objective memorandum of the Chief of Naval Operations in the areas of manpower, fleet readiness and logistics capabilities. The contracts will run concurrently and will include a 60-month ordering period and are expected to be completed by October 2025. Work will be performed at various contractor supplier locations (94%); and Washington, D.C. (6%). The percentage of work at each contractor facility cannot be determined at this time. Fiscal 2021 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $150,000 ($50,000 on each of the three contracts) will be obligated to fund the contracts' minimum amounts and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Individual task orders will be subsequently funded with appropriate fiscal year appropriations at the time of their issuance. This contract resulted from a full and open competitive solicitation through the Navy Electronic Business Opportunities and Federal Business Opportunities websites pursuant to the authority set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.504, with six offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command, Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk Contracting Department, Philadelphia Office, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Golden Manufacturing,* Golden, Mississippi, has been awarded a maximum $10,629,109 modification (P00010) exercising the first one-year option period of an 18-month base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1160) with three one-year option periods for various types of trousers and slacks. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Mississippi, with an Oct. 23, 2021, ordering period end date. Using military services are Navy and Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2021 through 2022 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2389920/source/GovDelivery/

Par Le Figaro avec AFP Les dépenses des pays européens de l'Otan et du Canada en matière de défense vont augmenter pour la sixième année consécutive en 2020, avec un tiers des pays atteignant l'objectif des 2% du PIB, a indiqué mercredi le secrétaire général de l'Otan, Jens Stoltenberg. «Cette année sera la sixième année consécutive de hausse des dépenses militaires par les alliés européens et le Canada, avec une progression réelle de 4,3%. Nous nous attendons à ce que cette tendance se poursuive», a déclaré Jens Stoltenberg lors d'une conférence de presse, à la veille d'une réunion par visioconférence des ministres de la Défense de l'organisation. L'Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord a publié mercredi ses chiffres sur les dépenses de défense de ses membres. D'après ces données, qui ne sont que des estimations pour 2019 et 2020, les États-Unis devraient encore fournir de très loin le plus gros effort budgétaire, avec des dépenses représentant 3,87% de leur PIB. Les pays de l'Otan, Allemagne en tête, sont budgétairement sous la pression du président américain Donald Trump qui leur réclame un effort plus massif pour arriver à l'objectif de dépenses égales à 2% du PIB. Sur les 30 pays membres, 10 se situeraient au-dessus de ce seuil en 2020, dont la Grèce (2,58%), le Royaume-Uni (2,43%), la Pologne (2,30%) et la France (2,11%). Ils n'étaient que trois l'an dernier (États-Unis, Grèce et Royaume-Uni). L'Allemagne resterait encore en dessous (1,57%), tout comme le Canada (1,45%). Les ministres de la Défense des pays de l'Otan doivent se réunir jeudi et vendredi par téléconférence. Parmi les sujets abordés, sera discutée «la juste répartition du fardeau» militaire, a indiqué M. Stoltenberg. https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/otan-les-depenses-militaires-europeennes-progressent-encore-en-2020-20201021