Aerovironment wins nearly $1B to supply Switchblade munitions to Army

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  9 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  US government shutdown creating angst for defense contractors

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — As the U.S. government shutdown continues into its 18th day, defense firms and industry advocates are beginning to worry that the pause in business could eat into companies' cash flow. The Defense Department is funded for fiscal 2019, with Congress having passed a spending bill for the new fiscal year in September. That means work on the military's weapons programs continue apace, but many defense companies also hold contracts with agencies that are not currently funded, like the Department of Homeland Security — which includes the Coast Guard as well as Customs and Border Protection — and NASA. The Aerospace Industries Association, a lobbying group that represents defense and commercial aviation companies, warned that impacts to the aerospace sector extend beyond the 800,000 federal workers who are furloughed or working without pay. For example, weapons sales and transfers to U.S. allies and partners are stalled as a result of the closure of the departments of State and Commerce, AIA said in a Jan. 8 statement. Research projects at NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are suspended, “setting back development of game changing technologies.” And meetings between the government and industry have been canceled or delayed. “Every day the shutdown lasts, the impacts grow and become more difficult and more expensive to fix,” said AIA President and CEO Eric Fanning. “It's time to get these dedicated public servants back to work.” Tony Moraco, the CEO of government service and information technology firm SAIC, told investors Jan. 7 that the effects of the shutdown are expected to be short term and primarily affecting accounts with NASA, the FAA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Moraco characterized the effect on SAIC and Engility — the latter of which is set to merge with the former this year — as a “modest impact on revenues and potentially cash collection, which we think we can recover — mostly — if this is resolved in the near term.” But SAIC Chief Financial Officer Charlie Mathis said the government is already behind on payments to the two companies by about $40 million to $50 million. “If we get through this quickly, they could catch up,” he said, but the shutdown would have to be resolved within a week for the companies to hit their cash-flow goals for their fiscal year ending Jan. 31. Furthermore, the companies are seeing a hit of about $10 million per week in revenue as the shutdown progresses, and “if it continues, that number could increase,” Mathis said. The probability of an extended shutdown seems to be rising. The government shutdown started Dec. 22 amid disagreements between President Donald Trump and Congress over funding for a border wall that would separate the United States and Mexico. But with Democrats now controlling the House of Representatives, a deal on funding for the wall may take weeks and could propel this shutdown past the 21-day mark of the 1995 shutdown, currently the longest on the books, according to CNN. Defense contractors will eventually get paid back for work accomplished while the government was shut down, but there could be long-standing consequences. If the shutdown persists for a protracted amount of time, there could be repercussions for the federal government's recruiting pipeline, as well as the balance of federal employees and contractors, said Byron Callan, an analyst for Capital Alpha Partners. “How will this shutdown impact the ability of federal agencies impacted by the shut-down to recruit and retain skilled individuals?” he wrote in an emailed analysis of SAIC's investor meeting. “There might be near-term collateral damage if people leave government service, but a 1-3 year factor to consider is how this shutdown and the potential for future ones accelerates reliance on federal service contractors.” https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/01/08/us-government-shutdown-creating-angst-for-defense-contractors

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  30 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Boeing and Mitsubishi sign agreement to support Japan F-15 upgrades

  By: Mike Yeo   1 day ago MELBOURNE, Australia — American firm Boeing has signed an agreement with Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to support upgrades to Japan's fleet of F-15 fighter jets. The agreement, made through the U.S. Direct Commercial Sales process, is part of a larger $4.5 billion modernization program for 98 of Japan's F-15J/DJ Eagle interceptors ordered through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales process and approved by the U.S. State Department in 2019. Boeing will provide MHI with retrofit drawings, ground support equipment and technical publications for the upgrade of the first two F-15J aircraft to the Japan Super Interceptor configuration, also known as F-15JSI. The full suite of upgrades will introduce a new radar, electronic warfare capabilities and weapons. Also included is a new advanced cockpit system running on an advanced mission computer for meant to improve pilot situational awareness. The new active electronically scanned array radar will be the Raytheon AN/APG-82(v)1 multimode set, which is also being fit on the U.S. Air Force's F-15E Strike Eagles. Japan had requested 103 radars, including six spare sets, along with 116 Honeywell Advanced Display Core Processor II mission computers and 101 BAE Systems AN/ALQ-239 digital electronic warfare systems. The upgrade package will also include anti-spoofing GPS gear for more precise navigation, as well as new radios. Japan's also requested “aircraft and munition integration and test support.” The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency notification about Japan's request did not provide more details, but Boeing's announcement of the contract included artwork of an F-15 in Japanese markings with a Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile on its centerline weapon station. Japan had confirmed in its Mid-Term Defense Plan in late 2018 that it intended to procure the JASSM for long-range land-attack missions and integrate it onto F-15s. However, it's not clear whether Japan will take up Boeing's proposal to increase the number of AIM-120 medium-range air-to-air missiles that can be carried by the F-15 to 18, which the company had previously displayed on model at an aerospace exhibition in Japan. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force operates a fleet of about 200 single-seat F-15J and two-seat F-15DJ Eagle aircraft. These are all configured for an air defense role with virtually no air-to-ground capability, and they serve with seven different operational squadrons throughout Japan, a training squadron and another unit in the dedicated aggressor role, acting as the adversary during training exercises. The fleet, particularly the two squadrons based on Japan's southern island of Okinawa, have been heavily engaged in monitoring foreign military aircraft entering Japan's air defense identification zone in the international airspace around Japan. The Defense Ministry says these foreign aircraft are predominantly Chinese, with Russian aircraft coming in at a distant second. The Japan Times newspaper recently reported on China's increased use of an air base in its Fujian province to fly fighter jets near the disputed Senkaku islands. In response, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force scrambles interceptors from Okinawa once the Chinese jets take off from the Fujian base. The newspaper also reported that the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is scrambling four instead of two aircraft on each occasion, noting that the Chinese base is closer to the disputed islands than the Japanese air bases in Okinawa. https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/07/29/boeing-and-mitsubishi-ink-deal-to-support-japan-f-15-upgrades/

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  16 juillet 2018 | International, Terrestre

  This is the city the Army has picked for its new Futures Command

  By: Jen Judson and Leo Shane III WASHINGTON — The new Army Futures Command (AFC) will be in Austin, Texas, congressional sources, who are now being notified of the choice, have confirmed. The new four-star command was stood up in October at the Association of the U.S. Army's annual conference in Washington. The plan is to realign the Army's modernization priorities under a new organization that will implement cross-functional teams that correspond with the service's top six modernization efforts: Long-Range Precision Fires, Next-Generation Combat Vehicle, Future Vertical Lift, the network, air-and-missile defense and soldier lethality. The service plans to make an official announcement on the location of the command July 13 at the Pentagon. The Army has wanted the new command's headquarters in a city or urban hub close to industry and academia and not on a base or military installation. Earlier this year it shortlisted several major cities in the U.S. as possible locations and put each through a rigorous vetting process. Congressional leaders from the locales pressed hard for a chance to host the new command. The creation of the AFC has also meant taking some elements from some of the major commands and moving them over to the new organization, Army Undersecretary Ryan McCarthy told Defense News in an exclusive interview just ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army's Global Force Symposium in March. But he said many of those elements won't have to move to the command's new location. The AFC's first commander has been reported to be Lt. Gen. John Murray, the current Army G−8,but the Army has not officially confirmed that selection. https://www.defensenews.com/land/2018/07/12/army-futures-command-headed-to-austin/