17 avril 2020 | International, Naval
By: Sebastian Sprenger
COLOGNE, Germany — The German government is facilitating talks between major naval shipbuilders in an effort to set up a national conglomerate rivaling industry champions like Naval Group in France and Fincantieri in Italy, according to a local media report.
Negotiations to that effect have been ongoing behind closed doors since the beginning of 2020 between ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, German Naval Yards Kiel, and Lürssen, broadcaster NDR reported Thursday.
Top executives from the companies confirmed the developments on Twitter, though without elaborating on the status of the negotiations.
News of the consolidation plan comes in the wake of German Naval Yards Kiel and TKMS losing a multibillion-dollar contract for new Germany Navy frigate-type ship, dubbed MKS 180. Dutch bidder Damen won the competition in January. The Dutch company has teamed with Lürssen for the program, vowing to do most of the construction work in Germany.
Still, the MKS 180 award angered industry lobbying groups in Germany, who argue that the country's good-faith effort to carry out a European Union mandate for bloc-wide competition in major public programs backfired. Other European countries tend to keep such defense-related work within their own industrial ecosystems, the argument goes.
“The need for a German consolidation in naval shipbuilding has been repeatedly emphasized by us and our owner, Privinvest, during the past few years,” German Naval Yards Kiel CEO Jörg Herwig was quoted as saying in a statement. “Only a strong German player will be able to remain globally competitive and strengthen the German technology sector.”
Privinvest is owned by French-Lebanese businessman Iskandar Safa.
A request for a statement from the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy was not immediately returned on Thursday.
The idea of a unified German naval industry cluster runs counter to the narrative that the European defense market should focus less on national retrenchment and instead bank more on efficiencies through cross-continental mergers.
“I think we have to be honest with ourselves and admit that European defense acquisition will be mostly national, and maybe binational or trinational,” said Sebastian Bruns, a naval analyst with the University of Kiel in northern Germany.
Bruns said Lürssen's role in the consolidation talks will be interesting to watch because the company has its foot in the door of the MKS 180 program — through Damen — and at the same time would benefit from a German industry conglomerate with the Navy as a guaranteed customer.
All the while, German Naval Yards Kiel has begun the legal process of challenging the Defence Ministry's pick of Damen for the business. Letting the litigation play out in the courts is all but certain to cause a delay in the eventual delivery of the vessels to the sea service.
But in the course of future consolidation talks, the government could use its leverage as the broker — and ultimate approval authority — to put the protest by German Naval Yards Kiel to rest and let the MKS 180 program proceed swiftly, Bruns said.
“In the end, the most important question is what actual results will come out of this,” he said.
18 septembre 2024 | International, Aérospatial
Designed for air, surface and maritime use, the ROVER 6S provides real-time, full-motion video and other data for situational awareness, surveillance, convey overwatch operations and other situations where eyes-on-target are...
15 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $32,860,395 hybrid cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price modification (P00068) to previously-awarded contract FA8615-12-C-6016 for contractor logistics support to the Taiwan F-16 Peace Phoenix Rising program. This modification provides for contractor logistics support, repair and return and diminishing manufacturing source management services for Taiwan F-16s Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas; and Taiwan, and is expected to be complete by Dec. 31, 2025. This modification involves 100% foreign military sales to Taiwan. Foreign Military Sales funds in the amount of $25,001,279 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity. NAVY Noble Sales Co. Inc., Rockland, Massachusetts, is awarded a $30,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, fixed-price contract that includes provisions for economic price adjustment to acquire supplies and provide related store operation services required by Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk, for two commercial retail stores on the Naval Support Activity, Crane, Indiana, for materials needed by the Naval Facilities Command Public Works Department. The contract includes a five-year base ordering period with an option to extend services for a six-month ordering period pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8. All work will be performed in Crane, Indiana. The ordering period is expected to be completed by January 2025; if the option is exercised, work will be completed by July 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds (Navy) in the amount of $100,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount, and funds will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with the solicitation posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website with five offers received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center, Norfolk, Contracting Department, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity (N00189-20-D-0009). ARMY CEMS-RS&H ABQ JV,* San Antonio, Texas, was awarded a $9,500,000 firm-fixed-price contract for architect and engineer services. Bids were solicited via the internet with 22 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 9, 2025. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque, New Mexico, is the contracting activity (W912PP-19-D-0017). Goodwill Industries of San Antonio Contract Services, San Antonio, Texas, was awarded a $7,858,420 modification (P00006) to contract W81K04-18-C-0002 for record processing services, inventory, track and store service treatment records for Army service members who have separated or retired from the Total Force. Work will be performed in San Antonio, Texas, with an estimated completion date of Jan. 25, 2021. Fiscal 2020 and 2021 Defense Health Program, defense funds in the amount of $7,858,420 were obligated at the time of the award. U.S. Army Health Contracting Activity, San Antonio, Texas, is the contracting activity. DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Alamo Strategic Manufacturing,** San Antonio, Texas, has been awarded a maximum $8,625,000 modification (P00005) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1122) with two one-year option periods for knee and elbow pads. This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-quantity contract. Locations of performance are Texas, Puerto Rico and Massachusetts, with a Jan. 30, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *Small Business **Small Disadvantaged Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2057245/source/GovDelivery/
16 décembre 2022 | International, Aérospatial
The Gripens will become operational and officially part of the line-up of fighter jets belonging to the 1st Aviation Group.