22 septembre 2024 | International, C4ISR, Sécurité
US close to sending $567 million in immediate security aid to Taiwan
The package, awaiting final approval, would be almost double the size of a tranche sent last year.
14 août 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Big A&D Firms Seem To Be Merging Or Acquiring—Where’s Honeywell?
Michael Bruno
United Technologies (UTC) and Raytheon are working hard to convince shareholders to approve their mega-merger.
L3 Harris Technologies is riding high after its heritage companies consolidated recently. Industry insiders are making bets on who is next.
But Honeywell International has been conspicuously absent in all the major merger and acquisition (M&A) moves in recent years. Why? Honeywell Aerospace chief executive Tim Mahoney recently explained how his company still plans to take advantage of the wave of consolidation hitting aerospace and defense.
“We've looked,” Mahoney told an Aug. 7 investor conference. “We've never thought—and we continue to not think—that scale is a major discriminator and a differentiator within our marketplace. Having said that, you need to be large enough to be relevant, and we have been at that point. But scale is not something that is attractive or makes you more attractive from an OEM perspective or from an aftermarket perspective. We've continued to differentiate ourselves relative to value-added offerings.”
Mahoney spoke during a live interview with analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu at the Jefferies Global Industrials Conference. While Honeywell has remained active with bolt-on acquisitions—including the July 24 announcement it will buy autopilot specialist TruTrak Flight Systems for an undisclosed amount—the company has not consummated a prime- or OEM-level deal and even walked away from talks with UTC in 2016.
That same year, Honeywell did buy warehouse automation specialist Intelligrated for $1.5 billion. And Honeywell leaders have long assured Wall Street that they keep their eyes open in A&D, as Mahoney reaffirmed. But they have complained that valuations were too rich to be conducive to dealmaking. Mahoney also indicated that Honeywell could take advantage of the consolidation trend in another way.
“We've actually gone back and looked at when there has been very significant consolidations, or two companies coming together,” he explained. “That has actually helped us from a market share perspective, because typically when there's a large-scale integration of two companies, those two companies become inwardly focused, which is understandable.
“As a result, we've been opportunistic relative to that,” he continued. “If you look at our cockpit systems business or some of those areas where we've competed with some of the companies that have consolidated, our auxiliary power unit business, you would see that we've actually grown disproportionately larger during those time periods.”
One area Honeywell is now focusing on growing is its new big-data analytics software Forge, which the company recently rolled out for airlines and other industrial companies (Aviation DAILY, June 6). While the software expectedly looks to provide aircraft operators with predictive maintenance, fuel optimization and other flight operation benefits, Honeywell is looking to add ground operations through an expanding experiment with Swissport, one of the world's largest airport ground service providers.
Last December, Honeywell and Swissport signed a five-year agreement initially to apply Honeywell's GoDirect Ground Handling product used across Swissport's global operation base. Ben Driggs, president of Honeywell Connected Aircraft, told the investor conference that the goal is to achieve faster airplane turnarounds in the 20-40% of the time the aircraft is on the ground.
He said the partnership is first being implemented in Kansai International Airport (KIX) for Osaka, Japan, with Miami, Basel, Switzerland and “numerous” other Swissport airports planned.
https://aviationweek.com/defense/big-ad-firms-seem-be-merging-or-acquiring-where-s-honeywell
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10 novembre 2020 | International, Naval
Turkey to launch its first armed unmanned surface vessel
By: Burak Ege Bekdil ANKARA, Turkey — A partnership between two leading Turkish defense companies has launched the country's first armed unmanned surface vessel, the ULAQ. Ares Shipyard and Meteksan Defence said Oct. 28 the ULAQ was built from advanced composites, has a 400-kilometer range and can travel up to 65 kph. The companies also said the platform is equippped with day and night vision capabilities as well as encrypted communication infrastructure, which can be operated from mobile vehicles and headquarters or from sea platforms such as aircraft carriers or frigates. That infrastructure can be used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, surface warfare, asymmetric warfare, escort and strategic infrastructure protection missions. The design for the prototype was finalized in August, Ares and Meteksan said, and structural construction was recently completed, with the first vessel to enter Mediterranean waters in December following its outfitting. ULAQ's missile systems are inclusive of four cells of Cirit and two of L-UMTAS, manufactured by Turkey's state-controlled missile-maker Roketsan. Firing tests are planned for the first quarter of 2021. Along with the Cirit and L-UMTAS missile systems, the ULAQ will be equipped with different variations of communication and intelligence technology, like jamming and electronic warfare systems, to cover diverse operational needs. The vessel will be able to carry out joint operations with complementary drones. Its builders said the ULAQ is not only remotely controlled but also an autonomous vehicle that hosts artificial intelligence. “ULAQ is a messenger (original word is ‘ulak'), an envoy from the ancient Turkish culture who represents the state with his extraordinary skills since Central Asia. Along with the intelligence and experience, ULAQ possesses extreme warriorship capabilities,” Ares CEO Utku Alanc said. Added Meteksan CEO Selcuk Alparslan: “While designing the critical electronic systems of the platform, we have sought maximum indigenousness and fully considered the operational needs of Turkish Armed Forces.” https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2020/11/09/turkey-to-launch-its-first-armed-unmanned-surface-vessel/
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23 mars 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
L'Australie crée une agence de défense spatiale
Le gouvernement australien a annoncé ce mardi la création d'un commandement militaire de l'espace, nommé Space Command. Il sera formé sur le modèle de la Space Force des Etats-Unis (USSF), qui existe depuis décembre 2019. Dans un discours prononcé devant l'armée de l'Air australienne, le ministre de la Défense, Peter Dutton, a souligné que l'espace « prendra une plus grande importance militaire au cours de ce siècle ». « L'espace est de plus en plus encombré et déjà contesté notamment parce qu'entre concurrence et conflit, les frontières deviennent de plus en plus floues », a-t-il déclaré, indiquant que le Space Command aura pour objectif de contrer les ambitions militaires de la Chine et de la Russie dans l'espace, ainsi que tous les « pays qui considèrent l'espace comme un territoire à prendre, plutôt qu'un territoire à partager ». Les Echos du 23 mars