3 avril 2023 | International, Aérospatial
These capabilities will further enhance the data and communications connectivity the KC-46A provides to joint and allied forces for battlespace situational awareness
https://www.epicos.com/article/758492/boeing-awarded-us-air-force-kc-46a-upgrade-contract
22 juin 2023 | International, Aérospatial
Under this collaboration, both companies will jointly address and pursue business opportunities for the provision of advanced training systems leveraging on M-346 proven experience
14 août 2018 | International, Naval
By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy intends to get much bigger, and that has meant new openings for European companies in the U.S. defense market. The Navy's new over-the-horizon missile destined for the littoral combat ship and the future frigate was recently awarded to the Norwegian firm Kongsberg, in partnership with U.S. company Raytheon, for its Naval Strike Missile. The future frigate program itself has awarded contracts to Spain's Navantia and Italy's Fincantieri for design work before the Navy selects a design later this year, meaning the service's next surface combatant may be a European design. And for the Navy's future training helicopter, both Franco-Dutch company Airbus and Italian firm Leonardo are top competitors for that program. Analysts say the Navy's recent surge in interest has been spurred by a confluence of circumstances that could mean even more opportunities for foreign companies looking to break into the U.S. market. Increased defense budgets are one reason the European companies have been seeing more business from the Navy and other American military branches. But a shift in the way the Defense Department tries to fill capabilities gaps has made the space more competitive for overseas firms, said Dan Gouré, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute think tank. As the Navy and other services have shifted toward great power competition, it has found a number of capabilities that were not hugely important in a unipolar world have again become requirements with the reemergence of Russia and the rise of China as security threats. One such area is the small surface combatant, or FFG(X) program, which would be needed to escort supply convoys and work as a survivable sensor node in a larger surface combatant network. “With the frigate, for example, we hadn't built one of those in 40 years, but the Europeans have been building them for decades,” Gouré noted. “And if we needed a diesel-electric sub, they'd of course be the first in line.” This emphasis on speed of acquisition has also helped because the Navy and the rest of the Department of Defense are reluctant to get tied down by a yearslong, inevitably over-budget development process unless necessary, Gouré said. “The trend has been toward [other transaction authority] contracts, and that has made the European companies credible competitors,” he said. Another factor is that the Navy has been more willing to make trades on capabilities, said Bryan Clark, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “I think what's new is that the Navy is openly seeking foreign proposals for some of these major new programs,” Clark said. “Foreign companies have always been able to submit proposals in response to RFPs, but usually they don't offer the high-end capability the U.S. is usually seeking. “The big change is that the Navy is willing to get a less-sophisticated capability in to get a design that is more mature.” In the case of the Navy's trainer helicopter competition, past success with European companies inside the DoD could be a driving factor in Airbus' and Leonardo's competitive bids. Airbus' North American division has been successful with the U.S. Army's Lakota program, built by Airbus Helicopters in Columbus, Mississippi, which is where the company would build its H135 helicopter if selected for the program. The Army has been happy with Lakota, so much so that it has been pushing to buy more of the airframes despite legal battles over the contracts. But the success of Airbus Helicopters with the Army is possible for much the same reason that, for example, Australian-owned Austal USA has been successful building both the trimaran version of the littoral combat ship and the expeditionary fast transport: a major manufacturing infrastructure investment in the United States. And that kind of cash outlay for a program can scare away European competitors. Getting around “Buy American” provisions would literally take an act of Congress. Despite having already developed, tested and fielded the capability the Navy wants, Kongsberg had to team with American defense giant Raytheon to sell its missile to the DoD. The “Buy American” provisions laid down and regularly upheld by Congress for defense procurement does have protectionist overtones, but there is a national security argument as well. In the event of a major, protracted conflict with Russia or China, it wouldn't be advantageous to have major suppliers located an ocean away or in occupied territory. And maintaining the industrial base has long been a concern of the U.S. Navy because of the limited the number of trained workers with experience who are building ships and nuclear reactors. Navy officials have testified that the shrinking industrial base, including the shipbuilders and the litany of subcontractors and vendors, is a significant concern. In 2015, then-head of the Navy's research, development and acquisition office Sean Stackley testified before Congress that some of the shipyards were just a contract away from going under. “We have eight shipyards currently building U.S. Navy ships. And of those eight shipyards, about half of them are a single contract away from being what I would call ‘not viable,' ” Stackley told the Senate Armed Services Committee. “In other words, the workload drops below the point at which the shipyard can sustain the investment that it needs to be competitive and the loss of skilled labor that comes with the breakage of a contract.” https://www.defensenews.com/top-100/2018/08/09/us-navys-focus-on-rapid-acquisition-is-opening-up-opportunities-for-europe/
2 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By: Christina Mackenzie PARIS – France's major defense companies are looking back at a strong 2019, thanks to a combination of exceptional contracts and the country's overall healthy economy, executives said this week. In the naval sector, Naval Group's orders shot up 44 percent to €5.3 billion ($5.8 billion) in 2019, taking the company's order book to a total of €15.1 billion ($16.6 billion). Of this, 38 percent is for the export market and 62 percent is for France. Roughly three quarters of the business were in the shipbuilding sector, with almost one quarter in services. These figures do not include the whole of the contract to build 12 submarines for Australia, “as this income will be shown as it is paid, tranche by tranche,” explained outgoing CEO Hervé Guillou. In addition, the group saw a 6 percent rise in EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) to €282 million ($310 million) and a 3 percent rise in revenues to €3.7 billion ($4 billion). Guillou, who will be replaced as CEO in March by Pierre-Eric Pommellet, said his successor had four main challenges for the future: delivering the Suffren submarine; accelerating production in the face of Chinese competition; consolidating the group's international presence; and developing the workforce. In the land sector, revenues for Arquus, the French company which is the defense arm of Sweden's Volvo Group, rocketed 72.5 percent between 2017 and 2019. CEO Emmanuel Levacher said he was not allowed to give revenue and sales figures for Arquus, whose revenues are included in the Volvo “Group functions and other” column. However, those data show net sales for 2019 were SEK8.8 billion ($911.4 million), which means they are likely around the $660 million mark. Levacher was all smiles announcing “a very great year” that was “exceptionally rich,” remarking that “this is remarkable growth for an industrial company.” He said he expected the company to grow a further 10 percent in 2020. Exports accounted for 42 percent of the revenue. Levacher was able to put a figure on contracts signed in 2019: €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) “mostly in Africa,” but also a tranche of €214 million ($235 million) in the framework of the CaMo contract with Belgium for 382 Griffon multirole armored vehicles and 60 Jaguar armored reconnaissance and combat vehicles to be delivered between 2025 and 2030. Levacher said contracts were also signed for “a few dozen” Sherpa and Dagger vehicles for the Middle East. He was optimistic for the future, remarking that “all of the French army's military trucks, whether they be 4×4s, 6×6s, 8×8s all need to be changed in the next five years.” He said the company had developed a specific truck to meet these needs as the call for tender will be published before the end of this year. In the defense-electronics sector, Thales's CEO Patrice Cain also described 2019 as “a good year in which we progressed.” Its EBIT rose 19 percent to slightly over €2 billion ($2.2 billion), “the first time we've gone over the symbolic bar of €2 billion,” he said. Defense accounts for 40 percent of the group's revenues. Order intakes in the defense and security sector rose a record 17 percent to €9.9 billion ($11 billion) while sales rose 6.4 percent, “a little higher than anticipated,” according to CFO Pascal Bouchiat, to €8.3 billion ($9 billion). These include Thales and Babcock winning the bid for the T31 frigate in the UK against BAE Systems. Bouchiat noted that “several multi-year contracts” had been signed “underpinning long-term growth” for the group. Finally, in the military-aircraft sector, Dassault Aviation recorded an order intake of €3.3 billion (against €2.7 billion in 2018), the bulk of which (€2.6 billion) was for France and includes the integrated support contract for the French Rafale over the next 10 years and an additional order for supplemental development and integration work concerning communications for the F4 standard of the aircraft. Net sales shot up 44 percent to €7.3 billion due to the record number of 26 Rafales delivered in 2019. CEO Eric Trappier said that in 2020 Dassault expected to deliver 13 Rafales and he saw a tendency of governmental authorities to buying the company's Falcon business jet for surveillance and reconnaissance missions. Trappier said that in 2020 the company would continue to try and export the Rafale and was notably working on the Finnish and Swiss fighter competitions. Both countries are expected to make their decisions in 2021. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/02/28/french-defense-firms-fete-formidable-profits-in-2019