30 avril 2020 | International, Aérospatial

Boeing gets another $827M charge on the KC-46 program

By: Valerie Insinna

WASHINGTON — Boeing took a $827 million hit as cost overruns continue for the KC-46 tanker program, the company announced Wednesday.

About $551 million of the pre-tax charge was caused by new expenses associated with designing and integrating a new Remote Vision System for the tanker as part of an April agreement with the Air Force.

The remainder of the charge reflected “productivity inefficiencies and COVID-19 related factory disruption,” according to a news release. KC-46 production stopped for about three weeks over the past month due to a temporary shutdown at Boeing facilities in the Seattle area — including the factory in Everett, Wash., where the tanker is produced.

With the new charge, Boeing has now racked up about $4.6 billion in cost overruns over the life of the KC-46 program. Those expenses must be completely paid by Boeing under the terms of the $4.9 billion fixed-price firm contract it agreed to in 2011.

The bill comes as Boeing contends with the continued grounding of the 737 MAX and instability to the air travel market posed by COVID-19, which has led to lost orders and disruptions throughout the company's production lines.

But the RVS deal struck in April could potentially mark a new chapter for the tanker program, which has been mired in disputes between Boeing and the Air Force for years.

The RVS — integrated by Boeing with cameras and sensors from Collins Aerospace — feeds live video and other data to the boom operator, who is able to use those cues to pump gas into another aircraft. But the Air Force has complained that the system does not work properly in all lighting conditions, leading to an increased risk of the KC-46 accidentally scraping the aircraft receiving fuel.

Under the terms of the new deal, Boeing will make incremental hardware and software improvements to the existing system, but it will also design a new “RVS 2.0” with high-definition color cameras, better displays and improved computing systems not on the market when the first RVS was developed.

During an earnings call with investors on Wednesday, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said the defense market continues to be healthy with solid demand.

Overall, first quarter revenue for Boeing's defense sector decreased to $6 billion, down from about $6.6 billion in 2019. Most of that reduction was due to the KC-46 charge, according to the company, but a number of other defense programs were also impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, leading to reduced margin.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/04/29/boeing-gets-another-827m-charge-on-the-kc-46-program/

Sur le même sujet

28 juin 2021 | International, Terrestre

MBDA : le missile CAMM-ER franchit une étape majeure
MBDA a effectué avec succès un tir du missile de défense aérienne CAMM-ER contre une cible de manœuvre, « confirmant ainsi l'excellente capacité du système de la famille CAMM », précise le groupe. L'essai a eu lieu sur un champ de tir italien. Le CAMM-ER a été conçu pour remplacer la munition Aspide dans le Medium Advanced Air Defence System (MAADS) de l'armée de l'Air italienne et dans le système de défense aérienne GRIFO de l'armée italienne. Le CAMM-ER est le missile qui sera utilisé dans le système Albatros NG, qui offre une solution optimisée de défense aéronavale (NBAD) pour renforcer les capacités de défense des flottes navales, précise MBDA. Naval News du 25 juin
23 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

Partnering With the U.S. Defense Industrial Base to Combat COVID-19
Statement attributed to Lt. Col. Mike Andrews, Department of Defense spokesman: "The Department continues to aggressively partner with the defense industry to mitigate impacts from COVID-19. Under Secretary of Defense Ellen Lord's Acquisition and Sustainment leaders in Industrial Policy, Defense Pricing and Contracting, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), and the Defense Contracting Management Agency (DCMA) have made significant progress this week in addressing specific concerns outlined by defense industry leaders. During the 4 daily COVID-19 update calls with defense industry associations leaders this week, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy Ms. Jennifer Santos, several key concerns identified by industry included 1) critical defense contractor workforce ability to continue working; 2) ensuring cash flow to the defense industrial base; and 3) getting standardized guidance out to industry. On Friday the Department issued two memos that address all three concerns. After working closely with the Hill and the Department of Homeland Security, Under Secretary Lord issued a Defense Industrial Base Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce memo that defined essentiality in the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) workforce, ensuring the defense industrial base's critical employees can continue working. The memo also reiterated her commitment to the safety of the workforce and support of the national security mission. In addition, on Friday Mr. Kim Herrington, Director of Defense Pricing and Contracting, issued a Deviation on Progress Payments memo, which stated that once in contracts, the progress payment rate that contracts can get paid for will increase from 80% of cost to 90% for large businesses and from 90% to 95% for small businesses. This is an important avenue where industry cash flow can be improved. DCMA will work on mass modifications to contracts where applicable (vs one by one) using DCMA authorities. In addition, the Department is accelerating payments through several means to prime contracts and directing prime contracts to expedite payments to subcontractors. Vice Admiral David Lewis, DCMA Director, has worked closely with the contracting workforce and the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) to ensure that invoices are continuing to be paid in a timely manner. On Friday, the Acquisition and Sustainment Small Business Office reached out to defense industry small businesses, and is working with the Small Business Administration and their small business emergency loan program to help protect these companies. The Department is fully engaged with the interagency to leverage the Defense Production Act to help reinforce critical elements of the DIB. It is especially important to understand that during this crisis the DIB is vulnerable to adversarial capital, we need to ensure companies stay in business without losing their technology. The Department will be discussing this in more detail next week. Under Secretary Lord remains grateful for the productive discussions with the defense industry associations, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hill and State leaders. She's especially proud of the incredible efforts of Department leaders and contracting officers across the nation who are helping ensure a secure, reliable and resilient Defense Industrial Base." https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/2121122/partnering-with-the-us-defense-industrial-base-to-combat-covid-19/source/GovDelivery/
23 mars 2022 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

DoD acquisition nominee pledges to push advanced tech, small business opportunities
'Our adversaries have a different philosophy' when it comes to testing tech like hypersonics, Sen. Angus King said. 'They test and test and test and fail and fail and fail, and learn every time and end up beating us."

Toutes les nouvelles