29 octobre 2020 | International, Terrestre
WASHINGTON — Boeing reported another $67 million charge on the KC-46 tanker program in third-quarter earnings disclosed Oct. 28, capping off a difficult quarter defined by continued hardships on its commercial side.
The increase in KC-46 costs was “due to continued COVID-19 disruptions and productivity inefficiencies,” Boeing's chief financial officer, Greg Smith, told investors during an earnings call.
However, Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun expressed confidence that the program would turn the corner in 2021 and become profitable for the company.
“The tanker has been a drag on us for three or four years in every way you can think of with respect to investors,” he said. “But we are continuing to clear the hurdle with our customers with respect to its performance in their fleet and their need for that tanker.
"That whole relationship, I believe, will begin to transition next year, and opposed to being a drag on our franchise — which it's been — I believe it will become a strength in our franchise.”
Previous charges on the KC-46 program amount to about $4.7 billion — almost equal to the $4.9 billion sum of the company's firm fixed-price contract with the U.S. Air Force, which it signed in 2011.
In July, a $151 million charge was attributed to the decline in commercial plane production driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. That slowdown has made it more expensive to produce commercial derivative planes like the KC-46, which is based on the Boeing 767 and made on the same production line in Everett, Washington.
Overall, defense revenues slightly decreased to $6.8 billion “primarily due to derivative aircraft award timing,” the company said in a news release. But that impact paled in comparison to Boeing's commercial business, where revenues dropped from $8.2 billion in 2019 to $3.6 billion in 2020.
As a result of those continued difficulties, the company plans to lay off an additional 7,000 workers by the end of 2021, Calhoun announced. At that point, Boeing's workforce will have been cut by almost 20 percent, down from 161,000 earlier this year to about 130,000 employees.
Smith characterized 2020 has a “year of transition” for defense programs like the MQ-25, T-7 trainer and the Air Force One replacement, which are in development. Once those programs move into production, Boeing expects to see “modest growth,” he said.
But Calhoun added that global defense spending is unlikely to greatly increase in the coming years, meaning that growth in Boeing's defense portfolio will be limited.
“In fact, we believe there will be pressure on defense spending as a result of all the COVID-related spending that of course governments around the world have been experiencing,” he said. “I don't think we're looking at that world through rose-colored glasses. I expect real pressure on that market.”
13 octobre 2024 | International, Terrestre
Several units in the Pacific — from Hawaii to Alaska — were chosen as part of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George’s 'transformation in contact' push.
4 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
Des engagements en matière de niveau de performance ont été pris afin d'augmenter le taux de disponibilité et de garantir les capacités de soutien des hélicoptères Tigre dans les dix prochaines années. Marignane – Airbus Helicopters et l'Organisation conjointe de coopération en matière d'armement (OCCAR) ont signé un contrat de soutien global trilatéral visant à accroître le taux de disponibilité des hélicoptères Tigre exploités par les forces armées françaises, allemandes et espagnoles. Cet accord de soutien à long terme garantit la disponibilité et la facilité de maintenance du Tigre au-delà des dix prochaines années. Ce contrat couvre des éléments critiques tels que l'amélioration continue et le traitement des obsolescences, ainsi que les réparations et la livraison des pièces de rechange garanties par tous les fournisseurs concernés. Il répond par ailleurs aux besoins individuels de chaque client, en fonction de ses scénarios opérationnels et de déploiement. En France, par exemple, l'accord garantit un taux de disponibilité des pièces de rechange allant jusqu'à 98 % et une simplification de la logistique, Airbus Helicopters assurant directement l'approvisionnement en pièces neuves, ainsi qu'en pièces réparées et autres consommables. « Nous sommes fiers d'assurer le soutien à long terme du Tigre, certains de ces appareils étant constamment déployés sur d'importants thé'tres d'opérations. Ce contrat permet à nos clients de planifier avec fiabilité leurs opérations de soutien pour les dix prochaines années », a déclaré Bruno Even, CEO d'Airbus Helicopters. Les 183 Tigre livrés à la France, à l'Allemagne, à l'Espagne et à l'Australie cumulent jusqu'ici plus de 130 000 heures de vol. Déployé pour la première fois par la France en Afghanistan en 2009, et peu après par les forces armées allemandes et espagnoles, le Tigre continue de jouer un rôle décisif sur les thé'tres d'opérations, gr'ce à sa grande polyvalence, sa capacité furtive et sa grande manoeuvrabilité. https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/fr/2019/12/airbus-helicopters-signs-global-support-contract-for-tiger-helicopters.html
6 juillet 2020 | International, C4ISR
Andrew Eversden Leonardo DRS has won a $104 million contract to deliver next-generation mission command computing systems to the Army, the company announced June 30. The delivery order will be fulfilled by the company's Land Electronics business. Defense Information Systems Agency awarded the contract on behalf of Project Manager Mission Command and the Army's Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, which is tasked with network modernization. The mission command computing systems are part of the Mounted Family of Computer Systems II, the service's combat computing platform that includes tablets, processors and ruggedized displays. Last week, Leonardo DRS announced a $206 million award by PEO C3T for ground vehicle installation kits for MFoCS II. Hardware delivery will begin in October 2020 and finish in September 2021, according to Paul Mehney, director of public communications at Army PEO C3T. Leonardo DRS is in the second year of a five-year contract to support the Army's mounted computing environment. According to the news release, the system will “support the continued fielding and upgrades of the Army's Joint Battle Command-Platform and features critical system capability upgrades, cybersecurity improvements and multi-touch displays.” The Joint Battle Command-Platform is the Army's next-generation friendly force tracking system that's integrated on 120,000 platforms across the service. There are also “significant” performance enhancements to the platform computing server, the company said. “We are proud to be able to provide these advanced, ruggedized tactical computing systems to give our warfighters the best possible networked situational awareness on the battlefield when they need it,” said Bill Guyan, senior vice president and general manager of the Land Electronics business. “These cyber-hardened systems have more than 20 years of experience built into them and are a key component of the Army's Mounted Computing Environment while continuing to enable the service's network modernization efforts to deliver next-generation Mounted Mission Command capability.” Work on the contract will be completed at the company's facility in Melbourne, Florida. https://www.c4isrnet.com/yahoo-syndication/2020/06/30/army-peo-c3t-awards-another-contract-to-leonardo-drs/