13 décembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By Tony Osborne
LONDON – Britain's aerospace industry is waking up to Brexit certainty after Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a landslide majority in a Dec. 12 general election.
Johnson's Conservative party secured a significant majority in the British Parliament – the largest since Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s - which will enable him to push through his vision of Brexit on Jan. 31, 2020 ending Parliamentary and legal deadlocks that have delayed the UK's departure from the EU since the original date of March 29, 2019.
For aerospace, the Parliamentary majority means stability in planning and investment, and there are unlikely to be any more delays to the process. It should also mean that the threat of a no-deal Brexit – widely considered the worst-case scenario for aerospace – has largely evaporated for now.
The current iteration of the withdrawal agreement between Britain and the EU calls for regulatory alignment with the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), but the two sides still have to negotiate future trade agreements once the UK has exited the EU. A lack of agreement here could result in a no-deal.
British aerospace and defense trade association ADS said it was looking forward to working with the new government but said that ministers needed to “deliver a close future relationship with the European Union."
In a statement, ADS CEO Paul Everitt called on the government to push forward with “investments in innovation and green technologies, develop a defense and security industrial strategy and an ambitious national space program.”
Airbus, one of the most vocal aerospace companies against Brexit, said it welcomed the fact that the British government now has a “clear mandate” and is looking forward to “positive discussions.”
“Airbus remains concerned by the potential for a ‘no-deal' in December 2020 and we will continue to plan for that scenario as that is the only way any responsible business can plan,” the company said in a statement. “We will continue to run our major Brexit project in order to further eradicate and/or mitigate risks.”
If the election result made Brexit more likely, it makes the break-up of the UK more probable too after the Scottish National Party (SNP) secured 48 of the 59 Parliamentary seats in Scotland.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said the result was a mandate for a second Scottish independence referendum. The Conservative government is unlikely to green-light such a referendum, but independence would have significant ramifications for UK defense given the presence of several airbases and the UK's ballistic missile submarines carrying the nuclear deterrent.
https://aviationweek.com/defense/brexit-certainty-after-boris-johnson-election-landslide
2 avril 2024 | International, Terrestre
Rheinmetall delivers 22 weapon systems L52 of 155 mm calibre and just as many chassis for the PzH 2000 for the German Bundeswehr.
9 janvier 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Aurora Industries,* Camuy, Puerto Rico, has been awarded a maximum $53,594,133 modification (P00008) exercising the first one-year option period of a one-year base contract (SPE1C1-19-D-1128) with three one-year option periods for coats and trousers. This is a firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. Location of performance is Puerto Rico, with a Jan. 10, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Air Force. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AIR FORCE BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc., San Diego, California, has been awarded a $49,620,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity modification (P00026) to previously awarded FA4600-12-D-0002 for additional Air Vehicle Planning System (APS) support. The contract modification is for a ceiling increase to allow the purchase of continued maintenance and sustainment activities, ongoing development activities, increased onsite support requirements and required modifications to APS for new and modified weapons. Work will be performed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska; Bellevue, Nebraska; and San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2024. The total cumulative face value of the contract is $195,000,826. Fiscal 2019 and 2020 research, development, test and evaluation funds; and fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds are being used. No funds are being obligated at the time of award. The 55th Contracting Squadron, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, is the contracting activity. Kapsuun Group LLC, Lorton, Virginia, has been awarded a $14,535,027 firm-fixed-price contract for A4/A6 staff support services. Work will be performed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and is expected to be complete by July 9, 2025. This award is the result of direct award acquisition with one offer being received. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $1,719,657 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Combat Command's Acquisition Management Integration Center, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, is the contracting activity (FA4890-20-C-0002). *Small Business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2052857/source/GovDelivery/
26 mars 2024 | International, Terrestre
Saab has received an order from Airbus Defence and Space for the Arexis Electronic Warfare (EW) sensor suite. The contract period is 2024-2026.