11 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON ― The Pentagon is facing billions of dollars in pandemic-related claims, which may force it to dip into modernization and readiness accounts if Congress doesn't backfill the money, the department's top acquisitions official said Wednesday.
Testifying at the House Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord reaffirmed the Pentagon's commitment to request supplemental appropriations from Congress, beyond its fiscal 2021 budget of $740 billion. It's been seven weeks since Department of Defense officials first publicly disclosed a request was coming; that request is currently sitting with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
The defense industry claims are expected to be covered by Section 3610 of the coronavirus relief package, among other provisions, Lord said. To give an idea of the scope, one of the major prime contractors told the DoD it and its suppliers could claim as much as $1 billion.
Under Section 3610, the Pentagon and other agencies can reimburse suppliers for expenses to keep workers employed. Under other provisions, contractors can seek reimbursement for leave and DoD-directed purchases of personal protective equipment, cleaning, and costs associated with spacing out workers in factories.
“The department does not have the funding to cover these costs,” Lord said, which she later said were “in the lower end” of “double-digit billions of dollars.”
Lord affirmed the Defense Department would need Congress to pass supplemental appropriations beyond its fiscal 2021 budget during an exchange with HASC ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.
“Otherwise these contractors are going to have to eat several billion dollars, which could well come at their employees' expense, which this was supposed to help to begin with,” Thornberry noted.
“There's a choice there,” Lord said. “Whether we want to eat into readiness and modernization ― and slow down modernization or readiness on an ongoing basis ― or whether we want to remedy the situation in the next six months or so ... and continue to have the ready forces we need for our national security.”
Though some House Democrats have expressed reservations about the size of the Pentagon's budget request, HASC Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee Chairman Joe Courtney, D-Conn., expressed support, saying: "The intent of Congress needs to be followed up on with an appropriation.”
Courtney called on the DoD to provide Congress the data underlying its request, when the request actually arrives on Capitol Hill, saying it would foster conversation among lawmakers.
The Pentagon has rough calculations, but contractors have not yet filed claims, Lord said, because Congress has not drafted an appropriations bill. She speculated the full extent of the issues will emerge over time.
“I believe they are concerned that they'll get a one-time shot and want to make sure what the entire situation is,” she said. “We believe we understand the lower end of the number.”
10 octobre 2023 | International, Terrestre, Sécurité
The framework agreement for 155mm artillery ammunition concluded in July runs until 2029 and represents gross potential order volume of around €1.2 billion
25 juillet 2018 | International, Terrestre
By: Pierre Tran PARIS — The French Armed Forces Minister called July 23 for industry to play a greater role in servicing heavily used military vehicles, with companies called to support 40 percent of the mixed fleet by the middle of the next decade. Speaking at Bruz, a base for vehicle support in western France, Minister Florence Parly said the service goal compares to the present 15 percent, with a target of 2025. The minister announced a “transformation plan” for vehicle support based on an official report by defense procurement official Vincent Imbert and Army Gen. Bernard Guillet. "The improvement of our maintenance process and availability of our equipment is one of my priorities,” she said. That call for greater support reflects problems in servicing a highly mixed fleet, including new-generation armored vehicles to be delivered in the Scorpion program, modern VBCI infantry fighting vehicles and Caesar truck-mounted artillery, and an aging park of VAB troop carriers and VBL scout cars. The plan seeks to boost the availability of vehicles by restructuring the industrial and technological base for service, boost a sense of responsibility of the personnel using the vehicles, and reshaping links between the armed forces and industry, the ministry said in a briefing note. There are also plans to increase local support in the deployed theaters and adopt new technology in monitoring and predicting breakdowns. There is a high availability of more than 90 percent for vehicles in overseas operations, but those vehicles return to France in poor condition, with only 65 percent of the various fleets available for use once back on national territory, the ministry said. That availability varies greatly depending on the type of vehicle. That means there is a lack of vehicles for training troops for deployment. Some 3,500 vehicles are broken down and there is a lack of capability to reduce that number. The British and German forces face similar problems, with lower availability and lack of an organization to improve the situation, the ministry said. The modernization plan calls for closer ties between government maintenance organizations, the armed forces and manufacturers including Arquus, Nexter, Safran and Thales, as well as specialist NSE and small- and medium-sized enterprises, the ministry said. Those actors should use more efficient tools and methods, and cut out duplication and waste of resources and time. The official report pointed up a “lack of sense of responsibility” of the users as the vehicles are held in pools rather than assigned specifically, a contrast to an attachment of Air Force and Navy personnel who are closely tied to their aircraft and ships. Companies showed a weak link with service support in the land sector, also in contrast to ties seen between industry and the naval and aeronautical sectors, the report said. There should be greater use of new technology, adopting 3D printing and the use of health and usage monitoring systems (HUMS) to predict breakdowns, the report said. Development under the Scorpion program offered industry an opportunity not to be missed to incorporate such technology. The report called for equipment which was beyond repair to be handed over to industry to repair and resell, with the money to be shared between the government and industry. "This reform requires a mobilization and a greater responsibility of industry in their performance and their capacity to honor the client's needs, whose objective is both to be effective on the ground and to guarantee the safety of soldiers,” Parly said. Some 13,000 personnel are employed on vehicle service, with 11,000 in the armed forces. The balance is split between two government organizations — SMITer and SIMMT. The latter awards service contracts to companies. Some €1 billion (US $1.2 billion) has been earmarked for land vehicle service in the 2019-2015 defense budget law. A plan to improve service of land vehicles follows a program for improved support for military aircraft. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2018/07/24/france-to-hand-off-40-percent-of-land-vehicle-maintenence-to-industry-by-2025/
9 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — When the U.K. rolled out its Modernising Defence Programme report last month, it highlighted a need to increase stores of weaponry to deal with threats from great powers around the globe. In his speech unveiling the document, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson specifically stated that to “improve the combat effectiveness of our forces, we will re-prioritize the current defense program to increase weapon stockpiles. And we are accelerating work to assure the resilience of our defense systems and capabilities.” But what does that actually entail? During a Tuesday visit to Washington, Director for Strategic Planning Will Jessett said the U.K. plans to go about increasing weapon stockpiles in two ways. The first is the easy route: throw money at the problem. And a certain amount — the Ministry of Defence employee wouldn't say exactly how much — of the recent budget increase given by Parliament will indeed be going toward increasing stockpiles of armaments. The second part is more difficult, but goes to a throughline for the strategy document: the need to be smarter about how the British military uses its gear. “We've spend a shedload of money on producing the force structure that we have already. We're not necessarily generating and using it as effectively as we might have done,” Jessett said. “The first thing to do is to make sure that we are making the best of the existing capability that we have, and that [includes] making sure that we've got both the weapon stockpiles and the spares to make sure that you can actual[ly] generate the right numbers of aircraft squadrons." “So some of this will be the new money out of the couple of billion but a lot of this is going to be telling the services themselves,” he added. “There isn't a dollar figure, but there are strong incentives now back on the services to say: ‘Guys, you've got to [use] the capabilities that you've got already.' ” Looking at the Pentagon's efforts over the last few years shows that may be easier said than done. Pushing to find new efficiencies inside the U.S. Defense Department is an annual affair, with the latest attempt delayed by the removal of Chief Management Officer Jay Gibson and the fallout from the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. And building up missile stockpiles is a logistical challenge for the department right now, with the Pentagon warning last May that producers of vital parts and materials are on the verge of going out of business or beholden to foreign ownership. Jessett acknowledged the Brexit-shaped elephant in the room, noting that the ability of the MoD to invest funding into new defense priorities will be directly impacted by any deal reached between Britain and the rest of Europe, particularly with foreign-made equipment. “Amongst the reasons we started to face this affordability delta in 2017 were because exchange rates did fall, relative to where they were in 2015,” he said. “I think back to this [question] about the terms of the deal. If we get a deal that's OK, I can imagine, personally, exchange rates not just stabilizing but somewhat improving. If not, it is by definition going to add further pressure into this.” But, he added, “that's not what we're planning for at the moment.” https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/01/08/to-build-stockpiles-of-weapons-uk-looking-at-two-pronged-approach