FAA issues alert to inspect some jet engines for unapproved parts | Reuters

Sur le même sujet

• 

  24 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  COVID-19: Farnborough Cancellation Another Blow For Defense Biz

  "Looking ahead, defense acquisition is in uncharted territory," says Air Force acquisition head Will Roper of the effects of the COVID-19 virus. By THERESA HITCHENS WASHINGTON: While the cancelation of the biennial Farnborough Air Show due to the COVID-19 pandemic may not have an immediate impact on the bottom lines of aerospace firms in the defense sector, the decision to close one of the world's top two airshows is yet another harbinger of pending upheaval in the overall market, analysts say. In particular, it deprives US firms of publicity abroad and highly valuable face-time with customers and potential customers from foreign governments. “Things like Farnborough are important to US aerospace companies because they help to facilitate sales and marketing,” said Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). “It's traditionally been a place where you show off your latest technology and latest systems, but it's also where you finalize deals that have been in the works for a while. And so, some of that can still happen, but some of it may not happen.” Richard Aboulafia, a veteran aircraft industry analyst at Teal Group, echoed: “It's just a reflection of a sad reality: economic time has simply come to a halt for our industry and for others. That means fewer big opportunities to meet clients, advertise products and capabilities, share information, and look for opportunities. Big air shows are essential for these, but here we are.” The Farnborough Air Show — which takes place south of London — registered representatives from 96 countries in 2018, and some logged $192 billion in orders and contract commitments. The cancelation of the 2020 show, slated for July 20-24, was announced today. “I don't see the cancellation of Farnborough as a big blow to defense contractors. It is generally a way of raising their profile, but has no immediate impact on their business prospects,” said Phil Finnegan, Teal Group's director of corporate analysis. That said, Finnegan and a number other analysts agreed, the aerospace market is in for a rough ride — and not just on the commercial side as airlines see their profits for 2020 nosediving, making it increasingly unlikely that they will invest in new planes. “Looking ahead, defense acquisition is in uncharted territory. Near- and far-term impacts of Coronavirus evolve daily,” Air Force acquisition head Will Roper said this afternoon. “As we complete our first week of response, our teams navigated potential work stoppages, changing local and state directives, halted supply chains, and gearing up to support any national Defense Production Act requirements.” The Defense Production Act, which allows the government to order companies to boost production or produce new things, was invoked last week by President Donald Trump. Finnegan said “the biggest threat to defense contractors will come to those with significant commercial aerospace operations. The cash flow drain from those operations potentially could hurt them. “It also reiterates the importance of maintaining a balance in operations,” he added. “Obviously, in recent years commercial aerospace has offered greater growth and potentially high profit margins. This crisis reiterates the importance of a diversified approach to defense and aerospace to take advantage of the stability of the defense market in a crisis.” Indeed, several other long-time industry analysts said that DoD may face price hikes as firms try to shift the costs of commercial overhead to the defense contracts — especially for spare parts. Further, Harrison noted, governments around the world are going to be cash-strapped and likely loathe to make new commitments to large buys of new fighter jets or drones. According to the latest report from the Aerospace Industries Association, US aerospace and defense exports in 2018 amounted to $151 billion: civil aerospace accounted for the majority with $131.5 billion; defense products the remaining $19.5 billion. “So, Farnborough may not be the reason that sales go down, It's more of a symptom of the fact that there just aren't going to be as many opportunities for a while,” he said. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/03/covid-19-farnborough-cancelation-another-blow-for-defense-biz

• 

  30 avril 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contracts for April 29, 2021

  Today

• 

  11 février 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre

  Here’s how many bombs the US plans to buy in the next year

  By: Aaron Mehta WASHINGTON — The Pentagon's fiscal 2021 budget request seeks to buy fewer munitions needed for the fights in Afghanistan and Iraq as it attempts to pivot towards investments in the kind of weapons that will be used in a high-end fight against China or Russia. The DoD has requested $21.3 billion in munitions, including $6 billion for conventional ammunition, $4 billion for strategic missiles and $11.3 billion for tactical missiles. Munitions and missiles make up 8.8 percent of overall procurement in the budget request. The department is pursuing a two-pronged approach, according to a budget summary provided by the Pentagon. The first is to make sure “U.S. worldwide munition inventories are sufficiently stocked” for ongoing needs. The second is to ensure “sufficient procurement of more advanced high-end weapon systems, which provide increases standoff, enhanced lethality and autonomous targeting for employment against near-peer threats in more contested environment.” Examples of that kind of high-end munition includes the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), both of which have enhanced procurement in the budget request. Major munitions buys in the budget include: 20,338 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) - $533 million. That is down 8,050 units from the FY20 enacted. 7,360 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) - $1.2 billion. That is down 1,163 units from FY20 enacted. 2,462 Small Diameter Bomb 1 (SDB 1) – $95.9 million. That is down 4,616 units from FY20 enacted. 1,490 Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II) - $432 million. That is down 197 units from FY20 enacted. 8,150 Hellfire missiles - $517 million. That is down 640 units from FY20 enacted. 601 AIM-9X sidewinders - $316.6 million. That is down 119 units from FY20 enacted. 125 Standard Missile-6 - $816 million. That is the same amount as purchased in FY20 enacted. 400 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) - $577 million. That is up 10 units from FY20 enacted. 53 Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) - $224 million. That is up 36 units from FY20 enacted. The slowdown of procurement for munitions comes as the U.S. dropped 7,423 munitions onto Afghanistan in 2019 —the highest number of bombs released in nearly a decade. “For munitions, we continue to carefully manage production and stockpiles," Pentagon comptroller Elaine McCusker said Monday. "The JADM stockpile is healthier due to our last four years of increased procurements. The SM-6 is being procured at the maximum rate of production, continuing a five-year, multi-year procurement contract.” Keeping the munitions industrial base humming is important for the Pentagon. A May 2018 report identified major gaps in the munitions industrial base, warning that key components for America's weapons could disappear entirely if a small handful of suppliers were to close up shop. https://www.defensenews.com/smr/federal-budget/2020/02/10/heres-how-many-bombs-the-us-plans-to-buy-in-the-next-year