6 novembre 2023 | International, Terrestre
General Electric's aerospace unit agreed on Monday to pay $9.4 million to settle federal government claims that a Massachusetts plant sold parts to the U.S. Army and Navy that were not properly inspected or did not meet specifications.
13 mai 2022 | International, Aérospatial
Photos released by the Australian and Japanese air forces from the flight tests showed F-2s carrying up to four surrogate Type 93 anti-ship missiles and AAM-3 air-to-air missiles.
6 décembre 2019 | International, Naval
By: Ben Werner This post was updated to accurately reflect the size of the Offshore Patrol Cutter contract the Coast Guard is re-competing. An earlier version of this post included an incorrect number of hulls included in the re-compete. The Coast Guard is recompeting its potentially $10.5 billion Offshore Patrol Cutter contract because the program risks falling fatally behind schedule due to hurricane damage to the shipyard initially awarded the contract. The program has already slipped nearly a year behind schedule and could cost an additional $659 million to finish just the first four OPCs contracted to Eastern Shipbuilding Group as part of a nine-hull deal awarded in 2016, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. To reign-in costs and try getting the program back on schedule, the Coast Guard is now taking the extraordinary measure of recompeting the entire contract for OPC hulls five through 25. The 25-hull OPC fleet is intended to replace the Coast Guard's current fleet of 29 medium-endurance cutters, some of which were built during the Vietnam War. The Coast Guard previously set a target cost of $310 million per cutter. The service is asking potential bidders to provide analysis comparing their anticipated costs with this target for building the six OPCs Friday is the deadline for contractors to provide comments on an OPC industry studies statement of work. The study, along with an industry day scheduled for next Wednesday, is intended to give the Coast Guard an assessment of the technical effort, cost risks and schedule risks associated with recompeting the OPC contract. “These activities will provide fresh insight into the current state of the shipbuilding industrial base and inform the Coast Guard's way forward on a re-compete strategy to complete the OPC program of record,” Brian Olexy, the communication manager for the Coast Guard Acquisition Directorate, told USNI News in an email. The Coast Guard intends to purchase up to 25 OPCs making this the service's largest acquisition program. However, the current prime contractor, Panama City, Fla.-based Eastern Shipbuilding Group, is having a hard time fulfilling the contract due to damage caused in 2018 by Hurricane Michael. Eastern Shipbuilding officials could not be reached for comment at the time of this post. In September 2016, the Coast Guard awarded Eastern Shipbuilding Group a contract to build the future USCGC Argus (WMSM-915) with options to build up to nine OPCs. Eastern beat General Dynamics Bath Iron Works and Bollinger Shipyards to land the design and construction contract. The average purchase cost for OPCs is about $421 million per ship, according to the CRS report. The first OPC, Argus, was funded in Fiscal Year 2018. The second OPC, the future USCGC Chase (WMSM-916) and long-lead-time materials for the third OPC were funded in the FY 2019. Eastern Shipbuilding was just about to start building Argus and was gathering materials to start building Chase when Hurricane Michael hit the Florida panhandle, USNI News reported in October 2018. Workers evacuated from the area and were slow to return. When they did, many took jobs rebuilding nearby Tyndall Air Force Base, which also suffered substantial damage from the hurricane, according to a statement released by Sen. Marco Rubio (R.-Fla.). Rubio supported a plan to modify Eastern Shipbuilding's contract with the Coast Guard. In October, the Coast Guard asked Congress for extraordinary relief from the contract, on behalf of Eastern Shipbuilding. The Coast Guard plan would allow Eastern Shipbuilding to continue building the first four OPCs but would move forward with seeking new bidders to build out the fleet, Adm. Karl Schultz, the commandant of the Coast Guard, said during an event co-hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the U.S. Naval Institute. Lawmakers, though, did not sound too receptive to the plan. Congressional leaders detailed their concerns in a bipartisan letter to the Coast Guard sent Nov. 25, from Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.); the chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; ranking member Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), chair of subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation; and ranking member Rep. Bob Gibbs, (R-Ohio). “We are skeptical that such truly extraordinary relief is justified given that this ‘crisis' was foreseeable and mostly avoidable. Further, we are concerned that this relief sets a damaging precedent that any current or future contract with the United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard or Service) could be renegotiated outside the Federal Acquisition Regulations,” their letter states. The lawmakers are concerned the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security focused on “exploring options to resuscitate [Eastern Shipbuilding Group] and prevent it from defaulting on the OPC contract without first completing a transparent and objective alternative analysis.” The chief lobbyist for Eastern Shipbuilding is former commandant of the Coast Guard, retired Adm. Robert Papp, who joined the company shortly after being awarded the initial OPC contract. Papp is the first Washington lobbyist hired by Eastern Shipbuilding, according to a company statement. “The veil of secrecy regarding its analysis and the absence of any meaningful consultation by the Coast Guard and DHS with the Committee, provides us scant confidence that any revised OPC contract will not encounter a similar fate as the original contract,” the congressional letter states. https://news.usni.org/2019/12/05/coast-guard-to-re-compete-multi-billion-dollar-offshore-patrol-cutter-contract
6 mai 2019 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR
CANNES, France & WESTMINSTER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Thales Alenia Space, a Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%) and Maxar Technologies (NYSE: MAXR) (TSX: MAXR), have completed an important milestone for the Telesat LEO constellation. Our solution leverages both Maxar and Thales Alenia Space's experience in building LEO constellations and also integrates advanced technologies from Maxar's MDA business. The consortium has now significantly advanced their detailed, low-risk designs for the complete LEO system, including system optimization, requirements development, engineering trade-offs and technology prototyping to establish mature and compelling designs for Telesat LEO's space, ground and user terminal segments. As previously announced, Telesat selected the consortium of Thales Alenia Space and Maxar, as one of two contractors for its LEO system design phase to design an end-to-end communications system, including satellites, landing stations, user terminals, operations centers, and ground network. In January, the consortium, led by Thales Alenia Space, announced the success of the System Requirements Review. The Thales Alenia Space / Maxar design for Telesat LEO is based on the combined companies' proven experience, industrial capability and a strong supplier base for fully integrated communications satellite systems, including payload antenna design, on-board processing, optical inter-satellite links and LEO satellite production. This milestone is the result of fruitful and efficient teamwork between the two commercial companies. “Together with Maxar, we bring a strong expertise in integrated systems, high throughput payloads, advanced antennas and processors, as well as production heritage for constellations of high technology satellites. Leveraging the flight proven success of sophisticated constellations deployed by Thales Alenia Space, we are confident to enable Telesat LEO to deliver low-risk, breakthrough performance and affordability dedicated to broadband services around the world,” declared Martin Van Schaik, Senior VP Sales and Marketing Thales Alenia Space. “Achieving this milestone demonstrates the success of Maxar's close collaboration with Thales Alenia Space and highlights the progress we've made in our innovative and low-risk design for Telesat's LEO constellation. Our solution leverages both Maxar and Thales Alenia Space's experience in building LEO constellations and also integrates advanced technologies from Maxar's MDA business,” said Megan Fitzgerald, Maxar's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Space Solutions. “For over 60 years, Maxar has helped to address many of the world's most challenging communications requirements, delivering some of the most complex, powerful and highest capacity satellite systems, and building a better, more connected world.” The operations of DigitalGlobe, SSL and Radiant Solutions were unified under the Maxar brand in February; MDA continues to operate as an independent business unit within the Maxar organization. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190506005173/en