3 février 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
NEW DELHI — India on Monday allocated $18.48 billion for weapons procurement in its 2021-2022 defense budget amid an ongoing military standoff with China and financial stress on the national economy due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Excluding pensions, the new defense budget totals $49.6 billion, an increase of more than 3 percent from the previous year's $47.98 billion. New capital expenditure of $18.48 billion meant for arms procurement witnessed an increase of about 16 percent from the previous year's $15.91 billion.
This is the highest-ever increase in capital outlay for defense in the last 15 years, according to Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
An additional $2.84 billion was spent on emergency arms purchases in the summer of 2020 to deal with the ongoing confrontation with China.
The budget's revenue expenditure meant for maintenance of existing weapons, pay and allowances, and recurring expenses is set at $29.02 billion, compared to $28.75 billion in the previous defense budget.
Officials in India point to the COVID-19 pandemic as disrupting the economy and thus affecting the government's income and driving spending decisions. Consequently, the defense budget might not be as high as it would've been were there not a pandemic, said Amit Cowshish, a former financial adviser for acquisition at the Ministry of Defence.
Cowshish noted that the funds may be inadequate for all the planned acquisitions from abroad and at home to be signed during the upcoming financial year, which begins April 1.
Capital expenditure is essentially defense funding meant for fresh arms procurement and existing liabilities from previously conducted defense contracts. Revenue expenditure is defense spending meant for the pay and allowances of military personnel as well as the maintenance of weapons and other existing inventory items.
The Army will receive $4.9 billion in capital expenditure, which is an increase of 8.17 percent from the previous year's $4.53 billion. “The service could buy additional military vehicles and upgrade its drones fleet,” a senior Army official said.
The service's revenue expenditure is set at $20.37 billion, compared to $20.11 billion in the previous budget.
The Navy will receive $4.55 billion in capital expenditure, which is an increase of nearly 22 percent from previous year's $3.73 billion. This could pave the way for the service to buy 10 tactical MQ-9 Reaper drones from General Atomics through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program, an Indian Navy official said.
The revenue expenditure for the Navy is $3.19 billion, which is meant for the maintenance of warships and submarines, compared to $3.13 billion in the previous budget.
The Air Force will receive $7.2 billion in capital expenditure, which is a hike of 19 percent from the previous year's $6.05 billion. According to a service official, this will go toward a new contract for 83 homemade LCA MK1A Tejas light combat aircraft, an existing commitment to pay for 36 Rafale fighters from France and five units of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, among other efforts.
The Air Force's revenue expenditure is $4.19 billion, compared to $4.1 billion in the previous budget.
About $1.55 billion in capital expenditure will go toward the state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation for new projects, compared to $1.47 billion in the previous budget. DRDO has also been given a revenue expenditure totaling $1.24 billion, compared to $1.2 billion last year.
This year, existing liabilities could eat up to 90 percent of the new capital expenditure, which will impact several new weapons procurement efforts, an MoD official said.
But if that high percentage is accurate, according to Cowshish, there must be a lot of equipment already on contract. The military will have to make do with whatever amount is left over for acquiring new systems, he noted.
“Capability-building and self-reliance ... are long-term projects, which are not dependent entirely on the budgetary allocation in a particular year. Hopefully things will improve in the future.”
4 avril 2023 | International, Naval
The Navy and Marines are back on the same page about a low-cost Landing Ship Medium, following negotiations over survivability and capability of the craft.
23 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial
Not long ago, the biggest concern facing commercial aviation was whether Airbus and Boeing could produce enough aircraft to keep up with demand. Industry leaders fretted about how quickly they could ramp up production and whether the supply chain could keep pace. Some airlines were equally bullish, with American Airlines CEO Doug Parker proclaiming: “I don't think we're ever going to lose money again.” After a run of unparalleled and seemingly unstoppable prosperity, aviation and aerospace have flown into a perfect storm. The temporary shutdown of Boeing's 737 MAX production line has waylaid aerospace suppliers. But that pales in comparison to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which first crippled a crucial growth engine, China, and is now decimating air transport markets around the world. Each day brings a new round of fleet groundings, layoffs and order deferrals or cancellations, which in the coming months will rip through the manufacturing industry like a tornado. A new forecast from Europe projects Airbus will be forced to cut planned production nearly in half in 2021 and may not fully recover before 2027. Boeing is calling on the U.S. government to provide at least $60 billion in aid to aerospace manufacturers, U.S. airlines want another $58 billion, airports $10 billion and the maintenance, repair and overhaul industry $11 billion. It would not be hyperbole to call this the greatest crisis civil aviation has faced since the dawn of the commercial jet age more than six decades ago. But amid such panic, we need to take a deep breath and remember that this industry has survived many big challenges: oil price spikes; the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; and the 2008-09 global financial meltdown. Each time commercial aviation has recovered and grown stronger, resuming its long-held trend of outpacing global economic growth. In one way, the disruption to our lives and businesses caused by the travel restrictions imposed to control the spread of COVID-19 illustrates the degree to which the world has come to rely on air transportation, from enabling commerce to connecting families. This is a crisis on an unprecedented scale for aviation, and there are airlines and businesses that certainly will not survive. But the extent of the disruption gives hope that demand for air transportation will return unabated once the restrictions are lifted. It is vital for governments, lawmakers and industry leaders to recognize that aviation will need help getting through such destructive upheaval. But in some cases, the optics will invite legitimate criticism. For example, Boeing has returned nearly $50 billion to its shareholders over the past five years while investing far less. Now it wants taxpayers to cough up tens of billions for a bailout? U.S. airlines are no better: They have sent 96% of free cash flow to shareholders over the last five years. And what about those airlines in Europe that should have been allowed to die long ago? Will they use this crisis as leverage for yet another government rescue? Clearly, there are lessons to be learned from the crisis, and a return to business as usual will not suffice. But in the near term, this is not about partisan politics or competitive advantage. It is about helping a vital industry survive this calamity. Commercial aviation is a connective tissue that underpins global commerce, drives prosperity and supports many millions of jobs. Allowing it to wither is not a realistic option. The coming days will be dark, but rest assured the industry will recover and once again prosper. https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/editorial-why-coronavirus-cannot-kill-aviation
19 février 2021 | International, Naval
EAST AURORA, N.Y. — Astronics Corp. has been awarded contracts by Boeing to supply CorePower aircraft power distribution units and custom-engineered exterior lighting for the MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling program, Astronics said in a Feb. 17 release. “Our CorePower Electronic Circuit Breaker...