18 janvier 2019 | International, Aérospatial
By: Mike Yeo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Japan has confirmed it will not use in-country final assembly facilities for its next lot of Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets.
A spokesperson from the U.S. ally's Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency, or ATLA, told Defense News it will instead acquire aircraft imported from overseas for its upcoming fiscal 2019 contract.
The ATLA spokesperson referred Defense News to Japan's Defense Ministry when asked why Japan will stop local assembly and checkout for its F-35s. The ministry has yet to respond to inquiries.
However, the recent defense guidelines and five-year defense plan released by the Japan government in late December said the country wants to “acquire high-performance equipment at the most affordable prices possible” and “review or discontinue projects of low cost-effectiveness.”
The Japanese government earlier that month approved the country's defense budget, which includes $612.35 million for the acquisition of six F-35As for the upcoming Japanese fiscal year that runs from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020.
The budget additionally allocates $366.12 million for “other related expenses,” which include maintenance equipment tied to Japan's F-35 program.
Japan has taken the local final assembly and checkout, or FACO, route since 2013 for the final assembly of F-35As it previously ordered. According to the ATLA spokesperson, the FACO facility, which is operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will continue to carry out production work until FY22 to fulfill the F-35As contracted by Japan between FY15 and FY18.
Japan has struggled to sustain its local industrial base, with recently released defense guidelines acknowledging it needs to overcome “challenges such as high costs due to low volume, high-mix production and lack of international competitiveness.”
According to Japanese budget documents, the country agreed to purchase 24 of the F-35As, with each aircraft costing an average $144.2 million, although the cost per aircraft has been on a downward trend, with the FY18 batch costing $119.7 million each. (Both figures are based on current exchange rates and do not take into account currency conversion fluctuations.)
In addition to the 42 F-35As, Japan has also indicated it intends to procure a further 105 F-35s, which will include 42 of the F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing variant. The defense plan has called for the acquisition of 45 F-35s over the next five years, of which 18 will be F-35Bs.
https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2019/01/17/japan-to-cease-in-country-assembly-of-f-35-jets
18 août 2023 | International, Aérospatial
The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
8 décembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité
United States still the leading country in arms spending and sales, followed by China, driven partly by its military modernisation Six American and three Chinese companies dominate the top 10 makers in Swedish think tank's annual ranking Kristin Huang Three Chinese arms companies have been ranked among the world's top 10 for weapons sales in 2019 in a Stockholm security think tank's annual list of the largest arms manufacturers. The United States was the leading nation in terms of both arms spending and sales of weapons, with China in second place in both respects. In the ranking by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), six US companies and three Chinese firms made up the top 10 along with one from Britain. Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and China North Industries Group Corporation were ranked sixth, eighth and ninth respectively in the list of companies. A fourth Chinese arms firm, China South Industries Group Corporation, was ranked 24th among the 25 companies examined in SIPRI's report, released on Monday. Data from SIPRI's arms transfer database showed that aircraft, ships, missiles, armoured vehicles and air defence systems were the four Chinese firms' top revenue generators in 2018 and 2019, totalling nearly US$2.5 billion, with the top three buyers of Chinese weapons being Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand. The combined revenue of the four Chinese companies grew by 4.8 per cent overall between 2018 and 2019, to US$56.7 billion. This was the first time SIPRI had included Chinese companies in its annual ranking, having previously cited a lack of reliable data. The report said overall arms sales by the top 25 companies rose by 8.5 per cent in 2019 to US$361 billion, with the leading five all coming from the United States: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics, with combined arms sales of US$166 billion. Another American firm, L3Harris Technologies, was in 10th place, while Britain's BAE Systems was seventh. The US arms industry accounted for 61 per cent of sales by the world's top 25 manufacturers last year, followed by China in second place with 16 per cent, according to the report. Six western European companies collectively accounted for 18 per cent, while the two Russian companies in the list made up 4 per cent. Zhou Chenming, a military expert in Beijing, said relatively cheap prices and good quality made Chinese weapons competitive in the global arms market. “China has invested huge money in developing cutting-edge weapons for years, and now Chinese weapons have improved their performance and are at reasonable prices which can be accepted by many developing countries,” Zhou said. But Zhou did not expect the growth for Chinese companies to continue at the same rate, partly because of international polarisation driven by China's rivalry with the US. “I think most US allies will continue buying arms from the US, and Russia will keep its own market share, and it will be quite difficult for China to increase its arms export revenue,” he said. Nan Tian, a senior researcher from SIPRI, said Chinese arms companies had benefited from the drive to modernise the country's People's Liberation Army since 2015. China was already viewed by the United States as its strongest competitor in cutting-edge military technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, according to a US Congressional Research Service report released in August. “China and the United States are the two biggest states in terms of global arms spending, with companies cut to size,” Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, director of SIPRI's arms and military expenditure programme, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. The US has dominated the market for decades, but China's growth “corresponds to the implementation of reforms to modernise the People's Liberation Army”, she said. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3112823/pla-reforms-drive-china-second-place-after-us-global-arms
1 août 2019 | International, Naval
By Sara Francis, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Public Affairs WASHINGTON (NNS) -- A pigment package designed by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) to slow discoloration of the exterior coating on surface ships has started to make its way into the fleet and is producing early, positive results. NRL researchers created the pigment combination to satisfy the fleet requirement for the Navy standard "haze gray" paint that will remain color stable for longer than current coatings. While many paint manufacturers had produced new coating technologies that solved a variety of other problems, such as corrosion and delamination, some ships still showed discoloration in as little as 18 months. Additionally, different coatings from different manufacturer's fade to different hues, resulting in an inconsistent appearance between the original coatings and any in-service touch-ups or repairs. “We had a good idea on how to solve the issue, and we leveled the playing field by providing the pigment combination to all companies at the same time,” said Dr. Erick Iezzi, senior research chemist in the Center for Corrosion Science and Engineering at NRL. NRL is currently working with Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Systems Engineering Directorate, Ship Integrity & Performance Engineering (SEA 05P) to transition the new pigment combination into a military specification, which will become the standard for haze gray paint applied to surface ships. The first vessel to receive a coating with the pigment combination was USS Essex (LHD 2) in 2017. The most recent to vessel to receive it was USS George Washington (CVN 73). While all paint manufacturers have access to the pigment technology, three companies have already started mass-producing the paint, generating an estimated tens of thousands of gallons thus far. Recently, Sherwin-Williams won the Society for Protective Coatings Military Coatings Project Award of Excellence for its new topcoat paint that incorporates the new pigment after it was used to overhaul USS George Washington. “It was motivating to know that several companies were willing to lean on our expertise to provide a new technology that would produce the best product for the Navy,” Iezzi said. From 2012 to 2013, Iezzi worked with corrosion science researchers Jimmy Tagert and Candice Langaster to design five new pigment combinations and test them for color stability, solar reflectance and other coating properties. After testing all combinations, they provided the best performer to paint and coating manufacturers to begin integration in 2015. The pigment combinations underwent testing at NRL's Key West facility for atmospheric exposure performance and accelerated weathering. Coatings that contained the new pigments proved to have excellent color stability, were five times harder than silicone alkyd, had improved gloss retention and chemical resistance, and provided greater barrier properties. “It was great working with the manufacturers and demonstrating our ability to provide a product needed for the fleet,” Tagert said. For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy. https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=110401