Minister of National Defence to travel to Brussels, Belgium to participate in Ukraine Defense Contact Group and NATO Defence Ministers’ Meetings

Sur le même sujet

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  22 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  French, German leaders provide fresh top cover for new warplane, tank projects

  By: Sebastian Sprenger COLOGNE, Germany — German and French officials emerged from a meeting in Toulouse, France, this week with fresh promises that a next-generation aircraft program and new European battle tank spearheaded by the two countries would advance soon. The summit declaration follows repeated reports that both projects are at risk of failure due to political and industry-related differences. In the case of the Future Combat Air System — a next-generation fighter jet with sidekick drones — Berlin and Paris have long been at odds about the exportability of the future weapon, with Germany favoring a more restrictive stance than France. Airbus and Dassault are the two main industry players in FCAS. The Main Ground Combat System — the two countries' idea for a European tank ready for action in the late 2030s — had been caught up in a maneuver by German manufacturer Rheinmetall to take over the Franco-German industry team of Nexter and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, called KNDS. According to a report in Germany's newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, officials recently came to an agreement in which Rheinmetall would become a subcontractor in the project, receiving 25 percent of the work share, with Nexter getting 50 percent and KMW getting 25 percent. The aircraft and tank projects made it into the Toulouse declaration only in passing, expressed in the typical diplomatic rhetoric of bilateral enthusiasm meant to mask whatever problems brew underneath. The envisioned cooperation “requires mutual trust and common rules,” the document read. Specifically, both sides negotiated a binding agreement on arms exports in Toulouse that would be implemented once unspecified “final steps” are taken, it added. French newspaper La Tribune reported that the Oct. 16 meeting reiterated the objective of awarding study contracts for an FCAS demonstrator early next year. That means the financial commitments will now begin to grow larger, eventually reaching a level of billions of Euros in just a few years' time. German lawmakers, meanwhile, are still awaiting details on exactly how the government plans to proceed. A formal spending request to the appropriations and defense committees was still outstanding as of this week, and a Defence Ministry spokeswoman declined to be specific on the envisioned timing in a statement to Defense News. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2019/10/18/french-german-leaders-provide-fresh-top-cover-for-new-warplane-tank-projects/

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  29 avril 2020 | International, Naval

  U.S. Navy pays contractors $600 million held back to ensure performance

  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy has paid defense contractors $600 million it had withheld to ensure contract performance, hoping the funds would shore up finances for suppliers ravaged by the coronavirus-driven economic downturn, a Navy official said on Tuesday. The move, which follows a similar action taken by the Air Force that released billions of dollars in payments, is aimed at replacing revenue vital Pentagon suppliers have lost in their non-military businesses as the spreading coronavirus has halted business activity nationwide. “We were immediately able to infuse about $600 million of funds that we had on withholds,” James Geurts, the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, told reporters on a conference call. A Navy spokesperson said “for example, with the ship repair industry, withholds were reduced to one percent.” The Navy was unable to say whether a portion of the $600 million was withheld due to poor contractor performance. The Department of Defense has also accelerated contract awards as it leverages its portion of the more than $700 billion annual defense budget to help keep suppliers afloat. Geurts wrote a memo on March 24 to his staff directing them to release or reduce the withholds. It did not discuss rectifying the root causes. Government waste watch-dogs criticized the move. “This current emergency shouldn't be an excuse to avoid accountability for poor performance that predated this outbreak,” said Mandy Smithberger, of the Project On Government Oversight in Washington. Earlier this month, Geurts said he had authorized “hundreds of millions” of dollars to be paid out to top suppliers like General Dynamics (GD.N) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N) which could flow to the supply chain. Representatives from Huntington Ingalls and General Dynamics said the Navy was not withholding money from them for poor performance. While the Navy did not name any companies that received payments, industry sources have said the biggest contractors have been filtering coronavirus-related funds to their suppliers and subcontractors who, because of their smaller size, are on much shakier financial footing. The Navy's multi-layered supply chain is comprised of companies building out President Donald Trump's vision for a 350 ship here Navy. The funding will help pay salaries and ensure hard-to-replace workers are not lost to other industries or early retirement. Geurts has said the Navy is pushing money into the defense industrial base by speeding up contract payments, hastening contract awards and releasing funds withheld for poor past performance. The U.S. Air Force said it would release $882 million in payments to Boeing (BA.N) that were held back due to flaws in the KC-46 air refueling tanker. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-navy-procurement/u-s-navy-pays-contractors-600-million-held-back-to-ensure-performance-idUSKCN22A33L

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  23 mars 2021 | International, Aérospatial

  Air Force Commander Wants New F-16 Replacement To Support F-35 - AVweb

  The commander of the Air Force says he needs a new clean sheet fighter to replace some of the 1,000 F-16s that long ago reached their best before date. In a news conference last month, reported by Air Force Magazine, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown said he wants a lighter, less sophisticated and […]