ngility, an SAIC Subsidiary, Selected for $106 Million Defense Intelligence Agency Contract

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  21 juillet 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Airbus gets $630 million deal under UK military’s Skynet 6 push

  By: Andrew Chuter LONDON — The first element of a likely $7.5 billion upgrade of the British armed forces' satellite-telecommunications capabilities has finally been signed by the Ministry of Defence and Airbus Defence and Space. The deal, worth more than $630 million, will see Airbus build a new telecommunications satellite as a stop gap to bolster military capabilities ahead of the introduction of a new generation of space craft scheduled to start entering service towards the end of the decade. Airbus and the MoD have been locked in negotiation over the deal to construct the satellite, known as Skynet 6A, since the company was nominated in 2017, without a competition, as the preferred supplier. Under the terms of the deal the satellite, based on Airbus' Eurostar Neo spacecraft, will be developed, assembled and tested in the UK. Planned launch date is 2025. In a statement Airbus said the contract also covers technology development programs, new secure telemetry, tracking and command systems, launch, in-orbit testing and ground segment updates to the current Skynet 5 system. At one point defense officials here were sufficiently concerned about the drawn-out negotiations for Skynet 6A delaying the space crafts in-service date that they a contract with Airbus to start work on long-lead items ahead of the main deal being sealed. The deal will supplement a fleet of existing spacecraft built by Airbus as part of the Skynet 5 space telecommunications network operated by the company under a private finance initiative (PFI) deal which has been in operation since 2003. Operation of the Skynet ground stations was also included in the deal. The PFI, including ground station element, ends in 2022. A competition to run the ground stations as part of the wider Skynet 6 program is already in play, with Airbus, Babcock, BT and Serco all bidding to secure the contract for what is called the Service Delivery Wrap. The third main element of Skynet 6, known as Enduring Capability,will see industry compete to replace existing Skynet 5 satellites with a fleet of new generation beyond line of sight communication assets. The early stages of that competition is already underway. In-service date for the first of the new communications assets is around 2028. Announcing the satellite deal 24 hours ahead of the launch of the virtual Farnborough air show getting underway July 20, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the “newest contested frontier is space and so we need to provide resilience and better communications for our forces. Skynet 6A is one of many solutions we shall be investing in over the next decade. This government recognizes the urgent need to defend and promote space capabilities.” “British defense must continue to innovate and transform, particularly in cyber and space,” Wallace said. Confirmation of the satellite deal by Wallace comes just two weeks after the British government took a $503 million stake alongside Indian company Bharti Global in the rescue of failed broadband constellation supplier OneWeb. OneWeb is based in the UK but its satellites are built in Florida in a partnership between Airbus and OneWeb. So far, 74 satellites out of an initial requirement for 648 have been launched. Having been denied access by the European Union to the precise military navigational signals provided by their Galileo satellites as a result of Brexit, the British are hoping they can develop the small spacecraft operated by OneWeb to provide military-grade positioning, navigation and timing data for the armed forces. OneWeb satellites could also find themselves developed for use by the British military as part of Skynet 6′s Enduring Capability requirement, said an industry executive here, who asked not to be named. Space is expected to have top billing alongside cyber, artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies in the upcoming integrated defense, security and foreign policy review being conducted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his advisors. Creation of a Space Command is likely to figure in a space defense policy being pulled together by the MoD. The bones of that policy could be presented to four-star-level officials in the next few weeks. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/07/20/airbus-gets-630-million-deal-under-uk-militarys-skynet-6-push

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  14 août 2018 | International, Naval

  Fincantieri bulks up with acquisition ahead of Naval Group partnership

  By: Tom Kington and Pierre Tran ROME and PARIS — Italian shipyard Fincantieri has bought a key Italian technologyfirm to gain extra clout ahead of a planned team-up with France's Naval Group. State-controlled Fincantieri said Aug. 7 it was jointly taking control of Vitrociset, which employs 800 people and posted 2017 sales of €187 million (U.S. $211 million) from its training and support work in the defense, security, transport and space sectors. The shipyard will take over Vitrociset's defense work, while its partner in the purchase, Italian firm Mer Mec, will assume control of its civil work. That leaves Fincantieri, which builds warships, submarines and cruise ships, in charge of Vitrociset's aerospace work, including ground support work on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The move triggered speculation in Italy that Fincantieri was bulking up to gain a stronger hand as it proceeds with cooperation talks with French shipyard Naval Group, given that Vitrociset is involved in automation, command and control, simulation, and testing work.
 A company source played down the timing of the deal, saying: “Vitrociset simply makes us more complete.” The announcement followed a visit to Rome on Aug. 1 by French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire to discuss the Fincantieri-Naval Group talks, which started last year but slowed during the creation of a new, populist government in Italy in June. The new government in Rome has had a series of spats with Paris, starting with France's reluctance to take in migrants who sail from Libya to Italy. The Italian government is also reluctant to move ahead on a new rail link between Italy and France, even though millions of euros have been spent on the program. And France and Italy are at loggerheads over lawless Libya, where the European nations back opposing sides in the slow-burning conflict.
 Tensions reached a peak last month when Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini openly said he did not want France to win the soccer World Cup, which it did. In June, Naval Group and Fincantieri handed their respective governments plans for possible industrial cooperation, a move seen by Fincantieri Chairman Giuseppe Bono as leading to an“Airbus of the sea,” seen as kick-starting a wider integration of the fractured European naval industry. Addressing Italy's Parliament this month, Bono said he was also backing moves by the European Union to encourage joint spending among partners, effectively leading to pooled EU defense procurement from transnational European defense giants. “Europe spends little and spends badly,” he said. “Everyone acts in the interest of their own nation; but if we concentrated, we could spend less but be more capable and more efficient.” Fincantieri is already set to take over French civil shipyard STX, and at the start of the year, Bono said a French-Italian merger of naval work could occur within five to 10 years. However, Le Maire was cautious during his Rome visit, claiming “it would not be wise” to talk of a naval merger. Current plans go no further than a 10 percent share cross-holding, combined with pooling research, acquisition of material and teaming on export work to reduce competition. Naval Group avoids the use of the Airbus tag, which signals a high degree of industrial consolidation, and prefers to refer to closer cooperation. The cooperation plan is creating uncertainty over the role to be played by Italian and French firms Leonardo and Thales, which rely on selling their systems for their nations' warships. Speculation that Leonardo would be sidelined in future joint ships built by Fincantieri and Naval Group increased with news of the Italian yard's purchase of Vitrociset, although Bono promised that Leonardo's involvement in the tie-up was “on the cards,” pointing out how it was an integral part of two offers of corvettes that Fincantieri was making to Romania and Brazil. Thales, which holds a 35 percent stake in Naval Group, also reportedly expressed caution about linking up Naval Group and Fincantieri, an Italian source told Defense News. This year, a leaked 36-page report from ADIT, a partially French state-owned company working in economic intelligence, painted a “highly negative” picture of the compliance and ethics of Fincantieri, a depiction which was challenged by Fincantieri. “There is a lack of communication, a lack of figures,” according to Fabrice Wolf, a defense economics analyst. “This leads many to be concerned that this project is ideologically driven and that the realities of the industrial base are not fully taken into account.” The main interest for Naval Group is to find work for its research office, which is the real reason for the FTI intermediate frigate program, he said. 
There is a “concern” elsewhere in French industry, notably at Thales, which sees its sale of radars and electronic systems under risk from Italian archrival Leonardo, Wolf added.
 “Naval Group is a great partner for Thales and I hope that lasts,” said Thales CEO Patrice Caine, business daily Les Echos reported May 27. Thales is more than just a shareholder in Naval Group, as the former transferred its combat systems business to the latter in 2007 in exchange for a shareholding, he added. 
“When we build the FTI frigate with Naval Group, it's like building the Rafale with Dassault — it's a link up for life,” he said, pondering the intentions of an Italian government that pursues nationalism and a protectionist trade policy. Naval Group and Thales were unavailable for comment.
 The Italian pursuit of anti-immigration and anti-free trade seems to have struck a chord with U.S. President Donald Trump, who met Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House on July 30. 
“Italy is becoming a reference country in Europe and a privileged partner of the United States,” Trump said. 
That U.S. preference for Italy effectively puts Rome ahead of Paris, French media have reported. https://www.defensenews.com/top-100/2018/08/10/fincantieri-bulks-up-with-acquisition-ahead-of-naval-group-partnership/

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  19 septembre 2023 | International, Terrestre

  Saab Secures U.S. AT4 and Carl-Gustaf Ammunition Order

  The extension will allow the U.S. customer to place orders of Saab’s world-leading close combat solutions for up to an additional USD 422 million.