Defense M&A After Lockheed-Aerojet Will Be Smaller For Longer

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  27 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Defense Spending In China Will Rise By 6.6%

  May 27, 2020 China plans to increase defense spending in 2020 despite the expectation of dramatically reduced economic growth, maintaining pressure on neighboring countries to protect their own defense budgets from cuts. The defense budget will rise by 6.6% to 1.268 trillion yuan ($179.2 billion), Premier Li Keqiang says. The growth rate is the slowest since the early 1990s, but it indicates that Beijing intends to keep military modernization on track despite the economic and fiscal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the reduction in growth from 2019's rate in part reflects the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also consistent with a longer-term trend of smaller increases in the budget approximately tracking the slowing expansion of an increasingly mature Chinese economy. Defense spending increases averaged 14% in the decade prior to 2015 but only 8% since then. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/z/defense-spending-china-will-rise-66?utm_rid=CPEN1000006557235&utm_campaign=24180&utm_medium=email&elq2=5d7f57a46c174c2998ad2129c3ed78df

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  5 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  CEOs of Major Defense Companies Speak Out About Racism, Call for Unity

  n many cases, their internal messages and social media posts went out days before military leaders issued their own calls for reflection. It's rare for defense CEOs to speak out about social or political issues, but many spent the early part of the week doing just that, sending internal messages to their employees and posting to social media about racism in America. In many cases, their messages went out days before military leaders issued their own calls for reflection on Tuesday and Wednesday. “The death of George Floyd was the result of a reprehensible act,” Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes said in a June 1 note to employees — a reference to the black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer last week. “Although authorities are taking action to ensure justice, the national response and global dialogue related to Mr. Floyd's death point to a serious issue ― and we must not look away. “We must take notice,” Hayes continued. “We have to respond clearly that racism, discrimination and hatred will not be tolerated. We must take this moment to embrace the fundamental values that unite us.” Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden wrote her own note to employees, a copy of which was obtained by Defense One: “I am deeply saddened and concerned about the acts of senseless violence against Black men and women in our society. I know many of you are struggling right now, and I want you to know that on behalf of our company and as an individual, I stand with you. Now is the time for unity.” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun, on the job just six months, wrote in a May 29 note to employees that the company has a zero-tolerance policy for people who discriminate. “There is no room in our company for them, and in fact in my short time as your CEO we have already terminated individuals for engaging in that behavior,” Calhoun wrote. In a LinkedIn post, Bill Brown, the CEO of L3 Harris Technologies, said: “Change is necessary – and we all need to be part of the solution.” Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson told employees that she “was shocked and deeply saddened watching the recent events surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests and unrest across the United States.” “The reaction of anger, shock, and frustration in communities across the nation has created a moment for each of us to assess how we engage, interact, respect and value each other as human beings,” Hewson said. https://www.defenseone.com/business/2020/06/ceos-major-defense-companies-speak-out-about-racism-call-unity

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  6 septembre 2019 | International, Aérospatial

  Killing programs is ‘like working out,’ says acting US Army secretary

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army's program-killing project known as “night court” will continue and become more aggressive in the coming years as demands for the service's modernization effort increase, the Army's acting secretary said Wednesday. Named after the 1980s-era sitcom and a nod to the long hours worked by staff to pull it off, night court in 2018 identified $25 billion in savings and scrapped modernization efforts that the Army plans to use to finance new technologies. Acting Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced another $10 billion of savings in May. But keeping night court alive will require a deliberate effort until it becomes routine, McCarthy told the audience at the third annual Defense News Conference. “Night court is kind of like working out: You've got to get up, you've got to get after it,” McCarthy said. “It's hard. It wears you out. You think: ‘Boy, it would be easier to just stay in bed.' But it's necessary to keep the institution strong. We believe it has been institutionalized. ... But we've got to keep up the repetitions, and over time it will become a behavior, like a reflex.” McCarthy, who is expected to face a confirmation hearing to become Army secretary later this month, said as Army Futures Command's cross-functional teams identify requirements for the next generation of Army systems, the effort must become more aggressive. “What we've done in the cross-functional teams, those efforts have been successful,” McCarthy said. "So as we continue to go down the development pipe, they are going to come back with a requirement we are going to need X numbers of systems to lay in across our formations. And as we scale that out over time, that will cost more money. “So, when you look at where are the opportunities, you have to make choices — divestiture. Legacy systems that we have enjoyed for decades that have performed for us in combat operations for going on 18 years now, some of them will have to go away.” Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who formerly served as the Army secretary and championed the service's effort, signaled he will continue night court Pentagon-wide, something that will test his political clout as services are often loathed to give up reliable legacy systems, and lawmakers is even less willing to give up jobs in their districts that would be threatened by program cuts. But, McCarthy said, the effort is necessary to finance the new technologies the Pentagon needs to gain an advantage over China and Russia. “Night court will continue. In fact, night court is going prime time with Secretary Esper down the hall,” he said. “It's necessary to find as much trade space within that [$741 billion] in the '20 and '21 budgets to find every penny we can to finance our ambitions. Every investment program has a divestiture.” https://www.defensenews.com/smr/defense-news-conference/2019/09/05/killing-programs-is-like-working-out-acting-army-secretary-says