Lockheed Martin Canada awards contract to MBDA for Sea Ceptor weapon

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  6 mars 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  US Air Force gets ready for decision on commercial aerial-refueling services

  By: Valerie Insinna ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force will know by the end of this month whether it will kick-start a competition for aerial-refueling services, the head of Air Mobility Command told Defense News. The service is in the final stages of a feasibility study that is evaluating whether the Air Force should buy commercial tanking services to support day-to-day needs for training and testing, said Gen. Maryanne Miller in an exclusive Feb. 28 interview. “The interest is high on the commercial side. The commercial companies who are considering this are really waiting to see the feasibility study, which will be completed in March,” she said. “The interest is high on the outside. I talked to a few vendors yesterday that was asking me when the study is going to be done. We're all waiting for that.” The study will help the Air Force determine whether it is cost-effective to use commercial aerial-refueling services as well as help set parameters on how a contract could be structured. However, Miller said, industry-operated tankers would not conduct combat or other overseas operations, and instead would be used exclusively for tasks in the continental United States such as augmenting training or for test and evaluation missions that AMC does not always have the capacity to fill. AMC believes its requirement will amount to about 6,000 hours per year, although the study could influence that number. Currently 14 companies have indicated interest in competing for the opportunity, she said. If the service decides to move forward with a competition, it believes it will be able to move from a contract award to an initial operating capability using a few aircraft in about a year, Miller said. “I love the idea. I hope the feasibility proves positive for us. That way we can get our requirements out there, we can start receiving proposals and then work that process as defined. We're optimistic,” she said. “That would be exciting to relieve some of the tension and stress on our force.” Getting Congress to agree to fund aerial-refueling services could be a hard sell, especially as the service considers paring back some of its own capacity. To free up funds for other priorities, the Air Force proposed retiring 16 KC-10s and 13 KC-135s in fiscal 2021. However, the idea has come under fire from U.S. Transportation Command — which has sought funds to buy back 23 of those tankers — as well as lawmakers who question whether the Air Force would be taking on too much near-term risk. But Miller contended that having the flexibility of commercial aerial-refueling services could relieve pressures on the military's own tankers, filling the gap for U.S. missions when there is high demand abroad. “It really just relieves and fills that market of the service missions we just don't get to today. Some of that is readiness-related,” she said. It also could have a positive impact for acquisition programs, as there will be more aerial-refueling resources available for test and evaluation, allowing test points to be completed more quickly and efficiently, and let the Air Force ensure it doesn't wear out its legacy KC-135s too quickly. “Having one more option is just really, really important.” https://www.defensenews.com/air/2020/03/05/the-us-air-force-is-getting-ready-to-make-a-decision-about-commercial-aerial-refueling-services/

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  3 décembre 2019 | International, Naval

  US Navy awards largest-ever shipbuilding contract to Electric Boat for new attack submarines

  By: David B. Larter WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy on Monday awarded its largest-ever shipbuilding contract to General Dynamics Electric Boat for construction of nine Virginia-class attack submarines, eight of which will have 84-foot section that boosts the boat's strike missile capacity. The contract for the Block V Virginias, worth $22.2 billion, could grow by another $2 billion if the Navy exercises an option for a 10th boat. The contract is for two fewer boats than the 11 proposed by the fleet in this year's budget submission. “A lot of hard work across the whole team to structure the contract in such a was as to balance risk between the government and the shipbuilder,” said James Geurts, the Navy's top acquisition official, in a roundtable with members of the media to announce the contract signing. “If the shipbuilder delivers on target, the multi-year savings will be 16.5 percent, or $4.4 billion in savings. So, it's a pretty important day for us.” Guerts, the assistant Secretary of the Navy for research, acquisition and development, said that when you add government furnished equipment into the contract, the total swells to about $35 billion. The first boat in Block V, SSN 802, is currently under construction but does not have the Virginia Payload Module. The next boat, 803, will have VPM. All of the boats will have an upgraded acoustics suite. In the briefing, Navy officials said that six of the boats would be constructed at Electric Boat's partner yard, Huntington Ingalls Newport News, and three would be built at Electric Boat. The 10th boat would go to Electric Boat if the Navy exercised the option. The move to put most of the work in Newport News was done to balance the increased workload at Electric Boat with the start of the Columbia class, the next generation of ballistic missile submarines slated to begin construction this year. In a statement, Electric Boat President Kevin Graney said the contract provides stability for his shipyard. “This contract allows for our shipbuilding team, out suppliers and our employees to plan ahead so that we can continue to deliver submarines of unmatched quality, stealth and lethality,” Graney said. Dave Bolcar, Newport News' vice president of submarine construction, likewise hailed the contract as a means of stability in the submarine industrial base. "Today's contract maintains the Virginia-class build rate that provides continued stability to our workforce and to the 5,000 suppliers that will support submarines for the next decade,” he said. "This contract also continues the two per year construction cadence essential to sustaining production efficiencies, while ensuring our national security and the Navy's continued undersea superiority.” https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2019/12/02/navy-awards-largest-ever-shipbuilding-contract-to-electric-boat-for-new-attack-submarines

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  23 avril 2020 | International, Naval

  Fincantieri reopens shipyards in Italy

  By: Tom Kington ROME — Italy shipbuilder Fincantieri has reopened its facilities after more than a month of closure due to coronavirus. The state controlled firm shut down on March 16 after talks with unions as the virus swept through Italy — the first Western country to be hit hard. Since then, Italy's death toll has been overtaken by the U.S., but remains the most exposed country in Europe, with more than 25,000 deaths and 187,000 total infections. As the contagion rate slows however, the government is targeting May 4 as the date to relax rigid lockdown rules for the public. Fincantieri was given the go ahead to restart production on Monday — at a reduced pace. At the firm's Riva Trigoso yard in the Liguria region, where 1,800 were employed before lockdown building Italy's final FREMM frigate and PPA vessels for the Italian navy, just 350 will initially return to work, a spokesman said. Of that number, 150 will be Fincantieri staff, while the remainder are maintenance, cleaning and security contractors. A similar policy is being followed at Fincantieri's Muggiano yard, also in Liguria, where 2,600 are normally employed, and where just 200 staff and 200 contractors have returned to continue work for Italy on a logistics vessel, the Vulcano and a new LHD, the Trieste; as well as a corvette for Qatar. “We hope to be back to full personnel numbers by the end of May or the start of June,” said the spokesman. In the meantime, safety precautions will be taken, including staggered entrances to the yards for staff, obligatory masks and gloves at work, temperature checks at entrances to spot fever sufferers and in-house medical staff. Each staff member will be given a packet of 20 masks per week so they can change them multiple times during each day. “We are planning buses to get staff to work so they don't have to use public transport,” said the spokesman. Similar measures will be taken at Fincantieri's other yards in Italy, which build cruise ships. During the shutdown, the firm's 8,900 staff were kept at home through use of vacation time, furloughs and home working. By contrast, Italian state defense group Leonardo did not close during the lockdown, although many staff worked from home when possible. A deal was struck with unions to introduce social distancing and cleaning at facilities in Italy, and no staff were furloughed, a spokeswoman said. Separately, the Italian government has reconfirmed Leonardo CEO Alessandro Profumo in his role after his mandate ended. The government did however appoint a new chairman, Luciano Carta, who moves from his post as director of Italy's foreign intelligence service. He replaces Gianni De Gennaro, who was head of the government department overseeing Italy's foreign and domestic intelligence services between he joined Leonardo in 2013. https://www.defensenews.com/coronavirus/2020/04/22/fincantieri-reopens-shipyards-in-italy